stephenblackburn.com

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! In my last post I wrote about how I am changing this year from setting goals to another system – focusing on just five areas of my life. Goals are great, and I’m sure I’ll put some in place this year, but I am going to use “Areas of Focus” as a more strategic  [ Read More ]

It’s finally 2012, and time to hear all about New Years resolutions. Or maybe you made your resolutions in 2011. I have never been a big fan of New Years resolutions, maybe because they sound so . . . vague. They are easy to break, and nobody seems to stick with them very long. For these reasons, I’ve always set goals instead. You know, the “Smart” way of goal setting:  [ Read More ]

Hello – I haven’t posted here in way too long. I haven’t been painting much, but hopefully that will change soon. I have been studying the last two years for my business degree, and hopefully will graduate in the next few months. I have taken an exciting new position as Senior 3D CAD Tech with Clear Creek and Associates in Goshen, Indiana. That has certainly kept me busy! I hope  [ Read More ]

At a recent meeting of the St. Joe Valley Watercolor Society, Ellen Ridenour did a wonderful demonstration of her mixed-media work. The watercolor society usually has demonstrations of – yes,that’s right – transparent watercolors, but Ellen thrilled us with her different ways of developing a work of art. It got me thinking about how much we can learn if we get out of our traditional ways of thinking. Here’s a  [ Read More ]

. Here’s my latest painting in the series “Ready to Fly”. This is a larger (24″x24″) painting of the bird’s nest. It’s painted with watercolor and acrylic on Ampersand Art board. I love this slick surface! Hope you enjoy it!

I am a big fan of marketing guru Seth Godin, and have been thinking about how one of his recent blog posts might apply to an artist. It’s called “The Hierarchy Of Success” and has some great thoughts about how our approach to our work can sometimes be backwards. You can check out his post here: “The Hierarchy Of Success” Here’s his list of how we should approach our work:  [ Read More ]

Here’s a painting that shows how you can use a “stylish” technique for a different look with a common subject. I’ve always enjoyed painting carousel horses, and wanted to try painting one with my pouring technique. Let me know what you think! This was painted on 300 lb. hot press Arches watercolor paper. This is one of the papers I most like to use – you can really get some  [ Read More ]

One of the best things I ever did as an artist was develop my own style. This means having a recognizable “look” to all your artworks. This has helped my in many ways: 1. It helps when I market my art. There is a lot of artwork out there for people to look at. If you paint in different styles people will have a hard time defining your work. Then  [ Read More ]

Here’s my latest sunflower painting. This is a small painting that I had a lot of fun with. I poured bright yellows, golds and greens and then brushed in the darks. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did painting it! This was painted on 300 lb. Arches watercolor paper. I love the rough texture of this heavy paper. The image size is 6 1/2″ x 6 1/2″.

It’s pretty well known in the business world that speaking and writing are great ways to build your business or enhance your image. So what does that have to do with being an artist? Everything! As artists we need to learn how to present ourselves and our work in ways that help people understand what we are all about. I have found that learning these skills has helped me present my  [ Read More ]