Oil paint on your clothes? Couch? Rug? Here's how to get it out.

Oh yeah, breaking out the big tips here. Here's the thing, though: you have to be quick once you start. It doesn't really matter what fabric it got onto, though I would proceed with EXTREME caution with cheap or delicate clothing.

It doesn't matter if it's dried or not. Well, it does a bit, but bare with me.

You go and buy oil paint thinner from your local art store. It HAS to be fine arts quality paint thinner. they usually smell like oranges or some BS that tries to tell you it's not ACTUALLY a harsh chemical (it's a lie!). Oil paint thinner is in of itself, oily, so you need to be able to remove IT after you're done. So aside from the thinner, you will need a face cloth, and a bowl of hot water and dish soap.

Now listen. If you let the paint dry on the fabric, the thinner will still get it out, but you will have to let the thinner sit on the fabric for a couple of minutes. If the fabric has cheap dye, it will fade under the thinner. If the fabric is plastic based, it may wear from this, so a) be careful where you apply it and try to get it ONLY on the paint and b) proceed with caution and know the longer it sits, the more it dissolves.

If the paint is wet, great! You simply wipe a good amount of the thinner into the affected area. Scrub with fingertips quickly, get that paint worked up, and then use the cloth and the soapy water to QUICKLY scrub the paint and thinner out of the fabric. This will work. It will come out easily. The quicker you get the thinner out of the fabric, the less fading and wearing it will do. You have about 30 seconds before it will start making a difference in any way, so move quickly and your clothes will be just fine. I have taken 2 year old oil paint right out of thick carpeting no problem doing this.

I'm not responsible for any stupid happenings that may be a result of this. Use your brain, don't do this on a $200 jacket. Also, don't paint while wearing a $200 jacket. Or near a $200 jacket. Practice safe painting.

Conflicting sentiments

Yet both so accurate.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I am NOT a New Year's Resolution person, but I do have the secret, the one secret that every single artist can embrace to improve themselves more over this year. This tip works, without exception, for every artist - from down in the beginnings when we are squiggling terribly represented shapes to the professionals that have mastered photorealism. If you're a pro you know it ;) if you're not you might. It's so simple.

Just.

Draw more.

Say it with me now: "In 2018, I will strive to draw more than I have ever drawn before."

Go kick this year's butt you amazing drawer-ers!

Recent work!

Some of it is not-so-recent, but you get the picture on this... I have not blogged in a very long time and need to catch up! ;) most of these are self-explanatory so sit back and enjoy some new works!



I've been diving hard into the digital side of things, and look forward to expanding my abilities and portfolio in this area as I lean into the concept world.

This is a ball point pen sketch from a couple of years ago! 

This adorable piece of work was done as a self portrait of my husband and I on a day that he was feeling exceedingly down in the dumps. It worked ;)

 And finally, a super neat tatt design that I had the pleasure of working with recently!

FANTASTIC coloured pencil tutorial

Now, this won't work as well with regular pencils and is meant to use a soft cored pencil such as Prismacolour Pro or Faber-Castell. That's not to say that you can't rock this exercise with a good old box of crayolas, though! They just don't like to blend as well.

Enjoy! How to draw an eye will coloured pencils:

http://thevirtualinstructor.com/how-to-draw-realistic-eye-colored-pencils.html

WOW, look at me coming out of hiding!

HEY GUYS! Not sure if anyone even bothers to follow this old thing anymore, but I am back! I had to take an unfortunate unofficial hiatus due to some personal life issues, but I am back and happy to be back. I have material scheduled for you for the next three months and I couldn't be more excited to kick it off.

I am going to be straying away from my usual updates-only posting, and instead work towards turning this blog into a resource of tutorials, products, and helpful information to help the world around me improve their artistic skills. There's no worry for those of you still waiting; I am still going to be showing off my new works, but I wanted to provide some use and value as I moved forward.

I'm so stoked to be back, and I hope we will build a great audience to move forward into this exciting new world!

Recent concept commission!

I am having some serious fun with these fantasy/sci-fi-themed commissions that are rolling in. I am working with a lot of ink (which is what this guy is) and the new medium is fun and exciting! Tomorrow I will be starting in on a more traditional oil paint commission, which will be a nice change of pace, but I am definitely not sick of these concept jobs... yet!

Here it is!