A Custom Holiday Greeting

hiking custom illustration

What makes Painting for Life unique is our ability to work directly with you in creating images that you want for your card, journal, print or any other custom art gift. This year, as many years previous, we were privileged to work with a number of corporations and small businesses in helping them craft very…

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Painting Classes

“Painting with a Broad Brush,” “Painting Landscapes” and “Anybody Can Cartoon.” These are the three exciting classes I am privileged to teach starting next January at the Glendale YMCA. You do not have to be a member or a resident to sign up for these classes. These classes are great for home schooled kids, retiring…

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November 25 is Small Business Saturday

The Friday after Thanksgiving is well known as Black Friday, the time for getting a head start on your holiday shopping. But did you know that the following day, Saturday, November 26, has been dedicated to supporting small and local businesses? We support the movement now known as “Small Business Saturday” as we work to…

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Colorado's Step Into Art History

Have you ever stopped in your tracks and gazed at the beautiful architecture of a nicely crafted building? Have you ever sat and admired a truly gifted fashion designer mix colors and fabrics and patterns together to craft something amazing? If this generally does not describe you, then I can understand why you may not…

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Halloween Craft Spiders

Craft Project for the Young and the Young at Heart Ideal age group: kindergarten – 5th grade This fun project works well on an individual basis as well as in large groups. Kids really get into their creations and it is very exciting to see what kind of creepy and fun spiders they come up…

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A Day in Plein Air

Since I will be teaching plein air painting in a few weeks, I realized that I had better get back to the swing of things and start painting on location again. My last paintings have all been studio paintings, where I’ve had the luxury of working from photos, taking my time, and listening to the ball…

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Forcing the big shapes

Because I struggle with zooming out and painting the big shapes first, I forced myself to conduct a little exercise. I wanted to see how loose I could go while still maintaining recognizability. So I grabbed an Anthropology ad and found a great photo to work with, and I let go, trying to paint as…

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New Art: "In His Image"

This piece started as a tribute to an organization called Kimmy’s House. Kimmy’s House focuses on ministering to special needs orphans in India and Haiti. The need is great. Either because of cultural beliefs or because of lack of resources, the special needs orphans of India and Haiti often times suffer great neglect, and can…

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Color comps: The key to good art

Below are five good reasons why one should create color comps in the same media as their final illustration or painting. One mistake I used to make was doing my color comp in a medium other than the one I was going to use for the final illustration. But after looking at Rockwell’s color comps,…

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