Category Find Your Art Subject

The following is an excerpt from Magazine (April 2001), in a feature article by Greg Schaber.“Portrait painting is about taking complexity and making it simple,” Richard Schmid says. “A real professional breaks things down into stages and sets up ways to simplify the enormous amount of information to be found in a person’s face.

From rocks, mountains and trees, to rushing and still water, you’ll love these achievable landscape pencil drawing lessons from favorite art instructor, Claudia Nice!After a review of art materials, such as drawing paper, a range of pencils and the marks they make, erasers, and more, Claudia takes you through steps to draw landscape elements in this unique drawing tutorial!

Wherever you are in your day I think you’ll find it easy to let your eyes and mind linger for a moment with today’s featured art. It spotlights the watercolor paintings of John Salminen: Master of the Urban Landscape (From Realism to Abstractions in Watercolor). Each painting in this book invites you to look into the daily, easily forgotten moments; maybe even hear the sounds that accompany each scene.

Yellow Nasturtiums (oil, 20×24) by Nancy Bea Miller was a finalist in the Still Life category of the 23rd Annual Art Competition.Background in art: “My parents met at the Art Student’s League, so I grew up in a very art-friendly atmosphere and I just did what came naturally. When I graduated high school, however, my parents were very against my becoming an artist as a profession, knowing first-hand what a difficult field it can be in which to make a living.

Keiko Yasuoka’s paintings take you to many places. And these are just her landscapes.Her still life paintings are simply beautiful; and they vary in style, making an interesting collection of work. Keiko is featured in Watercolor Artist (February 2013). In case you haven’t bought your copy yet, I’d like to share her recommended creativity challenges that are meant to inspire you to take your work to new places.

Mark Menendez is a portrait artist who has an incredible passion for teaching. I’m so pleased to share with you this QA we held recently. Make sure you read all the way through–you’ll get a kick out of a slight misunderstanding he had with a beautiful student, which he shares here.CH: What’s the most common question you hear from beginning artists, and what is your answer to that question?

This article on still life artist Harriet Shorr, written by Rick Stull, originally appeared in the January/February 2011 issue of Magazine.Still life artist Harriet Shorr has eloquently written and spoken about her paintings, addressing the knotty issues of form, content and meaning—issues that often raise as many questions as are illuminated during such discussions.

Painting Flowers Step by Step: Pansy Powerby Birgit O’ConnorWhen painting small flowers like pansies, it’s often hard to recognize a good composition from a poor one. The immediate response is usually to clump the small flowers together and make a bouquet. I recommend, instead, treating the pansy as you would any other flower: Focus on shape, shadow and color—the elements that can transform these small wonders into a bold composition.

Sign up for our newsletterStay up to date with the latest content, educational resources, promotions and special news from our partners.For the Artist, Maker and (Forever) InspiredArtist Network is with you every step of your art journey. Come have fun with us! Come make art with us!About UsContact UsFAQsSubscribeAdvertise With UsGET THE MAGAZINESOur Sites: WetCanvas | Southwest Art | Collectors Guide© Copyright 2020 Golden Peak Media.

When representational landscape painters are asked what motivates them to paint, they often speak of the light. Some are drawn to the quiet mellow lighting associated with the wooded interior and others to the highly contrasted light of early morning or late afternoon. Artists also mention the atmospheric glow of thick air associated with moisture and pollution, or reference the clarity of thin air linked with higher elevations as motivation.

Sign up for our newsletterStay up to date with the latest content, educational resources, promotions and special news from our partners.For the Artist, Maker and (Forever) InspiredArtist Network is with you every step of your art journey. Come have fun with us! Come make art with us!About UsContact UsFAQsSubscribeAdvertise With UsGET THE MAGAZINESOur Sites: WetCanvas | Southwest Art | Collectors Guide© Copyright 2020 Golden Peak Media.

Before starting a painting, most artists do a series of composition sketches to evaluate design elements. Referring back to them as the painting progresses keeps the painting on track, often producing a more solid outcome.While it’s always useful to have the initial composition sketches at hand for reference while painting, there is another tool that can provide another visual means to painting evaluation—a piece of clear picture framing glass and dry markers.

Finding inspiration in a grand vista, a glorious sky or a majestic forest is nothing unusual for an artist. Rarer, though, is the artist who can go beyond a pleasant rendering of the scenery to reveal an intellectual, emotional or even spiritual connection.You’ll find the work of five such artists on this page.

A trio of pears. A collection of gourds. A bowl of apples. As a still life subject, painting food—particularly colorful fruit and vegetables—is a timeless choice. While their subjects may certainly include classics—cherries, lemons, tangerines—they’ve also widened their exploration of the genre, extending their search for subject from the produce department to the candy aisle, bakery case and beyond.

Rocks needn’t be a static element in a landscape. Renowned pastel artist Albert Handell translates the exciting shapes and beautifully nuanced color into dramatic pastels.In the June 2013 issue of Pastel Journal, Handell offers insight into how he approaches the subject, perhaps ironically, based on lessons he learned years go while painting still life and the figure.

An unexpected gift received more than 30 years ago led English artist Peter Thomas to pastels—and the French countryside. Since then, pastels have been his medium of choice to paint the serene, pastoral landscapes of his adopted homeland.In the June 2013 issue of Pastel Journal, Thomas shares how he came to the medium and how he captures the beauty of his bucolic surroundings.

Wondering how you can create bolder, fresher pastel paintings? One of the first things pastelist and workshop instructor Jeanne Rosier Smith challenges you to do is to ask yourself if any—or all—of these five lies is contributing to your overworked paintings:1. “I don’t need to plan my whole painting; I’ll just figure it out as I go along.

As the foliage of Southern Oregon, my home, begins to peek with its beautiful palette of red, orange, and yellow, I am again reminded of just how difficult the season can be to paint without appearing artificial and garish. While the topic has been frequently discussed over the last five years of the Pastel Pointers blog, it is still one of the most difficult for many pastelists to deal with.

Loriann Signori is an artist friend of mine who brings an unbridled amount of energy and passion to her pastel and oil landscape paintings. A self-described painter of luminosity, Loriann divides her time between studying the landscape with small plein air paintings that provide color notes and interpreting them back in the studio for her larger paintings.

Whether it is to paint them, climb them, hike them or simply gaze upon them, people are drawn to the mountain landscape. In the August 2013 issue of Pastel Journal, we looked at artists who regularly turn to mountain scenery for inspiration. Sometimes the mountain itself is the main player in these painting compositions; other times, it plays a supporting role to other elements or themes on which the artist wishes to focus.