Key Discovery: Notan
Why do certain paintings win art competitions? The answer lies a lot in the harmonious arrangement of black, white, and gray in the painting. A synthetic arrangement of dark and light creates an...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Using Color to Create Eye Movement
One objective measure of the quality of a painting is how long the viewer can stay interested looking at it. I have discovered that master paintings use many techniques to create this eye movement....
View ArticleKey Discovery: Put More Detail in One Area
A painting is much more interesting for the viewer if it has areas that the viewer spends more time looking at. Usually there is something, an interesting shape or color, or an idea, that attracted...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Exaggerating Color Spots
This is a painting I did on location (“en plein air”) in Segovia, Spain. The problem I faced in this composition was how to tie together the masses of warm colored buildings with the large green areas...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Brushwork and Atmospheric Perspective
As objects move into the distance, the lights get darker and the darks get lighter. This is just one of the effects of atmospheric perspective that gives a landscape depth. Atmosphere is created by...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Adding Texture
You can use impasto brushstrokes (thick paint) to show the texture of an object such as the texture of the bricks and stones, as in this early morning painting I did of St. Marks in Venice. You can...
View ArticleMarch’s Master Artist: William Ritschel
William Frederic Ritschel (1864-1949) was an impressionist painter who was born in Nuremberg, Germany on July 11, 1864. As a youth, he worked as a sailor and began sketching seascapes. He studied art...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Communicating Emotion
Brushstrokes can convey the emotion you feel when looking at a scene. Fast, vigorous strokes can convey the excitement of turbulent water and crashing surf. Glassy, smooth surfaces of paint...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Visual Poetry & Music
Most master paintings, if not all, incorporate a mix of poetry and music. The poetry in the painting relates to the subject matter and how you deal with it to communicate, usually at an emotional...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Values
It was an eye-opener for me to discover how important values are in making your work look real. Did you know that 80% of the realism in your painting comes from choosing the correct value for each...
View ArticleHow To Books
These are the best How To books on my bookshelf. Please note that a lot of them may be out-of-print, but they are worth getting a cheap second-hand copy if you can find one. Title Comments Amazon UK...
View ArticleThe Virtual Art Academy® Book Club
Collect the most comprehensive and structured art reference library available anywhere on how to paint in any medium. Each month you will get a new art ebook that will take your painting to a new...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Reflected Light
Planes and surfaces in the light reflect light into the shadow planes of adjacent objects. This is called reflected light and is what helps to create the roundness of objects. The darkest part of the...
View ArticleFree oil, acrylic and watercolor painting lessons
If you are beginning to paint with oil, acrylic or watercolor paints and you are dedicated to learning how to paint, then our Virtual Art Academy Apprentice Program is for you. We have created a...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Dominant Values
The foundation of most good paintings is their value structure or notan structure (notan is the dark/light value pattern in your painting, and is a very important topic that I have written a lot about...
View ArticleKey Discovery
The foundation of most good paintings is their value structure or notan structure (notan is the dark/light value pattern in your painting, and is a very important topic that I have written a lot about...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Understanding Bias to Create Vivid Color
“Baked in Telluride” To mix vivid high saturation colors you need to know the bias of a color. Most primary pigments have a small amount of a second primary hue in them. This second hue is the...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Shape Variety
Always create variety in your shapes. For example, as you divide space in a painting, ensure that there is variety in the sizes of each shape created by the divisions ñ avoid equal sized shapes. Note...
View ArticleKey Discovery: Golden Section
Generally it is a not a good idea to put the most interesting part of your painting in the dead center (although any rules can be broken with a lot of knowledge and creativity). A good place to put...
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