I’m sure you’ve heard it by now: Don’t compose your painting with a focus in the center of the painting because that doesn’t excite the viewer’s eye. But sometimes that’s exactly what happens despite ourselves. That’s what happened to me in a recent painting. In this video, I demonstrate how to change the composition to […]

Creativity and imagination are found inside all of us. But there are times when something gets in the way of our flow of ideas. Have you ever felt like your inspiration left you, or that your well of ideas have dried up? One minute you’re happily creating, and then poof! The ideas and thoughts seem […]

How do you go from having an idea and inspiration for a painting to executing it on the canvas? Well, I have developed my own simple quick solution that I’m going to share with you today. I start by working small, combining colors and shapes on postcard-sized sheets of paper.  When I come up with […]

While there are many ideas about how to give your painting depth, using many layers is the answer for me. Adding and subtracting over and over again not only gives tremendous depth, but also exciting unexpected surprises in a painting. Putting things the painting, then painting over them multiple times gives the painting an intriguing […]

Creativity is a tool we all use to create art. Combine that with imagination, and you’ll find unlimited options for what your mind and hands can design and develop. Merriam-Webster defines creativity as “the ability to create.” If you dig a little deeper into the definition, you’ll see that creating is the ability to bring […]

Do you find yourself striving for perfection in each of your paintings? It’s hard not to, especially when you’re painfully aware of the hundreds of individual decisions that go into creating each painting. Unfortunately, aiming for perfection and being afraid of making a wrong decision actually get in the way of creating successful paintings. Over […]

How do you begin an abstract painting, especially a really large one?   First of all, everyone begins in a different way.   Some people start with an idea in mind, while others begin with nothing in mind, and some do a combination of those two.   After many years of painting I have found […]

What do you do when you need some color inspiration for your painting? Do you sit there and think and think…and come up dry? Whether you’re about to begin a painting or you’re in the middle of one and you’re stuck because you don’t know what colors you want use next, I have an idea […]

Once your painting is sold, you’ll likely never see it again. When one of your paintings goes to a collector it is out in the world. There are lots of reasons you might regret it if you don’t keep good records of your works. You may want to show them to someone interested in commissioning […]

Do you struggle at times to come up with compositions of shapes for your paintings?  And do you hesitate to try a shape on the canvas because you don’t want to make a mistake?  Call me guilty on both counts. Or at least I used to be, until I found a couple of ways to […]