What — you mean 2024 starts tomorrow??? Just where have the last few years gone? They’ve REALLY flown by…. I hope you’ve had a happy and healthy holiday season (and it’s not over yet!). And I hope that this next year brings you plenty of creative joy, in whatever direction your art is taking you. And you might think about just doing something for fun… for relaxation… for joy — especially if it’s stormy outside…. Abstract painting in progress (untitled, as of yet) • 24" x 24" • Acrylics on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls I’ve been creating abstract pieces lately — beginning with som ..read more

Sunset Sentinels • 11" x 14" • Acrylics on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls Well, summer is truly here, it seems! And perhaps we won't have the amazing clouds we've had in recent weeks and months for a little while again… but we sure did have some gorgeous sunsets then, didn’t we? Sunsets do come up periodically as  an inspirational, beautiful, and much-beloved subject to paint. And you may have gotten some great photos to work from in these last few weeks and months — that’s what we’ll be looking at in class this week. Deer at Sunset • Oil on Canvas • Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902 ..read more

Some years back, as I was setting up for the Open Studios show we used to do in Yountville, a friend popped around the corner, took in the oranges and blues of one painting in particular (where the blues were a little purple-ish) for just a second or two, and exclaimed, “Poppies and lupine!” — though it was a vineyard scene. ? California Poppies, at Cuvaison Winery, taken in April, 2019 • © Karen Lynn Ingalls It occurred to me that one of my favorite places when I was a child was the half-acre meadow next-door to our house, where we lived till I was seven. A golden palomino named April lived ..read more

California has been deluged with rains and storms this winter, with one atmospheric river after another. If you're in California as you're reading this, I hope this finds you safe, warm and dry. ​(Thank you for helping us recover from drought, Momma Nature, but we’d really like it a little less at a time, if it’s possible. Please?) So, especially for those of us who are safe and just hunkering down through the storms… maybe it’s time for some humor....​ Oh, brother... a disapproving critic strikes again.... Here’s a little humor coming from a source I didn’t expect, combining museum painting ..read more

I hope you're having a happy week, and getting as much creative time in as you want! Or do you sometimes find yourself distracted by a multiplicity of possibilities? Maybe it's not sure what kind of media you want to work in, because there are so many things you'd like to try. Or maybe the broad range of subject matter you're thinking about feels a little overwhelming. Or could it be that all of those colors in the paint tubes laid out before you give you so many possibilities you just don't know what to choose? How's this for simple? □ • Trees on the Hill • Acrylics on panel • © Karen Lynn I ..read more

Have you ever considered creating your paintings in a series? It can be a really effective way of focusing your learning. It can also be a great way to pull together an art show, either your own or a group show with your friends or fellow students. Series of simple still life paintings, all of one object, all 8" x 10", acrylics on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls So, what are some of the possibilities? What kind of series are we talking about? How might you approach it? Here are five ideas for series of paintings you can create. 1. Choose one subject, and explore it in multiple ways (such as a ..read more

I hope this finds you happy and healthy and getting in some good creative time!  I’ve been finding myself thinking a good bit lately about the positive and negative. There’s positive and negative when it comes to attitudes (I’ll take extra helpings of the former, thank you, and don’t have the time or inclination for the latter) — and then there’s positive and negative space, an essential understanding when you make art. Dusk Near Diamond Mountain • 20" x 16" • Acrylics on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls In that case, it’s not like one is good and the other is something you want to avoid ..read more

I hope this finds your week going well, and that this finds you creatively inspired and coming up with ways to bring much-needed beauty into the world. I just had my first vaccination today, and now, after a little nap, I feel ready to paint again! When you make art or get into pretty much any kind of creative mode, it’s helpful to stay in a playful, experimental state of mind. If you can keep it exploratory, and think of it as a discovery process, you will help keep your inner critic at bay, and perhaps make some new discoveries that could open up wonderful new art-making possibilities. Suns ..read more

Happy Spring! While the mustard flowers may be past their prime, the California poppies are still blooming, and things may finally be looking up for the world. Spring affects us all — are you seeing it reflected in your artwork in any way? Working title: "Expressionist Landscape" • 11" x 14" • Acrylics on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls I’ve been creating demonstration paintings, as I’ve shared, and making my time lapse demonstration videos, of subjects including the California poppies. They felt so timely and appropriate! I still have mustard photos ready for more flower paintings later, and ..read more

(NOTE: This is from last week's email to my students.) ​I hope this finds you happy and healthy, and having a great week. If you have gotten out and about, you probably haven't missed nature’s celebration of springtime, in the form of flowers in the fields. The mustard is amazing, and the poppies are delightful. Did you ever think of painting them? California Poppies in a Field • 8" x 10" • Acrylics on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls One of the things I enjoy about teaching is that it pushes me, or gives me permission, to paint in ways, or using colors, or of subjects that I might not otherwi ..read more