Blog
This is where I share the story behind my work: the discoveries and the disappointments as well as the pressures and the pleasures of the creative life.
If you want to receive a notification every time I publish something new, you can sign up for my special mailing list or support my art on Patreon. No matter how micro your donation, it is precious!
2022
- 08/09 By Comparison
- 08/02 Social Media Is Bad for Art
- 07/26 Making Art When the World Is Ending
- 07/19 Why You Might Want to Join Mastodon (Or Why I’m Happy I Did)
- 07/12 Overthinker
- 07/05 What $24 Means to Me
- 06/28 IRL > Online
- 06/22 Holding onto a Rainbow
- 06/15 “Is Gwenn Seemel a Lesbian?”
- 06/10 After Janet Sobel: On Jackson Pollock and Text-to-image AI Art
- 06/06 Every Little Thing
- 06/01 How Do You Embody Pride?
- 05/16 New York City Art and My 19th Artiversary
- 05/11 Elevating My Art Practice
- 05/07 When Art Only Makes Sense with the Help of Your Community
- 05/02 Art That Saves the World
- 04/22 Film Star for a Week
- 04/15 Catching a Cold (and a Clue) during a Pandemic
- 04/11 Celebrating Our Queer Planet and Shad Fest 2022
- 04/08 The Accidental Poetry of the Universe and Portraiture’s Powerful Extremes
- 04/05 Archaeologist of Play
- 03/30 Bleeding Heart of the Earth
- 03/25 Calling All Allies
- 03/15 Dominic Murphy’s Fecal Face and My Return to Adolescence
- 03/13 Walking this Path with You
- 03/10 The Future We Need
- 02/22 Extending Your Mind
- 02/17 32 Chews
- 02/09 Quitting Instagram and Facebook: The Perspective of 8 Artists
- 02/03 Proud of My Stripes
- 01/28 Live Painting for My Life
- 01/20 COVID’s Effect on Thinking (Even When You Haven’t Had It)
- 01/15 How To Get Over an Art Block
- 01/10 Childfree, Meatfree, Godfree, Genderfree
- 01/05 What I Learned Living Six Years in Conservative America
- 01/01 A Series Painted over Twelve Years
2021
- 12/20 Observance
- 12/16 Web Free-point-oh: NFTs, DAOs, the Value of Art, and the Cutest Kitty on the Internitty
- 12/08 Art Anxiety
- 12/06 Hi, I’m Gwenn Seemel.
- 12/01 Human Light
- 11/29 A Body of Work Taking Shape
- 11/26 Rest
- 11/21 How To Buy Art Like a Boss
- 11/17 How To Get Art Opportunities When You’re Not on Facebook and Instagram
- 11/11 Naive and Proud of It
- 11/05 What It Means to Be a Humanist Artist
- 11/01 Gift Cer-sticker-cate!
- 10/29 The Elephant in the Room
- 10/24 Artists Sunday = Planet Earth’s Funday
- 10/17 Why Artists Charge More for Custom Art
- 10/14 My Art on Handmade Karina Davis Bags
- 10/08 Mining My Favorite Insult
- 10/05 Read or Die
- 10/01 Online Open Studio All the Time
- 09/24 Uncopyright and NFTs: David Revoy’s Dream Cat-pocalypse
- 09/22 Toxic Positivity Versus Thoughtful Positivity
- 09/18 Communing with Fireflies
- 09/13 Why Artists Hate Putting a Price on Their Art
- 09/08 Always a Non-native Speaker
- 08/31 We Are All Influencers
- 08/23 How to Find and Follow Artists When You’re Not on Instagram
- 08/18 Back-to-school, Pandemic Style
- 08/13 If We’re Doing It Right, It Looks Like We’re Overreacting.
- 08/10 For the Love of Masks: A Sticker Sheet!
- 08/07 Getting Some Quality Input after a Whole Lot of Output
- 08/04 Tiger Fun and Brenda Dunn
- 07/31 Making Art More Accessible with a Simple Adjustment
- 07/27 Yearly Patronage to Make Your Budget Happy
- 07/21 Finally Ready to Let It Go
- 07/20 Getting Personal and Feeling Pride
- 07/19 A Lesson in Marketing from the Road
- 07/15 We Are All the Children of the Public Library.
- 07/03 The Only Way I Can Stop Myself from Painting
- 06/29 Diamond Painting: A New Way to Make My Art Yours
- 06/22 The Patriarchy Made Me This Way
- 06/17 Riva Lehrer and the Intensity of True Portraiture
- 05/30 Art IRL at the Princeton Public Library
- 05/28 Just Use It: A Message from Italian Street Artist Alessia Babrow
- 05/27 Venture Café Philadelphia: The Art Business Isn’t Like Any Other Business
- 05/25 Scientific Proof That an Artwork’s Success Is Arbitrary
- 05/22 Art Is Like Parsley
- 05/17 Art Mommy
- 05/16 The One Thing You Must Do When You’re Deleting Social Media
- 05/10 How Many Fans Will Make You a Real Artist?
- 05/04 Thank You for Taking Care of Yourself
- 04/29 Figuring Out Who Will Like Your Art
- 04/26 Art as Trust Exercise
- 04/20 An Artistic Kinship
- 04/13 The Long-term Effects of Censorship on Artists
- 04/09 Speaking (Online) at Venture Café Philadelphia!
- 04/05 Always Queer, Always Questioning
- 03/29 My Endo Journey: How I Got a Clean(ish) Bill of Health
- 03/23 Monthly Artistic Mail for You and the People You Love
- 03/19 The “I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine” Stickers and T-shirts
- 03/16 The Anti-Instagram Off-Facebook Update
- 03/12 Stupid Like a Geranium
- 03/07 What You Need to Be a Successful Artist
- 03/02 The Memory Card Game (But for Art)
- 02/26 Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Masks
- 02/20 What a Painted Portrait Really Says About You
- 02/17 Mirror, Mirror
- 02/11 The Good, the Bad, and the Best: Releasing Your Art from Copyright
- 02/06 Lacking Simplicity
- 02/01 GIF Gifts
- 01/20 A Perfectly COVID-19 Art Theme: Time Soup
- 01/15 #ArtsWorkersUnite #ArtsHero Letter to the Biden-Harris Administration
- 01/12 Roundup of Political Art Made during Trump’s Reign
- 01/10 Shout-out to the People Who Understand My Art
- 01/04 The Art Business Lies I Refuse to Tell (And Why I Hate the New Jersey Department of Labor)
- 01/01 Not Boring
2020
- 12/26 The Gift of Memories
- 12/21 From A to Z
- 12/14 How To Start a Patreon for Your Art
- 12/08 #LifesaversFanArt: What Is Your Favorite Part of Wearing a Mask?
- 12/01 #LifesaversFanArt: We Are the Guardians of Our Galaxy
- 11/24 #LifesaversFanArt: Send Out Some Winter Cheer, Pandemic Style!
- 11/21 Pressing Pause on My Painting Practice
- 11/17 Connecting Versus Collecting
- 11/12 Mask Giveway!
- 11/08 Where Were You When You Heard the News?
- 11/06 Public Art as Placeholder for Better Times
- 11/02 An Open Letter to Those Who Say They’ve Got Nothing to Hide
- 10/29 Canceling Facebook and Instagram without Offending People
- 10/26 Why Artists Are So Bad at Marketing Their Art
- 10/21 My Name Is...
- 10/20 #LifesaversFanArt: Why Wouldn’t You Wear a Mask to Protect Moi?
- 10/13 How Deleting Facebook and Instagram Is Changing My Art
- 10/07 What Do a Buddhist Leader, a Monster, and Three Kids Up Past Bedtime Have in Common?
- 10/05 Facebook and Instagram Cheat You Out of Your Creativity
- 09/30 Why I Am Deleting Facebook and Instagram
- 09/28 Beavers Build Ponds, Not Dams
- 09/23 The #LifesaversFanArt Campaign Is Catching On!
- 09/21 Conversations with Myself
- 09/17 Why I Am Comfortable Making #LifesaversFanArt Despite Copyright
- 09/15 Hug Your Artist Friends
- 09/11 #LifesaversFanArt: With the Novel Coronavirus Comes Great Responsibility
- 09/10 #LifesaversFanArt: Don’t Pik-achoo on Pika-me
- 09/09 #LifesaversFanArt: How Far I’ll Go to Keep You Safe
- 09/08 #LifesaversFanArt: SpongeBob SafetyPants
- 09/07 #LifesaversFanArt: Social Distancing, Frozen Style
- 09/06 #LifesaversFanArt: Wear a Mask, You Must
- 09/05 As Neat as a Pin
- 09/03 The Raven, the Elephant, and Mixed Media
- 08/28 Fan Art and Patreon Palooza
- 08/27 Super Affordable Prints
- 08/21 How Do You Occur in the World?
- 08/18 The Not-so-secret But Still Very Special Deals on My Art through Patreon
- 08/14 Your Worth Is Not Determined by How Much Money You Make
- 08/10 The Ultimate Proof That We Are Amazing at Working Together
- 08/04 The Thoughtful Rule-follower in Me Acknowledges the Thoughtful Rule-follower in You
- 08/02 Do You Believe in Xylophrogs?
- 07/30 Being a Slow Art Maker in a World Moving at the Speed of Memes
- 07/23 Getting Started without Knowing How You’ll Finish
- 07/16 Making Art while Everything Falls Apart
- 07/14 Virtual Party for Baby Sees ABCs!
- 07/11 A Most Artistic Baby Name Book
- 07/07 Baby Sees Book Club
- 06/30 Why We Should All Be More Queer
- 06/19 I Want to Celebrate
- 06/18 Half Dead
- 06/14 For Your Safety, Because Pandemic
- 06/08 Lacking Patience
- 06/04 A Rainbow American Flag
- 06/01 Why I Painted 676 First Names
- 05/25 Gratitude for the Me Who Got Distracted
- 05/19 Doing the Thing I Said I’d Never Do
- 05/16 How To Love Your Art #17: Define the Word “Love”
- 05/09 Chasing Joy
- 05/04 How To Love Your Art #16: Celebrate It
- 05/01 How To Love Your Art #15: Introduce It to All Your Favorite People
- 04/26 How To Love Your Art #14: Don’t Let Jerks Near It
- 04/23 How To Love Your Art #13: Don’t Claim the Copyright on Your Work
- 04/20 How To Love Your Art #12: Take a Break from It Now and Again
- 04/16 My First Food Art
- 04/13 How To Love Your Art #11: Charge a Lot of Money for It
- 04/08 How To Love Your Art #10: Give It Away
- 04/05 The Snake Philosopher and the Madness of Meaning
- 03/30 Sexual Assault on Zoom and a Not-so-live Studio Tour
- 03/28 Art in a Time of Mass Suffering
- 03/25 For the Love of Stickers
- 03/23 How To Love Your Art #9: Inventory Your Pieces
- 03/20 Artists and COVID-19: One Way to Keep Your Career on Track
- 03/16 How To Love Your Art #8: Document Your Work
- 03/13 Touching Elbows
- 03/09 How To Love Your Art #7: Play with Your Self-expression Versus Communication Ratio
- 03/02 How To Love Your Art #6: Decide on What’s Right and Wrong in Your Art
- 02/24 Understanding the Artist Behind the Work You Love
- 02/20 How To Love Your Art #5: Figure Out What Worries You Most
- 02/17 How To Love Your Art #4: Determine What Parts of It Make You Happy
- 02/13 Making Space for Reconciliation: Kate Powell’s Celebration of a Brand She Adores
- 02/10 How To Love Your Art #3: Talk About It
- 02/07 All Press Is NOT Good Press.
- 02/03 How To Love Your Art #2: Learn to Appreciate Other Artists’ Work
- 01/27 How To Love Your Art #1: Identify Art That You Find Boring
- 01/20 Why I’d Like to Have a Lot of Money
- 01/13 Reaching for Something More with My Jellyfish Tendrils
- 01/09 Being Inspired Instead of Jealous
- 01/06 Know Her Name
- 01/01 An Exquisite Tension
2019
- 12/23 Celebrating a Decade
- 12/16 Shout-out to the Kids with “Weird” Names
- 12/09 “Put Your Art Out on the Sidewalk to Sell It.”
- 12/02 Report from the Social Media Afterlife
- 11/29 Looking Closely at Art
- 11/25 Literacy = Love
- 11/18 My Alphabet Starts with U
- 11/14 Free Frida: The Case of Nina Shope and Frida Kahlo Corporation
- 11/11 A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
- 11/07 My Understory
- 10/30 Translated into Italian
- 10/28 Consumers ≠ My Audience
- 10/21 A-B-C 1-2-3: The First Steps in My New Body of Work
- 10/17 Making Art Whole
- 10/14 The Gentle Client
- 10/10 End Times Ideation and Our Collective Potential
- 10/07 The Calm before the Creative Storm
- 09/30 Goodbye Social Media (For a While Anyway)
- 09/23 What I Learned Running a Kickstarter Campaign
- 09/18 The Not-So-Lonely Artist
- 09/16 Making Portrait Drawing a Little Easier
- 09/09 Sticker Collector Club: The Coccyx
- 09/07 Ethical Consumers and Independent Artists
- 09/05 You Are (Not) the Center of the Universe.
- 09/03 The Inspiration Behind My Animal Alphabet Book Collaboration
- 09/02 What Pleases Me About Figurative Art
- 08/31 On Being a Childfree Artist Who Is Making Art for Children
- 08/28 Why I Need $9000 to Create an Animal Alphabet Book
- 08/26 When You Are Already Bright
- 08/25 A Good Deal on Originals
- 08/22 Animal ABC Book Collaboration: Embedding First Names in Art
- 08/20 Precious
- 08/19 The Kickstarter for Our Animal Alphabet Book Collaboration!
- 08/14 Sticker Collector Club: Fairy Hands!
- 08/12 Please Stop Apologizing for Your Art
- 07/29 A New Kind of Series
- 07/25 I Have Beheld the Promised Land for Artists, and It Is Not the United States of America.
- 07/22 How Art Lovers Can Help Fix Art World Inequalities
- 07/17 A Small But Meaningful Gesture
- 07/14 Painting a Black Person’s Portrait Versus Painting a White Person’s
- 07/11 You Repeat Others More Than You Think, So Please Repeat Thoughtfully.
- 07/10 Join My New Sticker Collector Club!
- 07/08 Working from Photos to Paint Portraits
- 07/01 The 2 Kinds of Art Patron
- 06/26 Why Artists Rip Each Other Off (And How We Can Stop Them)
- 06/24 How to Take Care of an Acrylic Painting
- 06/17 Smearing Pigments
- 06/12 Tips for Painting Portraits from Other People’s Photos
- 06/10 Wedding Portrait!
- 06/07 Name That Copyright Violation: Celebrity Portraiture Edition
- 06/04 Responding to an Imitation of Your Art: Amy Constantineau and the Case of the Double Llama
- 06/01 Let’s Play “Name That Copyright Violation”
- 05/31 It’s Working
- 05/27 #FixRedbubble
- 05/20 2 Methods for Dealing with People Who Rip Off Your Artwork: “Threaten and Tell” Versus “Kiss and Tell”
- 05/16 My Non-artist Résumé
- 05/15 Dear Redbubble: You Do Not Understand Copyright.
- 05/13 Why Do You Make Art?
- 05/06 Job with Justice Travel Log, Part 5
- 05/01 Why Artists Should Be Paid Every Time They Exhibit
- 04/29 Civic Sharing (And a Livestream About the Behind-the-scenes of My Art Appearing in Newsweek)
- 04/28 Job with Justice Travel Log, Part 4
- 04/24 The Window Character in a Series of Paintings
- 04/21 3 Good Things
- 04/18 How Many Childfree People Do You Know?
- 04/16 On Being an Art-making Grownup in a Child’s Life
- 04/15 Rabbitosaurus Regina
- 04/13 The Hello Kitty President Is Back on Display.
- 04/09 April Openings!
- 04/08 Job with Justice Travel Log, Part 3
- 04/02 What I Have In Common with the People Who Hate My Art
- 04/01 Special Sale: Queen of the Sky (Bald Eagle)
- 03/28 Job with Justice Travel Log, Part 2
- 03/25 Auction: Sensitive (Jerboa)
- 03/20 Job with Justice Travel Log, Part 1
- 03/18 Pay What You Will: Queer Queen
- 03/15 3 April Shows!
- 03/14 Dear Copyright: I Still Hate You.
- 03/11 Us Too
- 03/06 A Job with Justice
- 03/04 Magic IRL
- 02/24 Appreciating the Villains in Your Life
- 02/18 How to Turn One Dollar into a Bajillion Dollars
- 02/13 The Relationship between Choice, Freedom, and Privacy
- 02/11 Solastalgia
- 02/07 Why Artists Should Accept Charity
- 02/04 A Different Perspective
- 01/29 Perfect Portrait Subject: Sylvia
- 01/23 Perfect Portrait Subject: Caitlin
- 01/20 Perfect Portrait Subject: Katie
- 01/16 Precious Portraits
- 01/14 Unraveling
- 01/10 Pop-up Paywalls Versus Donation Doors
- 01/08 How to Overcome the Idiocy of Algorithms
- 01/03 Peeling Back the Layers
- 01/01 An Inscrutable, Intense, Infectious Joy
2018
- 12/26 They Really Don’t Care
- 12/15 Gwenn Seemel Facts
- 12/08 The Middle Class Art Market
- 12/06 Repeat Face-lenders Program
- 11/28 What to Do When Your Art Is Rejected
- 11/25 New Site!
- 11/21 Caring Less About What Others Think
- 11/19 Living Gratefully
- 11/12 Pensive Pansy
- 11/05 Beginning Again
- 10/29 Flower Art Therapy
- 10/15 Picked
- 10/09 Another Seemel Photo Filter
- 10/01 Magical Doors
- 09/23 Beauty and Human Understanding
- 09/18 Special Offer for the Lenwoods in My Life!
- 09/17 How to Stay Creative
- 09/02 Community Is at the Core of Everything We Do.
- 08/27 My Artist Comb
- 08/21 The Tally
- 08/06 The Math in Art
- 08/03 Believing in Yourself
- 07/26 Painting without Planning
- 07/23 Preparing for Public Art in DC
- 07/19 Writers’ Group
- 07/16 The Power of Repeating Yourself
- 07/09 Painting Babies
- 07/02 Artists Who Work for Universities
- 06/29 Every Person’s Portrait
- 06/18 Congratulations!
- 06/11 Being a Jerboa
- 06/07 Not Like Any Other Business
- 06/04 Rage Drawings
- 05/30 How to Free Your Art from Copyright
- 05/22 Make Them Love You or Hate You
- 05/21 My First Business Lesson
- 05/20 Feedback for My First Show
- 05/19 When Your Friend Likes Bad Art
- 05/18 Perfectionism and Self-confidence
- 05/17 Comparing Yourself to Another Artist
- 05/16 Thoughts of a Baby Artist
- 05/14 Artists Are Magical.
- 05/07 I Am Not Independently Wealthy.
- 04/30 How to Know If You Copied Too Much
- 04/23 Feeling the Harmonies
- 04/16 The Song in Your Heart
- 04/11 “The People Who Don’t Get It Can Catch Up.”
- 04/09 Thanking Artists Who Inspire Me
- 04/02 Why Artists Need So Much Validation
- 03/28 The Tip of the Iceberg
- 03/24 American Ritual
- 03/19 Crosshatch Painting
- 03/12 The Success of Mediocre Art
- 03/05 Everybody Else Has It Easier.
- 02/26 Painting in a Traditional Realist Style Is Like Doing a Cover Song.
- 02/17 10 Years of Blogging
- 02/15 The Mistranslation of the Little Prince
- 02/12 Randomness
- 02/05 How Do You Make So Much Art?
- 02/01 Someone Left Their Hand on My Lap.
- 01/29 Jealous of Another Artist’s Career
- 01/22 My Complicated Rainbow Heart
- 01/19 Drawing a Cobra
- 01/18 Living Simply Is Part of Being a Full-time Artist.
- 01/08 Painting Bugs
- 01/02 All Art Is Political.
2017
- 12/26 My Hope
- 12/18 Painting the Naïveté of Men
- 12/14 Artists Who Don’t Want to Get Screwed by Companies
- 12/11 A PechaKucha Talk on Queer Art and Christian Supremacy
- 12/04 The Point of Activism
- 11/27 When Making a Gift of Your Art
- 11/20 Makeup Tutorial
- 11/18 The Best Dog in the Whole World
- 11/16 How Regular Microdonations to Artists Can Save the World
- 11/13 What Liking Art Means
- 11/08 Hello Kitty President
- 11/06 Don’t Forget
- 10/30 How to Start Promoting Your Art
- 10/23 The Grid Method for Transferring an Image
- 10/17 Me Too
- 10/16 How to Avoid Art Scams
- 10/12 Arty Items on Redbubble
- 10/09 Self-confidence as an Artist
- 09/28 Rules That Aren’t Laws
- 09/25 Antiracist Artist
- 09/18 Sunsets and Sunset Painters
- 09/11 Why People Commission Portraits
- 09/06 I Won’t Shut Up.
- 09/04 Important Artists and Self-important Ones
- 08/31 Drawing a Butterfly
- 08/28 This Is Your Brain on Affirmative Action.
- 08/24 Choosing between the Self-taught Route and Art School
- 08/21 The Rejected Artist
- 08/19 Angry Art
- 08/14 The Fine Art of Burning Bridges
- 08/13 Joyful Serenity
- 08/07 Seeing You, Seeing Me
- 08/03 All the Ways Artists Spend Money
- 07/31 How to Commission an Artist
- 07/27 Most People Don’t Want You to Fail in Your Art Career.
- 07/24 Are You Qualified to Be an Artist?
- 07/17 Inspiration for a Body of Work
- 07/12 Treating Endometriosis: Navigating the Doctor’s Ego
- 07/11 Among the Living and the Dead
- 07/10 Being Treated Like a Stranger
- 07/03 Studio Family
- 06/28 Round Paintings
- 06/22 Promoting Your Art Effectively
- 06/19 Drawing a Hawk
- 06/14 IRL Opening + Online Opening!
- 06/12 Surprise Portrait
- 06/07 Every Person Is a Work of Art.
- 05/29 Observation, Beauty, Imagination, and Why
- 05/25 Knowing Who You Are
- 05/22 Activism That Changes the World
- 05/18 Drawing a Rabbit
- 05/17 You Make a Difference.
- 05/15 Artists Shouldn’t Work for Free.
- 05/12 How Artists Decide What to Sell and What to Give Away
- 05/07 On Religion
- 05/04 Drawing Frida, the Bear, and the Television
- 05/01 Another Little Artist Secret
- 04/28 Being an Ally Is Scary.
- 04/27 Drawing Year
- 04/24 Respect Is Not a Scarce Resource.
- 04/20 Reuse
- 04/17 Why I Say “Fat”
- 04/06 Patreon and Supporting Artists on a Monthly Basis
- 04/03 Digging In
- 03/29 A Good Art Marketer Knows How to Listen
- 03/27 A Little Artist Secret
- 03/20 What I Want from Artists
- 03/06 Reading Books
- 02/13 Understanding Inspiration
- 01/26 My Heart Is Full of Rainbows.
- 01/23 Chicken Confidence
- 01/15 The Gwenn Seemel Photo Filter
- 01/09 A Successful Artwork
- 01/08 Why People Wear Makeup
- 01/05 How To Tune Out Useless Comments
- 01/02 I Am Queer.
2016
- 12/26 Being Like a Dog
- 12/22 Flitting
- 12/19 This Is How It Was.
- 12/12 Free Speech
- 12/05 Making It Automatic
- 12/01 Advice for Artists
- 11/30 How Much Is This Going to Cost Me?
- 11/21 Stopping Racist or Sexist Behavior
- 11/17 “It Is the Time You Have Wasted on Your Rose...”
- 11/15 Being a Partner
- 11/14 Compliments
- 11/12 It’s Because of You.
- 11/09 On Misogyny and Free Speech
- 11/08 Knowing What You Don’t Know
- 11/07 Enjoy the Silence.
- 11/03 Beautiful Belgium
- 11/01 How to Keep On Keeping On
- 10/31 Orthographic Projection
- 10/26 Daily Rituals
- 10/17 Creative Time
- 10/13 What to Do When Gatekeepers Are Biased (And Why I Don’t Write for Professional Artist Magazine Anymore)
- 10/08 In Belgium and in a Book
- 10/05 Prints on Redbubble
- 09/29 Irreversible
- 09/26 Shipping a Painting
- 09/19 In the Details
- 09/14 Repeater
- 09/12 Building the Ideal Studio
- 09/08 Sitckers!
- 09/05 From Childless to Childfree
- 09/01 Respect and Communication after Discrimination
- 08/29 The Professional Artist and the Hobbyist
- 08/25 Marketing Your Art and Sucking Up
- 08/22 Werewolf
- 08/18 Interpretation
- 08/16 No Thank You, Pessimism.
- 08/15 Bringing the Revolution
- 08/09 This Is What Discrimination Looks Like Sometimes.
- 08/08 The Link between Beauty and Death
- 08/05 Is Fan Art Real Art?
- 08/04 “You Think Too Much.”
- 08/01 A Portrait of Superstorm Sandy
- 07/28 Taking Flight
- 07/25 Doing What’s Best for Your Art
- 07/21 Making Money by Making Portraits
- 07/18 Painted Poetry
- 07/13 Celebrity Portraiture Is Boring.
- 07/11 Hurting an Artist
- 07/06 The Art Business Isn’t Like Any Other Business.
- 07/01 On Loving Amateur Artists and Staying One Yourself
- 06/27 Cleaning Up Your Art Documentation
- 06/23 Self-deprecating Humor
- 06/22 The Magic of Regular Microdonations to Artists
- 06/19 Happy Father’s Day
- 06/13 Painting and Photography
- 06/10 Painting Matt Burton
- 06/06 Mirroring and Repeating
- 05/29 An Animal
- 05/25 Defying Goliath
- 05/23 First Surf City Artwork
- 05/19 Jersey Girl
- 05/17 Sheree Keys and the Global Artist Academy: A Conversation About Pay-to-play Promotion
- 05/16 All the Ways That Artists Make Money
- 05/12 Being a Person before a Portraitist
- 05/09 Stress Is Good for the Animals.
- 05/02 Paint Layers
- 04/28 An Ontmoeting between MC Escher and Me
- 04/25 Unable to Talk About Art
- 04/20 Painting Portraits on Tote Bags
- 04/14 The Artist’s Vulnerability
- 04/11 The Problem of MORE
- 04/07 An Artist Instead of a Graphic Designer
- 04/04 How to Be the Perfect Artist
- 03/30 Art Is Not a Luxury.
- 03/28 Giving Advice
- 03/24 The Big Break Is a Myth.
- 03/23 Can You Trust Your Gynecologist to Treat Your Endometriosis?
- 03/21 Pastel Pretty
- 03/17 Complicated Kitties
- 03/14 Do Artists Need a Day Job?
- 03/09 On David Bowie, Fan Art, and Companies Killing Creativity
- 03/07 Not Everybody Loves You.
- 03/03 When an Art Writer Wants to Write About Your Art
- 02/29 How the Sausage Is Made
- 02/22 How to Do an Artist Talk
- 02/11 The Price of Being an Artist
- 02/09 Intuition
- 02/01 Targeted Art and Targeted Marketing
- 01/25 Monetizing Your Blog: Advertising Versus Patreon
- 01/18 The Portraitist’s Invisibility
- 01/11 Respecting Artists
- 01/06 Extraordinary Enough
2015
- 12/30 Bad People and Good People
- 12/28 On VAGA, Copyright, and What Motivates Humans
- 12/19 Grandmotherly
- 12/14 Uncopyrighting Art and Licensing It to Companies
- 12/04 What’s Been Going On
- 11/27 Finger Painting
- 11/19 Multicultural Mum
- 11/17 Old Portland, New Portland
- 11/16 Friendship
- 11/09 Skin Tone in Painted Portraits
- 11/06 What Is Your Ultimate Goal with Your Art?
- 11/04 The Tough Little House
- 10/26 Are All Artists Just Pretending?
- 10/19 How Uncopyrighting Your Art Can Help You to See People More Clearly
- 10/15 I’ll Tell You Something That Makes Me Unhappy About My Body...
- 10/12 House Portraits
- 10/09 Making Art Happen
- 10/05 What’s Next?
- 10/02 My Female Colleagues Like It When I Call Them “Girls.”
- 10/01 How to Make a Living as an Artist
- 09/28 Why I Don’t Use Ads
- 09/17 TED’s Copyright
- 09/14 How to Do a Conference Talk as an Artist
- 09/11 My Last Portland Painting
- 09/07 Free Online Drawing Workshop for Artists and Amateurs
- 09/03 Roar
- 08/31 Repeating
- 08/26 Free Yourself!
- 08/20 A Jay for J
- 08/17 My New Studio
- 08/12 The Full Figure
- 08/03 Abstraction
- 07/20 The Teacher Who Never Taught Me
- 07/13 Tracing
- 07/06 Living Artists Giving to the Public Domain
- 06/29 In the Garden
- 06/24 How to Get an Honest Critique of Your Art
- 06/22 The Legacy of Mayor Charlie Hales
- 06/18 How to Love Your Art (and Yourself)
- 06/15 The Artist’s Path
- 06/08 Seventh Generation
- 06/04 Drawing and the Artist’s Hand
- 06/01 Meeting
- 05/27 Open Discussions and Public Shaming
- 05/25 Dire “Please” en Franglais
- 05/11 Questioning Your Paradigms
- 05/07 Accepting Donations as an Artist
- 05/04 Evolving in Public
- 04/27 How to Love Artists
- 04/23 Selling Art to Strangers Online
- 04/20 Getting Out
- 04/16 Happy Paywalls with Bob Ross
- 04/13 Painting Fictional People
- 04/08 Watching and Acting
- 04/06 Why Portraiture
- 04/02 Just a Visual Artist
- 03/30 Self-expression and Communication
- 03/26 A Letter to Copyright Warriors
- 03/24 Givens
- 03/18 Treating Endometriosis: Physical Therapy and Squatting
- 03/16 The Good Thing About Mistakes
- 03/09 Superhero
- 03/05 Treating Endometriosis: a Gluten-free Diet
- 03/02 Forgetting the Name
- 02/26 7 Reasons to Try Being an Artist
- 02/23 Commission Work and How to Define Boundaries
- 02/19 Please Help
- 02/13 The Antidote to Fear
- 02/09 The Third Peak
- 02/05 The “He” Problem
- 02/02 Handprints and Circles
- 01/29 6 Steps to Freeing Yourself and Your Art
- 01/26 Inside the Artist’s Soul
- 01/22 Being My Own Art Historian
- 01/19 Original or Special
- 01/12 The Psychology of Self-portraiture
- 01/08 I Haven’t Changed a Bit.
- 01/05 Together
- 01/02 Painting My Favorite Puppy
2014
- 12/30 Artist Dean Russo in My Inbox
- 12/22 Piglets and Mudita
- 12/16 Taking and Sharing Process Photos
- 12/14 Say What You Mean with Regards to Image Use
- 11/17 What the Artist Adrienne Lewis Did for Me
- 11/10 Affordable
- 10/27 The Big Break
- 10/23 Doing “the Gwenn Seemel”
- 10/06 The Freelance Life
- 10/01 7 Lessons Learned while Doing Public Art Through the Regional Arts and Culture Council in Portland, Oregon
- 09/24 When the Regional Arts and Culture Council Lied
- 09/23 Craving Credit
- 09/16 The Copywrong in My Own Backyard
- 09/15 A Work’s Genealogy: Milt Kobayashi’s Influence on Nancy Rhodes Harper
- 09/12 You Made Me.
- 09/10 Testing for Trouble and Confronting Mortality
- 09/08 Why I Paint with All Those Little Marks
- 08/18 Artists and Leaders
- 08/12 Painting the Kirk Reeves Mural
- 08/10 Connect the Dots
- 07/30 Why Doesn’t the Kirk Reeves Mural Have Mickey Mouse Ears?
- 07/28 Scaling Up My Style
- 07/25 On Portraiture and Appropriation
- 07/21 A Very Personal Public Art Piece
- 07/17 How the Kirk Reeves Mural Is Funded and Why It’s Happening
- 07/06 Why I Am Painting a Mural of Kirk Reeves
- 07/03 Fonthill Castle’s Questionable Copyright
- 07/01 Artist Cindi Oldham: Interview About Art and Imitation
- 06/16 The Roles We Play
- 06/14 The Winner of the Owl and the Pussycat
- 06/05 Understanding Fear
- 05/26 The Hungry Artist
- 05/23 The Owl and the Pussycat
- 05/22 My TEDx Talk!
- 05/21 Failing to Paint Like Derain
- 05/18 A New Perspective on Originality
- 05/12 Writing an Artist’s Statement
- 05/06 My Talk at the AAAS
- 05/05 Citing Sources as an Artist
- 04/28 Why Artists Quit
- 04/24 Anger and Intellectual Property
- 04/18 How I Ended Up Talking at TEDxGeneva
- 04/10 Closed and Open at the Same Time
- 04/07 Adrienne Lewis and Me: 2 Painters, 1 Technique
- 03/28 Treating Endometriosis: Cookies
- 03/26 How My Style Evolved
- 03/20 The Allure of Hyperrealism
- 03/17 Why I’m Intimidating
- 03/10 How to Discount Art Properly
- 03/04 Dandelion
- 03/03 On the New Age Approach to Healing
- 02/10 Painting a Family Portrait
- 02/04 Cheaters Fear Cheaters.
- 01/27 2 Reasons Why People Buy Art
- 01/23 Commercial Use and the Free Artist
- 01/20 Tenacious
- 01/16 For Real
- 01/09 Workshopping!
- 01/02 The Dream
2013
- 12/12 The What and the Who
- 12/10 Translated into Chinese
- 12/09 David Hockney, Copyright, and the Five Stages of Grief
- 11/14 On Separating Artists from the Rest of Society
- 11/07 Where Religion Appears in My Art
- 10/31 Unsatisfied Portrait Clients
- 10/21 Training with Portraiture
- 10/17 The Fetish Photo Shoot
- 10/03 Why Artists Need to Learn About Copyright
- 09/30 The Alien
- 09/24 My Art in a Gap Ad
- 09/18 Being a Friendly Artist
- 08/19 The Dancing Argument
- 08/12 Using Portraits to Humanize
- 08/08 How to Start Selling Art
- 08/06 How to Publish a Book of Your Art
- 08/01 The Unexpected Generosity of the Public Domain
- 07/18 Surveying the Give and Take of Sharing Art
- 07/08 The Two Kinds of Criticism
- 07/01 Is Working from Photos Cheating?
- 06/24 An Art-writing Tip
- 06/18 Cross-pollination
- 06/17 On Being Picky About Who Buys My Art
- 06/10 Process Work
- 05/30 How to Write a Press Release for Your Art
- 05/22 Why I Can Write a Book About Science Even Though I’m Not a Scientist
- 05/16 10 Things Learned in 10 Years
- 05/13 Art Auctions and Artists Giving Back
- 05/06 The Artist’s Story
- 04/22 Drawing Me
- 04/10 How to Get Grants as an Artist
- 03/31 The Lie of the Artist’s Livelihood
- 03/20 Treating Endometriosis: Diet and Chinese Medicine
- 03/18 Drawing as Meditation
- 03/14 Treating Endometriosis: the Mirena Coil
- 03/11 Becoming an Artist
- 03/07 Treating Endometriosis: the Pill and the NuvaRing
- 03/05 Words and Images
- 02/25 Pet Portraiture and Pricing
- 02/23 The Real Danger in Not Standing Up for Yourself
- 02/17 What Artists Should Blog About
- 01/26 Deconstructing the Paywall
- 01/21 The Selfish Artist
- 01/08 Sucking My Thumb
2012
- 12/23 A Heartwarming Christmas Story
- 12/08 When People Take Photos of My Art in the Gallery
- 12/03 The Subtleties of Copyright: An Interview with Paul Kinsella
- 11/26 On Copyright Law and Being a Criminal
- 11/19 Why People Commission Portraits of Themselves
- 11/05 Choice
- 11/01 The Real Gift
- 10/29 How to Be a Professional Artist
- 10/27 Why I Don’t Shave My Legs
- 09/27 Purpose in Art
- 09/04 How to Make Portraits More Interesting
- 08/18 People Making People
- 08/06 Being an Adult, Being a Parent
- 07/29 Art and Pornography
- 07/25 Why Are You an Artist?
- 07/21 Art Therapy
- 07/10 Narcissism in Art
- 07/05 On Men’s Rights Advocacy and Feminism
- 06/21 We Can Be Giants.
- 06/14 Violent Tendencies
- 06/12 How to Price Art
- 05/16 Social Currency
- 05/14 Not Painting My Vagina
- 05/03 The Stupids
- 04/29 Smallness and the Artist’s Struggle for Immortality
- 04/26 Austin Kleon: Creativity, Copyright, and Superstition
- 04/25 Copyright Is for Scaredy-cats.
- 04/19 How I Paint My Portraits
- 03/26 The Pleasure of Panel
- 03/17 Ira Glass in the Looking Glass
- 03/15 Queer
- 03/07 Following Paintings: Gabe
- 02/20 I Don’t Do Drugs.
- 02/16 Dead, Tired, or Vital?
- 02/13 The Best Kind of Artist
- 02/06 Between Portraiture and Figurative Art
- 01/27 Following Paintings: Mary Anne and Katie
- 01/26 Taking Someone to Small Claims Court as an Artist
- 01/18 Becoming Peer
- 01/06 On Saying No and Saying Anything at All
- 01/01 Scarcity and Abundance: Let’s Talk About Copyright
2011
- 12/26 A Little Bit in Love
- 12/22 How to Put Hanging Wire on a Painting
- 12/12 Art in a Series
- 12/05 Good Photos Make Good Paintings.
- 12/01 Keeping the Faith as an Artist
- 11/29 Imitator? Yes. Innovator? Maybe.
- 11/17 Following Paintings: Lyndsay
- 11/13 Learning from Copying
- 11/03 The “Too Much” and the “Too Little” of Copyright
- 10/31 The List of People Who Told Me I Couldn’t Be an Artist
- 10/24 Paint-saving Palette
- 10/20 Following Paintings: James
- 10/14 Drawing a Wolf
- 10/05 A Conversation with a Disappointed Man
- 09/30 How to Stretch a Canvas
- 09/28 A Business Model for an Artist Who Does Not Use Copyright
- 09/27 Artists Who Believe in Copyright Are Like Tea Partyists.
- 09/26 How to Build a Stretcher for Canvas
- 09/21 Baby-raising and the Feminine Condition
- 08/22 Why I Make Art
- 08/17 Drawing My Mother
- 08/08 The Home Studio
- 08/05 Drawing a Shark
- 07/21 How to Commission an Artist
- 07/18 Your Favorite Kind of Animal
- 06/30 Magical Markers
- 06/02 Cultivating Self-confidence
- 05/31 Institutional Backing and Artistic Vision
- 05/05 Territory Versus Hierarchy
- 05/04 Do-over
- 04/27 Artists’ Contracts
- 04/21 Floor Work
- 04/13 Painting a Double Portrait
- 04/07 On Owning Culture
- 03/24 I’m a 711510.
- 03/07 Painting Versus Photography
- 03/01 Why Endometriosis Awareness Matters
- 02/12 Artists Are Future-makers.
- 02/07 I Sold My Soul.
- 01/13 My Copyright and My Copy Place
2010
- 12/26 Finished
- 12/16 Titled
- 12/08 Letting Go of My Art
- 11/29 Right and Wrong in Art
- 11/22 On Loving Wrinkles
- 11/10 How I Make Sure My Art Doesn’t Get Ripped Off on the Internet
- 10/28 For Art or for Money?
- 10/21 More American than You
- 10/04 Allegorical Portraiture
- 09/30 Painting Big
- 09/27 Between Life and Death
- 09/23 Putting My Face On
- 09/20 Common Portrait Mistakes
- 09/16 Where John Singer Sargent Gets Prickly
- 09/13 Art = Content + Delivery
- 09/12 The Small But Effective Act of Rebellion
- 09/01 Imitate This.
- 08/11 Raising Awareness About Endometriosis
- 07/26 Do You Call Yourself an Artist?
- 07/14 The 1960s Radical Separatist Feminist in My Head
- 06/21 On Being an Artist and a Feminist
- 06/14 Having an MFA Doesn’t Make You an Artist
- 06/02 How to Get Publicity as an Artist
- 03/26 Painting Portraits from Photos
- 03/01 The Expert Versus the Model
- 02/01 The Opposite of a “Painting a Day”
- 01/17 The Dregs at the Art Gym
- 01/06 “Thinking Outside the Box” Is Silly.
- 01/04 My Brushes
2009
- 12/23 In Defense of the Freelance Life
- 12/07 Granting Emergency Relief
- 11/30 What I Learned from Paul Missal’s Self-portrait
- 11/19 Down-to-earth
- 11/02 Drawing Life
- 10/16 How to Make Art on Commission
- 09/30 The Starving Artist and the Sell-out
- 09/18 Branding Yourself as an Artist
- 08/19 Photography’s Gift to Art
- 06/02 Learning from the Masters
- 05/13 Collectors or Patrons?
- 04/15 Sham Ibrahim: “An Artist’s Job Is to Tell the Truth.”
- 04/06 What’s in a Name?
- 03/10 Politics for Art’s Sake
- 02/26 When My Work Is Like a Steakhouse Dinner...
- 02/16 Legos and Cupcakes and Crayons, O My!
- 01/03 Buying My Work Should Qualify as an “Official Duty.”
2008
- 11/03 Eye Like You.
- 10/26 Your Eyes Were Watching You.
- 09/27 How to Show Your Art
- 09/21 When a Presidential Candidate Is Like a President.
- 09/18 When a Presidential Candidate Is Like a Baby with Candy.
- 08/04 Portraiture for the People
- 07/20 My Disposable Thumb
- 07/07 The Difference Between Propaganda and Art
- 07/03 Paint Your Life
- 06/22 The Definition of Art
- 05/22 The Fine Art of Presenting Your Work
- 05/16 If You Don’t Document Your Work, You Never Made It.
- 05/13 Words, Words, Words...
- 04/23 The Look That Looks at Itself
- 04/17 On Being Part of the Transitional Generation
- 03/30 Denim That Refuses to Be Blue
- 03/20 Why Making Money from Your Work Makes You a Better Artist
- 03/19 Everybody’s a Critic
- 03/04 This, for Example, Is a Real Person.
- 02/23 What Is the Value of Art?
- 02/17 This Looks Like a Job for a Chicano!