Art Challenge
What's Relative?
Authored by Lisa Larrabee. Value is relative. Temperature is relative. Color is relative. There is that…
Articles by Instructors
View allPaint with Charcoal
Authored by Lisa Larrabee. Charcoal is both bold and forgiving. You can blend and smudge charcoal or sharpe…
Light and Shadow
Quick & Bold Graphite Studies
Authored by Lisa Larrabee. Graphite is a staple for any artist. It can be used for a variety of purposes, …
Art Challenge
Take Risks with Color!
Authored by Lisa Larrabee. Value does all the work, but color gets all the credit . That phrase gets thr…
Color
Start with Color
Authored By Lisa Larrabee Why start your drawing or painting on a color? A background color can set the mood…
Art Challenge
Setting the Tone
Authored by Lisa Larrabee. What do you consider before starting a drawing? An obvious choice would be to st…
Art Challenge
Negative Space
Negative Space
(Why It's Such a Big Deal!)
Authored by Lisa Larrabee. If you do an online image search for "negative space drawings," you …
Art Challenge
Why Make Studies?
Authored by Lisa Larrabee. Artists often create studies before beginning their artwork. A study can be a de…
Art Challenge
The Freedom of Using an Opaque Medium!
Authored By Lisa Larrabee Why are we so afraid of change? Wow, that’s a big question. Let’s reign it in a bi…
Color
Why Draw or Paint from Life?
Authored By Christy Olsen. It enhances essential skills such as visual-spatial thinking, depth perception, …
Palettes
Ancient Pigments
Authored By Christy Olsen. Greek and Roman statues appear white today, but many of these sculptures have con…
Color (Temperature)
What is Color Bias?
Authored By Christy Olsen. Manufacturers that make paints to sell commercially use traditional pigments, b…
Drawing
Become a Pencil Connoisseur
Authored By Christy Olsen. Graphite pencils are great for sketching or drawing because they produce grey or…
Achromatic
Achromatic, Monochromatic and Chromatic, Oh My!
What does it all mean? Any 2D image, including drawings, paintings, or photographs, can be defined or describ…
Light and Shadow
The Anatomy of Shadows
What lurks in the shadows? A higher contrast of lights and darks than any local color. Shadows tell us a lot.…
Color
Navigating the RGB Color System
The purpose of the RGB color system is to display a colored image within an electronic system, such as a tele…
Medium (Mixed Media)
Urban Sketch or Art Journal?
Authored By Christy Olsen. Sketchbooks or journals (visual or handwritten) are all diaries. They are a recor…
Elements of Design
What is Texture?
Authored By Christy Olsen. " Texture " is both a tactile and a visual phenomenon. It refers to th…
Design
What is Nōtan (濃淡)?
Authored By Christy Olsen. Nōtan (濃淡) is a Japanese word meaning dark-light. There is no English language e…
Color
The Color of Light
Authored By Christy Olsen. When it comes to 'hue' or color, lighting is everything. Without some fo…
Color
Tone, Mass tone & Undertone, Oh My!
Usually, we want harmonious color combinations derived from color relationships. However, nothing undermines …
Color
What are Color Systems?
'Color Systems' or 'Color Models' are based on the physical process of mixing hues or colors.…
Color
Color Space for Painters
Color Space is defined as a specific organization of colors, and many different models depend on whether you …