Top Art Techniques & Tips

Bring new life to your work with our wide selection of art demonstrations, techniques and tips. A new painting pointer, drawing trick or art tool might make the difference in your next still life or portrait. Now you can paint with knives or learn how to scumble. Art techniques can stretch across media, so whether you work with watercolor, oil, colored pencil or pastel you’ll find something to advance your art.

Water-Soluble Colored Pencil Demo | Gary Greene

Step 4

Gary Greene shares his step-by-step wet-on-dry technique for creating Flower Power (water-soluble colored pencils and wax-based colored pencil on paper, 17¾x24), as seen in the August 2013 issue of Watercolor Artist. Full Article

Posted in Art Articles: Education & Topics, Art Mediums & Drawing, Creative Art Ideas Inspiration Tips & More, Get Watercolor Artist: The Ultimate Resource for Watercolor Painting, Painting Flowers: Floral Art, Still Life Painting & Composition: Fruit Vegetables Vases & More, Subject, Tips and Tools, Top Art Techniques & Tips, Watercolor Art: How to Techniques Painting & Landscapes | Tagged Painting Flowers: Floral Art | Comments Off

Progression of Heavenly Hues: A Pastel Step-by-Step Demo

Stan Sperlak

In this excerpt from Stan Sperlak’s feature article “Into the Night” from The Artist’s Magazine (June 2013), Sperlak demonstrates how to complete a sunset landscape from start to finish. Scroll down to read this step-by-step demo, and learn how to portray with pastel the ethereal qualities of night. Full Article

Posted in Art Articles: Education & Topics, Art Mediums & Drawing, Landscape Painting: Techniques & Tutorials, Pastel Art Techniques Painting Landscapes & More, Read The Artist's Magazine, Subject, Top Art Techniques & Tips | Tagged Landscape Painting: Techniques & Tutorials, Pastel Art Techniques Painting Landscapes & More | Leave a comment

Watercolor Painting Techniques from Soon Warren

cherries 05 web

Soon Warren has three new watercolor painting videos out that you’re going to love! Learn how to paint cherries in a glass bowl, koi fish in a rippling pond, and get great tips and techniques for creating great watercolor paintings. … Full Article

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Go for the Glow! | Luminescent Acrylic Paints and Tom Bacher

New York City painting by Tom Bacher in daylight

Using luminescent acrylic paints, Tom Bacher paints landscapes and portraits with spectacular lighting effects. He combines different brands of fluorescent and phosphorescent paints to achieve the look he wants for various elements in paintings that change in color and composition over time. Full Article

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Painting En Plein Air, Part 2 | Field Sketch Painting

Field Sketch Painting

In last week’s blog post, I described the thumbnail/value sketches involved in the first part of a plein air painting process I refer to as “Field Sketch Painting.” Once these sketches are evaluated to see if the composition is worthwhile, it is time to start the pastel painting. Full Article

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Learning to See: Step-by-Step Demo with Sarah Lamb

Three Pears (oil, 13x16) by Sarah Lamb

Nothing is hard to paint when you look at every object the same way. Squint—it’s the most important thing you can do to decipher values. Full Article

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Creativity Workshop | Series Response

Red & White Dinghy (watercolor on paper) by Annie Strack

                                                                                … Full Article

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Step-by-Step Demo: A Portrait in Colored Pencil

Opaline Dreams (colored pencil and water-soluble crayon, 20x12) by Shawn Falchetti

In this free painting demo, Shawn Falchetti’s demonstrates how to create his portrait painting “Opaline Dreams” with colored pencil and water-soluble crayon. Full Article

Posted in Art Articles: Education & Topics, Art Mediums & Drawing, Colored Pencil Art & Techniques, Portrait & Figurative Art: How to Draw or Paint People & Figures, Read The Artist's Magazine, Subject, Top Art Techniques & Tips | Tagged Colored Pencil, Creative Art Ideas Inspiration Tips & More | Leave a comment

Gouache and Airbrushing: A Step-by-Step Demo

Daniel K. Tennant demo with Gouache and Airbrushing; Apple and Strawberry (gouache, 8x10)

In this free excerpt from “Introducing the Airbrush” in The Artist’s Magazine (May 2013) by Daniel K. Tennant, he describes how to use a traditional brush, in combination with airbrush techniques, for a flawless finish in his still life painting. Full Article

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Step-by-Step Demo of an Oil Landscape Painting by David Ligare

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Engaged in his own version of time travel, David Ligare, with his confessed obsession with ancient Greco-Roman culture, creates his exquisite paintings in a search for primal unity. In this free excerpt from “Literate Landscapes” by Richard Stull in The … Full Article

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