Frequently Asked Questions

If you've got a specific question about a particular art medium, check out these separate FAQ pages:

General Questions

I'm a teacher. Can I use your tutorials with my students?

You are more than welcome to link to my tutorials, however please do not download, print, or copy-and-paste my content onto another site to share with your students (this includes virtual classrooms).

For example, in a virtual classroom you can post one example image along with a link to that page on my website. For instance, you can post an image of my finished owl and link to the owl drawing tutorial on my website, with a clear credit to Art-is-Fun.com as the source. Please kindly note that I don't give permission for people to copy and paste entire sections from my website into virtual classrooms. For example, please do not copy and paste an entire drawing lesson or several paragraphs from an informational page into your virtual classroom.

In a real-life classroom you are welcome to bring up my website to show your students (for example, some teachers project a view of their laptop screens onto large screens or whiteboards for students to see). This allows you to easily share my content with your students without downloading, printing, or copy-and-pasting my content elsewhere.

Since there are companies that have paid for the rights to use my educational materials, it's not fair to them if others use my materials for free. Thank you for your understanding!

Do you do custom/commission work?

Thank you for your interest, but I no longer do commission work for individuals, but I often do custom artwork for licensing purposes. If you want to license my art for use on your products, please see my licensing page for more info.

I don't do logos, branding, graphic design, etc for other businesses or individuals. I only create art for which I retain all rights.

If you're interested in commissioning a drawing or painting, many of the artists on my Featured Artists page welcome custom work.

Do you offer private lessons?

Sorry, no. Thank you for your interest though!

Can you look at my artwork and tell me what you think?

It's great that you value my opinion, so thank you for that! I'm sorry I don't have time to comment on your artwork though.

Are your printable coloring pages available in paper format?

My printable coloring pages are only available as downloadable PDFs, and they will probably never be available as printed paper books. My coloring book publisher allows me to create printables independently from them, but I'm not allowed to turn my printables into printed paper books (via self-publishing on Amazon, for example) because that would be a violation of my coloring book contracts.

Are your published paper books available in digital (downloadable) format?

My published coloring books are only available in the form of printed paper books. My coloring book publisher owns the digital rights to my published coloring books and at this time they have no plans to make digital versions available for download.

How can I find a publisher (to publish my coloring books / how-to books, etc)?

I'm afraid I can't give advice on how to go out and get a publisher, because I've never done that. The 3 publishers that I work with (for my coloring books, calendars and how-to books) all approached me after seeing my art online. Therefore the best advice I can give from personal experience is to create awesome art and put it online, because publishers do actively scour the Internet for new talent. (Be sure to include watermarks and/or URLs on your artwork so that people can identify and find you!)

The first step is to create a website to showcase your artwork. You don't need to be a web designer to have a stunning website these days, when services like Squarespace offer a range of professional-looking templates. I know a few talented artists who don't even have their own websites, yet they wonder why they've never been able to launch their art careers. If you want to get published, having a website is one basic factor that shows that you approach your art as a business.

Once you have a good website that showcases your artwork, it's time to build a following on social media. Create accounts on sites like Facebook, Instagram, etc devoted solely to your art, and link to those profiles from your website. This can help generate a buzz around your art, and publishers are likely to be more interested in your work if they see that others are enthusiastic about your art.

If you want to publish art instruction books, create a website or blog where you post tutorials with professional-quality photos and step-by-step instructions. This shows publishers your teaching style, writing style and art style. Once you've posted a few tutorials that you're really proud of, research publishers that publish these types of books. Many of them have submission guidelines on their website which will explain how to approach them with a proposal.

If you want to publish calendars, create 12-13 images in a square format, sharing a similar theme. Research calendar publishers and follow their submission guidelines.

If you want to publish coloring books, brainstorm a concept (theme) for your book and create at least 5-6 sample images. Research coloring book publishers and follow their submission guidelines.

To research publishers who might be interested in your work, go to a bookstore and look at books/calendars/etc that are similar to what you'd like to publish. Make a list of the publishers you find and then look them up online. You should be able to find their submission guidelines and contact info on their websites. I'm sorry I can't provide any contact info for my publishers, but if you do some research you should be able to find several publishers who match your criteria.

Good luck!

How do you self-publish your printable coloring e-books?

When I first started creating my printable coloring pages, I scanned each drawing at a high resolution (300dpi). After making some Photoshop adjustments (mainly to adjust the contrast to ensure that the white areas were pure white and the black areas were a rich black), I saved the images as PNGs. Next I put the images into Open Office (free software, similar to Word) and saved the document in PDF format. That is just one way to do it and although that was my method for several years, I now use a different method involving pencil sketches and Adobe Illustrator and create the finished e-book in Adobe InDesign. There are many, many other ways, so feel free to do further research and experiment with what works best for you.

There are a variety of online services that allow you to sell digital goods, such as E-Junkie, but for total beginners I'd suggest selling your coloring e-books on Etsy, because they make the process so easy. You can also easily sell individual coloring pages on Etsy.

I colored one of your coloring pages and would like to post it to social media or on my blog. Is that okay?

Yes, absolutely! I just ask that you keep the copyright info intact at the bottom of the page or credit me in your description as the creator of the original line art. A link back to my website is much appreciated, and if you post it on social media, please tag my account. Please note that my art (colored or not) cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Business Inquiries 

I would like to license your art. Who do I contact with my proposal?

You can contact my licensing agent, Peter Van Raalte, via my Licensing page. He looks forward to hearing from you!

I'm interested in discussing a book deal.

Awesome! Please send me a message via my contact form with details about you, your publishing company, the book proposal, the amount of the advance, the royalty rate, the time frame, and any other relevant info. I look forward to hearing from you!

Can I advertise on your website or pay you to put up a text link?

No, I don't have advertising or paid text links on any of my sites.

Can I contribute a guest post to your site?

No, I don't accept guest posts or article placements. All articles are written by myself.

Can I send you free art products or art books for you to review on your website?

I do occasionally accept offers of free art supplies in exchange for my honest review. If you are a seller or manufacturer of art supplies and you think your product would be a good fit for my site visitors, feel free to get in touch and let me know more about your product, your company, and what you are offering to send. Please note I don't write reviews on Amazon or any other sites, so the review will only be posted on Art-is-Fun.com. Thanks!

Can I interview you for my podcast?

I'm honored that you're interested in interviewing me for your podcast, but in general I find that I'm much more eloquent (and comfortable) with written formats rather than audio formats, so for that reason I don't do podcast interviews. I appreciate your interest though and wish you the best of luck with your podcast!

Art Materials

What is your preferred medium?

When it comes to painting, my preferred medium is acrylic. For drawing, I enjoy colored pencils. For coloring, I'm in love with alcohol markers. I also enjoy using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop to create digital art.

Why do you use the art materials that you do?

I work in a variety of media, but the ones I use most are probably acrylics, colored pencil and digital media (mainly Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop). I love acrylics because they are non-toxic and non-smelly, and I feel that they are a good medium for expressing the ideas that I want to express. I like the bright, boldness of the colors. I also like that acrylics are very forgiving, in the sense that if I make a mistake, I can easily paint over it. I like colored pencil because it is a very portable medium, so I can use them anywhere, and they require minimal preparation and clean-up. I love the rich and subtle colors that can be achieved through layering. I love alcohol markers for much the same reason - portability, rich colors and ease of blending.

What brand of acrylics do you use?

I use either Liquitex (medium or high viscosity) or Golden. For more information, see my guide to buying acrylic paint.

What brand of colored pencils do you use?

My favorites are Prismacolor colored pencils, which I love for their rich depth of color and layering capabilities.

Art-Making

I'd like to start making art. How do you recommend I get started?

Just go for it! Get yourself some art supplies and just see what happens. There is a ton of how-to information on this site to help you get started. Be sure to check out my Guide to Buying Art Supplies if you're not sure what to get.

Taking classes can certainly help too, especially for beginners, as it is always beneficial to get feedback from instructors and from peers. Plus, many people find it motivating to connect with teachers and other artists in real life. Check your local community college or local art center! Or perhaps the people at your local art supply store might know some good places to take classes.

If you can't afford art classes or there aren't any available in your community, consider joining an online art community like WetCanvas, where there are lots of beginners and experienced artists helping each other improve their art.