Build your own plein air easel!

By Fine Artist Mark Reeder

This is a project that I have been looking forward to completing for some time now. I am very happy to have this finished and look forward to getting out and putting it to use...

 

 

Do You Know How To Play?

I think I have forgotten how to play.  I used to be good at it.  As a matter of fact, I wanted to do it all the time!  But, as I've gotten older, and with all the children I've had the honor of being "mother" to, I've become an old fuddy-duddy.  My favorite activity at the age of 52 is sleep, and to admit that I've turned into my mother is quite obvious.

 

Graphite Portrait Study - "Amanda"

By Harold Brooks

This is a portrait study "Amanda" using Graphite on Stonehenge print making paper.

 

 

 

 

Too Much Creative Energy For My Own Good

But hey!  It was fun!  And that's what artist's do - have fun, right? Who cares if I have about 10 loads of laundry to get done, or dishes to clean, or carpet to vacuum, or paintings to work on.  I was inspired by the original artist of the Obama Hope Poster, Shepard Fairey.  

 

Beautiful Works from New Zealand

By Artist Lorna Allen

Sharing with you some great news.  I have been accepted into a South Island Gallery here in New Zealand.  It’s a fairly new gallery which has only been operating a few months however has an eclectic collection of work and passionate and eager people there running it.

Marcia Macdonald: Artist, Master Jeweler, Goldsmith 1958-2010

Red Easel would like to pay tribute to Marcia Macdonald who was a master artist at her craft as a jeweler and goldsmith.  She worked for a time at the Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art bringing a positive energy to Green Hill and the Artist community.  She will be deeply missed.

Scientists Unlock Secret of Mona Lisa's Face

 The Mona-Lisa is exhibited at the Louvre in Paris.  It is estimated to be valued at more than 100 million US dollars.  Mona is short for Madonna Lisa Gerardini, who was the wife of Francesco del Jiocondo of Firenze.  There is, however, another theory that the picture is of Constansa Develos, who was named by La Jaconda and was the mistress of Julianno de Medichi.  The first buyer of the Mona Lisa was Francis the 1st, King of France in 1517.  Amazingly, the King hung the painting in his toilet room.

Now for today's story ...  

Nature Scapes - Innovative Painting Techniques

Book: Nature Scapes
Author: Terrence Lun Tse
Publisher: Northlight Books

Terrence Lun Tse has taken the ordinary out of creating nature scapes and made them extraordinary.  In his book, he covers materials & techniques and offers demonstrations for every season of the year.

The More I Sew, The Better I Am At Painting

The brain is a wonderful taskmaster, and I have discovered that as I pursue multiple creative interests, that the challenges I find in one thing may help me solve the challenges I find in another.

I believe that all creative people have multiple interests, many just focus on one that they really love more than the other, while others bounce back and forth from one creative interest to another - like myself.  I'm a bit nutty that way I suppose.  I have an over-active right brain - and left-brain too for that matter!

A Free Online Event for Artists! And it Looks Like Fun Too!

 In this FREE online event, join artist Sterling Edwards as he shares his four-step process for achieving luminous landscapes. He'll show you that the key to creating depth and luminosity in your watercolors is developing your mid and dark values in the beginning stages of the painting rather than the end. You can have beautiful colors, intriguing shapes and interesting textures, but values are what make the painting inspiring. 

 

5 Reasons to Title Your Art

Thank you to Alyson Stanfield for featuring my artwork in this week'sArtBiz Coach Newsletter!  Alyson sends out a weekly newsletter with stories that help artists become better at their business of fine art so that they can spend more time in the studio and less time worrying about galleries, curators, and shows.  Her insight is excellent and has helped me improve the promotion of my own artwork!  

Below is this week's Action ... 5 Reasons to Title Your Art:

 

Cool Chromatography Experiment

 Have you ever wondered exactly what colors are used to make a particular color?  How about black? Have you wondered what colors are used in the making of black? Well, let's perform a simple science experiment to extract the colors from any array of washable markers you like.

Chromatography is one of the simplest techniques for separating the individual components of a mixture. In chemistry, a mixture is a combination of substances that can be separated because they are not chemically bonded. (As opposed to a compound, which has elements chemically bonded together.)