353: Talking About Paintings
REALIST ARTISTS believe their work explains itself. They think what the viewer sees and feels is adequate. I sympathize with such ideas. But artists who can exp...
Category: creativity
337: Smashing a Creative Block
–ALTHOUGH I always loved painting outdoors, my plein air work lagged far behind the authenticity of my studio work. On a good day, I could achieve an imitation ...
320: Repetition Fatigue
–WHAT type of artist are you? When I began my illustration career, my intent was to be a science fiction/fantasy book cover illustrator. However, due to th...
297: Finding Your Style
–AT A CRITICAL moment in my plein air development I attended a prestigious art festival. My studio painting was in a precarious evolutionary...
276: Fostering Creativity
Persistence of Vision, by Debra Teare, oil on canvas Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and origin...
273: Painting an Acrylic, parts 3 and 4
6″ x 6″ closeup HERE are parts 3 and 4 in which I finish the 36′ x 36′ acrylic, Waiting for Spring. This painting session (comprising bo...
272: Using Pinterest
RIGHT before I went to New York I was advised by a mentor to “look at everything–suspend judgement and just look”. In New York City there was a lot ...
262: You Can’t Until You Can
OVER the last year I’ve written an unprecedented amount of posts about artistic improvement. Recently I’ve been reflecting on the idea that artists ...
261: Creating as Naturally as Breathing
“You must always work not just within, but below your means. If you can handle three elements, handle only two. If you can handle ten, then handle only five. In...
257: Art and Introversion
EVERY once in awhile I read a book that clarifies my thinking with such astonishing force I shudder to think of my future in the absence of such information. I ...
234: How to succeed in art
Ghost, Woodcut, 1.5″ x 1″ Due to factors beyond my control I’ve recently experienced a creative low ebb. To use the time produc...
228: Kinds of creativity
Much of the discussion of art is plagued with false dichotomies. Is realism the only legitimate art form, or is abstraction? There are at least two types of cre...
161 Frictionless creation
There is a concept circulating that suggests the main goal of the digital revolution is to reduce obstacles to creativity. This means eliminating barriers so al...
142 How to manage your brain
In the book The Chaos Imperative author Ori Brafman outlines the the biological mechanics of creativity. I consider myself well versed in the literature of both...