One of my secrets for letting go and painting more freely is to make it easy for myself to create. That’s why I always have a few backgrounds going at once in my studio. I add layers whenever I have a few minutes – some acrylic inks. acrylic paints, paint pen and water-soluble oil pastels. Painting these first layers helps me stay loose and adds... Continue reading

As I’m painting, I’ll often fall back to the techniques and colors I know will work. Trying something new feels uncomfortable in the moment. But when I look back at the photos I take of my paintings at early stages, I can more easily step outside the emotion I feel as the artist creating and just become the viewer. That’s why I do whatever it... Continue reading

For years I stopped painting. All of my early artwork ended up in the basement or trash, so I thought, “What good is it to paint?” I never thought anyone would want to see my work. I went to college to study biology, but I couldn’t stay away from the art room. I couldn’t help myself from painting on everything and anything. I found a... Continue reading

Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope you’ve been enjoying the holidays. I’ve been taking some time to really slow down and indulge in being creative. But a few days ago I was painting and I got really frustrated. Sometimes a painting just won’t come together. I try all of my tricks. I add ink drips and spray paint splatters for more looseness (or to cover... Continue reading

I’ve learned that if I’m striving to be perfect in my art, I just end up frustrated and make a muddy mess. So instead, I take a step away whenever I stop having fun. Then I start a new painting and play… that’s when owls and backgrounds are the perfect thing to paint. It’s so often the things I don’t plan in my paintings that... Continue reading

All of my early paintings ended up in the basement or trash. I never thought anyone would want to see my artwork. I was working a draining day-job as an editorial assistant at a newspaper and I thought, “Does it even matter if I paint?” It hurt my heart to not create, yet I buried my desire and, for years, I stopped painting. But I... Continue reading

Whenever I need to loosen up, I start playing with color and experimenting with art supplies. I’ve always loved experimenting with spray inks in my paintings. I used to hand cut stencils on paper and add spray inks to create a gradient effect (layering many colors over one stencil). Lately I’ve been using acrylic inks more for splatter experiments. In a recent painting, I made... Continue reading

Do you ever just want to throw your painting away? This happens to me (a lot). Usually it’s the eyes or face I want to completely get rid of and cover up. Oftentimes I’ve overworked them and they look way too perfect and painted on. That’s when I dump water on top of the face and scrub away the layers until just a few lines... Continue reading

The owl that’s featured in my Free Painting Workshop is one of my favorites to create, especially whenever I’m stuck and need to paint a character with it’s eyes closed (this makes painting eyes so much easier). But lately I’ve been painting more characters with their eyes open. One of my favorite ways to begin these big eyes is to start with two fingerprints on... Continue reading

In every painting I use acrylic paints, acrylic inks, oil paintsticks, liquid watercolors, paint pens and water-soluble pencil. Then when I hit an ugly stage or when I’ve been painting over a face again and again, I dig deep into my art supplies and get something I haven’t used in a while for new inspiration. Here’s some of my favorite supplies: *Stabilo Marks All Coloring... Continue reading