resources for artists

Whether you're new to art or returning after a long time away, Mt Kanjon's videos are great for fundamental art tips digital and traditional, but also for the WHYs of making art in the first place, and how to keep at it when making stuff feels tough! Absolutely motivational~

The color chart I used in my Gamut Gamut Overload cabinet is by Color Nerd! I reference his charts and near constantly tbh. Go get you some free resources!
He explains the science of both additive color mixing (RGB digital) AND subtractive color mixing (pigments, traditional). So much color science and appreciation for the history of how we understand color - with credits to the color scientists who got us this far. I'm gonna link a twofer video where he explains a part of my next resource. https://youtu.be/EACRRXynk1w?si=EKhjb1Jz66OM5zxP

Handprint is the most out of date site on this list, but still REALLY useful for understanding Why Paint Does That.
https://handprint.com/HP/WCL/pigmt6.html This page in particular explains that paint names are proprietary garbage, but more importantly it also teaches you how to read the numbers and symbols that unlock the SECRETS OF PAINT! Okay actually they just describe pigments, which are ground up color rocks. Get in loser, we're doing Chemistry!

A quote from Bruce MacEvoy that puts into words the feeling I myself am hoping to convey to you, but like, eloquently:
"I built this site because watercolor lifted me out of my life in a way that placed me back in my self. It made the world I saw incredibly more vivid and unexpected: it taught me to see, it taught me to teach myself to see."

This man has Opinions on paint, but also brings the facts to support them. His work directly influenced other resources on this list, like the next resource:

Do you like swatches? OH BOY are you gonna love this site! I really can't overstate how useful this one is, it's like Handprint for 2026. Use Mixbox for color mixing predictions, which replicates real paint mixing.

If Heaven is real, it's Dinotopia. Gurney keeps up with tech and is still making free videos about plein air painting on his youtube channel. Information-packed substack, too. His book Color and Light is helpful in understanding how lighting and atmosphere changes the way we see color.

When I was getting back into art, tiktok led me to Sari Shryack. Her bright saturated paintings of dollar store aisles and still lifes of nostalgic plastic bits were a discussion of growing up impoverished, and I'm still in awe of how her work can say so much. Her paintings and art lessons made me less afraid to use bold bright colors. She offers a ton of free lessons on youtube, but the book Modern Still Life: From Fruit Bowls to Disco Balls focuses on the process of painting, you know, a still life.

I learned about Amina Mucciolo from the news of the truly awful, cruel shit Lisa Frank pulled in 2019.
Sure I love Amina's art for the bold bright colors, but I also like the content she makes around her work. She's about my age and also autistic, and I find the open way she talks about her mental health relatable.

Weird fantasy and SF book covers were a core inspiration to younger me. I think it's why most skies I paint are green? Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s is a fancy physical version of the curation Adam Rowe has been doing for free on tumblr for years. I kid, but he does incredible work tracking down information about paintings and painters who mostly went uncredited at time of pulp paperback publication.