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Some of the art and painting books I’m studying
I’m currently busy studying new art books and hoping to develop my art skills (particularly my painting techniques). Here are a few that I’ve already bought or am planning on purchasing soon. This list...
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Mini Tutorial: Starting your first oil painting
Dedicated to GizTheGunslinger! LOL. I was going to just write a response to a post she made in a previous post, but it got too big and so I made it into its own post. I was intending to write tutorials...
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Richard Armitage oil painting (Cold Feet) Work in Progress update #2
I thought I’d show and update of my Cold Feet portrait of British actor Richard Armitage, and talk about it a little and obsess about a few of the details. Perhaps some of my thoughts will be...
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“Color and Light” by James Gurney: MUST HAVE NOW
I just heard about this book from some other artists and immediately ordered it. It should arrive in a few days. It’s written by James Gurney, author of Dinotopia. I am familiar with Gurney’s work (saw...
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When things start to go wrong: Getting better accuracy in a painting (and...
It’s my own fault. I plowed right in and started painting, without doing enough preliminary sketching or measuring of my image. And this is what I get. But since I’m painting in oils and I don’t paint...
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Getting a likeness: Choosing the right reference photo
One of the things I struggle with in my paintings and drawings is getting a true likeness. I hope I usually do, but sometimes we are our own worst enemies and can delude ourselves. Because of this I...
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Realistic Expectations and Dishonesty Among Artists
Recently on an art-related forum, a new member showed some examples of their artwork. It was quite beautiful, showing a lovely handling of color and texture. The problem was that the artist insisted...
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I love shoulders (anatomy lesson, sort of)
I love anatomy. I don’t mean that in a medical way, and I don’t mean that in a lusty way. I mean I love anatomy. It’s beautiful and the more you learn of the symmetry and patterns present in anatomy,...
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Art-related FAQs (aka I’ve been visiting the DeviantArt forums)
Wherever cranky artists and 17-year-olds meet, drama follows. Which explains how I encounter so much drama on the art community DeviantArt, where I have an account. (I’m the aforementioned cranky...
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PAINT PORN Part 1 (Oil Paints)
Finally I have sorted out this month’s attempt at ruining my blog (it was hacked this time) and am now ready to post a bit of PAINT PORN. This is where I give an overview of different brands of oil...
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Another Anatomy Lesson, Featuring My Favorite Brit Actor (of course)
So there’s actually a sane, sensible reason for this post. Honestly, there is. First, let me show you a page from the much-referred-to and much-revered figure drawing book, “Figure Drawing for All It’s...
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A humbling experience (or, Lucas North has mumps), plus ground glass! (Paint...
I love my weird, cryptic blog titles. So I’m going to cover several different things in today’s post. First, I started a new painting of British actor Richard Armitage (soon-to-be of “Hobbit” fame!)....
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Pencil crosshatching tutorial, featuring Guy of Gisborne and Lucas North
LUCAS NORTH I CAN’T QUIT YOU!!! This darn drawing is taking over. I am beginning to hate him. Hate. I keep on revising and revising this sketch. It seriously is time to pull the plug. I figure if I...
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One hour speed drawing (& more about pencil portraits)
After my recent fiasco with Lucas North (several incarnations of this drawing were made and I still think I hate it), I decided I deserved something low-pressure. So I chose a photo reference to draw,...
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