Art Life Practice Blog

Your destination for all things related to art, culture, and creativity. From artist spotlights and to how-to guides to articles on the science of art and wellness, our goal is always to inspire by way of educating.

Blind Contour Drawing 101: How it came to be, and how to do it!

Blind Contour Drawing 101: How it came to be, and how to do it!

Blind contour drawing is a drawing exercise that has been used by countless artists since its inception in the early 1940s. Art educator Kimon Nicolaïdes introduced the technique in his...
Your Guide to Exquisite Corpse

Your Guide to Exquisite Corpse

Halloween is upon us, and what better way to get in the spooky spirit than by playing our favorite Surrealist game: Exquisite Corpse. What is Exquisite Corpse? Exquisite Corpse is a...
How to: Make a Zine!

How to: Make a Zine!

After an exploration into the history of zines, you’re ready to make a zine of your own. Before starting your zine, identify the topic or topics you want to focus...
How to Bring More Art (Life Practice) into your home

How to Bring More Art (Life Practice) into your home

The Art Life Practice reason for being is simple: to help you cultivate a life filled with beauty and inspiration in order to live more mindfully and meaningfully. What better...
Blind Contour Drawing

Blind Contour Drawing

Blind contour drawing means using your eyes to follow the contour of the subject with continuous, unbroken attention, so that the drawing tool carefully records the information that your eyes...
A closer look at the How-To Guides

A closer look at the How-To Guides

Something that distinguishes our kits from others is our how-to guides and creative play prompts. Below is a quick video introducing you to our how-to guides so you can get...
Watercolor Explorations

Watercolor Explorations

The ways to experiment with watercolor are endless. Here are just a few ways to play with watercolor, creating unique textures and effects along the way.  Water blooms Lay down...
How To: Intro VIdeo to Embroidery

How To: Intro VIdeo to Embroidery

  Art Life Practice Embroidery How-to Video from Berry Stein on Vimeo.
How To: Oil Pastels and Watercolor

How To: Oil Pastels and Watercolor

One of my favorite mixed media combinations is oil pastel and watercolor. I love the effect of mixing the two - or rather the way that the oil and water never mix...
How To: Intro to Watercolor

How To: Intro to Watercolor

There are many ways to approach watercolor and we want to share a few introductory techniques that you can experiment with as you begin your creative practice.  Wet on Wet  This...
How to: Create shades and gradients with watercolors

How to: Create shades and gradients with watercolors

This exercise will help you get comfortable with using one shade of color to create different values in a seamless manner, otherwise known as the ombre.  Start with your dry...
How To: Intro to Oil Pastels

How To: Intro to Oil Pastels

We love oil pastels for lots of reasons - their versatility, user-friendliness, they play really well with other art forms - just to name a few. We love oil pastels...