Is it true that artist’s color was once made from mummies? From bugs? How come mixing red and blue doesn’t always make purple (like they’re supposed to)!? Why can’t I mix oil and acrylic paints? How come some colors fade over time? Why do some painting surfaces crack and buckle? How can knowing the difference between naturally opaque and transparent pigments change my (art-making and expressive) life?

Join David Pyle for an entertaining discussion and answers to these (and countless other) questions. There will be lively demonstrations with basketballs and molecule models! Paint will be miraculously milled before your eyes! Historic color made from ancient insects! Mysteries solved about weight-gaining oil paintings! All of which is guaranteed to help you choose and use your tools and materials in ways that will dramatically enhance your art-making and expressive process!

David has a checkered past. After studying art, chemistry, and education (BFA, CU-Denver), he worked for decades in the artist’s materials community as a technical manager, marketer, senior executive, and educator. He served as the North American Director of Marketing for some of the largest artist’s product brands in the world, including Winsor + Newton and Liquitex. From there, he served as Senior Vice President and Group Publisher for media brands like American Artist, The Artists Magazine, Pastel Journal, ArtistsNetwork.com, and more.

He’s the author of over 100 published articles on art-making and artist’s tools and a book, What Every Artist Needs to Know About Paints and Colors (Krause, 2000). He has also served in a number of leadership roles with arts community organizations and he currently teaches with Colorado State University in the Arts Management program.