4 Tips to Attract People to Your Paintings

When you look at a painting, your eyes naturally dart about but quickly come to rest on a place in the painting that makes you focus and think. That is, if it is a good painting created by an artist that has a workable technique and understanding of the area of interest. Some artist refer to this as the focal point. It is the starting point for the viewer of the painting. More than likely, it is probably what inspired the title of the painting. Whether you are a new artist, or an experienced artist, you should spend an adequate amount of time planning this small area in your painting. I say small, because it seldom should be more than a fraction of the entire work (some say no more than a sixteenth), but it should be the most intriguing part.

Imagine this, you want to paint a landscape scene where the light is filtering through trees creating a sun dappled patch in a small clearing of grass. The clearing is near a babbling brook from which a young fawn drinks. The fawn's mother stands off to the side, but nearby. She keenly stares in the direction of your assumed viewer with a look of anticipation, as if sensing danger. As an artist, you see the anticipation of the deer's expression in your mind's eye, and you imagine the emotion of the viewer, hoping they will be concerned that the deer may mistake them for a hunter.

Can it be? Can you really pull this off? You can if you have a clear understanding of color, chroma, contrasting values, directional shapes, and hard and soft edges. You have an artist license and you can create anything you can imagine. Whether this is true, or not, this you must believe before you attempt the work of art.

Imagine the difference of the scene being photographed instead of painted. In a photograph, the deer will still be the focal point, but in many cases the focal point of a photograph isn't near as captivating as a good painting. Why is this? It is because a photograph has details all throughout the picture. These details dull the center of interest. If you have any doubt about this, paint details equally throughout the painting and see how you confuse the viewer and dilute the main focal point. A painting should emphasize details only when necessary.

For example, painting details of tree trunks, leaves, or grass may be important in the area surrounding the deer, but the remaining trees and foliage in your painting works best if left more vague. The sun dappled patch around the stream should be more brilliant. An occasional directional shape of a limb or tree may help direct the viewers eyes to the area.

Here are 4 tips to help you attract people to your paintings.

Use contrasting values in the area of interest. They will immediately grab the viewers attention. This is especially true if you use a real dark hue next to a real light one.

How to use color in the area of interest is most important. Select a special color you only intend to use here. No matter how much, or how little you use it, do not use it anywhere else in the painting. Also, always use more brilliance in the focal point. Remember, colors that have their complements placed next to them are compelling to the eye, so use adjacent complements whenever possible.

Directional shapes work well, but always use them with moderation. Give this plenty of thought in advance in the planning stage. if directional shapes are overused, your painting will become a ho-hum instead of a masterpiece. An example of directional shapes are trees, limbs, stems, rivers, roads, houses, rooftops, buildings, signs,fences, and almost any angle or line that can indicate direction.

Use less detail and softer edges in the area outside of the focal point. Paint crisper edges and more detail within it.

In conclusion, pay particular attention to how you paint your focal area. This should be the most intriguing area of the entire painting. If you concentrate on the use of color, crisp and soft edges, contrasting values, and directional shapes, then you will have a more compelling painting. Challenge yourself to study and learn, and you will create your masterpiece. The main thing, keep painting.

Tips for Painting Reflections

Everyone knows what reflections are, but what are they really? Reflections are images bouncing off an object and reaching your eyes indirectly such as by bouncing from a shiny surface, mirror, water, or some other reflective object. If properly rendered, they add an interesting dimension to many realistic paintings. As an artist wishing to give your painting an extra measure of depth, you will want to understand thoroughly the proper use of reflections.

To paint them, reflections take a combination of accuracy and looseness, precision, yet a certain freedom of artistic energy. However, if painted incorrectly, they can destroy your painting. In other words, it doesn't take an art critic to spot it when it's wrong. One thing important, however, when painting reflections into a picture you need to decide upon which you will place the most emphasis, the reflection or the object. If you paint them equally, the picture may seem divided.

There are many different types of reflections, For the sake of brevity, however, I will concentrate only on water, and give tips that will help you when painting reflections as it pertains to water in a landscape.

First, water is not a mirror as some artist portray in their paintings. Only if you look across water at a very slight angle will it ever come close to approaching the reflectivity of a mirror. Some of the sun's rays bounce off the water causing reflection and some travel into it causing refraction. Because some of the light touching water penetrates into it rather than reflecting off of it, the colors of the reflected object are changed. For example, the reflection of a light-colored object such as that of a white boat, or house, will appear darker and must be painted as such or the viewer will be confused. It will not look real.

Wavelets on the water also have an effect. They tend to confuse the image by breaking up the reflection. The vertical lines are usually preserved, but the horizontal lines are distorted. As a result, the reflections off water always emphasizes vertical lines over the horizontal lines.

Here are some TIPS to remember:

The angle of incidence and the angle of the reflection are always the same.

Reflections on a smooth surface (such as a still lake) will be sharp-edged and clear, while objects on a rough surface (rippled water) will be blurry and broken.

The reflection of an object appears the way you see it if your eyes were on the surface of the water where the reflection is located.

The color of a reflection is influenced by the color of the water. If the water is shallow and the bottom shows beneath, this will also effect the color of the reflection.

If an object tilts toward you, it will seem shorter than its reflection.

If an object tilts away from you, it will create a shorter reflection.

If an object tilts left, the reflection tilts left. Consequently, if it tilts right, then the reflection tilts right.

A light subject against a dark background reflecting off a slightly moving water will elongate. Ripples are like small mirrors all at different angles sending reflections in different directions.

Caustic reflections are the reflected light by means of reflecting off waves on water. For example, spots, arcs, or bands of light glimmering off the side of a boat reflected from light hitting the waves.

Specular reflections bounce off a shiny surface. For example, the face of a man fishing reflected in the contour of a chrome boat railing.

Ten Tips for Booking Good Performers

Ten tips for booking good performers in the industry do have a problem faced by many clients: "How do I know if my players to book any good?" This is quite a puzzle - there are many substandard players out there, but certainly no one with sense would sell themselves as anything but a professional standard. Here are my top ten tips to make sure that you are not getting ripped off when booking performers.

1) Make sure they have proper insurance documents

If you are looking to hire an artist then you should check out the show they have the right insurance. In the UK a lot of players who are insured as part of their membership to trade equities. If you order a player fires, they also need to have additional insurance for the use of fire. If an entertainer can not provide proof of insurance then you should avoid immediately.

2) Ask to see some videos

This is especially important if you are ordering a very visual action such as fire circus performer or artist. Any company worth their salt should have some good footage available - watch carefully. If it's a promo video and often will not be a good indication of talent - do not be afraid to ask to see another clip of raw footage. If they are reluctant to send it to you then alarm bells should be ringing.

3) Check the photos carefully

In the era of photo editing software has made it very easy for companies to make themselves look bigger and better than they actually are - in fact most companies will at least touch up their photos. If this happens try to break away from whatever background they have enough to put themselves in - instead of looking at the quality of costumes and whether or not this is a shot or a photo studio to live performances. In photographs the work will give a better idea of ​​who or what will emerge in the evening.

4) Look for a good testimonial

This is often a tricky one - it is, after all, fairly easy for someone to type fast some of your own testimonial and give them a random name. Far more valuable is a testimonial from company - look to the company and do not be afraid to ask for details of the players on the work they do for them. If you make a big order could even be worth the time to check with the company itself. Testimonials can also be a great way to measure how long the company has gone.

5) Consider the pre-show their professionalism

Many talented players can be completely disappointed by the lack of professionalism. Do they use the proper spelling in grammar or how quickly they respond to e-mail may seem like irrelevant details when dealing with a player but this is not the case. Professionalism beyond the show itself is generally a good indication that the offender will act professionally at the show itself.

6) Do not pay too much or too little

Most professionals in the arts industry performance will cost between £ 250 - £ 450 per day. This may make you act a stage, or a few hours of entertainment walkabout, or someone on the stage for the evening - this figure is very likely remain the same regardless of the activity. This is because a player can really only do one show a day at most and they have to meet the needs of more than a month - you pay more for their practice of the time on the show itself. Between £ 250 and £ 450 is about right - anyone charging less than you want to seriously question whether they are appropriate professional, again and you might get ripped off. There are some exceptional players who can simply charge more than this - one would be able to provide more than enough evidence to convince you that they are worth the investment.

7) Check the online reviews of independent

This is a tricky one - the group will not have a lot of the performance of independent reviews that you can easily find. This is due to the simple fact that many people can not be bothered to write a review. More than it could be the case that the company has reviewed its own independently in an effort to improve the ranking in the directory. It is worth checking for the review is really just to see if there is a very bad one kicking about - if the client is completely happy with the players to work then it may be safer to avoid using them.

8) Make sure you fully understand the content that you buy.

When booking entertainment, it is important that you get a good understanding of what it would appear at night. If you are unsure of anything then ask for clarification.

9) Consider the source of some of the places

If you run a big event can actually be worth using some of the entertainment company. While it may mean a little more work to organize it reduces the chances that you'll end up with a whole team of substandard performance.

10) Believe in your intuition!

If it looks dodgy - maybe this! Trust your gut.

Tip on the Drying Time of Oil Paints

When ever anybody talks about the drying time for oil paints they always put it into the same context as we talk about the drying time of watercolours or acrylic paints, which is wrong really as the process is completely different. With watercolour and acrylics the paint dries through evaporation, which basically means the water in the paint is drawn out by spontaneously turning from a liquid into a gas, this process allows the paint to harden. The hotter it is, the faster this process happens, which is why it's a bad idea to paint outdoors with acrylic in the summer, as your paint dries almost immediately.

How many times have you heard someone say, "It takes nine months for an oil painting to dry" no wonder a lot of people won't touch oil's, especially beginner painters, I'm not surprised really, can you imagine having a wet canvas sat in your studio for nine months, well the good news is that this myth is actually untrue, well it's more of a misconception than an untruth, It's quite hard to say when a painting will be dry because there are various factors to consider, like the colour of the paint, as brighter colours don't dry as fast as the earthy colours, also how thick it has been applied, but as a general rule an oil painting will be tack dry the next day, for it to be completely dry it will take a few days, possibly up to a week. The nine months is true, but it's not for the paint to dry, it's what I like to call "Cure" it takes approximately nine months for an oil painting to cure, to properly harden, and this is where the confusion lies, it isn't nine months for the paint to dry, its nine months before you should varnish your painting. You shouldn't varnish until it is properly dry because oil paint dries through oxidisation.

With traditional oil paint, there isn't any water in the paint to evaporate away; the water element of the manufacture is replaced with an oil based substance, usually Linseed Oil which also doesn't evaporate away. What actually happens is when your painting is exposed to the elements, the oil reacts with oxygen in the air which causes the paint to harden through oxidisation? So as long as the oil paint is exposed to oxygen it will carry on with the curing process until it is completely dry. The problem with varnishing your oil painting before it has sufficiently cured, is you are cutting off the supply of oxygen to your painting so it can't carry on with the oxidising process. What would happen is your oil paint will eventually dry but it would take a very long time to finally harden and there's a very good chance the coat of varnish you have applied will crack, this is because the top layer of varnish will dry first, and the under layers of oil paint which will dry at a much slower rate, will move and contract so it breaks the hardened varnish as it dries, this is a possible reason why sometimes an oil painting has the look of snake skin, where there is cracks all over the painting.