Author Archives: vanessaw

Demonstration: Make a [Water]Color Wheel

Posted on April 23, 2012 by vanessaw
wab

Learn how to capture the beauty and radiance of watercolor—even if you’ve never painted before! Professional watercolorist Annie Strack will take you through the essential techniques and concepts of watercolor painting. You’ll learn how to use your watercolor materials to … Full Article

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Journeys to Abstraction Preview

Posted on March 23, 2012 by vanessaw
journeys-to-abstraction-cov

Here’s a sneak preview from Sue St. John’s new book, Journeys to Abstraction. Read artist Lana Grow’s essay about her process on the image below. I had a special memory in mind when I created this piece. We have a … Full Article

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Drawing for the Absolute Beginner

Posted on February 21, 2012 by vanessaw
Drawing for the Absolute Beginner pack

Artist’s Network University has a new course starting today. Drawing for the Absolute Beginner will run through March 13th, and there are 11 seats left! You’ll also receive a $5 coupon to northlightshop.com if you use this link to register. … Full Article

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North Light Shop Sale!

Posted on January 18, 2012 by vanessaw
Covers for Szabo watercolor books

For two days only, January 18th and 19th, our online stores are hosting a giant January 50% off sale. This is not an overstock or warehouse sale — we’ve marked down our best-selling products by 50%. Our best products at … Full Article

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5 Great Gifts for Flower-Lovers

Posted on December 13, 2011 by vanessaw
Z7061 Kunz

These remarkable books and DVDs make great gifts for the floral artist in your life. Watercolor Quick & Easy with Joyce Faulknor (DVD) Follow along as Joyce demonstrates painting flowers in watercolor using unique approaches—mixing color directly on the surface … Full Article

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5 Great Books to Spark Your Creativity

Posted on November 30, 2011 by vanessaw
Artist's Journal Workshop

These great finds will help spark your creativity all year long. New Creative Artist, by Nita Leland Creative Time and Space, Making Room for Making Art, by Rice Freeman-Zachary Caffeine for the Creative Mind, by Stefan Mumaw & Wendy Lee … Full Article

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Draw a Street Scene With One-Point Perspective

Posted on November 8, 2011 by vanessaw
Fuller-4

Around Town In this lesson, Grant Fuller teaches how to draw a Street Scene in  One-Point Perspective from Start Sketching and Drawing Now. This will be a one-point perspective drawing from the street level with a single vanishing point. Materials … Full Article

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Zoltan Szabo’s Watercolor Techniques

Posted on October 4, 2011 by vanessaw
Zoltan Szabo

Shadows on Snow In this demonstration pulled from the re-released Zoltan Szabo’s 70 Favorite Watercolor Techniques, we’ll explore how to create shadows on snow. Pre-order this book to explore how to create sunlight on snow and 68 other techniques for … Full Article

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Create a Customized Paint Roller

Posted on August 30, 2011 by vanessaw
Lisa Cyr

  The following demonstration comes from Lisa Cyr’s Experimental Painting. Making a Customized Roller Using everyday materials, custom tools can be produced to introduce signature mark-making and imprints onto the working surface. Further expanding the visual vocabulary, one-of-a-kind instruments allow … Full Article

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Dark Blacks With Pastels

Posted on July 27, 2011 by vanessaw
Price Sunlight & Shadow

This excerpt from Maggie Price’s Painting Sunlight and Shadow With Pastels talks about using blacks in paintings. Using Dark Blacks The value of black or close-to-black colors in full shadow is usually the darkest value in a painting. Still, adding … Full Article

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