Tomatillos: A Still Life Demo in Green

green tomatillos

Lately, on my Fine Art Tips Facebook page, I keep getting asked how to mix the color green.  I plan to make a Youtube video on color mixing, but until then I thought you'd enjoy this little still life demo in green. My Facebook friend, Dorothy Lorenze painted the charming little still life below which successfully illustrates how to mix interesting greens. Tomatillos: A Still Life Demo in Green Tomatillos are odd little specimens, and the … [Read more...]

Understanding The Health Standards of Your Art Materials

ASTM d 4236

Do you understand the health standards of your art materials or know the meaning of ASTM 4236 on your tube of paint? ASTM International, formerly known as The American Society for Testing and Materials, is a large body made of volunteers that gather together twice a year to create quality standards for numerous consumer products. For the art material industry, the subcommittee, is notated as “ASTM D01.57” and is part of the paint and … [Read more...]

Staying Relevant: The Pop-Up Art Gallery

pop-up art gallery

Nowadays, successful art galleries are thinking outside the box - or gallery. Such is the case with the successful Missoula, Montana based art gallery, Dana Gallery. Each summer, Dana Gallery strategically travels to affluent mountain towns and converts empty retail shops into pop-up art galleries. Awarded the distinction of Missoula's top art gallery, Dana Gallery was founded in 1996. Co-owners and husband and wife team, Candace Crosby … [Read more...]

Clean Paint Brushes With This Quick Tip

artist paint brushes

Keeping our paint brushes in good working condition is not only important to the artist's productivity in the studio, but it is also important to the artist's pocketbook! Paint brushes are expensive. Nevertheless, sometimes we get rushed, or even lazy, and the end up with 'hard to clean' paint brushes.  Below is a quick tip to cleaning hardened acrylic paint from your brushes. I plan to give this one a try... ~Lori ***** Clean Paint Brushes … [Read more...]

Eco Friendly Art Brands and Materials

eco2cobra

In the recent post, How to Become An Eco Friendly Artist, artist Scott Denholm shared his interesting environmentally friendly studio tips. Please enjoy Part 2 where Scott gets specific. Below he shares his suppliers, and more great ideas, and examples to help you create your own eco friendly studio. ***** Transforming your art and studio to become environmentally friendly isn't an easy task, and many artists struggle. I'm also one … [Read more...]

How to Become An Eco Friendly Artist

eco friendly art materials

A few years ago, I made a decision to take a break from my art and re-establish myself as an eco friendly artist. The motivation was simple, but the task and how to wasn't so clear. The transition was much harder, and time consuming than I had originally planned. After talking with some like-minded artists, I soon found I wasn't the only one struggling. Fast forward a few years, and I'm now fully set up and running an eco friendly art studio. … [Read more...]

DIY: Build an Art Gallery Hanging System for Around $100

art gallery hanging system

Do you need a solid gallery hanging system, but you are short on money? In this DIY tutorial, you can build one for less than half the cost of a professional art gallery hanging system. You just need to be willing to invest some extra time to put the raw materials together to DIY (do it yourself). A gallery hanging system is the best way to display art because it’s flexible. You can change spacing, height and even quantity of artworks … [Read more...]

The Stone Sculpting Process

blue marble sculpture whales

Since prehistoric times, artists have sought to set free the images that they see trapped within stone. The methods they use have evolved over the centuries but, the basic process stays the same - the artist must remove the unnecessary material. It is a process of elimination. I think Auguste Rodin said it best... “I choose a block of marble and chop-off whatever I don’t need.” Step One: The first step is to obtain tools, equipment and … [Read more...]

Blogging & Social Media: Does it Steal an Artist’s Mystery?

art tweet

On Twitter I shared a popular post, Should Artists Have Their Own Blogs? According to Topsy.com, this topic sparked 108 shares on Twitter, however this interesting tweet caught my eye. I retweeted and commented to his response, and then I decided to ask my loyal Facebook friends on my Fine Art Tips fan page for their thoughts. I asked, "What do you think? Do you think blogging steals the mystery of an artist? If so, how do we promote … [Read more...]

Beyond Instagram: 5 Top Android Photography Apps

ventura freeway instagram photo sunset

For years, only iPhone owners could use the nifty photo app Instagram. The app’s release on the Android platform created a flurry of hype that’s rarely seen for any mobile app, much less for any Android app. Having tested Instagram on my Android, a  Samsung Galaxy from T-Mobile, I can see why the app is so popular. With expertly crafted, retro-themed filters (with pretty names like “Walden” and “Earlybird”), the photos you create … [Read more...]


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