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Have you ever walked into your art studio ready to create and found yourself entirely overwhelmed by the level of clutter and disorganization to the point where you slowly back out of your room and your creative spirit? The creative process can be a messy, wild one for many of us – paints pulled for…

“There’s a lot of spirit and a lot of soul in animals.  As I do people I realized I was able to capture that in people, and why not capture that in an animal.  I can’t get in there deep with an animal, have a conversation with it, talk to it, but I can certainly…

Have you ever started an underpainting and fell in love with the simple beauty of form and value in one color only to cover it up with the “real” painting in a variety of hues and find yourself subtly missing the original work? Monochromatic painting is not only something that can be done as part…

“Faces are really interesting.  People are interesting.  They carry a message with them, and I like to try to capture the emotion of the person, and the mood.”  More on finding the right reference and being an empath, below! Deanna Strachan-Wilson is an artist that wants to play and create art the way that she…

Have you ever felt that you default to one perspective, one compositional ratio, or one color palette? Do you look at your body of work and feel it becoming routine or repetitive? Finding the healthy balance between perfection-creating practice and feeling that your work is one-dimensional is crucial to long term success. We all know…

Do you ever feel like you always migrate towards one particular medium, neglecting the rest of your tools? Mixing up your mediums can be a fantastic way to shake yourself out of a creative plateau, try new techniques and add more depth to your current work. As artists our senses tend to be heightened –…

It would be marvelous to have a wide-open day to create from beginning to end with no interruptions. But if you’re like me, you’ve got the cell phone ringing, kids that need to go a million places, emails coming in, a business to run and oh wait, did I even eat lunch? The reality is…

Finally, an idea strikes! It’s in your mind perfectly – the subject, color palette and feeling. You pull out your art supplies and block off time to bring this beauty to life…but when you go to paint it feels stuck! The dread of artists block settles in, and we all are far too familiar with…

Straight From Our Community CREATING A SUCCESSFUL LANDSCAPE   This month we have a gorgeous new course out with Nikol Wikman!  It made me think about how we can support all of you landscape lovers out there!  We asked our artist community to share their tips on creating a successful landscape and THEY ANSWERED!  Keep…

I know better than most how hard it can be to find the time to create.  Running a business and raising a family take up most of my time, and I am so thankful for both!  However, I am always trying to find a bit of extra time to create.  My creating days are few…

I am Thrilled to Announce….   LET’S FACE IT 2022 Not Your Traditional Portrait Course ALL VIDEO CONTENT IS FROM ACTUAL 2022 LESSONS! REGISTRATION OPENS OCTOBER 18TH! First 500 Sign Ups – $99 Get on the wait list to be the first to know when registration opens! GET ON THE WAIT LIST! LET’S FACE IT…

Straight From Our Community CHALLENGE YOUR INNER ARTIST   This month on the blog, we are going to learn more from our community about challenging ourselves, as artists.  In order to grow in our practice, we have got to challenge ourselves.  It can be so hard to do, and that is why it is called…