Melanie Rivers Melanie Rivers

How to Let Go of Your Artwork

Do you have stacks of paintings, half finished canvasses, and filled up art journals? Are they in your way physically and emotionally? Do you keep all of your artwork even the ones you don’t connect with? Every year, I sort through my artwork and decide what to keep, toss, re-use, repurpose, or recycle. I find it challenging to get going, but I feel very free afterwards. It clears energetic space for new artwork to be created.

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Melanie Rivers Melanie Rivers

8 Tips for Adding Color to a Portrait

It can be confusing figuring out how to add color to a portrait. Color has such an influence on our mood and it can express an emotion and have a huge impact in our artwork. And it can be confusing how to put a color palette together.  Learn 8 tips for adding color to a portrait.

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Melanie Rivers Melanie Rivers

Pencil Shavings for Texture in Mixed Media Painting

There are many ways to add texture to a mixed media piece. There is molding paste, tissue paper, crackle paste, dried plants, fabrics, and more. But, what about items that you might not ever think about? In this video, I show how I used the pencil shavings. So much fun!

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Melanie Rivers Melanie Rivers

Symbols in Your Artwork: How they Reflect Your Style

Symbols are a part of your creative expression and style. It is a part of your creative vocabulary used to express a story or emotion. I have some journal prompts for you, so you can explore your relationship to symbols in your art.

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