IDA MAE

Blog Posts

  • 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…

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  • Landscapes and Hue

    Finding a Universe in a Single Rectangle Before you pick up a brush, consider this: What if a single block of red could hold the memory of a sunset? What if a blue rectangle could describe the horizon? That is the world of Etel Adnan (1925–2021). The Lebanese-American poet, essayist, and visual artist didn’t paint landscapes. She…

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  • summer WATERCOLOR26

    SUPPLY LISTS Local/Online Art Stores to Explore: We are so lucky to have these incredible resources right in our backyard. One of the biggest “aha!” moments in watercolor is realizing you only need one color to create a stunning, dimensional painting. The secret? Value (how light or dark a color is). In class we created a value scale using…

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  • Britto Ditto

    Bright colors, bold patterns, and a stained-glass soul If you’ve ever seen a painting that feels like a carnival for your eyes you’ve probably been looking at the work of Romero Britto. The Brazilian neo-pop artist turned the art world on its head with a simple recipe: Vibrant primaries + geometric fragments + joyful subject matter…

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  • Music Fuels the Future

    Blue Goose Art Store 361 Oakland Ave, Rock Hill, SC, 29732 To Submit: Complete form at Click Here ART EXHIBITION & FUNDRAISER Donations : 40% of all Sales Lark Youth Arts Lark Youth Arts invites visual artists to participate in “Music Fuels the Future,” a community art exhibition and fundraiser supporting youth arts education. This…

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  • Your next class…

    Unlock Your Creativity with Ida Mae Whether you are a complete beginner or looking to refine your artistic eye, taking a class with Ida Mae offers a supportive, inspiring environment. Learn more from three distinct mediums. This summer she will be teaching the fluid beauty of watercolor, the bold texture of acrylics, and the spontaneous…

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