Thursday, May 15, 2008

Mastering Graffiti Art

Graffiti art doesn't just mean art we see sprayed on walls. In fact, graffiti art has such strong characteristics that it's easy to spot them everywhere - in schools, on sidewalks, on bicycles, on automobiles, on skateboards and on textbooks, just to name a few examples.

Graffiti art has a loose feel about it. There are no strict rules to creating graffiti art, except a few distinct characteristics that always make graffiti art appear stylish. Let's see what those characteristics are.

First, graffiti art are usually loose forms. But these forms are usually just clear enough to represent what they're supposed to represent. The shapes are loosely created, and the subjects overlap one another in a rather random manner. Highlights are applied to the image if needed but again, these are loosely applied.

Second, texts are usually visible, and drawn in an embossed manner that gives a 3D impression. These texts usually form a few words or a short phrase, and makes up a part of the entire graffiti artwork.

And finally, graffiti art is usually created with a wide variety of colors. Bright and luminous colors like red, orange, yellow, green and blue are preferred. There's little or no intention for color harmony and the goal here is to create a dazzling array of colors that draw attention to the graffiti art itself.

Due to these characteristics, it's no surprise that we see so many teenagers being drawn to graffiti art. But once you recognize these characteristics, you'll also come to understand that it's not all that hard to create a piece of graffiti art, even if you know little about drawing.

For a start, you may want to look up some tattoo images to use as reference images or to draw inspiration. Images like skulls or roses make great subjects for graffiti art.

Once you have your image ready, you'll need some magic markers as well. Try out the same image using different colors and see which end result you prefer. You may also wish to add in some texts.

Glittering markers make an excellent drawing tool for graffiti art. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with these markers. And don't forget, never draw on public property without permission!

Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study courses, and other drawing related resources.For more free resources like the one you've just read, please visit MyArtPassion.com for free online drawing lessons.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darren_WK_Chow

By Darren WK Chow

What Does A Painting Contractor Know About Paint Brushes That You Don't?

What Does A Painting Contractor Know About Paint Brushes That You Don't?

For many homeowners a paint brush is a paint brush, so why spend a lot of money on one.

First of all, there are a lot of factors you may want to consider before you purchase your next paint brush. An experienced painting contractor will consider the following when choosing paint brushes. As a homeowner you should consider the same.

1. How well does the brush pick up and release paint? This can make a big difference in how long it takes to complete your house painting project.

2. How long will the bristles of the paint brush last. Nylon is the longest-wearing filament used in brushes.

3. Can the paint brush be tipped easily? Tipping affects how a brush will spread paint. How a manufacturer has designed the tip of the bristles varies. Some sand the end of the bristles so they are not just a blunt end. Some use an abrading method where the tips are split. This makes a difference in how well it holds paint and how evenly the paint brush will spread paint.

4. The flexibility of a brush should also be considered. A paint brush with proper flex helps distribute the paint more evenly. It helps maintain its shape to avoid over spreading (Loss of control).

5. You want to be able to avoid pulling and pushing or flinging or spattering paint. A good quality brush will go a long way in preventing these problems and this my friend will save you a lot of time.

6. The next thing you need to consider is what type of finish you want to achieve. Do you want a fine or course finish? To achieve a fine finish you need a softer finer filament that has a more finely finished tip. This is not only important in terms of finish but also it will reduce how many times you have to dip the brush. This is another time saving feature.

7. What type of paint are you going to be using the brush in, latex or oil? Generally you will want to use nylon in latex paint only and China Bristle in oil paint. Even though there is nylon polyester mix brushes on the market that say you can use them in either latex or oil, I find you are better off using China Bristle for oil paints. The solvents needed to clean oil paint out your brush don't seem to damage the China Bristle brushes. However, solvents do have a negative impact on nylon brushes over time. Also I find that oil paint cleans out of China Bristle brushes in less time than nylon.

8. What size brush should you use? The bigger the brush the more paint it will hold, but there are things to consider here. For production, a brush needs to pick up and hold a lot of paint, then spread the paint evenly as you spread the paint over a distance. This reduces dip and spread time which in turn shortens the time it takes to complete your project. You need several different size brushes. For siding I recommend a 3%1/2 inch brush. This seems to be an ideal size for siding. It holds a lot of paint and yet it is not too cumbersome. For trim I recommend a 21/2 or 3 inch sash brush. The sash brush has the proper angle cut, and density of bristle that make cutting in your trim much easier. Don't use a 31/2 or 4 inch brush on areas where you should be using a smaller sash brush. The sash brush will make your job of cutting in the trim much cleaner, faster and far less headache. Also, don't use a 21/2 inch sash brush on large wide open areas where you should be using a 31/2 or 4 inch brush for production runs.

There are a number of high quality brushes on the market today. The Purdy line of paint bushes is used most often by my painters for all of the above reasons. You can't go wrong with a Purdy.

I invite you to visit our web site for more information on Tips Of Trade in the painting industry. I post new articles every month that can be helpful to both the painting contractor and the homeowner.
One final thought: Time and quality of finish is very important to a painting contractor and the less time wasted using cheep equipment the more productive and profitable he will be.

Nicky Taylor
President
Homeowners First Choice Painting Inc.
seiss@bellsouth.net

By: Seiss

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Cartoon Drawing Tips For Kids

Cartoons are fun. Well almost. If you are like me you certainly love to watch cartoon figures. But drawing cartoons is another story particularly if you are not aware of the basics.

If the thought of creating beautiful cartoon characters gives you high, read on, here you will find some tips that you can readily use to improve your skills and reduce the time taken to create beautiful cartoon characters.

There are certain things that are same for every style of drawing, be it realistic drawing or cartoony, now we will go quickly through the basics before getting specific to cartoony style.

1. Select your tools wisely. Clean your hands before starting your drawing. The paper you use for your work should be of good quality. Low grade, off colored paper will make your drawing look pale. Your first sketch should be made with light lines and for finalizing you should use deep-colored and prominent lines --so choose your pencils carefully.

2. Many times beginners find drawing a smooth line difficult. Remember drawing smooth lines will be easier if you do not support your hand on your wrist like we are used to do while writing. Doodling and drawing some circular shapes just before you start will also help you to draw smoothly.

3. Learn to draw facial features and hand carefully. Hands are more difficult. Experts often judge a person’s drawing ability from how well he can draw human hands. So practice drawing hands with care.

4. Study about basic forms and proportions of human body. Learn about basics of human anatomy and various ratios of human figures.

As a cartoon creator you will have certain liberties, you do not need to bind yourself with strict body proportions rules. You can draw four fingered (Thumb + Three) hand that makes your work a bit easier.

But one challenge you will face while drawing cartoons --cartoon characters needs to be more expressive and certainly you have to create this expressiveness with some lines drawn with your pencil.

Keep in mind that three areas of human face that play major role to express emotions are

1. Eyelids (wide open, half closed, almost fully closed etc.),

2. Eyebrows (raised, normal, crooked etc.) and

3. Lips (forming downward bow, upward bow etc.).

Other than these you can also use, hair (properly combed or ruffled), garments (well kept or torn) to create characters that tells a story.

Hope you find this tips useful. Coupled with some practice these tips will help you to take your cartoon drawing skills to a new level. Enjoy the fun of drawing beautiful and expressive cartoon characters.

To know more about drawing expressive cartoon face check cartoon face drawing tutorial at http://pwrinfo.com/cartoon-drawing-course/cartoon-drawing-tutorials.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tapan_Sarkar

By Tapan Sarkar

Watercolor Painting Tips and Techniques

Watercolor can add a lot of life to your work of art. With some helpful tips you can master and perfect the art of watercolor painting. Transparency is the most promising and the most attractive characteristic of watercolor. The watercolor feels like a sparkle of light which the color of the paper shines through the paint. The watercolor seems to blend with the color of the paper and it creates an illusion of transparency.

Some tricks can best work and create the best illusion for your masterpiece. The watercolor trick that can make your painting lively. Lift paint is a trick that a watercolor paint can have. A wet tip can add light with your watercolor. While you are working with your artwork you have to keep in mind that you must work from light to dark. This will create an illusion that your artwork is coming to life.

The paper being used for your art work must have that high quality and excellent texture. A dramatic effect can be created in the final outcome of the painting. Water color paper must be chosen promptly to suite the type of scene you want to paint. You can choose from the following types of water color paper like rough pressed, hot pressed and cold pressed. You must also consider the size and weight of the watercolor paper. This involves the fibers of the paper that you will use. If these fibers are treated it will decrease the ability of the watercolor paper to absorb the water. Lighter paper must be stretched before using it otherwise it will wrinkle when the wet tip of the brush works with the paper.

When you are looking for the best type of watercolor paint that you will use you have to consider the capacity of the painter, whether he or she is still a student or a professional artist already. When you are already an artist who can work best with watercolor, you can use artist watercolor paints which have more vibrant colors to choose from. It is really a matter of taste. Though it is best that you use artist quality watercolor paint, but you can always mix and match the colors. You can try experimenting with colors that you use to depict your work of art in the liveliest mood. You can purchase watercolor paints in forms of pans and tubes. To make the paint more workable and accessible you have to use water in order for the dry paint cake can be easily managed in paper. You have to make sure that you have rinsed the brush before trying other colors. This must be done when you are working with a watercolor paint in a pan. If you will not do this, you will get ugly and dirty looking shades of colors. You can try mixing and matching your primary colors to come up with your secondary colors. There are still pre-mixed watercolor paints available inn the market.

You can avail such, when you visit hobby stores and see if you have your most favorite color, Purchase only a few primary colors and learn how to mix your own colors rather than purchasing premixed colors. When you become more experienced, you can then start incorporating more colors into your palette.

Mark Traston is an associate with Portrait Painting. The company specializes in turning a photo to painting. Each portrait artist specializes in a specific area including wedding paintings, pet portraits, and executive portraits.

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By Mark Traston

Miniature Paintings - A Sublime Art

The art, culture and lifestyle of ancient and medieval India is best reveled through miniature paintings. The penchant for religion, divinity and regal aristocracy is ostentatiously illustrated in these paintings. Though miniature in form, the paintings had an innate beauty and distinctiveness that made them stand out of the crowd.

Crafted by the regional artists the miniature paintings narrate the stories of the bygone dynasties. Purely a brush work, these vibrant handmade paintings were the outcome of some dazzling minerals and vegetable colors. Gold and silver powders, conch shell powders and tiny pieces of semi precious stones were used in a miniature painting to make for the extra glow. It is for this luminous capacity, meticulousness and the universal appeal the miniature paintings are very popular even today.

The themes of the this class of paintings were generally taken from the scenes of Indian epics and religious books like The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Bhagvata Purana, Git-gobinda, Surasagar, Rasamanjiri and more. Images from folk legends, classical music codes and royal court scenes were also beautifully illustrated in the paintings. Glass, fabric, marble, paper, silk, velvet, leather and ivory panels generally served as the canvas for the paintings. Miniature paintings gave birth to some noted school of paintings namely The Deccan Schools, The Rajput and the Mughal Schools.

The Rajput School of Miniature Painting imbibed inspiration from the Krishna legends. The emphasis was more on the man and woman relationship and paintings were aesthetic portrayal of their emotion, love and passion. The lovemaking scenes of Lord Krishna and Goddess Radha are some of the finest specimens of the paintings. The Mughal School of Miniature Painting had Persian influence on them. The painters focused mostly on court scenes, royal portraits, natural scenes and landscapes. The Deccan School of Miniature Painting derived a kind of hybrid painting form blending several styles of painting. The paintings manifested exuberant and bold themes influenced from Turkish and Persian paintings.

For comprehensive information on Miniature Paintings and related topics, please visit Ethnic Paintings.

Rajneesh Dubey is Content Coordinator for http://ethnicpaintings.com This website gives you comprehensive informations on painting history, development, trends, popular painting styles, great painters, famous paintings, painting galleries and museums, painting tips, painting classes. In other words, this website is a treat to painting freaks.

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By Rajneesh Dubey

Pencil Sketches of Faces

Why is drawing faces such a great challenge for so many artists? We know we have the image in our head, and often times in our hands in the form of a photo, but we just can't capture it on paper with our pencils.

Have that ever happened to you before? You start drawing a face to find that when you're done, it's nowhere near the person that you're trying to draw?

The problem is that all faces are a unique combination of a set of features. When we take these features apart, we see that there are hundred and one different features. We all have different lips, different noses, different eyes, different ears, different hair, and different face shapes.

And when all these different features come together, it makes the task more difficult for the artist to capture the visual resemblence on paper.

Also, we have to take note of the age of the face that we're drawing. If you're drawing babies, the best time to draw them is when their asleep. Because you can't have them moving around when you draw them.

When drawing babies, keep the drawing simple with few lines and only capture the features of the face.

If you're drawing a child, the features are more defined compared to those of a baby. So you'll have to lock in the features with stronger and darker lines. But the skin is still smooth and gentle. Try not to add to many lines to the face of a child.

Teenagers are young adults. You may approach drawing the face of a teenager in the same way as you would approach drawing the face of an adult. The key to drawing a mature face is to capture the essence of the face.

That means capturing the personality of the face. Some people have a confident look. Some have a shy look, and some have a mischievous look and so on. Try to capture that in your drawing.

Finally, remember not to draw all your faces to look like hollywood stars. Human beings do not look like plastic in real life. So keep your drawings realistic by including any details that make your drawing look more human.

Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study courses, and other drawing related resources. For more free resources like the one you've just read, please visit MyArtPassion.com for free online drawing lessons.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darren_WK_Chow

By Darren WK Chow

How To Draw A Good Portrait

Drawing portraits can be exceedingly challenging for many art students. But why are portraits so hard to draw? After all, portraits are essentially the same as all other drawings, and are made up of basic shapes and forms. The key lies being able to execute proportions with exact precision.

When you take a closer look at a portrait, you'll observe that there are thousands of combinations possible for portraits. For example, there are noses with many different shapes and sizes. There are eyes with different shapes and colors. There are lips with different thickness and there are all sorts of little details (like eyebags etc.) that are different. This makes it difficult for the artist to apply a fixed formula when drawing portraits.

The same technique for drawing a fixed object, or for drawing still life, can be used again and again. The basic shapes and forms of a table or a chair is easy to duplicate.

But when you put together a combination of all kinds of different features on a face, it's a whole different set of challenge. The nose is too small, the lips are too thick, the eyes look all funny, etc. You get into all sorts of funny problems that you can don't get whether drawing other stuff. That's why drawing portraits can be such a challenge to many art students.

The way around this is to strengthen the drawing foundation. That means drawing by applying sound drawing principles instead of just following rigid formulas. If the artist can get the proportions right, the likeness of the person will emerge. There's no need for other complicated techniques. The artist just have to focus on getting the proportions right.

The other area of concern is that many art students do not have the maturity to make sound decisions about the portraits they are drawing. Note that drawing is not the same as photographing. The drawing need not be exactly the same as the subject. There is room for the artist to make decisions on how the drawing will eventually turn out.

Therefore, a good portraitist will always bear in mind the background and the essence of the subject that he or she is drawing. For instance, if the artist is drawing a business person, he may want to capture the shrewd look on the face. Or if he's drawing a model, he may want the drawing to look Hollywood style.

These are simple decisions, yet they have such a profound impact on the portraits. So good artists must use their judgment to make such decisions.

Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study courses, and other drawing related resources. For more free resources like the one you've just read, please visit MyArtPassion.com for free online drawing lessons.

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By Darren WK Chow

How to Draw Cars - Beginner Tips & Tools for Success

Learning how to draw cars is not as difficult as you may believe. Many beginners when attempting to draw cars will fail at first because of that "I can't do it" mentality. They will see all of the details, the shadows and the highlights and become intimidated and lose confidence. In order to succeed, to really learn how to draw, you must remove all preconceived notions about drawing.

Learning how to draw is really a matter of breaking down what you see into smaller parts or shapes. You have to look at the picture as a smaller step by step process. When you break things down like this the problem at hand becomes easier to draw. But before you go off and start to draw those cool muscle or race cars, you really need to understand a bit more about the supplies you will need. How else are you going to draw those cool cars?

Having good supplies is definitely going to make it easier to draw and more enjoyable, but it won't make you a better artist. You must learn and understand the basics first. Quality equipment is an aid, but it is not a substitute for your skills or abilities.

The first thing you are going to need is a good surface to draw on. You will need a solid sturdy table, desk, or drafting table. Whatever you choose to draw on, make sure the surface does not wobble and is level. Do not settle for a cheap surface. It will only frustrate you and make things more difficult. Many artists like to work on a surface that is on a slight angle towards the artist which promotes a better posture. Being comfortable is very important.

Make sure you have good lighting. Learning how to draw cars is challenging enough. You do not need the frustration of poor lighting. Your lighting should be even so that there are no shadows or hot spots of light, so you may need more than one light source to draw with. There are specially made lamps for artists that produce light which mimics natural sunlight.

You can purchase these online or at art stores, but I have found that the professionally made lights for artists can be rather expensive. If you happen to live near a Home Depot or other home improvement center, try looking in their lighting department. I purchased my lamps there for under 20 dollars each.

As for what tools you should have on hand to draw with, there are no "One drawing tool fits all" formulas. You will have to experiment with different pens and pencils until you find the ones that are the most comfortable to draw cars with. It is probably best to have a variety of drawing tools on hand.

Many car artists have various pens, pencils, markers and even paints on hand to produce different effects. For instance, some car artists prefer to work with Prismacolor "Verithin" pencils for sketching fine lines and for light shading. Other artists prefer the convenience of mechanical pencils as there is no sharpening needed. Mechanical pencils are not the best for shading in areas however. So you see, having a variety of tools on hand to draw with is essential.

Paper is another item of personal choice. Again, you have to experiment. Just like pens and pencils, there are also a variety of drawing surfaces. Try your favorite pens and pencils on various surfaces. Drawing surfaces have different textures and thicknesses and your drawing mediums will behave differently depending on the surface and how you apply them. You may also find guides helpful to draw with. Some car artists prefer to use ellipses and straight edges to help create straight lines and circles, while others work free hand.

If you do not happen to live near any art supply stores, you can always purchase your supplies online. Just go to any major search engine and type in "drawing supplies" and you will find plenty of online shops. My recommendation is Misterart.com. I have been buying my supplies there for a few years now and my shipments are always delivered fast and in perfect condition.

I hope these tips and instructions have given you more insight on how to draw cars. The most important thing with drawing cars, or any art for that matter, is to never give up. Keep practicing. Practice every day if possible and keep a sketchbook of your work so that you can keep track of your progress. You will get the hang of this and learn how to draw cars.

Click Here for more resources on how to draw cars, including FREE step by step videos, a downloadable ebook, car drawing books and more!

Ralph Serpe is webmaster of: http://www.squidoo.com/howtodrawcars

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By Ralph Serpe

The History of Vampire Art

Vampire Art has a long history, Artist have always been attracted to vampires. Vampires offer that rare blend of seduction, and danger. This represents a great challenge for the artist to capture. Artists are also responsible for shaping our image of the vampire. Early books help make vampires popular and Hollywood completed our image of the modern day vampire. Early oil paintings of the 1800's have evolved into todays fantasy vampire art. Vampires have come a long way from their early legends and myths that came out of the Balkans and other parts of Europe

One of the best known early depiction of a vampire was Edvard Munch's "Vampire" in 1895. It is popular even today and is probably his most famous work other than "The Scream". This was by no means the first depiction of a vampire, but most earlier works were either engravings or ink. Munch's work represents one of the early paintings of what we consider the modern day vampire. Todays modern day fantasy art has much of its roots in comic book illustrations.

There are thousands of people who consider themselves vampires and live the lifestyle as such. They are part of a sub culture closely related to the gothic scene. They live eat and dress the vamp image. In recent years there seems to be a rise in female vampires. The image of the sexy blood thirsty dominating female vampire is very often found in modern fantasy art.

Just as the vampire is after eternal life, our fascination means we will continue to see them in paintings, books and movies. Vampire Art is a great source for hard to find vampire clothing, vampire jewelry and vampire art online.

http://vampireart.net

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By Steve K Smith

Creating Art From A Piece Of Stone

Out of the many forms of art, artwork in stone is probably one of the most difficult to master. Art in stone is also one of the most impressive and durable crafts that one can create. Gifting stone to your loved ones conveys a hidden message of your undying love for them. Art in stone, as compared to other long lasting materials, is not overly glitzy, and does not shimmer at all but has a steady, strong and robust quality about it that signifies something that will last forever.

Taking up art in stone as a hobby or a profession is not advisable unless you are seriously committed to it as it requires a lot of time and patience. A simple carving of a man may take up to three weeks of daily work to complete. It is a much better idea to buy one or commission one from a crafter rather than trying your own hand at it.

Sometimes art in stone can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, but considering the amount of time it takes to make, the price seems to be justified. All carving has to be done meticulously by hand and only the most skilled craftsmen and artisans work their art in stone. A large soapstone statue can take months to fabricate before it reaches a store or a direct buyer.

When carving art in stone, you need to have a definite idea of what you want to make as well as the qualities of the material you are using. Softer, gentler features look better on soapstone rather than on coarser and harder rock or jade. The features of the material must be respected for a perfect piece of art in stone. If you launch into it with the idea of making your piece on any given piece of rock, you still might have something appreciable, but it will not be in harmony with the material.

Being carved in stone is therefore an apt metaphor for being ancient and unbreakable!

To find out more about art and stone sculpture visit http://arts-secrets.com/

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By Scotie Keithlow

ABCs of Sketching - Part 4

Aspect 6: Tone, shades & textures

Tone, shades and textures make a drawing or painting come to live. They can be used to express 3D effects on a 2D medium. They can be used to describe the details of raw materials (e.g. metallic surface, glass, etc).

When drawing human beings, shades and tones can be particularly useful. A light and smooth shade can express gentleness, while a coarse, deep, and heavy shade can suggest age.

Shades can also be used to define lighting effects. Lighting effects affect the mood of the drawing and can be very helpful in describing the setting of the drawing.

Aspect 7: Planning

As you can see, the 6 different aspects described above are not isolated elements. They can combine to form many different effects that'll affect the overall quality of your drawing.

Therefore, it is important that an artist plan early how to execute a drawing or painting. Here's an example of how planning takes place:

1. Know what you want to achieve. This is important as only then will you know when a drawing is complete. Knowing what you want to achieve with a drawing or painting will help to prevent overworking a work of art.

2. Draw broad lines and curves lightly to form the overall shapes and structures of the drawing. Keep in mind the composition of the drawing. Choose drawing tools that allow you to make amends easily (like a light HB pencil).

3. Decide which areas are light, and which areas are dark. Also, think about the subjects that need to be defined and emphasized. How are you going to define them?

4. Use pencil marks to mark out these areas. Make notes if necessary.

5. Decide how you want to start working on the drawing. E.g. top to bottom, left to right, etc.

Once planning is complete, the artist can begin drawing. Note that it helps tremendously to constantly assess the drawing to ensure that the overall composition maintains its balance.

Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study courses, and other drawing related resources. For more free resources like the one you've just read, please visit MyArtPassion.com for free online drawing lessons.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darren_WK_Chow

By Darren WK Chow

ABCs of Sketching - Part 3

Aspect 3: Proportion

A quick search on the Internet reveals the following definitions for proportion:

give pleasant proportions to; "harmonize a building with those surrounding it"
symmetry: balance among the parts of something
adjust in size relative to other things

I've decided to emphasize the essence of proportion by bolding the keywords in the web definitions above. Proportions are often exaggerated in cartoons to create comical effects. You often see this is a special type of drawing called caricature.

You can keep drawings in proportion by using the measuring technique. More on that later on in this e-book.

Aspect 4: Definition

Definition in a drawing refers to the intensity of lines and color when representing shapes and forms. The artist has to decide which areas of a drawing to define in order to make a drawing more exciting to look at.

Some artists prefer drawing or painting everything exactly as they see it, so they choose to define every detail in their drawings. In modern art, many artists prefer drawing spontaneous drawings and may choose only certain objects or areas to define in a drawing.

Aspect 5: Lines & Curves

Lines and curves of a drawing can evoke powerful responses in the human mind. Entire drawings or paintings can be completed with lines only.

The basic use of lines and curves is to use them to describe and define shapes and forms. Besides that, lines and curves are also used to perform shadings to describe lighting effects.

A popular way to use lines is to describe motion. It is also not uncommon to see artists drawing the contours of the female figure with curves that suggest fertility.

Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study courses, and other drawing related resources. For more free resources like the one you've just read, please visit MyArtPassion.com for free online drawing lessons.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darren_WK_Chow

By Darren WK Chow

ABCs of Sketching - Part 2

What's the next natural thing to happen? With understanding comes better works of art. Let's start with understanding composition.

Aspect 1: Composition

The composition of a drawing contains elements such as line, shape, tone, texture, color, direction, size, proportion, and perspective. The combination of these elements makes up the overall look and feel of the drawing.

Decide early the subjects that are going to be included in the drawing. Draw out rough shapes as outlines for the subjects. This will let you see how the different shapes fit into the drawing, and you won't find yourself running out of space for some objects that you want to include in the drawing.

Aspect 2: Perspective

Perspective, simply put, is the way in which objects appear to the eye. Anyone with a keen observation of the objects in the surrounding has the potential to draw great looking pictures.

After that, it's all a matter of translating that mental image into visual form. The higher the level of skill and mastery of tools, the better the drawing.

Here, the artist has the power to choose from the many different ways to represent the image. Different mediums, different drawing tools, different types of paints, etc. He or she may even choose to represent perspective differently. Here's a quick example of how perspective can affect the drawing.

Objects that are further away always appear smaller. The further they are, the smaller they are, and they will keep on appearing to the eye as smaller objects until they disappear into the horizon.

In addition, details of the objects may be blurred or lost due to the distance.

If the object is of importance or if for some reason the artist wishes to emphasize the presence of the object, the perspective can be altered to bring the object to focus.

Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study courses, and other drawing related resources. For more free resources like the one you've just read, please visit MyArtPassion.com for free online drawing lessons.

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By Darren WK Chow

ABCs of Sketching - Part 1

This article is the first of a series of articles that's going to introduce you to some of the basics of creating professional looking sketches. These techniques can be used alone, or implemented in various combinations to create the effect that you want.

"Why is it so important for an artist to learn sketching?"

Drawing in monochrome lays the foundation for greater things to come. You can move on to color pens, oil pastels, watercolor painting, acrylic painting and oil painting later on but without the skills to create the visual effects that you want, your progress will be limited.

This e-book is about building a strong drawing foundation. Without a strong foundation, the artist has no expressive freedom. Without control and mastery of drawing techniques and tools, they cannot express their ideas and vision in a satisfactory manner.

And that's the goal that every artist should keep in mind when creating a work of art.

It could be a few broad strokes, or it could be many fine lines. It could be patches of shades, or it could be patches of void spaces. It doesn't matter.

The important thing is to remember that a drawing or a painting is complete when the ideas are expressed to the artist's satisfaction.

You'll see these techniques re-surface when we move on to discuss more advanced drawing techniques. Meanwhile, do familiarize yourself with the techniques discussed in this e-book.

Ultimately, the goal we want to achieve here is to prove that anyone with a burning desire and a strong interest for art can learn to draw in no time.

Have fun!

Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study courses, and other drawing related resources. For more free resources like the one you've just read, please visit MyArtPassion.com for free online drawing lessons.

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By Darren WK Chow

J Art - Japanese Pop Art

What is Pop art? Pop art as a movement started in the 1950s in Britain and the U.S. which takes its art from popular mass culture as opposed to the elite art world. Today the term can still be used for art as an expression influenced from the mainstream culture of the masses.

While Andy Warhol was making his Soup Cans famous in the U.S., a new and exciting art in Japan was starting to form and take on a course of its own.

Tanaami and American Influences

One of the first and most important of the Japanese pop artists is Keiichi Tanaami. He was educated at the Musashino Art University, and would take a designer job after graduation. It wasn't long before he left the company he worked for due to his busy schedule with outside activities. These creative activities included experimentations with animation, lithograph, illustration, and editorial design.

By the late 60s, Tanaami traveled to the United States where he had an influential meeting with Andy Warhol in his legendary Factory in New York. He was very happy to have met Andy while he was doing his silkscreens, and much of his work was inspired by Andy's style. Later, after moving to San Fransisco, the Japanese artist's work became very colorful and psychedelic. He even designed a cover for Jefferson Airplane.

Much of Tanaami's work comes from dreams and memories. He remembers as a child squeezing goldfish that were about to die, until their guts came out. You can see this in some of his goldfish sculptures. Gruesome and interesting stuff.

Manga and Anime

Perhaps the best known contemporary Japanese artist today is Takashi Murakami. He is attributed with the modern art style known as "superflat," for a blending of traditional art with newer concepts deriving, in part, from manga and anime. These artworks are known for their flat planes of colorful images.

While Andy Warhol in the 1960s was turning consumer products into art, Murakami is now turning art into consumer products. He says he knows how much the Japanese people love art, but very few can afford the upper class art. So he creates affordable art anybody can afford. His art comes in the form of toys, paintings, sculptures, dolls, and mannequins, T-shirts, videos, and any other type of product readily available for consumers. He also designed a Louis Vuitton handbag.

His art is often colorful and imaginative, such as the painting entitled "727." Some of his art is daring, such as his "My Lonesome Cowboy." The "Cowboy" shows an obvious reference to American culture with the lasso made from the, uh, fluids.

Graffiti and Childlike Figures

Like Murakami, Japanese artist Yoshimoto Nara derives his style from manga and anime. His work is usually done in graffiti-type painting and the characters are often cute and childlike, but which also possess dark characteristics. These characters come from a meshing of childhood memories and an input of contemporary style. What you get is a unique consumer art product.

There's an excellent British miniseries called Japanorama, which chronicles the host's seeking of Japanese culture in general. One of the episodes is all about J-Art and has the above artists and much more. So check it out, and don't forget to watch it with a nice hot bowl of Ramen.

Dan Kretschmer keeps a daily blog at http://www.vincesear.com

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By Daniel Kretschmer

Oil Painting

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil — especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body and gloss. Other oils occasionally used include poppyseed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. These oils confer various properties to the oil paint, such as less yellowing or different drying times.

As with most products, there is usually a large selection to choose from and invariably you are unsure of quite where to start, and this is especially the case when choosing an oil painting.

Think of practically any object under the sun and there will be an oil painting of it somewhere.

You can even get an oil painting of an oil painting; some artists will reproduce an oil painting of an old master. That's certainly a much cheaper option than buying an original!

I've actually had quite a few reproduced like this, including several old masters by famous artists that I particularly liked and one or two of paintings by not so famous artists. In fact, I'm building up quite a collection and sometimes the biggest problem is finding somewhere to hang them all!

You can even have your favourite photograph transformed into oil painting form and I have had a number of these converted to oil painting form as well. They look so much better than a photograph and also make the ideal gift.

Various Chinese artists will reproduce oil paintings and most of the paintings are actually very good. Original Chinese oil paintings though can always be detected by anyone with the slightest bit of experience. They tend to exaggerate the colours for some reason, maybe they think this looks more attractive, but the result is that you end up with colours that just should not be there. It is easy to see what I mean if you study one or two.

Sometimes the result can be almost comical. I remember an ostentatious friend of mine showing off an oil painting he had recently bought (which he probably paid a fortune for) but after a couple of seconds admiring it I turned round and told him it was Chinese. Well, I won't go into the details of the reply!

However, from the huge selection of themes available, my favourite will always be those based on the seashore.

The seashore depicts tranquility and calm, a naturalness unaffected by the effects of time. Various artists over the years have reproduced this in their paintings. Ivan Aivazovsky, the 19th century Russian artist, was one to note, with several excellent paintings including the appropriately named 'Seashore', 'Seashore.Calm' and 'Sunset at sea', all painted in the 1840's.

Aivazovsky actually created several thousand oil paintings in his lifetime and many can be seen in Aivazovsky Hall at the State Russian Museum, St Petersburg, Russia.

Hardly the same standard or quality as Aivazovsky, but still extremely desirable, is the painting 'Dunes' by the 1920's German artist Horst Alter. With his mastery of light it is truly one of my favourites. Other artists to note include Shchedrin as well as Adamson, the artist infamous for his oil painting of the seashore.

Many other great artists have included the seashore theme in their works. Tastes obviously vary among different people and what one person will enthuse over, another's reaction may be luke warm.

Time and research are the keys to locating an oil painting that one will admire for a lifetime. Never buy in a hurry just for the sake of buying, or simply to fill that empty space on the wall. An oil painting should be treasured, as well as admired.

I've made substantial use of the internet to locate such an example and indeed I've located many fine examples over the years.

Certain differences are also visible in the sheen of the paints depending on the oil. Painters often use different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular feel depending on the medium.

By: Arjun Ryan

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Find oils painting and more useful information about painting history on art store.

The Most Expensive Art in The World

Have you ever considered how much that piece of art in your home may be worth? Do you have an original piece of art by a little know artist or are you lucky enough to have an original piece of art by a popular artist? The art world is often falling over themselves when a popular piece is placed on the market and eager collectors are very quick to bring out their checkbooks in order to obtain this rare art piece for their collections. Here are the top 10 most expensive pieces of art recorded to date in descending order. Prepare to be amazed.

Please note: The prices quoted are take into consideration inflation from the original recorded auctions or private sales and is priced in millions USD. This list provides estimated prices only and is not intended to be an accurate record of art sales. This article is used to illustrate art worth in broad terms.

10. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II by Gustav Klimt - $89.1 Million
Adele Bloch-Bauer II was painted in 1912 by Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a rich industrialist of the time, who was a keen sponsor the arts and supported Gustav Klimt's work. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model ever to be painted twice by Gustav Klimt. This item was part of a set of two and Adele also appeared in the much more famous "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I".

9. Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe by Vincent van Gogh - $90.1 Million
One of the many self portraits Vincent Van Gogh created, this particular version is the most recognizable and popular. Painted in 1889, this piece created massive waves of excitement when it was placed at auction at Christie's, New York. Christie's only estimated this piece would sell for around $20 Million.

8. Dora Maar au Chat by Pablo Picasso - $97 Million
Dora Maar au Chat commonly known as Dora Maar with Cat was created in 1941 by Pablo Picasso. This wonderful work by Picasso features his Croatian mistress, Dora Maar, seated on a chair with a small black cat perched on her shoulders. As was often seen with his work, he uses wide swaths of contrasting color to draw out the subject.

7. Irises by Vincent Van Gogh - $97.5 Million
Irises is one of the most widely known pieces painted by Vincent van Gogh. This piece was one of his early works while he was at the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France and was painted in the last year before his death in 1890. This item is currently on view at the Getty Museum in California.

6. Garçon à la pipe by Pablo Picasso - $113.4 Million
Currently owned by the John Hay Whitney's estate, it sold for $104.1 million at an auction in New York's Sotheby's in 2004. Sotheby's originally estimated a pre-sale price of $70 million. Many of the worlds art experts stated that the painting's high sale price has much more to do with the popularity of the artist than with the historical importance of the painting itself.

5. Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre by Pierre-Auguste Renoir - $122.8 Million
Commonly known as Le Moulin de la Galette, this painting by the famous French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir was painted in 1876 at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Bal au Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre is a smaller version of an impressionist painting Renoir painted with the same title.

4. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh - $129.7 Million
Once more, Vincent van Gogh appears on our list with one of the most expensive works of art of all time. This portrait of Gachet was created just outside Paris in 1890, and depicts his then doctor, Paul Gachet. Gachet, who took care of Vincent during the artist's last months. Gachet was an amateur artist and formed a good friendship with Van Gogh.

3. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt - $137.6 Million
The partner to the previously mentioned piece of art. This is the first portrait of Adel Bloch-Bauer Klimt and was painted in 1907. According to reports, it was sold in June 2006 for $135 million to Ronald Lauder for his gallery in New York City. At that time it set a record as the most expensive painting ever sold.

2. Woman III by Willem de Kooning - $140.2 Million
Abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning painted this print in 1953 and this fantastic piece is one of 6 paintings by Kooning in which the central theme was a woman. Woman III was sold by David Geffen in November 2006 to the billionaire Steven A. Cohen for a reported $137.5 Million.

1. No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock - $142.7 Million
At Last, we come to the most expensive art to date, No. 5,1948 by the artist Jackson Pollock. This abstract art, painted in 1948, was created on a 8 x 4 feet sheet of fiberboard, with large amounts of thick brown and yellow paint drizzled on top of it, forming a chaotic nest-like appearance. This work of art was sold by David Geffen in 2006 for $140 Million making it the most expensive piece of art ever sold.

So, as you can see, there is some incredibly expensive pieces of art out there being sold. Certainly, you are asking yourself "What about other pieces of older art?" All of these wondrous pieces of art in this list were painted after 1800. Any art prior to this date is usually in the hands of museums throughout the world. The Mona Lisa, for example, was insured in 1962 for approximately $100 Million. Taking into consideration the rate of inflation it is fair to assume that its current worth would be around $670 Million today. However, you are unlikely to ever see this majestic smile in Christie's or Sotheby's anytime soon.

If you have been inspired by these items and would like to see more. Amazingly you do not have to pay anywhere near these prices if you would like a copy of these items on your wall! You can discover wonderful reproductions of each of these items in many sizes, formats and mediums on our Arteblanche.com website. We have one of the world's largest inventories of art from the popular artists in this list to unknown artists and cover every aspect and work of art imaginable. We hope you have found this article informative and as inspiring as we did in writing this.

Sean Donahoe is the CEO and founder of ArteBlanche.com, one of the internet's leading art suppliers, which he runs with his wife Tamara. Arteblanche.com has a massive inventory of high-quality art poster prints, fine jacquard weave tapestries and highly-collectible and officially-licensed magazine covers from Rolling Stone Magazine, Time Magazine and Life Magazine, as well as many older and vintage magazines. From the most popular art and artists to the hard-to-find items, ArteBlanche has it all and it's ready for you now.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Donahoe

By Sean Donahoe

Is Graffiti Art?

You can travel almost anywhere in the world, and you will probably see graffiti. Although graffiti art is usually more common in big cities, the reality is that it can occur in almost any community, big or small.

The problem with graffiti art is the question of whether it's really art, or just plain vandalism. This isn't always an easy question to answer, simply because there are so many different types of graffiti. Some is simply a monochrome collection of letters, known as a tag, with little artistic merit. Because it's quick to produce and small, it is one of the most widespread and prevalent forms of graffiti.

Although tagging is the most common type of graffiti, there are bigger, more accomplished examples that appear on larger spaces, such as walls. These are often multicolored and complex in design, and so start to push the boundary of whether they should really be defined as graffiti art.

If it wasn't for the fact that most graffiti is placed on private property without the owner's permission, then it might be more recognized as a legitimate form of art. Most graffiti art, however, is only an annoyance to the property owner, who is more likely to paint over it or remove it than applaud its artistic merit.

Many solutions have been put into practice around the world, with varying degrees of success. Paints have been developed that basically cause graffiti paint to dissolve when applied, or else make it quick and easy to remove. Community groups and government departments coordinate graffiti removal teams.

In some places you can't buy spray paint unless you're over 18. Cans of spray paint are locked away in display cases. In a nearby area the local council employs someone to go around and repaint any fences defaced by graffiti. A friend of mine has had his fence repainted 7 times at least, and it took him a while to find out why it was happening! Certainly the amount of graffiti in my local area has dropped substantially in the last year or two, so it appears these methods are working to a great extent.

But is removing the graffiti doing a disservice to the artistic community? Maybe if some of the people behind the graffiti art were taken in hand and trained, they could use their artistic skills in more productive ways. It hardly makes sense to encourage these artists to deface public property, and so commit a crime. But perhaps there are other ways to cooperate with the graffiti artists rather than just opposing them. Graffiti artists can create sanctioned murals for private property owners and get paid for it.

Maybe we need to start at a very basic level, and find a way to encourage the creation of graffiti art on paper or canvas, rather than walls. After all, who would remember Monet or Picasso if they'd created their masterpieces on walls, only to have them painted over the next day? Finding a solution to such a complex situation is never going to be easy, but as more graffiti art is being recognized in galleries around the world, we do need to try.

Steve Dolan loves art in various forms and mediums. Find out more about graffiti as an art form at Graffiti and Urban Art and if you have art that needs framing visit Picture Frames.

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By Steve Dolan

Face Painting Ideas - Top 7 Tips To Improve Face Painting Success For Beginners

Have you been inspired by some of the stunning face painting ideas around? Do you want to learn how to face paint? It really is such fun to do and a great way to give pleasure to others.

Here are my top tips to improve face painting success for beginners.

Tip 1: you cannot learn to face paint by merely reading a book or watching a video. You have to get the paints, brushes and sponges out and practice often.

Tip 2: it's best to practice on an adult or older child. Young children have a very low attention span. It's not easy to face paint if the child is fidgeting about.

Tip 3: apply thin layers of face paint. A thick layer can cake and crack, spoiling the design.

Tip 4: always allow one layer to dry before applying the next layer.

Tip 5: use a make up pencil to lightly draw the outlines of shapes.

Tip 6: avoid symmetrical face painting designs such as butterflies until you are more experienced. Animals make good face painting ideas for beginners as it is not necessary to have both sides on the animal face matching perfectly.

Tip 7: even a beginner can create amazing face painting ideas. Simply supplement your basic face painting skills by using temporary tattoos and stamps. They come in a huge range of designs including lizard, snake, spider and butterfly. Only use ones specifically designed for faces.

Bonus Tip: if a face painting idea turns out really well then take a photograph of your creation so you can start building up your very own collection of face painting ideas.

Learn how to paint over 50 face painting ideas with a step-by-step guide

Learn face painting techniques including creating a fur effect for animals.

Find out the about the best brushes and paints for face painting.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Penny_Crane

By Penny Crane

Free Face Painting Idea

Free Face Painting Ideas

Here are some excellent free face painting ideas that will make you a smash hit at your next party or event!

When face painting, don’t stop with the face, include body painting also. This is always a hit. Kids go crazy for body painting. This is great to do because it makes the kids feel like they are wearing a costume and they really have fun with the character that they have been painted as. Whether it be a king or a witch, this idea is a “no fail” when it comes to pleasing youngsters. And don’t worry about the time this may take. Just keep it simple, short, and sweet and it’s a snap!

Another of the free face painting ideas is for you to try mixing and using makeup with your face painting. Taking some cosmetic makeup and combining it with face painting is an awesome idea. You can use blush to create rosy cheeks on a princess or eye liner pencil to create whiskers on a cat. Using makeup creatively and in combination with face painting can save you time and effort. Beginners may also find this easier than using paint on certain designs. Simply test out and experiment with different cosmetics to find what works best for you.

An entirely new and incredible dimension to add to your face painting routine that has been tried and tested is the use of stick-on-jewels. What’s great about stick-on-jewels is that they are simple and incredibly effective. Kids love them and it escalates the look of any face painting from amateur to pro. They are also very simple to use. Just remove the paper backing and apply to the desired area. This is one of the best and most effective of the free face painting ideas.

Try to use costumes with your face painting for an incredible combination that delights every time! Finding simple costumes is the key to this favorite of all the free face painting ideas. You don’t have to go all out and spend a lot of money. That’s not necessary at all.

Some costume ideas:

• A simple black cape for a vampire.

• A paper crown for a king

• Paper bunny ears for a rabbit

• A paper or plastic tiara for a princess

• Stripes painted on t-shirts to look like a zebra or tiger

• Or an old sock or stocking stuffed with tissues, magazine pages, or newspaper to look like a tail for a monkey, lion, or tiger.
And the last of the free face painting ideas is for you to use good old glitter! It’s simple, cheap, and incredibly easy. You can find glitter gel, glitter powders, and glitter dust that all work well (you just need to decide which one works best for you). Just as the stick-on-jewelry can improve the look of your face painting, glitter can make your painting look highly professional.

There are endless free face painting ideas, you just need to be creative, use your imagination, and most importantly, have fun and enjoy your art!

Face painting can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a lot of hard work. And finding face painting ideas that haven’t already been done many times before is very difficult. So unless you can take time out of your busy schedule to register for a face painting class (if there is even one available in your area) you should visit http://www.FacePaintingUniversity.com today, to discover a treasure trove of face painting ideas!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Wilson

By Jay Wilson

How to Graffiti

Graffiti is often associated with gangs, guns and crime. But it's important to understand why. Graffiti is used by gangs in Mexico, L.A. and other large cities the world over. It's used to mark gang territory in specific areas. Often gangs will spray their tags over an enemies tag to provoke violence and retaliation. As such, graffiti has built up a bad reputation and has come to be associated with the more negative aspects of culture and society.

It doesn't have to be so. In my town, for example, one primary school started a small, low-budget project and allowed all the children 'Graffiti' over the walls of the school and neighbouring park. Not only did this create an amazing piece of art at virtually no cost, but the children felt proud of their work. Instead of vandalizing the school they now wished to protect and preserve their creation and as such a small sense of community was built up. This is the inverse of what most people generally conceive graffiti to be about. Instead of being destructive vandalism and degradative to the community, in this case it did the complete opposite.

That said, I hope I have opened your mind up enough to warrant your interest of how to graffiti. This article isn't about the arguements concerning vandalism, nor to highlight its many comical, religious and often political uses, nor the controversies. No, this article is to urge you to learn how to graffiti. In doing so you open your mind up to the world of graffiti and its many branches and history (Yes, graffiti has a history!) Here are some simple steps to get you to begin learning just how to graffiti.

How to graffiti step 1 - Observation
In learning how to graffiti as in learning any new concept is all about observation. Find existing graffiti and copy it somehow. The best and most fun way to do this is take a walk around your city. If you live in a small town or village, take a trip into a city and spend the day hunting for street art. You're guaranteed to find some in most larger towns. Take photos and draw sketches while you're there. This will give you some basic hands on, up-close experience. You can also obtain some great resources while learning how to graffiti online. Google images and other sites have large lists of some of the larger and cooler looking works as well as the basic stuff.

How to graffiti step 2 - Experimentation and Creativity
The next step is experimentation. 9 out of 10 graffiti artists started out with their tag. A tag is just a way of identifying yourself amongst the vast array of other artists out there. Usually it'll be your nickname or a variation of it. Using the photos/sketches and downloaded images you've collected, experiment with applying those styles to your tag. Use marker or pencil on paper at first until you've got the hang of it. Once you have some basic sketches you feel comfortable repeating, you can think about taking it further.

How to graffiti step 3 - Taking it further
If you're serious about graffiti as a hobby or maybe even a profession then you'll want to stock up on supplies and information. Get yourself a couple of books on the subject to copy and learn from. Shell out some cash for canvas, paints, card-boards, a respirator (very important) and of course spray-paints! Practice, practice, practice! This is a luxury alot of people don't have because of the expense. But by buying cheap or discount paints and using your own spray system you'll elimate much of the cost. This will allow you to practice on selected canvases and in certain areas.

Eventually you'll want to take it onto the street. While some will advocate graffiti in public places illegally, this really isn't a wise idea. There are often places in major cities specifically for graffiti artists to experiment and practice their work. Search for such things in your local area. If you can't find any then don't worry. There are MANY ways to get your work out there legally. Often, after you have established yourself and have a means of proving your work, people and businesses will want to hire you for projects. Keep in mind that they wont hire you if you have a criminal record!

Hopefully these 3 initial steps will encourage then help you get started learning how to graffiti and in doing so open you up to a fantastic yet misunderstood art form.

Article by Sean Brown of HowToGraffiti, a blog which includes resources and tips on learning how to graffiti

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Brown

By Sean Brown

Types of Graffiti Art

Modern day Graffiti art is closely associated with the Hip Hop Culture. It started out with names like TAKI 183 and JULIO 204 who wrote their tag names all over New York to more accomplished artists that have shown their work in respected art galleries. But, for those loyal to the art of graffiti, it is the pieces found on the streets and public walls that remain as the purest form of the art. Street Graffiti have various well known styles. The styles may be a result of time constraints or as a way of marking territory. The style of the artwork itself greatly affects the look and feel of the piece, these include styles like: Wildstyle, Blockbuster, Throw-ups and Fill-Ins and Pieces.

A "Piece" is a form of Graffiti art that has a very elaborate design. These pieces tend to take time, therefore there are fewer pieces created illegally in public places because the artist runs the risk of being caught in the act of making it. Most graffiti art "pieces" can now be found in dedicated galleries. Of course, there are always the brave few that still plaster their work on public and private walls. Graffiti tributes are also known as "pieces". Tributes pay homage to 'greats' who have passed away. In the past we have seen tributes to the Big L, Tupac, Mother Teresa and others all over New York when they died.

Throw-Ups and Fill- In are graffiti that are done quickly, sacrificing detailed style for time. This is the most common form of graffiti that can be found. It is often made in only one or three contrasting colors and the letterings are in bubble or block form. The letters are often outlined with the boldest color available to the artists. Compared to Wildstyle, throw-ups and fill-ins are often easier to read because the designs are less complex.

Wildstyle is a form of graffiti art that sports all sorts of arrows, interlocking letters and points. For the untrained graffiti eye, Wildstyle pieces are often hard to read because the letters tend to blend in into one another and result in what looks like a jumble and wordless mix. Wildstyle Graffiti art is often found in various places around bustling cities like New York, New Jersey and San Francisco.

"Blockbusters" are large graffiti pieces that have been created to cover entire walls with the intention of blocking other artists from using the same wall. The design is often simple and done quickly. Another form of Graffiti that is similar to Blockbuster is "Rollers". Rollers are Graffiti styles that involve blocking out an entire wall with a single color. This is considered to be lazy graffiti writing. "Stickers" are also used in creating graffiti and is one of the quickest ways to post graffiti on the wall. Like "rollers", "stickers" are also considered to be a form of laziness on the part of the artist. But, more and more artists are coming up with elaborately designed stickers that combat even the most detailed pieces designed. Stencils are also commonly used in graffiti art. They provide the artist with a way to create presentable pieces without compromising time.

Art Prints and Photos on Canvas are available to buy from GetCanvas.co.uk. Benedict is a freelance article writer for Dolphin Promotions SEO Company.

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By Benedict Hunter

Portrait Painting - Turning Family Photos Into Family Heirlooms

If you are a person who loves to capture memorable times with photographs, then a portrait painting may be something that you might want to consider. Portrait paining involves taking your favorite photographs and turning them into beautiful works of art. If you have family photographs, photos of your kids, your pets, or special celebratory occasions such as a wedding, then you can have these created into a beautiful oil portrait. The primary purpose of a portrait painting is to capture special moments in a very memorable way.

Professional artists working by free-hand, are able to turn any special photograph that you have, into a unique, special and beautiful portrait. These pictures are made to look life like and the detailing is great. The process of taking a photo and creating a portrait is actually quite easy. You choose your designated picture and give it to an art house that specializes in portrait painting and an artist will turn that picture into a gorgeous oil portrait. You will be allowed to take a look at the portrait, if you require any changes then these can be made until the portrait is just the way that you want it.

Oils paintings are used in some of the world's most beautiful paintings and demand highly skilled artistry to create them. Portrait painting also allows for a high level of detail. In fact, many individuals might even have a problem telling the difference between a real photograph and a painting. Oil paintings allow the heart of the subject to really shine through.

Because the skill level required to work with oil based paints is high, having one created is often very costly for the average person. However, there are various companies online that can create an oil portrait for you very affordably. Oil paintings make great gifts for family or friends.

Photographs allow for memorable moments to be frozen in time. Pictures are a great to collect and look through with your loved ones. They act as a time capsule in which your loved ones can look back on lovingly, and share memories.

Paintings, on the other hand, are able to be a passed down from generation to generation and displayed proudly in your or a loved ones' home. Portrait painting is a great way to turn a common photograph into an uncommon piece of art.

If you are interested in learning more about portrait painting you can find great information at GuaranteedPortraits.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Manning

By Michelle Manning

How To Teach Yourself How To Paint

Okay, so you want to paint and you have some artistic talent. You do not know how to begin pursuing your artistic painting dreams, but would love to see your paintings on canvas and making you money. The first thing you need to do to be a quality painter is to draw. You can go to your local bookstore or order some books online that can teach you how to draw like a professional. With much practice and a few dollars spent on quality pencils and drawing tablets, you can learn shading, perspective, vanishing points, angles etc that will help you in your painting.

You have mastered drawing well enough to become a painter. The reason you need to be able to draw well before putting paint to canvas is that if you draw well enough on a canvas, you can simply color in your drawings with paint, like you used to color in coloring books with crayons. Alright, so you are now ready to begin painting. Quality brushes and paints are important. There are some things you will need to buy. You need a few different size brushes, various acrylic paints, especially the primary colors from which you can mix and make all the other colors. A large tube of white is also important as is black, but you can make your own black by mixing red, green, blue, all together. Acrylic paints are the easiest paints to work with and that is why a beginning painter needs to master acrylics before learning watercolor or oils. Acrylic paints are easily mixed with water and you will need either a glass or a small bucket to hold water in for cleaning your brushes and keeping your acrylic paints wet because acrylic paints dry quickly. You will also need a pallet, but a paper plate with aluminum foil over it works fantastically.

All you need to do to paint your first painting is to draw on your canvas with your pencils whatever you want to paint, then color in your sketch with your acrylic paints. You can try mixing your paints together with water to acquire the desired color and thickness on your canvas. It is also a good idea, to do an under-painting, which is a painting below another layer of painting which you can apply with glaze or simply a lighter shade of acrylic. The under-painting will give your paintings more of a professional look. It is also good to outline your paintings either with the opposite color on the color wheel for extra artistic effect or to simply outline your paintings in a darker color such as black. That choice is up to you. You may also order acrylic painting books or buy them from your local bookstore. These books will give you the rest of the necessary information to be a good acrylic painter and once you have mastered acrylics you can do the same with watercolor and oils in the future. Also, always be on the lookout for local artists who are willing to share their expertise or conduct classes to teach you.

In conclusion, you can learn to paint well without spending much money on courses or a bachelor's degree. Learn to draw and learn to paint with acrylic paints and you will be well on your way toward achieving your artistic dreams. All you need to do to make money from your paintings is to place them on online art auctions. Then people can bid on your work and you can have some extra income, and who knows, if you are very talented, maybe it can be the only income you need.

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By Edward Carr

Coloring Page and Coloring Pages

Art is one of the most fascinating domains of the culture because the people were always interesting in discovering and creating beautiful things. The paintings represent the arts creation which appeared from antiquity when the people tried to draw different sceneries or personalities from their perspective. Have you ever imagine that you can find thousands of paintings, drawings and portraits in a single place? On www.edupics.com you will have access to many wonderful images from different domains and we are sure you will be delighted by what you will see.

Art is one of the most fascinating domains of the culture because the people were always interesting in discovering and creating beautiful things. The paintings represent the arts creation which appeared from antiquity when the people tried to draw different sceneries or personalities from their perspective. Have you ever imagine that you can find thousands of paintings, drawings and portraits in a single place? On www.edupics.com you will have access to many wonderful images from different domains and we are sure you will be delighted by what you will see.

I am sure that you have never thought that you can create a special coloring book for you child using the coloring pages you want. Fortunately, the internet is one of the most important discovering which revolutionized the educational, communicational and IT technology and today, this special and unique network is a huge database of information, images and sounds. We are sure that if you are fascinated by colors you will be delighted by the large offer of online coloring pages you will discover on www.edupics.com.

If you want to have full access of downloading, coloring and even creating your own albums using the images you most like, the first thing you should do is creating your own account. After you will log on you will have access to download all the coloring pages you want. There are thirty eight main categories which also contain other sub categories which will definitely fascinate you. If you don’t want to create an account you will also have access to several coloring pages and we are sure you will have a lot of fun coloring the images you will select. You have just let your imagination free and to put in practice all the ideas that you have.

Can you imagine that on this site there are big chances to find a coloring page with your favorite artist? Or maybe there is a star you dislike and we are sure you will have a lot of fun coloring his or her face and clothes with the colors you like. The site also offers you a wonderful idea for a special and unique present – an album with your favorite coloring pages which were colored by you for your best friend, for your parents or grandparents. If you want to teach your child to color without making any stains in his room and having his hands always clean www.edupics.com is the favorite alternative for helping him to practice his hobby. Encourage your child to color as many coloring pages he likes, recommend him to use as different colors, help him with advices and do never forget to congratulate him for what he is doing. You will be surprised by the easy and the fast way through which his creativity and originality will be developed. And, if you want to make him a wonderful surprise, you can also download all the coloring pages he made and to print him in a special album.

Article Source: http://www.article-outlet.com/

by ken

Face painting children is probably one of the most challenging yet rewarding tasks out there. Despite being a tiresome task especially for overly enthusiastic kids who can't wait to see the finish product, face painting children can help you gain patience and skill in doing the artwork quickly.

Face painting children is probably one of the most challenging yet rewarding tasks out there. Despite being a tiresome task especially for overly enthusiastic kids who can't wait to see the finish product, face painting children can help you gain patience and skill in doing the artwork quickly.

In face painting children, major considerations should be identified in order to avoid the possibility of accidents and allergic reactions.

If you are face painting children, in a party, make sure that before you begin with any session, you were able to inform the parents first about the whole thing. This is like asking for permission if they would allow their child to have their face painted during the event. By briefly talking to the parents, you can also ask if the child has allergic reactions to chemicals or if they have skin allergies. Make sure that you don't face paint a child that has open wounds, cuts, or rashes on the face or in any part of his or her body. This will lessen the possibility of developing infection and more complicated skin condition.

After making sure that you have no problems with the child's skin, you should start getting the prepared materials to be used. In face painting children, it is very important to use safe materials because their skin is more sensitive compared to adults. In choosing paints for kids, make sure that you use only water-based watercolors that can be easily wiped off or cleansed with water and little gentle soap. To avoid any allergic reactions, always use face paints that have passed under FDA's standard for cosmetics. Never ever use acrylic paints because these will only cause allergies and even skin disorder when used in large amounts especially in sensitive areas of the face and other parts of the body.

Aside from using safe paints, one thing you need to know about face painting children is that you must have lots of handy brushes and sponges that you can use. It is best to designate a brush for each color to lessen the chances of cleaning it. You must also have enough water supplies in convenient water bottle so you can dab the brush or sponge once they need cleaning. Brushes should have soft bristles while sponges should not peel when wet.

What appeals to children:

Children truly enjoy face painting sessions because they are fascinated with the transformation they go through once the face painting session is done. One major consideration in face painting kids is the design that will be used. As the face painter, you must know what the designs that will appeal to kids and what are the face paint designs appropriate for their age.

When it comes to face paint designs, majority of kids would want to copy the latest character from a current movie or a television show. Face paint designs of superheroes or the most popular cartoon character are preferred because it brings familiarity to them. If you would want your designs to appeal to kids, make sure that they are inspired from popular characters.

Keep in mind that little girls would love to have face paint designs that are based on fantasy such as flower princesses and fairies, cute insects such as butterflies and ladybugs, friendly animals such as bunny rabbits and cats, and naughty female characters such as witches. These designs should come in colorful and vibrant colors and should be accentuated with something that shimmers such as glitters.

In face painting little boys, the most popular selection would include superheroes such as Batman, Superman, and Spiderman and scary characters such as monster, skull, pirate, tribal person as well animals like lion, tiger and dogs. When face painting boys, it is best to use subtle tones and colors. For them, the scarier they look like, the better because they will scare people, especially little girls. They also prefer dark colors and accents such as fake blood or gel skins to make the face paint scarier.

In face painting children, always use simple designs because they are fidgety when you ask them to sit down for a long time. Try to face paint as quickly as possible to avoid them from getting bored and ruining the entire session. Also, have a handy mirror at your side so you can ask them to see their reflection after you're finish with the face painting.

Article Source: http://www.article-outlet.com/

by Philadelphia

How To Become A Successful Artist

Painting is something I have done all my life from the age of 4, when my parents handed me some crayons and some paper and encouraged me to draw. I remember how I loved it even then. Here are my tips for any aspiring artist.

Step 1 - Be Passionate!

This passion from such a young age meant I found that I was able to paint and draw from life and get my proportions and perspective very accurate.

Step 2 - Practice, Practice, Practice!

I would paint and draw anything and everything on a daily basis. I saw it as fun, but it meant that I was able to hone my skills as the months went by. As a result I won my first commission at 15, and went on to make a living from painting as soon as I left school.

Step 3 - Get to know your subject as much as possible

I like to really spend time understanding the temperament and individual nature of each person or animal that I paint. Once this is captured, the painting just flows. I intuit the psychology of my clients first, which then allows me to portray the inner beauty of their personality. I am inspired to capture the moments that allow them to re-live magic memories for years to come. I love receiving phone calls from my clients telling me how they are still moved by a commission, often many years after completion.

Step 4 - Dream Big

Be fascinated by the magic that life has to offer, especially regarding synchronicity. As Donald Trump once said 'If you are going to dream, you might as well dream big'. Thrive on proving that you can, when others cast doubt.

Step 5 - Model the Masters

Read books about the Masters. Study their work, Visit as many galleries as you can and get inspired. In your imagination ask for the great Masters advice, and await an answer. I told my parents that I was going to be a famous artist from the age of 5, and acted 'as if', and in my mind I continue to stretch the boundaries of my success.

Step 6 - Visualise

At the age of 15, I was an accomplished Event rider, and devoured many books on the subject. My 'bible' however was one book which taught visualisation techniques, how to win a desired outcome, and how to focus on the positive. Several of these techniques I subsequently used to massive success in many areas. In fact I was one of the few riders that never fell from her horse, due to a focusing technique taught in the book!

I once had the task of teaching a team of four eleven year olds on some distinctly untalented ponies. For seven whole days leading up to the event, I worked full time with my group of young charges. During the week the team changed theirs and their ponies' names to adopt the names of some of the world class riders and horses of the day. As they modeled these people they amazed themselves with their new found abilities, and shocked their parents when the team took first prize in the competition.

I have subsequently used visualisation techniques in my artistic life, regularly following the examples of painters such as Sargent, Velasquez, Munnings, Constable, and Michelangelo, when I paint. The results are incredible, but it does take practice, and an open mind.

Step 7 - Broaden Your Horizons

When I was 18, I remember constantly dreaming about what it meant to be a true artist, living in Italy, and being part of a group of amazing painters leading a bohemian and magical lifestyle, traveling the world painting. Within 18 months this had become a reality, even more than I had ever dreamed. I won the opportunity to paint at the Charles Cecil school in Florence. I soaked up everything I could possibly learn and within 6 months, ended up as one of the teachers. I would recommend anyone to do some travelling and spent time in Italy, France or India or for that matter anywhere that inspires you.

Step 8 - Welcome the opportunity to overcome challenges and problems.

Let's be straight here. Life isn't plain sailing, and no job or vocation isn't without its challenges (even if you're the most passionate person in the world). During my early 30's I painted the Philosopher. It was at a time that other parts of her life were experiencing challenges that I did not understand. I felt that I was losing my identity, and yet produced probably one of my best pieces, which at the time was called 'Me, Myself and I' I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and had to deal with all of the problems that came with depression. On the canvas seemed the only place where I knew who I was, and in fact often I used to say 'reality does not exist... except on the canvas'. It took several years to manage my condition, and eventually turned to anti-depressants, which I gave up after attending a Tony Robbins seminar.

Later in my life I discovered that the lead paints I had been using for years were poisoning me and that my health had been severely compromised. I had to go on a major detoxification regime, change my diet dramatically, and started focusing on my health. The turnaround took some time, but I am now healthier and happier than I have ever been, and this continues to this very day. I don't regret those days though as they have helped me grow and become the person that I am. One day you may have painters block (I get it regularly!), but this is just another opportunity to push through your comfort zone and break through to a whole new level. Sometimes you just have to take the day off and go do something else to inspire you.

Step 9 - Build Rapport with Your Clients

All my recent projects have brought home just how much I use psychology in my everyday life, especially my rapport skills in gaining not only a strong insight into the characters of my clients, but helping them to maintain a pose showing them at their higher self. Often, when they see the finished result it can be quite emotional as they connect with the reflection of themselves.

Step 10 - Enjoy the Process

Remember that what you strive for everyday, is never quite as much fun as the journey there. Each day take time out to reflect on what has been great that day and what you have learned. Cultivate a CANI attitude - Constant and Never -ending Improvement!

My Other Painting Tips:

# Paint from life as often as possible.
# Sketch as much as possible and build up a body of sketch books
# Trust your eye
# Use good quality paints
# Experiment with making your own canvases
# Look at paintings by the masters and artists who inspire you
# Stand up when you paint
# Use bold brush strokes where possible
# Be bold and adventurous and enjoy what you do.
# Make time to do all of the above!

http://www.hazelmorgan.com

Classically trained and multi skilled portrait artist & equestrian artist, Hazel Morgan's commissions take her all over the world.

With a client list that includes several Royal households across Europe and the Middle East, Hazel is firmly established as one of today's leading portrait and equestrian artists.

One recent overseas assignment took her to Kentucky, where she painted three large paintings for HRH Prince Khalid bin Abdullah depicting his favourite brood mares, including Banks Hill and Zenda. Her last equestrian commissions were painting both Sinndar and Dalakhani for HRH The Aga Khan.

While Equestrian art and Portraits are her primary focus, Hazel is equally well known as an exceptionally talented hound and dog specialist.

Hazel, not only has the ability to paint what she sees, but is able to reach into the soul of her subject, painting each horse as if it were her own, each person as if she had known them for years.

Her work captures precious moments in time creating a legacy for future generations.

As Hazel says "I am able to capture moments that allow people to relive magic memories for years to come. I love receiving phone calls from my clients telling me how they are still moved by a commission, often many years after it was completed."

http://www.hazelmorgan.com
art@hazelmorgan.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hazel_Morgan

By Hazel Morgan

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Free Face Painting Ideas

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

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Face painting children is probably one of the most challenging yet rewarding tasks out there. Despite being a tiresome task especially for overly enthusiastic kids who can't wait to see the finish product, face painting children can help you gain patience and skill in doing the artwork quickly.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Convert your tattoo to embroidery tape.

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