Birdsong Grows The Lily Blooms, oil on panel, 10×8″ A few questions for the creative-minded individuals who might find themselves at times feeling pulled in different directions: What does it mean to create something viscerally felt, that s…
I started working on an update for my oft-referenced How To Get Into Publishing post from 2017, but that’s turning into a bit of a monster overhaul, so I’m breaking it into multiple parts. While you wait, you can check out the original post…
I just finished the semester of SmArtSchool with Scott Fischer for our Team Teach class. Our guest this year was Sarah Wassell, art director with Wizards of the Coast. She connected well with our ten students and they showed her their best
Thanks Ron These insights are great! The steps are very helpful towards the goal of seeing with fresh eyes. I especially appreciate step 4. “Interrupt the label.” I love it and look forward to applying it.
Every artist you admire is looking at the same world you are — same light, same faces, same ordinary Tuesday afternoon. So why does their painting of a chair make you feel something, and a photo of that same chair doesn’t? It isn’t talent,
Wow, how time flies. It feels like just yesterday. It’s a shame to be so far away, but that doesn’t change the feeling of happiness. This tradition is truly magical! I wish all the best to you and to the people who will be able to take part…
I’ve been working and doing a lot of events this year, but I still find time to make a little progress on the next chapter of my comic, Cut Flowers. Here’s a little sneak peek, the pencils for one of the upcoming pages! For those who want t…
For this episode of my Muddy Colors series called Conversations with Artists, I interviewed artist and entrepreneur Leah Fanning. We talked about her nature-inspired artwork, unique approach to picture-making and her Natural Earth Paint art…
I put together my first sketchbook in 2008. That first one was a random mess of stuff. A hodgepodge. But I really liked doing it. So in 2009 I made another. And then next year another. I liked the sort of “benchmark” aspect of it all. The t…
I hate transferring my sketch. I hate it. Every method I have found is tedious. Projectors and transfer paper lose important small details, and to get out of the way of the projection, I lean and bend in unnatural positions for long periods…
It’s no secret to anyone that’s been following Muddy Colors awhile that I am really deeply interested in the psychology around why people become artists, and how becoming a “professional” “full-time” artist affects that. For example, I’ve w…
During my classes online, I’m asked by students over and over again, ‘show me how I can improve my paintings.’ Besides needing to get better at drawing, paint mixing and application, composition, and value control– handling light is the mos…