Brushstrokes.tv Blog

NEW FEATURE: Browse films by series

Brushstrokes.TV is pleased to announce a brand new feature on the site: browsing films by series.  This new feature makes it easy to locate your favorite film series and have each episode in the series neatly organized for easy viewing.  Pick your favorite episode or watch them all!

Simply log on to Brushstrokes.TV and click the link that says "View by Series" on the right side of the page.  This will bring you to a page that lists every series on the site, as below:

 

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New Faces on Brushstrokes.TV

Have you been watching the latest programs released on Brushstrokes.TV?  You might have noticed some new faces--and new techniques--featured on these films.  

Meet Al Waggie

Al Waggie is an oil painter who enjoys capturing the realistic beauty of natural landscapes.  He particularly excels at recreating the turbulent motion of a waterfall and the grace of American bald eagles in his oil paintings.  Watch Al's videos about painting an oil landscape and setting up your oil palette on Brushstrokes.TV, and view his artist interview video here.

Meet Karin Neuvirth

Karin Neuvirth's paintings have a distinct expressionistic style and vivid color palette, but you'll be surprised to learn she only uses four colors in each of her acrylic paintings.  Log on to Brushstrokes.TV to learn more about Karin's flair for color and style in a video about mixing paint colors here.  While you're there, check out her videos on painting irises and a cool winter landscape, too.

Meet Richard Mittelstadt

Richard Mittelstadt, who has been painting and creating for several years, infuses a certain energy and unique creativity into his acrylic paintings. Log on to Brushstrokes.TV and discover his particular painting style here.  As Richard says, painting is all about discovery, after all.

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Outdoor painting with Jeff Bolin

Hello all,

Just a quick update to let you know what we've been up to at Brushstrokes.tv.  Last week, we invited local artist Jeff Bolin to our studio to paint a beautiful landscape scene from life.  

I should mention our studio is located out in the country, right on the edge of a wooded river--gorgeous.  We were lucky the weather held out for the shoot; it was terribly humid but there was just enough cloud cover to provide good lighting for the cameras.  

Jeff set up his easel right on the edge of the woods and painted a scene depicting the bend in the river.  The camera guys filmed Jeff's process while he instructed his techniques.  Jeff will come back to the studio next week to instruct his finishing touches and give a final overview of the project.  We will also sit down on the sofa and get to know Jeff better--his art, his passions, his inspirations, etc.

Tune in to www.brushstrokes.tv to see Jeff's instructional video in the coming weeks, and keep an eye out for further updates about upcoming shoots.  In the meantime, here is a sneak peek of our afternoon with Jeff.

 

Get it straight!

Morning all. I thought I'd share a tip with you for getting straight lines and hard edges when painting with acrylics. The joy of acrylics is that you can put masking tape on dried acrylic paint and remove it without damaging the layer underneath. This makes it easy to produce a hard or sharp edge. Make sure the edges of the tape are stuck down firmly and don't paint too thickly on the edges, otherwise you won't get a clean line when you lift it. Nice effect when you get it right though!

No more stinky oils

Ohhhh I'm excited. I've just treated myself to a set of Artisan Oil paints, by Winsor and Newton. Anyone who has worked with oil paints will remember how smelly they can be - all that linseed oil and brush cleaner! This is fine if you are in a large studio by yourself, but for art groups or people painting in a confined room in their own home, continued exposure to the odours can be most unpleasant. Hurrah for Artisan Oils then. W&N have modified the oils to be low odour and water mixable. That means no more solvents and wash the brushes under the tap! Apparently the paint itself is still lovely and buttery and there's a good range of colours available too. Can't wait for them to arrive - I'll let you know how I get on.

New DVDs Coming Soon!

I wanted to take a minute this morning to tell all of our subscribers about a couple of DVD's that we have coming out soon.  The first is a great one with Julie Schroeder called "4 Seasons of Watercolor." Julie shows us some different ways to use watercolor to explore the seasons. 

Julie Schroeder on the set of her DVD "4 Seasons of Watercolor." 

The second is a children's DVD with Gayle Dahl which is shaping up to be a great resource for parents out there who are looking for a DVD to play for the kids and in the fun and exciting teaching style of "Miss Gayle" as the kids call her. 

Gayle Dahl, on set of her children's DVD. 

Be looking for "4 Seasons of Watercolor" in the store at craft-club.com this week and the children's DVD with Gayle in April.

Chris, Brushstrokes TV

Newly inspired

Morning all.

I can't wait for the weekend so I can get on with a couple of paintings I've got on the go. I feel newly inspired after going to our art club meeting last weekend. We had a talk by Gordon Rushmer, who is a wonderful landscape painter but is perhaps better known as a war artist. Gordon has been to war zones all over the world and recorded some of the most violent and touching scenes. It was fascinating to listen to him talk about his experiences, how he records what he sees, how he deals with what he sees and of course, a behind the scenes insight into the conflicts. Gordon can draw and so he does sketches which he turns into highly effective watercolour paintings. From that he produces one or two large oil paintings of certain scenes that worked particularly well. Amazing. Some people have more than their fair share of talent!

Another great tip

Thanks to those of you who emailed in suggestions for reviving old oil brushes. I have managed to salvage them now you’ll be pleased to hear.  I had one tip sent in from watercolourist, John Hayler, who takes the ‘Maximum Effort’ award for taking care of his best sable brushes. He says, ‘ I save  my most expensive sable brushes for best by using a cheap a synthetic brush to do the mixing and saving my expensive sable brushes only for applying the paint to my picture. Hmm – not sure I’d have the patience for that John, but perhaps that’s why I don’t do watercolour.

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