Artist Supplies - To Enhance Your Painting Capabilities

Imagining the blue sky with different kinds of birds flying and you are feeling to deliberately paint the stuff. But you are short of good colors and brush, do not worry, it is time you purchase them from a good store or from those that sell the art materials online. Artist Supplies comprises of colors, canvases, brushes, painting board, tools, and various other things and you can easily get these items online and the only thing to do is to click on the items of your choice. These items provided by the online sellers are excellent for amateur artists and children.

For purchasing the art materials especially oil paint online you need to have either a debit or accredit card. Although many companies offer free home delivery yet be specific to check any charges related charges imbibed by them. Always remember price is the not the only factor to determine the quality of a product and if you are unsure about the type of certain material to be used then it is best to check with the shop assistant or check online. Purchasing the materials in bulk will save a lot of money for the budding artists as they are not very much willing to shell out huge money.

Now if you are wondering as how to improve your painting skills then it is very necessary to practice regularly with good quality painting materials. If painting is your profession or just taken up as a hobby then also it is very important to use superior quality materials for better results. Your fantastic creation can earn you high returns and appraisals if you sell them in fairs or art galleries and even online. You can also look for cross-promotion opportunities that help to connect you with the people globally and you can also do artist signings that gives the stores owners a reason to invite people to the store while spreading your name and brand around.

The artist who is particular about the superior quality colors, these websites offer brilliant quality paint brushes, which are accessible at various price ranges. The sites offer an extensive range of options to users and make it easy for them to select artist supplies as per their choice. The websites usually provide discounts at the time of stock clearance and it would be fine for you to avail such discounts by purchasing items at this time. These websites have made it simple for every promising and expert artist to get imported colors and products brand at their doorstep.

The fantastic paintings of Alighiero Boetti

It was a good thing Italian artist Alighiero Boetti ignored a potential career as a cartographer instead choosing to become an artist. Hah - we're only kidding about the cartographer part. He was well known for his maps and certainly the Italian artist is considered one of the foremost painters in the modern era, which is a big accolade considering the wealth of talent, both historical and contemporary. We're going to take a more in-depth look at the man, his life and the artwork and impact he left behind.

Boetti was born in Turin in 1940, the son of a lawyer and violinist. His early educational years focused on law and business - he would study the latter at the University of Turin for a year, before quitting to work and study as an artist. Unlike the greats of modern art such as Picasso, Boetti was from all accounts not an immensely gifted drawer or painter. He had, rather, an inquisitive mind and an ability to meld all the social sciences together, much like Kandinsky before him. From an early age he read and studied many theoretical interests, including alchemy, philosophy, physics and esoterics. This taste for the alternative is reflected in his favourite authors: Swiss-German painter and Bauhaus teacher Paul Klee and German writer Hermann Hesse, famed author of the Steppenwolf.

Boetti's earliest canvases come from the hands of the artist at 17 years of age, mostly simple oil paintings inspired by the likes of German Wols and Argentine-Italian artist Lucio Fontana. Just three years later he would heed the call of many and move to Paris to study more art, and a couple of years later he would meet writer and art critic Annemarie Sauzeau, whom he married in 1964, subsequently having two children. Throughout this time Boetti took frequent trips abroad, with his travels focused on South America and Asia: from 1974 to 1976 he travelled to Guatemala, Ethiopia, Sudan and then to New York.

Sadly, Boetti did not live to a ripe old age to bless the world with a more fruitful oeuvre. He was active as an artist from the early 1960s and his premature death in 1994 meant there was only about 30 years or so of his art. Nevertheless, he managed to leave a significant influence, particularly in the field of compositions in visual art. Historians have divided his oeuvre into three main phases: Arte Povera, 1972-1994 and Mappa, which is pictured above. His first phase, Arte Povera, started from 1963 and lasted about 10 years. This phase can be broken down into mini sections as well: from 1962 to 1965 he mostly worked with materials such as Masonite, plaster, light fixtures, plexiglass and other construction materials. The late 60s saw the artist switch to monochrome paintings, although he remained tied to his earlier medium through the use of metal or masonite supports in his artwork.

In 1968 Boetti again switched focus, this time becoming more traditional and focusing on paper and the specific form of poster production. One noted artwork from this era was a series of 800 posters each containing a list of 16 Italian artists of his own generation. Come back tomorrow for more on Boetti's style and why the Tate Modern is holding a retrospective on him.

How to Host Your Own Custom Tattoo Design Contest

If you want to find the right custom tattoo design for you, the best way to do it is by hosting your own tattoo design contest. In planning your own contest you need to have a definite theme for your tattoo. In this way, you can provide specific details about the kind of tattoo image you want. One advantage of hosting your own contest is that you get the most unique designs for you at a lower cost.

The internet is an effective way to generate entries for your contest. You could post the information on your own website, and announce it on social networking sites and tattoo web forums to get a good response from different artists all over the world. For one thing, tattoo designers are always searching for a platform to display their artwork. Recognition in the world of body art is important to any designer. The internet is the most effective way for them to display their skills.

If you have no site of your own, you can be sure to find a website that is staging a custom tattoo design contest. In fact, there are many that do. These benefit tattoo enthusiasts and tattoo designers as well. These websites just serve as a platform; the client, you, will host the contest, give the rules and specifications of the design, and post a prize.

While these websites use details and marketing strategies to promote the contest, the prize you post will have an impact on the number of participants. The higher the prize amount, the more numerous the possible participants will be, thus creating a wider selection of design ideas for you. This contest also has a feedback requirement, meaning each design should have feedback from the client, to establish your requirements regarding further detail.

Tattoo enthusiasts are often attracted to these contests. Since it is an open contest, visitors to the site can view each design presented by the artist, read the feedback and find out who the winner of the contest is. Sometimes they find a design that interests them, which means that they may hire the artist for themselves.

These types of contest are hosted by people who want to have a custom tattoo design for themselves. If you decide to have a tattoo, remember that you must have specific details for your own tattoo image; in that way, you will find the most fitting tattoo designer to do the job for you.

Any person who offers a platform for a custom tattoo design contest is involved in promoting the business. As with any other business, publicity, either good or bad, generates a huge audience. Most of these websites also provide a marketplace to exhibit custom designed tattoos by different artists, so if you are on the search for the best tattoo and the best artist, start browsing the web. Tattoos last your whole lifetime, so it would be wise to think carefully.

Do not just get inked on a whim; make sure that you find the best tattoo design for you, matched with a skillful tattoo artist.

Kristen Dunn is a tattoo enthusiast and professional tattoo designer who has created thousands of thought provoking, elegant, and funky tattoos for her clients.She has a vast collection of custom designs to her credit. Winner of several awards and accolades, Kristen is now a founding member of the world's largest custom tattoo design community at CreateMyTattoo. View her tattoo collection or read more on her blog here.

Oil Paintings Artworks create Aesthetic Feelings

The question whether art has anything to do with morality or not has been one of the most vexed and baffling problems of aesthetic criticism. Much has been said on both sides of the problem by great men of letters in various countries, and their opinions are too weighty to be lightly set aside. Hence in assessing the proper relation between artistic production and its moral and ethical purpose one is apt to lose oneself in a bewildering mess of critical opinions on the matter and nothing can be said with an air of finality. Yet, when we consider the history of the origin and development of the various forms of art in various countries we find that the question has been decided in practice in the days of the origin of those arts. And it is only a literary exercise to discuss the issue that has been solved already. It is a fact that the origin of all forms of man's artistic productions, like poetry, painting, music etc. has been deeply rooted in the religious instinct of man.

In other words, artistic activities of men since the very first days of human civilization have been always inspired and directed by religious ideas. Thus in the case of painting, the earliest specimens of the Oil Paintings have been concerned with the pictures of the gods and goddesses belonging to the pantheon of the religious faiths of the countries of the artists. These gods and goddesses are the highest conceivable embodiments of the painters sense of the beautiful, sublime and the noble and the object of these artistic creations is to induce in the mind of man the moral ideas of right and wrong, the ugly and the beautiful, the false and the true and thereby ennoble and elevate the human mind. Such is also the case of poetry and its allied art of music.

Sculpture in the early days of Greece and Rome was concerned with the representations in stone, of the pagan gods and goddesses, which not only enshrine the highest kind of beauty that pleases the eye, but inspires lofty religious emotions. The various epics of the people of old were written with the sole object of moral edification, by inculcating virtues which are to be cultivated and warning against evils or vices which are to be avoided. Thus art has always served as handmaid to religion and ethics and it has been always appreciated by the standard of moral excellence that it has held up as subject of emulation by man, so that he can live a pious and good life by embracing the good and eschewing the evil.

Thus in its origin and purpose, art has been intimately bound up with morality. No Landscape Art was considered good or worth - having that does not promote a healthy moral feeling in man. With the progress of civilization, when arts became mundane and came from the heights of heaven into the world of men and women, poets sang their songs of men, and painters drew their portraits of men and women as embodiments of the highest ideals of beauty and moral excellences, that inspire audience.

The Art of Painting

The Art of Painting, also known as The Allegory of Painting, and or Painter in his Studio, is a famous 17th century oil on canvas painting by Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. Many art historians believe that it is an allegory of painting, hence the alternative title of the painting. It is the largest and most complex of all of Vermeer's works.[1]

The painting is one of Vermeer's most famous. It offers a realistic presentation of an artist's workplace, and is notable for its depiction of light as it illuminates the interior.Elements

The painting has only two figures, the painter and his subject. The painter is thought to be a self-portrait of the artist, though the face is not visible.

A number of the items shown in the artist's studio are thought to be somewhat out of place. The marble tiled floor and the golden chandelier are two examples of items which would normally then be reserved for the houses of the well-to-do.

The map in the background is of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands, flanked by views of the main centres of power. It was published by Claes Janszoon Visscher in 1636.Symbolism and allegory

Experts attribute symbolism to various aspects of the painting. The subject is the Muse of History, Clio. This is evidenced by her wearing a laurel wreath, holding a trumpet (depicting fame), possibly carrying a book by Thucydides, which matches the description in Cesare Ripa's 16th century book on emblems and personifications titled Iconologia.

The double headed eagle, symbol of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, former rulers of Holland, which adorns the central golden chandelier, may have represented the Catholic faith. Vermeer was unusual in being a Catholic in a predominantly Protestant Netherlands. The absence of candles in the chandelier might represent the suppression of the Catholic faith.

The map on the back wall has a rip that divides the Netherlands between the north and south. (West is at the top of the map, as was the custom.) The rip symbolizes the division between the Dutch Republic to the north and the Habsburg controlled Flemish provinces to the south. The map by Claes Jansz Visscher (Nicolaum Piscatorem) shows the earlier political division between the Union of Utrecht to the north, and the colonies to the south.[2]

Salvador Dalí refers to "The Art of Painting" in his own surrealistic painting The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used As a Table (1934). On Dali's painting we can see the image of Vermeer viewed from his back re-created as a strange kind of table.

The Heart of Africa

The Heart of Africa is a stirring landscape of one of the world's most beautiful and wild places. The viewers of this piece will suddenly feel that they have been transported to very nearly another world as they gaze across the savanna at distant mountains and a blazing sunset. Central to The Heart of Africa is the figures of elephants wandering across the horizon, casting hulking shadows on the dusty ground, rising above these majestic figures are several trees that lean into the pink colors of the sky and against the dark, lingering presence of the mountains that curve gracefully in the background. This painting depicts the most pleasing of landscapes- one that is soft around the edges, brimming with life, yet extremely soothing to look at. The scene is one that settles the soul, as much as it can ever be settled. The painting has an overwhelming sense of atmosphere and peace, and thus, The Heart of Africa will make a charming and consoling addition to any room regardless of its purpose- from a dining area to a living space, this painting will not fail to create make its presence meaningful.

While the subject of The Heart of Africa is a very straightforward (while still compelling) landscape, the layout of the piece is extremely interesting and will throughly engage fans of modernist art. This painting is spread out across five separate canvas panels, The panels vary in size, starting quite small at the fringes of the piece, and building to great length near the center, before diminishing again on the opposite side. This composition allows the eye to smoothly move across the terrain presented in The Heart of Africa, as well as allows the viewer to re-envision the scenery through a more modern lens. Not only does the design of this painting lend it a modern flair, but it increases the possibilities to explore this original canvas painting. Due to the separate pieces of The Heart of Africa, it can be hung (and thus experienced) in many different ways, creating an ever changing, ever interesting visual experience. If you would like to find more paintings that depict traditional scenes from the cradle of life, you may want to explore our African Canvas gallery, a painting you may also enjoy if you like The Heart of Africa is Fading Light, a painting that shares many of the same hues and sentiments as this painting. The Heart of Africa is a stirring landscape of one of the world's most beautiful and wild places. The viewers of this piece will suddenly feel that they have been transported to very nearly another world as they gaze across the savanna at distant mountains and a blazing sunset. Central to The Heart of Africa is the figures of elephants wandering across the horizon, casting hulking shadows on the dusty ground, rising above these majestic figures are several trees that lean into the pink colors of the sky and against the dark, lingering presence of the mountains that curve gracefully in the background. This painting depicts the most pleasing of landscapes- one that is soft around the edges, brimming with life, yet extremely soothing to look at. The scene is one that settles the soul, as much as it can ever be settled. The painting has an overwhelming sense of atmosphere and peace, and thus, The Heart of Africa will make a charming and consoling addition to any room regardless of its purpose- from a dining area to a living space, this painting will not fail to create make its presence meaningful.

While the subject of The Heart of Africa is a very straightforward (while still compelling) landscape, the layout of the piece is extremely interesting and will throughly engage fans of modernist art. This painting is spread out across five separate canvas panels, The panels vary in size, starting quite small at the fringes of the piece, and building to great length near the center, before diminishing again on the opposite side. This composition allows the eye to smoothly move across the terrain presented in The Heart of Africa, as well as allows the viewer to re-envision the scenery through a more modern lens. Not only does the design of this painting lend it a modern flair, but it increases the possibilities to explore this original canvas painting. Due to the separate pieces of The Heart of Africa, it can be hung (and thus experienced) in many different ways, creating an ever changing, ever interesting visual experience. If you would like to find more paintings that depict traditional scenes from the cradle of life, you may want to explore our African Canvas gallery, a painting you may also enjoy if you like The Heart of Africa is Fading Light, a painting that shares many of the same hues and sentiments as this painting.

Rose Blossom

This whimsical painting incorporates a variety of tones and styles to create a very charismatic scene of a rose in bloom. This original canvas painting marries many different styles- from it's slight pop art appeal to it's very traditional theme. It is these distinctive and contrasting elements that make Rose Blossom such a joy to behold. This paint is a true celebration of every facet of painting- it's joyful colors, it's distinctive, changing lines, it glorious subject matter and unique touches give it a jubilant air that will engage and charm any otherwise passive art viewer. This canvas painting's primary color is rich, dusky red that give it a pleasant and luminous glow. It also skillfully incorporates lighter colors such as white to highlight certain elements of the piece that draw the eye of the viewer. The arching lines of the organic figures framing the main subject lend the painting a smooth, natural feel and are very attractive. The main attraction of the piece- the beautiful blooming rose- is depicted in a robust and dramatic way that is truly compelling and interesting for discussion. This painting is so diverse from inch to inch that it will never get old to look at.

This original canvas painting comes on one large canvas that suits the vast and amazing scene at hand. It's style and easy beauty translates well on a single canvas and allows the eye to explore uninhibited the maze of the flower that we are presented with here. The painting's fully imagined world and unique style make it well suited for spaces needing a bit more character or for a wall that you would like to add emphasis to. The painting's smooth and contrasting lines will compliment and add dimension to many different wall spaces and colors and it's whimsical scene will brighten even a windowless room! If you are interested in seeing more paintings like this one you may want to take a look at the Wine Canvas gallery where you will find similarly bright and buoyant original canvases. A piece that shares many parallels with Rose Blossom is Serene Lilac Scene, an airy painting that brings together a variety of styles and subjects. This whimsical painting incorporates a variety of tones and styles to create a very charismatic scene of a rose in bloom. This original canvas painting marries many different styles- from it's slight pop art appeal to it's very traditional theme. It is these distinctive and contrasting elements that make Rose Blossom such a joy to behold. This paint is a true celebration of every facet of painting- it's joyful colors, it's distinctive, changing lines, it glorious subject matter and unique touches give it a jubilant air that will engage and charm any otherwise passive art viewer. This canvas painting's primary color is rich, dusky red that give it a pleasant and luminous glow. It also skillfully incorporates lighter colors such as white to highlight certain elements of the piece that draw the eye of the viewer. The arching lines of the organic figures framing the main subject lend the painting a smooth, natural feel and are very attractive. The main attraction of the piece- the beautiful blooming rose- is depicted in a robust and dramatic way that is truly compelling and interesting for discussion. This painting is so diverse from inch to inch that it will never get old to look at.

This original canvas painting comes on one large canvas that suits the vast and amazing scene at hand. It's style and easy beauty translates well on a single canvas and allows the eye to explore uninhibited the maze of the flower that we are presented with here. The painting's fully imagined world and unique style make it well suited for spaces needing a bit more character or for a wall that you would like to add emphasis to. The painting's smooth and contrasting lines will compliment and add dimension to many different wall spaces and colors and it's whimsical scene will brighten even a windowless room! If you are interested in seeing more paintings like this one you may want to take a look at the Wine Canvas gallery where you will find similarly bright and buoyant original canvases. A piece that shares many parallels with Rose Blossom is Serene Lilac Scene, an airy painting that brings together a variety of styles and subjects.