Saturday, August 05, 2006

Not seeing at all

Many people that come into a gallery and don't see the first painting on the wall and have no idea what their eyes just drifted over. I'm sure this carries over into their daily life concerning observation. However, there are those few who come into the gallery and get absorbed into the work and see things with the same interest as the artist sees them. Those few keep the blood in an artists veins from clogging up while the other group can soon make an artist wonder why he or she is bothering at all.

Purchasing Art

I believe many artists like myself are suffering from people who have WalMart mentality when it comes to the appreciation and the purchase of art. The Giclee print is also sounding the death nell for original art.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

More is sometimes less

I avoid knowing too much about the subject I'm painting. Knowing too many facts can prevent an artist from feeling the essence of the subject. When that happens the painting becomes more of a report and less of a work of art.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Watercolors

Watercolors can be as rich as oils or acrylics but few use the medium to its full extent. Just because they are water colors doesn't mean they have to be watered down to where they appear insipid. Put some color on there, deep and dark.

Dark to Light

Make your painting darker than you think it needs to be, then work your lights over your darks and let some of those darks show through. It will give your paintings more richness and texture.

Seascapes

I'm not one to copy others work, but the best way to learn how to paint seascapes is to look at others who paint them well.