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Quick tips...
It's not really a tip but I would recommend people to own and use a sketch book on a daily basis, simply to draw anything of interest observed during
the day, however small! - Linda Chainey
When you're shading, instead of using black, add dark brown because it stops the colour going dull - Hayley Adams
Perhaps you could link to Zest-it.com to let artists know about this none toxic diluent to use with oils and colour pencils that smells orangey
- Margaret Mountstephens
A cheap white china plate makes a useful palette for acrylic paints. It is easy to clean with water and crumpled kitchen paper, even when the paint has dried hard on it. - Norma Stephenson
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I sometimes use left-over acrylic paint on MDF boards, blending the colours and probably softening the effect with white. This gives you an interesting base for all kinds of pictures. - Norma Stephenson
If your sculpture is too big to hold in a vice, fill rubble sacks with builders' sand. The sandbags mould to the shape of your piece and stop it moving
around the bench. Wet sand is heaviest, and doesn't come out of the sandbag if it splits. - Gordon Adams
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Portraits
For a portrait of one person the best angle is a three-quarter view. Have the light source from above left/right.
For a portrait of two people it's effective to position one person higher than the other.
For three people, have the middle person a little higher or lower than the others - avoid making them all the same
height. Also, you could have the two outside people turning slightly inward, so the viewer's eye is drawn into the centre of the portrait
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Acrylics
Acrylic paints can be used straight from the tube, or thinned with water to look like a watercolour paint.
Mediums extend the drying time to allow you to work the paint around for longer.
Acrylics can be mixed with other paints such as watercolours, and pastels.
Acrylics do dry quickly, so you should only squeeze out enough paint for the current session, or you'll waste a lot.
Keep a spray bottle handy and spray a light mist of water over the paint while they are painting.
To improve the flow of your acrylic paint add a little medium to the paint, instead of using water alone. Using water alone dulls the brilliance of your colours.
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Acrylic paints - a personal point of view - Norma Stephenson
I enjoy painting with acrylic paints. They are increasing in popularity, although a lot of artists still prefer oils.
They have certainly improved considerably since the 1960s when David Hockney used them extensively. Apparently restorers
are having problems with some of his paintings from that era.
Acrylics are very versatile, and it is convenient to be able to use water to thin them and for cleaning your brushes.
However, water thinned acrylics do not have the same kind of soft transparent glow of watercolour paints. I think they
are best applied quite thickly, and there are various media available, which can brighten them, increase their fluidity or
slow down drying times. As they do dry quickly, you can build up interesting shapes and surfaces with over-painting almost
as soon as the basic layers are down. You can let such layers show through or obliterate areas completely. You can pick up
your painting and carry it about almost as soon as it is finished. You must be careful not to let your brushes dry hard.
Stand them in water once they've been used, and wash them well with soap and water afterwards. Acrylic paint is difficult to
remove from clothing, so cover up accordingly.
Acrylics work well on a lot of surfaces. I like using MDF boards primed with acrylic primer, or using hardboard covered with
muslin glued on with PVA glue. Many people prefer traditional canvases. One advantage of boards is that you can saw bits off
them to improve compositions, fit them into frames or do away with bad mistakes.
There is plenty of information about acrylics on the internet, and several useful books are available, but the best way to find
out how to use an unfamiliar medium is to experiment yourself, and discover its possibilities.
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Wood sculpture - Choosing Odd shaped logs - Gordon Adams
Sculpting in wood has problems and rewards not found with other materials. With other mediums you start with a rectangular block so you do your workings on paper then scale up and transfer your main views onto the
sides of the block.
With wood, you mostly get logs in tapering cylinder shapes, so you mark them into eigths and cut by eye, referring to a maquette.
But.., sometimes you see weird and wonderful shapes, cut from where the tree has forked. The nice thing about these logs is that
the wood grain follows the forks, so you get some quite beautiful figuring effects if you're brave enough to try the design process in reverse.
Who's to say which way up the log must go - toss it around a bit and see if it suggests anything to you. Pinch your kid's plasticine and see
what shapes are possible out of the log every way up. You might end up with several possible alternatives.
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Some will be more feasible than others, considering you have to steady the piece before you get the chainsaw out.
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Exhibiting - Norma Stephenson
All the arts involve communication and the visual arts are no exception. Exhibitions give artists opportunities to interact with other people; to
seek assessment and to evaluate their own work. If nobody sees it, it is like writing a book, which is never read, or performing a play to an empty
theatre. There is a difference between looking at artwork, which you have produced at home alone, and seeing it on public display, alongside other people’s work. Comparisons are inevitable. Ideas and information can be shared; you may resolve to improve; you may be
inspired to experiment. It is stimulating to associate with like-minded people. Exhibitions can help you to clarify your aims and attitudes, raise
your standards, and develop your critical abilities.
In commercial terms, exhibitions are useful showcases where potential clients can see what you can do and what they can buy to enhance their homes
or work environments, or public spaces. Commissions may result, and artists, who seek to make a living from their work, need to exhibit to attract attention.
Exhibitions give pleasure to others, and it is satisfying to do so! They can inspire other artists, or students, young and old. It is most encouraging
for an artist if someone wants to buy their work, particularly if it is a stranger who has spotted it in an exhibition!
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