We have moved! January 1, 2023

I appreciate you checking into my blog. I love sharing my ideas with you. But, we have moved. Our new blog posts are being posted on FromJaneMMason.com. Lots of new posts covering artists, startling insights in art history, art techniques, and more — just like my “Art in the Center” blog. The photos below show […]

Draw a Horse: how to get it done.

The horses would watch me get setup, and then settle in. They usually would move toward me at the fence, led by the lead mare, to see if there was any food or treats involved. I had asked the owner if I could give them a treat. So, yes, they usually got a treat.

Rediscovering John Marin, American Watercolorist

He was ambidextrous & worked with brushes in either hand. The freshness of his work proved his restraint.

Use “color charts” to stay in the moment & enjoy your materials.

Your thoughts are focused, but the activity is not all-consuming mentally. It is not a heavy cognitively challenge. For me, it’s relaxing…There are no rules. You can do a color chart however you want.

Chicago Skyline: Step-by-step Creating a Painting “en Plein Air” (that means… “outside”)

The morning light would be fleeting so I took a bunch of photos to capture that instant. NOTE: that’s not “cheating”. You can take photos. Use all the technology you want. 🙂 

How to Paint a Dew Drop in Watercolor

Close-up of two dew drops on the leaves of pink zinnia blooms. The sky is a teal color. The sunlight sparkles through the water droplets.

So, when someone asks you, “Dew you know how to paint a dew drop?”  Now you can say, “yes”!

Fibonacci intersecting nature and art

For me, the archetypical example of the intersection of art and science (and math) is the sequence of numbers commonly called the “Fibonacci numbers.” By definition it is the sum of the previous two numbers in a series. So, it gets started with 0 and 1, and then picks up speed. Next is 1, then […]

5 Questions to Think Like a Photographer

What are you trying to communicate? Where should the viewer to focus? What makes the image pop?