Can you Paint on Paper with Acrylic? Definitely! If you're looking for a full step by step tutorial that you can follow along with visually, I've made a YouTube video all about the process, including priming your pages with gesso and mixing your colours. If you're looking for a detailed written breakdown, keep reading! Please note: the links below are affiliate links (Amazon) and I may receive a small commission should you purchase the product as a result of my recommendation. However, I believe in integrity above all else, so I will only ever recommend products that I personally use and have tested. Which Sketchbook is Best for Painting? For my sketchbook, I am using a Strathmore watercolor sketchbook with...
So. Many. Mistakes. This could be said about almost every painting I've created. If I were to summarize my artistic process into a sentence, it would be this: doing my best on the first shot, then fixing it until it's right. Since colour and value are contextual, my first attempt sometimes means taking a shot in the dark and hoping for the best. This was certainly true for this painting of the Rocky Mountains. I made a series of mistakes with this piece, starting immediately with the drawing. If you've been following me for a little while, you'll know that I NEVER paint on a white canvas. But for this particular piece, given that it was completely dominated by blues,...
This post is for all you artists who are hoping to gain some traction on Instagram, and to offer an explanation for any artist who feels like their own growth has stalled. Last year, I felt pretty confident on Instagram. I understood what elements were required for a good reel, and typically had strong engagement on my posts. I felt like I had it all figured out. Until I didn’t anymore. In Spring 2024, Meta announced that they were changing their Instagram algorithm to be more similar to that of TikTok. The changes immediately slashed engagement on larger accounts, and boosted engagement on smaller. How the Instagram algorithm works (the ultra simplified version): The old algorithm would show your reel to 7-10%...
Ahhh, summer. The longer, hotter days invite us to slow down, relax, and spend some time taking care of ourselves before the busyness of fall. And if you're anything like me, that means tending to your neglected reading list. I currently have an embarrassingly tall pile of unread books staring woefully at me from beside my bed. If you're looking for a new summer read, I've put together my top five art-related book picks for summer 2024 in this blog post. Some of them are classics that I've had for years, and others are new favourites. But each one comes with a wholehearted recommendation and stamp of approval from my studio. Also…it was really hard to choose just five. So...
They look like photos! This is often what I hear when people flip through my landscape acrylic painting sketchbook, but that's usually because they're not looking too closely. If you were to take a careful look, the paintings have a loose, impressionist quality, focused on capturing the spirit of the landscape through colour and form. They're not so worried about the details, and instead hone in on a general impression of place. This is why I love sketchbooks; not only do they give me the opportunity to practice different techniques and strategies, but they force me into paring back detail and concentrate on what's really important. After all, how many hours have we as artists wasted fussing over details that, in the...
