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Last week, I shared this gallery of some of my favorite paintings by Paul Cézanne. Let’s take a closer look at one of those paintings to see what exactly is happening behind the scenes. Here’s View of Auvers-sur-Oise—La Barrière. (Click here to see a high-resolution photo of the painting.) A Familiar Subject The painting conveys … Read more
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Let’s cover a tricky topic: determining the right strategy for your next painting. Your strategy is the general plan or approach for how you will end up with a painting that’s faithful to the subject and conveys your ideas. It broadly covers questions like… What medium will you use? What brushes? What colors? What style? … Read more
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This is an interview with Wayne Malkin. He’s not only a renowned seascape painter but also a co-owner of the Montville Art Gallery in Queensland, Australia. I’ve been visiting this gallery since I was a child alongside my parents and now as a parent myself with Elora. With each visit, I’m reminded of how many … Read more
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In this post, I’ll share some of the tests you can use to check the accuracy of your paintings or to diagnose mistakes. I’ll use my recent painting, Elora and White Roses (shown below), to demonstrate my points. Why These Tests Are Important and When to Use Them Of course, the key benefit of these … Read more
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This is an interview with professional artist and master landscape painter Dan Schultz. One of his high-key landscapes caught my eye a few years ago on Instagram and I have been following his work on and off ever since. He has taken the time to answer a few questions about his life as an artist, … Read more
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Let’s take a closer look at Ploughing in the Nivernais by Rosa Bonheur. It was Commissioned by the French government and won Bonheur a First Medal at the 1849 Paris Salon. It’s perhaps her most famous painting behind The Horse Fair which she painted a few years later in 1855. I’ll cover: Overview It’s a … Read more
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2022 is over and now’s a great time to reflect on what went well, what went wrong, and what’s the plan going forward. I did this back in 2020 but missed 2021 (consistency isn’t my strength). What Went Well Here’s what went well during the year: What Didn’t Go Well 2023 Goals My goals haven’t … Read more
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I was introduced to a new painting by Vincent van Gogh the other day, Interior of a Restaurant. I’m surprised that I’m still seeing van Gogh paintings for the first time, especially considering I’ve been writing about art for over seven years now. He may have lived a relatively short and turbulent life, but it … Read more
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This is an interview with Susan Goddard, a dynamic artist and master watercolorist. She’s also the mother of my closest friend, Ted. I’m grateful to have her answer a few questions about her work, watercolors, and the art life. Q: When did you start painting? Since I was knee-high to a grasshopper! I was interested … Read more
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This is a detailed guide on painting hair and fur—whether that be human hair, artificial hair, animal fur, whiskers, etc. I’ll broadly refer to all this as “hair” from hereon. Big, Simple Shapes One of the most common mistakes beginner artists make when painting hair is getting caught up in the tiny details. They paint … Read more
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