Hello, painting friends!  I’ve been reading the recent blog posts about YouTube and how you can watch some painting instruction videos there from well-known artists like Donna Dewberry. I love watching how-to videos — they get me fired up and wanting to paint and it’s so cool to watch the artist in action.

The great thing is, if the artist has written a book for North Light, you’ll find it in the MyCraftivity Shop (just click on it at the top of your screen). The book will give you lots more painting how-tos, project ideas and inspiration, as well as help with your technique and tips and hints from the artist.

The advantages of books over videos are numerous, but here are just a few:  Each book has hundreds of full-color step-by-step photos that you can study closely. The photos are “stop-action,” catching the brushstroke at the most important moment. The camera comes in so close on the painting you can see every detail, every nuance, every gradation of color. You can follow along at your own speed without having to stop and “rewind” a video. You can place a piece of clear acetate over a painting and copy it by painting directly on the acetate. If you don’t care for the project being demonstrated on the video, the book has lots more projects and you’ll surely find several you really like.

Watching or downloading video projects is fun, but if you really, really want to learn how to paint, books will teach you everything you need to know.

—MC Kathy