ART-always ahead of imagination

Art is always ahead of its imagination. Paintings are all about ART.I did so many paintings when I was just 10.

I knew people around me will take their own time to appreciate it. I don’t expect such things from them.

I am a painter who never got my due during my childhood. I am tying to boost my own images.

I remember all movements of my life as a painter. I remember I was in 4^th standard & one of my teacher told me to take part in competition. I was scared as that was my first participation. But finally I gone there & painted Nature’s picture using water colors. Very simple picture as I was kid; consisting of hills, river coming through it, birds flying, trees behind a home…I got 3^rd prize for that. I was very happy. After this achievement I had never seen behind & started my art to grow up…In 7^th & 8^th standard I took part in Rangoli competition. Rangoli is one ART in which, using it we can feel dry colors in our paintings on the floor. Here I filled up Mahatma Gandhi’s (who is a famous freedom fighter of India)picture using only black and white Rangoli. For that I got 1^st prize. After that in 11^th std. I painted Yeshu christ’s picture. Then in the same year I got 2^nd prize for Soldiers painting in which the soldier was about to die in Kargil war.

After a long gap I had done Rangoli of Cartoons HUM TUM, from famous Indian Hindi movie. This was near about 6 * 6 feet picture.

I remember those moments as I did hard work to win by any here and there. If you people have the hobbies of paintings and art then don’t’ let it down. Take some time to fulfill your hobbies and try you best to get appreciation from your friends.

I don’t get enough time to paint, but I will never let my motto down & will never give up my passion of ART.

I just want to say,” It gives me relief from daily stress and any frustration. I use to paint so look so young.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Very few art or craft activities offer more opportunities for creative expression than painting on fabric, especially for wearable art. The textile paints formulated today are available in a wide array of brilliant colors; they’re also water-based, nontoxic and perfectly safe for even young children to use under adult supervision. And children love to paint on fabric. If you’re stumped for ideas, just bring in your kids (or borrow a neighbor’s child!) and set them loose in the studio. Soon you’ll have yards of beautiful, handpainted fabric to use in your next art-to-wear project.

CHOOSING & PREPARING FABRICS

You can paint on just about any textile, and experimentation with various materials is always encouraged, but here are some suggestions for selecting fabrics to paint:

For the smoothest application of paint, choose tightly woven materials. For looser applications, wetinto- wet techniques, or painted designs that don’t require precise designs, loosely woven fabrics (with warp and weft threads clearly visible) are perfectly acceptable.

Some artists prefer to paint on silk, while others favor quilter’s quality muslin or 100-percent cotton with a high thread count. Still others like to paint on velvet, rayon, polyester, and other materials. The choice is really up to you.

Try obtaining samples of different textiles in various weights and thread counts to make a swatch notebook. Mail-order fabric-supply companies will often provide these swatches free or for a nominal fee. Apply paint to the swatches and store them dry in a notebook where you can also note how much of what type of paint was applied to each swatch.

If you’re just getting started, try using 100-percent cotton fabric with a high thread count, and expand your horizons from there. And remember that many painting techniques are suitable for dark or black fabrics, as well as white.

To prepare cotton or muslin fabric, you may prewash it in hot water and dry it on the hottest setting to remove any sizing on the fabric and to pre-shrink it— or you may choose not to pre-wash at all. It’s entirely up to you.

Silks must be treated differently and it is advisable to consult an expert before pre-washing; discuss this with the storeowner where you purchased your fabric or with mail-order fabric-supply companies, which are often staffed by knowledgeable fabric artists.

CHOOSING PAINTS

The sheer number of waterbased paints suitable for fabric painting can be overwhelming to the beginning artist. There are sheer, translucent paints, opaque paints, metallic, interference and pearlescent paints, acrylic paints and paints formulated specifically for textiles. And if you can’t find textile paint in the color of your choice, you can always mix a little textile medium in any acrylic to create textile paint.

Acrylics are available in jars, tubes, and bottles; they can be mixed to create new colors or diluted with water or with acrylic or textile mediums. Applied straight to fabric they will dry stiff, so I recommend mixing in a little textile medium first to create a paint that will dry with a soft finish.

Textile paints are made specifically for fabric painting (although they can be applied to other surfaces as well). If you’re just getting started, I recommend trying textile paint. Jacquard’s Textile, Neopaque, and umiere paints are excellent choices for beginners and professionals alike, as is Dr. Ph. Martin’s ReadyTex paint.

For “on the surface” 3-dimensional techniques, applicator-tipped paints such as Tulip, Plaid and Jones Tones are fantastic.

PAINTING TOOLS & EQUIPMENT

You really don’t need lots of expensive tools or equipment for fabric painting—in a pinch you can even finger-paint! But it is helpful to have at hand a few tools for experimentation.

• Paintbrushes: both flat and round-tip, in various sizes

• Foam brushes: inexpensive, for smoothest application

• Sponges: manmade and sea sponges

• Toothbrushes: for spattering on paint

• Plastic buckets: for rinsing out brushes and sponges as you work

• Plastic covering: to protect the work surface

• Apron: to protect your clothing

• Plastic or Styrofoam plates: for disposable painter’s palettes

• Spray bottle

• Paper towels

• Brayer

• Kosher salt

PREPARING TO PAINT

Don protective clothing and/or disposable gloves and cover the work surface (and surrounding floor) with plastic. Pre-wash fabrics as needed, and fill two buckets with fresh water. Place all tools and paints nearby, ready to use. Tear the fabric into pieces or lay out yardage on a plastic-covered table.

PAINT APPLICATION

Paint may be applied to fabric in numerous ways. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Wet the fabric with a spray bottle, spread it out on a work surface, and drop various colored paints in a random pattern for a wet-into-wet technique. Allow the painted fabric to dry naturally or speed up the process with a hair dryer.

Wet fabric with a spray bottle, apply layers of textile paint to the fabric with foam brushes or damp sponges, and sprinkle the surface with kosher salt. Allow the fabric to dry completely before brushing off the salt and ironing.

Apply lots of textile paint to wet fabric, and then cover the fabric with plastic wrap, pressing wrinkles into the plastic. Allow the fabric to dry for several days before removing the plastic wrap. On dry fabric, apply layers of textile paint with sponges. Pour out small puddles of paint onto a Styrofoam plate and dip soft sponges into each puddle before “stamping off” onto the fabric. Take care not to apply too many layers, or the fabric may stiffen.

On dry or wet fabric, apply thick textile paint with a brayer: Roll the brayer in paint until it’s quite “gloppy,” and then roll the brayer over the fabric in long strokes. Allow the fabric to dry naturally.

Fill a bucket with water, add a small amount of paint, stir, and submerge fabric for several hours or a few days. Remove the fabric, squeeze out the diluted paint, and allow the fabric to dry undisturbed in a tight ball for one week. Open the fabric ball and iron flat; note the lovely wrinkle patterns. This technique also works with strong black tea or coffee.

HEAT-SETTING & FABRIC CARE

Acrylic paints are permanent once dry; hence the need for wearing old clothes or an apron while painting! There is no need to heat-set acrylic paint. But textile paint must be heat-set with an iron for permanence, and some manufacturers recommend waiting at least 24 hours after the paint has dried before washing the fabric.

After painting, some fabrics should be washed by hand, while others may be machine-washed. Consult the manufacturer’s instructions on paint labels for specific instructions regarding the care of handpainted fabrics.

CLEANUP

If you covered your work surface and surrounding floor with plastic, cleanup should be a snap. Simply wipe down the plastic with a damp sponge to remove any spills, dry the plastic, and store it for later use. Discard used paper towels. Wash out all brushes and sponges with warm water and mild detergent and rinse them until the water runs clear. Store brushes flat or with the tips up. Squeeze out the moisture from your sponges. Rinse out your buckets and store them for later use.

Is a painting technique where a device sprays a coating (paint, ink, varnish etc.) through the air onto a surface. The most common types employ compressed gas — usually air compressed by an air compressor — to atomize and direct the paint particles. Spray guns developed from airbrushes and the two are usually distinguished by their size and the size of the spray pattern they produce. Airbrushes are hand held and used instead of a brush for detailed work such as photo retouching, painting nails or fine art. Air gun spraying uses equipment that is generally larger. It is typically used for covering large surfaces with an even coating of liquid. Spray guns can be either automated or hand-held and have interchangeable heads to allow for different spray patterns.

Nib painting- Painting is the art in which colours and lines make the visual impression. Besides painting with brushes, knives, spatula, nibs and even twigs are used for painting.

What You need.

• Design
• Felt
• Hard board
• Oil paint
• Tracing Paper
• Pencil Carbon
• Glue
• Nibs- 3 types of nibs are available.
• Rounded tip to do circle designs
• Long tip to do lines
• Short pointed tip to draw small sharp lines.

Using glue stick the felt on the hard board. Trace down the design on the felt. Now you are ready to paint the design. Two things should be always taken care while doing nib painting. One, you should always start painting from top so as to move your hand freely towards down part. Secondly, you should move your hand evenly while doing your painting. This gives the painting a real look.

Decide on the shade scheme of your design. Since the petals are not of the same shade, white and pink paint should be used in good combination to get the double shade. Put the paint straight onto the felt. Press on it or score on the paint using the nib. Wherever a round design is required use the nib with round tip and wherever the small sharp lines are drawn short pointed tip nip is used. Generally long tip nib is used to do the lines. You can also take the paint on the nib and press it against the surface to create the design. You may take 2-3 days to finish off with a design. But do it patiently. You will enjoy this. The design will dry off very slowly, say by 10- days or more. The consistency of the paint is very thick. After the design is fully dried, get it framed

Materials :

• Square Glass piece
• M- seal (A paste used for sealing cracks and leaks)
• Glass paint
• Thinner
• Glue
• Brushes
• Aluminum foil
• Boldly traced design
• Talcum powder.

Method:

First a traced design is placed on the table and the plain glass is placed above the design, so that the design is clearly seen through the glass. Now mix the two coloured pastes of the mseal in equal proportion to get a wax finish. With the help of talcum powder roll the dough (Mseal Mixture) into thin and even strings. This string is stuck with glue over the glass on the outline of the trace which is kept under the glass and allowed to dry.

When it dries colour it with black glass paint.Before you start painting the colour, test your shades on the corner of the glass and wipe it off with the thinner. The colour choice should be perfect because the stained glass paint gets dried up fast and the correction cannot be done easily. While painting, the colour blending should be done quickly and carefully. When the whole painting and the mseal border gets dried, remove the trace. Now place a crushed aluminum foil behind the picture and get it framed.

Watercolor is probably the oldest form of paint, originated by ancient man tens of thousands of years ago. But it is not the only water-based painting medium you will encounter.The three primary water-based painting mediums are:Watercolor - a translucent paint that uses gum arabic as its vehicleGouache – an opaque paint originally designed as commercial illustration paint, but which now is used primarily as fine art paint. Gouache also uses gum arabic as a vehicleTempera – the paint of school posters and many young artists, tempera is not designed to last, but rather as an inexpensive, easy to clean painting medium, perfect for children. Tempera uses casein as its vehicleNote: Although acrylic is also technically water-based, its dissimilarity to the other water-based paints discussed here warrants a article, Acrylic Basics: Artist's Studio Education.Water-based paints come in several different formats, depending on their final use:Watercolors, all of which must be thinned with water before use, come in Tubes and Pans. Tubes are highly concentrated liquid watercolor, primarily used for studio work. Pans are semi-moist, solid watercolors, which are perfect for fieldwork and the classroom, where portability and ease of clean up are important.

Gouache is usually sold in tubes, although there are some opaque watercolors that are sold in pans.

Tempera is typically sold in squeeze bottles. Because tempera is usually used for posters and children’s art, it is lower cost and comes in large sized containers.

Pigment Particulars/Palette Preferences:

As the pigments found in water-based paints are virtually the same as those found in oil paints, and have the same mixability characteristics, please refer to Oil Paint Basics: Artist's Studio Education for pigment information as well as a suggested beginning palette.

1. Making the Grade
2. Like oil paints, watercolors come in two grades:
3. Artist Grade
4. Student Grade

Artist Grade watercolors (Winsor Newton Artist’s Watercolour, for example) are found in tubes, and to a lesser extent, pans. These high-load colors are manufactured with the highest quality pigments and vehicles, and are perfect for any artist.

Student Grade watercolors (Winsor Newton Cotman Watercolour, Grumbacher Academy Watercolors) offer good value for the student or beginning artist by providing quality paints with lower cost pigments and lower pigment loads. Student grade watercolors come in tubes and pans.

(Note: Gouache comes in artist grade only, and tempera comes in student grade only.)

Knowing which type of paint to use can be challenging, but with all the facts discussed so far, you should be able to choose the most appropriate paint for each situation.

Well Done Water-Based Mediums:

Just as with oil and acrylic, watercolor’s properties can be changed, enhanced and altered thru the use of Mediums.

1. Add Body/Reduce Flow – to create heaver, more textured paint films
2. Aquapasto
3. Reduce Body/Increase Flow - to create thinner, more translucent paint films
4. Gum Arabic
5. Watercolor medium
6. Change Surface Reflectivity – to make more glossy
7. Gum Arabic
8. Protect the Dried Paint Film
9. Liquid Fixative
10. Reduce the absorbency of paper
11. Prepared Size
12. Improve the acceptance of watercolors on paper
13. Ox gall liquid
14. Maintain unpainted areas (for later addition of color, or to keep as white highlights)
15. Art masking fluid