Dear Artist, It was an above average easel-day yesterday, and my mind turned to thoughts of cards. How like poker or bridge or blackjack or particularly solitaire it all is. In our game, a parallel methodology, when applied, simply breaks…
Dear Artist, Every once in a while I hear from artists who would like a small commission every time their work comes up for resale. The French have been doing it for years. It’s known as droit de suite (literally…
Dear Artist, Yesterday, Carol Ubben of Mt. Morris, Illinois, wrote, “I’ve recently joined a quit smoking online group called Quitnet. There I’ve met many artist friends from around the world. Lately we have been discussing how addictions affect creativity. Many…
Dear Artist, My last letter, Winging it, brought in literally thousands of confirmations of this valuable system. Some artists thought I was reinventing the wheel. Others reported fresh insight. Your friendship blows me away. Thank you so much for this…
Dear Artist, On Dec. 8, 1903, with government funding, countless advisors and great ballyhoo, Samuel Pierpont Langley’s flying machine plopped unpleasantly into the Potomac. Nine days later, Orville and Wilbur Wright got their Flyer off the ground. Why did these…
Dear Artist, Back in my days of freelance skirmishes on the periphery of the advertising business, I was often confronted with a person known as “Art Director.” Apart from making occasional good suggestions, this individual would change copy, fonts, illustrations…
Dear Artist, “Final varnish” is the liquid, protective coat that goes onto oils and acrylics. In a way it’s the equivalent of fixative on pastels or glass on watercolours. Varnishes need to remain clear, and they need to be removable.…
Dear Artist, Some of my friends are surprised that I can tell what kind of a day I’m going to have by my morning choice of pants. I always choose well worn, paint-raggy, spotted ones. They keep me in the…
Dear Artist, “Pride,” said Alexander Pope, “is the never-failing vice of fools.” This certainly applies when we kid ourselves that something we’ve done poorly is somehow worthy. Fact is, pride’s always suspect, even dangerous. Religions warn against it. Along with…
Dear Artist, Yesterday, half workday, half holiday, I voluntarily lived in my studio computer. “Where do you buy your frames?” a subscriber asked from Reno. “What do you do with your bads?” asked another from Toronto. Emails came from the…