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A little bit of history

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

Learning how to become a good oil painter is a difficult undertaking. In fact, it is more than likely one of the most difficult painting mediums to master. Things like color mixing & theory, perspective, techniques and materials can really intimidate a beginner artist.

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