Mini Murals
Black: The Defining Color I want to talk about these 30″ x 40″ paintings on Strathmore 500 illustration board. It’s the type of Strathmore illustration board with its official stamp, marking it as the highest quality paper available. The other part is that I will discuss using the liquid acrylics, the fluid acrylics, and a […]
Heroic Proportions
Larger than life: A studio painting that feels like an epic poem For this painting, I start off the drawing using heroic proportions, that is what I do in a mural, which is larger than life proportions. If you stretched your fingers out of your hand, you’d get the usual typical proportions of the hand […]
Asian Brush Painting Demonstration
How I Use Some of My Favorite Brushes to Create Asian Calligraphy Inspired Art A brush I use a lot in watercolor is the hake brush. I have one that is made from goat hair. I use it for large, lighter areas of color because it holds a tremendous amount of water. Notice how it’s […]
My Favorite Books on Asian Art Brush Painting
back to all From my personal collection, a series of books that can help you learn about and make your own brush paintings. I have several books, some of which I’ve had for years, which are like my “bibles” of my experiences in Asian art. I began Sumie painting when I was a teenager. I […]
Acrylic Gouache Painting Process, from Start to Finish
Abstract Art and Social Commentary I’m creating a series of paintings reflecting my feelings about the war in Ukraine. In this particular piece that you will see in the video, I will be doing a full painting demonstration from start to finish. I will talk about my techniques and some of my thoughts on the […]
Woodblock Printing with Brushes and Rollers
Here’s How I Use My Woodcut Blocks To Make Prints In my last blog, I talked about the carving tools I used in Japanese block printing. One of the tools I use for printing is the traditional Japanese baren. This printing process goes back to 16th century Japan. The baren is circular and used for […]
Painting with Gold Watercolors
Gold: The Skin of the Gods and A Work In Progress When we think of the color gold, what is it? On the color wheel, it doesn’t exist. That’s because it’s gold. The Egyptians called gold the skin of the gods. In my paintings, I like to use this exceptional color. So it’s essential to […]
Dick Crispo Studio: Woodcuts & Tools
For Me, The Process Is More Important Than The Product In this video, we get a look into my studio in Seaside, California, wherein I’m talking about my woodcutting process. In my studio, I have an entire section dedicated to working on my woodcuts. I began woodcutting in 1966. I’ve had one of the oldest […]
How My Watercolor Paintings Emerge Through The Use Of Different Brushes
“I don’t know until I do it” is the way to look at art without making it mechanical. If you don’t know and you get surprised, then the viewer will be surprised. In this video, I talk about the different watercolor brushes I use. Plus, I work on a painting showing some of my watercolor […]
Adding New Color To An Old Sketchbook
Adding A Painterly Look To Line Art Sketches I recently discovered one of my old sketchbooks, a Pamco Field Sketcher. It is a pocket-sized sketchbook that I’ve had probably since the ’70s or early ’80s. When I opened it up, I found all these drawings that are so related to what I do now. In […]
