Blog

My Favorite Artists: The Restoration of Matisse’s Swimming Pool

Henri Matisse has long been one of my favorite artists. This is in spite of the fact that he probably isn’t my favorite artist to study or even look at. He has probably influenced me more than any other artist. I never chose to use bold colors, but it’s certainly a strength of mine, and Matisse’s paintings, particularly A Glimpse of Notre-Dame in the Late Afternoon, absolutely helped me to understand that my use of colors works in the public eye. When to Use Archival Materials One thing that I’ve been concerned about is using archival materials. I’ve done

November 17, 2014

Could Cadmium be banned in Europe?

Being an artist, it’s a little disheartening to be held hostage to making color in today’s world. Actually, that’s too dramatic. I could always make my own colors, and to be honest I’d love to learn how to do so. But there are some colors that are really useful and I can’t see myself making them on my own any time soon. The cadmium colors (red and yellow in my studio) are very useful. In fact, I typically work with just these colors: cadmium red, cadmium yellow, ultramarine, cobalt, cerulean, and titanium white. I mix in some other tones from

November 11, 2014

Technique Instruction: Basic Forms

As a self-taught artist, I needed to learn some basics before I could move on to more complicated projects. Of course I’m still developing, and still need to practice just as any other artist needs to. But when I came across a site by Bill Martin I had forgotten how fun it is to go back and practice those things that one first learns. I like to keep things simple in my own art, often focusing on bold colors and basic forms. Going back to the basics always leads me down new avenues. Discovering this site brought to light many

November 5, 2014

Material of the Month: Why Cheap Oil Brushes Aren’t A Bad Idea

What’s the most important thing to oil painters after oil colors? The answer is probably the brush. There are many different ways to put color onto the painted surface, but brushes are the most common. I use brushes probably 80% of the time, but not all brushes are created equal, and the surprising thing that I have discovered is that the brand and / or quality of the brush may not matter that much in the grand scheme of things. As a self-taught painter, I’ve needed to learn about my materials on my own. Of course, artists with an official education

October 31, 2014

Movement and Period: Modernism

What in god’s name is Modernism? It’s a question that I’ve thought about often since a friend of mine figured I fit into the movement. I’m not sure that I fit into any movement, to be honest. I’ve been told I’m an Expressionist, partly because I express myself when painting (which seems a bit foolish) and partly because of the emotional reaction people get from some of my paintings. Another has called me a figurative painter with a flair for the abstract. Apparently I have a bit of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art in me, though honestly neither of these

October 27, 2014

Book Review: Watercolor Book

Bob MacEvoy has a lot of information regarding watercolors. Below is some text and a link to the site regarding his book review of The Watercolor Book by David Dewey. He has other book reviews, and if you click on his sitemap then you’ll see a lot of other watercolor related links. “Dewey – This is one of my all time favorite art books, a model of concise instruction, wise advice, deceptively simple exercises, and compact design. Like they say on TV: if you buy just one watercolor book, make it this one. Dewey gives equal emphasis to materials, theory, technique,

October 23, 2014

Greg Mason Burns