Palette Knife Portrait Demo

The challenge for you as a painter is to successfully represent 3D objects on a 2D surface. One way to meet this challenge is with this knife-painting technique demonstrated by Carl Samson, who describes his methods for creating the portrait shown above.   Authors says "Using the palette knife technique lets you quickly push the side plane behind the picture plane—without losing the structural integrity of the form with too much blending. Also, the palette knife allows you to freely paint the visual impression. The knife does the work for you by unifying and softening these receding planes without destroying their underlying structure."

Portrait Painting Tutorial

“Gwyneth” (20"x 24" oil)

Karin Wells graciously shares the techniques she used to create this award winning portrait titled "Gwyneth", which won the Certificate of Excellence at the Portrait Society of America's International Portrait Competition in Philadelphia in 2008.

Leopard in Acrylic, Step by Step

Silent Stalker by William Silvers
24" x 30" acrylic

Wildlife artist William Silvers provides step by steps instructions for painting a leopard crouched in a tree. Silvers says:  "In this painting something has caught the attention of this leopard on the prowl. I wanted the painting to be moody, Illustrating how only

Wildlife Demonstration: Moose

"Lake Boss" 12" X 8" Oil by Shalese Sands

Artist Shalese Sands says:  It’s always interesting to see how other artists create their work, and it can be a great learning tool.  I will take you through my usual “technique” (if you want to call it that) that I use with almost all of my paintings. From start to finish, you can see one of my paintings progress.  Click here for wildlife demonstration.

Rusty Old Truck Watercolor Demo

A brief slideshow demo from Brenda Swenson showing the steps she used to create this watercolor painting of an old rusted and dented 1946 Chevrolet pick-up.  Brenda says:  "I have been fascinated with these old vehicles for years and a large body of my work represents them.... I was captivated with the way the light streamed across the front of the fender and grill."

Tom Nachreiner, oil

Follow along with professional artist Tom Nachreiner as he paints this sunset harbor scene with boats. Lots of step by step photos taken during a live workshop.

Knife Painting: Colorful Sunset by the Sea

Quiet Sunset, Leonid Afremov, oils 30"x36"

Popular artist Leonid Afremov shares his knife-painting technique in this 49-minute video tutorial.   In this lesson, he shows, in step-by-step detail, how to paint a colorful sunset on the ocean, with boats, similar to the oil painting shown above.  Paintings by Afremov sell for thousands of dollars in a retail gallery.

Woven Strawberry - Watercolor Weaving

Looking for something different to do?   Kay Smith presents a unique way to create texture in your paintings.   This demo is a very large strawberry painted twice on separate 140 lb cold press paper, then cut one into horizontal strips and the other into vertical strips to weave together. This "Watercolor Weaving" tutorial shows the step progression from beginning to end so that you may get up the courage to try a weaving yourself.

It's in the Bag!

A Gem of a Bag by Jaye Schlesinger

Wouldn't a painting of this recognizable bag be a nice accent to a bedroom or bath?  Jaye Schlesinger and Artists Network share some step-by-step photos demonstrating the techniques needed to paint this Tiffany & Co bag in oils.  The artist says that she wanted to create a trompe l’oeil effect with this painting.  She also points out that, for the painting to read correctly, it's necessary to re-create that particular shade of robin’s egg blue.

Paint Lake with Distant Cliffs

"Quiet Morning: Ramah Lake" by M.C.Johnson

In this step-by-step tutorial, pastel artist Michael Chesley Johnson describes his methods for painting with a local color underpainting.  Johnson says:  "I want a quiet, very harmonious finished piece, so I try three values of a cool, purple-violet for the underpainting and layer cool "local" colors on top of this, saving my warm touches for the red cliffs."   Johnson gives us valuable advice about using a limited palette and sticking with a value plan.  He says:  "I mark my lightest and darkest areas. This shows me at a glance the range of values I must stick with in the painting. No color will be lighter or darker than these."

The Art of Ann Templeton: A Step Beyond
by Michael Chesley Johnson and Ann Templeton
The Art of Ann Templeton explores the world and work of Ann Templeton. With over 120 full-color plates, the book illustrates her use of materials and techniques, her travels, and her approach to workshops, as well as her take on what it is to live the life of an artist. Primarily a plein air painter, Ann Templeton has developed techniques over 30 years of painting to capture the landscape quickly and to interpret it with her unique vision of color and design.

Peace Rose in Watercolor

In this lesson, you will learn how to paint a light-colored rose of two colors; pink and yellow. You will learn which colors make warm and cool shadows, as well as which colors will deepen the values.   Dawn McLleod Heim has provided step by steps instructions and a line drawing for this rose.

Watercolour demonstration by Paul Talbot-Greaves

Watercolor, Paul Talbot-Greaves

The Farsley and District Art Club in the UK shares some step-by-step photos of a watercolor demonstration by artist-author-instructor  Paul Talbot-Greaves .  Subject of painting is the tree-shaded lane shown above.

Colored Pencil: Green Apple Still Life

Colored Pencil Drawing Tutorial: How to Draw a Green Apple, step-by-step by Brian Duey.  Brian says:  "When most people hear "green apple", they assume that the majority of color will be green. Those people are wrong. There will be a few greens but there will also be a lot of neutral browns, yellows, greys, and warmer redish tones as well. Throughout this tutorial I will refer to pencil colors." (Prismacolor)

Poured Watercolor with Stephen Blackburn

Watercolor by Stephen Blackburn

Stephen Blackburn has received international recognition for his watercolor paintings.  He concentrates on close-focus subjects such as florals and still lifes.   The artist says that "pouring pigments is a great way to keep colors pure, although it does take some planning to achieve the right effect."   Blackburn explains his technique for poured watercolors in this article titled "Liquid Watercolors",  reprinted from "The Artists" magazine (in PDF format).

Horse Portrait in Watercolor

 Step by step watercolor demo by Twyla (Ironhorse) of a Quarterhorse named "Star".   Many progress photos shown.

How to Paint Cat's Eyes

A short step-by-demo demo painting a cat's eyes in watercolor by Barbara at the Wet Canvas forum.

Watercolor Batik

Tuscan Window by Kathie George

Learn how to energize your paintings by combining the techniques of batik and watercolor. A step-by-step demo by Kathie George.

With batik, wax is used as a resist—and if you’ve ever used masking fluid on watercolor paper, you understand how a resist works. The wax blocks the areas that