Postcard Paint-Alongs | Technical How-to

Christmas Trees with Lights at Night

Experimenting with the concept of a lighted Christmas tree at night on a snowy slope. Can we create the illusion of light? Paint along with me and let’s see if we can pull it off.

Planning Your Own Watercolors | Technical How-to

Paint Shapes, Not “Things”

Want your paintings to look unified? It helps to combine “things” into larger shapes, and then use smaller shapes to (partially) separate them. Here’s an exercise to help you practice. First, set up a still life with a couple of simple objects. Avoid anything that has a lot of pattern, texture, reflections or complicated edges—you…

Supplies and Materials | Technical How-to

What’s a Cradled Board?

This must be one of the questions I get asked the most often! I used to mat and frame my watercolors. From time to time someone would ask if I could frame them without glass. I knew of some watercolorists who were painting on canvas or boards that were specially prepared to be absorbent enough…