History of Oil Painting

Author: Ben Jonson

In reality oil painting is a fairly new art style. Oil painting as a painting medium, the usage of oil in combination with other pigments counts back to 1400. Prior to oil painting, painting in general dates its history back to the period of stone age, painting in that era was made with the usage of binders unlike oil painting mixed with some kind of pigments like egg in tempera paints.

The fifteenth century was seen as a transitional period in Europe, there was some sort of reality visualized in art. Art was changing from the decorative style and mythological during a middle age to a period of revival and rebirth with the beginning of renaissance. There was a realization among the artists, they were beginning to understand the mathematical laws behind the outlook and there was a scenario prevailing where the artist were interested in portraying more sincere and portrays that were more realistic in nature. They had initiated the usage of nature as a source of inspiration for their paintings.

Jan Van Eyck (1395-1441), a painter of the northern renaissance wanted to mimic nature and its scenic beauty along with his painting brush on the board. He wanted to paint every tiniest detail on his board to portray his paintings to be more scenic and livelier. Finally he realized that if he had to portray every tiny detail of painting to his fullest satisfaction, he had to improve on the technique of painting. Thus with this zeal to portray tiny detail of nature with clarity he became the inventor of oil painting. Initially Van Eyck and all painters during the period of renaissance did not buy ready made colors. They grounded their pigment from natural sources like plants and minerals and in turn they added binder to form a paste with which they could paint. During the middle ages the binder which was used was egg and the end- product thus formed was tempera paint, this had the tendency to dry very quickly. This property of quick drying agent did not permit smooth transitions in shading. But smooth transitions were necessary to achieve as sense of reality which Van Eyck was attempting to portray. Thus he initiated the usage of oil instead of egg. The work with oil as a binder was much slower and accurate to the satisfaction levels. An oil binder permits to provide a glossier look. With this technique he was able to apply tiny detailing with the help of pointed brushes. Later the new technique of oil painting was appreciated and there was a general acceptance of oil painting to be used as a widely used suitable medium of painting.

Thus the invention of oil painting took place. They are very convenient sold in tube form, there are many other mediums of oil paintings available but we still adhere to the usage of oil painting invented by Van Eyck.

About the Author:

Ben Jonson is a Copywriter of oil paintings and Oil paintings reproductions . He has written many articles like Artist oil paintings. For more information visit our site http://www.paintingmax.com/. Contact him at paintingmax.ben@googlemail.com

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Norman Lindsay - Australia's Most Controversial Artist

Author: Jamie Horne

Norman Alfred William Lindsay was born in Creswick, Victoria on February 22, 1879. He was a prolific artist, sculptor, writer, editorial cartoonist and scale modeller. His father was surgeon Robert Charles William Alexander Lindsay and mother, Jane Elizabeth Lindsay. He was one of ten children

Norman Lindsay is widely regarded as one of Australia's greatest artists, producing a vast number of works in different media, including pen drawing, etching, watercolour, oil and sculptures in concrete and bronze. His sumptuous nudes were highly controversial. In 1939, several were burned by irate wowsers in the United States who discovered them when the train in which they travelled caught fire. His original artworks are keenly sort after amongst auction houses and range from the rare but affordable etchings through to the elusive and expensive oils and watercolours. Lindsay was associated with a number of poets, such as Kenneth Slessor, Francis Webb and Hugh McCrae, influencing them in part through a philosophical system outlined in his book Creative Effort. He also illustrated the cover for the seminal Henry Lawson book, While the Billy Boils. Lindsay's son, Jack Lindsay, emigrated to England, where he set up Fanfrolico Press, which issued works illustrated by Lindsay. Lindsay also worked as an editorial cartoonist, notably for The Bulletin. Despite his enthusiasm for erotica, he shared the racist and right-wing political leanings that dominated The Bulletin at that time; the "Red Menace" and "Yellow Peril" were popular themes in his cartoons. These views occasionally spilled over into his other work, and modern editions of The Magic Pudding often omit one couplet in which "you unmitigated Jew" is used as an insult. Lindsay's creative output was enormous. Several accounts tell of his working practices in the 1920's. He would wake early and produce a watercolour before breakfast, then by mid-morning he would be in his etching studio where he would work until late afternoon. He would work on a concrete sculpture in the garden during the afternoon and in the evening write a new chapter for whatever novel he was working on at the time. As a break, he would work on a model ship some days. He married twice with his second wife, Rose Soady being his most recognised model. His first wife was Catherine Parkinson with whom he had three sons, Jack Raymond and Phillip. With Rose he had two children, Jane and Helen. Norman Lindsay died on November 21, 1969 aged ninety, His works are today held in private and public collections with a large number in the care of Australia's National Galleries. His popular facsimile etchings and the occassional original work can be found on the Norman Lindsay website

About the Author:

Jamie Horne is a passionate Norman Lindsay fan and is the webmaster for www.bendigo.ws and other regional Victorian websites

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European Painting - an Outdated Concept

Author: Michael de Bruges

Europe has always been known for its cultural diversity, for being an entity forged by history and geography into a multiethnic and disparate whole, displaying a characteristic plural identity against a common backdrop. Hence, the vast diversity that the European continent has brought to the art of pictorial expression has been remarkable throughout the ages. The multiplicity in unity was the natural outcome of the relative isolation of the different parts and the tempering characteristic of having the same basic conditioning.

However, modern times tend rightly to use the term ‘European’ solely in its geographical sense, at the expense of the more subtle reference to that conglomerate of differing sensibilities and values distinguishing the old world in earlier times. After having watered down national and regional ties as determining causes for the creative act, it is but natural that the tendency moves on to a continental scale.

We may consider that this semantic evolution has entered its terminal phase as we advance into a largely harmonized 21st century. The ongoing extinction of the cultural sense of ‘European’ saw its beginnings in the 1960’s and has gained momentum ever since. Media, flux and migrations transform the world into a mono-cultural society where geographical origin ceases to be a diversifying factor. In fact we are inevitably moving ahead, not only towards the end of European diversity, but towards the end of cultural diversity in general. This evolution is certain to be accomplished during the decades to come.

We can remain neutral as to the worth of this evolution and yet clamour with reason that our interest in art, as expression of human perception and sensibility , is doomed to diminish at the rate that standardization, reproduction, simplification, streamlining and machine language take hold.

This makes pre-1960’s art all the more interesting. Not from a nostalgic point of view but simply for showing us the potential for variety. In the works of those times we are facing familiar yet puzzling manners of viewing a world whose diversity is still astonishing and above all stimulating. From that point onwards, the art world fell largely into repetition, make-believe and navel-staring. And most dramatically, the extension of the domain of art to include everyday trivia made the notion of art itself nonsensical.

For European painting, the subtleness of viewpoint, coming from a geographically small but still highly dismembered whole, created optimal conditions for innovation and creativity. Encounters with differently formed sensibilities brought dynamism to individual work, akin to the beneficial ‘melting pot effect’ that New York City enjoyed after the second world war thanks to a highly multicultural population. It is no wonder that the very last really creative acts of the abstract movement, and as such of the modern art movement as a whole, took place in such circumstances.

An international style has emerged, supplanting old concepts of regional schools and national manners. As everything went global, so did inevitably art. In the recent revival of painting this evolution is striking. Nothing in contemporary painting will make a particular cultural reference evident. For some time already, cultural precisions such as ‘European’ or ‘American’ have become meaningless.

About the Author:

The author is an expert on Modern European Painting. See further European Fine Art, European Painting and Wise to Art - a blog on the online art market

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Some More Tattoo History

Author: Bren Fisher

When European travelers returned from Polynesia to Europe they brought with them tales of fabulous skin art & images that had been drawn to show how they had looked. A number of these travellers were even bearing some of these tattoos, people became more and more fascinated with the concept. The sailors especially were keen to try out this new art form.


The sailors and other westerners who visited Polynesia found natives who were skilled in creating tattoos and the sailors were willing subjects. That was until the colonizing missionary's decided it was unholy and primitive and tried to stop the practice. They only succeeded in diving it underground and not eliminating it. As the Europeans continued to practice the art.


There were technological advances in design and colour and machines, that led to tattooing becoming more available in the U.S. developing a uniquely all American flavour. In 1846 in New York City the first tattoo shop was believed to have been set up by Martin Hildebrandt. Where he began a tradition of inking soldiers both union and rebel, as well as sailors who got tattoos representing battles or significant events. King Edward VII was the first to start the fad among his peers in England when he got a tattoo before he ascended the throne.

It seems the perception of the Polynesians as being more primitive then the Europeans and Americans was some what skewed as they used the art of tattooing to reflect things like loyalty and devotion or to memorialize a heroic battle or simply to make abeautiful piece of enduring art. Which is what the Americans and Europeans did as well.

With the onset of WWII, during the 1940's, the mood of the country was intensely patriotic. This created a boom for the tattoo artists, as more and more people wanted to represent there country more vividly than at any other time. Soldiers and sailors were the majority of customers who visited the tattoo parlours that seem to spring up all over and by the 1950's the tattoo industry was an accepted part of western civilization although still somewhat on the fringe of society.

Now that we have entered into the 21st century tattooing has become a legitimate form of art, which appeals to both men and women. There are still some people young and old who are personally against permanently marking there own bodies, but for the ones who make the choice to get inked the options for style and colour and location on the body are only limited by the imagination of the person and the artist.

About the Author:

If tattoos and the like interest you more info can be found here,
at my home page!

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Growing Demand for Fashion Models

Author: Mark Fenichel

Had you ever seen a fashion model in some exotic places? Traveling to exotic places, wear latest cloths and accessories from top designers, fearuring the cover page of various magazines are part of the benefits for fashion models. Did you ever thought of becoming a fashion model?

Starting a career as a fashion model right away is not always possible. The aspiring model should work with smaller modeling agencies, in smaller campaigns and gain popularity. Once you become popular you can be invited to exclusive events, participating shows with celebrities and traveling to many parts of the world. Very soon you too will become a celebrity.

Fashion modeling is tough to get in to, with high competition because top models are earning thousands of dollars a day. So the completion is naturally fierce. Apart from monetary benefits, popularity and celebrity status is also another reason for high competition.

Fashion industry is looking for different models for different types of audience. Fashion designers are now targeting all types of audience to sell their fashions. Perfect good looking models with great looks, good hair and figure have great opportunities. Now the market is looking for petite, the plus size, the teen, the mature both in male and female models too since the fashion designers are not willing to loose customers from any segment of population.

One can start off as catalog model, show room model, television model before entering in to fashion modeling. If you are hired by a top modeling agency with more demand, your growth potential is immense in the industry. For the right people with dedication and passion towards modeling, it is a highly paying career.

Although getting in to the modeling industry is tougher, it is offering good rewards for people with good motivation, longing to succeed, it is worth taking the tough ride in fashion modeling industry.

About the Author:

Mark Fenichel is a fashion designer from a modeling agency in UK. His modeling agency has good number of preteen and bikini models for fashion industry.

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Painting Tips : Get Tips & Ideas on Paintings

Author: Priyanshu Shrivastava

The play of color in a canvas is what can be called as painting. A good painting is an intellectual self-expression of its creator. It requires great aesthetic sense, artistic concepts and creative power to lay down a painting. Various schools of arts have established different theories on paintings.Tips on painting are simple and general guidelines that may help to create various forms of paintings. The amateur painters and the beginners can put a glance on the painting tips before trying their hand out. Our online art gallery will also entertain you with some of the finest paintings in the world. Drop in and get spoilt with choices.

While sketching the under-painting use light pencil or thin acrylic or oil as the base. Under-painting is just the foundation of your painting; so do not thicken it with dark tones. At first try to apply thin and light touches and then cover them up with thick layers. Put your colors on the palette and apply coats using a paintbrush. After application of the first coat let dry and then start applying the second coat.

In case of watercolor painting you can use wet cotton pieces to remove the excess paint from an unwanted area. In case of oil painting you can wipe out a layer by using oil varnish. Be very careful while preparing the mixture of paints and oil in an oil painting. Improper mixture may crack up the painting. You can use colors having lead or manganese in them, as these enhance the drying process. Do not dry oil painting in the absence of sunlight.

Color and tone are the most important aspects of painting. It is very necessary to understand the visual effect of each shade of colors. Red, green and blue are the primary colors. These colors can create other shades of colors when blended in appropriate portions. If you are not very used to mixing shades then use particular shades that you are acquainted to.

If you are hesitant about how a specific color will look in a particular area then put the color on the palette knife and hold it near the place where you want it to apply and check out how it appears to be. While painting concentrate on your object and try to think it in terms of its dimension that is its shape, size, length, breadth and height. Work on every part of the painting simultaneously. Visualize your painting half closing your eyes from a distance at frequent intervals to get a better perception.

For more tips and information on painting pay a visit to our site Ethnic Paintings

About the Author:

Priyanshu Shrivastava is the author of Ethnic PaintingsThis website provides comprehensive information on paintings.

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Heaven for Art Lovers

Author: Saatchi Gallery

Art fairs enhance art lovers and artists about the recent advancement of art and an opportunity to meet personally the renowned artists. Various forms of art are exhibited in such festivals. A wide variety of mediums, from sculpture, painting, photography, are showcased where art lovers can find innovative ideas and original work. Artist of high admiration or unsung heroes of art find this place as heaven as they can expose their talent and ideas to the public. Art fairs are held in both local and international degree annually or at irregular period of interval.

The art fairs act as the niche for both art and artist. The practice of exhibiting art has gone a sweeping change. The showcasing tradition of art is now executed with the assistance of online. On online, an artist can register his/her work to display the art fair profile. Options are also provided to edit the art fair profile. This online is also a boon for art lovers. Art aficionados can search artist profile by submitting the art fair name or city/country. In addition, the art fair organisers provide free access to have as many pages as they need to give details of their fair. This practice has been adopted by many art galleries. The galleries can include with their own page to show the artists work, profile and contact information etc. Art lovers can find details from last fair until the next fair is available for loading.

Art fairs also act as career launcher for debut artist. They exhibit works of artists to public and also offering a chance to share their interest to promote art. In such art fairs, to encourage the species of young artist, showdown is organised. The winners are awarded with scholarships or with other rewarding steps so that they can perform better.

So, art fairs are the perfect place to acquire knowledge about art and have a clear insight into the artist mind.

About the Author:

To collect more about art and various artist art fairs is the perfect place. Here you can share your interest with renowned artists and can have a deep knowledge about the various forms of art.

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Reflecting Artist’s Vision

Author: Saatchi Gallery

Art portfolio can make an artist taste huge success and also acts a vital means of expressing his art skills. It reflects the artist’s vision and observation skills. An artist’s technical and artistic skills can be well judged from the portfolio and the manner he presents his work. An art portfolio should always carry an objective and easily captivate the thoughts of the people.

While formatting an art portfolio, one should always take certain points into consideration. The artist should weave subjects carrying vital information and topics so that it creates the right impression. The works should be expressive and retain a style that is distinctly genuine of the artist’s own. They should be properly organised which requires passion and individual efforts. The work should avoid topics that might create confusions and vagueness. In appendage, artist should ensure that the paintings are clean and well dried before enfolding them in the portfolio. The work might represent independent projects, school assignments or even selected work of renowned persons. In a portfolio, an artist can exhibit works of different medium, for instance: watercolours, pastels, photographs or oil paintings.

The new technology empowers artist to execute art portfolio in a better and systematic manner. Using the simple administration panel, any person who are inclined towards art can create unlimited galleries and upload numerous favourite images. They can send the art links or email them as e-cards to their friends. New functionality has also been implemented into editing art portfolios so that persons can drag and drop in a hassle-free manner.

Some of the renowned art galleries have adopted the online art portfolio with the interest to boost and promote talents among students. The institutions encourages the talent of young and promising artist by conducting regular competitions and generating prizes that are worthy for their careers. The portfolios are also an attempt to inspire the new generation towards art.

About the Author:

To know more about the role of art portfolio in promoting art and skills of artist browse a little bit. Art portfolio helps to have an insight of the artist frame of mind while organising and shaping the ideas.

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Significance of Art Galleries

Author: Saatchi Gallery

Art gallery is defined as a room or cluster of rooms in a series that serves the objective to exhibit various forms of art. Individuals can consider art galleries as a hub of various forms of art and artist where they share common interest to promote art. Artist of both local and international admiration rush to these venues to exhibit their work to public and acquire new ideas.

The art galleries act as a platform where devoted artist can expose their adroitness in various forms of art like sculpture, photographs, illustrations, installation art and applied arts. Among the different forms, painting is customarily displayed medium. Gallery encourages the unsung artist to display their work with enthusiasm. Fresh artist find art galleries as niche where they can express their dexterity. So, artist can consider the galleries as a spring board for their careers.

The art fairs are held annually or at irregular intervals in these art galleries. Among the different classified art forms, contemporary art has gained importance in the present age. This art gallery carry the objective of private-profit-motive. Such type of galleries is seen to be clustered in urban areas. Here, artists can sale their works and art lovers can purchase the works of artists they admire. Besides, you will also find art galleries run on funds of government. This sort of public galleries put on show regularly by levying an entrance fee.

True art lovers can acquire information and peruse each stroke of the artist in the art galleries. Furthermore, art enthusiastic can study art in different perspective and understand the artist psychology and frame of mind while shaping the work. To encourage artist and art lovers art galleries also arrange showdowns. From this venue, art works are taken to online where artist get more advantages and options to display their work. Users can upload their work and send through emails or as e-cards with the help of new functionality. So, art galleries play a significant role in propelling art and artists’ career.

About the Author:

To know art and artist in a better way art galleries play a significant role. In these art galleries, art aficionados can share their common interest and promote art among the public.

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Making Balloon Animals - Tips on How to Make Balloon Animals

Author: Alexander Creppe

When a balloon twister is hired to entertain kids at a party, they're going to need to know their balloon animals. Most all kids will want the balloon twister to make them a bunny rabbit or a wiener dog. That's the ones that the kids know the best and want to see over and over again. So when you decide to become a balloon twister, making balloon animals is something that you will need to know most of all.

The most common balloon animal that kids are going to want to see is a wiener dog or a dog of some sort. Most like the wiener dog because they think it's funny to have the long body and tiny legs. When you go to make a wiener dog you will need to start off with a “260” balloon that is the color of your choice. A “260” balloon is a type of balloon that is 2” in diameter and 60” in length when completely blown up. So if you take the 2 + the 60 and push them together you will get the 260. This let's you know how the balloons are numbered.

So now that you have the “260” balloon in the color of your choice, you will need to inflate it, leaving about a 4” tail. It is necessary to leave that tail so that when you start to twist you have room for the air to move about. Otherwise the balloon could pop when you just about have your wiener dog ready. That is something that when making balloon animals, no kid wants to see.

With your balloon now completely inflated and its 4” tail hanging, grab hold of the tied off end and go back about 4” and pinch off the balloon. Now twist the balloon around at that point about two or three times. This will create the snout of your puppy. Be sure to not let go of your balloon as the balloon will become all untwisted and you'll have to start over again. Keeping your hand on the snout, move your other hand up the balloon another two inches and then pinch and twist like you had done before so that you have created another bubble and still don't let go. Make another bubble the same size as the one you just made as this will form the ears. Remember, you still can't let go of the balloon until you have locked the ears in place. To do that you will fold the balloon right between the two ear bubbles that you have created. They will need to be lying next to each and twist the first and third twist around one another approximately two or three times. By doing this you are locking the ears so that they won't go flying apart once your hand leaves them.

Now that you have created the head and ears, you will repeat the same process you just completed throughout the rest of the dog. You will go down a little bit and create the neck bubble, the front leg and front leg number two. You will twist them just as you did the head, ears and snout. To lock the front legs you will need to twist the neck bubble and front leg one and two. Once you have completed that, leave a few inches to make the body. Then start the same process you used with the ears and snout so that you can create the back legs both one and two. You will lock the legs together as you have the other two portions of the body. This should leave you with a tail for your little puppy. It's hard to proportion the puppy the first few times that you create the puppy but with practice comes perfect. The more that you practice making balloon animals the better you will get.

Making balloon animals is something that many people love to see. And so anyone that likes to entertain while making forms of art, making balloon animals might just be for you.

About the Author:

Alexander Creppe is a professional clown and balloon twister. He performs locally in the streets of New York and at private parties where his balloon twisting skills have brought joy to children for decades. For some really great balloon twisting instructions and balloon video reviews, visit his website: www.balloontwistingfun.com

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Lti Calls Over a Diamond Anniversary

Author: Anthony Fontanelle

May 29, 2008 underscored the 60th anniversary of London taxi for its successful taxi manufacturing for six decades now. The celebration began yesterday at the Private Hire and Taxi exhibition, held at The Ricoh Arena, Coventry.

According to reports, the well-experienced company has obtained an enormous deal since 1948, since the time when the very-first London taxi has gone to the Coventry plant. Other LTI highlights during that time include the creation of the Frisbee and the launching of the World Health Organisation by the United Nations. After that period, the automotive firm has distinguished over 100,000 taxis roll off the production line which includes the FX, Fairway and TX series. The group had a good time in front of presentation guests alongside the media with the traditional cutting of a personally baked cake to commemorate the remarkable occasion.

These vehicles can be spotted operating on the streets of London at present, in several towns and cities in Britain, and some can be seen around the world. Today’s talk of the town model from LTI is the TX4 taxi which is the most recent version of the legendary vehicle. The TX4 along with its great auto parts, has received vast positive response from its rising customer list.

LTI Vehicles is generally acknowledged for developing one of the world’s most legendary vehicles. The company is dedicated to constantly develop on their taxis to provide drivers and passengers a taxi service with stunning car parts that is highly desirable for others.

“As we celebrate this important milestone we are able to celebrate the past and look forward to the future. From the launch of the FX3 back in 1948 to the present day, LTI Vehicles has seen many changes in the development of its purpose-built taxis to meet the needs of the professional taxi driver,” says John Russell, CEO, Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC, LTI Vehicles’ parent company.

“This is an important year in the history of LTI Vehicles. The agreement with Chinese auto manufacturer Geely is progressing nicely with the finishing touches being applied to the facility near Shanghai. The development of electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles also shows our commitment to improve our environmental credentials and gain a competitive advantage in an expanding global marketplace. All this makes for an exciting future both at home and abroad.”

“We look forward to continuing this success to ensure that the next 60 years are as successful as the company’s first,” he added.

About the Author:

Anthony Fontanelle is a 35-year-old automotive buff who grew up in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.

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Taking the Mystery Out of Framing and Matting Supplies

Author: Susan Slobac

When it comes to framing and matting supplies, there are several different products you’ll need in order to do the job properly. A good framing job not only makes your artwork or photography look better, it also protects the artifact from becoming damaged or faded because of various environmental factors. As with almost anything else, it’s important to make an investment in the best framing and matting supplies you can afford.

Mount board is where it all starts; the quality of the mount board can make or break your framing project. This is what holds the artifact (the painting or the photograph rigidly in place. Acid free mount board is vital, particularly when it comes to archival quality works of art. The problem with some cheaper varieties of this material is that the acids can interact with other environmental pollutants and leech into your image, causing discoloring. This is one of your most basic and important framing and matting supplies, so make sure that you are using high-quality, acid-free mount board.

Mat board is another important consideration when putting together photo frames. This is used to provide a barrier between the artifact and the glazing, or clear covering. The problem is that if your picture or photo comes in actual physical contact with the glazing material, it can cause substantial harm, Mat board provides an air space that does two things: it prevents the buildup of damaging moisture inside the glass, and it allows room for the artifact to expand and contract as temperatures and room conditions fluctuate. Again, it is in your best interests to spend as much as you can to get the best archival-quality mat board that you can afford.

Anything that is true of traditional art framing goes double for photo framing supplies. Although paintings are delicate, the chemicals that are used to produce photographic images can interact with substances in the environment in all sorts of ways that can damage the image or cause it to fade. In investment in good quality photo framing supplies is an investment in the protection of your images.

The keys to effective artwork framing are (A) invest in the best framing and matting supplies you can find, and (B) know how to use and apply them correctly. No matter how wondrous the piece of art, improper framing can make it look cheap, tawdry and downright bad. Protect your valuable artwork by using only the best archival quality framing and matting supplies.

About the Author:

Avid photographer Susan Slobac explains the importance of framing and matting supplies. Learn about mount board, mat board and other important photo framing supplies.

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Learn How to Oil Paint - Tips & Techniques From a Master Painter

Author: Ralph Serpe

If you want to learn how to oil paint and not sure how to begin, then the following article will prove to be quite helpful in your pursuit to become a good painter.

Before you read on, you will have to try and forget everything you ever learned about oil painting and look at your painting from a new perspective. A recent art class I attended, taught by a master painter, has completely changed the way I approach oil painting and has opened up many new creative doors for me. I hope it will do the same for you.

START WITH A CONCEPT

Up until just recently, I was a very frustrated oil painter. I have 10 or so incomplete paintings collecting dust in the corner of my small studio. I would attempt to complete these 10 or so paintings over and over again, until finally I had to take a step back and try and understand what I was doing wrong.

The reason I lost interest and was unable to complete these paintings, was because I did not have a concept in mind before I started. I would start haphazardly painting without a clear vision of what I really wanted to accomplish with my oil painting.

Concepts are methods for solving problems in a painting. I bet you never saw painting as being a series of problems. Neither did I , but this way of thinking really does make learning how to oil paint more interesting.

What do you want your painting to be about?

Instead of thinking: “My painting is about trees in a field”, start thinking in terms of , “My painting is about the light that falls on the trees in a field”.

When you have a blueprint or roadmap in mind before you start painting, there is no room for diversion. You must stick to your plan.

MASTER YOUR BRUSH

A very important aspect of oil painting is learning how to control your brush. Without good brush control and technique, your effectiveness as a painter is truly limited.

Make sure you have the best possible brushes you can afford. While it is possible to save money on paint and canvas, one should never work with cheap brushes. In my experience, cheaper brushes are simply not worth it. The biggest issue with cheap brushes is with the hairs falling off and becoming embedded in your painting. It is quite annoying.

One of the biggest mistakes artists make, myself included, is not reloading the paint brush enough. I am not sure if this is an act of laziness or fear of wasting paint. Whatever the reason may be, make sure you always have enough paint on your brush so that there is always a layer of paint between your brush and the canvas. Do not try and scrub the paint into the canvas. Paint your strokes and leave them be. Don’t over work your brushstrokes.

MASSING

One great way to get the main ideas of an oil painting down is with a technique called Massing. Massing is about seeing your subject as a whole and not concentrating on all of the fine details.

For instance, lets say you subject is a pineapple. Instead of trying to get down all the various textures and details on your pineapple, think in terms of “planes” of light and shadow.

Add in those planes first and then later on you can put in all of your finer details.

COLOR

Nothing in my opinion, can confuse a painter more, then working with color. I know one of my weaknesses in the beginning was working with too many colors in the same painting which resulted in a muddy nightmare.

I never really took the time to understand how colors interact with one another.

Here are some great tips to keep in mind while working with color in your paintings:

- If you add white to another color, it will make that color cooler and more opaque.

- Instead of adding white to a color to make it brighter, try adding more color instead.

- Don’t be afraid to use black. Many teachers recommend staying away from black, but I beg to differ. Did you know you can get some very nice greens by mixing ivory black with certain blues and yellows?.

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Want to learn how to oil paint today and create professional quality paintings? Visit http://www.creativespotlite.com and http://www.artinstructionblog.com today for free step by step painting demonstrations, one on one artist interviews and more!

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Photo Frames and Supplies Highlight Your Works of Art

Author: Susan Slobac

Photo framing supplies are one of the essential tools relied upon by photographers and artists. Photo frames may seem like an insignificant afterthoguht, but to a photographer or painter, who has spent a lot of time honing their skills in order to produce the most pristine examples of artwork, this is not to ovelooked. Clearly, the experience of any artwork should not be cut short because of scrimping on photo frames and picture framing supplies that were used. It is easy to frame your own photographs and pieces of artwork, and set each piece of art off to its own distinctive advantage. Here are some examples of the types of photo framing supplies that you might use. You will want to note that all of these art framing supplies are available as picture framing kits for your convenience.

Photography Frames

These picture framing supplies come in two styles: metal and wood. Metal frames are traditionally used to frame photographs because they are composed of thin black metal and do not detract from the artwork within the frame. Many galleries find these photo framing supplies to be a consistently attractive way to show off a room full of photographs. Wooden frames are often used to encase paintings, and can be stained in tones to complement or contrast the artwork they surround. Photography frames such as these are available online as part of picture framing kits or sold separately.

Include Anchors As Part Of Your Photo Framing Supplies

Most artists attach their artwork to the mountboard in some fashion in order to keep the artwork in place within the frame. Art framing supplies such as mount board, upon which the art is placed, and mat board, which lies on top of the artwork, should be made of acid-free materials. This is especially true concerning art that is made using paper, because acids can create brown marks on the paper that may not be able to be removed by cleaning. By using acid-free photo framing supplies, you help to eliminate this problem.

You can use picture framing supplies like photo corners, hinging tissue, or spray adhesive mounting to attach the artwork to the mount board. Picture framing supplies such as spray adhesive provide a permanent way to mount the artwork, but are difficult to remove if you ever want to change out the mount board. A less permanent, and in some instances less harmful to the artwork itself, solution is to use tiny triangular photo corners or hinging tissue. These attachments allow for the contraction and expansion of the art within the frame, which helps prevent buckling that can damage a piece of artwork.

Use only the best quality supplies for framing your cherished photographs and works of art for long-lasting beauty.

About the Author:

Photo frames add the highlights to your artwork, making it essential to choose the proper art framing supplies. Avid photographer Susan slobac provides advice on photo framing supplies.

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Miniature Paintings : the Art of Ancient India

Author: Priyanshu Shrivastava

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 these form of 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 paintings are very popular even today.

The themes of the miniature 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.

This rare form of painting 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.

Visit site Ethnic Paintings to find galore of paintings and interesting information on miniature paintings.

About the Author:

Priyanshu Shrivastava is the author of Ethnic Paintings . This website is solely dedicated for comprehensive information Paintings, Paintings Styles, Painting artists, Popular Paintings etc.

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A Matter of Nature

Author: Vikram Singh Chadha

Ashish Balram Nagpal and Chintan Upadhyay hosted the Soumen Das' exhibition titled Time and Empty Space at the Ashish Balram Nagpal Art Gallery, Colaba on May 15 at 6 pm.


The Art fraternity and Page 3 celebs geared to see the works of the talented contemporary landscape painter whose works are being termed as "natural and fresh.

Artist fraternity including Amisha Mehta, Soketu Parekh, Rajat Dhar, Sanjeev Khandekar, Vaishali Narkar, Bakul Patel, Dr Saryu Doshi and Pundole gallery's owner Dadiba Pundole. Anil Dharkar, film director Pankaj Parashar, model Pratyshaa bole, and Niranjan Iyengar, Vinod Nayyar among the pg 3 celebs who attended the show.

Says Ashish Balram Nagpal, "I think Soumen Das is one painter who has complete mastery of his art. This is evident in his works that are on display. We have displayed six of his works here as he is not a very prolific artist. I think he is brilliant."

Soumen Das' works are on display at the Ashish Balram Nagpal Art Gallery till June 14.

About the Author:

Started as a free lance writer earlier for Maharashtra Herald Newspaper, then with the Pune-Mid-Day. Have also contributed for articles on websites

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Marine Art Collection of Eugene Boudin

Author: shijina

Eugene boudin, the famous marine painter was born in the year 1824 on July 12. Eugene was one of the famous French landscape maritime painter who comes up with more paints related to outdoors. The great expert was born in seafaring family and almost his every painting was related to sea and sky. Though he was described as the painter of beaches, the beach in its painting occupies full of canvas and it appears to be large, luminous sky that dominates in the work.

Boudin was a large self skilled marine artist who likes the members of Barbizon school where he worked sometime with the nature. Majority of his drawings looks to be small scene of contemporary beach resorts in northern France. He was the famous French impressionist painter where he took for the first impressionist exhibit in the year 1874. People use to enjoy the marine art of Eugene boudin and he was the one who use to exhibit the specialty of marine.

He opened a frame shop in Le Havre and was encouraged to take up the paintings by the painter jean François millet. He studied at louvre and established contact with Barbizon painter. He visited Paris and met young Claude Monet and introduced himself to be outdoor painter where they two worked together in the late 1860. He was skilled amazing excellence of marine paintings and charming portraits. Boudin was figured to be 19th century marine artist who spend most of his time on coast paintings, beach scenes and seascapes. Generally, the maritime paintings of Eugene will be based upon the open air starting from the sea and ends on the shore.

The work of boudin looks to be light tender in quality, colors seems to be attractive and flourishing and sparkled portrayal of nature and its atmosphere. His favorite subject will mostly relate to charming dressed ladies and gentlemen of bourgeoisie walking along the beach side. He started his life time career as famous marine artist where he was encouraged by the famous painter. He was inspired from the motivation, encouragement and artistic work of the painter when he was working in the framing business. Eugene boudin wide collections of marine arts will be available in the nautical antiques to facilitate the visitors or general people. The painting of Eugene comes to the end in the year august 8, 1898.

About the Author:

Shijina is an expert SEO copywriter for Marine art.
She written many articles like Maritime art, Marine paintings, Maritime gallery For more information visit our site Marine Arts and Artifacts. Contact me at shijinaseo@gmail.com.

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Painting : a Glorious Art of Colors

By: Priyanshu Shrivastava

Painting is an aesthetic representation of the imaginative mindset of a painter. This form of art exerted tremendous influence on the society since its inception several thousand years ago. Painters are like alchemists who can make formidable creations intermingling colors on a piece of canvas.

It is through painting artists of all ages portray the conditions of the mainstream society, the various ethos, culture and traditions. A work of painting can best reveal the good and evil of the everyday life and urge the common people to be good in thought and action so that the society becomes beautiful and beneficial to the mankind.

Originated as a creative pastime as cave depictions by our early ancestors, painting has undergone several alterations with time. The history of painting clearly indicates the various transformations of paintings from cave paintings to watercolor paintings and oil paintings.

The use of colors and shades are very important in painting. As a melodious music is not possible to originate without appropriate rhythm similarly a work of painting does not get life without perfect shades. Painting is a spontaneous manifestation of the true self of an artist; it speaks out his heart through the tinges of colors.

The Renaissance period (14th C to 17th C) is perhaps the golden period of arts and paintings in Europe. Renaissance classicism imparted a realistic touch to the paintings. The painters had good concepts on light, shadow and human anatomy and this made their art more appealing and communicative.

Luminaries like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael stirred the world through their world-class paintings during this time. Da Vinci’s Monalisa is a painting unsurpassed down the ages.

With the establishment of various schools and movements of arts emerged the various theories on arts like abstract expressionism, art deco, constructivism, cubism, impressionism, modernism, neo-classicism, post modernism, romanticism and surrealism.

These gave birth to various painting forms like abstract paintings, figurative paintings, landscape paintings, collages, calligraphy and digital paintings. To an artist a painting is the enlivening of his soul on the canvas that transgresses all theories and echoes the great words of Keats – “Beauty Truth, Truth Beauty’.

For more information on painting browse other links of Ethnic Paintings

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