Anthony Van Dyck (1599 - 1641) was a Flemish artist whose work is classified as part of the Baroque movement.

How do you create fur that has a definite blue and yellow coloration, without endingup with a green dog? Here’s how I did it.

Georgia O’Keefe was one of the trailblazers in art. Not only did she produce beautiful paintings using bold colours, but in her time (1887 - 1986) it was still unusual for a woman to become an artist, especiallyin her younger years when she just started out. However, she always felt a strong connection to nature, and when she discovered New Mexico, she fell in love with the colors of the landscape around her, the stones, the earth and the animal bones she found there. From what I can piece together, it seems her lifelong love affair with Chow Chow’s also started here, in New Mexico.

This is what fascinates me about art history. The artists of old were, afterall, just people like you and me, each one with his or her own eccentricities, problems to overcome, life circumstances to deal with and thoughts that we might not expect him or her to have. If we look closely, we can find aspects of ourselves echoed in the personalities of old. As you read about the artist below, ask yourself which aspects of you were also reflected in that personality.

As far back as the bronze age, we can see that the dog was always a companion to the people. Caverns and tombs, ancient children’s toys as well as pottery show drawings and statues of dogs.

Painting curly fur doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming. See how I tackle this subject when I paint Chewey.

Baby skin tones in soft pastel can be colourful, yet soft and fleshy.

How to paint from a lower resolution photograph