I just wrapped up a 30 paintings in 30 days art challenge. I’m so glad I challenged myself to do this because I saw myself grow as an artist. I improved my ability to paint a variety of subjects and I also learned where I’m weaker and stronger. I’ve come out of the challenge with […]
I did a 30 painting art challenge Read More »
Colour temperature doesn’t mean the actual physical temperature of a colour – it’s the psychological feeling it provides. Think of a shadow. It often looks like a cool dark blue colour when compared to a lit area. And inversely, a lit area looks like a warm orange or yellow compared to a shadow area. Understanding
Colour Temperature Explained: Warm and Cool Colours for Artists Read More »
I love painting coneflowers, also known as echinacea. I grow them in my garden and every year, they’re an inspiration for a painting. I painted a loose acrylic painting of three coneflowers, and you can follow along with me. I snapped a few photos on my phone so I would have images to help develop
How to paint coneflowers in acrylics Read More »
A few years ago, Liquitex launched a new set of acrylic paints – a cadmium-free version of their cadmium paints. This wasn’t your average cadmium-free alternative. Liquitex claims that artists can’t tell the difference between the two. Real cadmium acrylic paint Cadmium paints are beloved by many, many artists because of their strong tinting strength
Cadmium vs. cadmium-free paint – are they the same? Read More »
Creating a colour wheel with all my colours plotted onto it has probably been one of my biggest leaps forward in understanding colour.
I plotted all my acrylic paints on a colour wheel Read More »
I’m looking at two blue acrylic paints that aren’t overly common on an artist’s palette – Anthraquinone blue and azurite hue. I first used Anthraquinone blue during an art workshop where the instructor provided a wide selection of paint colour choices and I loved the dark, deep blue in my paintings. Nowadays, I don’t use
A paint tube label is filled with language and codes that might not be easily interpreted by a new artist. I decode many of the words, codes and jargon on the labels so you can purchase a tube of paint with confidence. As I show examples, keep in mind that different manufacturers sometimes use some
Decoding an acrylic paint tube label Read More »
I recently posted a blog about colour wheels, and in that post, I focused on three colours and how they mix together – ultramarine blue, cadmium-free yellow medium and cadmium-free red medium. Today, I’m creating a painting using just those three colours. This is a great exercise to help understand the range of colours you
Unlock a limited landscape palette using just three colours Read More »
Years ago, I was taking a painting class and the instructor raved about quinacridone/nickel azo gold. I bought myself a tube, then promptly forgot about it. Recently, I heard quinacridone/nickel azo gold was taken off the market. A while later, Golden came out with an alternative paint: azo gold. I picked up a tube to
A replacement for quinacridone/nickel azo gold? Read More »
Learning colour theory means learning the language that goes along with colour. Understanding what each term means can make it easier to follow what various artists mean when they talk about the colours they’re using. I’ll share the meaning of several words but it’s important to understand that some words are consistently accepted in colour
A beginners guide to the language of colour theory Read More »
