Tutorials, videos, tips & techniques

Amy Shawley Paquette demonstrates her "painterly illustrative" style using Claybord and Golden High Flow acrylics. Inspired by nature, texture, color, and travel; her work incorporates figurative elements with wildlife, architecture, and landscapes that are influenced by her adventures.

Ampersand Primed Smooth works great for making silhouette paintings of your family or friends. Its smooth surface means that you’ll have excellent control of both the drawing and the painting steps in this project. Also, because it is a rigid panel, you can frame it without a mat or glass when you’re done for a lasting keepsake!

Transform a reference photo of a person into a monster or caricature! Techniques in Procreate and acrylic paint on Pastelbord are shown here as a means to illustrating these monster and caricature portraits, and approaches to distortion, drawing a range of textures and forms are explained. Demo led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Deepti Menon.

Karen Vernon's painting Windows of the World is an 11x14 watercolor on Ampersand Aquabord. Take a look at the many layers of color that have been applied to this beautiful painting.

Claybord is our most versatile panel and is a favorite of both fine and graphic artists. It features a velvety-smooth and extremely absorbent clay finish to which no other surface compares. This kaolin clay ground formula is very similar to the clay gesso grounds used during the Renaissance period.

For the past 20 years I have worked on Aquabord which allows me to do far more than I ever dreamed of doing on paper. Not only does it give me more luminous, vibrant color, but it allows me to present my works with no glass. I can create intimate 1x1 pieces up to large 42x90 paintings. Or pieces to be framed traditionally or to present cradled with no frame at all.

Follow along with Sally Maxwell's step-by-step instructions to create a finished 5x7 Scratchbord.