Info for Beginning Artists written by Elaine Rittler
Elaine 
As drawing mediums go, probably one of the most little talked about drawing tool is the pastel pencil. Soft and hard pastels themselves (in block form) are a well-known medium which produces stunning results. The photo to the right from Pixabay, created by Courtney Crookes, is a testament to what can be done with pastel … Read more
”Ha, you call that a tree?”, scoffed my eighth-grade art teacher as he walked by my desk and gazed upon a tree I had been working very hard on, trying to draw it to the best of my ability. I wish he had offered a better way to help me improve, to teach me how to … Read more
Years ago, I purchased Prismacolor Col-Erase erasable colored pencils for the same reason presumably that other people want to buy them–because they love coloring or colored pencil art but want the convenience of being able to erase, a luxury traditional colored pencils don’t offer. I tried them completing this small peach picture. They definitely felt … Read more
Do you own a set of watercolor pencils? If not, why not? They really are an absolute blast to use in creating beautiful art. They are the best of both worlds–colored pencils and watercolor painting–and are extremely versatile. But just like everything else, not all watercolor pencil brands (also known as water-soluble) are created equal. … Read more
You hear them touted by professional artists as having exceptional quality. But seeking them out in the art store left you near fainting (I know I nearly keeled over) due to sticker shock, lol! It took me years to justify to myself spending the money on these because I was afraid that they weren’t worth … Read more
So we are staying home to stop the spread and do our part to help the world heal from this awful virus. Some of you may be out of work (I am, at least as an art instructor for senior retirement homes) and have many worries, anxiety and possibly fear that are affecting our lives … Read more
If you are a newbie color pencil artist, you have already begun to experience the joy of using this wonderful medium. Some of you may have an extensive collection of art pieces that you have completed in colored pencils or even just colorings you have done using colored pencil. However, some of you may be … Read more
Learning to draw can be daunting enough without fretting over what supplies to get. With so many different items and brands, just purchasing the supplies can be enough of a deterrent for beginners to just throw their hands up and forget about learning pencil drawing. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And it … Read more
If you’ve ever drawn a cat or other animal you may be stuck on how exactly to do the whiskers. I mean, they are white and we know we really can’t just use a white pencil to draw the whiskers over an area built up with layers of dark color. Well, we could, but it … Read more
If you clicked on this article to read, you are probably thinking about selling your artwork but just don’t know how to go about it. Are galleries or shops the right way? Online? Art shows or sales? And what about promotion? Website, social media etc.? Yes, all of the above are options! I know, I … Read more