RYB and the Question of Pedagogical Validity It’s been a while since I’ve publicly addressed the utility of the RYB (red–yellow–blue) color model. A recent conversation on social media, however, prompted me to revisit the issue, not only for its utility as a powerful heuristic in early education, but also as a valuable tool for… Continue reading
Featured Image: Satire on Art Criticism Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, 1644 “The most prized attribute of contemporary art is no longer beauty, but authenticity.”— Sarah Thornton, Seven Days in the Art World (2008) “Authenticity has become the contemporary version of the soul.”— Andrew Potter, The Authenticity Hoax (2010) In the art world, “authenticity” is… Continue reading
The following is based on the presentation given at the 2025 IX Arts convention. Humans form an initial visual interpretation almost immediately upon seeing an image. The “gist” of a scene can be extracted in under 100 milliseconds, with above-chance identification possible in as little as 13 milliseconds (about 1/75th of a second). By approximately… Continue reading
“Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert,” replied Glinda. “If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt Em the very first day you came to this country.” “But then I should not have had my wonderful brains!” cried the Scarecrow. “I might have passed my whole life… Continue reading
We see things not as they are, but as we are.” — Anaïs Nin Due to the nature of my work, I am often asked, “How do you get your paintings to look so realistic?” I genuinely love when a colleague or aspiring representationalist opens this door in a conversation, as it usually leads to… Continue reading
Electron microscopes have become invaluable tools in the realm of scientific exploration, offering researchers unprecedented insight into the intricate world of the “nanoscale.” Electron microscopy offers a better resolution than traditional (light) microscopes and can reveal the structure of smaller objects not usually seen by the latter. This is because the wavelength of electrons is… Continue reading
The Waichulis Curriculum Insights into the nuts and bolts of a modern-day skill-based visual art training system. The following paper is intended to offer insight into some of the inspirations, development, dynamics, and evolution of The Waichulis Curriculum that serves as the main training program with the ÀNI Art Academies. The content I have provided… Continue reading
Thoughts on evaluating the many art “rules” and traditions that continue to thrive in the studio and classroom. “Art ‘rules’ are often personal opinions shouted loudly with a big stick.” -Kara Castro McGee. American Author Hilary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar is often credited with the popularizing of a clever story about blindly following tradition and dogma…. Continue reading
Not long ago I was asked to join an online discussion group that was formed around the book Traditional Oil Painting, Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present by artist and author Virgil Elliot. Upon joining, I purchased the book that inspired the group so that my contributions to the forum’s discussions… Continue reading
A recent study from Jiao Tong University in China has been making some waves (pun intended) with a careful investigation into an often-encountered, but relatively under-examined bit of ornamentation—decorative wallpaper (Fu, Zhang, & Lin 2019.) Using a test that is designed to assess the strength of cognitive associations by examining latencies in classification tasks (Implicit… Continue reading