Knowledge List of Oil Painting

Acrylic Painting Technique

from:paintingtechnique
Written by Staff Writer

Acrylic painting is the medium of choice for many artists because of the ease of cleaning up and the quick drying time. Since acrylics are water-based, brushes can be cleaned up with water in most cases. Acrylics can also be thinned with water or other substances to create different effects with the paints, such as a watercolor appearance on your canvas.
You can also paint a layer upon layer with acrylic painting, which allows an artist to add finer points to pictures or correct mistakes easily. Because acrylic painting is rather easy to do, they are a popular option for many beginning artists as well as more seasoned painters.
Acrylic Painting Technique A Step by Step Guide
Before beginning your adventure into acrylic painting, you definitely need to put on proper clothing. Acrylic paint is water-soluble only until it dries, making it nearly impossible to wash out of fabric. For this reason, you will definitely need to wear old clothes and a paint smock before beginning any work with acrylic painting.
You can use these paints on nearly any surface, but they work particularly well on textured surfaces like canvas or textured paper. However, with a proper base coat or primer applied, you can use acrylic painting to accent wood, terracotta, and even glass. These paints are a very popular choice for decorative painting projects.
Since acrylics dry quickly, this can pose a challenge for mixing colors. There are special palettes that you can purchase for acrylic painting that will enable the paints to stay wet longer. This can be a prudent investment if you are planning to do a lot of painting. Bristle brushes generally work best with this type of paint, and synthetic bristles tend to be preferred over natural materials.
Remember to invest in high quality brushes if you can, since these will last longer and normally give you better results. Look for a stiffer bristle since the paint is thicker, unless you are planning to water it down to the density of watercolors.
While you are doing acrylic painting, keep your brushes washed out as soon as you are finished with them. Once the acrylic painting dries, it will be very difficult to make your brushes clean. If you don't want to continue to interrupt your painting session to wash brushes, keep a cup of water at your easel to leave your brushes in until you can clean them. If the paint is a bit stubborn, a little soap added to your water should wash your brushes out quite nicely.
Acrylic painting is a fun and versatile medium that even a budding artist can learn to master. Invest in a few basic paint colors, brushes and canvas, and see what your creative spirit can create. You just might surprise yourself with your results!

Is there a Van Gough hiding in you? Learn Oil Painting and Find Out

from:oilpaintingtechniquesonline

One of the quickest ways to learn oil painting is by taking a class from your local community college or an art supply store that offers classes where you have hands on help from a teacher or assistant. For some of us it’s not quite that easy, you may not have a lot of extra time or money may be a little tight.
Don’t be discourage, if learning to oil paint has always been something that you have wanted to do, there are other ways that you can learn oil painting, such as taking a class online, art books, video’s, and private lessons where the art teacher comes directly to your house.
While none of these things can take the place of personal instruction, if you have the determination and willingness to learn, there are helpful tools that can aid you in learning to oil paint. You don’t have to go to art school for years to learn how to paint like a professional. Art is an expression of oneself, and if you really think about it, many of the most famous artists from years ago never had formal art training and some of them never even learned to read or write. Painting comes from within and is unique to each individual, there is no right or wrong.
If you have the time and like to read you might like to learn how to oil paint from a how to book. There are thousands of books to choose from and if you’re not quite sure which book you should get, try checking out your local art store, they should be able to recommend an oil painting book that is good for beginners.
You can also use online websites to learn how to oil paint. They will give you step by step instructions on how to paint and different techniques that you can use. They will also provide you with the information on what types of paints that you need and the tools that you need to paint with. If you decide to learn oil painting online, be sure to play close attention the words and terms that they are using so that you can research them if you do not understand them, and use them at a later date if you need to.
One of the biggest problems when you learn oil painting online or through a book is the terminology, if you don’t know what they’re talking about you won’t know what you’re supposed to be doing, so learn the terms, it will help you progress at a faster rate.
When you’re oil painting, application of the paint is the most important part, so be sure to print everything that you’ve learned online and keep it in a file for future reference. You might have to practice some things several times in order to get the hang of things.
No matter how you decide to learn oil painting, it’s a fun exciting way to express yourself and show off your creative side.

How to Buy Oil Paintings

from:oilpaintings

Things to Remember Before Buying
Buying an oil painting is a personal experience; you must remember your own purpose for setting out to buy a work of art. While you may not necessarily be aesthetically equipped to make what people perceive as an "intelligent" decision, keep in mind that in the end it is your painting you are buying, not theirs. It is you who must be comfortable with the chosen piece. Be wise enough, nonetheless, to consult other people, but to do not blindly agree with their opinions, or shut out yours completely from the decision-making process.
How much does originality and authenticity mean to you? For contemporary artists, it is possible for you to ascertain first whether the oil painting you're buying is indeed one-of-a-kind and original. You can request for the artist's signature or a certificate of authenticity and detailed information about the artwork.
Of course, this may not be applicable if you plan to buy oil painting reproductions. In this case, a sensitive eye regarding a reproduction's faithfulness to the stroke and finish of the original work is of primary concern. Other things to note: what dimensions will your painting be — can you control this factor? Who are the artists behind the oil painting reproductions — how skilled are they?
Also be sensitive about the ordering process you'll be encountering — is it convenient and reliable enough for you? How about confirming your order? Shipping and taxes? Money-back guarantees? Ask the seller and the artist about these things, if possible. Do you homework.
Shopping for oil paintings is just like shopping for a good outfit; uninformed and rash decisions are not the way to go, and may only disappoint you in the end.
Your Options
Nowadays, buying oil paintings is as convenient as checking email — you can order online. Like buying paintings "offline," surfing the web to find that perfect oil painting for you has its advantages and disadvantages, so weigh them carefully. The ordering process is quick and simple, but you may be prone to online scams. Thousands of paintings are available (especially with reproductions), as well as personal sites of the artists themselves from which you can buy original directly from there, but viewing paintings from a computer monitor is still a completely different experience from viewing them in a gallery or exhibit.
When you order an oil painting, there are several ways with which they can send it to you. One is the traditional framed painting. Unframed paintings may also be shipped unstretched; they are usually rolled into a container and then shipped. Stretched paintings have the canvas literally stretched and pulled over a set of stretched bars and then stapled to them. These three types can affect the shipping costs of your painting.

mountain and water:Korean Landscape Painting,1400-1800

from:pop-painting

In pre-modern European painting, the human figure, whether mythical, religious, or historical, plays a starring role. In traditional East Asian art, landscape is the preferred and revered mode of painting. Landscape painting represents both a portrayal of nature itself and a codified illustration of the human view of nature and the world. Within the powerful, awe-inspiring landscape, the human figure appears in diminutive form, or not at all. Korea possesses a long tradition of landscape painting, tracing back to the tomb murals of the Kogury? kingdom (37 B.C.–668 A.D.). The majority of extant works, however, date to the Chos?n dynasty (1392–1910). This coincides with a period of great maturation of landscape painting, in style and theoretical paradigms.

The single most important landscape painter of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was the court artist An Ky?n (active ca. 1440–70). Taking inspiration from the idiom of Northern Song artist Guo Xi (ca. 1000–ca. 1090), An created a distinctive style of landscape painting that shaped the direction of that genre during the early Chos?n period. His most famous work, Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land, is a tour-de-force of dynamic brushwork and luminous imagery. Painted in 1447 at the behest of his patron, Prince Anp'y?ng, the handscroll depicts a dream, as elucidated by the prince in his colophon to the painting, wherein he was transported to the Peach Blossom Land, a utopian world described in a fable by the Chinese recluse poet Tao Qian (Tao Yuanming, 365–427). This Peach Blossom Land, enclosed by a magnificent landscape, is portrayed in the right half of the scroll. An elegant and stirring painting, An's masterpiece is important on many levels. As a close collaboration between patron and artist, the painting affirms both the authority of Prince Anp'y?ng, a powerful supporter of the arts, and the transformative skills of An Ky?n. The handscroll also attests to the deep knowledge of and appreciation for literary and artistic traditions, especially Chinese, shared by a broad spectrum of the cultural elite of the period. At the same time, it unequivocally reveals An's extraordinary personal style, one that would serve as a model for generations of landscape painters.

Landscape painting in the style of An Ky?n—featuring prominent mountains looming in the background over idyllic scenes of trees, small hills, and water (sometimes with evidence of human presence, such as boats or architecture)—flourished through the fifteenth, sixteenth, and even into the seventeenth century. A popular theme within this genre was the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers. Beyond the borders of Chos?n Korea, the An Ky?n style of landscape painting had a visible effect on ink painters of the Muromachi period (1392–1573) in Japan, notably the great master Shubun.

Some of the representative landscape painters of the seventeenth century include Yi Ching (1581–after 1645), Yi Ky?ng-yun (1545–1611), and Kim My?ng-guk (1600–after 1662). The latter, as celebrated for his S?n (Zen) figure paintings as for his landscapes, also gained fame in Japan, to which he twice accompanied the Chos?n embassy. These artists' approach to stylistic precedents—both Chinese and Korean—was more flexible than that of their predecessors. The seventeenth century also witnessed the rise in popularity of the Zhe school style, adopted from Ming-dynasty (1368–1644) China. Also during this time, landscapes based on Chinese Southern School painting became widely practiced. This style would persist into the eighteenth century as a dominant trend.

Perhaps the most ground-breaking and significant development to occur in landscape painting of the eighteenth century is the so-called "true-view landscape painting" (chin'gy?ng sansuhwa). To scholars of the time, this term encompassed scenery that, while true to actual Korean landscapes, was also the most exemplary and most ideal in the country—such as that of Mount K?mgang (Diamond Mountain). Today the term signifies landscape painting that expresses both the actual topography of a famous site in Korea and the layers of psychological and art historical meanings embedded in oil protrail and painting from the photo. Much of landscape painting before the eighteenth century depicted either famous scenery in China or generic images of nature as imagined by the artist—in both cases, often following well-established literary or pictorial precedents.

The preeminent artist Ch?ng S?n (1676–1759) is credited as the father of true-view landscape painting and, therefore, with the "Koreanization" of Chos?n painting. Paintings of native sites did exist in Korea prior to the eighteenth century; yet, undeniably, it is in Ch?ng's splendid paintings of famous sites that the concept and style of true-view painting reached its full potential. His numerous creation tone and emulsion stuff of Mount K?mgang (located in today's North Korea) impress the viewer with the grand scale of nature portrayed in painted imagery. They are breathtaking in how accurately and poignantly they convey the physical features and the emotional resonance of the majestic scenery. No less inspiring is his painting of the smaller mountain range, Mount Inwang (in Seoul): its cropped composition and bold, sweeping brushwork beautifully capture the moment the mountain emerges from the mist just after the rain.

Late Chos?n landscape painters contemporary with or following Ch?ng S?n would continue, expand, or diverge from the precedent set by him. Two of the most eminent artists of the late eighteenth century are Kang Se-hwang (1713–1791) and Yi In-mun (1745–1821). Kang, a noted art critic as well as painter, incorporated in his works a wide range of historical and contemporary influences. Prominent among those influences were Western painting techniques—available to Korean artists through China—such as the effects of transparent color, like watercolor, and the technique of shading. While Kang painted a number of famous sites around Korea, the court painter Yi In-mun often illustrated nonspecific and even imaginative copy point and classicality, as demonstrated by his masterpiece, Streams and Mountains without End. A grand vision of the ever-changing aspects of nature, this scroll's panoramic scale makes it one of the most celebrated landscape paintings in Korea.