Can you paint a lovely portrait or flower, but when it comes to the background you don't know what to do? This is an issue I hear from my students and followers on Facebook and YouTube many times over. Ideas on the Figure Ground Relationship Look for my tutorial...
Tutorials
Inspired by the Art Nouveau Style of Alphonse Mucha
In the late 1800's and early 1900's the beautiful refined style of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha became well known. I first saw images of his work at American River College when I was studying with Gary Pruner. Gary used Mucha's work, among others, to illustrate...
Class Project
In this six week session at University Art in Sacramento, I'm guiding my students in painting some little landscapes. I've worked on two pieces... Very simple color schemes, as usual. Winsor Blue Green Shade, Thalo Yellow Green (Grumbacher), Permanent Rose,...
Stretching Your Watercolor Paper
Watercolor paper expands when it is wet, creating an uneven surface to paint on. For control and a flat surface, artists soak and "stretch" their paper.  The paper is soaked in a tub of water for about 10 minutes then laid out on a hard surface, such as a...
Vancouver, Washington workshop coming up in October
My return visit to the Southwest Washington Watercolor Society in Vancouver is set for October. Â On the 5th I'll be judging their Annual Fall Art Show to be held at Vancouver Mall. Â Then on Tuesday, October6th - Thursday, October 8th I'll be conducting a workshop...
Ukiah Workshop
Back in March I travelled up to Ukiah, Ca. to teach a workshop. Ukiah has a wonderful art community with a new art gallery and classroom. Everyone wanted to paint portraits. Some were new to watercolor portraits, some old hands, but I think everyone enjoyed the class. I know I enjoyed teaching and painting with them all!
website: www.artcenterukiah.org
WASCO Workshop in Sonoma County, Ca.
Watercolor Artists of Sonoma County (www.wascoart.org) was my host in a week long workshop in March, 2009. Â For the first day I did a "follow along" portrait class. Â There was a large enthusiastic group working that day. Â The rest of the week it was "paint your own...