The Gift of Creativity

Colour Basics for Acrylic Artists

thegiftofcreativity — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:24:35 +0000

Understanding colour theory. Using colours together in a pleasing way depends on the cultural values we give to colours. In 1670 Sir Isaac Newton arranged colours into a wheel of organised colours that used the primary red, yellow and blue pigments to make all others (except white). Use a colour wheel to plan impact and harmony in your painting.Making a logical palette (for your project needs).

Most artists tend to favourite colours and while, in theory, you should be able to mix any colour you want from the primaries (leaving space for white on canvas backgrounds) it is much more sensible to include the three primaries plus black, white and your most worked colours. Artists who favour classic burnt umber or raw sienna under-painting will benefit from ready mixed sources.

My survey of generally optimised palettes shows that the top ten are:

primary magenta
primary yellow
cyan blue
white
black

plus

cadmium red
cadmium yellow
yellow ochre
dark ultramarine blue
dark green

How and when quality matters for acrylic paints and how to tell.Modern paints are forced to make compromises and no single brand can meet all artists’ needs. Acrylics were developed in the 1950s to provide control and practicality. They tend to meet needs similar to oils and watercolours while remaining long lasting and fade resistant. The key components of pigments and media are optimised for the target user. “Artist quality” suits those who invest much time in their work and expect the best in performance and durability. “Student quality” offers great cost savings but included lesser quality pigments and media that are deemed less important for experimental and developmental work in high volume.

If you really want to test the quality of a paint range then take the three primaries and mix them together to make black. A high quality range will blend the pigments carefully to enable at best a neutral dark grey while lesser quality paints cannot escape a greenish hue.If you are burdened with some under-performing paints, donâ€™t worry! They can be used for your under-painting stages while presenting a useful platform for higher quality paints that will be seen on the surface of your finished work.Further information on the Colour Wheel, palette selection and pigment testing is available at the author’s own website.

Jasmine Austen, The Gift of Creativity UK

Glass, china, fabric and decorative arts from the specialists in fine arts and design.

There is no better way to explore your own gift of creativity!

To see more on this subject http://www.thegiftofcreativity.co.uk/Top-Painting-Tips

Start Glass Painting with a simple candle holder from Ikea called Neglinge.

thegiftofcreativity — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:10:42 +0000

It holds a tea-light one way up and a candle the other way up. Sheer Swedish genius for only 39p! Get a Vitrail Glass Painting Starter Set from The Gift of Creativity’s site and start enjoying a creative new hobby with impressive results!

Vitrea Glass Paints Workbox now reduced to £27.49

thegiftofcreativity — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:21:43 +0000

from The Gift of Creativity – Buy Vitrea Glass Paints Workbox Online Now.

farewell Vincent van Gogh

thegiftofcreativity — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:55:26 +0000

The Royal Academy inspired us all with the depth of the van Gogh exhibition. For all new artists, late starters Vincent showed the way to be inspired by Japanese art, woodcuts and his wonderful open relationship with his brother seen through his beautifully sketched letters is a source of energy to sustain even the weariest artist. Pick up your brushes and do something remarkable with your soul. He did. Thanks to the RA for joining all the dots for us to understand. More please…Matisse, Hokusai? What should we request?

artists stimulating ideas #1

thegiftofcreativity — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:40:13 +0000

always looking for great ways to create new art? try http://www.befunky.com/ for photoimage effects. Simple and free to use it enables you to generate a Roy Lichtenstein style image from a standard photo! Then you can take the image forward with your own painting. See The Gift of Creativity blog, facebook and twitter for new artistic ideas that we can all realise.

Notes from my First Glass Painting!

thegiftofcreativity — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:15:05 +0000

Here’s the story so far… I started by looking at the various demos on the website which gave me a few ideas. Then I collected a range of glassware items. I found the set of tall glasses and and the set of tulip glasses in the 99p shop – yes 99p for the set. I found the bowls for £1 each at Tesco. I also have a glass vase from my loft, 2 tea-light holders from Tesco at 50p each and a food storage jar from the 99p shop yet to decorate so watch this space.

First I wanted to experiment with the paints so chose to paint the 3 tall glasses, as opposed to the 3 smaller glasses in the Vitrea Starter kit. The tall glass on the left is a copy of an idea I saw in a gift shop. It’s not turned out as neat as I would have liked but I wanted to paint some large areas to see what the paint was like in terms of viscosity and finish. The Gold liner is going to take some practice to work with!

The second tall glass is a design copied from the kit. I sponged on the white for a frosted look as that is what the picture on the box looks like.

The third glass is one of my own designs. I wanted to try out all the colours so drew some flowers on bits of paper which I then stuck inside the glass and used as a template.

Once baked the colours and finish remain much as before in terms of transparency and brilliance.

Next I did the bowls. I took the idea from one of the demo videos except they are not candle holders like in the demo. I photocopied some stars and cut them out and stuck them on to the bowl. I used spray adhesive but this is not easy to work with as it gets all over your fingers and can make the bowl quite mucky so perhaps next time pritt stick might be better. I tried out double sided sticky tape but it was too sticky and more difficult to remove from the glass.

I used the sponge and dabbed the white paint from the starter kit for the frosted effect (which is not the same as the demos) over the bowls. Once the paint was dry I removed the stars but needed to wipe away excess glue. I dabbed 2 coats of silver paint on the rims of the bowls allowing drying time in between coats. (With just one coat it was difficult to distinguish between white and silver paint and is in fact not that clear from the photo.)

The 4 tulip glasses were very quick to do and in fact better done quickly before the paint dries and becomes too tacky. Using 2 colours per glass I sponged one colour at the bottom and another colour at the top and blended them in the middle.

I’m hoping to do the other items I mentioned over the next few days, including the food storage jar which is what I was after the template for, so will keep you updated with my progress. I’m also planning to do some clip frames.

Bye for now,

Julia

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. Pablo Picasso

thegiftofcreativity — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:37:14 +0000

I sometimes wonder if the hand is not more sensitive to the beauties of sculpture than the eye. I should think the wonderful rhythmical flow of lines and curves could be more subtly felt than seen. Helen Keller

thegiftofcreativity — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:27:54 +0000

I think Picasso was, without doubt, the greatest portraitist of the 20th century, if not any other century. David Hockney

thegiftofcreativity — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:49:32 +0000

Pablo Picasso – It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.

thegiftofcreativity — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:55:38 +0000