If portraits seduce, confront, and fascinate us, it’s not least because they put art directly in the service of the human psyche, with all the mysteries that entails. Out of the several genres of realism [...]

Lisa Regopoules is particularly well known for her paintings of specific birds, so when the organizers of Pastel Live invited her to demonstrate a still life, she decided that a “non-traditional still life” was the [...]

To eyes trained on traditional realism, a painting like the above might seem an anxious jumble of shapes and colors. And that’s exactly what it is, but for a good reason: Picasso’s “Night Fishing at [...]

The following article features a leading artist who is teaching others how to paint through online workshops at Pastel Live and PaintTube.tv. By William Schneider Working in one medium is challenging enough; why on Earth should you consider [...]

 By Contributing Author Carol Strock Wasson On my way home from the Chicago area recently, I got to thinking about the importance of attending an exhibition even if you have not received notification of an [...]

Rocks are hard.  That’s a fact. But painting them gets easier with a few basic principles in mind. Number one pitfall to avoid: making your rocks look like potato sacks. Okay, but how? The following [...]

“Having your head in the clouds, even for just a few minutes each day, is good for your mind, good for your body, and good for your soul.” – Gavin Pretor-Pinney “Paintings of clouds are [...]

We conclude with the final installment of “mountain tips” from three professional painters: Kathryn Stats, Tim Diebler, and this time, Paul Kratter. (View Diebler on brushwork here) and Stats on Color, here. There’s one more [...]

“Being an artist is a true blessing. It’s a reason to get up in the morning,” says pastel painter Judith Kazdym Leeds. “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, cover art by Judith Kazdym Leeds [...]

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare’s most lyrical play. A delicious dream of love and magic, it inspired an entire sub-genre of ‘faery painting’ which flourished in Victorian England, that is, during the latter half of [...]