Month: July 2013
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To Mix or Not to Mix Colors, That’s the Question
By Marion Boddy-Evans At an exhibition opening on Monday a friend and I were talking about how you recognize particular colors/pigments in certain artists’ paintings and how with others the colors are more individual. A phthalo blue/green turquoise was one color instantly identifiable in several paintings; lemon yellow another. It’s led me to pondering the use of […]
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Absolute Beginners to Painting: 16 Commonly Asked Questions
By Marion Boddy-Evans Looking at a great painting it can be hard to remember that every artist was an absolute beginner at some stage. But it’s true, no-one is born with a paint brush in their hand, everyone learned from scratch at some stage. This list of commonly asked questions will help you get started on […]
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Monday Motivator: Put More Paint in the Sky
By Marion Boddy-Evans “I used to paint the sky with thin mixtures of paint, but find I am better able to capture the shimmer of light when I have more paint over the entire canvas.” — Kim Casebeer, PleinAir Magazine, June/July 2013, page 51 Or, to paraphrase: “Use more paint!” What’s working best for your skies? I’ve been […]
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Selling Paintings: Which Subjects Sell Best?
All painters know that some subjects sell better than others. Whether these are subjects you want to paint and whether you should be painting specifically for the market are two thorny questions. Only you can decide whether you want (or need) to paint with a view to selling as much as possible, or whether you […]
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Can I Use the Same Artist’s Brushes on Oil and Acrylic?
By Marion Boddy-Evans There are two ways this question can be meant: 1: Can you use the same set of brushes in both your oil and acrylic paintings rather than having separate sets? 2: Are there types of brushes that should be used only with oil or acrylic? I put a piece of masking tape around […]
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How to Write an Artist’s Statement
An artist’s statement is a short piece written by the artist to accompany a particular painting or group of paintings. An artist’s statement shouldn’t be dismissed as insignificant or dashed out in a hurry as it’s a vital selling tool, promoting and explaining your work to people looking at your paintings, whether they’re potential buyers, […]
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How to Set a Price For a Painting
Setting a price for a painting is hard. If you overprice your work, you may not sell anything but, conversely, if you under-price it you may not recoup your costs or get taken seriously. Here’s How: Research the market to find out what other artists are charging in your area. Prices will be more in […]
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How to Sign a Painting
Adding your signature to a painting is like adding a stamp to it that reads “finished”. It’s a sign that you’re satisfied with the painting and no longer consider it a work in progress. Is It Really Necessary to Sign a Painting? It’s not a legal requirement, but if you don’t add your name to […]
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Juried Art Shows
On occasion I am asked to help jury an art exhibit. These requests are never answered right away. This is a great responsibility, of course not life and death, but responsibility nevertheless. Always I am an artist and as such experience the anticipation and often the disappointment when the juror’s results come back. How long […]
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How to Create a Body of Work and a Distinctive Style as an Artist
If you’re looking to get gallery representation, or to sell your art in some other, more innovative way, we have to assume that you already have a body of work that consists of at least 20 or 30 works in a style, medium, colors, and subject matter that distinguish you from every other artist in some way. […]
