I’ve rejoined Claire Giordano’s Adventure Art Academy, where each month Claire posts on-location painting tutorials from beautiful places. (Read what I learned the first time I was a member two years ago!) She’s one of my favorite teachers, and what really spurred me to rejoin when I did was learning that she was going to teach a three-class sequence on one of my favorite subjects: alpenglow! Here is my work from that class.
Technique
Should I paint while looking at a reference photo?
I’m really asking. Sometimes my post titles are rhetorical and I already have an opinion, but not this time! Some artists argue that you shouldn’t directly paint from reference photos; you shouldn’t be following them that closely. You aren’t a camera or a Xerox machine. A carbon copy of the photo is not only difficult … Read more
Why I only use human-made photography for artistic references – not AI
Over the last year or so, I’ve seen some of my traditional artist fellows using AI-generated art as references for their traditional artwork – something without knowing it, other times crediting them as outputs of Midjourney or similar. Here is my stance. I will never knowingly use AI-generated art for references. Here’s why. Why I … Read more
Poppy Balser Class Notes, Part II
In my Artist Palette Profile of Poppy Balser, I shared some things I had learned from taking a class session with her. That session, which could be taken as a standalone or part of a series, focused on colors and supplies. I have continued to take her class series, which moved onto different types of demos.
Are complementary color mixes nicer than black mixes?
Darkening colors with complementary colors (such as adding red to green) looks nicer than darkening them with black. This is one of the most common pieces of conventional wisdom about color mixing; it’s one that I also believe on an emotional level and have repeated many times. But is it true?
Should you use white in watercolor painting?
The use of white in watercolor is controversial. Some teachers tell students never to use white.
Thoughts on Creativity from Big Magic and Find Your Artistic Voice
Two books on creativity that I recently enjoyed were Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. Gilbert focuses mainly on writing and Congdon on visual art, but there’s enough overlap between the two to begin building a generalized theory of creativity. Concepts Here are some of the concepts from … Read more
Technique Notes: Underpainting
Recently I’ve been trying a new thing where I start paintings with an underpainting in light washes of my favorite bright colors, then build “realistic” colors on top of that. This is a way to get a sort of lovely pastel glow through the painting.
Should watercolor beginners start with a limited palette?
A common piece of advice for watercolor beginners is to start with a limited palette: only buy, say, 3-6 colors. But is this really practical advice?
Should watercolor beginners care about lightfastness?
Lightfastness refers to the permanence of a pigment; some pigments tend to fade, darken, or otherwise change color with prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light, such as when displayed on the wall in a sunny room. The most lightfast a pigment is, the longer it can withstand the sun without changing color. Some pigments can last for hundreds of years. Others – fugitive pigments – tend to fade within months, unless kept away from light (such as in a closed sketchbook) or in carefully controlled museum lighting conditions.
My favorite online pigment experts, such as Bruce MacEvoy and Kim Crick, tend to base their opinions of various pigments in large part on lightfastness. But is this something I really need to care about as a beginner?
(My short answer is no, by the way, but read on.)