Traditional Painting Techniques
Hitting the Brief: A Guide to Vitamin D3 and K2 Forms
Just like a muddy thumbnail ruins a great composition, taking the wrong form of a supplement means you lose the benefit. Here is…
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Traditional Painting Techniques
Explore curated collections of Craig Maher's work, from initial sketches to finished oil masterpieces.
Traditional Painting Techniques
The Illustrator's Guide to Winding Down: Magnesium for Late Studio Nights
Shrinking an oil painting down to two inches often destroys subtle glazing, just like pushing through a 48-hour painting bender…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Helmut Newton Foundation tickets: booking paths compared
If you're plotting a Berlin itinerary that includes the Helmut Newton Foundation, the entry decision looks deceptively flat on…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Oil wash on pencil: a workflow for fantasy illustrators
Every oil wash over pencil begins with a problem the painter created the moment graphite touched the ground. Loose carbon…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Oil painting underpainting: essential preparation checklist
Your fantasy oil painting will not survive the test of time on charm alone. The flashiest focal point, the most cinematic…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London tickets: direct vs. packages
The cheapest way to visit the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London is also the least forgiving: book direct, book early, and accept…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Roman Forum tickets: how to book for sketching trips
Most sketching trips to the Roman Forum fail before the first line hits the page. Not because the ruins are difficult to draw…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Grisaille underpainting: a roadmap for fantasy figures
The primary failure in a complex fantasy figure is rarely the color. It is the value structure beneath the color. A demon lit by…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Toned ground oil painting: prep checklist for underpaintings
Most "muddy" oil paintings start two days before the first brushstroke. The failure isn't in the rendering — it's in the prep…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Sunken oil paint: the oiling out method for dark values
Most dead-looking darks are not a colour-mixing failure. They are a surface failure.
Traditional Painting Techniques
Oil wash over pencil: a pre-session checklist for fantasy artists
Most failed oil washes do not fail at the brush. They fail ten minutes earlier, when the artist decides that a handsome graphite…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Oil sketching on paper: prep checklist to avoid rot
An oil sketch can look perfectly healthy while the paper underneath is already doing the wrong kind of work: taking in binder…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Acrylic underpainting under oils: is it safe for fantasy art?
Yes—acrylic underpainting beneath oil paint is safe for fantasy illustration, provided the acrylic layer is built as a stable…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Oil paint glazing: a pre-session prep checklist
Most failed glazes are not painted badly. They are prepared badly.
Traditional Painting Techniques
Graphite fixative under oil paint: when is it safe?
“Dry to touch” is not a conservation standard. It is a label milestone. The spray has stopped feeling wet; it has not signed a…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Wet-on-wet or layered oils: which fits your fantasy art?
ells You Everything…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Sketch transfer to canvas: grid vs carbon paper
I've reviewed more opening portfolios than I can count, and the sketch transfer tells me almost everything I need to know about…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Oil painting mediums: which drying agent fits your workflow?
A trade deadline hits Friday. The brief calls for a fully rendered dragon knight in the established TCG style: oils on board…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Wood panels vs stretched canvas for fantasy oils
When a brief lands in my inbox asking for a "tight, readable silhouette that holds up at two inches tall," the surface matters as…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Fantasy underpainting: grisaille, verdaccio, or imprimatura
If you have ever stood in front of a half-finished painting wondering why the color has gone muddy—or why the underdrawing is…
Traditional Painting Techniques
Oil Wash Over Pencil: Materials and Setup Checklist
Most oil washes over pencil drawings fail before the brush touches paint. Not because the artist chose the wrong umber, or…