Art Mediums & Drawing

What’s your favorite fine art medium in which to work? Find what you’re looking for here, or discover something new! Our articles include works on pastel, watercolor, oil, acrylic, colored pencil, collage, mixed media, how to draw people and more. Learn a new art technique or enhance what you already know with our hundreds of art instruction resources.

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

Where I Get My Vintage Illustration Fix

Tiger Tree's Buttons

In my heart, I belong to Cincinnati. This town is known for loyalists, and even though I typically buck against the current, this is one instance in my life where I proudly flow along with it in content tranquility. That is why I always feel slightly guilty when I skip over all the cute little jars of buttons near the registers of all the cute little stores in Cincinnati. I do this because I know about a well-kept secret tucked on the second floor of a shop. Full Article

Posted in Art Mediums & Drawing, Creative Art Ideas Inspiration Tips & More, Other Art Mediums Including Gouache Tempera Digital & Collage, The Artist's Magazine Blog, Top Art Blogs, Uncategorized | Tagged Creative Art Ideas Inspiration Tips & More, Mixed Media | 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

Posted in Best Art Books from Jen’s North Light Picks, Still Life Painting & Composition: Fruit Vegetables Vases & More, Top Art Techniques & Tips, Watercolor Art: How to Techniques Painting & Landscapes | Tagged Still Life Painting & Composition: Fruit Vegetables Vases & More, Watercolor Art: How to Techniques Painting & Landscapes | Comments Off

“My heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils” | A Donna Dewberry Art Lesson

Daffodil+06

Don’t miss this free painting demo by Donna Dewberry: How to Paint a Daffodil Using the One-Stroke Painting Method. Full Article

Posted in Acrylic Painting Techniques & Art, Art Mediums & Drawing, Painting Flowers: Floral Art, Subject, The Artist's Magazine Blog, Top Art Blogs | Tagged Still Life Painting & Composition: Fruit Vegetables Vases & More | Comments Off

Pastel Pointers | Shades of Green, Part 1

pastel pointers with Richard McKinley May 13, 2013

Put two or more landscape painters together and inevitably, the topic of how to handle green arises. Skillfully finessing green requires an understanding of its relationship to and interaction with the other colors of the spectrum and ultimately a degree of theatrics. These skills are even more pertinent during the season of Spring when the bones of Winter begin to adorn themselves with the most intense green foliage. Full Article

Posted in Art Mediums & Drawing, Get Pastel Journal, the Ultimate Resource for Pastel Artists, Pastel Art Techniques Painting Landscapes & More, Richard McKinley's Pastel Pointers Blog, Top Art Blogs | Tagged Landscape Painting: Techniques & Tutorials | Comments Off

Art That Makes You Think (Twice)

Splash+by+Fa-Hardi+Ljubica

When I opened the pages of Strokes of Genius 4, The Best of Drawing: Line and saw ‘Splash’ by Ljubica Fa-Hardi, it appeared that perhaps face paint or Kool-Aid had splashed the subject–this little girl with a squinched face, but… Full Article

Posted in Art Competitions, Art Mediums & Drawing, The Artist's Magazine Blog, Top Art Blogs | Tagged Art Contests & Competitions, Creative Art Ideas Inspiration Tips & More | Leave a comment

Crystal Clear | 3 Masking Tips from Soon Y. Warren

Paint+cut+crystal+in+watercolor_Roses+and+Crystal

Crystal vases are beautiful to behold–even when they stand empty, gathering and splaying rays of light that dance with a tilt of your head. But they present a unique challenge for the artist: the clear glass and refracted light take … Full Article

Posted in Art Mediums & Drawing, Still Life Painting & Composition: Fruit Vegetables Vases & More, Subject, Top Art Blogs, Watercolor Art: How to Techniques Painting & Landscapes, Watercolor Artist Blog | Tagged Creative Art Ideas Inspiration Tips & More, Watercolor Art: How to Techniques Painting & Landscapes | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Acrylic Painting Techniques & Art, Art Articles: Education & Topics, Art Mediums & Drawing, Cityscape Art, Creative Art Ideas Inspiration Tips & More, Landscape Painting: Techniques & Tutorials, Portrait & Figurative Art: How to Draw or Paint People & Figures, Read The Artist's Magazine, Subject, Top Art Techniques & Tips | Tagged Acrylic Painting Techniques & Art, Landscape Painting: Techniques & Tutorials | Comments Off

Marvin Saltzman Online Gallery

Dordogne No. 5

In the Spring 2013 issue of Drawing, we featured the work of Marvin Saltzman, a painter who, when looking for inspiration, travels the world and draws the places he visits. In the issue we focused on his graphite pieces. Here, we … Full Article

Posted in Drawing Magazine, Drawing Techniques: How to Draw People Animals Landscapes & More, Oil Painting Techniques Tips & Instruction | Tagged Drawing Techniques: How to Draw People Animals Landscapes & More | Comments Off

Paint Bold Blooms and Blossoms

Paint+flowers+with+pastel

In celebration of colorful blossoms, today’s newsletter focuses on a unique floral painting by Lyn Diefenbach, of Yeppoon, Australia, third place winner in the Still Life and Floral category in this year’s Pastel 100 competition. Full Article

Posted in Art Mediums & Drawing, Painting Flowers: Floral Art, Pastel Art Techniques Painting Landscapes & More, Pastel Journal Blog, Subject, Top Art Blogs | Tagged Painting Flowers: Floral Art, Pastel Art Techniques Painting Landscapes & More | Leave a comment