How to deal with digital reference material Into the Unknown by Leah Lopez40" x 30" - Oil on Dibond In today’s Covid world, artists, like everyone else, have not been exempt from pandemic related problems.  As a realist painter, I ... Read More...

We are pleased to share this week’s blog from OPA Master artist Mary Qian.  Mary will be giving a live demonstration at the upcoming OPA National Convention in Santa Fe, NM, August 24-29, 2021. Tickets and more information will be available ... Read More...

Did you know that OPA has been sharing artists’ blog posts for over ten years?  We have an extensive collection available to the public on our website. This summer, OPA will be taking Deep Dives into our archives and sharing our favorite ... Read More...

The Day Ahead by Sam Robinson 24" x 20" - Oil on linen I stumbled into painting the hunt by chance. My meandering path of artistic enthusiasms led me from landscape painting, to a spell as a professional portrait painter, and then, to ... Read More...

I Wish I Could I Wish I Might by E. Melinda Morrison 12” x 12” - Egg Tempera on Panel I recently saw for the second time, Searching for Sugarman.  It is a fascinating documentary of a musician, Sixto Rodriguez, who recorded two ... Read More...

Abundance by Karen Werner In a recent blog post a fellow artist labeled still life as a “lesser” genre of painting.   While I know that historically this may be true, this judgement really rubbed me the wrong way!  You see, I ... Read More...

Welcome Home by Joseph Gyurcsak11" x 14" - Oil on panel, private collection Usually, I travel around the country giving painting demos and lecturing at art organizations. Not so during this odd time in our history. I have not been at ... Read More...

Golden Years by Randy Saffle 9” x 12”- Oil As a relative newcomer to fine art, one of the biggest challenges I faced was what subject to paint. I had never painted in oil and was drawn to it by watching a local French artist who was ... Read More...

Ancient Beacon by Jan De Lipsey 16” x 20” - Oil on Panel No clowns, no bells, no whistles.  Nothing fancy here, this is just for you and me.  January 2020 was the beginning of a life we could have never imagined.  And, ... Read More...