Thomas Hill (September 11, 1829 – June 30, 1908) was a brilliant American artist known for his atmospheric landscape paintings. Most of his landscape paintings feature the Yosemite Valley and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Hill was associated with the Hudson River School, which refers to a group of painters who painted large scale … Read more
This post will be all about using an analogous color scheme to create beautifully harmonious paintings. I will say first and foremost that a color scheme is not really that important. I rarely start a painting with a pre-determined color scheme in mind. The color scheme itself does not really create harmony, it is just … Read more
In this post, I discuss how you can use a high key to create beautiful displays of color in your paintings. So what is a high key? It means you push all the values in your painting towards the lighter end of the value scale. So your darks will become mid-tones, and your lights will … Read more
In this post, I will discuss one point perspective and how you can use it to create more realistic artworks. Perspective in art can be broken into two areas – atmospheric perspective and linear perspective. One point perspective is a type of linear perspective. One point perspective is a system to assist in realistically rendering … Read more
Giovanni Boldini (December 31, 1842 – July 11, 1931) was a masterful Italian painter who is known mostly for his stunning and elegant portraits. He painted with a beautifully fluid style and amazing use of color to render form in his paintings. In fact, a Time magazine referred to him as the “Master of Swish” in … Read more
Looking for some drawing inspiration? Here are 21 of my favorite drawing quotes to help inspire you. “Drawing includes three and a half quarters of the content of painting…Drawing contains everything, except the hue.” Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres “I draw like other people bite their nails.” Pablo Picasso “I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as … Read more
Being able to take a great reference photo is an important skill for artists, even if you paint from life. You do not need to be a great photographer to take a great reference photo either. Photography has come a long way in recent years and we can really take advantage of it to improve … Read more
Leading lines are one of the most effective and under-utilized composition tools available to artists. Leading lines are essentially lines that lead people through the painting, usually towards points of interest. These lines can either be created using actual lines in your painting or organically through the arrangement of elements in your painting (for example, … Read more
Sir Arthur Streeton (8 April 1867 – 1 September 1943) was one of the leading Australian landscape impressionist painters and a member of the Heidelberg School. He is one of my favorite landscape painters, mostly due to his ability to so accurately portray the Australian landscape. Many of his paintings are in a very high … Read more
I absolutely love sunset (and sunrise) paintings. During these times of the day, the contrast between light and dark sharpens, the details start to fade and all these beautiful colors start to get involved. As there is generally less clarity in sunset scenes, you need to rely more on color and light to create interest … Read more