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Traditional Art Week
Watercolor is regarded as a transparent medium, however, there is more complexity to this statement than meets the eye. In this article we will discover what transparency actually means and how to use it to your advantage.

 Simplon Pass: Avalanche Track by J.S. Sargent

The Burning of the Houses of Parliament by J.M.W. Turner
Look at these works, they are both watercolor, but they look quite different. Let us explore one of the differences between them: on the Simplon Pass: Avalanche Track J.S. Sargent, paper is clearly visible in the foreground, and brown tones shine through the blue strokes, while lighter tones on The Burning of the Houses of Parliament originate not from the paper,

Pixel Art week
Creating a cohesive color scheme is a constant struggle in any figurative art form, however, in pixel art, it is distilled to an extreme.
In this article I will show you a method of constructing a limited palette for a fairly complex semi-realistic scene. As an example, I will use my old piece 'The Raven' (below). This method can be applied further to create an even more restricted palette for smaller stuff like sprites.

Before you start
First thing to decide is the lighting for your scene: what is the light source, where is it located, is it warm or cool, is the light diffuse or focused, are there multiple light sources? Ideally, you should answer these questions before starting drawing, as it will serve as a common denominator in your palette. To learn more about this topic, I highly recommend a book 'Color and Light' by James Gurney: he

Art History Week
Depiction of human body has deep roots in history. In this article I would like to introduce you to various Bronze Age anthropomorphic figurine traditions from several archaeological sites and to put them into broader historical and artistic context. Modern archaeologists resent the aesthetic-driven appreciation of the ancient objects, as such attitude leads towards biases against incomplete or broken items, and most importantly encourages looting of archaeological sites in search of 'treasures'. Even if the object form a disturbed site eventually reaches archaeologists, the context of the find is irreversibly lost, and without context, the object loses a lot of its scientific value. Having said that, I still believe that there is nothing wrong in admiring the aesthetic value of these items, and in drawing inspiration from them. As more than 3000 years divide us from the Bronze Age societies, we may never know for sure how the figurines were used and regarded by the pe

Landscape Art Weekend
When deciding between cotton and cellulose paper for your watercolor landscape, many believe that cotton is the true watercolor paper, and cellulose is a cheaper, but limiting alternative. In this journal I'd like to discuss what exactly is the difference between the two materials.
Disclaimer 1: I personally have tried a few brands of watercolor paper, and tendencies covered here may not apply to all to the same degree. For simplicity, I will mostly focus on two brands that I regularly work with and that represent the extremes. As an example of a cellulose I will use Hahnemühle Cornwall 450 g/m2 cold pressed and rough blocks, and as an example of a cotton paper I will take Lanaquarelle 300 g/m2 cold pressed and rough papers.
Disclaimer 2: I use my works as examples here, because I know what exactly I was doing, however, there are numerous examples of similar techniques far better than my works, but I am wary of using those, as I can never b