Blog Posts
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Monochromatic Painting
Have you ever noticed how a single color can create incredible depth, drama, and emotion? This week’s acrylic painting project explores the power of monochromatic painting. Create an entire artwork using black, white, and one additional color of your choice. A monochromatic palette helps artists focus on what truly makes a painting successful: value, light,…
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Impressionistic Color and Brushwork
Few artists have captured emotion and movement through paint as powerfully as Vincent van Gogh. His swirling skies, energetic brushstrokes, and bold use of color continue to inspire artists today. What Was Impressionism? The Impressionist movement emerged in France. Rather than creating smooth, highly detailed paintings, Impressionists used visible brushstrokes, vibrant colors, and broken marks…
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Creating Texture & Fur
One of the most rewarding watercolor subjects is a beloved pet. Whether you’re painting a dog, cat, rabbit, squirrel, or another furry friend, the key to a successful animal portrait is creating convincing texture while capturing the unique personality of your subject. For this week’s assignment, we’ll focus on painting a squirrel as a study…
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Mastering Edges in Watercolor
One of the most expressive tools available to watercolor artists is the use of edges. The way one shape transitions into another can create focus, atmosphere, movement, and depth. In our upcoming watercolor course, we will explore four important types of edges and learn how to use them intentionally in our paintings. You tube 1.…
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Pears w/ Palette Knife
If you’ve ever wanted to loosen up your painting style and create bold, expressive marks, painting with a palette knife is a wonderful place to start. In this week’s acrylic painting class, we will paint pears using only a palette knife, allowing texture, color, and gesture to become important elements of the artwork. Unlike brushes,…
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Still Life and Shadows
Anatomy of a Shadow : Cezanne, Oil on Canvas, still life , 1878 One of the most exciting parts of learning to paint is discovering how light transforms ordinary objects into beautiful works of art. Whether you are painting a simple apple or an elaborate still life arrangement, understanding the anatomy of a painting helps artists…
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Watercolor Skys
Check out these previous blogs : Blooms Painting Beautiful Watercolor Skies Easy Washes and Effortless Cloud Techniques One of the most magical subjects to paint in watercolor is the sky. From soft sunrise colors to dramatic storm clouds, watercolor’s transparent nature makes it the perfect medium for capturing atmospheric effects. The secret to creating stunning…
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Urban Sketching 6.6.26
Art by Mike Daikubara Quick Packing Checklist Sketchbook (9×12 or 11×14) 2B & 6B Pencils / Ebony Pencil Kneaded Eraser & White Eraser Fine Liner Pen Set (0.2mm, 0.5mm, 1.0mm) Color Medium of Choice (Pencils / Markers / WC / Pastel) Washi Tape Stadium Chair Clipboard Binder Clips (2-3) Amazing Local Urban Sketching Artists To…
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Underwater Magic
Lifting, Blotting, Bleeds & Blooms That unpredictable dance is why we love watercolor. But unpredictability doesn’t have to mean chaos. This week, we are going to tame the water by learning four core techniques: lifting, blotting, bleeds, and blooms. Then we will use them to paint an underwater world filled with fish, turtles, and drifting plant…