Latest Posts
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Artist Palette Profiles: Marie Boudon
Marie Boudon is watercolor artist from Lyon, France, who created the popular French language Youtube channel Les tribulations de Marie. She has written several books; her general watercolor book, Paysages à l’aquarelle, is currently only available in French, while some topic-based books have been translated into English, such as J’ose créer (Dare to Create), Fleurs…
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Nobody has to see it.
Fear of messing up is a major roadblock for beginners getting started, and for folks of every level starting a new piece. This is especially true of artists with a history of perfectionism. What if I’m bad at it? What if I make a mess? What if I waste my supplies? In theory, I’ve learned…
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Brand Overview: M. Graham & Co.
Founded 25 years ago by two fine arts graduates, M. Graham & Co is based in Oregon, USA and focuses on producing hand-crafted, small batch watercolors with a northwest blackberry honey and gum arabic binder. According to their web site, honey was selected for its ability to create “stronger, truer color” and “even, fluid washes.”…
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Color Bridges: Making Color Sing, Chapter 15
I’m working my way through Jeanne Dobie’s Making Color Sing. Last time, we finally finished the five-chapter run on glazing. Now, we introduce a new concept: color bridges. Color bridges are soft transitions from one section of the painting to another by dropping some of the color from section A into the color for section…
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Art with a Latex Allergy
I have recently developed a latex allergy, which has been destabilizing in many ways! Latex, aka natural rubber, is in so many household objects, and it’s often not disclosed or labeled. The standard advice is to “ask the manufacturer,” but I have found that many manufacturers, or at least the representatives I am able to…
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Brand Overview: Da Vinci Paint Company
Da Vinci Paint Company is an American professional paint brand founded in 1975 (not to be confused with the German paintbrush maker also called Da Vinci: they are unrelated.) A family-run, small-batch company, they make watercolor, gouache, and oil paints in their mill in Orange County in southern California. At this time, they offer 127…
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Brand Overview: QoR
Brand Overviewis a series where multiple posters give their opinions on a brand. Thus far, we have covered Schmincke Horadam, Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, Holbein, Roman Szmal, Rosa Gallery, White Nights and Rembrandt. QoR watercolors are produced by the company Golden Artist Colors which was founded by Sam Golden in 1980. Sam is known…
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Brand Overview: Rembrandt
Brand Overview is a series where multiple posters give their opinions on a brand. Thus far, we have covered Schmincke Horadam, Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, Holbein, Roman Szmal, Rosa Gallery and White Nights. Rembrandt Artists Watercolors are a professional level watercolor made since 1899 by Royal Talens from the Netherlands. They also produce a…
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Ian Roberts’ Intersection Center of Interest Rule
Not all Youtube art videos feel like clickbait to me. For example, Ian Roberts’ One Simple Compositional Structure to Improve Your Paintings feels nicely straightforward: it contains a specific tip! In case you’d rather read than watch, Roberts suggests this structure for organizing the composition of a landscape painting: The center of interest is at…
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Brand Overview: White Nights
Brand Overview is a series where multiple posters give their opinions on a brand. Thus far, we have covered Schmincke Horadam, Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, Holbein, Roman Szmal and Rosa Gallery. Nevskaja Palitra White Nights is a professional grade watercolor produced in St. Petersburg, Russia. Their name White Nights comes from the nights in…
