Rustoleum, Krylon and other chalkboard paint manufacturers market it as a specialty product for creating a chalkboard on numerous surfaces. Chalkboard paint is sold in either spray or brush-on form. Apply the paint to create a writable, erasable surface. Common chalkboard paint projects are doors, tables, cabinets, picture frames, flower pots, children's rooms, and pingpong tables. One can of spray paint covers 7 square feet. One quart of brush-on chalkboard paint covers 100 to 125 square feet.
Surface Preparation
Start with a nonporous surface. Work outdoors or in a room with plenty of fresh air. Cover and protect nearby objects from overspray when using spray paint. Avoid spraying in a dusty or windy environment. Remove rust, loose paint and debris from the surface with a wire brush or sandpaper. Lightly sand glossy surfaces to promote adhesion of the paint to the surface. Remove dirt, salt, oil, grease or other contaminants from the surface with soap and water. Rinse the surface, and let it dry completely.
Apply a primer. Use a wood primer for wood and a primer designed for metal for metal surfaces. Paint your choice of wood, metal, glass, terra cotta, paperboard, hardboard, medium density fiberboard, masonite or plaster.
Paint Application
Spray or brush the paint on the surface. Use the type of brush recommended by the chalkboard paint manufacturer, or any clean paint brush if the paint manufacturer does not make a recommendation. Apply one coat. Wait 3 minutes and apply a second coat of paint. Apply a third coat within one hour. Wait 24 hours before applying a third coat if you are not able to apply the third coat within the first hour. Chalkboard paint dries to the touch within the first 20 minutes. Wait one hour before handling the painted object. Sprayed surfaces are completely dry after 24 hours. Brushed-on surfaces are completely dry after 72 hours.
Prepare the surface for use as a chalkboard by rubbing the side of a piece of chalk over the entire surface. Erase the board. The chalkboard is ready for use. Use only calcium carbonate and felt erasers for best results, according to chalkboard paint manufacturer Rustoleum.
Use illusions to paint realistic-looking evergreen trees.
Painting evergreen trees with any kind of paint is a similar process. The key to producing realistic-looking trees is not to paint the trees exactly how they look, but rather to give the illusion of a well-formed tree. The easiest way to do this is to use a dark color of paint and a fan brush to create the trees. Depending on the other colors in the paint, you can make the trees black, green, blue, purple or even yellow. Experiment with colors and techniques on a scrap canvas or paper to perfect the technique before painting trees onto the actual painting.
Instructions
1. Mix about one third blue, one third black and one third green paint to make the best color for evergreen trees.
2. Load a lot of paint on about half of the brush. Draw a long thin line down the canvas or page. Shake the brush a little as you make the line to give the illusion of bark on the tree.
3. Leave a small section of exposed trunk at the top of the tree before you start making branches. Stipple the corner of the brush down the line to simulate branches of an evergreen tree. Start with small pushes with the brush, then gradually make the dots wider to make the triangle tree shape. Leave space between some branches for a realistic-looking tree.
4. Overlap the bottoms of the trees to make a forest. Don't make all of the lines straight, as not all trees grow straight up and down, especially on a hill or in a forest. Go over any sections of the tree with some more paint if you feel the brush coverage is too thin.
5. Add some highlighting to the trees with a gold-colored paint. Use the same motion you did to make the branches themselves, but only apply the gold paint along the tree where the light from the painting would hit, such as all along the left side of the trees. You can also add a few tiny brown dots for pine cones.
The Associated Press (AP) is the largest news organization in the world, providing stories to print and online publications. AP writers follow specific style rules, which are spelling out in the Associated Press Stylebook. These rules are also commonly followed by other journalists, magazine writers and public relations professionals. While it's best to read the stylebook to learn all of the rules, there are some common ones you can learn without the book. They will help you look professional by writing an AP-style newspaper article.
Instructions
1. Spell out numbers between one and nine, and use Arabic numbers for 10 and higher for AP-style news articles. If you are referring to an age or percentage, use an Arabic number even if it is less than 10. When you start a sentence with a number, it should be spelled out even if it is 10 or higher.
2. When you refer to the United States as a noun, the two words should be spelled out. If you are using it as an adjective, it should be abbreviated as U.S. For example, you might refer to a U.S. citizen being detained at the airport rather than spelling out "United States citizen."
3. Do not use the standard two-letter abbreviations for states when writing in AP style. States with names less than six letters long, or those that are not part of the contiguous United States, should always be spelled out completely. These include Iowa, Idaho, Ohio,, Maine, Utah, Texas, Hawaii and Alaska, Other states should be abbreviated with the two- to four-letter abbreviations as listed in the AP Stylebook. When you are referring to a state without the name of a city or town, the state name should be spelled out completely.
4. Dates should always be expressed in Arabic numbers and should not end with a suffix such as "rd" or "th." Months should always be capitalized, and certain months (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.) should be abbreviated when they are used with a specific date.
5. Arabic numbers should be used for time in AP style news stories, with the exception of midnight and noon. Insert a colon to separate hours and minutes, and use a.m. or p.m. to indicate whether the time is during the day or night.
6. Academic degrees should not be abbreviated, and an apostrophe should be used to indicate a bachelor's or master's degree. Abbreviations are only acceptable when you are referring to a list of people with degrees, which would make it awkward to use the whole title for each person.
7. When a formal title, such as president, precedes a name, spell it out and capitalize it when using AP style. Otherwise, a lowercase letter can be used. For example, you would refer to Chairman Lewis or Betty Lewis, department chair.
Learning to paint a dragon can be simple with some practice.
Learning to paint can be a challenging endeavor at first, especially if you aim to paint a creature as detailed as the mythical dragon. Using a process of tracing to begin can make the pursuit simpler, and will give you a framework to fill in the dragon with paint. This basic procedure requires only a few basic painting tools and materials, like paper, paint and brush, and will help you feel more confident as you continue your art.
Instructions
1. Purchase a coloring book that has a page with an image of a dragon that you want to paint.
2. Tear the page out of the coloring book, and lay a blank piece of white paper directly on top of it.
3. Trace the image of the dragon onto the blank paper using a pencil. You should be able to see the lines of the coloring book dragon through the paper.
4. Outline the traced dragon with a thin paintbrush and paint. Let it dry.
5. Paint in the entire dragon with paint colors of your choosing, like purple or green for the body and white for the teeth and eyes. Let it dry.
With some time and patience, you can paint realistic looking curly hair.
Painting hair is difficult because many people do not take the time to look at hair as a combination of shapes, but rather attempt to paint every single strand. If you look at someone's hair, you will start to notice that hair seems to fall in pieces or chunks: the bangs and every layer of hair has a different shape to it. Once you are able to understand hair in this way, you will be able to paint curly hair masterfully.
Instructions
1. Study the image of the subject or the live subject of whom you are painting the curly hair.
2. Dip your brush into any shade of paint which you want to use in the hair.
3. Add a few drops of water to the paint to thin it down.
4. Paint the basic shapes of the hair onto the head very lightly to capture the nature of the hair. Because this is curly hair, it will probably be somewhat round and large in shape. Focus on the top of the head and note the way that the hair swoops in either direction - where it is parted, whether it falls flat, and in what direction it moves.
5. Paint the general shapes that comprise the sides of the hair. Focus on the left and right sides individually, observing the differences. Leave the finer details for later.
6. Use multiple shades of color to create realistic looking hair. Layer the paint and note areas of light and dark in the subject. Certain chunks, or sections of hair will have different tones because of how the light hits it.
7. Paint the details of the hair. Continue to look for shapes and areas of color rather than individual strands. Add the finer details, including smaller areas of varying color, defined corkscrew-shaped pieces of hair, smaller wisps of hair that stick out around the silhouette and frame the front of the face.
8. Allow the paint to dry.
9. Add the finishing touches to continue to build on the texture and fullness of the curly hair until you have reached the desired result.
A painted cow skull makes an excellent addition to any Western home decor. Cow skulls are easy to paint on and care for, and the skull will last for many years if you care for it properly. Skulls are available from a local butcher or farmer or from online retailers. Using a large skull with few imperfections or breaks will help make painting the design on easier.
Instructions
1. Choose a cow skull that has been treated and bleached to remove any remaining skin or hair. Bleached skulls are safe and more attractive for use in painting.
2. Draw a design on the forehead and nose area of the skull with a pencil. This provides a template for the paint and will help you practice a design before starting to paint it.
3. Paint with acrylic paints and a paintbrush to create the design you drew in pencil. Paint in a well-ventilated area or outside so that the fumes dissipate.
4. Allow the paint to dry for 24 to 48 hours in a well-ventilated area. Do not touch the paint until has dried, as it may smear and affect your design.
5. Spray or paint the cow skull with a clear coat of varnish to protect the paint and the skull from chipping and sun damage. Reapply the varnish once a year to protect the skull's paint.
Making a realistic acrylic painting of a decorated Christmas tree requires an eye for detail.
Acrylic paints are a versatile art medium that can be used for realistic painting on paper, canvas, wood or even an interior wall or other similar surface. This plastic byproduct also dries quickly, which is a definite plus for many painters. With a small investment in paints, brushes and paper or canvas, plus a little time, it is feasible to render a Christmas tree covered with electric lights.
Instructions
1. Practice drawing a Christmas tree with a pencil on the pages of the drawing pad. For most, portraying the tree might require more practice than rendering the string of lights and bulbs that is wrapped around the evergreen. On your sketch, be sure to include an outline for each bulb, as well as the dark cord running between each light. Use a pencil to create light and dark portions of the needles. Do not be concerned if you make a mistake. Use your eraser to remove it and try again.
2. Draw the final outline of the tree, electric cord, light bulbs and any other ornaments that you like on on the watercolor paper. Use a pencil, making sure your pencil marks are very light.
3. Gather your paints, brushes, water and color-mixing palette.
4. On the palette, mix a highlight color for the evergreen needles of the tree. Permanent green mixed with a small amount of yellow ochre or chromium green mixed with cadmium yellow are good starting points. For painting on paper, acrylic paints can be thinned with water.
5. Practice creating evergreen needles by applying the paint, using short, quick strokes, on a practice piece of dry paper using the flat brush.
6. Create a darker green for the shadow areas of the evergreen needles. This can be done by mixing one of your green paints with ultramarine or cobalt blue. When you have achieved the desired color, apply the paint to the practice sheet in the same manner as you did the highlight color, using your brushstrokes to create the appearance of needles.
7. Apply the light and dark green paints to the tree area on the watercolor paper.
8. Mix the cadmium yellow with a small amount of water on the palette to create a thin yellow color. The hue of the mixed paint should be close, but not the same as, a bright primary yellow.
9. Practice painting the yellow bulbs on a scrap of watercolor paper. With a clean, pointed round brush, add a dot of water to the center of the first bulb that you wish to paint yellow. Dry the brush, and then add the thin yellow paint to the edge of the centered wet spot; spread the paint outward on the bulb, until the pigment fills the outline of the bulb. Before the water has a chance to dry, darken the perimeter of the bulb with a wet mixture of some yellow ochre. When done correctly, the center area of the bulb should be lighter than the outer edges, making the bulb appear as if it is glowing. There should be a gradual change of color, with the washed-out yellow in the center moving to a midrange cadmium yellow and then to a darker yellow ochre at the perimeter of the bulb.
10. Paint the bulbs on your tree when you are finished practicing.
11. Repeat this process for each yellow bulb, and then move on to bulbs that are a different color, using the same technique.
12. Render any other tree ornament to the best of your ability.
13. Take your wash water and apply it to the area outside the tree to create a nondescript background.
Over time, dents and dinge and chipping plaster add character to a wall.
Today's walls are homogeneous. Manufacturers use machines to produce a consistent product that looks the same in New Mexico as it does in New York. Long ago, installers mixed plaster by hand, according to their individual recipes. Not only did textures and colors differ from town to town, they varied within the same house and even on the same wall. Old World walls have rough surfaces with character and stand on their own as decorative elements.
Instructions
1. Use a taping knife to spread a very thin layer of drywall compound on the wall. Thicker layers will leave larger lines and crevices. If you prefer your wall to look as if it was originally created for old aristocracy rather than a converted working building such as a barn, keep the lines between the layers subtle.
2. Allow the layer to dry per the manufacturer's instructions.
3. Add more layers until you achieve a look that you like. Remember, you're not adding the material for functional purposes so the amount is a personal decision based on cosmetic appeal.
4. Use fine grit sandpaper to smooth the wall and remove sharp edges of drywall compound that would have worn off over the decades or centuries.
5. Use a sponge to rub the paint onto the wall. This is the base layer so make sure you get into all the cracks and crevices so that the white does not show through.
6. Add another layer of paint, in a slightly darker shade. Again, rub it but use very little paint on the sponge so that the base color shows through in some areas.
7. Use a third, darker color if you want more variation in your wall surface. Work this color into cracks and crevices.
Children are difficult to paint for a number of reasons. They don't sit still, so you might want to work from a photograph if possible. Also, children are proportioned slightly differently from adults. The inclination for some artists will be to make the children look more like tiny adults (case in point: medieval portraits of the baby Jesus). For this reason, some study and observation is necessary before beginning the painting. Painting a portrait is a difficult process and getting a portrait right takes practice and concentration.
Instructions
1. Choose your subject. You can work from a live subject or from a photograph. If you wish to work from a live subject, choose a child that is naturally quiet and patient. Have the child sit down and choose a pose that is comfortable. Allow the child to watch a movie or read a book or give the child a quiet and absorbing activity that can be completed while remaining in the same position for a period of time. Divide the sittings into 30 minute blocks (or less) and work quickly. Do whatever you can while the child is away and take photographs of the child during sittings so you will have a point of reference later on. Finally, mark the position of the child with chalk or masking tape for future sittings.
If you choose to work from a photograph, choose a large, high-resolution image.
2. Determine a medium. Watercolor, acrylic and oil paint are all common mediums used to paint portraits. Acrylic and oil paint look similar when finished, but handle differently during the painting process. Acrylic paint is water based. It dries quickly and can be difficult to work with if adequate blending is important to you. Acrylic is traditionally applied to canvas, but can be painted on nearly anything because it is permanent and flexible once dry.
Oil paint is also permanent, but is very slow drying. During the painting process, it is mixed with turpentine or medium, thus must be used in well ventilated areas. Oil paint can degrade some surfaces over time, so it is usually applied to surfaces that have been primed with acrylic gesso.
Watercolor is dramatically different from acrylic and oil paint. It is somewhat transparent once dry, and is applied to paper in layers. Watercolor is difficult to control and might look very different once the paint has dried. Because it is transparent, it has a luminous quality that appeals to some artists. Artists who work with watercolor must remain open and agreeable to the quirky behavior of the medium, or else expect frustration.
3. Draw several studies of your subject before beginning your painting. Note that the child's face is probably rounder than an adult's. The eyes will be placed farther down on the head than an adult's. Depending on the age of the child, all the features might be in the lower half of the face, with a wide forehead. The nose will be smaller and more button-like.
4. Set up the materials and the workspace where it is quiet and free from distraction. You might need to spread a tarp or cloth on the floor. Put on your smock, set out your jars and palette. Situate your subject (if you are working from a live subject).
5. Draw the portrait of the child on the canvas or paper before beginning the painting. Do not concern yourself with details--only draw the structure of the face and the placement of the features.
6. Begin painting. Start with large expanses of flat color and build up slowly. Flesh tone is difficult for most people to match. Most light flesh tones are made up varying proportions of red, yellow, white, brown and a little bit of blue or green. Darker flesh tones might use brown, red, blue and yellow or a little white. You might have to experiment with the flesh tones quite a bit to get them right. Note that if you are working with watercolor, you'll want to limit the amount of "experimentation" performed on the painting, because covering up mistakes with watercolor is difficult (or sometimes impossible). However, if you are working with acrylic or oil paint, you can layer your paint freely.
7. Once you've covered the canvas or paper with at least one layer of paint, you might wish to start adding in details and blocking in areas of light and shadow. If you are working with watercolor, you will never be able to take paint off once it has been applied, so the lighter areas on the painting must be painted lightly from the start, while shadow can be built up over time.
8. Allow yourself time to step away from the painting. If you are working from a live subject, you will probably already have taken time away from your painting at least once because your subject will probably have gotten squirmy. Make this a stopping point and take several hours or several days away from your piece.
9. Return to your painting and look for issues. It is almost a guarantee that you will need to make corrections. If you do not know what is wrong with your painting, try turning it upside down. If the features are misaligned or disproportionate, this will likely become evident when the painting is upside down. Try flicking your eyes back and forth between the subject and the painting to look for distortions and areas that need improvement.
10. Make the finishing touches. Add details such as eyelashes, fingernails and wrinkles in the clothing.
Artists began painting on canvas during the Italian Renaissance in Venice because it was more suitable than paper for oil paint. Since Venice was a port city, there was a good supply of canvas from the sail-making industry that flourished at the time. For centuries oil was the medium artists used when painting on canvas. Now acrylics are also used. A canvas painting is done on a cotton duck fabric that is prepared with gesso, a priming medium made from either animal glues or acrylic base.
Instructions
Paint Canvas Paintings
1. Decide on what type of canvas you want. There are two choices. The first is a ready-made canvas that is prestretched with the surface prepared. Many artists, however, prefer to stretch their own because the canvas, purchased as duck cotton from an art or fabric store, is sturdier, has a more natural weave and can be finished as you prefer. You also have more choices in the finished size of the piece, and it is cheaper.
2. Prime your canvas with gesso if you stretch your own canvas. Gesso serves two purposes. The first is to help the paint to adhere to the canvas by adding a slight texture to it. The second is that it keeps the paint from absorbing into the cloth. Give it three coats. Paint the first coat left to right, the second coat up and down and the third coat left to right again. Paint the sides too.
3. Sketch or project an outline of the image you want to create on the canvas with either a pencil or vine charcoal. Some artists who paint abstractly simply begin to paint since the subject matter is subjective and comes from within.
4. Paint an underpainting using a diluted mixture of oil paint and a combination of 1 part Damar varnish, 1 part linseed oil, two parts turpentine. If you want to paint with acrylics, dilute the paints with water. The underpainting is not detailed but fills in the general areas of a composition.
5. Add the basics of the background. A common problem beginners have is leaving the background blank. In order for there to be a layered effect in the painting that helps give the painting depth, the background should be painted first.
6. Paint the objects that are in the mid-ground, then the foreground. Both oils and acrylics can be painted over when they are dry to add depth or correct errors.
7. Add the detail last. Make sure as you paint you step back from your work often to see if the painting still works from a distance. Ask yourself if there is enough contrast in the painting to make it pop. Add highlights or light colors on top of objects and dark colors to the shadows to help create contrast.
You can make your bike stand out from the crowd with custom paint and graphics.
When creating a custom graphics and paint design for a motorcycle, it is important to remember that strong graphic elements with high contrast work best. While intricate designs are possible, bold, uncomplicated designs allow others to appreciate your creativity from a distance. By it's very nature, custom motorcycle graphics and paint cannot be put into a simple list, but many successful designs have elements that fall into the following broad categories.
Masculine Designs
Flames are a common aspect of custom paint jobs.
Many custom designs are created to make the bike appear tough and masculine. Flames, skulls, dragons and and lightening are common elements in these designs. Supernatural creatures, such as angels and demons, and religious symbols, like crosses, also make frequent contributions to this type of design. Barbed wire, tribal designs and flames can be used to link various objects together.
TV, Movies and Music
Spiderman, Scarface, and even Yosemite Sam have been immortalized in custom motorcycle designs.
Favorite characters and scenes from music videos, album covers, TV shows and movies have inspired numerous motorcycle designs. You can select a favorite scene or character from a movie, TV show, music video or album and bring it to life in your custom design. Design elements in this category are derived from the source of inspiration. A Spiderman themed bike would feature red with white spiderwebs, or perhaps the iconic hand gesture where Spiderman shoots a web from his wrist.
Occupation, Heritage & Hobbies
Occupations, pets, and hobbies are all great themes to express in your custom design.
This category is all about expressing who the owner of the bike is. Design elements include images that quickly and clearly evoke a theme, such as badges or stars for law enforcement, or unit insignia for a military theme. Pet lovers can incorporate a favorite pet while those who see themselves as gamblers sometimes use playing card designs. Celtic designs are often worked into designs as either focal points or to connect other elements together. American flags and other symbols of the United States are also common.
Byzantine art is notable for its rich pigmentation and religious connotations, such as in this piece, where a halo appears as a circle around the head
Byzantine icons derive from religious figures and imagery. Original Byzantine icons were created as decorative elements in chapels and monasteries as early as the 4th century, and appeared as frescoes, mosaics and painted iconography. Some of the most famous Byzantine-influenced icons appear in the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo in the early 16th century. Byzantine figures share common characteristics; they often appear stiff and posed, have almond-shaped eyes, and are composed of rich pigmentation, consisting largely of warm and golden tones.
Instructions
1. Prepare your canvas or paper for painting by applying gesso to the surface. A good rule of thumb is to apply three coats of gesso, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next. Lightly sand any lumps and inconsistencies out of the gesso so that the surface is as smooth and flat as possible. This will provide an ideal surface for the Byzantine icon.
2. Using an example image, which can be anything from a photograph of a fresco, mosaic or mural to an illustration or religious iconography, sketch a preliminary guide onto the canvas in pencil. Alternatively, you may choose to create a painting using other, nonreligious imagery using the style of Byzantine icons. In this case, you may wish to use a combination of a Byzantine piece with a photograph of your contemporary subject when sketching out your image.
3. Include a variety of tones in your color palette, but use primarily of warm tones, blues and gold. You can use acrylics or oils. Plan your color scheme before painting. Are there any colors you will have to mix? How closely do you want the colors of the painting to resemble those used in your example image?
4. Paint darker areas first. Some artists choose to paint completely over the guide illustration to create a solid background to layer over, while others paint certain objects, areas or colors first. Work using the method that suits you best. Unless you are an experienced artist, paint one section at a time so that your sketch is retained as a working guide.
5. Add medium tones, then the shading and highlights. Byzantine icons often include strongly contrasting colors; bright blue and gold jewel hues commonly overlay warm tones, such as can be seen depicted as inlays in thrones, crowns and robes. Use metallic paints for an extra touch.
Leonardo da Vinci led the way with his revolutionary ideas. His insight into other aspects of life and work led him towards levels of influence within other areas of study outside of the art world. Everything he knew about anatomy, lighting, history and psychology went into his masterworks. Chiaroscuro was never even considered as a means to portray light, shadow, and depth until da Vinci discovered and mastered it.
Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci is credited with inventing Chiaroscuro in Italy during the 1470s.
Influence
Many artists during and after the Italian Renaissance, including Caravaggio and Michelangelo, utilized this technique.
Mona Lisa
Leonardo Da Vinci utilized chiaroscuro in the Mona Lisa to create the illusion of depth.
Light and Shadow
Chiaroscuro simply refers to light and shade used in a work of art.
Revolutionary Idea
Prior to the invention of Chiaroscuro, artists had little or no perception of light and shadow.
Da Vinci's Impact
Da Vinci revolutionized the art world with his invention of Chiaroscuro and his definition of the ideal human form.
Painting is a relaxing yet exciting pastime because you can create the world that you want on the piece of canvas. Depending on the type of scene that you want to paint, you can create endless things such as mountains, rivers, waterfalls or plants. Shrubs and trees are often an integral part of any landscape painting because they can be part of the backdrop or they can take center stage. A birch tree is a stunning addition to any painting.
Instructions
1. Study the shape of a birch tree. Sketch a birch tree so that you can get a feel for the layout of the branches. Note the shape of the tree trunk as it reaches toward the sky. Study the smallest details such as the way branches spread out from the trunk and taper into smaller branches until they become twigs. Draw several birch trees until you are comfortable with its design.
2. Note the colors of the trunk and the bark as they are rarely just a pure white. Many times the trunk will reflect colors from different sources such as deep yellow from the sunlight, shades of green from leaves, or shades of gray from a cloudy sky.
3. Sketch the birch tree on the canvas making as many twists and turns in the trunk as you desire.
4. Dilute your acrylic paints with water until they are watercolor consistency. Use colors such as ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, burnt sienna or rose madder to add color to your tree.
5. Use a flat brush and pick up the three colors you want to use. Paint a multicolor wash on the trunk and branches of your tree. Allow the colors to blend together on your canvas for an artistic effect. The texture of a birch tree is very rough so if the paint flows outside of the lines slightly, its even better because it will look more realistic.
6. Apply a puddle of paint in the color that you desire to one side of the trunk of the birch tree. Use the side of the credit card to drag the puddle of paint towards the middle section of the tree and to the other side. Wipe the credit card with a paper towel after each stroke that you make. Repeat the same technique on the entire trunk to give the tree a sense of roundness and texture.
7. Paint in the dark lines or markings in the tree trunk using raw umber or raw sienna. Curve the strokes so they look like they are going around the tree.
8. Use dark burnt umber to deepen the color of the markings you have created in step 7. Allow the painting to dry.
9. Continue to use the flat brush but use an up-and-down stroke to make shadows on the tree wherever you feel they should be. Paint colors such as ultramarine blue or cobalt blue work well.
10. Paint leaves with a round brush if you desire. Use different shades of green paint to create the body of the leaves but avoid making individual leaves. Highlight some of the clumps of leaves to give them a sense of depth.
TV shows dramatize the pitch of a series as a moment when a person with a dream stands before a panel of grim executives. An impassioned plea ensues, and the show is either bought outright or the pitchman is dragged out of the room. In reality, pitching an animated series rarely unfolds to swelling music. Whether a pitch succeeds, fails or even makes it to the meeting lies in preparation.
Registering the Idea
Registering the idea for the animated series with the Writers Guild of America will provide proof of the writer's claim of authorship.
Testing the Idea
In her book, "Selling Scripts to Hollywood," screenwriter Katherine Atwell Herbert recommends pitching the idea to friends and family before tackling the boardroom. If the idea passes the live test, write a longer summary to see if the show remains interesting over multiple pages. Once the basic story is set, test out the proposed artwork for the animated series. For an animated series, the visuals could have a stronger influence on the success of the show than the concept. Hire a third-party artist if necessary.
Where to Pitch the Show
In "Life's a Pitch" for the newsletter "aNYmator," President of the Eastern branch of the Association Internationale du Film d' Animation (ASIFA-East) David B. Levy recommends analyzing the network's current lineup. Networks schedule animated series around a general theme and visual style. For example, a cable network that airs anime would be less likely to seek animated shows for preschoolers.
The Query Letter
The query letter is an announcement of intent and the first step in scheduling a pitch. Screenwriter and playwright Paul Argentini states in his book "Elements of Style for Screenwriters" that the letter should summarize the script in one paragraph, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and request a release form. If the first episode generates interest, the writer will be called back to pitch the animated series as a whole.
Representation
Hiring an agent or becoming a part of an established entertainment institution will allow the writer more access and opportunities than an unknown would otherwise enjoy. Networks are generally slow to trust untested talent, and slower still when it comes to animated series. The production time for animated series is longer than that of live-action shows and thus requires a greater upfront investment of time and money.
The Pitch and the Pilot
The actual pitch must be a thorough presentation of the show's elements and business potential. John Rogers, professional screenwriter and contributing writer of the blog "Kung Fu Monkey" states that the pitch should establish the following within 10 minutes: "Why this show should be on the air" and "How this show will stay on the air" ("Writing the Pilot Pitch"). Between having long production times and narrow appeal, animated series are far more difficult to sell than live-action series. A presentation good enough to sell a drama would be insufficient to convince the network to invest in an animated series.
Conflicts
What are the conflicts involved? Who or what is working against the central characters and how will future conflicts be generated? Whether for an animated series or live-action, the pitch must state what is going to keep the show alive and viewers tuning in every week.
Perspective
Through whose eyes will the story be told? The pitch should be clear on what John Rogers calls the "lens" of the show, the storytelling perspective. Will one character play both narrator and participant, or will the show follow a different character each episode? While an animated series can be drawn at any perspective, the camera angle must be established early and is difficult to change.
Characters
Who are the characters and why should the audience care? The pitch must flesh out the characters and state how they will help the show persist. No matter how alien, the characters must relate to the audience and be generators of future plot elements. Animated characters are already unrealistic in appearance, so strength of personality is especially important.
The Look
Bring character illustrations to the pitch meeting. Writers for movies and TV are not expected to supply actors for pitch meetings, but there must be visuals for animated series. The majority of production planning for an animated series could be dominated by debate on the visual style. Without a clear direction, the network could decide that the premise of the animated series is not worth the effort to bring the slife.
Impressionism uses abstract strokes instead of detailed imagery.
Impressionist art first arose in the 19th century and reached its height with painters such as Claude Monet, Edouard Manet and Paul Cezanne. It sought a break from older styles of painting by utilizing more abstract techniques, intended to deliver the vivid impression of its subjects rather than painstaking details
Subject Matter
The rise of tube paints in the mid-1800s allowed painters to travel outdoors more readily and select external subjects rather than confining themselves to interior studios or their own imaginations. Instead of focusing on grand subjects or epic situations, Impressionists chose to focus on more ordinary subjects. They often depicted sylvan scenes such as city parks or ponds full of water lilies. Many of them focused on scenes of relaxation, such as children at play or couples walking in the woods, or else looked at the daily lives of humble villagers. This stands in contrast with their predecessors, who painted subjects such as the coronation of Napoleon, or grand scenes from ancient mythology.
Brush Strokes
Impressionist paintings tend to use very short strokes of paint thickly applied so that the brush strokes are often visible. Painters would often apply new layers of paint before the old layers had a chance to dry, which softens the distinctions. In some cases, the artists would create an image out of a series of dots, such as George Seurat's "Circus Sideshow." This often created a rough texture on the surface of the painting, with visible patches of paint in various locations. The effect was to create a more general image of the subject: capturing its core and key details rather than recreating it in true-to-life accuracy.
Colors
Impressionist painters often used bright, eye-catching colors in their pieces. They rarely mixed colors and often placed them on the canvas side-by-side, rather than with a smooth blend. They produced shadows and dark patches by applying different shades of complementary colors, rather than black or gray tones the way earlier artists did. "Colored shadows" are often the norm in Impressionist painting, and the saturation of color often creates a vividness that subtler or more detailed paintings could not hope to replicate.
Composition
Impressionist painters often hoped to bring viewers closer to their subject. Accordingly, they abandoned earlier notions such as symmetry and balanced perspective. Many Impressionist paintings display a high horizontal line to create a plunging perspective, and asymmetrical compositions in which the subject of the painting is not necessarily at its center.
The valve covers on many cars is what you first see when you look into the engine bay, so why not have them looking their best. Over time the surface may rust and they can discolor looking worn and beat, but with various paint colors to choose from, you can really create a custom look or maybe match them up with the color of your car!This job is best done with the valve cover removed from the car, although it can be done while the cover is still on the car. If you remove the cover, be sure to replace the old valve cover gasket.
Instructions
1. Start by degreasing and cleaning the valve cover and being sure all the oil and grease is removed using your engine degreaser.
2. Sand down any rough spots or surface rust with 120 grit sandpaper. Do this by hand and then follow up with 320 to 400 grit paper for a smoother finish using your cleaning brush to get into crevices. Be sure to sand clean any oil and debris from the bolt hole openings as well.
3. Before any painting is done follow up with a wax and grease remover or lacquer thinner. You want the cover to be completely wax, grease and dust free.
4. If you are painting the cover while still on the car, tape and paper off all the surrounding areas. If you have the cover off, place the cover flat on a table or bench covered with paper placing some little pieces of wood under the edges of the cover to raise it up off the table some so that it won’t stick to the paper after the paint has been applied.
5. You will not be able to use a standard paint primer if you choose to use a primer at all. If primer is desired you must purchase a special high heat primer. In most cases though, as long as you have a good prepped surface, primer will not be needed using this thicker high heat paint.
6. Apply 2 lighter to medium coats waiting 5 to 10 minutes between coats and then finish up with at least 2 heavier coats. You may also use a common hair dryer to help speed up the drying process between coats but keep the dryer moving or you will run the risk of boiling up or cracking the new paint.
7. You should wait till the next day to install the cover back on the car if you have removed it . It is wise to also wait a full day before starting the car if you have left the cover on the car so the paint has had a chance to dry and cure.
A tree is a wonderful subject for beginning painters with acrylics, or for experienced artists learning a new medium. The live specimens are easy to find, they never shift positions (unlike human subjects) and they don't mind being stared at. Every tree is different so look for the right one before beginning your painting.
Instructions
1. Prepare your materials. Because trees are so commonly known and so often seen, most people will paint a tree without looking at one. The results are likely to be generic and un-inventive. For this reason, it is best to paint from a live subject or from a photograph rather than from imagination. Set up your canvas wherever you are going to do the painting, and study your subject. You may wish to make one or two sketches or pastel studies of the tree before you begin.
2. Start with the base of the trunk and move upward, using a flat medium-sized brush or a palette knife. Study the form of the trunk. Some trunks (particularly those of coniferous trees) will proceed upward in a straight line with branches protruding from it at nearly 90 degree angles. The trunk will get thinner and thinner until it ends at the top.
Other trees (primarily deciduous trees) will have trunks that curve, split or branch off. Although you won't be painting every tiny little branch or stick, paint the major branches you can see.
3. Add texture to the bark with a smaller detail brush. Because you are working with acrylic, if you wait very long to do this, the tree trunk will dry quickly and the details will not blend into the trunk. Instead, they will rest on top of it. This may not be a desired effect, so you must act quickly.
4. Begin applying the leaves or pine needles (where applicable) with a pointed medium-sized brush. Apply paint for the leaves in quick brush strokes. Because you will not be painting each individual leave, the green you use should not be a flat color, but should have a mixture of yellows and browns (or whatever is appropriate).
5. Highlight some of the leaves (or needles) with a lighter green or a greenish-yellow with a small pointed brush on the side where the sun is shining. Highlights should be applied in quick brush strokes shortly after the regular body of leaves has been completed. If you wait too long, the highlights will not blend well.
6. Quickly add shadows with a darker green or a brown, with a small pointed brush on the side where the sun is not shining.
7. Add a shadow at the base of the trunk with a flat brush, on the far side from the sun. If grass is growing under the tree, the shadow will be a darker green than the grass around it. If the base of the tree is mud or dirt, the shadow will be a darker brown than the mud around it.
8. With a detail brush, add any details missing from the tree, like pine cones, animals and nests.
Drive by any commercial orchard and the chances are you will see the lower two feet of each fruit tree painted white. This is done to prevent the tree trunk from splitting and cracking, helps to deflect light and heat from the tree and serves as a deterrent to tree borer beetles. Nut trees can also benefit from painted trunks in the same way.
Instructions
1. Mix together 1-gallon white interior latex paint and 4 quarts of water in a large pail or bucket. Stir the mixture with a paint stir stick until the latex paint is thinned out to an even consistency.
2. Paint the lower 24 inches of the tree trunk using the paint mixture and a paintbrush. Choose a warm, breezy day to apply the paint, as this will allow faster drying times.
3. Brush paint into any existing cracks or splits in the truck using the end of the paintbrush, if the first coat of paint did not fill these cracks.
4. Apply a second coat, if needed, to insure that there is a consistent, even coating of paint around the trunk of the tree.
If you are looking for a cool way to decorate a child's room, consider painting tree mural on their bedroom wall. A tree mural is fun and easy to paint and it can be done by almost any adult (or mature teen). Here is a 3-step process that you can paint in a matter of hours, if you have a little help, or over a weekend if you are doing it by yourself.
Instructions
1. Begin by drawing the tree trunk and branches. You do not need to be an artist to draw the tree, as no tree is perfect. Just look at a picture of a tree and do your best to copy it. In this photograph, a tree is drawn in a corner and painted brown. Use 2 shades of brown paint to make the tree look more realistic. First paint it a darker color and go over it lightly with a lighter color of brown.
2. Leaves of the tree can be made by using a stamp or a stencil. You should have 3 or 4 different sizes of leaves, so that when they are painted they look more natural and not like a carbon copy. In this case, you can see that a stamp was used to make the leaves.
3. Randomly paint or stamp on the leaves until you are satisfied that your tree is full. Use a variation of colors of green and even add some yellow and gold for a fall motif.
4. When finished, use a small paintbrush to fix any smudged edges on the leaves and to add details to the tree to make it look more realistic.
Artists create characters to help them tell a story in a comic, for TV or movie storyboards, or for a series of drawings. Others make characters as their own personal avatars for online profile pictures. Writers also make characters for novels, short stories and poems. Instead of using drawings or pictures, writers describe their characters with words and let the reader see the character with their imagination. Whether you make a character with words or with a picture, the same basic process is used.
Instructions
1. Choose the type of character you want to make. Characters can be anything you want, such as superheroes, animals, fantasy creatures, figures from historic times, children or adults.
2. Develop a short background story for the character. This will help you explain why a character has certain accessories or companions, their goals and any challenges the character faces. The character's back story should include a description of where they are from, their personality traits and what the character thinks and feels. Explain the character's strengths and weaknesses in the background story along with the relationship he or she has with any other characters you have made. Background stories make characters unique, allowing the writer or artist to use them to devise new stories and scenarios.
3. Name your character. If the character is a personal avatar, you can name it after yourself. Consider creating a name that matches the character's traits or abilities--such as Magneto from "X-Men"--especially if the character you make is a hero or a fantasy creature. However, author Holly Lisle suggests giving your character a name after you develop the background story so the name does not influence the character's personality and history.
4. Give your character a look. After you have created a character's background story and have given it a name, describe your character with words or art. When developing the character's appearance, consider the body type, height, type of hair, eye color, clothing and accessories. Lisle also suggests thinking about a character's appearances later in the character-making process so it does not affect the background story. Fiction Factor suggests giving your main characters more details than minor characters in terms of how they look so they stand out better.
Trees are a combination of colors melded together to create the shape and form of the bark. You'll learn the art of creating texture when you paint this tree and its leaves in these simple steps. This is a foreground tree which shows more of the bark and has a bolder color than trees that would be in the background.
Instructions
1. Draw the shape of the tree trunk onto the canvas. It can be crooked or straight; the choice is yours.
2. Use the #12 flat brush to mix a small amount of the Burnt Sienna with a larger amount of the Ultramarine Blue. This will be the darkest value for the shadowed side of the tree. Apply this color to one side of the tree. Wipe the brush clean.
3. Apply Burnt Sienna vertically to the center of the tree. Add a small amount of Cadmium Yellow over that and then brush a small amount of Sap Green to the lower part of the Tree trunk over the Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Yellow. Do not clean the brush.
4. Pick up Titanium White on the dirty brush and apply the paint to the right side of the tree where there is no paint. Clean the brush and softly pat blend the colors moving from the lightest to the darkest colors, wiping the brush often. While the brush is dirty, pick up a little of the darkest value mixture of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue and stroke in some branches. To create texture in the bark, stand the brush upright and tap the tips of the hairs along the bark.
5. Wipe the brush clean and mix some of the Cadmium Yellow with the Sap Green to make a lighter value of green. Scoop some of this lighter value aside and add more Cadmium Yellow to it for an even lighter value of green. Clean the brush.
6. Use the scruffy brush to tap in the darkest value of green first. Leave background spaces so the leaves have a lacy affect. Wipe the brush and add the middle value of green and finish the leaves by tapping on the lightest value without cleaning the brush. Add more of the lightest value, clean the brush first and then add the color. Allow the branches to peek through the leaves.
Use bright, vibrant colors for a child's bedroom mural.
Children love trains. Trains are big, loud, shiny and exciting, and it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl, if you love trains, you want one. Go ahead and paint a bright, cheery train mural on your child's bedroom wall, and involve her fully in the design, painting and the choices of colors. As a bonus, participating in the planning of her bedroom can stimulate her intellectual development as well as instill a sense of pride in and responsibility for her own living space.
Instructions
1. Pull out pictures of trains in children's magazines and storybooks, and ask him which he prefers and why. Encourage him to visualize his favorite train as a mural on his wall, and explain the basics to him in terms of shape and color. Take your own skills into consideration; reproducing an intricate painting of the American history of rail might be more of a challenge than painting a pull-along wooden engine.
2. Give your child a ruler and help her measure the width of the area of wall to be painted, planning it at the lower part of the wall so she can reach it when helping you paint the train. Help her measure the depth of the painting area.
3. Draw a to-scale rectangle on paper, with 1 inch equivalent to 6 inches. Draw a rectangle where your child wants his train on the wall, dividing it into 6-inch grid squares.
4. Use color pencils to sketch a train on the paper grid, asking your child to tell you what she wants, such as big wheels, a fat engine, or a smiley face on the front. Ask her to tell you which colors she wants to use and how many cars on the train. She might want to paint in flowers or animals along the side of the railway track, and people waving.
5. Transfer the design in each 1-inch grid of the drawing into each 6-inch grid on the wall, using soft pencil. Let your child help, showing him where to draw the lines. Congratulate him at each stage! Don't worry about errors, as these can be erased and redrawn or painted over.
6. Lay a dust sheet out to protect the floor or carpet, and give your child a waterproof apron and a floppy artist's hat. Outline each separate section of the train in paint with a 1/2-inch brush, such as the wheels, the train cars, windows and the engine, leaving a space in the middle of each. Help her paint within each space and build up the train section by section.
7. Allow each section to dry before painting next to it, to prevent runs and smudges. Don't worry about achieving a perfect train if your child wants to add blobs of strange colors or aliens driving the engine -- this is his room, and his pride in achievement and ownership is worth more than showroom perfection.
8. When you have both finished the mural and it is completely dry, get your child to sign the mural with her name. Help her with the letters if she is still learning to write. Take a photograph of her standing next to her train! Ask her to help you clear up the painting equipment so that she understands the whole process of planning a wall painting.
Leaves look more realistic with proper use of light and shadow.
Factors involved in drawing a realistic leaf include lighting, proportion and distance from your subject. If drawing a leaf from far away, small patches of color appear realistic. To capture the intricate details of a leaf for an in-depth study, pay attention to lines and shadow. The type of leaf that you draw determines many elements of your sketch, such as shape and size. Study your leaf well, whether you draw from life or a photograph, before beginning your drawing.
Instructions
1. Examine the leaf that you wish to draw. Note its shape and size. Some leaves have smooth, rounded outlines, while others have jagged edges. Pay careful attention to the outline of the leaf to capture these details.
2. Sketch the spine of the leaf. Some leafs, like maple, possess several branching or fanning spines. Others, like dogwood, have a strong central spine. Use strong arching lines to capture this shape, rather than straight, unnatural strokes.
3. Draw the veins of the leaf as they branch away from the spine. Again, use curving, organic lines to make the veins.
4. Use the endpoints of the veins as a guide to draw the outside edge of the leaf. Use soft, fluid lines to define the shape of the leaf. For large leaves with many sections, such as oak, draw the edges in small parts, rather than drawing the entire shape at once.
5. Turn your pencil on its side and add soft regions of shadow to the interior of the leaf. Observe the light and shadow of your subject to guide your drawing.
6. Using your pencil tip, add shadows that follow the direction of the veins. These strong lines will help capture the texture of the leaf.
7. Use an eraser to add smooth edges to highlighted regions, blending them softly into the shadows.
Abstract art is commonly defined as non-representational; in other words, not a picture of something in the common objective way we ordinarily see and define objects. Abstract art can be an expression of a feeling, a geometric statement, or the beauty of a curve. Spontaneity and the creative process are powerful forces that loom large when it comes to art and abstraction. Delving into the subconscious, and the flattening of the picture plane, are big ideas that have been explored through creative visual abstraction. The artwork can simply be a painting that explores a certain shade of blue, or captures the feeling of a shape. Explore an idea visually, or make an exploration that discovers an idea.
Instructions
1. Express a feeling.
Consider what interests you, from a nonobjective vantage point. For example, think about a particular certain shade of a color that affects you. Another approach is to start with no idea at all. Think from the inside out, or refuse to think at all.
2. Look inside.
Go at it. Use any paints you have, or a pencil. Use a canvas, piece of paper, or whatever support you want. If there is a particular feeling or idea whose intention is motivating this creative movement explore it visually.
3. Abstracted representationalism.
Go deeper. Figure out where you are going with it. Feel it. Do not think about what you are doing in the ordinary way. Explore this visually. Do this on the canvas/paper with line, shape, color, and/or texture.
4. Find yourself. Get a track and follow it down. Some tracks are dead ends. Find a track that opens up for you. What you create does not need to be beautiful, but there does need to be something going on with it, something that becomes clear.
5. Create a more substantial expression. Once the discovery takes shape for you inside, bring it out. Find it there in front of you with your hands, using line, shape, color, and/or texture.
6. Let it rest. Put it on the back burner and let it stew. Stop looking at it. Forget about it. Do something else. Then come back to it with a fresh eye.
7. Continue exploring your visual self-expression. When you have a clear line on it, get serious about creating a substantial art object/painting. Have fun with it or struggle until you get it right. A successful abstract artwork can come from any quarter.
A townhouse is a house that shares one or more walls with another house. A townhouse may be attached to another house on one side. Townhouses may also be attached to other houses on both sides. This form of housing is very common in urban areas where land for building homes may be scarce. Townhouse design should focus closely on details that will help occupants take full advantage of the lot's best features.
Instructions
1. Use the right exterior materials. Materials used should blend in with the other houses on the block if possible. If houses on the rest of the block are clad in brick, consider a brick facade for the house. If the townhouses on the block have painted exteriors, consider a paint exterior. Painting can be an excellent way to add character to a townhouse. Consider painting the townhouse in a color that complements the rest of the houses. If the neighbors have all chosen pastel colors paint the townhouse in light blue, mint green, lemon yellow or even pink or lavender.
2. Use landscaping. Landscaping comprises the hard and soft elements on outside of the home. Make the front yard and backyard inviting. Plant small flowers out front. Add a tinkling concrete fountain and small bench where visitors can sit while they wait for someone to answer the door. Make the backyard equally inviting with plantings that work well in small lots. Use a creeping vine such as hyacinth bean to add color. Place pine bushes in colorful pots to help keep the yard green and private.
3. Carefully think about the number of levels in the townhouse. Most townhouses have from two to five levels. A smaller number can make the space more manageable for an individual family. A larger number of levels may allow the occupants to create an accessory apartment on one floor to rent out for additional income or as a place for an elderly relative to live rather than being placed in a nursing home.
4. Consider the placement of rooms. Reduce the time spent climbing staircases by having at least one bathroom on each floor if possible. Make grocery shopping and food preparation easier by placing the kitchen on the first floor. Place bedrooms on the top floors to reduce noise levels and increase privacy.
5. Add detail. Use skylights to bring natural light into rooms. Carpet the entire space in the same materials to make it feel unified as people move between floors. Place a terrace or other open space on one floor to give additional access to the outdoors and take advantage of the townhouse's height.
Watercolor painting can be a therapeutic and relaxing way to spend an afternoon. If you haven't tried painting a sunset, these steps break it down so that you can easily create a watercolor sunset from start to finish with no stress or frustration, just the way watercolor painting should be.
Instructions
1. Wet the paper with a water-soaked mop brush. This technique is called wet-into-wet, and it softens the surface and prepares it for soft absorption lines rather than hard, defined lines. Wet-into-wet is used mostly for sunsets and clouds.
2. Tilt your paper at a 15-degree angle so the paint will run downward as it seeps into the paper.
3. Dip your brush into the blue paint, which is the first color to go onto the paper. Stroke the paint along the top edge of the paper. Overlap the first stroke with a second stroke of blue paint. Use the remnants of the first dip of blue paint.
4. Rinse your paint brush in clean water. Dip it into the red paint, run a stroke along the paper so that the red overlaps the blue to create a purplish hue.
5. Dip your paint brush into clean water to make the next brush stroke. Do not rinse the brush-you simply want to dilute the paint that is already on the brush. Finish this part of the sunset with several gradated strokes across the horizon.
6. Turn your paper upside down so that it's still at a fifteen degree angle, but now the paint runs in the opposite direction from the red and blue. Dip your brush into yellow paint and make several strokes across the paper. Work your way towards the red and blue strokes. Overlap each stroke.
7. Allow the paper to dry completely and then re-wet it with clean water. Dip your brush into the red paint and go back into the yellow areas and spot-touch with red to create subtle bursts of red sky.
Drawing carrots well is a must for any still-life that includes vegetables. Learning to draw carrots takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on your art background. Practice regularly to keep your skills sharp, and draw or paint in areas that have good light so you can see your work.
Instructions
1. Set some carrots on your table. While you practice your drawing skills, having the real item on hand helps you get the small details right.
2. Draw a small circle to begin with. This forms the top of the carrot. As a guide line, draw a straight line down from the center of the circle. Make the line four to five inches long; this will be the carrot shaft.
3. Add three to four wavy lines from the top of the circle to be your carrot leaves. Omit the leaves to draw a carrot without leaves.
4. Draw lines from the sides of your circle to the end of your vertical line, to create a teardrop-shaped carrot. Now you've got the basics of the vegetable down.
5. Erase the vertical guideline and the bottom half of the circle to have only the outline of your carrot.
6. Draw short horizontal lines to serve as ridges or bumps on your carrot. Look at the real carrots you set up and incorporate the spacing of their ridges to get it right.
7. Flesh out the leaves, again drawing from your real carrots. Thicken the leaves with your pencil and give them the shape of true carrot leaves, with feathered edges.
Ceramic pottery is one of the oldest forms of art. Building a ceramic pot is easy, and you don't even need expensive equipment, such as a pottery wheel. You can make a pinch pot by using only some clay and your hands. Here's how you can build a ceramic pinch pot.
Instructions
1. Start with a ball of clay, and insert your thumb into the middle of the ball. If your ceramic ball feels dry, try putting a little bit of water on your thumb before you begin.
2. Pinch the side of your clay, and turn the clay until you've pinched all of the sides. To pinch your pot, gently press the clay between your thumb and forefinger by placing your thumb inside the pot and your forefinger on the outside.
3. Continue turning your clay, and keep pinching it gently. You'll want to make all of the sides the same shape and thickness. Your pot should be about one-fourth of an inch thick on all sides.
4. Shape your pot by bending the sides gently. Use your fingers to smooth out the inside and outside of your pot.
5. Let your pot dry, and then fire your pot in the kiln. It may take as long as a week for your pot to air dry. But, make sure it is dry before placing it in the kiln.
6. Paint the pot, and fire it a second time. After you fire your pot a first time, it is ready to get glazed. Glaze is a special kind of paint for ceramics.
If this is the sunset image for your mural, drop the horizon line for more visual interest.
A dramatic, bold sunset washes the sky in reds, pinks, oranges and purples and creates a mood that is both serene and heady. Bring this mood into your home by painting a sunset mural over a wall. Choose a wall without doors or windows for this project and make sure that the area gets plenty of traffic, since you'll want to show off your DIY sunset mural once you complete it.
Instructions
1. Search the Internet, landscape photography magazines and your own photo collections for a striking sunset image. Choose an unfussy image with few details; too-detailed wall murals can look too busy and distract the eye.
2. Cover the floor and furniture in the room with drop cloths and tape off outlets and fixtures with painter's tape.
3. Prepare your wall. An uneven, pock-marked wall makes a poor canvas for a wall mural, so fill cracks and holes with joint compound, sand off flaking paint and cover the entire surface with a coat of primer. Allow your work to dry before proceeding.
4. Choose a background color. For a sunset, choose a yellow or orange background color. Roll the color onto your wall and allow the paint to dry. Also choose the remainder of your colors, which should focus on reds, oranges, yellows and purples.
5. Measure your wall from floor to ceiling. Mark a dot 1/3 of the way to the ceiling from the floor with a pencil. This is your horizon line. According to the author of, "Paint Tropical Sunsets, " Gina De Gorna, you should avoid placing your horizon at the center of the wall, since it creates less visual interest.
6. Draw a horizontal pencil line across the wall at the mark you just made. Use a long level to keep the line perfectly straight. Apply a line of paint over the pencil line but be less precise. You want the line to be straight but slightly blurred since the horizon is in the distance. Use a darker color from your chosen hues, since the horizon line should be slightly darken than the land or water below it. Rough up a too-sharp horizon line with a dry brush.
7. Paint the sky. Use a large sponge to apply the colors in the sky in a horizontal, back and forth and imprecise motion. Vary the amounts of paint on your sponge to create darker and lighter streaks in the sky. Use darker colors near the ceiling and lighter colors as you approach the horizon. Blend each layer of color together with a sponge.
8. Paint the landscape or water using a large paintbrush and a limited number of colors. You want the sunset to take center stage, so focus on the general shapes in the landscape or on the water. Make sure the horizon line stays slightly darker than the area below it.
9. Streak light yellow into the painting over the area where the sun just set.
10. Lightly pencil in any large shapes from your sunset picture, such as a grouping of palm trees, mountains in the distance or a mass of clouds. Paint the underside of clouds with a darker color, and sponge white over the shadows to create soft, rounded cloud shapes. Paint distant mountains in the same color as the sky, but use a darker tone. Paint palm trees or other landscape elements in silhouette to keep them simple and unobtrusive.
11. Bring colors from your sky onto the shapes you just painted to give the painting a cohesive look and to make the sunset look authentic.
12. Examine your reference images and determine where the light from your just-set sun would hit the different shapes in your mural, such as the tops of mountains or on the top of water. Add light yellow to these areas.
Documentation of existing medical coverage is important when changing insurance carriers.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requires that health insurance providers be willing to provide certain information to their members to help them transition from one insurance plan to another with minimal complications. One important concept covered by this act is known as "creditable coverage." Upon request, health insurance providers must supply any member with either a "Notice of Creditable Coverage" or "Certificate of Creditable Coverage" to document the member's health insurance coverage.
A "Notice of Creditable Coverage" is used to supply coverage information to Medicare offices, and a "Certificate of Creditable Coverage" is used to supply coverage information to private insurance companies. If you are applying for Medicare, you will need a "Notice of Creditable Coverage." Otherwise, a "Certificate of Creditable Coverage" will work.
Instructions
1. Call your health insurance provider using the member benefits number listed on your insurance card.
2. Request either a "Notice of Creditable Coverage" or a "Certificate of Creditable Coverage" be mailed to your home address. (Some insurance companies will email or fax the letter to you at your request.)
3. Provide the letter to the Medicare office or your new medical insurance company to prove you had existing health insurance coverage when you applied for new benefits.
Until the 13th century, most artists painted on the rough surfaces of their patrons' homes or cathedrals. Easel painting, as opposed to wall murals, developed during the Renaissance, forever changing the way artists create their visions for the world. Today, most oil and acrylic painters use canvases and art easels for ease of transport, gaining proper perspective on their subject matter, storage and more. Taking careful steps to ensure successful use of an art easel can dramatically influence an artist's work.
Instructions
1. Evaluate the load of your canvas on your easel: weight, height, ease of access and steadiness. For instance, a flat-based easel offers more stability for a large canvas, but a three-legged easel is more adaptable for a broader assortment of canvas sizes. Many artists own several different types of easels. Make certain it will hold your canvas steady to avoid inadvertent jolts and mishaps.
2. Secure the canvas with the attachments at the top and bottom of the easel. If the canvas is not properly held in place, it can interfere with the stroke motion of the brush and impair the artist's intentions. The small blank spots the attachments will leave can easily be filled in later with paint. Vigorous painters who jab at the canvas should choose the most stable models possible. If not, they run the risk of tearing canvas, knocking the painting off kilter with every stroke or breaking the easel.
3. Slant oil paintings for ease of work and to prevent dust particles from settling in the paint. As oil paints take a long time to dry, ideally the studio/workspace will have good ventilation and be as dust-free as possible. Artists who use acrylic must work fast with this swiftly drying medium and do not need to be concerned with dust. They can paint at any slant they find comfortable and unwavering enough to support their canvas and brush stroke style. Watercolor paintings must be secured completely level to avoid running paint. Some watercolor artists tilt their canvas and use a thicker blend of water and paint while some embrace the effect of the running water look. Many pastel artists use easels also. They slant the canvas forward so the excess powdery-dust falls easily fall away.
4. Create a sketch or outline of the painting on the secured canvas. A basic composition can be done in your desired medium: pencil, acrylic or watercolor. Gaining a visual sense of depth, which brings a painting to life, can only be attained by design and by constantly stepping back to take a good look at your work.
5. Develop your palette by first creating a color wheel of hues you have chosen for the painting. Do you want warm colors, seasonal hues or bold primary colors? Take the time to research color theory before starting a painting by reading articles on color to learn make your painting come to life.
Paintbrush similar to the style of ink brush used in Sumi-e
Sumi-e is the Asian art of ink and brush landscape painting. Sumi-e is a style of art that is said to express the essence of objects through the use of pure black Sumi-e ink against white rice paper. It's an art form that can take a lifetime to master. With practice and patience, you can paint in the Sumi-e style and slowly start to craft a complex black and white landscape.
Instructions
1. Make the ink for your painting. Sprinkle several drops of water on the ink stone. Press the tip of your stick against the wet stone and move it in gentle circles across the surface of the stone. Moving the stick over the stone is considered a meditative process where you been to contemplate the composition of your landscape. As you move the stick, it releases some of the soot from the stone into the water and creates your ink. You will need about a quarter-size amount of ink for your small landscape. Dip the tip of the brush into the ink.
2. Draw bamboo onto the right corner of your rice paper. Bamboo is considered the first of the four strokes called the Four Gentlemen that you must master to learn Sumi-e. Set the tip of the brush at the bottom of your piece of rice paper and pull the brush up and lift to the midpoint of your paper. Repeat this movement next to the line you just painted until you have a clump of bamboo. Dip your brush into the ink and use the tip to dot small leaves at intermittent intervals along your stalks of bamboo.
3. Draw wild orchids in scattered locations on the lower half of your rice paper. The wild orchid is considered the second stroke of the Four Gentleman. Dip your brush into the ink and set it on the paper where you'd like your first orchid drawn. Use the same movement you used to draw the bamboo, pull the brush up and lift, but turn the brush as you move to create a petal. Repeat this movement to create all three petals of your orchid. Repeat this step to create several orchids across your paper.
4. Go several inches above your top orchid and draw your horizon. Dip your brush into the ink and pull it horizontally along your paper, adding a few bumps to create a natural-looking line. You now have a basic Sumi-e landscape painting with bamboo in the foreground of a hill of wild orchids.
There are five stages in the design process that every designer or architect follows. It is a natural progression that helps take you from the beginning of the design to final built completion of the project, whether it is an house or an art piece. While design can be very artistic and free flowing, the design process can be seen as very scientific. It allows for checks and balances at each stage of the design process so that you know when you are drifting in a different direction.
Schematic Design
The first stage is called schematic design. This is when the ideas are laid out and the potential problem that needs to be solved with the design is set forth. An architect will use this stage to get an understanding of the client's needs and wants and try to really understand what it is they are looking for in their design. It is at this stage that an architect will use such tools as an adjacency matrix and a bubble diagram to help understand the potential design requirements while putting together the criteria that are required.
Design Development
The second stage is design development. This is when the design is starting to take shape and the spaces are understood and recognized. This is also when an architect will start picking out the materials and the structural system that will be used in the design. The style and direction of the design will start to be developed at this stage.
Construction Documents
The third stage is construction documents. This is when the details of build the project are put together in a concise and thorough set of plans. A set of construction documents consists of the drawings and a set of specifications such as electrical diagrams. They are kept together so that a contractor has all the information needed to build the project.
Bidding and Negotiations
The fourth stage is the bidding and negotiations stage. This is when the construction documents have been approved and an owner gets estimates, or bids, from potential contractors.
Construction Administration
The last and final stage is construction administration. This is when the project is being built and the architect is in charge of interpreting and clarifying the drawings for the contractor. Many times this is the most time-consuming aspect of the process, because many different variables come into play when putting a project together. Sometimes materials that were available 6 months ago during the construction documents stage are no longer available during the construction administration stage, so substitutions have to be found, approved and ordered.
Impressive works can be done with step-by-step instructions.
Art is a craft that nearly any person can master with adequate training and determination. Step-by-step art lessons are the best choice for an artist that has minimal training on the subject matter being demonstrated, or for an artist that struggles to create an original idea in their mind.
Step-by-step art lessons can be found online, in print and through studio classes. It's important to choose the format that is best for your needs and availability. The advantages of using step-by-step art lessons is that you'll know what materials you'll need and what your finished product should look like.
Instructions
1. Decide what medium you would like to work with - oil paint, pastels, sketch pencils, or watercolors.
2. Decide what scenery or image you would like to create. Common choices are portraits, landscapes, seascapes and animals.
3. Choose a lesson book that focuses on the medium that you have chosen. You can purchase one from a craft store, craft department in a local department store, online, or a bookstore. You can borrow an art lesson book from your local library. Libraries often have a good variety of art lesson books available, giving you the option to borrow several books at once.
Certain animals, like an elephant, can be connected with specific parts of the world.
The world consists of nearly 200 countries and a much larger number of spoken languages. When choosing an art project that expresses global awareness, it might be a good idea to represent something concrete like architecture, agricultural products, wildlife or native plants. Perhaps the most vital subject of all, entails portraying the people of the world. For those challenged by drawing a figure, the use of photographs to make a collage-type image might be a good choice.
Flora
Not only are trees relatively easy to draw, but they are very diverse and can be found in most parts of the world. Often, a certain type of tree will be associated with a certain part of the world, like the redwood within the west coast of the United States. Sometimes, like in Canada, a tree, such as the sugar maple, can be become a national symbol. Practice drawing the tree until your renditions became realistic and natural looking. Once you feel confident that this has been accomplished, consider combining the tree image with other visual elements.
Border
Create a border to the picture where a few design elements can be used to both add interest to the picture and also to give the image a distinct national theme. Again, the maple leaf of Canada comes to mind. What you might want to do is choose a color for the background of the border and then add small outlines of the maple leaf at various points along the edge. In this example white would make for a good border color, where several red maple leafs could be placed.
Architecture
Most nations can be identified by a limited number of architectural icons that are tied explicitly to the particular nation. Big Ben in England, the Eiffel Tower in France, the Taj Mahal in India or the pyramids in Egypt are all examples of iconic structures that might be included in your art project. Find a photograph of an appropriate building and practice drawing the edifice until you are ready to add it to your picture.
Final Composition
Finally you must tie the whole picture together by adding the various elements discussed so far. It is still possible to add other elements to the picture, such as people, birds, automobiles, boats or airplanes. Your picture might be put together by first sketching the scene and then using an opaque water-based paint to bring the drawing to life. Other possibilities are available to those whose draftsmanship is not well developed. These include making a collage from color photographs removed from old magazines and travel brochures. Another option is to use imaging software such as Photoshop, Illustrator or Fireworks to create your master composition. Avoid placing actual text in the picture, as the idea is to create an interesting picture, not a travel poster.