Putting a nice frame on a finished painting is an amazing feeling and can really make a painting look even better.  Anyone looking for custom frames should check out Art To Frames, which has great custom sized frames in a wide variety of styles.  Most of the frames pictured below came from Art To Frames, except the last frame in gold, which I got lucky and found at a local goodwill.  
  I used to make my own frames so I really enjoy the hands on aspect of framing also.  It's pretty simple to put a canvas in a frame, you'll just need some basic supplies, such as hanging wire, hanging hardware and some offset clips (sometimes called mirror holders); these are important to hold the canvas into the frame.  I've seen some people drive a nail through the stretcher bar into the frame, DON'T DO THAT because it weakens the stretcher bar and cause some serious problems.
  Have a great week everyone!

  I did a quick study of a house plant today with a new palette set up.  This new palette is very similar to my usual palette, except with a few additions.  I've added cadmium yellow light, cadmium red light, rose madder, alizarin crimson and prussian blue.  I've also switched out venetian red for a brown red, which I like more.  
  I didn't have any cadmiums on my palette for a while because I felt like they were too powerful (same thing with titanium white).  I added them back on my palette to add another level of intensity for my yellows and reds, which I really enjoyed.  I still prefer silver white (zinc + flake white) instead of titanium, which I find to be too cold and chalky.  Prussian blue is a color that I used to use years ago and I like having it back on my palette.  It's basically a very deep greenish blue, that comes in handy for darker greens.  I switched out Venetian red for a different earth red called Brun Rouge because Venetian is kind of a weird earth red that I didn't find useful.
  I always want to stress that the colors you use should be colors that you find useful.  For a beginner, it's good to try out a basic palette, but remember to keep testing out new colors and find colors that work for you.

  I think every artist knows the feeling of overworking a painting or a drawing.  And this is something that I've wanted to write about for a while because I think it's the difference between professional work and amateur.  
   If you like the freshness of the work by artists like John Singer Sargent and Sorolla, then I'm going to share some of my own insight about how to avoid overworking a painting.
  1.  It's better to leave a painting slightly unfinished, instead of working something to death.  The painting will look worse if you get finicky with the color and overall painting.  It will lose the freshness and spontaneity that you want.
  2.  Stay far away from your subject!  What I mean by this is to not get too close to whatever you're painting.  This is easier when you're painting from life, but if you're using photos on your computer or phone, then DON'T ZOOM IN.  I know it's tempting to zoom in and see every detail, but trust me when I say that it will only make it harder to paint.  Details in a painting are always secondary to the larger value structure and composition.
  3.  Don't mess with it.  This is always easier said than done, but you must learn to leave the painting alone.  This is especially true when you're working with watercolor because watercolor painting is very fragile.  Never use two strokes, when one stroke will suffice.

  So this is what I've been thinking a lot about recently, and I hope that it helps shed some light on this really important topic.  Remember to keep painting, keep practicing and have fun!

  I made a short video to tell people about a special hammer for stretching your own canvas!  I had some confusion when I first bought this tool and I hope this video helps anyone who had the same trouble!