Explore Painting & Art-Making Techniques
Welcome to our Techniques section—your guide to the vast and expressive world of artistic practice. Whether you’re discovering art for the first time or refining a lifelong craft, this collection of techniques will help you expand your creative vocabulary. Each method highlights its essential materials, foundational steps, and the unique visual language it brings to contemporary and historical art.
Below you’ll find a curated index of both traditional and modern techniques, each offering its own possibilities for experimentation, mastery, and personal expression.
ACRYLIC PAINTING
A vibrant, fast-drying medium known for its versatility and bold color. Learn foundational brushwork, layering approaches, blending methods, glazing, and textural applications using gels, pastes, and mediums.
AIRBRUSHING
A precision technique that uses compressed air to apply mist-like paint. Ideal for smooth gradients, hyperrealism, automotive art, murals, and illustration. Master control, masking, stenciling, and surface prep.
ALLA PRIMA PAINTING
Also known as “wet-on-wet,” this technique involves completing a painting in a single session. Explore dynamic brushwork, confident color mixing, and spontaneous mark-making used by masters from Constable to contemporary portraitists.
ALCOHOL INK PAINTING
A fluid, luminous technique using dye-based inks on nonporous surfaces. Learn how evaporation, tilt, and additives create marbled effects, blooms, and cascading color movements.
ARTISTS & WORKSHOPS
A space dedicated to artistic insight. Discover professional demonstrations, step-by-step lessons, and interviews with leading painters, printmakers, and multidisciplinary creators.
BOTANICAL PAINTING
An exacting and elegant art form focused on the accurate depiction of plants. Learn observational drawing, watercolor layering, botanical structure, and methods for rendering texture and translucency.
CALLIGRAPHY
A tradition of expressive writing where rhythm and gesture define form. Learn pen angles, ink flow, pressure control, and how to develop your own lettering style.
CANVAS STRETCHING
Master the craft of building your own painting surface. Learn how to stretch, secure, and prime canvas for long-term stability and professional presentation.
CHINESE PAINTING
Rooted in centuries-old philosophy and technique, Chinese painting emphasizes harmony, brush rhythm, and expressive line. Explore ink preparation, calligraphic brushstrokes, and freehand painting styles.
COLD WAX PAINTING
A tactile and atmospheric technique blending oil paint with cold wax medium. Learn how to build layers, incise marks, embed textures, and create velvety, matte surfaces.
COLLAGE
The assembly of diverse materials—from paper to textiles—to create unified visual compositions. Learn cutting, layering, adhesive choices, and conceptual approaches.
DECORATIVE ARTS
A category focused on specialized surfaces such as ceramic, glass, silk, and wood. Explore paints and methods tailored for applied arts, craft traditions, and design objects.
DIGITAL PRINTING
Combine digital technology with fine art. Learn how to create archival prints, manage color profiles, prepare files, and integrate digital elements with traditional media.
DOODLING
A spontaneous drawing practice that nurtures creativity and visual thinking. Explore mark-making, pattern development, and idea generation through playful sketching.
ENCAUSTIC PAINTING
A luminous technique using heated beeswax mixed with pigment. Learn fusing methods, layering, incorporating collage, and achieving sculptural surfaces.
ETCHING & INTAGLIO
A historic printmaking discipline where lines are incised into metal plates. Learn plate preparation, acid baths, inking, wiping, and printing on fine art papers.
GILDING
The art of applying precious metal leaf—gold, silver, copper—onto surfaces. Learn traditional sizing, burnishing, and decorative techniques for luminous finishes.
GLASS PAINTING
A transparent and reflective medium requiring specialized colors. Learn outlining, layering, firing options, and techniques for decorative or fine art applications.
GLAZING (PAINTING)
A method of applying translucent layers over dry paint to enhance depth and luminosity. Ideal for oils, acrylics, and watercolors; learn pigment selection and controlled layering.
GOUACHE PAINTING
An opaque water-based medium loved for its velvety finish. Learn layering, reactivation techniques, flat color fields, and methods for illustration and fine art.
GRAFFITI ART
Rooted in street culture and mural traditions. Learn spray-can control, caps and pressure variations, stenciling, letterforms, and large-scale wall techniques.
GRANULATION TECHNIQUE
A watercolor phenomenon where pigment particles separate, creating textured, mineral-like effects. Explore granulating pigments, specialty papers, and techniques to amplify the effect.
HARD EDGE PAINTING
A genre emphasizing sharp lines and geometric clarity. Learn masking, taping, layering, and color theory for crisp, high-impact compositions.
HOW TO MAKE WATERCOLOR PAINT
Explore the craft of hand-making watercolor using pigment, binder, and precise ratios. Learn grinding, mulling, and palette-making for custom colors.
ILLUSTRATION
A broad practice encompassing traditional drawing, digital art, narrative imagery, and stylized expression. Explore linework, shading, composition, and stylistic development.
IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING
Focus on color, light, and atmosphere through broken brushwork and optical blending. Learn outdoor color mixing, loose strokes, and capturing fleeting moments.
MOKUHANGA (JAPANESE WOODCUT)
A water-based woodblock technique rich in texture and tradition. Learn carving, inking, registration, and hand printing using natural materials.
LIFE DRAWING
The study of the human form through live models. Learn gesture drawing, anatomy, proportions, shading, and observational accuracy.
LITHOGRAPHY
A printmaking process based on the interaction of grease and water. Learn drawing on the stone or plate, chemical processing, and hand or press printing.
BLOCK & LINO PRINTING
A relief method where raised surfaces are inked and pressed. Learn carving, inking, rolling, proofing, and printing bold graphic designs.
MODELING & SCULPTURE
Explore three-dimensional creation through clay, plaster, wood, wire, and mixed materials. Learn additive and subtractive techniques, armatures, and casting.
MONOPRINT
A spontaneous, one-of-a-kind printmaking process. Learn direct drawing, subtractive methods, stenciling, and press-based experiments.
MURAL & SCENE PAINTING
Large-scale work created on walls, ceilings, or architectural surfaces. Learn scaling, surface prep, scaffolding safety, and durable outdoor materials.
OIL PAINTING
A foundational technique in fine art known for richness and slow drying. Learn underpainting, glazing, scumbling, impasto, solvents, mediums, and color harmony.
PAINT MAKING
Craft your own paints by combining pigments, binders, and additives. Learn safe handling, longevity considerations, and how to tailor paints to your technique.
PAPER STRETCHING
Prepare watercolor paper for wet techniques by stretching it taut. Learn soaking, taping, drying, and board preparation for flawless washes.
PASTEL PAINTING
Soft pastels offer immediate color and velvety texture. Learn blending, layering, fixing, and using textured papers to create luminous imagery.
PLEIN AIR PAINTING
Outdoor painting focused on natural light and atmosphere. Learn portable setup, quick color mixing, and capturing shifting conditions.
POUR PAINTING
A fluid technique where paint is mixed with mediums and poured for marbled effects. Learn cells, tilting, layering, and drying techniques.
PRIMING
The essential first step for preparing surfaces. Learn about acrylic gesso, oil ground, traditional gesso, and how to choose the right primer for each medium.
PRINTMAKING
A broad category including relief, intaglio, lithography, silkscreen, and monoprint. Learn plate preparation, inking, paper selection, and press techniques.
SILK PAINTING
A delicate art using dyes and resist techniques on silk. Learn gutta application, color flow, and methods for wearable or framed artworks.
RELIEF & LINO PRINTING
One of the oldest printing methods where raised surfaces produce the image. Learn carving patterns, rolling ink, and hand printing.
SCREEN PRINTING
A stencil-based technique for printing imagery onto paper, fabric, or other surfaces. Learn screen prep, emulsion, exposure, and multi-color registration.
SILVERPOINT
A Renaissance drawing method using a metal stylus on prepared grounds. Learn subtle shading, mark-making, and archival surface preparation.
SKETCHING
The foundation of visual thinking. Learn gesture, contour, shading, composition, and how sketchbooks support creative development.
TEXTILE PAINTING
Explore paints and dyes designed for fabric. Learn heat-setting, stenciling, stamping, and techniques for both fashion and fiber art.
THE ZORN PALETTE
A minimal palette of just four colors—yellow ochre, vermilion (or cad red), ivory black, and white. Learn how to create harmony and subtlety through limited choices.
URBAN SKETCHING
Capture city life on location. Learn fast drawing, perspective, atmosphere, and storytelling through observational sketching.
WATERCOLOR PAINTING
A luminous medium celebrated for transparency and flow. Learn washes, wet-on-wet, glazing, drybrush, and color layering.
WOOD ENGRAVING
A meticulous relief process using fine tools and end-grain wood blocks. Learn engraving techniques for creating delicate, high-contrast prints.
YOUNG ARTISTS
A playful introduction to art-making for children and beginners. Discover safe materials and activities that nurture creativity, imagination, and early skill development.
