I have been meaning do a few posts on some of the art blogs I found last year, so here’s one of the posts!

Leslie White teaches watercolor and drawing. Her blog is filled with neat techniques using rice paper, masa paper, liquid frisket, and other things I knew nothing about before I read about them at her place! She is really great about explaining her processes and often posts progress pics.  I picked two of my favorites below. (Click on the painting for a link to that item’s blog post)

Elephant by Leslie White

Moose and Calf by Leslie White

José Luís Ocaña is an established freelance illustrator from Madrid who I found through Illustration Friday.  He frequently does more than one piece per week on a given topic, usually with great colors and great characters. And though I sadly do not speak Spanish and probably miss some things as a result, he often answers comments in English. Some of his excellent characters:

Aurora by José Luís Ocaña

Cuento con Violin by José Luís Ocaña

These are just two of the great blogs I found last year, and I hope to post about others in the coming months.  I didn’t want to put too many in one post!

You, too, can find many wonderful blogs in the following places, should you feel so inclined:

• Etsy. If I find an artist whose work I admire, I will usually check their profile for a blog address.
• Artists in Blogland and Web of Whimsy were two of the first  places in which I found lots of blogs listed in one place (and could add my own, hooray!)
• Illustration Friday. I don’t work for them, I swear! but I have been singing the praises of Illustration Friday since I started participating at the end of last year. Why it’s so cool:

1.  Many different styles, mediums and skill levels.
2. All art blogs all the time! While I do love some crafty blogs, knitting blogs, art doll blogs, etc, usually I am looking for 2D-art style blogs for inspiration, tips and techniques
3. So many cool and friendly people, many of whom will visit you back if you drop by their blog and leave a comment (many won’t, but don’t let that discourage you!). In fact, there’s about a 71% chance that if you are reading this, you found me there (or I found you!)

Speaking of IF, we’ll have a new topic in a few hours and it’s snowing in the Chicago area. Between you and me, I’ll probably call in to work tomorrow (treacherous roads plus a much reduced workload in winter) and I look forward to my second IF entry in 2012.  Thank you so much for visiting!