Art and Photography Articles

Easels
When choosing an easel, firstly you need to decide where you are using it. If it will be outdoors on rough ground then perhaps you will need a “” style easel. If you are using it on a table then a “table easel” (or box easel) will suffice and is slightly cheaper. While if you are in a studio then a “studio easel” is better built and slightly more expensive but well worth the money.

Watercolour Paints
It is the opinion of the writer of this article that there are only a few leading watercolour paint brands that truly delivers the results that a good painter would need. Those brands are Winsor & Newton, Daler Rowney and Schmincke. There are cheaper brands available, and are OK for beginners, but given the life of a lot of these paints the premium brands do offer good value for money.

Oil Paints
Oil paints are a little different. Most of the big brands have ranges of paints at different cost levels. Winsor & Newton for example have five different oil paint ranges; Winsor & Newton Artisan, Winsor & Newton Artist’s Oil, Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyd, Winsor & Newton Oilbar and Winsor & Newton Winton Oil Colour, While Daler Rowney have their “Georgian” oil paint range. Choosing between them is usually price driven and frankly they are all of good quality and durability so in this case I wouldn’t have a problem n recommending the cheaper products to beginner painters.

Acrylic Paints
For beginner painters yet to master oil painting, acrylic paints are a great way to start out. They are easier to handle and are a great way of building up your skill before tackling the art of oil painting! There are some great products available from Daler Rowney (Cryla, Daler Rowney Acrylic and System 3), Liquitex, Winsor & Newton (Galeria, Winsor & Newon Artists Acrylic) and Golden Acrylics.

Goache Paints
The water based painting style using Goache paints is a fairly advanced technique and usually only tackled by more experienced artists, although with iconic results many artists at many levels can and do create great art using gouache techniques. There are some professional quality gouache paints available from Daler Rowey, Caran D’Ache and Winsor & Newton.

Brushes
In most painting styles, if you want to achieve a “background wash” of a series of colours, then “mop and wash brushes” are designed to do just that. With big heads, they are ideal for covering a lot of the painting surface in only a few sweeps of the brush.

For the finer detail in Watercolour painting, most art suppliers will supply dedicated “watercolour brushes” designed specifically for the purpose, while any oil or acrylic brush should be suitable for both oil and acrylic paints.

With brushes, the price you pay will reflect the quality of the brush. Most of the big art brands again have different brands suitable for your price level. Pullingers offer own brand versions of brand named brushes, while Winsor & Newton offer their own full range at a higher price but at higher quality.

As well as brushes, colour shapers can be useful – particularly in oil painting to close lines. Because they don’t absorb paint, you can simply wipe them clean!

Art Suppliers
There are many UK suppliers of art materials. Amongst the most prominent and trustworthy are Ken Bromley Art Supplies, Pullingers, Jacksons Art and Great Art.

Author Bio: Art Forbes-Lee is a published art author currently writing a series of articles on the subject of art and the businesses that supply to the general public. In this article, Art celebrates Pullingers and their range of art materials particularly their brushes and Oil Paints.

So you’re stood in your local art store having decided you’d like a dabble with watercolours and you’ve made it to the paint section. In front of you lie a multitude of colours and you can’t possibly make a decision with such little experience in painting.

Well, let’s start to narrow it down a little. First of all were going to go for the student quality paint. Winsor and Newton do a great Cotman budget range in large 21ml tubes that I use myself. They’re of excellent quality and will put you in good stead as you begin your watercolour journey.

I only use seven colours for all my paintings – Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber, Light Red, Ultramarine Blue, Lemon Yellow, Payne’s Gray and Alizarin Crimson.

Limiting your palette this way will help you get more intimate with your colours and you will quickly learn how they react when mixed together. With experience you will instantly know which colours to mix to replicate any colour that you see in nature.

My first colour, Raw Sienna, I use more than any other on my palette and is present in practically all my paintings. I start off many a sky with a light Raw Sienna wash and it’s also prominent in much land detail. You’ll find it an excellent companion.

Burnt Umber is a good earthy colour and really comes into its own in winter scenes as the earth sticks out from the snow. Mixed with Ultramarine Blue it’s possible to get a whole range of greys, useful for cool shadows.

Light Red is a strong, fiery colour and only used in moderation – too much and it will dominate your palette. A tube of red will last an eternity! Never use it on its own. Mixed with Burnt Umber it’s an excellent substitute for Burnt Sienna. Used with Ultramarine it will produce some lovely warm shadows.

Ultramarine Blue is predominant in many of my skies. It is also used with Lemon Yellow to produce a whole range of greens. Note there is no green on my palette, I prefer to mix them myself.

Lemon Yellow is an essential colour for my greens. A little with more Ultramarine will push your trees towards the horizon. As you come closer add more Lemon Yellow to warm the mix up for the foreground.

Payne’s Gray can be used with many of the colours to generally darken the mix. I like to add it to Lemon Yellow to create rich, dark greens for foreground trees and foliage.

Alizarin Crimson is the second of my red colours and just like the Light Red, a tube of this will go a long way. I probably use it most with Payne’s Gray for cloud shadows in the sky. Used with Ultramarine Blue it makes a cracking sky colour in winter scenes and looks lovely against the white paper as the shadows dance along the snow.

These seven colours have stood me in good stead. I generally try to use as few as possible to keep the colours harmonious in the painting. Often, especially in winter scenes, I’ll restrict myself to just three – Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue. Remember – practise makes perfect. Happy painting!

Author Bio: Steven Cronin is artist and author of oil and watercolour painting tutorial books aimed primarily at beginners. Visit his bookstore at http://www.LearnToPaint.net

Please note that you can view the painting via the link below in the author’s biography. This demonstration is also available as a book via link below.

First let me introduce the materials. My brushes are a 1″ landscape, no.4 fan, no.2 script liner and I also use a palette knife. My colours are Titanium White, Phthalo Blue, Lamp Black, Alizarin Crimson, Van Dyke Brown, Sap Green, Bright Red, Cadmium Yellow Hue and liquid white. I’m painting on a 12″ x 10″ canvas board securely fixed to my easel at almost 90 degrees.

Before we start painting, apply a thin, even coat of liquid white across the entire surface of the canvas board. This will allow us to spread the paint on the canvas more easily.

Take the 1″ landscape brush and mix Phthalo Blue with just a touch of Lamp Black. Using small criss-cross strokes, paint in the sky starting at the top and work your way down. As you near the horizon your brush will pick up some of the liquid white and automatically your sky will get lighter at the bottom. Using a clean brush and a very light touch, use broad horizontal strokes to blend all your sky together.

Next we need to put in the water. Using the same colours as the sky and starting at the bottom, use broad horizontal strokes from either edge of the canvas, stopping just short of centre so as to create a lighter area in the middle. Work your way towards the horizon and again use a clean brush to blend everything together.

Now we need to add some trees on the horizon line. Load your no.4 fan brush with the sky mix and just a touch of Sap Green. Use short stabbing strokes to indicate some trees in the background. Use a clean 1″ landscape brush to pull down some reflections.

Take your palette knife and cut across some liquid white to create a small roll of paint along the edge of the knife. Run the knife along the bottom of your trees to cut in a waterline.

Mix a little Phthalo Blue, Lamp Black, Alizarin Crimson, Van Dyke Brown and Sap Green to an almost black colour. Load a 1″ landscape brush with your dark mix and block in the basic shape of a tree on the left hand side remembering to leave plenty of holes to see your sky through.

Take your no.2 script liner brush and mix some of the dark colour with a little paint thinner to an ink-like consistency. Add some branches where you left the holes in the tree.

Mix loosely some Cadmium Yellow Hue, Sap Green and liquid white and with just the corner of a 1″ landscape brush add some highlights to your tree remembering not to kill all the dark.

Load your 1″ brush with your dark mix and block in a river bank in front of your tree remembering to pull down some reflections. Highlight as you did the tree but remember to repeat your highlights in the water.

Mix some Van Dyke Brown and Titanium White and cut across with your palette knife. Add a muddy shore to your river bank with the knife. Clean your knife and cut across some liquid white. Run the knife along the shore to cut in a waterline.

Repeat the process on the right hand side but make your tree and river bank a little smaller as they are slightly further away.

Go back into your dark mix with a 1″ landscape brush and block in some reeds and grasses in the right hand foreground. Again, add the highlights using Cadmium Yellow Hue, Sap Green and some liquid white using just the corner of the 1″ brush.

Finally, sign your painting and then sit back and admire!

Author Bio: Steven Cronin is artist and author of oil and watercolour painting tutorial books aimed primarily at beginners. Visit his bookstore at http://www.LearnToPaint.net To view the painting please visit http://www.steven-cronin-art.com/2010/03/still-waters-12-x-10-oil-on-canvas.html

If you like the beauty of the painting sketch was made crayons or pencils, Now with Adobe Photoshop CS3 and CS4, you can practice these effects to your digital photos. Without drawing skills, you have been able to draw sketches. There are few tips from me, if you want a sketch painted more optimal, use the Graphic Tablet Mouse instead.

Step 1 :

Find a digital photo with high resolution both as a reference sketch, open the image in the File Menu > Open. Create a new layer just above it and name the layer is “Gray Layer”. Select the color light gray from the Color Picker as the Foreground Color, and then click OK. Fill the layer with the color of the foreground color by clicking on the Edit menu, then select Fill > Foreground Color and click OK.

Step 2 :
Next, switch to the layer palette, select Menu Layers > Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer, and then select Pattern. Select group ‘Pappers Grayscale’ and select the fibers 1 type. And before pressing the OK button, larger-scale pattern in the texture of 300% in the Scale column then continue by clicking OK.

Step 3 :

Change the layer blending to Soft Light with the Opacity to 40%. Next duplicate the background layer / model and name it “glowing edges” on the duplicated layer. This is done to give effect to these layers.

Step 4 :

Now, go to Filter menu, choose Stylize > Glowing edges. Drag the slider ‘Edge Width’ to number 3, move the slider ‘Edge Brightness’ to number 12, Drag the slider ‘smoothness’ to the number 7 and click OK. Still on Layer ‘Glowing edges’, invert staining in this layer by selecting Image menu, select Adjustment > Invert (Ctrl + I). Because since we do not need color information at this layer, change the color to be black & white by selecting the Image menu, select Adjustment Desaturate or press a key combination (Ctrl + Shift + U) on the keyboard.

Step 5 :

Move the layer “Glowing edges” is to stack the top layer by dragging while holding the left mouse button. Change the Layer Blending into Multiply by setting the Opacity to 20%. Return to layer, duplicate the layer Background / model and name this new layer with the ‘Sketch’. On this layer, we will create a sketch effect. Discard color information at this layer by selecting Image menu, select Adjustment > Desaturate or press the key combination “Shift + Ctrl + U” on the keyboard.

Step 6 :

Next, move the sketch layer to the stack top layer by dragging while holding the left mouse button. Then, increase the contrast in this layer by selecting Image menu, and select Adjustment > Curves or press the key combination “Ctrl + F” on your keyboard and click OK. Give Grainy effect by selecting Filter menu, select Noise > Add Noise. Drag the slider ‘Amount’ to 14.21%, choose Gaussian in the Distribution column, and check Monochromatic field and click OK.

Step 7 :

Hide the first layer “Sketch” by choosing Layer menu, select Layer Mask > Hide All. You also can press the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the layer palette then click the Edit menu, select Fill > Black. This layer makes the layer remains visible on the mode, but for now, hidden under the mask.

Step 8 :

Now select the Brush Tool (B), then click on the Toolbar Brush to select the brush shape. Choose the Dry Media Brushes and then select the type of brush Pastel on Charcoal Paper. If you use the Graphic Tablet, open the Brush Editor by pressing the F5 key on your keyboard. Dynamic Shape Panel, change the Size Control Jitter from Off to Pen Pressure. Similarly, in the Other Dynamics Panel, change the Opacity Jitter becomes Pen Pressure Control. If you use the Mouse, you do not need to open the Brush Editor, simply change the quantity Opacity and Flow at the Option bar.

Step 9 :

Back to the Sketch Layer, click the thumbnail black mask to work on the Mask. Do not forget to use the Foreground Color to white. Set brush size 15 px, opacity to 55% and Flow to 75%, scratched Stylus / Mouse slowly. Apply On the first face of the character, such as eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth. Do more scratches, especially on the part of the body contours.

Step 10 :

Now, scratched Brush hair in the frame. Use a smaller brush, about the size of 10px. Now, larger brush size of 30 px, scratched in all parts of the hair. And further, larger Opacity to 98% and use a small brush (10 px) to further reinforce the character’s eyes and mouth. And as a last resort, brush in shadow areas by using the Brush size 35 px or larger and Opacity to 81%.

Author Bio: For more details about this information visit the page Photoshop Trick : 10 Steps Make Your Photo to Hand Sketch Effect and visit the homepageTop Freeware,Photoshop Tricks,PC Tricks and Internet Tips & Tricks

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