“…the results only appear in the imagination.” By Jean Eng My cat has been stalking me. I decided to stalk her back—with a sketchbook. Nothing distracts potential ambush like a black book and drawing implement whipped out in front of her face. I furiously scribble impressions of feline interruptus curioso before she twitches again. It’s…
Category: on art
Kim Rae Taylor: Process Studies
The Making of Three Works By Kim Rae Taylor See her work in WTP Vol. V #1 Study 1 The shapes and textures that compose the surfaces of my paintings and drawings tend to be found within the natural world. I take reference photos of these elements and then look to the array of collage media I’ve…
East Asian water-ink painting
By Sungsook Hong Setton The plum blossom, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo are considered the four noble (‘gentlemen’) plants. When I studied with Master Chang in the 1980s I was restricted to learning only one stroke per month of study. The orchid leaf stroke was first, and he did not teach me anything else until I nearly…
Using Form, Color, and Narrative
The Copper Enameling Process By Judy Stone See her work in Vol. IV #2 Starting with a formed vessel or dish, I employ a range of metal-smithing and enameling processes to create vessels that are unique and evocative—perhaps influenced by the Native American cultures of the southwestern United States, where I grew up; or of Greece,…
Painting “Sacred Earth”
Carolyn Land on Painting The Circle of Life By Carolyn Land See her work in Vol. IV #2 I paint to find peace in a chaotic world. Painting becomes my meditation. I believe that the most authentic experience one can have is with nature. I am fascinated by the intricate designs that are created within…
Composition: Visual Weight
Composition Ideas to Make Your Art Stronger By Melinda Tidwell See her work in Vol. IV #2 Part 2 of 2 on Collage and Visual Weight In the last post [part 1] I mentioned that when we explore unity vs. variety, it kind of leads us to looking at something called visual hierarchy. As I…
Composition: Unity vs. Variety
Composition Ideas To Make Your Art Stronger By Melinda Tidwell See her work in Vol. IV #2 Part 1 of 2 on Collage and Composition. Collage is a great medium for artists who want to explore the wonderful world of abstract composition. Since you can try a lot of visual ideas without committing, it can really…
Free Online Portfolios for Visual Artists
Marketing Your Work by Shawn McNulty Shawn McNulty is a contemporary visual artist from Minneapolis, MN, whose work can be found in public and private collections all over the world. There are several high-traffic websites that allow artists to upload work and maintain a free portfolio. As an artist, it’s in your best interest to…
PaletteArt
From Accident to Environmental Art Movement by Emily Jaeger, Features Editor According to Lisa Levasseur, the founder of PaletteArt, the movement began as a fruitful accident: “When I painted my first acrylic painting, I was mixing too much paint and it would dry before I could use it all. So, I chipped it off my…
Trump Versus the Arts
What is Our New Reality? By Sandra Tyler, Editor-in-Chief This past August, in the Washington Post, Phillip Kennicott posed this question: “What would happen to the arts if this country turned to authoritarian leadership? If fundamental freedoms were challenged, if a strong leader gathered up the full weight of the regulatory state and started using…
Daniel Ketelhut: My Process
The Creation of “Hope in a Hopeless Place” By Daniel Ketelhut See his work in Vol. IV #9 Like most artists, my process has changed over the years and continues to evolve. With the help of a few photos, I’m going to talk about the way I currently create my paintings. That said, the process detailed below…
Monotypes: Printing on Plexiglass
Chinese Ink Landscape Washes By Donald Kolberg, Contributing Arts Editor There are times as a monotype artist when I fight the wall, the blank page, and the empty canvas. Then something catches my eye – a bit of news, a painting, something someone says, or, in my case, a video: Lotus Flowers: Explore the Plexiglass…