Tuesday Art Chat with Kerri

Kerri Dixon
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Visual Arts
  • Updated Weekly

Join artist Kerri Dixon each week for a down-to-earth, inspiring chat about all things art—from creative confidence and pastel tips to studio routines, selling your work, and finding inspiration in everyday life. Whether you're a hobby artist or dreaming of going pro, grab a cuppa and tune in for practical advice, real talk, and a supportive creative boost every Tuesday!

  1. 3h ago

    Drawing Endangered Animals: Raising Awareness Through Art

    Can a drawing really make a difference? In this episode of the Tuesday Art Chat Podcast, I’m exploring how wildlife artists can use the art we already love creating to raise awareness, tell the stories of threatened species and even support wildlife conservation. This topic was inspired by our latest Draw for Wildlife event, where 135 people came together online to draw a juvenile green sea turtle named Elliott — and together we raised $1,350 for Turtles in Trouble Rescue. One turtle. One drawing. Two hours creating together. And a very real contribution to a small wildlife rescue organisation. But fundraising is only one way our art can make a difference. In this episode, I also share the stories behind some of the animals I’ve drawn, including the Greater Gliders that live here on our farm, Gouldian Finches and my K’gari dingo paintings. We chat about how simply choosing a threatened species as your subject can introduce people to an animal they may never have heard of before — and why telling the story behind your artwork can sometimes be just as important as the artwork itself. How Draw for Wildlife raised $1,350 for turtle rescue Why wildlife artists are in a unique position to raise awareness Finding threatened species living in your own area My personal connection with Greater Gliders Gouldian Finches and how captive populations can give us a very different impression of what’s happening in the wild Why conservation art doesn’t always need to show suffering Using beauty to help people connect with wildlife Adding simple information cards and QR codes to wildlife artwork at exhibitions Supporting conservation organisations without creating more work for them Why I donated 10% from sales of my K’gari dingo paintings and prints to d

  2. 4h ago

    After the Last Stroke: What to Do When a Pastel Painting Is Finished

    You’ve put down the final pastel pencil, stepped back from your painting and finally decided… It’s finished! But what happens next? In this episode of the Tuesday Art Chat Podcast, I’m talking about everything that happens after the last stroke — from deciding whether your artwork really is finished to protecting, storing, photographing and framing your soft pastel paintings. These are questions I’m asked all the time, and they’re things we don’t tend to think about while we’re busy learning how to create the artwork itself. We’ll chat about why I like to walk away from a painting before officially calling it finished, why I personally don’t use fixative on my pastel paintings, and the simple way I protect finished artwork using glassine and flat storage. I’ll also explain why photographing every finished artwork has become one of the most valuable habits in my own art practice. You may not plan on selling prints or entering competitions today, but that photograph could become incredibly useful years from now. Then we’ll get into framing — including the simple framing system I use, why I standardise my artwork sizes, how I reuse frames for exhibitions, the importance of a pastel gap, and why you should never tape your artwork down on all four sides. How to decide when your artwork is really finishedSigning and recording your finished paintingsWhether you should use fixative on soft pastelUsing glassine to protect pastel artworkHow to safely store and transport finished paintingsWhy you should photograph every artwork you createSimple tips for photographing artwork accuratelyHow I edit and save my artwork photographsFraming soft pastel behind glassMats, glass and creating a pastel gapWhy I standardise my artwork sizes and reuse framesHow to mount pastel artwork correctlyMaking budget frames look more professionalThe simple finishing routine I use with every painting If you’d like something you can keep beside you in the studio, I’ve put all of this information together in my free After the Last Stroke ebook. It will walk you through how to protect, store, photograph and frame your finished soft pastel artwork, so you know exactly what to do once those pencils finally go down. Download your FREE After the Last Stroke guide And remember — before you rush off to start your next painting, take a moment to enjoy the one you've just finished. Every finished artwork is another little marker of how far you’ve come. Happy creating,Kerri x

  3. Sep 24

    Keep Going by Austin Kleon - creative lessons for artists

    Kerri shares a practical book chat on Austin Kleon’s Keep Going, focusing on how artists can stay creative when time is tight, motivation dips, and life gets noisy. This episode is especially useful if you want simple, repeatable ways to keep making art without waiting for the perfect mood or perfect schedule. In this episode, Kerri explores how the book’s ideas apply to real artistic life, from routines and lists to play, gifts, and seasonal creativity. She also reflects on what it means to keep creating for the love of it, not just for output or income.

  4. Sep 23

    Mary Cassatt, pastel, and the art of knowing when to stop

    Kerri Dixon takes listeners back to the 1800s for another Meet the Masters episode, focusing on Mary Cassatt and the practical lessons her work offers modern artists. The episode is especially useful for pastel artists, but the takeaways apply just as much to composition, mark making, and deciding where detail belongs. Kerri explores how Cassatt balanced smooth blending with loose, visible strokes, used colored paper as part of the artwork, and made ordinary domestic scenes feel worthy of serious art. She also connects Cassatt’s approach to wildlife and nature art, showing how historical practice can solve very current creative problems. You can watch the video chat on Youtube

  5. Sep 8

    From Photo to Artwork

    How to Take Reference Photos With a Painting in Mind In this episode, Kerri Dixon explains how wildlife artists can move beyond “good photos” and start collecting reference images that actually support a stronger painting. She shares a practical way to see, capture, and design compositions, using her own zoo photography and studio editing process as examples.The focus is on reference photos, composition, and lighting, with a clear message: the camera records the scene, but the artist makes the painting. Key topics In this episode, Kerri Dixon introduces the idea of taking reference photos with the final artwork in mind, not just snapping a nice wildlife picture.She explains why it helps to look beyond the animal and scan the full frame for distractions, background shapes, light, poles, fences, and other elements that affect composition.Kerri shares a meerkat example from Australia Zoo, where moving slightly to the side removed a boab tree that looked like it was growing out of the animal’s head.She emphasizes collecting options rather than hunting for one perfect image, including wide shots, close-ups, verticals, horizontals, and different angles.Kerri talks about photographing details like fur, ears, feet, tail, shadows, grasses, and environmental textures so later studio work has more information to draw from.She explores how lighting can make or break a reference photo, especially directional light, edge highlights, eye highlights, and strong shadows that reveal form.She also notes that soft overcast light can be valuable too, depending on whether the goal is mood, form, color, or clarity.In the studio, Kerri describes using a rule of thirds template in Canva, Photoshop, or Procreate to test different crops and placements before drawing.She reframes the rule of thirds as a guide rather than a rule, encouraging artists to experiment with centered compositions, negative space, and subject placement.Kerri closes with a simple three-step mindset: see it, capture it, design it, then use multiple photos to build a stronger artwork and a stronger artistic voice.

  6. Aug 25

    Portrait Artists of the Year Australia and the Myth of Making Art the Hard Way

    KerriDixon talks about what she learned from watching Portrait Artists of the Year Australia and why it challenged her assumptions about how “proper” portrait art is made. The episode is a reminder that tools like photos, grids, iPads, tracing, and mixed media are not shortcuts to avoid real art, but practical parts of the creative process.In this episode, Kerry connects portraiture practices to wildlife art, showing how the same principles apply when your subject moves, changes light, or won’t cooperate. She also shares a simple challenge to try one reference three different ways and see which method supports your best work. Key topics Kerri explains why she started watching Portrait Artists of the Year Australia and what surprised her most about the artists’ processThe episode challenges the idea that professional portrait artists must work only from lifeKerri discusses how artists use photos to capture a specific moment, expression, or angle before the subject changesShe connects portrait techniques to wildlife art, where taking your own reference photos is often essentialKerri explains the difference between simply finding a photo and creating a reference by making artistic decisions firstShe describes the use of grids, measuring, loose sketches, tracing, and digital overlays as tools for accurate proportionsThe episode reframes grids and transfers as scaffolding, not the artwork itselfKerri highlights how different artists use the same medium, especially pastels, in very different waysShe encourages experimentation with pastel sticks, pastel pencils, broad marks, layering, and mixed media to discover personal styleThe main takeaway is that there is no single “proper” way to make art, only the method that helps you create the artwork you wantChoose one reference photo and draw it freehand, with a grid, and with a squiggle gridNotice which method feels most accurate, most freeing, or most frustratingFocus on strengthening your foundations before adding detailAsk whether a tool helps you make the artwork you want rather than whether it is the “proper” methodExperiment with materials and mark-making to discover what naturally shapes your style

  7. Aug 20

    Are Muddy Colours a Bad Thing

    In this episode, Kerri Dixon breaks down muddy colours, why they happen, and why they are not always a problem. She uses practical examples from wildlife and nature art to show how complementary colours, value, and careful observation can make colour mixing feel much simpler. Kerri also gives a clear method for choosing colours without memorizing the whole colour wheel - start with the right colour family, then ask what is wrong with the colour you have and make one small adjustment at a time. Key topics Carrie introduces the episode as a response to a student question from Aster about muddy colours and colour mixingWhat muddy colour actually means - usually a loss of brightness or intensity, not automatically a bad colourThe difference between a colour becoming muted on purpose and becoming muddy by accidentWhy overworking pastels and adding too many colours can fill the tooth of the paper and make colour harder to controlA simple colour wheel refresher covering primary colours, secondary colours, and complementary pairsWhy complementary colours work like a volume control for intensityHow orange and blue, green and red, and purple and yellow can neutralize each other into more natural-looking tonesWhy realistic painting depends on observing what is actually there, not what the brain thinks should be thereThe importance of value - lightness and darkness - when a colour looks wrong even if the hue seems rightHow muted colours help bright focal points stand out in wildlife and nature paintingsWhy leaving some colours unblended can create richer texture, especially in fur and feathersA practical exercise for making deliberate muddy colours and finding those same hues in nature referencesTwo simple questions to use while painting: what colour family am I in, and what is wrong with the colour I have?

  8. Aug 11

    Social Media for Artists - Pinterest

    Pinterest for Artists: Inspiration, Style Clues, and Copyright Kerri Dixon wraps up her social media for artists series by showing how Pinterest can work as a visual search engine, an inspiration board, and a practical tool for artists who want to refine their taste and support their creative process. She also covers the big copyright caution with Pinterest and explains how artists can use the platform without confusing inspiration with reference or copying. In this episode, Kerri Dixon shares how she uses Pinterest to collect colour ideas, composition studies, lighting references, and style clues, while also reminding artists that social media should serve the art, not the other way around. If you want a simple, thoughtful way to use Pinterest more intentionally, this episode gives you a clear framework. Key topics Pinterest is better understood as a visual search engine than as traditional social mediaArtists can use Pinterest like a digital inspiration scrapbook, similar to old magazine tear-outs and foldersOrganizing boards by purpose makes ideas easier to find later, such as colour, composition, lighting, wildlife, still life, textures, and studio inspirationPrivate boards are useful for planning a specific artwork or collecting mood board material before you start paintingPinterest images are not copyright free, even if they appear on the platform, so reference use still needs permission and awareness of ownershipInspiration and reference are not the same thing, and Kerry encourages artists to ask what they like about an image rather than copying it directlyStudying composition on Pinterest can teach artists to notice cropping, negative space, focal points, contrast, and visual balancePinterest can help artists explore colour palettes such as rust and teal, coastal tones, autumn palettes, and earthy neutralsKerri suggests a style-finding exercise using two boards: one for work you do not like and one for work that feels like youPinterest can also help people get discovered if they share finished work, work in progress, sketchbook pages, tutorials, or blog content through their own online spaces

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Join artist Kerri Dixon each week for a down-to-earth, inspiring chat about all things art—from creative confidence and pastel tips to studio routines, selling your work, and finding inspiration in everyday life. Whether you're a hobby artist or dreaming of going pro, grab a cuppa and tune in for practical advice, real talk, and a supportive creative boost every Tuesday!

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