July 20, 2013

Tips for Watercolor Painters: Brush Skills Part Two

Painterly Strokes
Dab an old #12 Serie 7 Winsor & Newton round red sable on a paint color and start by laying the full brush on the paper and lifting away cleanly. Try more short dabbing strokes across your paper. Rinse your brush and change colors. Keep your brush strokes uniform in width as you start to overlap strokes to develop shapes. Play with different groupings of brush strokes across your paper. Use as many color as you please. Continue laying down similar brush strokes trying different angles of attack. Allow your wet brush strokes to intermingle as you progress.

The Stab
Start by dipping your brush into a color you want and gently poke or stab your brush into the paper. The effect that you want to see after doing this is to see a fanning pattern of the hairs as you push it into the paper. Continue doing this on your paper, adding some twist or spin to your stroke by rolling your brush in your fingers as you paint. Experiment with angles of attack to find the best spreading point for the brush you are using. Consciously try to shape the hairs as you press a stroke into the paper. Give it a little wiggle while the brush hairs rest on the paper to make them align. Rinse and switch colors and/or brushes. Continue to practice spreading and twisting your brush, building texture across the paper. Look for organic shapes and textures as you allow your strokes and colors to overlap and blend. This is another example of a what is considered a painterly stroke.

Cutting Edges
“Cutting an edge” is a sign painter’s term for pulling a clean line of paint with your brush. A clean line being a line that is smooth and flowing with no irregularities. Consider each shape before you start to paint. You may lightly doodle the shapes first before painting. A round #8 Grumbacher Watercolor Classic red sable brush can be used in larger shapes a round #4 Kolonok 1001 Series Kolinsky sable for smaller shapes. If your brush is too full to get a proper point, touch it on a sponge, tissue, or towel to remove excess paint before you start. While you have one color in your brush try painting all the different shapes across the page in that one color. Rinse your brush out, switch colors, and repeat. For sharp corners use the very tip of your brush and start the brush stroke at the corner point of the shape. For circular shapes, start your curving brush stroke inside the edge of the shape and pull the stroke into position before continuing the stroke. Switch to a smaller brush and try some mini shapes.

July 20, 2013

Stuck in a Rut? 5 Ways to Get Inspired to Paint

There are times in an artist’s life when he feels uninspired, unmotivated, and uncreative. It’s like there’s a creative lull, especially after finishing a major artwork. You feel like you’ll never be able to create another beautiful painting again, you’re tired of picking up your paintbrush and starting your first stroke on the canvas, you have no inspiration to work on. If you are in this phase, here are some ways which can help you get out of the creative block you’re experiencing.

1. Look around you to get inspiration. Get out of your studio and take a walk. Be conscious of your surroundings. Notice the things around you. Look with a fresh new perspective of your environment. Sometimes, because an object, a person, or an event is ordinary to you, you may not take notice of it. You’ll be surprised how simple, ordinary things around you can give you inspiration on your next painting. You’ll be able to express yourself more accurately if your subject is something which you can relate to, or something that you are familiar with.

2. Work on more than one painting at a time. This technique seems absurd. You are uncreative yet I’m suggesting you to work on two paintings. A painting, especially if it’s big-scale, can drain your creative juices in the long run. Working on the same project everyday can be a bit tiresome and tedious. To sort of “spice up” your painting sessions, try doing two paintings. If you’re finished with an area or element in the first painting and you’re feeling tired, you can then switch to the second painting. This allows you to rest your mind from the first painting and when you come back to it, you will see areas which you can improve and enhance.

3. Experiment with a different painting technique or medium. Humans are creatures of habit. We want to do the same things in the same way. If you’re feeling uninspired, try to create a new habit in painting. Learn a new painting style and start using it. This may be a trial and error exercise for you but as you go along, you’ll improve and hopefully, master this new painting style. It can even be your new signature style in your paintings. If you’re always working with oil paints, try using watercolors or pastels. Different media require different treatments, brush strokes, and handling. You may have to learn more about a new medium that you want to work on and studying about it may give you the motivation to start painting again.

4. Look at the artworks of other painters. Art galleries, museums, and art exhibitions showcase numerous paintings and other artworks. Seeing the creativity of other artists can also inspire you to do your own masterpiece. Look at the Internet for paintings done by famous artists and see if you can learn a thing or two about how use the same painting technique or materials in your own project. Check out art magazines to see what subjects are popular nowadays, who are the upcoming artists, or where you can get art lessons.

5. Meet with other artists. Get together with your art friends. If all of you are busy, schedule an appointment that all of you will keep. This is when you can share your ideas, frustrations, tips, problems, etc. Discussing with your art buddies can help you get fresh ideas, be motivated and refreshed. After a lunch or coffee with friends, you may find yourself filled with enthusiasm and eagerness to create another beautiful artwork.

Image source: www.thecreativecomplex.com

July 19, 2013

Tips for Watercolor Painters: Brush Skills Part One

Practice makes perfect. Every skill that we learn is perfected through constant practice until we perfect them and becomes a second nature to us. Aside from being a talent, painting is a skill that needs to be honed and mastered. Other more experienced watercolor artists have developed different techniques that created their masterpieces that we can also use and here are some of them.

Bands of Color
Dip your watercolor brush into a color until loaded and start to paint a continuous wavy pattern across the paper. Keep the width of the strokes equal as much as possible. Add more paint to your brush as needed and continue where you left off until you reach the end of the paper. Rinse your brush and dip it in another color. Make another wavy line right next to the first one but make sure not to let the washes touch. Leave white paper between each stroke. Continue doing this until you fill the whole paper.

Thick and Thin
Choose a color or a combination of colors. Dip your brush into the paint and make sure it’s not too wet. Start a fine line using the tip of the brush first then start putting pressure on the brush to make a thicker stroke then lessen the pressure until the line thins out again. Do this without lifting the brush off the paper. Reload your paint brush as needed. Rinse your brush and use other colors to make more lines using the same technique until you fill the paper. You can try to thicken your stroke where the adjacent line is thin, but in particluar, avoid touching the other washes with the new colors you lay down. Being able to instinctively thicken or thin a brush stroke on command while you are painting, and have it go where you want it, is a good preparation for your future masterpieces.

Wrist Flick
The Wrist Flick is easily done with a decent round red sable or a rigger-style brush. Put paint in you brush and position the tip of the brush pointing towards you. Push the brush tip upward with a flicking motion creating a feathery point at the last part of the stroke. One technique that you can use is you can rest your brush hand on top of my other hand for stability and control of detailed flick strokes. Practice several times in each color you have. Vary the thickness of the strokes as you try to imitate grasses, branches, or even feathers.

There are more of these techniques. Watch out for par two!

July 19, 2013

5 Tips in Buying an Artist’s Easel

In a previous blog post, I explained the different types of easels available to painters. With a wide range of easels out there, how do you choose the easel for you? Here are tips to help you in selecting the perfect easel:

Tip #1. Ask these questions to yourself:

What kind of painting do I always do?
What medium am I using?
What is my budget for an easel?
Where will I place and store the easel? Do I have adequate space?
Where do I usually do my paintings? Inside a studio or outdoors?

Your answers to these questions will help you decide on which easel is best for you. A tabletop easel is best if you like to paint small-scale paintings or you have very limited space in your room. Different medium require different easels. For example, if you paint with oils, use an A-frame or H-frame easel, or whatever easel that will provide you with a vertical working surface. If you use several medium such as oils and watercolors, a convertible easel is best. Aside from these factors, the budget and space should also be considered.

Tip #2. Check the sturdiness of the easel. The easel should be sturdy enough to hold your canvas, support the painting process, and will not easily topple. The larger the canvas you’re working on, the sturdier the easel should be. You wouldn’t want to work on a shaky surface wherein each brush strokes vibrate because the easel cannot give ample support. Make sure that you’re not buying a display easel which is lightweight and spindly. It is designed for showcasing paintings, and not for working on paintings.

Tip #3. Choose an easel that offers adjustability. Buy an easel which provides the greatest degree of adjustability. When painting, you may want to paint standing up or sitting down, you need to work on top of the canvas as well as at the bottom. You need to have an easel that can be adjusted to give you the right tilt so you can paint on different areas of the canvas.

Tip #4. Look for an easy-to-use easel. This tip is related to Tip #3. Check if you can easily use the screw and bolt mechanism of the easel. See if it tightens properly according to the height and angle you preferred.

Tip #5. Save money for a quality easel. Keep in mind that an easel is one of your biggest expense in painting. You may have to wait for some time and keep saving for a high quality easel rather than buying cheap easels. You will be using an easel for a long time so it’s better to buy an easel that would last.

July 18, 2013

Watercolor Paintings by Vincent Van Gogh

Scheveningen Woman Etten: November-December, 1881 (Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum) — Scheveningen Woman
Etten: November-December, 1881
(Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum)

“What a splendid thing watercolour is to express atmosphere and distance, so that the figure is surrounded by air and can breathe in it, as it were.” – Vincent van Gogh

Although Van Gogh’s watercolour paintings are not as well known as his oil paintings, he produced 148 watercolor paintings during his life and perfected this skill. His fondness in watercolour are very evident through his letters to his brother Theo. At the age of 28 Vincent wrote the following in a letter to his brother Theo in December 1888:

“I came away from him with some painted studies and a few watercolors. They are not masterpieces, of course, yet I really believe that there is some soundness and truth in them, more at any rate than what I’ve done up to now. And so I reckon that I am now at the beginning of the beginning of doing something serious. And because I can now call on a couple of technical resources, that is to say, paint and brush, everything seems fresh again, as it were.”

In the same letter he wrote:

“I wish you could see the two watercolors I have brought back with me, for you would realize that they are watercolors just like any other watercolours. They may still be full of imperfections, que soit, I am the first to say that I am still very dissatisfied with them, and yet they are quite different from what I have done before and look fresher and brighter. That doesn’t alter the fact, however, that they must get fresher and brighter still, but one can’t do everything one wants just like that. It will come little by little.”

Aside from drawing, Van Gogh often did watercolors as studies before doing an oil painting or as practice. Though often lacking his distinctive brush stroke textures, the watercolors are unmistakably Van Gogh in their use of bold, vibrant color. Often times, these watercolors were used as field studies for their eventual larger oil counterparts.

Initially, van Gogh would use watercolors to add shades to his drawings but the more he used them, the more these pieces became works of art in their own right. As Van Gogh continued to refine his technique, he used more and brighter colors in his watercolors. Over time he became more comfortable working with watercolors and was able to work quickly with them to produce more impressive works.

The watercolor paintings of Van Gohg distinguish themselves as a vibrant and important part of his overall oeuvre. Vincent Van Gogh‘s use of colour is, as always, marvelous and his watercolour works stand out as a remarkable achievement in the course of his constantly evolving art.

Image source: www.vangoghgallery.com

July 18, 2013

Beautiful Paintings Using Painting Knives

Tired of using paintbrushes? Want to experiment on using other tools in painting? You can try using a painting knife. People confuse a painting knife with a palette knife, the terms are used interchangeably, but when applying paint on a canvas, painting knife is used. Palette knife is used to mix and blend paint colors.

Using a painting knife produces thick, textured art work which is great for creating impasto. Impasto is a painting technique, using a thick application of paint that makes no attempt to look smooth. Most of the times, oil paint is the medium used in knife painting because of its think consistency but acrylics can also be used.

Knife painting can be a liberating technique. It lets you play with paint using the knife to create different depth and texture to the canvas. You need to load more paint that you normally need to the painting knife. You can then rub, squish, scrape, whip, slice, dab, mix the paint and let it sit there on the canvas. Many abstract and impressionist painters use painting knives in painting such as Vincent van Gogh, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hofmann, and contemporary artists Frank Auerbach and Leonid Afremov. Most common subjects in knife painting include architectural structures, landscapes, and man-made objects.

If you’re looking at a painting and you’re not sure whether the impasto technique was used, look at the painting from the side. If you see lumps of paint on the canvas, you’ll be sure that impasto was used.

Here are some beautiful paintings which used painting knives:

Wheat Field with Cypresses_Van_Gogh — Wheat Field with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh, 1889.

Vincent van Gogh created several paintings in his Wheat Fields series. In the painting above, notice the movements of the clouds, trees, and the wheat field. Van Gogh used the impasto technique in this painting, and all the paintings in the series. He used bright, vivid paint colors to convey energy and movement.

Farewell_to_Anger_Afremov — Farewell to Anger by Leonid Afremov

Leonid Afremov is a Russian-Israeli modern impressionistic artist known for his use of painting knives in his artworks. He is also known as a self-promoting artist, using the Internet to promote and sell his paintings and not much relying on art galleries and exhibitions. In his paintings, you will see how he effectively used the knife in applying, mixing, and creating images. He was able to develop a painting style distinctly his own.

Image sources:
www.metmuseum.org
www.afremov.com

July 17, 2013

Watercolor Painting Supplies for Beginners

Watercolor is one of the most versatile mediums to work with that you can paint your subjects from very controlled and detailed, to very loose and impressionistic. It is exciting and enjoyable but challenging and a bit frustrating at the same time. Now that you’ve decided that you want to try watercolor as a medium, you need to start somewhere and that is to know your materials.

Paper
Watercolor paper is essentially blotting paper marketed and sold as an art paper, and the two can be used interchangeably, as watercolor paper is more easily obtainable than blotter and can be used as a substitute for blotter. Lower end watercolor papers can resemble heavy paper more while higher end varieties are usually entirely cotton and more porous like blotter. Watercolor paper is traditionally torn and not cut.

Paint
Watercolor paint consists of four principal ingredients: pigments, gum Arabic, additives and solvent. The term watercolor refers to paints that use water soluble, complex carbohydrates as a binder. Originally (16th to 18th centuries), watercolor binders were sugars and/or hide glues, but since the 19th century the preferred binder is natural gum arabic, with glycerin and/or honey as additives to improve plasticity and dissolvability of the binder, and with other chemicals added to improve product shelf life.

Palette
Cake and Pan watercolor sets usually have built-in fold out palettes that are useable in varying degrees depending on their size and orientation. For your tube watercolors you can use a flat white dinner plate or buy some inexpensive 6 or more welled plastic palettes like the ones you used in grade school for your tempera paints. A covered plastic palette makes for the least waste and most convenience if you are using tube watercolors. If you are getting serious, buy one.

Brush
A #8 round red sable watercolor brush is the best beginner brush to buy most especially when you can afford only one brush. Adding a round #4 and a 1″ flat would come in handy for detail work and large washes. Most manufacturers have starter sets that contain very usable equivalents.

Water
Find a glass or jar, or small bucket to hold fresh, clean water. Use two for rinsing your brush between colors, and for clean water for painting. Avoid hard water for it decreases paint solubility and flow. Tap water is usually fine

Extras
Some minor extra things that you will need in you watercolour kit is a pencil, a kneaded eraser, some tissues, and an old towel or paper towels, and a couple of large metal clips for holding your watercolor paper to a board.

Image source: watercolorpainting.com

July 17, 2013

Painting Knife vs. Palette Knife: What’s the Difference?

Many people are confused between a painting knife and a palette knife. They look similar and are used in painting on canvas. So, what’s the difference between these two painting tools?

Knife-Painting-shapes2 — Different shapes of painting knives

Painting Knife
About.com defines a painting knife as “a springy, shaped, metal spatula used for painting instead of a brush.” A painting knife is a tool used to apply paint which is made of metal with a wooden handle. It has a crank or a bend on the handle, similar to the shape of a trowel, that helps keep your knuckles from touching the paint you’re applying. Eventhough it’s called a knife, a painting knife has blunt edges and is not used for cutting or slicing. Painting knives are available in different sizes and angular shapes: triangular, pear-shaped, rectangular, or diamond-like.

How to buy a painting knife
When buying a painting knife, choose the one with a flexible blade, one which has a good spring to it. The handle should be smooth, has a nice grip, and comfortable to hold. Make sure that the handle and the blade are firmly attached to avoid wasting paint or accidents.

How to use a painting knife
Using a painting knife is easy, just like spreading butter on sliced bread. Get some paint from your palette and spread the paint on the canvas. You can use both sides of the painting knife.

How to clean a painting knife
After using a painting knife, use a clean cloth to wipe off the paint. Use another cloth to completely clean the tool. If the paint has already dried, scrape off the paint using a blunt knife and a damp cloth. A painting knife with a stainless steel blade is more forgiving if you forgot to clean it immediately after painting. However, if the blade is made of steel, it is prone to rust if neglected.

Palette Knife
A palette knife is a blunt tool shaped like a spatula which is used in mixing paint colors, mediums, additives, etc. and scraping paint off the palette. It has a longer, straight blade with a rounded tip, unlike a painting knife which has angular shapes. A palette knife is made of metal, plastic, or wood.

How to buy a palette knife
Choose a palette knife with a metal blade and wood handle. As much as possible, avoid a plastic palette knife since it breaks easily. It may be inexpensive than a professional palette knife, but if you are planning to use this tool for a long time, go with the metal one which is sturdier and can effectively do the work.

How to use a palette knife
Put the paint colors or pigments on your palette. With a palette knife, get a little paint from the colors that you want to blend. Dab, flatten, and mix the colors together. If you are adding another color to the blended paints, clean the palette knife first using a cloth before getting the third paint color.

How to clean a palette knife
Cleaning a palette knife is similar to a painting knife. Use a damp cloth to remove the paint from the palette knife.

Image sources:
www.about.com
www.wikipedia.org

July 16, 2013

World’s Top Schools for Studying Arts

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Founded 1698, Vienna’s Academy of Fine Arts is divided into the Institute of Fine Arts (including the departments of abstract painting, art and digital media, art and photography, arts and research, conceptual art, contextual painting, expanded pictorial space, figurative painting, graphic arts and printmaking techniques, object sculpture, performative art-sculpture, video and video installation and textual sculpture), Institute for Art Theory and Cultural Studies, Institution for Conservation and Restoration, Institute for Natural Sciences and Technologies in Art, Institute for Secondary School Teaching Degrees (in craft, design and textiles) and the Institute for Art and Architecture.

Yale School of Art
Yale School of Art is rated the best in the United States for its Master of Fine Arts program as of 2013. Established in 1869, the Yale School of Art is one of the 12 constituent schools of Yale University. It grants a Masters of Fine Arts degree to those who have completed their studies in graphic design, painting or printmaking, photography or sculpture. Yale offers courses in all of these four interrelated fields.

Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, Italy
Located in Florence, Tuscany, the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (“Academy of Fine Arts of Florence”) was founded by Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Michelangelo and Giorgio Vasari in 1563. Originally, the Academy’s members were the eminent artistic personalities of Cosimo Medici’s court, supervising artistic production in the area. In 1784, all the schools of drawing in Florence were combined into one single institution, known as the Accademia di Belle Arti from then onwards. Since 1783, the Accademia Gallery has housed the original David by Michelangelo.

Royal Academy Schools, England
The Royal Academy Schools form the oldest art school in Britain and the only institution to offer a three-year post-graduate art course. They offer an unparalleled opportunity for students to develop their work over a three year postgraduate programme. The Academy provides free tuition to its students, contributed by Members of the Royal Academy. Disciplines such as painting, sculpture, print, installation, time-based media and digital media are taught.

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, France
Founded in 1648 by Charles Le Brun, The École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts is is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France. Studies at the school include painting, installation, graphic arts, photography, sculpture, digital media and video. Additional theoretical courses are supported by technical training and access to technical facilitiesThe collection of the school includes around 450,000 items, containing artwork and historical books.

Athens School of Fine Arts, Greece
Established in 1837, The Athens School of Fine Arts is Greece’s premier art school whose main objective is to develop the artistic talents of its students. As of 1840, the program for fine arts included painting, sculpture, architecture, lithography, woodcut, geometry and cartography. In 1910, the faculty was made independent of the National Technical University. This was also the year in which women were first allowed to study at the School of Fine Arts.

Image source: www. wikipedia.com

July 16, 2013

Tips in Painting on Large Canvases

Spolarium_Luna — The Spoliarium by Juan Luna, 1884. It measures 4.22 meters x 7.675 meters.

Many artists dream of painting on a bigger canvas. If you have an idea or inspiration that cannot be captured on standard size canvases, going big is your way to go. However, if you’ve never painted on a large canvas, you can be intimidated and overwhelmed with the thought of creating big-scale art. Here are some tips that can help you overcome your fears on painting big.

Tip #1. Gradually paint on bigger canvases. Help your mind, eyes, and hands to adjust painting on a large canvas. Every couple of weeks or so, try to paint on a canvas which is bigger than the previous one you used. This practice will help you get comfortable and get used to painting big. With a small canvas, you’re working on a limited space so the details are smaller, lines are finer, and you finish quicker than painting on large-scale canvases so, you may have to practice your brush strokes little by little until you reach your desired canvas size. Learn from your mistakes and correct them along the way. Don’t be in a rush to work on a large canvas.

Tip #2. Know the scale of the painting. Are you using a big canvas to fill it with small details of a complex subject (e.g. historical event) or are you painting a big-scale of a small subject (e.g. portrait, nature). Find the balance among the subject, the size of the canvas, and your painting style. Remember, just because the painting is bigger, doesn’t mean it’s better than ordinary size painting. Some subjects are perfect for larger canvases while some are best with small canvases.

Tip #3. Use bigger brushes. Bigger brushes will help you finish the painting faster. You can cover larger areas of the canvas and you can loosen up a bit when painting, like a child painting freely on the wall. Stand back from the canvas and see if you’re on the right track. You can still use small brushes, though, if you’re more comfortable with them and if the style of your painting requires them.

Tip #4. Divide the canvas into sections. Working on a big painting can be overwhelming. Using your sketch as guide, try to divide the canvas into sections and do one section at a time until you finish the whole painting. You can also try breaking down the elements of the painting and before you know it, you’re on your last brush strokes in this painting.

Tip #5. Be patient. Since you’re painting on a large canvas, naturally, it will take more time to finish and to dry, so be patient. If you’re an artist who get bored easily or can’t delay gratification, then creating large-scale paintings is not for you.

Image source: www.wikipedia.org