How did Ashley Longshore get 217,000 Instagram followers? How did Zaria Forman land 111,600 Facebook followers? These are the kinds of questions that keep me awake at night, and I try to use reverse engineering to answer them. I’m ... Read More...
Facing Your Fears as a Plein Air Painter
August 12, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Overcoming Plein Air Obstacles I love plein air painting. Painting outdoors is such a special experience because of our unique engagement with the environment. Here we are with our panel, some colors, and our brushes, trying to convey ... Read More...
Through Knowledge Comes Confidence
August 5, 2019 by Leave a Comment
In the art world, one should paint what you are connected to. I live in California outside of Oakland but I have my family roots in Vermont. The light in California, especially where I live is sunny just outside the fog belt. Sunny days in ... Read More...
Listening – Thinking – Speaking – Leading: How do these skills relate to the artist’s life?
July 29, 2019 by Leave a Comment
How would you rate your listening skills? Do you struggle with communicating with art buyers or gallery directors? Are you involved in leadership in an art-related organization? When asked to speak to a group about your art, how ... Read More...
Intelligent Design
July 22, 2019 by Leave a Comment
"Just Wetting A Line" by Robert J. Simone16" x 16" - Oil on linen Design, noun, 2) the purpose, planning or intention that exists or is thought to exist behind an action, fact or material object. In this post, I want to say a ... Read More...
Figure Painting Techniques for Trees
July 15, 2019 by Leave a Comment
I painted my first tree at age 12 and continued to paint landscapes for the next few decades. But I have never liked my trees. Eventually, I switched to figurative work although I love plein air painting. I still do not like my trees. I ... Read More...
Becoming more “Painterly”
July 8, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Reading many blogs, posts, and comments from developing artists, a common theme I have found is a desire to be more “painterly”; to be looser, more natural, etc. The general advice given is to become confident in the required ... Read More...
Painting Still Life
July 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Picasso... Caravaggio.. Henri Fantin-Latour, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Francisco de Zurbarán, Braque, Mary Cassatt, Miró...Gauguin. Monet, Manet, Renoir, Adelheid Dietrich. Brueghel, Rembrandt, Dürer, Rubens, Velázquez. "Brazilian Tree ... Read More...
Paint, Music and a Paper Clip
June 24, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Chewing gum, a soda bottle, and a paper clip and supposedly we can MacGyver our way out of anything! I want to share one way you truly CAN MacGyver your way out of those times you feel like no matter which way you turn you are ... Read More...
How to Inflate Your Life Raft
June 17, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Let me begin by saying that 2018 was the most challenging year of my life. Through a series of mind-expanding experiences and difficult decisions, I made some big changes. The brain is a very flexible tool. A ... Read More...
