This is the secret to using unrealistic colors as skin tones: focus on the tone first, the color second (if at all). Don't believe me? Then take a look at the greens and blues used as 'skin' colors in this self portrait by the Expressionist painter Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Squint so you see the tones better, then have another look at the colors he's used. Read more...

If you're an artist who uses acrylics, lives in any of these places in the USA -- Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Washington, DC; the Capital Region of NY; the state of Louisiana -- and wants another string to your bow, then before the 1st of March, take a look at the the recruitment ad for the Working Artists program of Golden Artist Colors, Inc. It involves doing presentations and workshops featuring Golden's products (obviously) and you'll get training at Golden's expense. Details here...

The photo shows the bag of goodies everyone got at the Golden presentation I went to back in 2008. I came away with my brain bursting with info about acrylic mediums, some of which I've tried and others not. Or rather, not yet.

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

"Beauty in art is truth steeped in the impression made upon us by the sight of nature. ... While seeking conscious imitation, I do not for an instant lose the emotion that first gripped me. Reality forms part of art; feeling completes it....

"Whatever the view, or the object, we must surrender to the first impression. If we have been really touched, the sincerity of our feeling will be conveyed to other people..."

-- French landscape painter Camille Corot (1796-1875), Notes in an Album, quoted in Letters of the Great Artists, p82

See Also:
• 5 Ways to Grow as an Artist
• Art is Not About Talent

^{Image: © M Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc}

A new Painting Photos Challenge has been posted. This time it features a photo of a plum ripening on a branch. The sun is creating some complicated cast and form shadows, so you might want to apply artistic license to the weather or time of day to adapt the direction of the sun.

See Also:
• How to Paint Shadows
• Landscape Painting: Where is the Sun?