Acrylic Painting Lesson - Mistakes To Avoid In Your Acrylic Paintings

When you are just starting out with acrylic painting, you will most certainly make your share of mistakes. This is the natural process of painting and we all learn and grow from our mistakes. This article introduces some of the more common mistakes beginner acrylic painters make.

Mistake #1 to avoid: Not using enough variety in your painting. An interesting painting has variety. It creates curiosity and interest, and the viewer wants to return again to observe it. So how do you create an interesting painting? Use a variety of different brushstrokes, techniques and values in your paintings. Change the direction of your brushstrokes or mix different techniques in the same painting.

Mistake #2 to avoid: Being too technical or copying. In order to truly paint a subject, and when I say "truly", I am not saying you should copy the subject exactly as you see it. I am referring to connecting to the painter inside and truly painting your own impression of what you see. This is how your inner creativity shines on the canvas. It is what set painters like Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet apart from the rest. They each injected their own style and heart into their work. I believe your own unique creativity comes to the surface the moment you stop relying on the technicalities and theories associated with painting. I am not saying one shouldn't study techniques and theory, but at some point we have to put that stuff on the back burner and let our creativity do some of the thinking. Whatever you do, don't copy other artists. There is nothing wrong with allowing other artists to influence you, just make sure you allow your own unique style to come through.

Mistake #3 to avoid: Not observing your subjects. Do you spend time observing the subjects you feel inspired to paint? If you are a portrait artist, have you done any studying of the human anatomy? If you paint landscapes, do you spend enough time outdoors in that environment? If you aren't spending enough time observing the subjects that you wish to paint, then you won't know have enough knowledge to paint them.

Mistake #4: Not using quality art supplies. Are you using quality acrylic painting supplies? A really experienced and talented artist could probably create an entire painting using a toothpick, but who really wants to work that hard? When it comes to fine art supplies, you usually do get what you pay for. If you paint with a 50cent paintbrush, it will probably paint just like a 50cent paintbrush. The ferrule will more than likely become loose and the hairs will probably shed. If you are using really cheap paint, you will more than likely get really cheap results. The colors will not have the same brilliance or the right consistency. So invest in quality art supplies and take great care of them as well.

Mistake #5 to avoid: Not using enough paint. Learn how to apply paint to your canvas. Many beginners don't reload their brushes often enough. I made this same mistake when I first began painting. I would squeeze out a little glob of paint and try to cover as much area as possible. In my case, I was just lazy, but many beginners are fearful of wasting paint. This is a reasonable concern considering the cost of supplies. The truth however, is that your paintings will be more interesting if you lay down the brush stroke, leave it alone, and then reload your brush. Don't try and scrub the paint into the canvas, otherwise you are just staining, and not painting.

Mistake #6 To Avoid: Over Thinking. Don't overly criticize or judge your own work while you are painting. This only creates discouragement and forces many beginners to become frustrated and quit. Just relax and let go. Trust yourself and your abilities.

I hope this article on acrylic painting has been helpful. Never get discouraged if you are making mistakes or not happy with your work. Mistakes are learning tools. Learn and move on. The most important aspect of painting is the enjoyment we receive from it anyway. Frustration and discouragement should never dominate the painting experience. Happy painting!

A Look At The Crystal Bridges Museum of Art

Some critics might say Jasper Cropseys The Backwoods of America, part of the Crystal Bridges growing American Art Collection, is a symbolic icon for billionaire Alice Waltons passion for the arts.

Designed by world renowned architect Moshe Safdie, and funded by billionaire Alice Walton, the 50 million dollars that is just the cost of the facility and does not include the artworks Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is scheduled to open in 2009, in Bentonville, Arkansas. It was two years ago this month that the daughter of Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart, made the controversial announcement.

The museum will house a permanent collection of signature works from American artists along with galleries dedicated to regional art and artists including Native American art, but oddly enough, this monumental task is not making everyone happy.

The depth of the museum is indicated in a purchase from Christies Americas auction house in New York City in 2004 of Charles Wilson Peales portrait of George Washington for $6.1 million. This is causing some critics to puff up, believing that the art works are being snatched from their own backyard. No need to worry, collaborating with other institutions will be an important focus of Crystal Bridges, even before the museum opens, and they can also rest easy to know Bentonville does have an airport.

A number of the works from the Crystal Bridges permanent collection are already on loan at various museums throughout the United States including: The Hudson River School masterwork Kindred Spirits which was loaned to The National Gallery in Washington, D.C. for public viewing from 2005 - 2007. It is currently on loan to the Brooklyn Museums exhibition by the same name featuring the works of Asher B. Durand. The same exhibition will also travel to Washington D.C. and San Diego.

Thomas Eakins Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand is currently on loan to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Jasper Cropseys majestic depiction of early American frontier life, The Backwoods of America, is now featured in the American galleries of The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City, and the most extensive surviving group of Colonial American portraiture, the Levy-Franks family paintings, is currently on loan at The Jewish Museum in New York City. Also, the distinctive painting George Washington (The Constable-Hamilton Portrait) by the American painter Gilbert Stuart is currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

While the puffers puff, others admire Waltons passion and dedication to the arts, and recognize the fact Crystal Bridges will be the premier American Art Collection, once it is in place. The collection is headed up by Bob Workman, formerly associated with the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

When completed, the museum complex will encompass approximately 100,000 square feet of gallery, library, meeting, and office space, a 250-seat indoor auditorium, areas for outdoor concerts and public events, gallery rooms suitable for large receptions, as well as sculpture gardens and walking trails. Walton is building this American Dream on 100 pristine, wooded acres her family owns in Bentonville.

Great Techniques To Try On Your Next Watercolor Painting

If watercolor paintings are your style then here are some watercolor techniques you should try.

“Washing” is a technique commonly used with watercolors. You start by wetting the area of the paper that will be covered with the wash. Then mix up enough pigment to fill the area and apply the pigment starting at the top and overlapping on any horizontal bands. The wash is then left to dry. Don’t work it as it will even itself out as it dries.

The technique called “dropping in color” is a process where an additional color is added to a wet area of the painting which is then allowed to naturally bleed without any interference by the artist. The results are unpredictable with interesting color gradations.

“Glazing” is a technique similar to a wash, but instead of application to a wet surface a thin layer of pigment is applied to a dry surface over washes that already exist. It is used to adjust tone and color on a wash, and it is applied in layers until the desired affect is reached. Just be sure that each layer is dry before applying the next layer. Auroline, cobalt blue and permanent rose are good transparent pigments to glaze with.

The “wet in wet” is a technique where you fill your brush with a very wet pigment that is then applied to a wet paper. It can be applied on top of existing washes that have dried. Just dampen these areas with a large brush. This technique provides soft subtle marks that are great for background areas.

The “dry brush” is opposite to the “wet in wet” technique. The brush is filled with pigment with the use of minimal water and then it is dragged across the dry paper, producing a very crisp mark with a hard edge. It is an excellent technique for front work and points of interest.

“Lifting off” is an interesting technique where the pigment is dissolved and lifted off after it has dried. Just wet the area you want to lift and then use a tissue to blot the pigment off. Reds, yellows, and blues can be more difficult to lift.

Watercolor painting is an interesting form of artistic expression and it’s a common choice for beginning artists.

What Are The Different Types Of Fine Art Reproduction?

As well as hand painted fine art reproductions on canvas, there are several different mechanical methods of fine art reproduction – none however come close to accurately replicating the color and texture as hand painting does.

Aquaprint: Is a printing process which uses color separation. The colors can be bright but the texture of the finished reproduction art is flat and does not mimic the artist’s brushstrokes.

Artagraph: The artagraph is a special printing method which recreates not only the color of the original, but also the surface texture. This is achieved by taking a silicone mould of the original oil painting and using it in the fine art reproduction. The problem is that not many museum curators or collectors are willing to have their prized masterpieces smothered in silicone, therefore the range of artagraph fine art reproductions is very limited.

Canvas transfer: Canvas transfer art reproductions are basically prints on canvas rather than paper and remain flat, unable to recreate the texture of the artists brushstrokes. First, a lithograph on paper is coated with acrylic emulsion, then when the acrylic is dry, the print is covered with a solution that helps to separate the image from the paper it was printed on. The image is now bonded to the acrylic and free of paper. This film is then carefully bonded to the canvas. Canvas transfer art reproduction’s flat texture can be enhanced by the artist adding some brushstrokes. Canvas transfer reproduction art is subject to color fading, yellowing being a particular problem.

Etchings: The art reproduction image is etched into a copper plate, ink is then applied to the plate. Dampened paper is then laid onto the plate and under extremely high pressure from an etching press, ink is forced onto the paper. This is a popular method of art reproduction for drawings but is not suitable for reproduction art oil paintings

Giclees: Are produced from a color transparency made from the original oil painting usually by taking a photo or using a drum scanner. Today many giclee art reproductions are made with ink jet printers attached to computers and consequently they suffer from inconsistent color reproduction. They are expensive while remaining flat and untextured reproduction art.

Hand painted: This method of fine art reproduction involves a trained artist carefully copying the original oil painting. The artist mimics the exact colors, texture and brushstrokes of the original masterpiece to produce a fine art reproduction that is a stunning replica of the original oil painting.

Lithograph: Basically this is standard offset printing. The art reproduction image is drawn on a litho - limestone or exposed to a light sensitive litho plate. The printing surface is kept wet with a sponge; the ink is then rolled by hand onto the plate or stone. This is a popular art reproduction method for posters but falls to recreate the brushstrokes and texture of oil paintings

Serigraphy: Also known as screen prints. Serigraph art reproductions are produced by creating a stencil on the fabric that is stretched across a frame for each color by a master printer. They can have a thin texture but cannot mimic the heavy texture of oil painting.

What you need to know about a paint brush?

Most of us like to paint different things. Some of us are professional painters while some of us just paint for fun. If you are serious about the subject it’s very important that you have some knowledge about the different types of paint brushes.

Paint brushes are made up from stiff or soft hairs, which are either natural hairs or synthetic fibers. Soft brushes are specially designed for thin paints as they spread easily. Similarly incase of hard strokes you need hard brushes for creating brush marks in the paints.

Is natural hair better than synthetic?
Natural hair paint brushes are expensive as compared to the synthetic brushes. The modern synthetic brushes are excellent and have flexibility to beat even a Kolinsky sable. If you are considering buying a painting brush then synthetic paint brushes are the way to go.

Natural Hair used in paint brushes
• Sable: Sable brushes are expensive as compared to the other natural hair brushes; they are soft, flexible and form a point when they are put into a brush. Kolinsky sable brushes from Siberia has been off late renowned the best hair for watercolor brushes.
• Squirrel: Squirrel hair brushes are comparatively quite cheaper than sable hair brush. They are made of soft hair with a little bit of spring. If you considering buying a squirrel hair brush it would be advisable to go for larger squirrel brushes as they work better than the smaller ones.
• Hog/Bristle: This strange brush is made from the hair at the back of the pig. A hog or a bristle brush is string and springy with natural split ends. They are mostly used for oil painting and acrylics painting.
• Camel: Camel brushes are made from other types of soft hair. Camel hair is unsuitable as it is too wooly.

8 Tips For Professional Quality Face Painting

Kids of all ages love to have their faces painted (especially the younger ones!), so it’s the perfect thing to learn how to do if you have young kids… or you’re planning to have a birthday party for your children.

With this in mind, I’ve prepared a few tips for people just starting out in face painting. Here they are:

1) If you’re painting a design that needs a large area to be covered with paint, use a sponge instead of a brush. Why? Because applying the paint with a sponge means it will dry quicker. It’s a good idea to have a few sponges set aside if you need to use different colors, because this means you won’t have to try and clean the sponge for each color…which would take time.

2) Always let the first color dry before you start painting on a second! If you forget to wait for it to dry, they colors will most likely mix and you’re going to have to start from scratch again.

3) Make sure you know what you want the finished face to look like. Don’t mak it up as you go along. You need to be able to paint faces rather quickly, as if you have children, you already know that kids aren’t always very patient…and they may get bored or restless if you’re thinking on what to paint next.

4) If you’re not good at painting freehand yet, don’t be afraid to use a stencil. You can get stencils of stars, hearts, flowers, and all sorts of things. These are perfect for stencilling onto a cheek. You’ll need stencils of different sizes to accommodate different face sizes.

5) If you want something faster than stencilling, why not try temporary tattoos? Make sure the person’s skin doesn’t react badly to it first, by asking them (or their parents)…or testing it on a small area first.

6) If you have a line of kids ready to have their faces painted, ask them to be thinking about what they would like a few minutes before its actually their turn. You don’t want to be delayed while each kid thinks of what he or she would like painted on their face.

7) Remember to have a mirror with you at all times so you can show the person what you have painted, and to make sure they’re happy with your work.

8) Professional face paint and stage makeup can be quite expensive, especially if you’re planning to paint a lot of faces. You can make your own simple face paint with cheaper ingredients. A quick search on Google will find you plenty of ideas that you can use to make your own face paint with. Bear in mind this won’t be as good as the professional face paint, so if you can afford it… I would advice you to get the professional stuff.

They you go, that’s my 8 tips a for professional face painting! I hope you found them useful.

You Can Unleash the Great Artist Within You

The first steps of a child are always the most joyful! Children think in images. Their consciousness is not socially conditioned yet. Their first drawings, the first signs on paper, make a lot of sense to them. They put all their emotions in the first paintings. They create. They are direct. They are artists. Each of us has a little child - an artist inside. In each and everyone of us is a direct perception of the world around us which speaks to us. We need to express ourselves, express our feelings and thoughts. This is not a desire to become an artist - we are already artists - we create - we draw - we paint- we write...

For children, it is not very important if the painting is an exact copy of the reality. What is important for them is how they perceive the reality and how they express themselves and their feelings on paper. If you have a chance to observe a kid painting, you will be amazed how much joy and happiness he/she can experience just by drawing some simple picture. When they draw or paint, they are the creators; there is no separate painting and painter. It is one whole process of creation.

You can do one simple experiment. Go to a kindergarten class or find a group of children about about 4-5 years old and ask them a question: "Who can paint? Raise your hand." There will hardly be any child who will not raise his/her hand. Now go and find a group of adults and ask them the very same question. You will be surprised. There will be few if any of them who will raise their hands. You may wonder: where did those artists go from within us when we grow up.

Unfortunately, when we grow up we become more and more conditioned by the environment. We become more and more self-conscious about our skills. Now, we try to make our paintings and pictures to be an exact copy of the reality, and if it is not so, we get frustrated and give up. We start making excuses like: I am not good enough; I don't have the necessary skills etc. But the trick is to hold on to that child-like state within us. That state gives us joy and the highest degree of happiness while we are creating something. It is that inner artist that will guide us through the challenges and adversities of learning the skills to become a great artist. One of the greatest painters in history of humankind, Pablo Picasso, once said, "For all my life I have been learning to paint like a child". If we stay in touch with our inner child-like artist, then learning any skill will become only a matter of time and practice - nothing more.

What happens if we let the inner guide teach us? During the course of our lives we become more skilled in the ways of transferring our thoughts and feelings on paper. We learn to make a painting more alive and more expressive. We are now able to grasp some laws of expressing ourselves. We look at what others do, we become more and more experienced, we read books, we study. And one day, our skills become excellent. Even other people start calling us artists. We devote all our attention and all our time to the training of acquiring art skills; we continuously think "How to draw... " And " What to draw "

Finally, I would like to give you a some practical advice. If you really want to learn to draw and paint, it is really necessary to paint something that is very interesting, very exciting for you. Something that really speaks to you. You may even feel the necessity to paint it. Only then will you be able to experience the highest degree of happiness in the process of creation. And only then will your work touch others. Probably it's worth to look at your memories, look into your subconsciousness in your early sketches and etudes. It is very easy to miss something that lays very deep in you., but those things can really prompt the inner artist to find an important theme for the work. It can be absolutely habitual things, for example a picture of a yard filled by the wonderful light of a sunset or a painting of a hero from an interesting book you have just read. Look into yourself, into the artist living in you and define your work only by your feelings. Unleash the greatest artist that is already in you. I wish you much success in your creations!

Body Painting

Body Painting

Body painting is a form of body art, and has probably been around since the beginning of civilization. In almost every tribalist culture, body painting was performed during ceremonies or merely just for the beauty of it. Back then they used clay and other natural pigments.

Body painting still survives in parts of the world, and especially 'Mehndi', the form of body painting that uses henna dyes, is now very popular in the western world. The henna tattoo is semi-permanent.

With the World Body Painting Festival (and of course the Body Painting Award) coming up on the 17th of July, it's about time to get you all fired up in your body painting know-how.

More about this festival coming soon , but first a short introduction in the art of body painting.

Body painting is a form of body art, and has probably been around since the beginning of civilization. In almost every tribalist culture, body painting was performed during ceremonies or merely just for the beauty of it. Back then they used clay and other natural pigments.

Body painting still survives in parts of the world, and especially 'Mehndi', the form of body painting that uses henna dyes, is now very popular in the western world. The henna tattoo is semi-permanent.

Since the 1960's, body painting emerged as an actual art form. However, there is the never-ending discussion about it's social acceptability because body painting practically always involves nudity.

But no art without paint of course, and you'll be happy to know that the paint is restricted to guidelines: the body paint has to be non-toxic and non-allergenic. The paint easily washes of with water and soap.

As for the henna dyes, which Mehndi uses, there's a difference between the synthetic black henna, and the natural brown henna. The natural henna dye is completely safe when body painting, but the synthetic black henna dye could cause allergic reactions. You should have yourself patch tested before using these at body painting.

This should get you started, next time, more about the festival!

Body Painting

3 Steps to Picking out Your Dream Paint

3 Steps to Picking out Your Dream Paint
Pick out your dream paint and make your house look like a million bucks.

Moving into a new house can be quite an experience.  You are totally in a new zone, surrounded by new ceilings and floors near stairs in an entire new layout.  You want your home to look the best, so it's important to pick out the right kind of paint. Of course, in a single article, we can't show you absolutely everything that you need to know about moving into your new house, but we are going to try to give you some good tips on picking out a new house quality house paint.

1.  Match it.  By new house paint is arty difficult as it is in, and you definitely don't want to paint your house a second time. Make sure whatever kind of house paint that you buy matches up with your existing paint.  Maybe take a picture or find out exactly what kind of paint you have in your house right now so that when you go to the hardware store, you can show them exactly what you need.

2. Buy high-quality paint.  Take a look around at the different types of paint that are available for you to buy in the store.  You will quickly notice that paint varies in quality drastically and you generally get way you pay for.  Granted, you have to make sure that you're not getting ripped off and you really are getting a good deal, but if you are serious about making money on your house, try to buy the best type of paint that you can afford.

3.  Ask a professional.  It's okay if you don't know everything about home remodeling.  Some people do it for a living.  Builders, contractors, subcontractors and other home decorators might be able to give you some words of wisdom and help that you might not be able to get otherwise. Don't be afraid to ask.  Just ask them for a little help and you might be able to save yourself some time and headaches.

Of course, there's a lot more to say about house paint.  We can't have put everything in one article.  Visit our site to learn all about house paint today.

3 Steps to Picking out Your Dream Paint