10 years ago this very month, we started what was essentially an experiment.
At the time, many artists had begun moving away from the larger, less personal forums, and instead began writing their own art blogs, showcasing their process, and new works. The trouble is, it’s really difficult for any single artist to produce enough content on a regular basis to cultivate a daily readership. So a few of us had the idea to gather a small group of artists, and showcase one individual each day of the week, thereby creating a daily art blog, with minimal burden on any one single artist.
We wanted to create a place where aspiring artists could go each and every day to stay up to date on the work of their favorite artists, learn about current events within their community, and learn how to be better artists in the process!
We initially started with just 9 illustrators (Dan dos Santos, Jesper Ejsing, Arnie Fenner, Eric Fortune, Jon Foster, Justing Gerard, Donato Giancola, Greg Manchess, & John Jude Palencar), who posted every week without fail for years, and many of whom are STILL posting with us today! That number has since grown to more than 30 world-reknown artists, across a wide variety of disciplines, all of whom are dedicated to provided a long-lasting, 100% free, daily resource for art education for any one who wants it, regardless of location of wealth.
10 years later, we have amassed more than 3000 educational articles, awarded 10’s of thousands of dollars in scholarships, and have hopefully helped blaze the trail for the next generation of fantasy artists.
We’d like to take a little time to today to say “Thank you!”. Not just to our members, whose selfless dedication to education over the past decade has been nothing short astounding and truly humbling; but also to our readers, whose input, readership, and financial support via our Patreon has kept us going all these years!
To celebrate, we will be giving away a free video download to a lucky reader every single day for the rest of the month. All you have to do to be eligible is leave a comment on the day’s newest post. That’s it! Read the post, and make a comment. Easy Peasy! The following day, we will draw a winner at random, so be sure to fill-out your name and email address when commenting, so we can contact you! Your comment doesn’t have to be anything special or elaborate, but if you really want to make us happy today, let us know about one of your favorite Muddy Colors posts that really helped you personally!
In the spirit of accessible education for all, here is a free video for everyone! (We will actually be posting several free videos for our readers over the next week or two, so be sure to check back in regularly, as the videos will only be available for a very short period of time.) Our first video is a relatively new one from veteran Magic:The Gathering artist, Eric Deschamps. In this 3 hour video Eric will walk you through his process of creating a digital painting based on his own personal IP. We hope you enjoy it!
Thank you!
I’ve been reading this blog pretty much since the beginning. Thank you for your work! It has enriched me so much 🙂
This blog has brightened my day for many years. Thanks for all the wonderful, inspiring, funny posts.
Congrats on your anniversary. I have learned and relearned new techniques and ideas that were not taught in Art schools. Wonderful ideas and videos has entertained me for awhile now, learning, watching and listening to you and your fellow artists. Please keep them coming.
Thank you for being such a great resource and ispiration for us all! <3
Hi Guys, I’ve not been reading for very long (perhaps 6 months to a year) but I love the content. The tone it’s pitched at is very conversational and inspiring. I stopped making art after my degree 10 years ago but after getting back into creating I’ve found both the educational posts and insight a real bridge.
Thank you!
I have been an enthusiastic reader of this site since pretty much the beginning when I first heard about it all those years ago. I remember first hearing about it on the old ConceptArt.org forums which were in full vogue at the time. Things have changed a lot since then but all of the amazing artists here at Muddy Colors have continued to provide wonderful, relevant, and interesting articles on the professional art world the entire time. Thank you all for what you do every day.
You’ve won a free video! Please check your email for details!
Thank you so much! Can’t wait to watch it. All of you on here are among my most treasured artistic influences. 🙂
muddy colours has been such an invaluable resource for me, thankyou!
I reckon it’s spelled “Co10rs.”
This blog has been a valuable resource since I started my art journey. I look stuff to friends all the time. I’m looking forward to joining the patreon soon. Thanks for all the work youll are doing.i hope one day soon to be a contributor 😄
Thank you!
Thank you so much for all of your work over the years! I only just found this community in 2018 and I’m so so glad that I did – I’ve never experienced such a welcome and open artist community. Truly, thank you.
Thank you. Love Muddy Colors and been reading almost daily for 10 years! Here is to another 10!
Thank you for all your work. This blog is a light in the dark!
Happy 10th Anniversary Muddy Colors! If it wasn’t for this collective of artists, I wouldn’t be the artist I am today! I’ve learned so much from the OG’s like Donato Giancola, Greg Manchess and Dan Dos Santos through their DVD’s and used them religiously to level up my paintings. Howard Lyon, Coro Kaufman, Allen Williams and Jeff Miracola have then been added to the roster of countless other artists who I’ve learned from. I love the insights from Lauren Panepinto and David Palumbo…I can go on an on. Thank you for being around and accessible, Please keep pushing forward and be around for another 10 years and beyond!
A huge thank you and congratulations!
Thank you Muddy Colors for your efforts and creativity. (I love Ron Lemen Articles)
Congrats on 10 years! This blog has been so helpful over the couple of years I’ve been reading it. Thank you guys for all you do!
Thank you and congratulations on a wonderful 10 years! Best wishes for at least that many more!
Pretty much 90% of my art education, really
Oh whoops, no idea why this posted as a specific reply to this post
You guys are amazing, veyr happy to see you’re now 10 years old, 2 of whom I’ve been a reader. I’ve also been on Patreon and bought quite a bunch of your very helpful and educational videos.
I loved the Ron Lemen anatomy series, it’s so, so informative.
I’ve also enjoyed a lot the Howard Lyon tutorials, the one painting human skin and the life portrait painting, that last one is golden.
The oil painting for beginners video by Dan Dos Santos is another life saver, I’ve learned so much from that video, and still today I watch it again to check on different things I might sometimes forget.
Also enjoyed a lot the Ryan Pancoast video “Bringing Fantasy to Life”, so nice to see him do so much with a limited palette.
Also loved deeply the Todd Lockwood demo and the Dave Palumbo video about photography, so enlightening.
I still would like to get some other videos, Donato Drawing, and Working with Watercolors by Justin Gerard.
Regarding your articles, I think the funniest ones for me have been Jesper’s, it’s so much fun to read his posts, it makes me laugh and at the same time is so informative.
The Greg Manchess’s Series “10 Things about….” has been the most enlightening one for me, extremely helpful, but again, I cannot end up saying which ones I love the most because there are too many!
MuddyColors is a godsend gift, and I will hopefully keep reading it until the end of times, or until I can contribute some :3
Cheers!
Congratulations! This is great!
This is outstanding! The resources and information on this site are amazing, and I’ve followed for quite a while. Thank you and here’s to many more decades!!
I discovered Muddy Colors more recently, while looking for another good art community resource after One Fantastic Week went down. I’ve found a lot of articles to be very helpful, and like getting a peek into the process of many artists I admire. Thanks for offering this for 10 years.
I’ve been following this blog for many years. Thanks for all you do!
Happy birthday MC!! Thank u for all.
Happy anniversary and thanks for everything!
It’s hard to pick one fav.article because there are many amazing articles written.
But if I have to I would choose this one by Tommy Arnold https://www.muddycolors.com/2020/08/sunday-skills-forced-breaks/
I’ve been a huge fan of the site for years. Thank you, and congratulations on 10 years! Here’s to the next 10!
Congratulations Muddy Colors! The site has been an invaluable resource and an entertaining read for many years. Here’s to many more!
Congrats!! Thanks for the free video.
Congratulations and thank you!
I heard about this site from a Schoolism interview of MA Harel and was delighted to see contributions from Charles Vess and Tran Nguyen!