It is not uncommon today to find critique practices that proceed as though evaluation can meaningfully precede criteria. A work is shown, reactions are offered, preferences are circulated, and the resulting exchange is treated as though it were pedagogically informative. Yet much of what passes for critique (in its common open-ended form) is better understood… Continue reading
Why “Medium” Is So Often Confusing Few terms in painting are used with greater broad-stroke ambiguity than “medium“. In common art-related conversations, some may use the word to refer to the binder in a paint system, a liquid additive mixed into a paint system, a solvent-rich thinning mixture, or even the entire material category in… Continue reading
How Cognitive Load and Deliberate Practice Shape Expertise Very often in conversations about technical skill in representational painting, people are quick to cite how many years they’ve been painting, as if the time invested in an activity were a reliable indicator of expertise and performance level. This reflexive appeal to “years of experience” reflects a… Continue reading
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