The easel may seem trivial in that it only holds the canvas, however no artist starts without one, unless of course the work that is being done on a medium other than canvas. Something like a wall or mural.

An easel is the apparatus that you’ll find in the studio of every artist and is used to display or hold up the canvas.

It works by providing a tripod that can be manipulated to obtain a virtually any desired angle when painting. For example, if you choice of angle is the watercolor angle, which is 35, then the easel can be adjusted to that exact angle.

Just like most other products of this nature easel prices vary greatly. You’ll want to choose the of that best fits the type and style of art you paint. You should choose your easel based on it’s ability to suit your own needs and nothing else.

The easel you select should be sturdy enough to endure the wear and tear of fairly constant use. Brass, steel, or aluminum easels are recommended. Wood easels are the classic standards, however after a short time of constant use wooden easels tend to show signs of aging and tear.

Table top easels are small, compact, foldable, and easily used virtually anywhere. However it’s lack of bulk in size unfortunately means it’s not an easel that can be counted on for long term stability. Also if you enjoy standing up you’ll probably find the table top easel more than a little inconvenient for ongoing daily use.

Studio easels are generally the choice of professional artists. They are big and are able to accommodate a much larger canvas. They are floor standing fixtures that are known for having great stability and durability. You should be aware though, they are not portable. These easels are pricey, and heavy. But if you are dead set on painting professionally or on working on large canvasses, this is the easel for you.

Because it will be such a constant fixture in your daily life as an artist selecting the proper easel is a very important step in enjoying painting as a job or as a hobby. Choosing the wrong one will inconvenience you or and make you feel uncomfortable while you work. A condition that is clearly detrimental to creating your art.

Time invested initially selecting your easel pays off handsomely in your future as an artist.

Author Info:

Easel
Easels Online is home to Easel Society, the #1 online store for people who want the best when purchasing an easel. Easels online carries hand crafted American made children’s easels, artist easels, and display easels! Its clear to see why the professionals choose Easels Online for all of their easel needs.

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But, before you start executing those face painting ideas in your head, you should have a basic knowledge about the craft first. Having enough knowledge about the materials to be used and proper application methods and techniques will help you deal with possible accidents.

The basic things you need to face paint your children include face paints as well as brushes and sponges. In choosing face paints, you have to be meticulous about it because it will be applied to one of the most sensitive parts of their body: the face.

Make sure that you choose paints that are to be specially made for use on the skin to avoid the possibility of allergic reactions and even poisoning. Make sure that you choose face paints that are hypoallergenic especially if the skins of your kids are sensitive. Also, try to look for face paints that contain natural or organic ingredients to avoid the application of harmful chemicals. Make sure that the type and brand of the face paint you are going to buy meets specific standards and regulations.

Aside from the face paint you’re going to use, also pay attention to the type of brushes and sponges you will need in the application of the face paints. In choosing brushes, look for those that have good quality evident in the softness and strength of its bristles. The best brushes to be used for face paint are those synthetic brushes with soft and fine bristles because this will ensure that the face of the child will not be bruised by a hard bristle. To know if your children will like the texture and bristle of the brushes, you can try it on them during shopping. Three to five good quality brushes with various texture and sizes is enough for you to start with.

Once you have found a good quality brush, next is the good quality sponge. The quality of the sponge should be of top priority because you will need it in covering large areas of your child’s face. Make sure that you choose sponges that do not peel off once it is dabbed in any liquid such as face paint or water. This will ensure that your child’s face is free from irritating by-products of the sponges.

Unique and Fun Face Painting Ideas:

Face painting is definitely one of the most enjoyable activities your children can experience. This is because it makes them feel that they can be another individual or creature with the colorful face paints they are wearing.

The most common face painting ideas for children include animals faces, insect prints, flowers patterns, and some human characters or superheroes such as Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. For young boys, try a pirate, a monster, a skull, a reptile, or a mechanical robot. For little girls, try fairies, floral patterns, colorful rainbow designs, and insect patterns such as those of butterflies, ladybugs, and dragonflies.

Sure-fire face painting ideas for children are those of friendly and friendly domesticated animals such as dogs and rabbits, animal characters, and even their favorite cartoon characters. You just need to print out hard copies of these creatures or buy postcards to make sure that you copy them from their most natural form. You can also use templates of the cartoon characters to make sure that you copy them perfectly.

Great face painting ideas include the use of colorful neon face paints and those that contain glitters. With these materials, the face paint design will become more vibrant, alive, and unique. You can also use different kinds and sizes of brushes and sponges to create details in the face paint design.

You can also use gels that comes with glitter or gels that can be mixed with the face paint itself to create a more realistic and natural effect to the design. Bendable sticks, plastic flowers, handkerchiefs, paper bags, and special papers can be great additional to your face painting ideas.

Author Info:

Philadelphia Tivoli has taught thousands of people how to face paint with her popular ebook “The Comprehensive Guide to Face Painting”. It has 50 step-by-step designs, fantastic face painting ideas and everything you need to know to learn how to face paint. Get more of her face painting ideas right here: www.FacePaintingTips.com

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In it’s most basic form, the desire to create art is all that’s really needed in the beginning. But to pursue art as your life’s work, to be a “serious” artist, requires a well-rounded foundation, one built upon a broad range of knowledge and experiences.

Art reflects the world around us, and often the world within us. The old advice to “paint what you know” is certainly valid, but just what do you know? Most take this maxim to mean that you must paint or draw your backyard, your neighbor or your dog. I “know” these things too, but I also “know” history, literature and mythology. I have traveled in a number of countries; I have been in the military. I know my life, and I know something of myself, too. This knowledge is reflected in my work.

Writers are encouraged to write as much as possible from their own experiences so that it sounds authentic. Why should a visual artist be any different?

The wider the range of your knowledge and experiences, the deeper and broader your art will become. Exposure to great works of literature and philosophy have given me new ways to look at life and the world, as well as giving me ideas for new artwork. It has allowed me to see how others have viewed these things before me. Some artists have been optimistic; others cynical; but every age has had both optimists and cynics, demonstrating a continuity in human affairs. Both art and psychology tell us that whatever you feel, others have felt the same way you have. The more you read and study, the more you’ll see this too.

The more well-rounded a person you are, the finer an artist you’ll be. It’s “cross-training” at its most intellectual level. This also applies at the more technical level, when developing the actual skills for creating art. To create fine art requires mental focus, patience, discipline, superb hand-eye coordination, well-honed decision-making and problem-solving skills. It requires you to be a good student, one who knows how to study and practice. It also demands the ability to look at your work objectively, not an easy task. I spent a year or two playing and studying chess many years ago, and found that it improved my drawing ability, probably because chess demands so much concentration and foresight. And if you are an artist that works in a representational style, try studying and working in a more abstract style for a while, and vice versa. You’ll gain a greater understanding of both.

Da Vinci and Michelangelo were remarkably well-rounded individuals who could think logically, practically and analytically, thanks to their activities in engineering, architecture and the sciences. They applied these skills to their art, and the results speak for themselves. I can think of no better proof for my contention than of these two extraordinary men.

I think it would be helpful now to address the merits of being a formally trained artist, as opposed to being a self-taught artist, such as myself. There can be no doubt that a school trained artist has a considerable advantage over one self-taught; you have someone knowledgeable to ground you in proper technique and help you to correct your mistakes. The self-taught artist must go to great effort to be as constructively critical of his work as he can, concentrating extra effort on the areas in which he is weak, something that will be difficult for some.

But I think all students are ultimately self-taught; no one can make the effort for you. And I have seen many works by academically trained artists that are so formulaic that they look like they came out of a paint-by-the-numbers kit. The self-taught student may fall into improper practices if he isn’t careful, but he may be freer in his artistic expression than his school trained friend. Keep in mind that Van Gogh was largely self-taught, receiving only minimal classroom instruction.

I don’t want to scare anyone away from pursuing art; as I said before, all you need to start with is the desire to start. But gradually, bit by bit, you may find that expanding your sphere of knowledge and experience will improve the quality of your work, and your life. This all reminds me of the criticism that students have perennially made — why should I study geometry, French. Latin, etc., when I’m going to wash dishes or mow grass for a living? You’re right — you don’t need these studies for everyday accomplishments. But creating fine art is not an everyday accomplishment –it is an extraordinary endeavor that requires extraordinary abilities. I hope that my thoughts here can be of help to you in developing these skills.

Author Info:

The artwork of the author, Charles Griffith, can be found at charlesgriffith.tripod.com/ and he can be contacted at charles_griffith@lycos.com. Charles Griffith’s interest in art began in childhood, and was encouraged by his family. Later, while serving in the U.S. military in Europe, he was inspired by seeing firsthand some of the treasures of European art. Today his art focuses on traditional realism, often with elements of Expressionism and Surrealism.

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Anyone can use it, but in order to do that, understanding of all the legal aspects is critical in order to avoid being sued.

Stock photography has been around for a long time. According to wikipedia.org, H. Armstrong Roberts started the first agency for this type of photography in 1920, and the company is still going strong today under the name RobertStock. For years, photography stock was composed of “outtakes (“seconds”) from commercial magazine assignments.”

But, in the eighties, it had become unique, and photographers began making photographs just for photo sharing. Today several online photography stock houses exist, but before being used, the legal terms and aspects must be completely understood in order to avoid being sued.

One type of stock photography is royalty-free. This does not mean that the photograph can be used for free. What royalty-free means is that in order to use a specific picture, a photo buyer pays a one time fee to use the picture many times for a multitude of purposes within certain guidelines. Usually a time limit does not exist as to when the image can be used.

However, a royalty-free image does have a limit on exactly how many times the photograph can be reproduced. All of these restrictions will depend exactly on the contract that is decided upon.

One thing to consider with stock photography regarding royalty-free is that exclusive rights are non-existent. If a publication wants to be unique from the others, than royalty-free images are not the way to go. The best bet for uniqueness is to have an photographer on staff.

Stock photography has another kind called rights-managed that is sometimes difficult to understand. Rights-managed photography stock is when an image is negotiated exclusively for a certain allotted time frame.

During this time frame, no one else will be able to use that particular image for any reason. How long that this will go on will depend on the contract negotiations that are made for the image.

Because of online photography sharing, it has become readily accessible for all to use. Some agencies allow for images to be used for free, and others are based on contracts for their photography gallery.

Photojournalism uses it regularly, but the in’s and outs of the business must be fully understood to take advantage of all of the images that are flooding the market.

Whether or not to use rights-managed or royalty-free images will depend on what can be negotiated within a contract, and the legalities can get sticky.

Before using stock photography, make sure that research is done in order to avoid any lawsuits that will ultimately take away from any profit of the images used.

Author Info:

The art of digital photography brings great memories to anyone. Browse to Mike Selvon portal to find out more about stock photography. We greatly appreciate your feedback at our photography blog.

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When you finally decide on a course of action, all the usual psychological blocks are bound to occur. Where shall I begin? Have I a right to make a choice, based on any sensible guides? Is a piece of ceramics a work of art? Is a piece of Tiffany glass? Is a rug designed by Matisse? Should I buy a painting… a print… a drawing?

There is no crystal-clear answer. As I have tried to indicate in foregoing chapters, you are dealing with your own personal reactions, as well as with certain rules and laws which are vague, at best.

One of the first muddles that need clarifying is the sharp line often drawn to set off arts from crafts. I cannot see why these two should be so summarily opposed to each other. How can anybody decide at first blush that a man who has a sense of form, an eye for color, and a definite quest for the beautiful is producing only a vessel – if he spins a lovely pot on his wheel, applies glowing glazes, and fires his work to produce a handsome jar glowing with a jewel-like finish? Yet there are critics and collectors who would dismiss the man’s work with a snobbish shrug that it is a fine example of the potter’s craft… but as a work of art there is no room for it.

Why, I ask, this strange, if fine, distinction? Is it because the jar is intended for functional use and the higherbrows believe such a pragmatic approach precludes it from joining the upper world of “fine arts”?

Let us go back almost 3,000 years to a Greek potter in his workshop as he formed a vessel for oil or wine. The term “vase” is now applied to most of the early Greek ceramic pieces; but their original purpose was functional… for everyday use. On such vases we see indications of an entirely new way of looking at things by the artist. He was no longer hidebound by the old style he had inherited from earlier Egyptian forms. Yet there was still the same regard for a sharp outline and exact symmetry. So vases from this period are not only valuable for their beauty of color, dimension, and proportion; they are esteemed for their obvious role in shaping a new course for the artist to follow as he broke the shackles of a hardened past. Yet it is clear that the objects as originally created had a humble purpose indeed. Such intent has not lessened their artistic validity or value.

Let us go even farther back into history. Museums which own objects from the Sumerian period display them proudly. In the University of Pennsylvania Museum there is a gold cup used by Queen Shu-Bad of Mesopotamia. It has a graceful form, a delicate gold color, and intricate decorative fluting. Obviously it was designed to provide the queen with a drinking vessel. Is it therefore less beautiful than it would have been had it lacked practical purpose?

The same will naturally apply to the pottery tomb figures of the Ming dynasty in China… to T’ang glazed pottery… to the heroic bronze cats and baboons of the Egyptians. Recently I saw a cover design for the bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, showing a drawing of an Incan Empire Poncho, made about 1500. It was an almost pure design… with cubes of black and white. At the top was a reverse triangle of deep brown. I have seen many paintings of the abstract school which could have hung side by side with this poncho reproduction.

So I say: judge by the results and forget the notion that one can always erect a false fence to separate the beautiful from the functional. If the object is beautiful to you, then it is worthy of your collector’s eye and instincts. This attitude can open up many new fields to you – for example, the folk arts.

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Have You Ever Wondered How To Make Your Own Astronomy Telescope? With Our Easy-To-Follow Blueprints You’ll Be Gazing At The Stars In No Time At All. Click here for FREE online ebook! www.artandantique.org/

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