What is it? Simply put, a nocturne is a painting of a night scene. James Abbott McNeill Whistler was the first to apply the term to paintings (it is originally a descriptor of a piece of music whose composition is evocative of nighttime) and in art circles, the word has come to refer to any … More Technique Tuesday: Nocturne
Today’s Technique Tuesday post is going to take a look at an aspect of art creation that many art appreciators easily forget–the surface under the paint! Here we have pictured just a few examples of the many different types of surfaces fine artists use to create their artwork. These are several of the most common–canvas, wood, masonite, … More Technique Tuesday: Surfaces
What is it? A long-time standard in the artist’s toolkit, the palette knife is a tool consisting of a handle and a blunt blade, and was originally used for mixing paint on an artist’s palette. Since the 1800’s, it has seen an increase in popularity as a painting tool as well as a mixing one. … More Technique Tuesday: Palette Knife
What is it? This week’s Technique Tuesday subject is not a new concept for anyone (particularly in today’s “selfie” filled world!). But not only is the self-portrait is an important exercise for an artist to undertake, it is also significant to view as well, and provides fascinating insight into an artist’s mind or mood. These artists, who spend … More Technique Tuesdays: the Art of the Self-Portrait
Remember the Technique Tuesday post where we took a look at chiaroscuro? Today’s post is going to take a look at a very cool technique, closely related to chiaroscuro: tenebrism. What is it? Tenebrism, like chiaroscuro, is all about the use of lights and darks. Where chiaroscuro is used to create a sense of depth, … More Technique Tuesdays: Tenebrism
What is it? Today’s featured technique is the dry brush technique. Like last week’s technique, the multi-loaded brush, this technique deals with the way that the artist loads their brush before applying it to the canvas. With the dry brush technique, rather than using a brush moistened with oil or water (depending on the type … More Technique Tuesdays: Dry Brush
Principle Gallery 