There are plenty of resources defining lightfast but I wanted to know what it looked like when something wasn’t lightfast. I wanted to use brown ink as a sketch tool by filling a Niji Waterbrush with it. I was told by one of the sales people at the art...
Jun222016
Lightfast
Jun152016
Using Crayons to Create
Frustrated with getting marks on paper or keeping a journal? Here’s one idea to help ease the frustration: crayons! Yup, wax crayons. Here’s what I noticed this does for me: It changes my mindset to one more of play time, a child-like mind of exploring and just being and...
Jun82016
Artistic Development
I asked an artist once how he developed his latest style and way of working. He shared his thoughts which I thought were helpful and maybe you’ll find them helpful too. His most recent way of working was markedly different from what he created in previous years. I was...
Jun12016
Owl Man Progress Shot
Finding a balance between imagination and realism. After the lay-in (getting a first layer to start setting up value and color relationships) this time I decided to tackle the flesh tones in the face first before developing other areas. I’m trying for a dusk or night time look so...
May252016
Quick Display Labels
This saved me some time so I thought I’d share. I needed display labels for my art for a show. Instead of printing them out on card stock and cutting them out by hand, or mounting the labels on foam board, a friend suggested I try something different. I...
May42016
Quick Tip for Mats
I like to have a clean presentation of my work. Sure that outer edge of the mat might be hidden under a frame eventually, but that’s not what a customer sees. They see the matted print. Sometimes when cutting a picture mat the outer edge gets fuzz or looks...
Apr202016
Creative Confidence
I’ve been curious about creativity lately: where it comes from, stumbling blocks, how to develop it, how to sustain it, how it works in different disciplines. First I heard about the concept of “creative confidence” through a TED Talk with David Kelly titled How to Build Your Creative Confidence....
Apr132016
Transfer a Drawing
Time to transfer the drawing to the canvas and then paint! Here’s a quick run through how I transfer to canvas. I hope you find it useful. I stretched oil primed, portrait grade linen over stretcher bars. To transfer the drawing I’m using: store bought graphite paper a book...
Apr62016
Tiling and Transferring a Drawing
You need to enlarge and transfer a drawing to your canvas but your usual printing service is currently unavailable. Not a problem. My solution: tiling. I scan my drawing and resize it to the desired painting size in Photoshop, keeping the resolution somewhere between 150 – 250 ppi. This...
Mar302016
Unicorn Show 2
Unicorn Art Show 2, Opening April 7, 2016 I’m pleased to announce that I will be participating in the second annual Unicorn Art Show. https://nemaa.org/events/unicorn-art-show-2 My piece, “Glimpse of the Unicorn” is inspired by a special place in northern Minnesota. It is a digital painting and I will be...