Banana Drawing Exercise: Explore Mixed Media Sketching
Stop trying to draw bananas “right.” Use them to explore graphite, marker, and crayon in loose sketches and discover your own expressive style.
How to Paint Loose: Why It Takes Practice (and How to Start)
Want to paint loose and expressive art? It takes practice, not luck. Learn why exploring beats chasing finished pieces, with a mixed media still life demo.
Experimental Watercolor Trees: Mixed Media Ideas to Explore
Stop painting watercolor trees to get them right. Explore instead with watercolor mixed with crayon, collage, acrylic, and graphite to find your own style.
Watercolor Circle Exercise: A Brush Control Challenge
Try this watercolor circle exercise to build brush control. Paint concentric circles with a dagger brush, no breaks, no touching. I got 19 circles and 5 touches.
Watercolor Line Exercise: A Brush Control Challenge
Try this watercolor line exercise to build brush control. Paint continuous lines with a sword brush, no sketch, no guides. I got 26 lines and 7 mistakes. Can you beat it?
Why You Need to Draw It First Before Painting Loose
Loose painting isn’t about speed. Learn why a slow construct drawing comes first, how it makes a 45-second loose drawing work, using a tea kettle exercise.
Horse Drawing Progressions: From Structure to Expressive Marks
Explore horse drawing progressions in this video lesson using graphite, charcoal, and crayon to move from simple structure to expressive marks.
How to Draw Loose: A 2-Step Construct & Deconstruct Exercise
Learn how to draw loose with a simple two-step exercise. Draw the same cup tight in 2.5 minutes, then loose in 30 seconds, and see why it changes your painting.
Easy Collage Project for Beginners: Fruits & Veggies
Try this easy collage project for beginners. Cut fruit and veggie shapes from textured paper, glue them down, and paint the background around them.
How to Make Handmade Collage Paper From Leftover Paint
Learn how to make handmade collage paper from leftover paint, then use it in a loose mixed media still life with Bristol paper, glue, and gesture drawing.
Why Your Watercolors Look Stiff (and How to Stop Overworking Them)
Is your watercolor stiff and overworked? Learn why tight drawings cause it, how to paint without pencil lines, and when to stop, with a loose coastal landscape demo.
How to Layer Acrylic Paint: 3 Layers to a Better Loose Still Life
Learn how to layer acrylic paint in three steps. Start desaturated, build color, then add brushwork, with a loose still life demo using a fan brush.