Art Studio Blog

a watercolor painting of a landscape showing a property line of trees

Beginner Artist Mindset Tips

Comparing Your Art Skills to Other Artists A direct message on Instagram from another artist about being a beginner got me thinking. Just starting out

Belinda Del Pesco 10 Comments

Linocut of a nude woman in bed, reaching for a sleeping man

Figurative Linocut Print – Nude Genre Scene

Figurative Linocut Nude Print Exchange This figurative linocut was made a few years ago for a print exchange. The theme of the exchange was The

Belinda Del Pesco 6 Comments

How to Make Monotype Prints from a Plastic Blueberry Container

Repurpose Plastic Food Containers into Printmaking Plates Your enthusiasm for this post about converting a plastic cookie container into a drypoint engraving inspired another monotype

Belinda Del Pesco 4 Comments

landscape monotype-print-with-watercolor

Monotype Print from Drafting Film with Water Soluble Crayons and Watercolors

Make a Monotype Print with Water Soluble Crayons from a Sheet of Drafting Film You can use water soluble crayons and watercolors on a sheet

Belinda Del Pesco 4 Comments

a color woodcut portrait of a woman's face among lily pads

Woodcut Portrait – Manga Style – Hand Painted with Watercolors

Carving a Stylized Manga-Inspired Woodcut Portrait Have you ever made a woodcut? It’s the same process as carving and printing a linocut, except it’s carved

Belinda Del Pesco 10 Comments

watercolor sketchbook practice with coastal cliff landscape scenes

Watercolor Landscape Studies in a Sketchbook

Watercolor Landscape Studies in a Sketchbook I’m testing another watercolor sketchbook with a series of small watercolor landscape studies featuring coastal scenes. I used a

Belinda Del Pesco 6 Comments

watercolor and colored pencil on an etchr lab sketchbook of a woman walking through flowers

Etchr Watercolor Sketchbook Figure Study

Coursing the Heliconi My friend Sarah recommended trying an Etchr Watercolor Sketchbook, so I bought this one to test the paper. Using the grid method,

Belinda Del Pesco 4 Comments

figurative painting in watercolor of a girl in a chair reaching up to pet a cat

Watercolor Painting in a Sketchbook

Watercolor Sketchbook Practice Watercolor artists I’ve admired over the years write often about the importance of a sketchbook practice. Even so, I could never seem

Belinda Del Pesco 13 Comments

Klimt Inspired Linocut Portrait – Winged

A Klimt Art Fan (forever) I saw my first Klimt painting projected on a large screen in a college auditorium during an Art History class.

Belinda Del Pesco 4 Comments

fantasy portrait nude collagraph print art

Make a Collagraph Print from Mat Board and Glue

What is a Glue Collagraph? A glue collagraph is a printmaking plate made from a stiff base, like mat board, with a printable design applied

Belinda Del Pesco 2 Comments

colored pencil and dark field monotype portrait of a girl on a bike in a vintage style

Adding Colored Pencil to Monotype Print Portraits

Colored Pencils to the Rescue Have you ever added colored pencil to your monotype prints? (If you’ve never made a monotype, read on…) Whether your

Belinda Del Pesco 3 Comments

Watercolor Painting Sketchbook – Study of African Violets

Watercolor Painting Sketchbook Studies Watercolor painting sketchbook studies of African violets became my meditation last week. I snapped a photo of a pink African violet

Belinda Del Pesco 6 Comments

still life watercolor painting os a chopping block with freshly washed granny smith green apples, a knife, and a wedge of laughing cow cheese near a cup of coffee

Find Ideas for Watercolors with Your Phone’s Camera

Where to Find Ideas for Watercolors Artists are in a hard crush to render our world in pigments, graphite, charcoal, etc. These days, we’re limited to finding inspiration

Belinda Del Pesco 7 Comments

Drypoint Printmaking with Recycled Plastic and the Stomp Method of transferring the print without a press

Drypoint Printmaking using a Cookie Container without a Press

While nibbling a cookie (Trader Joe’s Biscotti), I was pondering drypoint printmaking without a press. The cookie container in my hand was sturdy and smooth,

Belinda Del Pesco 21 Comments

a watercolor sketch of a little girl in a pink chef's hat and apron, sitting on the counter, squeezing candy dough into a baking tray

How to Talk Yourself into Painting More Often

Art Tips from History Practice makes perfect. The secret to success is consistency of purpose. Plan your work, and work your plan. Successful specialists have

Belinda Del Pesco 20 Comments

Make a Simple Collagraph Print with Mat Board and Construction Paper

What is a Collagraph Print? The word collagraph sounds a bit like the word collage, right? The root of the word – Colla is derived

Belinda Del Pesco 5 Comments

a monotype print of a bathroom with art deco tile, and an open window with a bouquet of flowers on the sill in the sunlight

Adding Colored Pencil to Monotype Ghost Prints

Monotype Ghost Print Transformation Let’s add colored pencil to a monotype ghost print. If you’re not familiar with monotypes, visit this information page about monotype

Belinda Del Pesco 4 Comments

a collagraph print of a woman laying on pillows in a bed, reading a book

Figurative Collagraph Printmaking – Printing Intaglio, and Relief, and Adding Other Media

Figurative Collagraph Prints Traditional mat board (known as mount board or pressboard in other parts of the world) is a wonderful material to make a

Belinda Del Pesco 4 Comments

a block wall with birds eating from a flat bowl of seed and pink roses framing the scene painted in watercolor

The Definition of Art

Definition of Art We’re visiting the dictionary in this post, my friend. Painting, Printmaking and Drawing are all bound to creativity and expression. One of

Belinda Del Pesco 16 Comments

a linocut print painted with watercolor showing a swing band under a canopy

Paint Linocuts with Watercolor – and a few more Linocut Posts

Hand Color Linocuts If you print your linocuts and woodcuts with inks that won’t re-wet, you can have a lot of fun hand coloring your

Belinda Del Pesco 12 Comments

a still life watercolor of a kitchen cabinet in the sun featuring glasses, bowls and goblets

Watercolor Paintings of your Kitchen

Creating Watercolor Paintings of Your Own Kitchen Have you observed your kitchen as inspiration to paint a watercolor? Whether the room is dark or well-lit,

Belinda Del Pesco 10 Comments

a tiny portrait in watercolor of a girl's face, with chin length black hair, looking off to the distance over our shoulder

30×30 Direct Watercolor Challenge, and Reaching for Quiet with Art

Creative Focus in Strange Times My husband asks me how I’m doing. My reply: ‘I feel like I weigh a thousand pounds.’ It’s a declaration

Belinda Del Pesco 5 Comments

a collagraph of a great dane dog in a garden with colorful plants in the background

5 Tips for Your Artist Newsletter

5 Tips for Your Artist Newsletter How often do you send a newsletter or email to your followers? If the writing segment of your art

Belinda Del Pesco 8 Comments

Art Studio Planning – and a Watercolor Portrait

Summertime Art Studio Planning Over the past 67 days (yikes!) of quarantine, the macadamia nut tree outside my studio window has erupted in fronds of

Belinda Del Pesco 4 Comments

Using Watercolor and Charcoal Together

Exploring Watercolor and Charcoal Together I was sorting scanned image files in my archives, and I forgot about this watercolor and charcoal painting of an

Belinda Del Pesco 11 Comments

a still life painting of a row of lemons and one lime in a vertical line up on a blue patterned cloth, painted in watercolor

5 Alternatives to Art Exhibits During a Pandemic

Alternative Plans during a Pandemic (for Artists) We’re among thousands of artists who’s exhibit schedule went dark this Spring. What tools do you have in

Belinda Del Pesco 7 Comments

Still Life Painting Design Ideas – Adding Interest to your Art (even if it wasn’t there)

Still Life Painting Design Ideas Still life painting in watercolor – especially interiors – is loaded with design opportunities to embellish. You can change the

Belinda Del Pesco 10 Comments

a still life in watercolor of roses in a bud vase and a bowl of plums on a windowsill reflected in kitchen counter tiles

Still Life in Watercolor- 5 Painters on Instagram

5 Instagram Artists Painting Still Life in Watercolor While we’re hunkering down and staying home, it’s nice to peruse some beautiful still life in watercolor.

Belinda Del Pesco 7 Comments

a trace monotype of a pre-raphaelite inspired woman with red hair waering a wreath of flowers on her head

Resources for Learning to Draw the Human Face

Learning to Draw the Human Face Draw a cluster of trees crooked, or a stack of bowls a little askew, and it’s considered charming. But

Belinda Del Pesco 3 Comments

monotype portrait of a young girl with dark hair, leaning on her elbows at a counter

Painterly Printmaking with Monotype

Painterly Monotype Portraits with Colored Pencil Painterly printmaking with monotype is a very accessible art project. You don’t need a press, or sharp tools, as

Belinda Del Pesco 7 Comments