Life Keeps Going-Is Your Art Keeping Up?
If life is leading you in a new direction, don't force your muse to stand on one place.
By Cathy Woo

Sketchbook Starter Kit
Ready to commit to a regular sketching habit? Find out how to choose the right book and break it in with a few key supplies and some get-started ideas.
By Margaret Peot

Conquer Your Creative Demons
To succeed as an artist, first vanquish the nine obstacles that commonly haunt creative minds.
By Sandy Fisher

Get Unique With Batik
Create interesting textural effects in your paintings using wax and watercolor on rice paper.
By Kathie George

Summer Impressions
Make a flower press to preserve memories of a summer garden, a special bouquet or a walk in the woods.
By Marie Browning

Summer Reading List
Looking for a good book? We recommend these nine titles for reads that are both entertaining and inspiring.

Cubicle Creativity
Liven up your day job with these quick tips for staying creative from 9 to 5.
By Tony Hellmann

Making Ice into Art
Like most creative endeavors, ice sculpting starts with a working concept and follows through with a roll-with-the-punches work ethic. Then again, this art melts.
By Amanda Metcalf

Columns

Editor's Journal
It's summer. Don't pressure your creative side; pamper it.

Inspirations
Creating for a cause, the trouble with "perfect," reader artwork, and new products.
By Beth Derringer-Keith

Block Busters
Use visualization techniques to make real art out of the picture in your mind.
By Mari Messer

Drawing Your Life
When drawing people, take care; your pencil has the power to age a subject well beyond his years.
By Butch Krieger

Open Book
For sketching purposes, a coffee shop offers not only a caffeine boost but also a creative one.
By Beth Derringer-Keith

Art Smart
Things "degenerate" for artist Paul Klee when 20th-century politics meet up with modern art.
By Anne Hevener