The second episode in what I plan to be on-going series of blogs providing answers to things people have been searching for on this site.

• How to mix for lights and darks of any color?
The short answer: mix in white for lights and black for darks.

The longer answer: experiment with mixing in lighter colors (for instance yellow mixed into red) rather than always reaching for white only. Too much white can make colors bland. Likewise, experiment with mixing in darker colors (red, blue, brown) to darken rather than black only. Too much black can make colors look dirty. Or try a chromatic black.

• What color is bianco?
Bianco is Italian for white.

• What colors to mix to get dark blue?
Adding red to blue will darken it, but do it a little at a time because too much and it'll turn into purple. Try with different red/blue combinations to see which you like best. I like to mix cadmium red with Prussian blue.

• What can you do when paint is too dark?
Cry over it. Live with it. Change it (by lifting the paint off if it's still wet, or repainting the section using opaque or semi-opaque paint).

• How to send a photo to forum?
You can't email upload a photo to the Painting Forum, you attach it to a forum post you've written using the link just below where you type in the text.

• Definition of subject matter in art?
The subject of a painting is what it depicts, what it's about. This can be quite obvious with a realistic painting, and range from something as simple to a tree to something huge like a specific battle scene. With abstract painting, this may be the color or pattern.

• When did Albrechet Durer die?
On 6 April 1528 in Nuremberg, Germany. He was 56. His large house (he was not a starving artist!) is now a museum.

• Why apply onion to dry paint?
I've come this as a way of lightly cleaning dried oil paint where a new layer of paint doesn't want to stick or beads up. Lemons and garlic likewise. I'd be cautious with it -- a thin layer, lightly applied, wiping off and leaving to dry before painting -- so the juices don't soak into the painting but work on the very top only.

• Tea pot cup and saucer
Perhaps as in a still life painting?

• Unexpected Art Questions #1

Derwent's Artbar is very new on the market, so new you may not even find it in a shop in the UK (where Derwent is based) nevermind anywhere else. But if you enjoy using watersoluble crayons and mixed media, I think it's worth keeping an eye out for them as the triangle shape of the sticks makes working with them different to a round crayons.

• My Favorite Watersoluble Crayons & Pencils

^{Image © 2012 Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc.}

The New York Times has an article on someone who's devoting their life to the craft of papermaking. Definitely a niche arts career! Read article...

See Also:
• How to Make Paper Step-by-Step

"I know my idea of portraiture comes from dissatisfaction with portraits that resembled people. I would wish my portraits to be of the people, not like them. ... to portray them, like an actor. As far as I am concerned, the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as flesh does."

-- Lucian Freud^*.

A great portrait stands out from the crowd. Try it by going into a national portrait gallery or portrait exhibition (even online on a portrait artist's website), sweeping your eyes around the paintings and pick the one that stands out, for whatever reason. Make a note of what caught your eye each time, then back in your studio put these things into your next portrait.

<sup>*Quote source: Lucian Freud by Lawrence Gowling, Thames & Hudson 1982, page 190/1, quoted by Martin Gayford in Man with a Blue Scarf, page 111/2

Photo © Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc.</sup>