Published Articles on Empty Easel

Pastel Tutorials:

How to combine oil pastel with chalk pastel

Creating a textured impressionistic painting with wet pastel sticks

How to create a highly textured pastel painting with acrylic

Using water as a blending medium for soft pastel

Choosing a surface for your pastel painting

Packing and shipping your pastel paintings


General Art Advice:

How to overcome a panic moment while painting



Advice for Artists Who Post Online:

Review: Redbubble.com (Online Print Service)

4 Reasons to Put Your Art Online (Besides Exposure)



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Painting Cats

Image
"The Bookeeper" Click here to view auction After many years of painting cats, I've learned a few things.  Every time I start a new cat painting, it follows its own unique path, bringing challenges that I don't seem to face when I paint my more traditional material (landscapes, birds, floral and botanical pieces, etc.) For example, cats don't stay put for too long (unless they're asleep, and even then they'll often stretch and change positions when you're least expecting it).  To combat this challenge, I end up working mostly from photographs.  That means adjusting the proportions, since the camera angle causes some distortion depending on the position and location of the cat. "Eye Contact" Oil Pastel Not for Sale "Side Glance" Oil Pastel Available on Etsy  One of the reasons cats are enjoyable to paint is that they have strong facial expressions.  When I'm painting a cat, I get so focused on rendering the cat...
Read more

Inspired by Light (Pastels on Canvas)

Image
"Morning Glow" 12 x 16 Chalk Pastel on Flat Canvas Email nicolehilsabeck@yahoo.com if interested in purchasing Been trying to get back into the daily painting routine, which for me either means a small painting a day, or a larger painting spread over two days.  It's a bit of a challenge with the growing belly and a very inquisitive firstborn, but I was lucky enough to get a little extra inspiration from an odd source: Sunday's eclipse. We have beautiful views of the canyon and hills behind us, and I watched the light change on this hill as the sunlight waned throughout the course of the eclipse.  I noted how the normally stunning lights and shadows on this hill were blunted by the general darkening (as opposed to the usual sunrise or sunset glow).  I thought I would be a little more appreciative of those lights and darks and try a painting of the trees and hills the next morning. I completed this painting in several steps, having struggled a little recent...
Read more

Joy Comes with the Morning: Inspirational Sunrises

Image
"Joy Comes with the Morning" Click here to view on my website Morning has never been my strongest time of day-- and yet, I find it the most beautiful time to be outside.  The cool, fresh air along with the sun's approaching light are hard to resist.  A morning after a storm can be particularly beautiful, with the colors and remnants of storm clouds streaked across the sky. "Stormy Dawn" Original Sold Even if the night was not particularly restful, or the previous day ended in tears, there is something uplifting about waking in the morning and knowing you have the whole day ahead of you to find something joyful.  Even if it's something small like the smile on my child's face, a happily wagging tail, or a delightfully strong cup of tea, I try to find something each day to enjoy. "Early Light" Click here to view details Even when there are clouds in the morning here, there are still unique sights such as dew on spiderwebs a...
Read more