Back in 2020, I helped to put on a workshop called the Fantastic Arts Conference with my wife, Shari, and Dan Dos Santos, Justin and Annie Stegg Gerard. We had some great faculty who joined us. I have had lots of requests to do something similar again, but with less...
NASA is well into their preparations to launch Artemis II, the first manned space flight to go to the moon in over 50 years. The rocket has been rolled out to pad 39B and, if all tests go well, will launch as early as February 6th. And I’ll be there to witness this...
Howard Lyon's new solo exhibition of oil paintings, "Garden of the Gods," is in it's final stretch at the wonderful Haven Gallery in Long Island, New York. Of the show Howard says, "This exhibit of paintings represents a lifelong interest in mythologies and beauty. My...
Tough to limit it to just 3 but I hope it is more about of which kinds of post will feature more often and that you won't be completely eliminating the least voted on from the blog altogether.
One I voted for and enjoy must be under the 'Inspirational Art from Non-members' category, usually posted by William O'Conner, Howard Lyon and recently the Gregory Manchess and Justin Gerard's Shishkin post. Art from the past most often with some (apparently) going against the grain of fantasy art like the controversial Paul Klee post.
It's good to show that making any genre/kind of art requires well-round sources of inspiration.
Thanks, David. That's precisely the type of input we need. And no, nothing will be eliminated, as they all have value. We just want to know what is striking a chord with our readers, and what they look to get most from this blog.
Good idea, I love to see posts with the step by step work of artists.
I loved the “10 things…” posts by Greg Manchess, and the step by steps from Dave Palumbo. And the buisness tips are always useful. Keep up the good work everyone.
I put in my votes for business practices, techniques, and book reviews/new releases! It's always wonderful to discover new sources of inspiration, so the book reviews fought with the inspiring art from non-members on my list. In the end, it's always nice to know what I can add to my inspiration library and the quality of the book before investing.
And as ever, thanks for putting the time and hard work into this blog! I recommend every artist I know to it when I can because it's such a valuable resource. Keep it up, everyone!
My favorite posts are the ones that contain hi-res images of paintings – detail shots – and angled shots of paintings that show brushwork and surface quality. They are the most helpful to any aspiring artist trying to learn how to paint. Especially since so many have not seen what a good painting looks like in person, and may not have access to world-class museums.
I voted for technique, business practices, and guest bloggers/interviews, but if I could've picked a fourth it'd be opinions and current affairs. I'm always curious about what you think of trends and shifts in the industry- especially because I suspect you're aware of these trends before most people are. There are also occasionally essays here that are more theoretical/conceptual, and those are great.
Tools & Supplies, and Techniques & How-To almost seem like the same thing. That being said I love learning stuff like that; Like when you told us to glaze black over another color to paint something black! I tried that and it works like a charm!
That said these are hard to choose from.
Speaking of how to, anyone know how to post from an android phone with it duplicating the post? (Sorry about all that guys).
It's Blogger, not you. I have to jump through insane hoops on my iPhone just to edit things.
I enjoy the diversity. What if 85% voters choose almost the same top 3? I still want to read about the other 15% to branch out in what I think about.
I agree with Keith, when the post is meant to teach something specific it's always more interesting to me regardless of what topic it falls under.
For example of tools/supplies showing someone's studio on its own might be cool but showing a studio and explaining the reasons things are setup in certain ways along with tips and tricks only gleaned from using the materials for years is super awesome!
In that vein, the how-to's/techniques always fall under that distinction which makes them reliably great posts to read.
I love it all, Dan! I'm a stickler for the educational stuff, in particular.
It is really touch limiting it to three, I really enjoy the variety of subjects that are covered and I especially like the book reviews and upcoming releases but I also love the guest bloggers, the business tips, the opinions and tools of the trade. There is just so much good stuff on Muddy Colors, you are all doing such a wonderful job with this blog!
I wouldn't change the format that we've all come to love!
Philip, you would really enjoy the blog Lines and Colors, by Charley Parker – it's an entire blog of exactly what you described in this comment!
I agree – posts about specific techniques, tools and business practices are the most useful to me in a practical way, but Opinions & Current Affairs would have been my fourth pick.
Yes, that is a great one. Thank you, Gina.
I guess no one is letting me off the hook with “business practices” coming in second, huh. haha