Posts by Dave Kaminski

One of the biggest reasons making art feels hard has nothing to do with talent, inspiration, or technique. It has everything to do with what happens before you even pick up a brush. In this post, I walk through my complete journal practice studio setup, every tool on my table and why it’s there, including…

Creating your own custom paint colors isn’t as complicated as it sounds. In this post, I walk through my behind-the-scenes process for mixing and measuring a large batch of Baja Orange, a dusty, earthy, sun-warmed orange that appears throughout my work. The real lesson here goes beyond one color. It’s about building a personal palette…

The most beautiful, resonant colors you’ll ever mix don’t come from a single tube. They come from layering multiple pigments together, including a complementary color to quiet things down, until something deeper and more alive emerges. In this post, Nicholas walks through his process for creating Baja Orange, a custom Art2Life color inspired by the…

The most transformative part of making art isn’t the curriculum or techniques—it’s the community. When you create with others, you’re carried by a wave of support that makes progress easier and faster. You become more courageous to try new things because you see everyone else doing it. The Creative Visionary Program community is non-competitive because…

The clues to your future irresistible art are hiding in your past work. The 3-2-1 Blast Off Framework helps you uncover your artistic direction by identifying: 3 pieces from the past 12-18 months you love, 2 qualities they share, and 1 word that describes the feeling of all three. This framework helped Nicholas transition from…

The Wait and See Pass is a fast, three-step technique for discovering new artistic directions and breaking out of creative habits. Fill your canvas with random colors at similar values (keeping everything light). Choose the areas you love by observing what emerges. Amplify those areas by adding high-contrast darks in just three or four strategic…