American Artist

Using Windex on Acetate Film

Q: I use an acetate film to protect my watercolors when I present them to clients and when I store them. Often, I use Windex to clean off fingerprints on the acetate. Do the chemicals in the Windex pose any problems to the pigments on the paper?

Cheap Joe's Classroom: Putting in the Sky

This video demonstrates an effective technique for painting the sky in a watercolor landscape.

Cheap Joe's Lesson 20: Putting in the Sky

Extreme Studio Temperatures

Q: I currently keep all of my finished oil and pastel paintings in my Manhattan studio. In the winter, the studio gets very hot because I can't control the heat. Can the extreme temperature hurt my paintings?

Visit the American Artist Community Site For New Editorial Content

As many visitors have already discovered, the American Artist online presence is currently transitioning to a new format. The new American Artist community site is already home to the American Artist forums, and fresh online editorial content is being shifted there as well. The content previously posted here can now be found in a collection of newly created blogs, brought to you by the editors of the American Artist family of publications.

Visit here for new content.

Reusing Thinner

Q: Is it possible to reuse thinner or turpentine?

Marion W. Hylton: Moving Easily Among Media

Gainesville, Florida, artist Marion W. Hylton is adept at oil, masterful in watercolor, and award-winning in pastel.

Using Oils on Paper

Q: When I paint on paper with oil paints, it is all right to prime it with acrylic medium?

Stapling Canvas

Q: I've heard that placing staples at an angle rather than parallel to the weave gives greater strength to a stretched canvas. Is this true?

Painting on Raw Linen

Q: I like the color of raw linen and the effect I get when painting directly on it with oil colors, but I have been told that this practice is problematic. Do I have to use primer and give up my favorite way to paint?

Cheap Joe's Classroom: Scraping

This video demonstrates how to incoporate scraping into your watercolor technique.

Cheap Joe's Lesson 19: Scraping

Visit the Quick Sketches Blog!

Visit the new Quick Sketches blog on the American Artist community site for information on noteworthy news items, exhibitions, award winners, and art supplies.

Drying Time for Watercolors

Q: I recently painted a watercolor that contained a larger, dark-brownish area where I combined Van Dyke brown, burnt umber, and green earth. In that spot, the paint took nearly two weeks to dry. What do you think occurred?

Saved From the Storm at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

This collection of work, on loan from The New Orleans Museum of Art, will be on display at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and features works from the 17th century through the mid-20th century that were spared from the devastating effects of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina .

Useful Art Links

We have provided a list of links to online art resources that we think are helpful. You can also access these links in the Art Educators section of our website.

Using a Grisaille

Q: What is a grisaille technique, and how can it help me?

Leonardo da Vinci: Drawings From the Biblioteca Reale in Turin

The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco’s Legion of Honor will host this exhibition of work by master artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Brian Smith: Figurative Abstracts

This Toronto artist has spent the last three years exploring abstraction of the human figure, blending his classical training with a new approach.

Visit the New Plein Air Blog

Check out the new Plein Air blog at the American Artist community site!

Visit the New American Artist Critique Blog!

Visit the new Critique Blog on American Artist community site!

Framing Acrylic Paintings on Paper

Q: I work primarily in watermedia and occasionally complete paintings done entirely with acrylic washes on paper or illustration board. How should I frame these works, and how does this method compare to handling oil paintings over paper?

Drawings for Writings

Mark Leithauser collaborated with his brother, the poet Brad Leithauser, on a series of books that expanded his imaginative powers, leading him to consider a multitude of new subjects.

Drawing Basics: The Cube

Learn to draw the cube and you have a good introduction to basic perspective and to one of the geometric building blocks of all objects—including the human figure.

Focal Point

Remember that adding detail puts emphasis on the focal point.

The Dutch Italianates at the Muscarelle Museum of Art

The Muscarelle Museum of Art, in Williamsburg, Virginia, will be the initial site for the national tour of the major exhibition of Old Master paintings.

2008 Self-Portrait Competition Sponsors

American Artist recently annouced the winner of its 2008 Self-Portrait Competition. Here we list the prizes that the top winners recieved.

Looking at Watercolors: "Fairylands, Bermuda" by Ross Sterling Turner

James Toogood comments on Ross Sterling Turner's watercolor painting Fairylands, Bermuda.

Oil Critique: "Midnight Snow"

Detail disappears at night, so choose your detail with economy.

Stretcher Keys

Q: What are those strips of plastic on the back of my prestretched canvases?

2009 Cover Competition

For more information and to enter the 2009 Cover Competition, please visit its new page here.

Light Sources and Value

Remember that the light source will be the lightest value in a composition.

Failed Paintings, Safety Tips, Comparing Masonite and Canvas

Can I glue a failed oil painting that was done on linen onto a board (painting side down) in order to prepare the reverse side for use as a new painting surface? I would also like to do the same thing with a roll of triple lead-primed linen that is too slippery for my taste. What glue should I use to attach these oil-covered surfaces to a board?

George Tooker at the National Academy Museum

The first museum retrospective of work by George Tooker in three decades will be on display at the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, in New York City, through January 4, 2009.

Working as an Artist’s Assistant

Today, there are many online means of promoting and selling artwork, and many collectors go online before they head to their nearest gallery.

Read more Business of Art features.

Cheap Joe's Classroom: Using a Splatter Screen

This video demonstrates how to use a splatter screen.

Cheap Joe's Lesson 18: Using a Splatter Screen

American Artist Acrylic Supplement

The American Artist Acrylic Supplement.

Open Spaces

Francis Di Fronzo stopped working with paint brushes to create his own technique of “tapping the landscape into existence.”

Morandi: Painting and Appearance in the 20th Century

John A. Parks examined the art of Giorgio Morandi in the December issue of American Artist. In one section, he asserted, "[His] paintings are a testimony to the act of something deeply contemplated. It is a kind of painting that has nothing to do with simply recording appearances." We asked Parks to expound upon this bold statement, and he responded with the following essay.

Check Out the New American Artist Plein Air Blog!

Check out the new American Artist Plein Air blog on the  American Artist online community website.

Oil Critique: "Bearded Iris"

Varying degrees of softness in the edges can give more depth.

Too-Thin Paints

Q: I know what type of medium to add if the paint coming out of the tube is too thick. But what if the paint is too thin?

Watercolor Landscapes En Plein Air and in the Studio

New York watercolorist Frederick Wong shows artists how he responds directly to nature in his weekly informal plein air demonstrations in Central Park and also teaches his more methodical studio approach at The Art Students League of New York.

Dent the Paper for Thin, Dark Lines

Dent watercolor paper with the point at the opposite end of your brush to help you make thin, dark lines. If your brush end is too wide, you can use a toothpick or the end of a pin.

Open Spaces

Open spaces can relieve tension in a cramped composition.

All The Water That Will Ever Be, Is, Right Now at the Irvine Museum

The natural cycle of water and its place in the landscape is the focus of this exhibition at the Irvine Museum, in Irvine, California.

Fine Art or Illustration?

Whether creating fine art or illustration, for Connecticut artist Bernie Fuchs—who boasts a long and successful career as an illustrator—it’s all the same. Either way, “I’m making a picture,” he explains.

Looking at Pictures: Terracotta lekythos

Wendy Shalen comments on a Greek Terracotta lekythos.

Oil Critique: "Remnants of Autumn"

The big granite surfaces in the foreground could be much more solid and read like granite if you tried doing them in layers.

Using Casein for Underpainting

Q: I want to use oil glazes over a fast-drying underpainting, and I was told that casein is a good medium to use. Is it wise to paint on canvas this way?

Painting and Drawing

Ninety percent of a painting is drawing.

Sharp Edges

Sharp edges flatten form.