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If you are confused about what all the numbers and letters mean on the pencils mean, this blog post is for you. They actually refer to the different hardness or softness of the pencil graphite. You'll need softer graphite to make darker marks and shadows. You'll need harder graphite for lighter marks and more lit areas of your drawing. In this video by Dan Beardshaw, he shows you what each different pencil looks like and gives advice when to use them. Click here to watch the whole video. Click here to get a great big pencil set for only $14.99. 
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Graffiti artist Michael 'Mad One' Neely II uses many pop culutre and graffiti icons in his artwork. He calls what he does mixed medium since it uses not only spray paint but also stencils and collage. He creates installations on the streets, works on canvas, and also on spray cans and tee shirts. It's fun and instantly recognizable, making it highly visible and like-able. Today, he shares with us the simple lesson that got him where he is today: persistence and perseverance.  Tell us briefly about your art:I'm an artist famed for my daytime antics, street art installations spanning from Arizona and up along the west coast. My work to date is vibrant, mixed media, abstract reflection of one’s environment and influences. What is your main medium of art?Mixed media (stencil,aerosol,acrylic,collage,screen print) What are your website and links? Please share your techniques & tips with us:Practice, perfect, precise moves and repeat.   Make sure you check out more of Michael 'Mad One' Neely II's work on his website and Instagram, so you can keep up with his newest projects and see where he's exhibiting his art. Thanks for sharing your art with us. Be Our Next Featured Artist!We still need a lot more submissions for our "Oregon Artists Share Tips & Techniques" series. Please submit your work at the button below.
If you're looking for some spooky, Halloween-y coloring pages to make this spooky season extra fun, we think you'll love the free coloring pages that Portland artist, Melissa Kojima offers on her website. We've featured some of her free coloring pages on this site before and now, we feature some of her more spooky offerings. She creates gothic art that she calls, "darkly whimsical" which plays with the darkness. Starting November 14, she'll have her first solo art show at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, Oregon, a great gallery on the Oregon Coast. If you like her art and want to support her, make sure to mark your calendars for this momentous art show. Below are the links to the 2 spooky, Halloween-y coloring pages:
Should you need any coloring supplies for the coloring pages, please make an order with us at this link.    We love painter Bob Ross and his happy, little trees and happy, little accidents. That's why we were so excited to hear that Disjecta Contemporary, a Portland, OR contemporary art center, offers a Bob Ross Art Party every Saturday night during October & November. There is the option to do it online or do it social distancing in person.
 You don't get much more Halloween than pumpkins and ghosts and that's what these 2 Halloween art projects include to make your life just so much more Halloween-y. Both have easy to follow step by step instructions to guide you. Both are made from Grafix Art sheets. Click on the links below to read the full instructions for each project.
Should you need any art supplies for either of these art projects, make an order with us at this link. Some places are slowly, carefully and safely opening up during COVID-19 and that includes the Oregon Society of Artists who not only have art exhibitions but they have plenty of art classes and workshops. Their fall line up of classes not only includes in person classes but a lot of online classes in which you can learn art via Zoom. That means you can keep extra safe, not have to wear a mask and keep learning art from the comfort of you own home. Their prices are quite affordable and if you need some financial help, they also offer scholarships. Checkout their full schedule at this link. A few of the interesting online classes include the following, but there are so many more:
If you need any art supplies for any of their classes, make an an order with us at this link.   If you ever are looking for inspiration or ideas or just want to support local Oregon artists, we recommend you check out Oregon Art Beat. They are part of the Oregon Public Broadcasting station and they weekly feature an Oregon artist. After doing this for many years, with 22 seasons available to watch, they have compiled a huge catalog of some of the best Oregon artists who are doing some of the most interesting and fun things happening in the Oregon art world. Sculptors, draftsmen, abstract and figurative painters, textile artists, collage artists and whimsical artists, plus so many more are all included. Recent features have included artists: Should any of these artists inspire you to create your own masterpieces to address our difficult times, and you need art supplies, make an art order with us at this link.  If you don't know it already, we loudly and proudly boast that we make the best custom art kits this side of the Mississippi River. And if that is an exaggeration, we at least know you won't be able to find these unique kits anywhere but at our art supply store. Below are the Halloween, spooky, fun, art kits we have available right now. Click on an image and be brought to the item in our online shop. Skulls, cats, owls, and Halloween monsters are some of the cool art kits you'll find with us. Find all the art kits we have made-----not just the Halloween kits-----right now, right here at this link.  In honor of the spooky season and because we thought you'd enjoy it, we are introducing you to Portland Artist, Nanette Wallace. She creates ethereal and spooky monotype prints in black and white that seem like ghosts from the past that might haunt you on a chilly, stormy night. She grew up in romping and playing in the fields and forests of Oregon which she says inspires a lot of her artwork. We can tell she is also inspired by vintage photos and times long gone. Follow her on Instagram to see her cats laying on her artwork, her printing presses that allow her to make this wonderfully, spooky art and to also see her oil painting. She teaches monotype workshops too that you can learn more about on her website at this link. Should you need any art supplies for print making, click here to place an order with us. 
 We love the spooky season and know it's a great time to make some fun Halloween decor. We've found a step-by-step guide for you to make Halloween decor from Grafix Cling Films that you can stick to any non-porous surface. That means you can create your own spooky surprises to go on doors, windows, the cookie jar, your soap dispenser, or wherever your spooky, little imagination thinks it is best. Click on the link above to read the full instructions and to see what kind of Grafix films and art supplies you'll need. If you don't already have what you need for this Halloween project, get all the art supplies from us at this link.  |
Author
Heather Reed is the Assistant Manager/Buyer and office rockstar at IBF. She writes all of our emails, blog posts and and manages all of our social media sites. Heather is also an artist and has experience in lots of various mediums. You will usually find her researching new products, finding the best bargains, writing, painting, enjoying nature, all while chasing around her two vivacious little boys. 
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October 2020
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