Grant Wood – American Gothic Grant Wood’s painting ‘American Gothic’ is a relatively small painting measuring 78 x 65.3 cm. It is an oil painting, painted on Beaver board; a type of fibreboard formed by compressing wood fibre into sheets. Completed in 1930 the painting was inspired by a visit to Eldon in Iowa, USA. […]
Read more
Colour Mixing This is the second in my series on, ‘You want to be an artist’. This art tutorial covers how to use colour. We start by explaining how to use the 12 colour, colour wheel. Understanding how the colour wheel works is essential for an artist. Starting with the basics of colour mixing, I […]
Read more
Using Photographs to Create a Painting? Too many people create a painting by simply copying a photograph. There is virtually no creativity in that, although it probably demonstrates a certain level of technical skill in being able to transfer the image to paint. If you want to create your own paintings, that are individual to […]
Read more
Do you want to know how to use ‘Thirds’ to compose a picture, drawing or painting? This art tutorial shows you how to divide your paper or canvas into ‘thirds’. Which in turn provides a means of creating a focus of interest in your painting or drawing. I explain how you, as the the artist, […]
Read more
This short art history video covers 10 facts you did not know about the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh. The 10 facts about Van Gogh’s life covers his prodigious letter writing to his brother Theo who financed the last years of Vincent’s life. Starting out as an art dealer Vincent did not start painting until […]
Read more
Want to know 10 amazing facts about about the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky? Starting with his early life in Moscow and Odessa, he moved to Law School and became a Law professor. But by the time he was 30 he had left teaching and moved to Germany to become an artist. Training in Munich, he […]
Read more
Pablo Picasso He was one of the creators of modern art. Want to know lots of fascinating insights about the great artist Pablo Picasso? The video is aimed at school students and those interested in art history. The video talks about Picasso being a child prodigy – he really could draw and paint brilliantly – […]
Read more
In this art video I’m going to explain how to use a paintbrush artistically, and creatively. If you use a paintbrush creatively you can produce wonderful brush marks on a canvas or paper. This video demonstration uses acrylic paint because it is easier to display strong colour. But the principles work with any type of […]
Read more
Creative Watercolour Painting I have recently come across the work of an artist called Michael Morgan. He is a great watercolour painter, whose landscape paintings could be mistaken for oil or acrylic paintings such is their boldness. This man is now in his 80’s and obviously has a wealth of experience, but what is amazing […]
Read more
Although I have used acrylic a lot over the past few years I have recently gone back to using oils. I had forgotten just how wonderful they are. It is not just the smell, but somehow the creamy mixture of the paint is more satisfying than acrylics. Yet, I do miss the speed with which […]
Read more
Acrylic Painting Tips Keeping Acrylic Paints Workable: Because acrylics dry so fast, squeeze only a little paint out of a tube. If you’re using a ‘normal’ plastic palette invest in a spray bottle so you can spray a fine mist over the paint regularly to keep it moist. ‘Stay-wet’ palettes – where the paint sits […]
Read more
Watercolour Painting Basics In this art tutorial on how to paint a landscape in watercolour. This is the 3rd in my Watercolour painting basics for beginners series. I start with an outline landscape drawing. The landscape drawing is done on 300lb watercolour paper and is drawn with a soft pencil so no groves are created […]
Read more
