Art to All

Mastering Graffiti Art

2008-05-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-05-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

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

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

Cartoon Drawing Tips For Kids

2008-04-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

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.

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

By Mark Traston

Miniature Paintings - A Sublime Art

2008-04-15T22:41:00.001-07:00

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.

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

By Rajneesh Dubey

Pencil Sketches of Faces

2008-04-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

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.

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

By Darren WK Chow

How to Draw Cars - Beginner Tips & Tools for Success

2008-04-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

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

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

By Ralph Serpe

The History of Vampire Art

2008-04-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

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

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

By Steve K Smith

Creating Art From A Piece Of Stone

2008-04-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

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/

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

By Scotie Keithlow

ABCs of Sketching - Part 4

2008-04-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

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.

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

By Darren WK Chow

ABCs of Sketching - Part 1

2008-04-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

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.

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

By Darren WK Chow

J Art - Japanese Pop Art

2008-04-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

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

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

By Daniel Kretschmer

Oil Painting

2008-04-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-03-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

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.

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

By Steve Dolan

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

2008-03-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-27T00:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-25T22:46:00.000-07:00

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.

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

By Benedict Hunter

Portrait Painting - Turning Family Photos Into Family Heirlooms

2008-03-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

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.

For quality keyword articles that will save you time and money, please visit Edward Carr's website at http://www.freewebs.com/edwardcarr

Here you may contact me regarding your ghostwriting needs as well as for any other writing purposes.

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

By Edward Carr

Coloring Page and Coloring Pages

2008-03-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

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

What You Need to Know About Face Painting Children

2008-03-16T22:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

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

Must Knows in How to Hold A Pencil When Drawing and Sketching

2008-03-09T00:17:00.000-08:00

How to Hold Your Pencil When Drawing and Sketching

When learning to draw, sometimes it's difficult to know what techniques are available to artists, which ones you should use, and which ones you should not use. How to hold a pencil seems to be trivial in nature but can make a huge difference in your drawings and sketches.

In this article you will learn a few different ways to hold the pencil and how to adopt them into your drawing practices. This is important because most people don't realize that there are more ways than one to grip a pencil when drawing and sketching. They generally pick it up like they were taught in school for writing. But writing and drawing are a lot different. So the way you hold your pencil should be different as well. A lot of problems such as hatched lines and unsteadiness originate from holding the pencil incorrectly.

The first grip is the basic tripod grip. It is the technique that they teach young children in school. It's probably the same one that you use for writing. You grip the pencil with the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger to form a tripod or triangle. This tripod is usually supported by your ring finger and pinky fingers. The grip allows the pencil to be controlled when making fine strokes and is great when applying fine details.

The fingers are in control of the pencil when using the tripod grip. It's also nice when doing the finer details because your hand can rest on the page as it lays these in.

Sometimes smudging can be a problem, but no fear, just lay down a sheet of paper to keep your drawing free from the smudges.

The problems of this grip are that it is a frustrating way to draw. A flowing line is impossible to do this way, your hatching and cross-hatching isn't done correctly and the lines become curved, the pencil pressure is off, and it's not the most comfortable.

The position that is closely related to this position is called the extended tripod grip. It is essentially the same as the basic tripod grip with the exception that the tripod is formed further up on the pencil. This benefits the artist because only a small movement of the fingers can produce greater movement of the pencil tip. One thing to remember with this is to not squeeze it too tightly.

The technique that a lot of artists use is called the overhand grip. This grip is where the pencil is held almost as if you were holding a bow for a violin. Your hand goes over the pencil and is held lightly against the fingers and the flat of your thumb.

This overhand grip is ideal for sketching with the side of the pencil and is the preferred grip among artists. It doesn't need a propped arm and the limitations are only your arm span. Not nearly as many limitations as the other grips have.

This overhand grip produces flowing, sweeping lines and is great for sketching, hatching, cross-hatching, value work, with the side of the lead. It is a huge preference for academic drawing. It's great when using a drawing surface such as an easel. One common rule in whichever grip you choose to use and whatever works for you is to never, ever choke the pencil tip. This is never a good thing to do for artists.

Just remember to use a grip that you are comfortable. There are many variations of these grips and do what you are comfortable with and you will see your drawings come alive.

by: Todd Harris

article source
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/hobbies/article_949.shtml

Free Art Instruction - Portrait Painting Tips & Techniques

2008-03-07T23:34:00.000-08:00

Being able to capture the likeness of a human being on canvas, using paint, is certainly a sought after accomplishment for many new painters. It can also be somewhat challenging. This article will cover some of the more basic portrait painting tips & techniques and help lessen some of the confusion many beginners face. With practice, you will soon be painting portraits like the masters.

If at all possible, I highly recommend you paint your portraits using a live model as opposed to a photograph. There is simply no substitution for painting from life.

Painting a successful portrait is all about how you observe the subject. You want to study the subject as a whole. Study the bone structure and try to see shapes and planes. Do not try and paint every little detail exactly as you see it.

For beginners, it is probably best to start out with a lighting effect where light and shadow are in high contrast. This will make for a much easier painting.

Focus on one section at a time. Finish each section before moving on to the next.

Keep the darks of your portrait at a thin consistency while your lights should be painted on thickly.

Many beginners struggle with mixing flesh tones. I know I did when I first started painting. Remember that skin comes in a variety of colors & textures, so there is no specific formula for mixing flesh tones in portrait painting. You will have to experiment and practice, until you find the right color mixtures for any particular subject. Never purchase any pre-mixed flesh colors. When mixing your colors be careful not to over mix, which can deaden a color.

Try and repeat the colors and values in your painting to create balance.

When painting hair, don't try and paint every individual strand of hair. Look at the hair as one object and then paint the lights and darks. Paint the hair in the direction of the shape of the head.

The muzzle area of the face (the space between the nose and mouth) is generally the same color as the flesh but cooler.

When painting backgrounds, don't make them too detailed or busy. If you do, you will draw focus away from your portrait.

Add bits of color where the shadow meets the light in your portraits.

Fleshier parts of the face are generally warm and bonier parts of the face, like the chin for instance, are generally cool in color.

The white in the eye is not white. To get an accurate color for the white in the eye you can take the subjects basic flesh color and then lighten it with a gray made from black and white.

I hope these portrait painting tips & techniques have helped. Portrait painting can be difficult, possibly even frustrating in the beginning. Never give up and keep practicing. You will get the hang of it.

by: Ralph Serpe

Article Source
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/hobbies/article_580.shtml

Quick Tips On How to Draw a Realistic Face

2008-03-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

There are many artists who struggle with drawing a face and having it actually look like the person you are drawing. These tips should help you to achieve a more realistic outcome and have your drawings come to life.

The first tip is probably the most important. When you are drawing, draw from a good source or reference. For instance make sure that your photo is a really high quality. Make sure that the photo is big and clear, and not a lot of different lighting sources. Choose a subject that is interesting to you. If you want, a good idea is to draw something of one of the masters, like Beugereau.

If what you are drawing doesn't hold an interest for you, you won't do as good a job on it, you'll have less patience, lose interest and never finish. But again, make sure that your reference is high quality because if it's not, you'll end up with garbage.

Next, begin your drawing with your outline. Different artists use different methods for this. Also, time is a consideration, so whether you use a grid method or do it by eye, make sure you are accurate. Of course, the grid is going to be more accurate but time or environment may not allow for this method. Also, as you gain more experience you may go by the eye more often as well. Block in and remember that you don't want to add in the fine details yet. Don't get caught up in working on an eye and all of the lighting and shapes of the eye at this point. Avoid finer detail till later.

Then you can start to divide the light from the shadows, hitting the core shadow outline hard making a distinct value difference between light and shadow.

Then go over it with a towel or cotton balls. Never let your skin come in contact with the paper because your sin is made of oil and it will cause great ugliness to appear on your drawing! Instead use a piece of paper under your drawing hand to help you avoid this. Some artists use gloves made for drawing as well. Try and hit the shadow hard and then after you have gone over with a towel erase out some highlights and make the core shadow darker.

You can start darkening shadows make sure that you are using your referenc to figure out where these are exactly. You may have to do this several times till you establish the value you are after.

Not all of the shadows are going to be dark. Never forget where your light sources are coming from. This is extremely important. Look for where the shadows are falling in direct relation to where the light source is coming from.

Start adding the finer details to your drawing.

Blend in light spots and identify the highlights in your subjects hair. A very beginner mistake is to draw each and every strand of hair. Hair needs to be treated as a mass. Remember this and your hair will turn out more realistic than ever before.

Once you feel you are done, you are almost done. What? Well when you are working with graphite, it can be extremely messy and you may need to do some major clean up of smudges. Use a kneaded eraser to lift these.

Take your time with your drawings and you will begin to see that these techniques can be really beneficial. Anyone can learn to draw, it takes some patience and willingness.

by: Todd Harris

article source
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/hobbies/article_997.shtml

Safety Tips When Face Painting Kids

2008-03-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

Learning the art of face painting and keeping it safe for the kids isn't hard if you follow simple guidelines. Whether you explore this art at your children's birthday party, in a school related activity or in a kiosk at a local fair, you must always have the kid's safety in mind. Face painting is fun, easy and children of all ages love it. Here are some tips to safely transform faces into amazing artwork.

Cleanliness Germs and infections can be transmitted from one child to the other if you neglect any of these:

Always make sure to wash your hands between sessions.

Wear gloves and change them with every child.

Make sure your brushes and all material you use are disinfected, again, between every child.

Make sure your work station is kept free of anything that could contaminate your material.

Using The right Materials Never use paint that is not made for face painting. Always choose brands that are non-toxic and suitable for human skin. Rashes and allergic reactions could emerge if you don't use the right paints. Use quality glitter, sparkles or any other enhancement materials, because those too can cause irritations.

Be Organized Always have all the tools and materials you'll need at hand before starting any face painting design. This will not only prevent you from contaminating your gloves, or your hands if you don't use gloves, but will also ensure that the child you are attending too is not left to himself and risk getting hurt, by falling off the stool or by playing with some of your material or tools while you look for something.

Keep The Child Still And Under Surveillance At All Times Avoid having "distractions" that children will want to look at. If you have your designs on small posters, make sure the child being face painted doesn't see them when your working. A good way of keeping them still is by having a mirror so they can watch you do your thing. Sure, it's going to be less of a surprise when your done but they will appreciate seeing their faces evolve. And always have an eye on them. Never let yourself be distracted or led to tend to something else. Wait till your done.

Take Time Outs If you try and do too many in a row without taking a break or stretching, you will get tired, impatient and your art will suffer and accidents will happen. If you are relax, you have less chances of making mistakes and you will create beautiful faces. Make sure you are comfortable and have enough space to work.

Remember these simple tips and your sessions will be without any glitches. Both kids and parents will be happy and your children face painting designs will make them smile every time. Have Fun!

Beth Wilson http://www.its-all-about-the-kids.com
Make sure to have a look at these Children Face Painting Designs and get more Face Painting Tips and Resources

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

By Beth Wilson

Miniature Painting - Art Through the Ages

2008-03-05T16:45:00.000-08:00

As an artist, Rebecca Latham as well as her mother, Karen, and sister, Bonnie, strive for detail in their painting. Studying with a Flemish master, they have developed their styles for painting extreme realism. Their works, both large and small, are painted “in miniature”.

Early Beginnings

Miniature painting is a traditional style of art that is very detailed, often referred to as painting or working “in miniature”. Because of their origins as illuminations, they are also painted to have as smooth of a surface as possible. (It is also suggested that miniature art may have been influenced by the medals of ancient Rome as well) Miniature art can be traced back to ancient Egyptian manuscripts on papyrus scrolls. Monks are also often highlighted for their contributions to early miniature painting with their beautifully illuminated manuscripts such as the Celtic Book of Kells and England's Lindisfarne Gospels (both of which measure around 9" x 12"). Some early manuscripts contain miniature paintings on their pages that depict beautiful arrangements of life sized flower arrangements on their borders. The history of miniature painting is also seen throughout the world in various other cultures.

Miniature painting began out of necessity for illustrating documents and manuscripts to aid those reading them during a time when many were not able to, before printing was invented. The miniature helped to convey the story and meaning of the written word. Therefore, the art of miniature painting is directly connected to the book arts. The various sized illuminations (pictures) were cut out of these books or documents so that they could be carried more easily. Later, developing from the carried miniature, portrait miniature artists were commissioned to paint small portraits – paintings that were used as we use wallet sized photographs today. These sizes of miniature paintings became popular with collectors and are often referred to as “hand held miniatures”. Portrait miniatures were painted in larger sizes as well, for example master miniaturist, Nicholas Hilliard, Peter Oliver, and Sir Charles William Ross all painted works that were of a larger size.

Sizes

Miniature painting is sometimes confused and assumed that the pieces must be small or depict subjects on a smaller scale to be considered miniature art, though this is not the case. It is helpful to keep in mind that the origins of the term "miniature" have nothing to do with a size. The word miniature comes from the terms 'minium' (used for the red lead paint used in illuminated manuscripts) and 'miniare' (Latin for 'to color with red lead').

Miniature painting is a style and technique of painting, and as such, a wall sized work could be painted “in miniature”. Authors of the Yale University Press publication, “The English Miniature” have stated that miniatures have been painted large and some works are even considered to be gigantic. Numerous faculty members of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London confirm that miniature paintings are not restricted to smallness. Larger sized miniature paintings are documented throughout history and are recognized today, though painting larger works in miniature is more difficult and time consuming than a smaller piece if the same attention to detail is observed. Miniature art is also unique in that it was and is often used on objects, such as the Russian lacquer boxes that are beautiful examples of Russian miniature painting.

Exhibitions

Today, there are miniature art societies in western society to help promote and preserve traditional miniature art and the “spirit of miniature”. Their exhibitions feature the hand held miniature paintings (or sculptures) and each exhibition has its own unique guidelines and rules for artists showing in their exhibit. Some of these rules limit the size of work to be no larger than a set square inch. Others limit the size of a subject, such at the 1/6th scale rule that a subject may not be painted larger than 1/6th of it's natural size, or the 2” rule, that an object in the painting may not exceed 2”. Scale rules were initially put in place as a guide for artists starting out in miniature art. There are also many framing restrictions for society miniature works as well. All of these rules are put into place by each show for their own individual and unique exhibitions, and do not define what miniature art is.

Artists painting miniatures throughout history were not restricted in their artwork by scale as their subjects were painted to any measurement or scale that the artist deemed pleasing to the eye and their patrons, for both manuscripts and other miniatures. Subjects that are naturally small in size, such as butterflies and insects, were painted life sized. Thus the 1/6th scale rule that is used by some shows and societies today unfortunately causes a bit of confusion to those new to the art form who commonly assume that is it a part of a mechanical criteria of the miniature's definition. The world's experts in miniatures do not recognize the rule as legitimate, and view those embracing it as unknowledgeable, and dismiss them.

The term "miniature", as it addresses miniature painting, is often confused with "miniaturize" and some miniature art exhibitions do not refer to miniature as it's initial meaning of techniques, but rather the size of the painting (miniaturized painting). They are two very separate descriptions.

Miniature painting is an art form that is very rich in history that continues today by artists from around the globe. The beautiful ornamental qualities of the miniature should be preserved whether it be the intricate large pieces, or intimate hand held works.

Many thanks to Joan Willies RMS, the Victoria & Albert Museum, & Patrick Noon.

Article Source
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/hobbies/article_1126.shtml

by: Rebecca Latham

Beginner’s Acrylic Painting - Paper Painting Surfaces – What You Need to Know

2008-03-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

Have you ever gone in to buy some paper for painting and been overwhelmed by the choice? You would think it would be a simple thing to buy a sheet of paper, wouldn't you? Well, it can be if you know what the different choices mean and how it can affect your finished painting.

Manufacturers have created a whole range of paper products for the artist. So many choices that unless you know what some of the terms mean it can be very confusing.

When you want your painting to last for a long time always go for acid-free. This is the type of paper used in archives.

The next thing is the surface texture of the paper, whether you want a fine texture or rough. You may be asking “How do I know? I just want something to paint on!”

The texture you choose will depend on your style of painting. If you like to have a lot of detail in your paintings you will need a smooth textured paper - in which case you want one that is ‘Hot Pressed’.

If you use a lot of watercolour (or watercolour style) washes then the paper you should choose will be ‘Not’. That means 'Not hot pressed'. It has a bit more texture than Hot pressed papers.

If you paint a lot of landscapes and/or like granulation (which happens when the colours separate while they dry) you will probably like using Cold pressed papers. These have the roughest texture.

Papers are sold in weights. This affects the thickness of the paper. Papers that are less than 300-lb or 640gsm (grams per square metre) will need to be stretched before painting. If you don’t stretch the paper it will buckle when wet making painting difficult and the paint will dry in the hollows giving a disappointing result.

Stretching paper needs to be done in advance and the paper allowed to dry before you use it. You will need a clean drawing board, some 1½ inch wide gum strip, and water to soak the paper in (the bath is handy for this).

Soak the paper in the water until it is saturated, this will take less than a minute. Place the paper onto the board and smooth it out from the centre to the edges.

Cut pieces of gum strip to fit the length and the width of the paper, plus a couple of inches. Dampen the gum strip and use it to stick the longer edges of the paper to the board, and then do the shorter edges. Smooth out the paper and the gum strip and leave it to dry naturally and on the horizontal. Do not place it near a heater!

If you just want to paint without needing to prepare the paper, there are pads of ready stretched paper that save you having to do this yourself. These pads have the paper glued around the edges and you paint on the top of the pad. Once you've finished the painting and it is completely dry, a knife is inserted at one of the edges and moved around the sides to cut through the glue and free the top layer.

It is a good investment to buy good quality paper. It is much easier to use, and gives a better result.

Next time you need to buy paper think about how you like to paint, and it will be much easier to decide on the type of paper to buy.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/hobbies/article_75.shtml

by: Catherine Calder

Outline Drawing Using Grids to Better Visualizing

2008-03-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

Whether you are a watercolorist creating portraits, pet portraits, landscapes and seascapes you need to start with a drawing. What a great way to utilize visualization while drawing is to use a grid. How hard is it to see all the detail lines, the small shadows and curves that make up a drawing. Famous masters like, Albrect Durer, Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo used grids to help them capture accurate details in their drawings.

When drawing you need to concentrate on the lines not the whole of the picture you are drawing. You can do this with anything that you would like to draw, maybe a picture in a magazine or an old photo you have and with digital cameras you could take any photo and turn it into an outline drawing. Let's use your hand as an example of a drawing you would like to do. Take a photo of your hand, now you want to do a black and white rendering of that photo. Are you looking at the photo of your hand wondering were to begin. Now comes the easy part. Let's draw it using a grid.

A grid can be of any size, or run in any direction, as long as it is made up of equal size spaces. When drawing a grid the best way is to have the grid made up of squares not rectangles. Take the photo and draw a grid over the top of the image of your hand, make sure that the squares are of equal size. Now on your drawing paper, draw another grid using the same number of grid squares that you have drawn over you photo of our hand. Make sure that you lightly draw the grid lines, allowing you to erase the lines when you have completed the drawing. The grid squares can be larger to create a larger scale of our hand or the squares can smaller then the original grid you drew over your photo. You must make sure the squares are equal in size.

As you start to recreate the photo by drawing it you need to focus on one square at a time. Reproducing the lines in the square you are working on. Make sure that the proportions, the lines, markings and the positioning of the lines and markings are the same as the grid on the photo. Focusing on only one square at a time you can define the details in your subject that you may have noticed with out the benefit of using a grid. The grid is allowing you to break down the subject into more visual and smaller portions, allowing you to capture a more accurate drawing then if you were free handing the drawing. If you have an area that is more detailed, you can subdivide the squares into several smaller reference lines, squares and/or triangles to allow you to see, visualize and draw the detailed area.

When you are sketching in each square of the subject, you need to draw lightly, so you can make corrections easily. When you have completed your sketch of the photo of your hand or another subject and you have it looking very realistic with details, shadows and definitions, you can go back over the correct lines to darken the subject.

Using a grid helps you train your eye to see what is really there.

Let's review the use of the grid technique:

It is simple and you will capture more detail when drawing complex subjects
Grid can be of any size, run in any direction, but needs to be made up of equal size spaces and squares are usually the best to work with
Use the same number of grid squares on our drawing paper as you have drawn over you subject
Only draw one square at a time
You can start our drawing by using any square
Lightly draw so you can make corrections easily
For detailed areas, subdivide one square into several smaller squares and/or triangles as grid reference lines

http://www.thefineartcafe.com

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

By Jan Hackett

How to Draw The Perfect Eyes

2008-03-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

Drawing eyes, can be the hardest part for an artist, when trying to capture the realism of the face. Whether it is a pet, a wild animal, a bird, or a human, its all in the eyes.

The eyes are called the "window to the soul" by many people, and when you are able to catch an emotion on paper, then you have succeeded in bringing your piece to life.

You have to break the eye down into little pieces and then work on them one by one and build it up in layers, starting with a rough background and then building up the layers.

This can be hard to achieve from books, or pattern instructions, actually some artists will do detailed paint by number kits, to get some ideas of building and drawing the perfect eye. As many paint by number kits are done from photographs.

Another way, is to watch someone else draw or paint the perfect eye. You learn from them, and then practice, and you will then begin to form your own ways of drawing and painting, just like you have with the rest of your piece.

This is a great idea, if you have the time and money to take lessons, and one on one lessons like that, can cost you quite a bit of money, if you go to a talented artist.

If like me, you will tend to paint landscapes, or distant people or crowds, to avoid having to do a close-up of a detailed face, but once you get it figured out, and practice you will love drawing eyes.

Another way, is to watch a video, this is a great idea, because you can watch it over and over and learn the tricks of drawing the perfect eyes....

http://www.make-crafts-for-cash.com/draweyes.html is a article and website by Diane Palmer, who has over 15 years in the crafts business.

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

By Diane Palmer

Learn How To Draw Cartoons Easily

2008-03-01T02:20:00.000-08:00

Cartoons are fun to read or watch. If you aspire to being the next Walt Disney or even just want to draw something neat to liven up your blog, here's how to learn to draw cartoons.

1. Choose your medium

Are you going for single cartoons, cartoons strips like the Peanuts or are you getting ambitious and want to produce a full scale movie? Each of these will affect how you start out. And if you are just starting out, I'd suggest that you leave the movie until later!

2. Decide on your main character

Are they human or animal? Think of the features they will have. Quite often, cartoons exaggerate certain features and almost ignore other ones. They aren't photographs, so they have much more freedom to do this.

3. Start with a sketch

If you've ever seen a storyboard for a movie, you'll know that it just shows a rough outline of what is going to happen rather than full blown detail. If you're aiming to draw a cartoon strip, it's good to plan out what will happen in each of the three or four frames that will likely make up your final cartoon.

4. Work on your main character

Don't worry about getting things perfect. It's far better to draw something than to agonize over the exact positioning of every line. Check out an early Mickey Mouse cartoon or even an early episode of the Simpsons and compare them with more modern versions. You'll see the characters have developed over the years and, in the case of that famous mouse, are almost unrecognizable when you look at the early and newer versions side by side.

5. Add expression

A cheeky grin or some raised eyebrows go a long way to giving your new creation some character. Unless your main character is supposed to be completely expressionless and unmoving, it pays to give them emotions. If they're angry or scared, you can emphasize that in the next step.

6. Add color

Assuming you are going to display your cartoon on your website or print it off on your color printer, add some color to your drawing. This gives variety for people to look at and helps to bring the cartoon to life. Again, we're not talking reality here. So that purple dinosaur like the one in the Flintstones is fine!

7. Add shade

A few lines of shading go a long way in cartoons. Our minds will fill in the blanks, so there's no need to draw every hair on a hairy leg, just enough to give us some hints and let our imagination join the dots. This is surprisingly effective and will allow you to help your readers imaginations.

8. Add background

Like the shade, this doesn't need to be too detailed. An outline of a pyramid shape if your cartoon is visiting Egypt will do fine. There's no need to draw the complete Sphinx unless your storyline calls for it.

9. Add your caption

Cartoon characters can speak - even animals normally. Will your caption be in the form of a speech bubble or a line below the cartoon?

Learn more about how to draw cartoons and start to develop your skill as a cartoonist

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

By Trevor Johnson

Popular Painting Styles

2008-03-01T02:18:00.000-08:00

In painting world there are so many styles that are very popular. But before giving an account of different popular styles we need to know what the term "style" means. In fact, there is not any certain definition of "style". It may be understood in the aesthetic terms as what to paint or which physical technique implied in painting. Aesthetic movements like realism, romanticism and impressionism belong to this explanation of style. To further understand it, we may say that style is said to be the ways an artist paints and applies colors and texture. The perspective and the way in which an artist looks at the things visible and invisible characterize his or her style.

Scholarly discourse on style has given more technical term "movement" or "school" to which an artist can be associated with. Inclusion of an artist to certain school or movement may be done by the deliberate affiliation of the artist to such movement or by the art historians.

Some of the popular painting styles are discussed under following heads:

Constructivism: This movement had started in Russia in the wake of socialism. It was not purely an art but was a fusion of art and architecture. This movement was principal inspiration in raising many socialist establishments in Russia after the October revolution. Constructivism was on high in the period between 1919 to 1934. The chief proponents of this style of art were Alexander Rodcheckno, Liubov Popava, Vladimir Tatlin and Olga rozanova.

Fauvism: This is painting style in which proponents believed in the use of color as a massive emotional force. This style was marked by expression of feelings in colors with severe roughness and clumsiness. The use of simplified lines to expressively reveal the subject and theme of the painting was also used to be the attempt of the artists. They preferred spontaneity and freshness over the finish in any work of art. Pioneer of this art style was Gustave Moreau.

Classicism: This term refers to the paintings style employed by the ancient Roman and Greek painters. Classicism is characterized by the simplicity and adherence to the basic rules and principles. This art style is refined and elegant, disciplined by order and symmetry. Classicism is unique style which does not encourage self expression and individuality. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Mantegna were the painters who tried to imitate this ancient style of art.

Besides, there are so many other styles and schools which are significant and have expressed different thoughts and subjects of the self and society in a unique way. Noteworthy of them are- abstract art, aboriginal art, aestheticism, art brut, art nouveau, baroque, Byzantine art, cubism, dada, dragging, encaustic, paintings, expressionism, gothic, impressionism, mannerism, marbling, minimalism, modernism, neoclassicism, orientalism, primitivism, ragging & stippling, realism, spattering, surrealism, symbolism, theorem paintings and wood graining.

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.

To have more comprehensive idea about Popular Painting Styles please visit Ethnic Paintings

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

By Rajneesh Dubey

How To Make Concept Sketches Quickly

2008-02-25T21:53:00.000-08:00

So the end result is that they can't complete the drawing based on their concept sketches. Is there a better way to do concept sketches quicker and faster? Of course there is!

Remember that the goal of concept sketching is to capture enough information for the artist to complete a satisfactory drawing. What this means is that the artist must know in advance the process and techniques that he or she is going to adopt even before making the concept sketch.

For example, if the artist wants to draw a landscape, he may want to capture what's beyond the horizon (the sky) and what's in front of the horizon (the foreground). This depends where the artist wants to place the horizon.

If he chooses to place the horizon on the top half of the drawing, then he'll need to make a concept sketch with lots of information on the foreground.

If he chooses to place the horizon on the bottom half of the drawing, then he may want to make a concept sketch with lots of information on the background.

Making concept sketches quickly is all a question of knowing a drawing process very well. I've just given you an example using landscape. If the artist knows a process very well, he'll know what kind of information he'll need to complete a drawing. This needs practice and experience.

And since the goal is all about capturing vital information needed for a drawing, the artist can choose to use any method that he knows to capture information. For instance, he may want to use words on top of some quick sketches to help him remember how he wants the drawing to look like. He can also just color pencils to jot down the colors.

Artists are known for their creativeness, so be creative when making concept sketches. Have a collection of cut out images (from magazines and newspapers) and place them on a drawing to conceptualize how a drawing will turn out. Or take a few pictures with your picture.

So instead of just depending on sketching, you now have a variety of ways to capture information. This will help you in your conceptualization process.

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

Face Painting Designs - 7 Sure Fire Ways to Mess Up

2008-02-25T05:56:00.000-08:00

You have to avoid these mistakes if you want your face painting designs to have great visual impact.

1. Wrong paint

You paint using non toxic paints thinking these are safe on the face and the sitter comes out in a bright red rash.

Solution: use only FDA approved (or similar national body in other countries) face paints. Allergic reaction to these is rare whereas other paints can cause rashes and even permanent scarring. Be extra careful when applying face paint close to the eyes. Only wash brushes and sponges in hot water, never alcohol or detergents, as these too can cause allergic reaction.

2. Colors run into each other

Solution: allow one color to dry completely before applying the next color. And, thoroughly clean brush or sponge in hot water before applying another color.

3. The base color is streaky

Solution: use less water to thin the paint. Only use quality face paints for your face painting designs.

4. Painting dark colors first

Unable to correct mistakes when adding lighter color on top of dark colors without wiping clean that area and starting again.

Solution: start with the lightest colors working up to the darkest colors. That way you can paint over any small mistakes you have made.

5. Detail is too thick and bold

Design has lost its proportions because shapes and lines are in the wrong thickness.

Solution:for fine detail you must use a thin brush. It's best to use a minimum of three brushes in face painting - thin, medium and large.

6. Face paint is not sitting well on skin

Solution:thoroughly clean face with a moist wipe to remove any grime or excess oil. And, if necessary use a make up band to keep hair off the face. Use the best quality face paints you can afford.

7. Face paint cracks soon after it dries

Solution: apply face paint in a thin layer. You can always apply another layer to build up color density.

Discover the simple, proven face painting techniques the professionals use to face paint.

Get 50 face painting ideas, with step-by-step photo guides so you learn to face paint in the right order.

Learn how to combine cosmetics make-up with face paints to create stunning face painting designs with differents depths and textures.

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

By Penny Crane

Oil Painting Lesson - Frequently Asked Questions About Oil Painting

2008-02-23T02:22:00.000-08:00

This article discusses some of the more frequently asked questions about oil painting.
Oil painting is probably one of the more challenging mediums to master. There are many aspects of oil painting that often confuse and intimidate beginners. Many questions arise and this article will cover some frequently asked questions that beginners have.

What is "Fat Over Lean?"
Fat over lean is one of the most fundamental approaches to oil painting and when followed will reduce the risk of your paint cracking as it dries. An oil paint is "Fat" when it comes right from the tube. If you wanted to make it fatter, you would add more oil. To make your paint "Lean" your mixture would contain more of a thinner like turpentine. Begin your painting with a "Lean" mixture. As you add more layers, you would make the mixture fatter. This will help reduce the risk of cracking.

Should I Varnish My Finished Painting?
If you want to protect your painting from dust, smoke, and other pollutants, you should varnish your painting. If not, these pollutants will accumulate on your painting and eventually darken or yellow the surface. When you apply a varnish, you are creating a layer that will protect your painting underneath. The layer of varnish can be cleaned periodically and eventually removed. A fresh layer of varnish can then be re-applied. You should wait 6 months to a year, depending on how thick your paint was applied, before varnishing. Varnishing a painting can be tricky especially if you have no experience. You should definitely do more research on varnishing before you attempt to do this yourself. You may even need to contact a professional.

Can I save the oil paint I do not use for a later time?
There are apparently ways to keep oil paint fresh until you are ready to use them again altough I have never actually tried either of these techniques. Proceed with caution. Some artists actually put plastic wrap over the paint and freeze it. You can also try and put your unused paint onto a piece of glass and then keep it submerged in water.

What kind of support should I use with my oil paint?
There are a variety of different surfaces that oil paint can be applied to. Stretched cotton canvas is one of the most popular supports used by oil painters today. Linen canvas is also used but tends to be fairly expensive. Other supports that can be used with oil paints are masonite and even certain types of wood panel.

What kind of paint should a beginner purchase?
This is a tough question to answer, as every artist is different and will more than likely have a different recommendation. There are a few different grades of oil paint on the market today. You have "Artist Quality", "Student Quality", and "Economical" grades. Stay away from the economical paints as these have more fillers in them than actual pigment and do not cover very well. There are some very descent student quality paints on the market, which work well if you are just starting out and for experimentation. Once you get your hands on artist quality paint however, you may never buy anything else.
There are some very popular brands to consider as a staring point. Winsor & Newton, Grumbacher and Gamblin are popular choices amongst artists.

What kind of brushes should a beginner choose?
This is also a difficult question to answer exactly. Brushes come in a variety of different shapes, sizes and brands. Every artist is different and will have different preferences when it comes to brushes. Ideally, you should have a variety of different shapes and sizes on hand to start with. Over time, you will develop a preference for certain types of brushes. Never buy cheap brushes, as they will shed their hairs and fall apart a lot quicker than a good quality brush. There is a good introductory set of 11 oil brushes made by "Silver Brush" that you may be interested in checking out. Do a search online or visit your local art store for more information.

How do I come up with ideas for my paintings?
Don't throw your paintbrush down in a fit of rage if you aren't able to come up with an idea for your next painting. There are a number of ways you can find inspiration and ideas. Sometimes the mind just needs a break. Take a walk outside or a long drive and just observe nature. Take a ride to an art museum with a friend and spend the day observing other artwork. Look around your home for everyday objects and setup a still life. Look to yourself for ideas. Do you have a passion for any particular subject? Do you love wildlife and nature? Perhaps you are a music lover? I absolutely love nature and wildlife. When I am searching for ideas for my next painting, I will usually take an outdoor trip with a friend. I will bring a camera of course and just take shots of whatever inspires me. Then when I get back to my studio I will take bits and pieces from each photograph and create my own composition.

I hope this article on oil painting has answered some or all of your questions. Best of luck and happy painting!

For more free art lessons
head over to http://www.creativespotlite.com today!
By Ralph Serpe
Published: 5/31/2006

Oil Painting Tips for Beginners

2008-02-23T02:19:00.000-08:00

General tips for beginner oil painters.
Start your oil paintings with an acrylic underpainting - When you start an oil painting using oils, it can take some time for that initial layer to dry. Starting your painting with an acrylic underpainting however is a wonderful time saver as acrylic paint dries quickly and oil paint can be applied over the acrylic.

Make certain you have good lighting - I didn't realize how important good lighting was until I painted outdoors for the first time. Good lighting brings out the color and also lessens the strain on your eyes. If you can, paint in a place that gets plenty of natural sunlight. If you cannot afford this luxury, purchase a good indoor light. Check out http://www.ottlite.com/ for a great selection of lighting products.

Make sure you have good ventilation - If you are using materials like oil painting thinners and cleaners in your studio; make sure you have good ventilation. Some of these chemicals can be quite toxic so use caution when working with these products. Consider using a water miscible paint like Grumbacher Max Oil Paints. Max Oils can be diluted with water thereby eliminating the need for solvents.

Fat over lean - Follow this rule and you will reduce the chance of your paint cracking. Each layer of your oil painting should have a higher oil content then the ones below it.

To create the illusion of distance in your paintings paint receding objects with cooler less intense color. Objects that advance are warmer and more intense.

If you are feeling uninspired don't get discouraged. Try taking a walk outside, breath in the air, look around at the beautiful earth God created. Try playing music while you are painting. You will be surprised how music can affect your painting. Visit a museum or local gallery. Viewing other works of art can really get your creative juices flowing.

When holding your brush avoid holding your brush like a pencil too close to the bristles. Oil brushes are made long for a reason so that you can paint further away from the canvas. Practice holding the brush toward the middle and end of the handle.

Maintain a clean organized working environment - Get yourself into the habit of keeping your work area clean and organized. Have an abundant supply of rags or paper towels nearby. Get a few glass jars for storing mediums, solvents and your used brushes while painting.

Brush Selection and Care - You should probably invest in a good set of brushes. Cheap brushes are not recommended as they shed their bristles quite easily while painting. I prefer working with Hog Hair brushes, but oil painters also use sable and synthetic sable. Avoid nylon brushes, as these are better suited for acrylic paint. My brushes include a variety of flats sizes #3, #6, #8, #12, a #4 fan, and a few small rounds for detail work. Selections vary from artist to artist, depending on painting style usually, but the above mentioned work fine for me. Take excellent care of your brushes. This is very important, especially if you have an expensive set of brushes. You may want to do a search online for more in depth brush care instructions. If you do not clean and store your brushes properly, you will ruin them, simple as that. Use a quality brush cleaner and preserver that you can purchase online or at your local art store.

I hope these oil painting tips have helped. Oil paint is not the easiest medium to work with. I recall the first panting I ever completed. It was a complete nightmare, and I almost threw in the towel. I have been painting for over 5 years now and I am still learning and improving every time I pick up the brush. Don't give up. With time and practice it will become easier and more rewarding.

Ralph Serpe is Webmaster and Cofounder of Creative Spotlite - http://www.creativespotlite.com, a free educational art and craft community. Visit Creative Spotlite today for more free art lessons
.
By Ralph Serpe
Published: 12/23/2005

5 Big Reasons To Follow These Face Painting Ideas

2008-02-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

We all know kids can be demanding. So how do you keep them happy when offering your face painting services at parties, school fetes and fund raising events? Easy, follow these face painting ideas.

1 You Don't Need A Model To Practice Face Painting Designs
Kids don't take long to lose interest if you take too long or have to wipe off paint and start again. So practicing on kids may not be a viable option.

So why not practice on clear acetate. It's available from office supply stores. If you make a mistake you just wipe off the paint with a damp sponge. It can be used over and over again.

2 Have A Photo Album Filled With The Designs You Can Paint
Every time you are pleased with a new design that you have created, take a photo (with permission, of course) and add it to your face painting ideas photo album.

3 Stick To Simple Designs
If you take too long to face paint then kids will just get bored and start fidgeting. Stick to simple face painting designs that can be created quickly and easily.

4 Avoid Painting Very Young Children
A child under the age of two and a half generally cannot sit still long enough to have their face painted. So for very young children use a face dotter stamp and special face painting ink pad. It only takes seconds to get a design onto the cheeks and forehead. Popular designs include butterfly, spider, paw print, dolphin and snowflake.

5 Avoid Face Paint Near The Mouth If The Kids Will Be Eating Afterwards
If kids will be eating shortly after getting their faces painted it's best to avoid painting too close to the mouth. That way the kids can enjoy their food without spoiling their painted faces.

Extend your repertoire with step by step guide to 50 face painting ideas.

Learn face painting techniques that will dramatically improve your face paintings.

Learn how to set up your work station so you can face paint more efficiently.

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

By Penny Crane

Use Pastels To Enhance Your Command Of Colors

2008-02-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

Discover different methods to use pastels when painting. Techniques directly from professional artists in an easy to understand manner.
Because of its ease of handling, pastel is an excellent medium for a beginning painter to learn about color or become more familiar with the various pigments derived from diverse sources and how effectively they blend, contrast, or complement one another.

Plan Colors in Advance

A good color reminder is to prepare a 'custom color chart' after you've planned your pastel drawing and chosen your colors, but before you begin work. Using the pastel colors you've chosen (leaving aside black or very dark colors), apply a one-inch horizontal strip of color across a piece of paper (the same type of paper you plan to use for your work). Leave an inch of clean space between each stripe and write the name/number of each color at the far end.

Then, turn your paper 90 degrees and using the same pastels in the same order apply another one-inch strip of color. You may have to clean each pastel after it passes through each of the cross stripes. Take your time so you end up with each color passing over every other color with pure color between. Don't worry if the colors smear just a bit as you're going to be smearing some of them anyway.

When this is done, use your fingertips to gently blend the various combinations where they intersect. Blending diagonally with an additional adjacent color can give you further combinations. Hang your 'custom color chart' where you can see it as you work. Do not use a fixative on your color chart so you can continue to experiment on it to blend colors.

Experiment with Techniques

Experiment using each pastel technique with different pastels (hard, semi-soft, and soft) to become familiar with the slightly different result each gives. Different brands of pastels can also give varying results.

Outlining: For gestural lines and contours, draw with the end of the pastel, wielding it as you would a pen or pencil. Use broad, relaxed strokes employing your whole arm, to achieve expression, and bear down more firmly to alter the thickness of you lines.

Filling in areas of color: Peeling the paper from a pastel and using the flat side in broad strokes will give you large blocks of color. Bearing down harder creates a heavier, darker, color. (Save the paper; storing the pastel stick in its paper helps you remember the color name.)

Hatching and cross-hatching: Using hard pastels or pastel pencils, draw sets of fine parallel lines, either curved or straight to block out your subject. Use several colors, i.e., darker hatching in shadows, light colors for highlights or reflections, consulting your 'custom color chart'.

Blending: Blend by using your fingers or any one of the many blending tools available, such as a tortillon, paper stump; putty, kneading erasers, cloth, Q-tips, or cotton balls. Gently blend filled in single color areas, taking care not to run into lines or adjacent colors and clean your finger or change tools when you move to another color. Where you plan to blend colors, blend the hatching and cross-hatched areas, following your color plan.

Scumbling, feathering, and dusting are other techniques for achieving special effects.

An inexpensive way to acquire a photo to pastel portrait is to commission one from photo to pastel portrait
website.
By Assaf Kostiner
Published: 8/27/2007

Tips On The Care And Handling Of Your Oil Painting

2008-02-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

Discover tips and tricks directly from professional artists related to handling and taking care of oil painting.
Buying a genuine oil painting for display in your home or office is a cause for celebration. Whether you purchased an old oil painting or commissioned a brand new oil portrait, you probably realized as soon as you removed the wrappings that you don’t have ‘just another picture’ to hang on the wall.

Oil paintings, which are not mounted behind glass (except in some museum circumstances for preservation), require special consideration regarding handling and maintenance.

A few tips will help you avoid making mistakes that might damage your oil painting and help you preserve it for many years as a keepsake or family heirloom.

Handling and Storage

Oil painting is a sturdy, long-lasting, and durable art form, and with proper care and handling will last for generations. A visit to any good museum will confirm this, but keep in mind that museums go to great lengths to safeguard their masterpieces.

1 Always handle an oil painting by the frame without touching the painted surface.

2 Never let any object press again either the front or back of an oil painting canvas, as it pliable and will cause a dent or hole. If an accident occurs, have an expert repair the damage. An amateur repair job may look okay at first but given time will inevitably show.

3 For temporary storage or transporting an oil painting, place cardboard or plywood on both front and back (slightly larger than the outside dimensions of the framed oil painting) and then wrap in ‘bubble wrap’ and tape or tie securely.

4 Permanent storage should be in a custom-sized plywood container with the painting braced to allow air flow on all sides without shifting.

5 Never expose an oil painting to extremes of heat, cold, or humidity, whether hanging on your wall or in storage. Neither basements nor attics are good storage locations. The best place to store an oil painting is on the wall for all to enjoy.

6 Occasional dusting with a clean, soft-bristled brush is recommended. A very old or dirty oil painting should be taken to a professional restorer.

Hanging Your Oil Painting

Here’s the fun part. Oil paintings, especially portrait oil paintings, demand pride of place in your home. Involve your spouse or family in deciding the perfect location.

Hang your oil painting on two picture hooks which are appropriate to the wall (wood, plaster, drywall) and strong enough to secure the weight of the picture. Two hooks, rather than one, will allow the picture to maintain a horizontal position.

1 Choose a place for your painting that does not get direct sunlight or is subject to hot or cold drafts.

2 Hang high enough to be able to see the painting clearly from anywhere in the room. A spot over a mantelpiece or over a sofa (above head height of anyone sitting on the sofa) is usually ideal.

3 Avoid hanging oil paintings in hallways or on walls where there is frequent family movement or furniture may be brushed against the wall.

4 If you have central heat or air conditioning, that’s great. If not, a rule of thumb is, if people are comfortable in the room your oil painting occupies, chances are your oil painting will be comfortable too.

If you don’t own a genuine oil painting yet, you can turn a favorite family photograph into an oil portrait as a way of displaying it and preserving it forever.

An inexpensive way to acquire an oil painting or oil painting portrait of any photograph is to commission one from oil painting
website.
By Assaf Kostiner
Published: 9/6/2007

Halloween Face Painting Designs: Ghost, Pumpkin, Candy Corn

2008-02-21T02:07:00.000-08:00

Instructions to face paint these cheek art designs quickly and easily: jack-o-lantern, ghost, candy corn. Face Painting is a popular activity for class parties, costume parties fall festivals and carnivals.
With Halloween quickly approaching, face painting season is kicking into high gear. Try these easy, but immensely child-pleasing Halloween "cheek art" designs at class parties, fall festivals and homecoming carnivals.

Begin with good quality, water-based face paints. You can find them online or in some theatrical stores. A palette of six, good-quality face paints is priced around $12.00 and includes enough paint for 70 or more cheek art designs. Water-based face paints apply as easily as watercolors and remove cleanly with a paper towel and water.

For a small gathering of children, two or three small to medium sized paint brushes will be sufficient. A bowl of water to rinse the brushes and a roll of paper towels conclude the list of basic supplies.

In my opinion, the simplest design to paint is that of a ghost. The basic shape of the ghost is that of a triangle. With a brush loaded with white paint, paint a loose triangle by creating a wavy line to outline the ghost. Fill in with more white paint, dot on black eyes and a smile and the ghost is complete.

Nothing is "sweeter" than a face dotted with painted candy corn. The basic shape is a pyramid, with yellow on the bottom third, orange on the middle third and white at the peak. You can create a candy corn crown by painting the candies in succession along the forehead.

To paint a jack-o-lantern, begin with a circle or oval of orange paint. When the orange paint dries, add small triangles in black paint for the eyes and nose and paint a toothy smile in black as well. Add a green stem and your jack-o-lantern is complete.

The most important thing to remember when face painting is to have fun and keep it simple! Children aren't expecting a Picasso to be painted on their face. They simply love to celebrate the occasion and face painting is the perfect way to light up the face of any child.

About The Author:
JoAnne Westcott is the author of the downloadable e-book, Easy Face Painting: How You Can Get Professional Results Even If You've Never Picked Up A Paintbrush. You can learn more about face painting and how to acquire the simple skills to get started by visiting http://www.easyfacepainting.com

By JoAnne Westcott
Published: 10/5/2005

Abstract Art Paintings

2008-02-20T02:26:00.000-08:00

In general terms, abstract art paintings break the monotony of realism and reject the fact that paintings should depict pragmatism. In the pre-World War II era, abstract art painters mostly depicted spiritualism or intellectualism, rejecting the 20th century motto of “art for art’s sake” and replacing realism with spirituality and rationality. Furthermore, with the advent of the technology age, abstract art has gained greater significance.

Painting as an art form has undergone several changes, especially during the 20th century, wherein a transition from figurative painting to abstract painting was the chief feature of the era. Renowned painter Pablo Picasso is generally believed to have ushered the shift from figurative to abstract painting. Picasso, along with George Braque, formulated a new pictorial representation known as cubism, wherein the artists depicted an object as seen from a different viewpoint.

Abstract art painting took a further leap in 1911 with the creation of synthetic cubism and analytical cubism. These forms of cubism fragmented the subject in the painting, for example, in analytical cubism, painters used crystalline geometry, while in synthetic cubism the subjects were reduced in size. Artists like Piet Mondrian, whose paintings ultimately led to the first non-figurative paintings or pure abstract art from 1914 onwards, pioneered such forms of cubist painting. In the twentieth century, Russian painter Wassily Kandisky pioneered non-figurative art.

Furthermore, in the 1940s, another form of abstract art called Abstract Expressionism emerged, in which the theory of expressionism was applied to abstract paintings. The art form had an enormous impact on contemporary American artists, with New York becoming the hub of Abstract Expressionism. Jackson Pollock in his action paintings used this technique of abstract expressionism wherein he dripped, dropped, smeared or threw paint onto the canvas to create an art object. Other well-known followers of Abstract Expressionism, also known as the New York School and Action Painting, are Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko.

Abstract art painting does not refer to any figurative reality; instead it depicts real forms in a simplified or reduced way, creating an allusion of the original subject.

Abstract Art provides detailed information on Abstract Art, Modern Abstract Art, Abstract Art Paintings, Abstract Art Galleries and more. Abstract Art is affiliated with African Wildlife Art.

By Damian Sofsian

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

Banksy Is The World's Most Wanted Graffiti Artist

2008-02-19T21:47:00.000-08:00

Article on the street artist called "Banksy".
You can see graffiti in every country in the world. It often defaces walls, poles, trains and the fronts and sides of buildings. Graffiti is considered undesirable vandalism to its victims who spend time and money to paint over or wash it off their property. Indeed, graffiti painting is an ongoing problem in many subway stations and on public walkways, signs, cement walls, and other locations.

However, on the streets of the United Kingdom near London, an artist called Banksy continues to gain international recognition and fame for his graffiti. The fact is that Banksy's "street art" has become immensely popular with both pedestrians and private art collectors alike. In the last several years, there have been a number of exhibitions and auctions of Banksy's art work as his popularity has soared.

The growing popularity of his art is in evidence in the secondary market where a painting titled "Space Girl and Bird" sold for $575,000 in an auction event last year (2007). In fact, Banksy's art can now be found in many private art collections worldwide. Banksy has also produced leaflets and books on art and has his own website. He self-published his first three books, "Existencilism," "Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall," and "Cut It Out."

His latest book called, "Wall and Piece," was published by Random House and has already sold more than two hundred and fifty thousand copies. Nevertheless, Banksy continues to keep his real identity secret to avoid arrest and prosecution. His anonymity is said to be born of a desire to be a "quality vandal" and to elude the police. He once said, "Imagine a city where graffiti wasn’t illegal, a city where everybody could draw wherever they liked, where the street was awash with a million colors and little phrases. . . . A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business." He has a unique view of the art world as well. He has said, "The art world is the biggest joke going. It’s a rest home for the over-privileged, the pretentious, and the weak."

Banksy's graffiti began appearing on trains and walls around Bristol, England in 1993. By 2001, his street art could be seen all over the United Kingdom. His art has a distinctive style which makes it easy to recognize. It features attention to detail and uses layered stenciling and spray paint. Banksy uses familiar images and his pictures contain dark humor and are often controversial. His art is often focused around anti-war, anti-establishment, and anti-capitalism themes. Sometimes Banksy's works have a pro-freedom message.

Banksy uses rats as images in many of his pictures. His most famous street paintings are a series of black-and-white stenciled rats. Many of these rats are created to be larger than life. The rats have become immensely popular with London pedestrians. A "gangster rat," painted on a wall near the Smithfield market, wears a peace-sign medallion and carries a sign that says "Welcome to Hell." Another rat holds a sign that reads, "Please love me."

Other Banksy art features the image of two policemen kissing painted on a public wall. In another picture a military helicopter is adorned with a pink bow. Winston Churchill has a Mohawk haircut in another. He has even produced revisionist oil paintings such as Mona Lisa with a yellow smiley face, and a pastoral landscape surrounded by crime-scene tape. Banksy, dressed in a disguise, installed them in the Louvre and the Tate.

Banksy often uses public walls as a background to display his art. Although recently he has been creating art on canvas as well. In addition, Banksy sometimes enters museums and galleries to add his own art to the museum collections. In the last several years, Banksy's street art has been seen internationally. It has been found in the Middle East on Israel's West Bank barrier, and in various countries worldwide including Spain, Palestine, Germany, and the United States. He painted the security fence at Bethlehem with a scene of a hole in the concrete barrier. The hole revealed a glittering beach on the other side.

Banksy is viewed by people in many different ways. To some he is an anti-hero who touches the public conscience. Others think of him as an anti-social rogue who vandalizes public property. Some people who have done business with him consider him to be both a genius and a madman. Many view him as unique and irreverent.

On his website Banksy states that he has bought a taller ladder to use in his work. So there can be no doubt that his graffiti ("street art") will continue. For their part, the authorities in the United Kingdom will continue to try to identify and subsequently arrest Banksy, the world's most wanted graffiti artist.

James William Smith has worked in senior management positions for some of the largest financial services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College. He enjoys writing articles on political, national, and world events. Visit his website at http://www.eworldvu.com
By James Smith
Published: 2/15/2008

Face Painting Courses: Learn from Home Instead

2008-02-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

Taking face painting courses is a fun and exciting activity, it has become a popular hobby for many people. Aside from bringing out the creativity in a person, it is also a lucrative and fun activity. Instead of taking time to go to a specific school or establishment just to take up face painting courses or workshops, it is best if you do it at home. Aside from saving you time from attending classes, it will also help you save up money. Taking a course at home can also give you the freedom you need to create unique designs without having to feel pressure from other people.

Taking Face Painting Courses:

The best way to take learn at home is by using step by step face paint photo guides. What you need are designs, and to know how to paint each part of the designs and in what order. Once you have a face paint guide, you can learn and practice at home, in your own time.

Taking a course at home will give you enough time to reflect what age bracket you would prefer to work on to. Aside from painting children, you can also learn how to face paint adults by learning various techniques and methods of face painting application. You can also learn to face more intricate and detailed face paint designs because you will have more time to practice.

If you are a beginner, opt for a face paint course that will teach the basics. Here, you will have an introduction to the basic techniques. Usually, these courses for beginners focus on painting children because simple patterns and face paint designs are being used.

When you take a course, you will learn not just effective and efficient sponge and brush techniques but also on proper color combination. You will learn to combine colors that would really have a nice effect based on the design that you have chosen. You will discover that you can use and combine colors that are not common to the design you will paint. And, in most face painting courses you will learn to mix face paints very well without wasting them when you did not achieve the color combination that you desire.

Aside from these tips and application methods, face painting courses will also introduce you to various aspects of the creative process and will inspire you to improve on your craft. These courses can also introduce you to different style and speed developments in the field of designs and graphics aside from encouraging you to dig in to your creativity to come up with designs that are truly yours.

Philadelphia Tivoli is the creator of the face painting course titled "The Comprehensive Guide to Face Painting". Get her course with a step-by-step guide to 50 face paint designs right here: http://www.FacePaintingTips.com

By Philadelphia Tivoli
Published: 1/17/2008

Face Painting Tips For Your Kids Party

2008-02-19T18:36:00.000-08:00

Kid face painting makes a great kids party activity. Even a novice can achieve spectacular results by following these simple face painting tips and techniques.
If you can apply your own make-up or doodle a simple design, you can learn to face paint for a kids party. With these easy tips and techniques and a little practice, you'll be turning out all sorts of colorful characters. Here's how to achieve spectacular results and the admiration of children and parents alike.

First and foremost, inform parents that there will be face painting at your party. Check for any skin allergies. Do not paint children with open cuts or rashes.

Prepare by obtaining the correct paints and materials. Use water-based paints which clean off easily with wet wipes or mild soap and water. Whenever possible, Use paints that have FDA approval for cosmetics. Acrylic paints are not meant for use on the skin and should be avoided.

Have lots of sponges and brushes handy, as well as a container of water. Use a different sponge or brush for each color to minimize the need to clean frequently.

When brushing on color, use only enough water to allow the paint to flow on smoothly. Use even less water when sponging color on large areas. Apply as you would shoe polish, dabbing to even and smooth the color.

The easiest way to get comfortable face painting is to apply color to the entire face and then add simple accents or sparkles. For example, for a Spiderman party, sponge on an all-over red background, then with a fine brush paint a spider web on the cheek or around one eye. Red works well for a ladybug party too, just add a couple of large black spots on each cheek.

For a Shrek or Hulk party, green faces alone can convey the character and mood of the day. White with dark under-eye shadows makes a great Halloween mummy face, pink and glittery is perfect for a princess party, lavendar with a few well-placed flowers for a garden party. Clowns are easy - white face with red cheeks and nose, blue crosses over the eyes.

When you're ready, practice a few simple cheek designs. Many face painting books are available with designs from simple to spectacular. Use these to inspire you and practice, practice, practice. The more you practice, the quicker you will be able to complete a design, and your confidence will grow.

Try these quick and easy cheek designs:
Girls: hearts, stars, flowers, slogans, butterflies, ladybugs, smiley face, dolphin
Boys: spider, spiderweb, scars, mustache & beard, snake, shark

Face painting stamps are also available online to make the process even easier. These rubber stamps allow you to stamp a design on the child's face and simply color it in!

Invest in a good quality facial glitter, which adds pizzazz to any face paint design.

Supplement your face painting by making available some temporary tattoos for kids to choose from. Many different themes are available.

Have a mirror handy to show kids the result of your handiwork. They'll get excited and that enthusiasm will spread!

Plan other games and activities for kids to do while you take them one at a time for face paint.

Remember that everyone is capable of sponging on face color and making simple designs. That's all kids really want. Once you've conquered the basics, you can always graduate to more intricate designs.

You might just enjoy face painting so much you'll decide to hire out your services for other kids parties, too!

Copyright 2005 Kids Party Paradise All Rights Reserved

Patricia B. Jensen is a mother of three and kids party enthusiast. She is the webmaster and owner of Kids-Party-Paradise.com - a complete resource for kids party ideas including invitations, cakes, decorations, games,
costumes, favors, and food.

For all the latest party news, read her Kids Party Blog

By Patricia Jensen
Published: 2/23/2005

3D Street Art - Julian Beever

2008-02-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

This guy is really, really, talented. Wow.

It's All in The Paint

2008-02-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

Painting for some people is a dreaded but necessary task. Others love the creativity that painting provides them and they don't mind getting a little messy while they do it. Painting should provide you with the opportunity to take your ideas and then put them on your walls. You have many options to choose from in colors and painting styles and you will want to be certain that your ideas will flow throughout your home.When buying paint, you get what you pay for. If you go for the less expensive brands of paint, plan on having to put down at least two coats. These paints are often thinner and will require more paint to get a good covering on your walls. They may also not spread as well, so you may need to consider the types of brushes or painting pads you are using. Paint brands that are slightly more expensive are often worth it. Their colors tend to be somewhat brighter and you can usually get a good cover with even one coat. Granted, some colors are going to require more paint to cover, but they typically tend to cover better and spread very well. You may also need to consider different types of paints if you are going to be getting creative with sponges, rags and other creative painting mediums.

When selecting colors you will first want to consider the lighting of the room. If you have a dark room, with little natural light then a dark paint will only make it darker. Brighten up rooms with light hues of blues or yellows. Avoid bright white as it shows dirt easily and may turn yellowish over time. A bright white will also make the room too white. You will find that lighter hues will make the room more relaxing and you may even find yourself spending more time in those rooms. Different colors can also bring your spirits up and brighten your mood. Darker colors may be very relaxing and possibly put you into a relaxing feel for a good nap.

Creative painting techniques can also add a bit of variety to a room. Sponges, rags and plastic bags can add creative style to any room. These are popular in rooms such as offices, living spaces and bedrooms. These techniques can also add a little contrast for texture to walls or use several complementary colors for a bright and creative feel. If you are interested in using these different types of painting styles, you will need at least two different colors of paint that complement each other. There are also paint additives available that will allow you to add texture such as sand to your walls for an even more interesting and creative design.

If you feel that you need a little something else in the room after painting, you may find that white crown molding around the top of your dining room adds an extra touch of sophistication. It even helps to hide those paint lines that weren't perfectly straight. Other ideas include wallpaper boarders that add an extra little touch of style and can blend well with room's theme. Wainscoting can turn a simple dining room or breakfast nook into a beautiful home interior masterpiece.

By Christopher Brown

Chris Brown is a regular contributor to Home Remodeling, Bathroom Remodeling and Kitchen Remodeling websites. Chris also takes pride in many of his own do-it-yourself projects around his own home.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Brown

Oil Painting Lesson - Introduction To Oil Painting Fundamentals

2008-02-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

This article will provide beginner oil painters with an introduction to the basic fundamentals of oil painting.
To accurately convey your feelings about the subject you are painting, you should learn and understand the fundamentals of oil painting like drawing, color theory, value and composition. I hope to give you a better understanding of these fundamentals in this article. This article is meant to be an introduction. You should study these topics further on your own when you have time.

DRAWING

Learning to draw, as a foundation for oil painting, is one of the most valuable skills a beginner oil painter can have. Many new artists usually frown upon the idea of drawing first. They would rather jump right into painting, as most beginners do. Nothing is more rewarding for a painter, than working with color, but if you want to gain experience working with values, form, and space, then drawing is something you should consider learning. This is not to say that you should master drawing, as it is an art form all in itself, but do spend time drawing and sketching your subjects before you work with color. Did you know that in art schools, many years ago, students were not permitted to work with paint until they successfully spent at least a few years drawing first? They must have been very restless, but imagine how skilled they became before they ever lifted a brush. You should at the very least have a basic understanding of drawing techniques before you begin. Check out Amazon.com for some great beginner drawing books that will give you a well rounded introduction to drawing and techniques. A book that is highly recommended by artists is: "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards".

COLOR AND VALUE

Color is probably the single most exciting part of oil painting. It is truly amazing how an artist can take a two dimensional surface and create the illusion of depth and distance using color. To accurately depict a three dimensional scene using color requires much practice and an understanding of color theory and how to mix colors. The basics of color are value, hue, saturation and temperature. The value of a color is how light or dark it is. The hue refers to the color itself as it appears on the spectrum of colors. The saturation is the strength or purity of the color. The temperature of a color is how cool or warm a color is. For instance a cool color is blue and a warm is red. Artists can use temperature to give the illusion of distance. Cooler colors tend to recede into the distance, as in a distant mountain range, and warmer colors tend to advance closer toward the front of a picture. Color theory is a very broad topic, one that deserves more thorough attention. A great book on color theory and mixing is "Color Mixing the Van Wyk Way: A Manual for Oil Painters".

COMPOSITION

Have you ever visited an art museum and a particular painting just grabbed your attention and drew you in? Something in that painting kept you there looking and studying it. One element the artist successfully used in that painting was composition. The artist laid out the shapes and divided the space in the painting in such away that appealed to your senses. Here are some points to consider when developing your composition:

1) Avoid putting the main focus of interest in the center of your painting. 2) The areas of your canvas should be divided into parts of different sizes. For instance, if you are creating a landscape painting, do not put the horizon right in the center of your painting. 3) Do not place all the interesting parts of your composition on the left side of your painting. People read from left to right so they will have no reason to continue viewing the rest of your painting. 4) Avoid placing an interesting or important element of the painting too close to the edge of the canvas.

There are other elements that contribute to good design in an oil painting. Here is another good book to study if you would like to learn more about this fascinating aspect of painting: "The Simple Secret to Better Painting: How to Immediately Improve Your Work with the One Rule of Composition by Greg Albert"
I know all this information seems overwhelming at first. Oil painting can be very challenging in the beginning, but don't let that intimidate you. The most important thing to remember is to never give up and keep painting. You will learn from your mistakes and grow as a painter. Everything will come together in time. Happy Painting!
By Ralph Serpe
Published: 4/5/2007

The art of oil painting

2008-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Discover different methods to create oil paintings, directly from expert artists. Descriptions of the tools required to do oil painting and their importance.
In recent years many people like to have their own oil paintings. There are few companies in the market who offers 'a painting from photo' services. The whole process is done online when the customer sends his digital image directly to a studio who paints it. Once the artist finishes the painting, he will send it to the customer. A painting from photo is highly complicated it is one of the most difficult style of painting. An artist who paints according to a given photo should be highly skillful and must have a long experience in paintings. There is no other style that requires such high level of technique. Any mistake in the painting may cause the customer to reject the painting. If a customer sends a photo of his daughter, hoping to have an oil portrait of her, he expects that all his daughter's details will be capture carefully in the painting. If the artist makes a slight change in the facial details, it may change the whole appearance of the child. Therefore, the artist must have tools to help him to make the right proportions of the subject. When we talk about paintings from photos, we must remember that proportions are the basics to a successful painting. The artist has various tools that he can use in order to start a painting according to a given photo. If the artist doesn't use any tool and paints only according to his intuition, the painting will have a more artistic feeling but on the other hand it will be less accurate and may show the subject in the wrong proportions.

Listed below are some of the most popular tools an artist can use while making a portrait from a photo: Roller: a roller is a special tool designed for artists to enable them to draw the outer lines of the subject to the canvas according to the proportions in the original photo. This special roller is placed on the photo and on the canvas at the same time, when the artist moves the roller on the subject in the photo, it moves in bigger proportion on the canvas. The side of the roller that moves on the canvas has a pencil attached to it so when it moves, it draws lines on the canvas. This is an accurate tool, it is cheap and it is easy to use. Copy paper: some artists will print the photo on a paper which is in the same size as the canvas. They put a copy paper between the canvas and the printed image so when they move a pencil on the printed image, it is transferred lines of ink to the canvas. This is an accurate tool, it is relatively expensive but once you have the printed image it is fast to paint the proportions. Printed canvases: in the last few years a new technique has developed to help the artists to capture the fine details and colours in the painting. This new method is very simple, The artist prints the image directly on the canvas. After the photo the artist will paint over the print. The quality of the painting is related to the number of layer that the artist uses to cover the print. The print is a tool that shows the artist the correct proportions and colors of the original photo. however, if the artist use only one ore two layers to cover the print, the painting may lack the artistic feeling because it will be very similar to the photo. Another disadvantage of the print is that if there are not enough layers to cover it, the oil paints might fade or break after few years. The reason is that the ink layer doesn't have good reaction with the oil paint. The longevity of an oil painting is determined by the quality of the canvas, the oil paints, the print thickness and the numbers of layers. (which should be 3-4 layers for an oil painting). To solve the problem cause by the ink, there are new printers which produce prints based on watercolours. Projector: this tool is preferred by many artists. The artist puts inside a special projector which projects the photo directly on the canvas. The image is shown on the canvas in full colours and the artist uses a pencil to mark important details on the canvas. This method allows the artist to see and draw the correct proportions of the photo directly on the canvas. Discover the perfect gift for a wedding, anniversary or any other occasion.
By Assaf Kostiner

Welcome to Art to all.

2008-01-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Art to All blog.