Category: The Self-Taught Artist

You know when you think you’re putting all your efforts towards something but then that something wasn’t the right thing? This has happened to me over and over.  As a good student/citizen etc. I wanted to follow the rules, work hard, get results.  I would research like mad, take courses, make lists, plan, etc. But… Continue reading Lessons from Five Years of Making Art

For the past few years I’ve listened to hundreds of podcasts searching for clues, paths, assurance but most of all, company. We know that art students have the environment where they connect with teachers and other students and they spend four years doing art full-time. The self-educated artists have to go it alone, and unless… Continue reading The Art Advice I Keep Hearing

This is a round-up of classes I’ve taken taught by black creators, each one offers specific techniques and skills. They also go deeper into their creative process. They guide you into their entire workflow and the variety of art you can make with the tips they give can be outstanding. Writing for Expression: How to… Continue reading Learning from Black Creators

Follow my blog with Bloglovin I’ve been hesitant for as long as I can remember. It all started with electronic music. Kraftwerk and the long history of technology as a means to make art. You see, I’m stubborn and until recently a snobbish purist. I was a lover of “the right way to do things”.… Continue reading Procreate and Me

Let’s say you want to draw or paint. Where do you start? You might Google the most basic question: how to draw? You might go to the library or browse through Amazon. You might get the book Drawing On the RightSide of the Brain, which I did and of which I only completed a couple… Continue reading How to Start Drawing

The best feeling about making art is realizing that there was nothing there, and suddenly, there is. There was no drawing, no painting, no photograph, no essay, no story, and suddenly, there is. The second best feeling is to know it was exactly what you needed to make. This second feeling does not happen through skill alone.… Continue reading The Art you Want to Make

It started with the nagging feeling that I was, in fact, not creative. That I couldn’t call myself an artist. That I could not make my ideas click. I read so much about creativity, watched documentaries, listened to podcasts, and I went from one thing to another, trying to make something that felt original and… Continue reading How the Creative Independence Guide was Created.

During these interrupted times, moments of disconnection are so important. I’m so proud of my husband and me for implementing No-Modem Sundays in September. You probably are sick of hearing me talk about it. But right now, ONE OFFLINE DAY will do so much to help our mental health. Yesterday I decided to purge my… Continue reading The Self-Taught Artist and Our Piles of Work

If you are a self-taught artist, it can become difficult to make enough progress to go from beginner to intermediate to advanced. If you are looking for books, videos, tutorials or paid classes they seem to only cover to a certain level but no further. So what to do? You might not want to do… Continue reading Go from Intermediate to Advanced Watercolor

I bought a box of Prismacolor pencils in 2017, back when I was buying everything in my innocent belief that better materials would make me a better artist. I just had to have them but rarely used them. I would try and the colors would just look too bright, too saturated. My hand would hurt,… Continue reading Learning to Use Colored Pencils.

I’ve been taking photos since my first iPod touch which I got in 2013 and as I swiped through those pixelated, heavily filtered images, it was clear that through the years I’d lost my sense of wonder and observation. Then Instagram came along and as we all know, it became about the numbers. Recently I… Continue reading Best Creative Photography Classes for Beginners

This past winter I had my head in a space of despair: what should I do with my life? The howl of our times. I had been on my path to art for four years and a half. I was still dabbling left and right, trying and testing different watercolors, papers, brushes. I was still… Continue reading Do we need Art School to feel legitimate?