3 Things You Need To Become An Accomplished ArtistMary Whyte is a historian. Her watercolor paintings (mostly portraits) tell stories of individual Americans, documenting the truth of their daily lives in artworks that could stand on their own–even without the meanings behind them.There is without question strength in the composition, color and balance, but there is also an individual–the subject, if you will.

No Drawing or Painting … Right NowTake a break, and don’t draw or paint. OK, I was kind of thinking the world would end if I said it, but the apocalypse has not yet arrived, so let me explain.Right now, I’m tired. I’ve just finished a bunch of summer traveling, did tons of family activities and events that were fun, but after all of it, I’m a little worn out.

Using Color PencilsColored pencils allow artists to work with a drawing tool that has the control and precision of a hard-point pencil but obviously these pencils are “in color,” as opposed to a graphite or charcoal implement. Colored pencil techniques are similar to those of other drawing media, including hatching and crosshatching to create complex colors and tones on paper, and mastering how to build up color gradually while working with the white of the drawing surface, which is usually paper.

Sponsored byTwo Demos Using the Marabu Art CrayonEnjoy the buttery-smooth quality of a wax-based medium that has superior blendability? Looking for an art material that is highly pigmented and water-soluble for transparent effects and reductive techniques? If so, the Marabu Art Crayon could be the perfect art product for you.

Two Technology Studies Prove What Humans Like Most…for NowTurns out that in an era of smartphones, drones and “there’s an app for that” mentalities, human beings still put a premium on the human touch — at least in art-making. Two studies run out of the University of Leuven in Belgium found that human beings respond least favorably to robot art when compared to works by fellow human beings.

There is an enormous amount of information out there on the various methods for applying oil paint to canvas, but it seems to boil down to three schools of thought: thin painting, thick painting, or a combination of the two. The Thins, Thicks and Combiners each have their own icons and avid school of followers.