Tips/Videos

UART Tip #31: “It’s All Just Shape” with Nancy Nowak One of the most important artistic lessons I have learned is to view objects as mere shapes. If I can forget about the label (a flower, a tree, a face, etc.) and just see it as either complex or simple shapes, I can draw it, […]

UART Tip #30: “Pastels Rounded, Broken, or Misshapen?” with Jen Evenhus There’s nothing better than opening a box of brand new Terry Ludwig pastels that are perfectly shaped with razor-sharp edges, just waiting for that first perfect stroke on your paper! Painting is hard enough without having to contend with sticks that have lost their […]

UART Tip #29: “Passing Fancy” with Nancie King Mertz This painting was inspired by 3 photos I took in NYC after my husband and I stepped onto the tram platform near the East River. I work from 4×6 photos if I’m not painting en Plein Air, and this design has elements from each of those […]

UART Tip #28: “Skyscape Painting: Some Useful Tips” with Christine Camilleri Why are clouds challenging to many artists? We know they are important because without them all we would have is an empty blue sky with no colors. Clouds are an integral part of paintings yet we are daunted by them. A cup has solidity, […]

UART Tip #27: “Painting Architecture that “Sings!”” with Jill Stefani Wagner Painting buildings in pastel used to overwhelm me. Perspective, focal points, straight lines, and proper values all seemed way more difficult when painting architecture. Probably because we can sometimes fake a landscape, but everyone knows when a house isn’t “built” right. And color. Buildings […]

UART Tip #26: “From Underpainting to Finish” with Susan Kuznitsky The subject for this demo is this very beautiful moment I caught of my dear friend Lora’s mother, Eileen. She is 92 years old, living with her husband and still creating gorgeous quilts. I love how timeless and ageless creating art of all types can […]

UART Tip #25: Blending and Smoothing Colored Pencils with a Stencil Brush by Denise Howard The first thing you notice when you try colored pencils on sanded paper such as UART is “Whoa! It eats pencils like crazy!” The second thing you notice is “Hey, I covered this whole area in no time!” The pro […]

UART Tip #24: Using Simultaneous Contrast by Lee McVey In his book, The Elements of Color, Johannes Itten says simultaneous contrast happens when you see any color, the eye simultaneously sees the complementary color, even if very subtly, even if it is not present. This effect will also occur between gray and strong chromatic colors […]

UART Tip #23: “How do I Deal with ALL that Green?” with Nancie King Mertz My students often ask this question when we’re together in a plein air workshop, and they often remark that they “don’t have the RIGHT green”.  My solution is to start with a cool underpainting on the furthest section of green […]

Portrait on UART Dark with Alain Picard – Part Two Master Pastelist Alain Picard demonstrates portrait painting on UART Dark premium mounted board. Check out part one here.

Portrait on UART Dark with Alain Picard – Part One Master Pastelist Alain Picard demonstrates portrait painting on UART Dark premium mounted board.

UART Tip #22: My Lighter/Darker/Warmer/Cooler/Brighter/Greyer Mantra with Barbara Jaenicke Okay, that title is quite the mouthful. But it’s what I live by when I paint. I’m often asked how I approach color in a painting, and if I subscribe to any particular color theory.  I wish I could give a short and sweet answer to how I use […]

UART Tip #21: Setting the Mood and Express Yourself with Christine Camilleri Mood is something that the artist can control by using certain things that help to convey a certain emotion. You might choose one or all of these things to help tell your story or to emphasize a certain aspect in your subject. For example, horizontal lines […]

UART Tip #20: How to Capture the City While Keeping it Calm with Nancie King Mertz This painting is from reference photos I took late in the afternoon while attending a benefit in a Chicago hotel!  We’re always looking for our next painting, right? The rush hour traffic was soon to start and the slanted light […]

UART Tip #19: Prepping for Snow with Barbara Jaenicke For any painting, the block-in is crucial. In this all important step, my goal is to begin with only a few shapes, and to connect shapes wherever possible to create movement into and throughout the painting. With a snow scene especially, I’m also concerned with setting […]

UART Tip #18: Blending and Softening Effects with Sanded Paper with Robert Palmerton Blending Effects One of the charms of UART sanded pastel paper is its ability to enable the pastel artist to blend several pastel layers into a uniform hue, and to build atmospheric effects (such as fog or streaks of sunlight), by applying […]

UART Tip #17: Drawing Short Hair in Colored Pencil with John Middick “How can I draw short hair that looks more realistic?” I’ve heard this question quite often from new and seasoned artists alike. It seems there’s a bit of mystery surrounding the process, so I want to offer my own perspective on achieving realistic […]

UART Tip #16: Creating the Illusion of Atmosphere and Distance in a Painting with Jill Stefani Wagner Introduction Recently, our local land conservancy highlighted farms that had been saved through their land rescue program to raise money to protect even more acreage. They requested Michigan artists apply to paint at one of their 40 sites and […]

UART Tip #15: Out of the Box Pastel Grays:  How to Spice Them Up with Christine Camilleri Grays enhance saturated colors, provide balance when there is much going on in your painting, are rest areas for the eye and are invaluable for shadows and showing form or structure. How do we achieve grays that are […]

UART Tip #14: Thinking Outside the Blue Box with Bethany Fields There is nothing more appealing than a bright “bluebird” day. The sun is out, the birds are chirping, the sky is clear and vibrant. Here in my home state of Texas, and particularly in my region, our skies are as blue as pure brilliant […]

UART Tip #13: Loosen-Up and Speed-Up Your Painting Session with Nancie King Mertz Step 1:  Whether studio or plein air, I always first map out a composition with directional “tic-marks” using vine charcoal. This ensures that each element I want to include has its space and prevents letting the subject “grow”, wishing for more painting […]

UART Tip #12: Making Your Mark with Barbara Jaenicke For the impressionist pastel painter, it’s important to allow the mark-making qualities of your pastels to take precedence over rendering precise subject matter. While we work hard to control the pastel medium, the really hard part is learning what NOT to control so that this luscious […]

UART Tip #11: “The Look At Stage” with Lee McVey Some artists finish their paintings and put them in frames right away. I suggest my students put their paintings in what I call “The Look At Stage.” Sometimes this stage will take a few days to a few weeks, but sometimes even longer. Have you ever […]

UART Tip #10: Drawing Fur with Colored Pencils – Step-by-Step with Ewelina Kuczera Long black fur can be tricky. In this tutorial I will show you my method and I will give you some tips on drawing on tinted paper. Here is a reference photo for the portrait – I chose this happy shepherd: 1. […]

UART Tip #09: Having Fun With the Underpainting with Susan Kuznitsky There are many ways and many benefits of using an underpainting on sanded paper to create a strong foundation upon which to add many glorious layers of pastels. The type of underpainting depends on the subject and desired end effect. This demo piece was […]