Wall Colors for Living Rooms, Dining Rooms and Entries

The public rooms in the home offer endless possibilities for color. An entry hall that features windows or skylights may adapt well to rich shades of chocolate, plum or wine. The light from a hanging fixture or wall sconce will enhance these shades and create an immediate warm and inviting ambiance to make guests feel welcome. If the entry flows into other areas such as the living room and dining room, colors from a similar palette should be chosen.

A dining room could feature an accent wall of a different color; for example, a burgundy wall with candle or electric sconces and a china cabinet displaying crystal and silver makes an elegant statement. Other adjacent areas could carry more subtle tones of rich tan shades or cooler gray tones. Choosing wall colors for the dining room offers the chance to highlight cherished heirlooms, set the mood for contemporary artwork or bring out the colors in draperies or window treatments.

Living room and family room areas require coordination of furnishings and accessories along with the choice of wall colors. Dark brown leather sofas blend well with ochre or deep tan tones on the walls. Rooms that contain upholstered furniture with floral or patterned motifs should always highlight a single color from the print as the primary focus. For example, a wall or two painted in hunter green will complement a sofa and chair upholstered in a country style print.

Wall Colors for the Nursery and Kid’s Rooms

Bright colors add a cheerful ambiance to any room and work well for children’s playrooms and nurseries. Dividing the wall into sections with molding strips allows the use of bright color on part of the wall and makes the environment pleasant without being overly exciting. Children need to have a space for both play and rest. As the family grows, walls may be repainted in favorite colors for boys or girls. Pinks are popular for young princesses and make them feel special and cared for. Boys may prefer a touch of red, navy blue or grass green that stimulates their imagination.

Teenagers typically go for darker shades that can be brightened by using neutral combinations, for example, black with white or chocolate brown with cream. If the lighting in a room is sufficient, even the darkest wall colors will be suitable for studying and create a restful environment during the evening hours.

Wall Colors and Textures for Bathrooms

A powder room looks elegant when finished with metallic tone paint in silver or gold highlights. Bronze fixtures stand out against a wall in a deep shade of rust or sienna. A master bathroom that features granite or marble countertops with streaks of gold or silver will sparkle if the same shade is used on the walls. Brighten the room by choosing rich tones for the wall color and adding lighter shades for the towels, rugs and bathroom accessories.

Tips for Decorating with Wall Color

- Mix wall colors by choosing two contrasting shades such as teal blue and sunflower yellow on adjoining walls. Use fabrics for curtains, upholstery, rugs or pillow to tie the colors together. Try to limit the theme by only adding one more color such as cream to avoid having a too busy look.
- Paint wide stripes of color in a vertical pattern on one wall in a bedroom or office. Place decorative molding strips in a horizontal pattern around the remainder of the room.
- Use a chair rail molding at a ¾ height and use two different colors above and below the rail.
- Use leather textured paints for a family room or an office and accessorize with Western furniture, lamps and rugs.
- Pick a bold color for a single wall and hang a large oil print that features that color.

The possibilities for creative home design using a few gallons of paint are endless. This inexpensive method of personalizing the space we live in makes the thought of redoing a room an exciting prospect.

Brighten the Home with Wall Color

The days of painting every room in the house with “Navajo White” or “Swiss Coffee” are long gone. Vibrant color and unique textures now grace the pages of the latest home decorating magazines. Today, everyone seems to want at least a little splash of color in their homes and the trend offers a golden opportunity for creative expression. Even the less daring have wall color options with a variety of deeper neutral tones that are a far cry from basic white. Painted wall color or textured paint treatments add interest and dimension to a room and reflect the personality of the resident.

The key to a successful home redo involves understanding how color changes the interior environment. Certain colors affect our moods and impact how we feel and react when we’re in the room. Choosing the appropriate wall color for an interior space requires some planning to ensure that we’re capturing the feeling of the room and creating an enjoyable environment.

The first step when planning a room update is to evaluate how certain colors work within specific rooms in the home.

Kitchen Color Choices

The kitchen should be a cheerful and inviting space where the family congregates every day. Warm colors such as golden yellows, amber and deep cream shades make everyone feel cozy and content. Bolder shades of pumpkin or tangerine may be used on accent walls, trim or even ceilings to demonstrate personality and make the room an enjoyable place to cook and eat. Shades of red stimulate the appetite and can be used throughout the kitchen on walls, accent tiles, and accessories. A cinnamon red wall adjacent to a light toast shade adds excitement and warmth to the room.

For those who prefer blues tones in the home, deeper shade such as turquoise, cobalt blue or periwinkle create an upbeat feeling in the kitchen. Paint one or two walls in the deeper color and the other walls with a compatible neutral in soft whites, tans or pale yellows. Finish the décor by adding a few accessory pieces such as ceramics or textiles that contain the color scheme. For breakfast nooks and casual eating areas, match fabrics to wall colors. For example, walls painted in mustard or light olive will bring out the rich colors of fabrics from Provence.

Textured paint adds depth and creates a casual look in the kitchen. Try using sponge prints or stenciling a few areas with grape patterns, fruit designs or favorite sayings for a touch of nostalgia or humor.

Wall Colors for Bedrooms

The bedroom should be a restful place where we go to retreat from our hectic daily lives. Cool wall colors such as soft blues and pale greens create an immediate soothing effect and calm the spirit. A room painted in a sky blue shade or soft sage green that features off white trim will immediately cause our pulse to slow and help us relax. A dash of a deeper shade of Wedgewood blue or fern green on wood moldings or used on an accent wall adds interest but maintains the restful ambiance. The same tones can be carried through into accessories, throw pillows or used to accent painted furniture.

For those who prefer warmer colors, soft fawn or taupe wall colors create a peaceful feeling yet project affection and sincerity. Dark wood bedroom furniture stands out against a wall painted in a bronze or desert sand shade.

To be continued.

Best regards,

Felicity Art

To get a free report with more tips on home improvement and decoration, visit www.decor-for-home.com/

Painting with acrylic paint is very versatile. The paints are either tube or jarred acrylic or craft paint. These paints can be found at craft stores and /or art stores. Acrylic paints dry quickly and are easy to use. Paint brushes generally use synthetic hairs and have an easy clean up with soap and water.

What brand of acrylic paint should used- Purchase either tube, jar or craft bottles from either an art store or craft store such as Michael’s.

What colors should be purchase – Most importantly purchase the following: Cadmium Red Medium, Cadmium Yellow Phthalo Blue. These three colors will make every color on the color wheel. Of course having the colors already made is simpler, but more expensive.

What brushes should be purchase – Good brushes are really important to have. If they are taken care of they will last for a reasonable amount time depending on how much you paint and the type painting. Brush sizes are as follows: flat brushes- # ¼”,1/2″,1″; flat # 1″, liner # 2, and an assortment of round, #1/4″, ½”, and 1″ filbert and large wash brushes for backgrounds.

Painting Tips:

1. Place a small amount of paint (either tube or bottle) onto your palette. A regular plastic palette or a Sta-Wet palette works very well with acrylic paints. Always have a spray bottle of water at hand to spray lightly over the paint to keep the paint moist on your palette. Mist regularly.

2. Fill your container with water. As the water becomes murky, pour out the dirty water and refill the water container with fresh water often. Keep folded, single layers of paper towels to blot your wet brush onto the paper towels. This will keep the brushes in good condition as the metal ferule will be kept dry.

3. Acrylic paint is very versatile. The paint can be used lightly or thicker with brushes and palette knives. Mix the acrylic paints with a touch of white to make them more opaque. If the paint is diluted with either glaze or water the colors will become transparent like watercolors.

4. When painting acrylic washes, the wash is permanent and insoluble as soon as it is dry. Subsequent layering of the washes (drying between layers) adds depth to the sheer washes.

5. Transparent acrylic glazes using a glazing medium must be layered between drying time. The more layers, the deeper the depth of color will develop.

6. Mix a Slo-Dri Blending gel medium with acrylic paint to increase the loss of color strength.

7. Work quickly when you are blending colors. It is important to keep your brush damp with a slow drying gel medium. For more transparency add a gel medium as needed.

8. When developing hard edges use 3M Blue 1″ masking tape. Acrylic paint colors painted against the tape keeps the paint from leaking beneath the tape edge. When dry carefully remove the blue tape.

9. The surfaces that acrylic paint works well with canvas/canvas board, Clayboard and wood panels.

10. Plastic palette or Stay- Wet palette Palette helps keep the paint moist.

11. Acrylics can be mixed with either water (best on a damp brush) or mediums such as retarders, or glazing medium.

12. Because acrylics dry quickly wash your brushes as soon as you have completed the task at hand…otherwise the paint will begin to dry in the ferule (the metal part that holds the bristles together).

I am an expert in the field of American government records, including public records, marriage records, divorce records, court records and criminal records. Start searching government records today!Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/visual-art-articles/acrylic-decorative-painting-1090130.html

Oil paintings and artwork always seem to make a room come alive with color and feeling, especially when you know how to choose art that compliments a specific room in your home.

Whether you walk through an art gallery, or you look at oil paintings offered at an online store, one thing is certain: you will immediately know if you like a painting. Perhaps the scene creates an emotional sensation within you that is pleasing, and you imagine that you would enjoy that painting hanging in your home for many years, without tiring of looking at it.

Let’s consider if the painting you’ve fallen in love with will fit into a room in your home. Since lines and colors in the artwork can energize or calm you, consider if the lines, such as tall trees or standing people, are vertical, or if the lines are horizontal such as a beach scene or a person who is posed in a sitting or reclining position. If you have your heart set on buying a painting with horizontal elements, then you’d do well to place it in a room that is meant for relaxing, such as a sitting room, parlor, or a formal living room.

If the painting has vertical elements, such as tall trees, buildings, or people standing or dancing, then you’ll want to place that type of artwork in a room that has movement and is energized—a front hall, or an entrance wall into your living room, dining room, or kitchen. Ideally, it’s best to hang oil paintings in an area that reflects what will happen in the room.

Another example that might help you to decide where to place an oil painting is if the artwork has a feeling of action in it, then wherever you hang the painting, it will energize the room. Your mind will awaken when you look at the action in the painting. Likewise, for a bedroom, den, or study, you would want to choose a more calming and somber painting that might cause you to slow down and relax.

Be sure to consider the length and height of the painting. Will it correspond with the furniture in the room where you intend to display it? For example, if you want to hang it above a long and low sectional sofa, the duplicate horizontal lines would make the room quite attractive. In addition, try to choose paintings that have a similar color family as the rooms where you will display them.

A unique strategy for choosing the perfect oil painting for your home is when you already have a motif or a theme that compliments your lifestyle or location where you live. Any type of artwork that is similar to the décor of your home or heritage will make you and your guests instantly feel comfortable.

Below you will find five art themes you might want to consider for your home, when choosing artwork.

Cityscape Artwork—Reflects famous locations and cities, such as the white stone buildings in Greece, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or the countryside in Israel.

Seashore and Beach Oil Paintings—Reflects a particular city or town with its seashells, palm trees, sand, hammocks, cerulean blue water, or a lone lighthouse.

Flowers and Still Life Paintings—Reflects a natural beauty and charm found everywhere in the world; from creamy white lilies to orange and red poppies.

Landscape Artwork—The horizontal lines in any landscape art painting make a small room feel much larger. It’s as if the landscape art simulates a window; thus, the artwork opens up a room to create a serene setting.

Cuisine Art—Every kitchen is enhanced by the artwork the homeowner selects that depicts food, fun, frivolity, a beverage, or a local farmer’s market. In addition, vivid colors can light up and enhance any kitchen’s décor.

When you follow these guidelines for purchasing artwork, you’ll discover that each subsequent purchase gets easier, and your home will feel more cozy and comfortable when you match the painting with the room.

Author’s Resource Box:

Have you ever felt that a painting was so real you could feel yourself walking into the scene? Maya Green invites you to explore some of her painted treasures at: http://www.yessy.com/maya

Ms. Green is an artist who creates bright and energizing art with intensive colors that express emotional feelings of reality.

“I have been an artist my whole life. Originally, I was born and raised in Ukraine and I first developed my love of art there. Since my childhood, I have been intrigued with the patterning of light and the interaction of color. I studied at the School of Art in Ukraine. On 1978 I graduated from the Facility of Art. In 1996 I moved to Israel and settled in Tiberias, where I continued to pursue my passion as an artist and sculptor.
Lived in Enakievo, Donetsk,Nizhnevartovsk ,Anapa,Tiberias ,New York, Saint Paul.Now, I live and work between Tel Aviv and Los Angeles.
I consider myself as a global citizen .Painting connects me to the world and allows me to express myself and translate what I see and feel onto canvas and paper.The more I think about my art, the more I think is a gift from God and my mission is to share it.”
Maya Green

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/visual-art-articles/art-and-oil-paintings-how-do-i-choose-artwork-that-is-suitable-for-a-room-in-my-home-894958.html

Amongst all other painting genres, landscape painting is the most popular. There might be numerous reasons for the same but one of the main reasons is its beauty and comprehensibility. Unlike modern or abstract painting, landscape paintings project no absurd or symbolical meaning. People do not have to stress their minds to find out any hidden meaning behind the painting. All they need to do is look and soak in the beauty of a marvelous piece of art.

Painting a beautiful landscape can be easy if you keep in mind some simple tips. First you should understand the purpose of creating a landscape painting and how intensely you can move the spectator through your work. A landscape painting should make the onlookers feel as if they belong to the place portrayed. The landscape should effuse such brilliance that viewers are compelled to say, “Wish I was there!”

The first trick to attain such effect is through use of clarity. For instance, portray thick fog over some hills in the distance and let it fade in the front. Another trick is to show a winding path, a creek, a meander, or a trail. This makes people feel as though they are deep within the painting.  The last trick is to play the game of size to your advantage. Painting large trees in the front but gradually diminishing their sizes at the back creates the feel of a vast landscape.

Landscapes are not photographic representations- this is an important lesson to remember. If you think you do not like the color of the flowers, then change it. If you prefer a bird in the sky or a dark gloomy evening with no people in the background, you have every right to give full expression to your imagination. The only purpose of creating landscape paintings is to offer aesthetic pleasure through a visually appealing landscape. Hence, realism does not have great priority in landscape paintings.

Suzanne Macguire is an expert writer and art connoisseur. Her articles have covered a lot of information on fine art and art gallery.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/visual-art-articles/simple-tricks-to-paint-a-beautiful-landscape-847292.html

Canvas has become the most common support medium for oil painting, slowly replacing wooden panels between the 14th and 17th century. The preparation of the canvas itself has gone through many changes and manners as well as the painting techniques. The most common technique is definitely oil, but during the 20th century, the emergence of photography and reproduction techniques inspired artist to work faster and produce multiple edition of a unique work. Serigraphs, photo transfers and print on canvas started to awake the interest of experimental artists. New attitudes soon became forms not only for art but also for advertising and design. Famous pop artist Andy Warhol for example blurred the distinction between those fields. He had a very avant-garde mind, but still has produced a lot of his famous pictures on canvas.

A very flexible medium.

Pictures on canvas are being also used for art installation, sometimes combined with video projection, reflecting the fugitive character of images in our contemporary world.

From the very long process of oil painting to short processes like canvas print, the object it self keeps its standing. It reflects values in a traditional sense. Presenting his picture on canvas, the artist give to its matter an acknowledgement. In interior design a canvas picture simply has class, and its quality is moreover up to its natural materials: a cotton canvas stretched on a wooden frame remains like a good base for the environment.

Canvas pictures faces Internet

Since Internet market has terribly increased during the last decade, printing industries are more and more required. Pictures on canvas are now largely being printed with a process referred to as giclée. Actually, there is more pictures on canvas being produced today as in the 18th century! Indeed, these affordable canvas pictures are still produced on high quality level, and they are being delivered everywhere in very short period of time. As it represents kings and emperors before, pictures on canvas celebrates in its form a certain image of democracy.

Liz Connelly.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/visual-art-articles/canvas-pictures-today-an-image-of-democratie-843257.html

So how do you get the most out of your oil painting and become a more accomplished artist?

You must make it a point to learn the fundamentals of oil painting, practice often and have an enormous amount of patience.

You must start with the fundamentals of oil painting first. You cannot expect to produce Rembrandt quality paintings in the beginning. In fact, the first paintings you produce will probably be a lot worse than you may have anticipated. Frustration will more than likely come into the picture (pun intended). They key is to learn from your mistakes and do not let them defeat you.

So what are some of the fundamentals of oil painting? What information should you study and learn first?

Below are some topics of interest that you should definitely study further when you have time:

LEARN HOW TO DRAW

You will be amazed at how much learning how to draw will help improve your oil paintings. In fact, years ago art students were not even permitted to pick up an oil painting brush until they learned the fundamentals of drawing. My advice would be to find a few good books on drawing fundamentals and start there. Drawing is an art form all by itself and you should not be expected to master drawing as an art form, unless you want to of course.

Here is an excellent book to help you learn drawing fundamentals:

“The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence” by Betty Edwards

COLOR THEORY

You MUST learn about color theory if you plan on producing quality works of art. If you don’t understand how colors work, then you might as well hang up your brushes now. There is much to learn about colors like temperature, hue and intensity and how colors interact with one another. This is a very important aspect of oil painting and must not be overlooked.

Here is an excellent book on color theory:

“Exploring Color: How to Use and Control Color in Your Painting” by Nita Leland

PERSPECTIVE

Learning about perspective will teach you how to translate a 3-dimensional world onto a 2-dimensional canvas or other support. Learning perspective is a necessary ingredient toward producing convincing oil paintings.

Here is an excellent book on perspective:

“The Art of Perspective: The Ultimate Guide for Artists in Every Medium” by Phil Metzger

MATERIALS

Materials to an oil painter are like what a guitar is to a guitarist. A guitarist cannot play without his instrument nor can he play without understanding how his instrument works. Your painting materials are your instruments. They are what enable you to express yourself, so learning more about them is pretty good idea. Get to know the different kinds of brushes and what they do. Know your paints. Not all colors behave the same. Some are more transparent or opaque than others. Know your supports and the difference between them. The list goes on.

Here is an excellent book for learning more about oil painting materials:

“The Oil Painting Book: Materials and Techniques for Today’s Artist” by Bill Creevy

TECHNIQUES

There are a myriad of oil painting techniques that you can utilize to create your paintings. So much so, that it is beyond the scope of this article. Techniques like wet on wet, glazing, alla prima, knife painting, etc. should all be explored. Working with various techniques will help you develop your own unique style.

Here is a great book on oil painting techniques:

“The Encyclopedia of Oil Painting Techniques: A Unique Step-by-Step Visual Directory of All the Key Oil-Painting Techniques, Plus an Inspirational Gallery Showing How They Can Be Put into Practice” by Jeremy Galton

LEARN FROM THE MASTERS

Masters like Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt van Rijn , Johannes Vermeer and many more, were all able to successfully translate our 3-dimensional world onto a 2-dimensional surface in such a way that it grabs the viewers attention and keeps it there. Their paintings engage the viewer and bring them back time and time again to look some more. Why? What is it that these paintings have that make them so popular? Well, one way to find out is to study them. If at all possible, make it a point to visit a museum as often as possible and study the works of the masters. Find paintings that grab your attention and draw you in. Then, when you have time, try to find books and other resources on those artists so that you can learn more about them and their techniques. When you are ready, pick a painting that you are quite fond of and try to reproduce it.

Here is a great book on learning from the masters:

“How to Paint Like the Old Masters ” by Joseph Sheppard

Ralph Serpe is the Webmaster and creator of two very popular websites on art instruction:

Visit Creativespotlite.com for more free art lessons

Visit artinstructionblog.com for more free art lessons

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/visual-art-articles/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-oil-painting-824321.html

Affordable Paintings: Art Prints Buying Guide by Joel Walsh

The fastest way to bring beauty and style to a room is to put up
prints of beautiful paintings. Here’s what you should consider:

Painting Prints Price Range:

Expect to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $50-$500 for an
unframed print–anything less than $50 is likely a poster. You
should expect to pay a similar amount to have the print
framed–note that many prints are designed to be exhibited
without frames.

Before art prints were sold online, the only way to get them was
through galleries or museum shops, which had to charge a large
markup. Nowadays, art prints rarely cost more than a few hundred
dollars, and it is possible to find good-quality prints for
under $100. Still, those lower prices generally come on prints
that have been put on sale. Expect to pay more for perennial
favorites like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”.

Selection

There is at least one print of every painting or photograph on
display in a museum anywhere. Thanks to the internet, you can
find the right art print among the tens of thousands in
existence and have it sent to you, regardless of where the
original is located. Since websites will let you browse
thumbnail images of the artwork, it’s easy to find a particular
piece even if all you know about it is the name of the artist or
even just the time period in which it was created.

Painting Print Media

Prints are available in a variety of print stocks.

Prints vs. Original Paintings

If all you’re interested in is a picture to decorate your wall,
rather than in collecting, prints are a better value than
original paintings. Here’s why:

* Expense. Creating an original work of art generally takes
weeks. If you had to employ someone for several weeks or several
months, how much do you think it would cost at even a modest
salary? That’s why original artwork generally costs at least
thousands of dollars. In order to have a real chance of your
work of art having investment value, you need to buy the work of
an artist who is moving up in the art market.

* Questionable investment value. Original artwork only has
investment value if the price goes up eventually. Very often,
the price does not. In short, if you’re interested in investing,
buy stocks–it’s a safer bet. Only buy art because *you* value
it.

* Knowledge. You need to be very knowledgeable about what you
are doing. Make no mistake: there’s plenty of fraud in this
business. There is also plenty of wishful thinking on the part
of art dealers when it comes to a work’s long-term market
prospects.

Ready to make your home more beautiful with prints of great
paintings? You’re already in the right place: the internet has
numerous websites offering an unbelievable array of art prints.
Start looking now.

Article Source: Affordable Paintings: Art Prints Buying Guide