In an early concept for a dinosaur parade scene I tried a profile view of a small group of humans and dinosaurs bedecked in colorful costumes.  There's a horn-drum on an Ankylosaurus to set the tempo. I realized I needed to pull back the view to show the whole parade ..read more

American Academy of Art College in Chicago has announced that it will close its doors permanently. It was founded in 1923 with a curriculum that emphasized painting and drawing and painting from live models. Graduates include some legendary illustrators and easel painters: Thomas Blackshear, Alex Ross, Richard Schmid, Howard Terpning, Gil Elvgren, and Haddon Sundblom. The closure of American Academy in Chicago follows the closing of UArts in Philadelphia and the Art Institutes all across the country. Why are some art schools closing? Read more on Substack ..read more

  On YouTube: a reader review of three top art instruction books, including our bestseller, Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter ..read more

Buick Special, pencil and markers. Note the rust stains coming up through the roof section, the cracked window, and the junkyard fender. More on Substack ..read more

The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is currently hosting an ambitious summer exhibition called "What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine". This is the first comprehensive museum show dedicated to MAD Magazine's art and satire. The exhibition explores MAD's evolution from its beginnings as a popular humor comic book in 1952 to its emergence as an influential magazine that tweaked those in power, engaging generations of loyal readers, me included. The show is popular, and the audience includes both young and old people who grew up loving the magazine’s mildly subv ..read more

In this new video on YouTube, I explore the practice of negative painting. The idea is to paint the negative shapes around the white shapes of the daisies.  The goal is to reserve our attention for the spaces between things ..read more

Art students in Cincinnati portray a crucifixion scene based on a live model. A history and discussion on my free-to-participate Substack page ..read more

I called one painting "Rainbow Bridge" in one exhibit and "Gideon's Bridge" in a book. Unfortunately, both names will follow that image forever. 'Untitled' is a Title: Eleven tips for titling paintings.  ..read more

Someone must have set up this target for archery practice. It's in a lonely place way down below a high bridge ..read more

 Carl Brenders (b. 1937) is a wildlife artist from Belgium known for his richly detailed gouache and watercolor paintings of mammals and birds in their environments. How does he do it? There’s not much information about his technique available online, but I did some digging. He begins by taking a lot of photographs of the animal and its habitat. According to his 1994 book Wildlife: The Nature Paintings of Carl Benders: “Even after spending weeks of research and photography in the field, the artist devotes more time to develop the concept of the painting. “With this planned, he ..read more