Resources

October 5, 2018

Learn How Color Theory Can Push Your Creativity to the Next Level

Color is one of the seven elements of art and one of the first things we learn in school. Understanding the basic primary colors and how they blend is an activity found in most elementary school classrooms, but that’s just one piece of a much larger field known as color theory. Used by painters, graphic designers, interior decorators, and anyone working in visual culture, color theory is an essential part of any creative’s toolkit.

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September 22, 2018

You Can Now Download a Collection of Ancient Japanese Wave Illustrations for Free

Fans of traditional Japanese art, rejoice! There’s now an incredible online collection available featuring ancient wave and ripple designs from 1903. The black ink drawings were originally produced by the little-known Japanese artist Mori Yuzan. Despite his lack of fame, Yuzan’s artwork speaks for itself—his expressive motifs and patterns would have acted as a go-to guide for traditional Japanese craftsmen looking to adorn their swords, religious objects, ceramics, and other items with wave designs.

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August 30, 2018

Incredible Online Archive Lets You Download Hundreds of Ancient Maps for Free

Cartography, or map-making, has a long history. From cave paintings to ancient Greek explorations, maps have always been used as a vital tool to help us visualize and navigate our way through the world. “Cartography was not born full-fledged as a science or even an art,” wrote map historian Lloyd Brown in 1949. “It evolved slowly and painfully from obscure origins.

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July 14, 2018

Curious About Color Mixing? Here Are the Basics You Need to Know

There’s more to painting than simply applying pigment to canvas. Mixing colors is just as important as the technique or style of your work. Choosing the right hues can make a huge impact in conveying the emotion of a painting; it goes hand-in-hand with the subject matter. Consider, for instance, Picasso’s paintings from his Blue Period. Would they have been as poignant without the use of blue tones?

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.