Blog
This blog is under reconstruction. I recently rebuilt my whole site, and I am still transferring the backlog of blog posts from my old site. You can view my complete collection of videos on Vimeo.
Brand new posts are being added weekly. If you want to receive a notification every time I publish something new, sign up here!
2019
- 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
- 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
- 01/02 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
- 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 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 Trust Your Gynecologist to Treat 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?
- 10/15 I’ll Tell You Something That Makes Me Unhappy...
- 10/12 House Portraits
- 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
- 09/07 Free Online Drawing Workshop for Artists and Amateurs
- 08/17 My New Studio
- 07/20 The Teacher Who Never Taught Me
- 07/06 Living Artists Giving to the Public Domain
- 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
- 06/04 Drawing and the Artist’s Hand
- 05/27 Open Discussions and Public Shaming
- 05/07 Accepting Donations as an Artist
- 04/27 How to Love Artists
- 04/23 Selling Art to Strangers Online
- 04/16 Happy Paywalls with Bob Ross
- 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
- 03/05 Treating Endometriosis: a Gluten-free Diet
- 02/26 7 Reasons to Try Being an Artist
- 02/23 Commission Work and How to Define Boundaries
- 01/12 The Psychology of Self-portraiture
2014
- 12/22 Piglets and Mudita
- 12/14 Say What You Mean with Regards to Image Use
- 11/17 What the Artist Adrienne Lewis Did for Me
- 11/10 Affordable
- 10/23 Doing “the Gwenn Seemel”
- 10/06 The Freelance Life
- 10/01 7 Lessons Learned while Doing Public Art through the RACC
- 09/23 Craving Credit
- 09/12 You Made Me.
- 09/08 Why I Paint with All Those Little Marks
- 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
- 07/06 Why I Am Painting a Mural of Kirk Reeves
- 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
- 05/23 The Owl and the Pussycat
- 05/22 My TEDx Talk!
- 05/12 Writing an Artist’s Statement
- 05/06 My Talk at the AAAS
- 04/28 Why Artists Quit
- 04/24 Anger and Intellectual Property
- 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
- 02/10 Painting a Family Portrait
- 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!
2013
- 12/09 David Hockney, Copyright, and the Five Stages of Grief
- 11/14 On Separating Artists from the Rest of Society
- 10/31 Unsatisfied Portrait Clients
- 10/17 The Fetish Photo Shoot
- 10/03 Why Artists Need to Learn About Copyright
- 09/24 My Art in a Gap Ad
- 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
- 07/08 The Two Kinds of Criticism
- 06/24 An Art-writing Tip
- 06/10 Process Work
- 05/30 How to Write a Press Release for Your Art
- 05/16 10 Things Learned in 10 Years
- 05/13 Art Auctions and Artists Giving Back
- 04/10 How to Get Grants as an Artist
- 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
- 02/17 What Artists Should Blog About
- 01/21 The Selfish Artist
2012
- 12/23 A Heartwarming Christmas Story
- 12/08 When People Take Photos of My Art in the Gallery
- 10/27 Why I Don’t Shave My Legs
- 07/25 Why Are You an Artist?
- 07/21 Art Therapy
- 07/05 On Men’s Rights Advocacy and Feminism
- 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
- 03/15 Queer
- 03/07 Following Paintings: Gabe
- 02/20 I Don’t Do Drugs.
- 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
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
- 11/17 Following Paintings: Lyndsay
- 10/31 The List
- 10/24 Paint-saving Palette
- 10/20 Following Paintings: James
- 10/14 Drawing a Wolf
- 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
- 08/17 Drawing My Mother
- 08/05 Drawing a Shark
- 07/21 How to Commission an Artist
- 07/18 Your Favorite Kind of Animal
- 06/02 Cultivating Self-confidence
- 05/04 Do-over
- 04/27 Artists’ Contracts
- 04/13 Painting a Double Portrait
- 04/07 On Owning Culture
- 03/01 Why Endometriosis Awareness Matters
- 02/07 I Sold My Soul.
2010
- 11/10 How I Make Sure My Art Doesn’t Get Ripped Off on the Internet
- 09/20 Common Portrait Mistakes
- 09/01 Imitate This.
- 08/11 Raising Awareness About Endometriosis
- 07/26 Do You Call Yourself an Artist?
- 06/14 Having an MFA Doesn’t Make You an Artist
- 03/26 Painting Portraits from Photos
- 02/01 The Opposite of a “Painting a Day”
- 01/04 My Brushes
2009
- 12/23 In Defense of the Freelance 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
- 05/13 Collectors or Patrons?
- 03/10 Politics for Art’s Sake
- 02/26 When My Work Is Like a Steakhouse Dinner...
- 01/03 Buying My Work Should Qualify as an “Official Duty.”
2008
- 11/03 Eye Like You.
- 09/27 How to Show Your Art
- 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
- 05/16 If You Don’t Document Your Work, You Never Made It.
- 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!