The Artist's Road Painting the World's Beautiful Places

Welcome to The Artist's Road A home for creative people with a passion for ART and TRAVEL. We believe that more artists in the world are a good thing!    Whether you are a professional, amateur or simply want to learn how to paint, The Artist's Road gives you encouragement, professional art instruction tutorials and lots of valuable tips to help you in your creative development and travel adventures. As a member, you'll be part of a distinctive, world-wide community of other creative, talented people like yourself.  With over 200 articles from which to choose, we know you'll find the Artist's Road to be an indispensable resource for your creative life. To become a Member of The Artist's Road, click here. Join Us  On the Road in 2012! (Put Yourself Here) Workshops 2012                      June  11 - 15                Ghost Ranch/Abiquiu and Santa Fe,                                                      New Mexico                                                      plein air oil Remember: Members put $50 back in their pockets when they take this workshop!                September 16 - 21       Susan K. Black Foundation                                                      Dubois, Wyoming                                                      watercolor and pastel                October 22 - 26             Charleston, South Carolina                                                       plein air watercolor Sign up now for our Charleston workshop and enjoy a significant early-bird discount! Click here for more information. "Thanks for The Artist's Road, a constant source of inspiration."   - Marilyn N. "This is an amazing site. I am such a beginner, you inspire me."  - Chris R. "You guys are an inspiration.  An inspiration to old artists, young artists, and far more importantly, people of all ages . . . "  -  Ken B. "I love your Artist's Road site better than ANY other fine art site I have ever seen! I especially love the education, demonstrations with various media, just so many wonderful informative articles. I thank you both for making it so interesting, allowing us to be more creative." - Diane S. New Member Content This Month Plein Air Pastel Painting in Tuscany Part IV A Conversation with Robert Genn                         Enjoy this week's free Artist's Road Perspectives Use It or Lose It Perspectives No. 81 Atelier Rouge                                                Henri Matisse    We hear a lot about the term “outsider artists”, but there seems to be a lot of disagreement on who that term defines. Jonah Lehrer, in his book, Imagine: How Creativity Works, makes his case:  “The world is full of natural outsiders, except we don’t call them outsiders, we refer to them as young people. The virtue of youth, after all, is that the young don’t know enough to be insiders, cynical with expertise. While such ignorance has all sorts of obvious drawbacks, it also comes with creative advantages . . .The young know less, which is why they often invent more.”    Despite the accepted notions that creativity peaks in youth and slowly declines with age, (a phenomenon of creative output known as Quetelet’s inverted U curve), other historiometric data indicates that it ain’t necessarily so. This is good news for those mid-career or middle-aged artists, novelists and scientists, who don’t follow the curve. While it is completely natural to “run dry” at times, it doesn’t mean that we are becoming less creative. We may just need to shake up our routines - take a long trip or study a new subject for a while. Some of the conditions known to kill creativity are: conformity, expertise, habituation of thought, popularity of style, and comfort - all things that the young person has not acquired yet. As Lehrer states, “The moral is that outsider creativity isn’t a phase of life - it is a state of mind.” While our brains have been shown to be wonderfully plastic throughout our lives, our minds can become stultified and stagnant if we do not exercise them. Resting on one’s hard-won laurels, while deserved, can also be a recipe for “plateauing” - that is, no longer willing to try new ideas or move forward, outside of our comfort zone. The analogy to physical fitness is apt: Use It or Lose It.    “We need to be willing to risk embarrassment, ask silly questions, surround ourselves with people who don’t know what we’re talking about. We need to leave behind the safety of our expertise.”  - J. Lehrer    We welcome your comments. Want to know more about The Artist's Road?  Simply sign up to receive our free weekly email postcard Perspectives, in the right-hand column. Each week Perspectives brings you interesting and informative new insights into the world of painting and art.                                  Learn with the Artist's Road: Step-by-Step Painting Demonstrations in      Watercolor, Pastel and Oil Step-by-Step Painting Videos in      Watercolor, Pastel and Oil Voices of Experience      Interviews with Prominent Professional Artists                                         Travel with the Artist's Road: In-Depth Travel Articles and Videos Remarkable Painting Locations Painting Workshops                                   Gear-Up with the Artist's Road: Going Mobile - Essential Gear and      Materials Checklists for the Traveling Artist Artist Abroad - Top phrases in French, Italian, Spanish      specifically for artists                                    Take the Artist's Road Home: Members receive 15% discount Tools for your painting Prints for your walls Portfolio Editions for your table Copyright Hulsey Trusty Designs, L.L.C. (except where noted). All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be copied in any manner for use other than by the subscriber without permission from the publisher.

Become an Artist's Road Member Today! Click "Join Now" below. Then follow the instructions on the left-side of the following page and click "Next" to continue. Email Password Remember Me Join Now Forgotten Password Membership Renewal To renew your Membership, log in above and follow the links. Not Ready to Become a Member Yet? Subscribe to Our Free Email Postcard "Perspectives". Enter your email address below. New Member Content Plein Air Pastel Painting in Tuscany-Part IV A Conversation with Robert Genn Painting in the Flint Hills Voices of Experience: Kathy Anderson Understanding Light in the Landscape Understanding Oil Painting Mediums A Painting Trip to the Lowcountry: Charleston, SC  The Educated Palette The Perspectives Archive Free Content Perspectives - weekly postcards Step-by-Step Watercolor Demo: A Votre Sante Gore Creek Painting Demo and Video A Gallery of Lowcountry Watercolors Artist Profiles Workshops 2012 Workshop Schedule A Mini-Tour of Venice Watching Gondolas in Venice A Mini-Tour of the Dordogne Adventure and Inspiration in Glacier National Park The Artist's Road Store Don't get towed away - use our Artist at Work laminated card for your car window. (Comes with suction cups). Arm-chair travel to Italy with our e-book, Tuscany - A Plein Air Painting Adventure, and check out our tips and guides for the artist/traveler, and some of the tools and other products that we use in our own art and travels.  We only offer things for sale in our Store that we enthusiastically believe in. About Us We are artists, authors and teachers with over 35 years of experience in painting the world's beautiful places. We created The Artist's Road in order to share our knowledge and experiences with you, and create a community of like-minded individuals.  You can learn more about us and see our original paintings by clicking on the links below. About Ann     About John  Hulsey Trusty Studios We are also guest contributors to the Plein Air blog at Artist Daily.