Monday, January 22, 2007

Oil Painting Portraits

Before the advent of photography, portrait paintings and sketches were the only way images of loved ones could be preserved for posterity. Perhaps the most famous oil painting portrait in the world is the Mona Lisa, painted by Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci in the early 1500s. Oil painting portraits became increasingly popular in European countries over the next few centuries, with masters such as Rembrandt in Holland and Gainsborough in Britain completing some of their most famous and exquisite portraits. In the 18th and 19th centuries, American artists completed important works of art. Some of these works are now housed in the National Portrait Museum in Washington, D.C.
While photography added an element of realism to imagery, fascination with oil portrait paintings continued. Oil portraits became a status symbol that could only be afforded by the very wealthy. As color photography became more sophisticated, paper reprints of famous works of art flooded markets. However, even these reprints could not displace the oil painting portrait from its place in people’s hearts and homes.
Today, one can trace the history of oil painting portraits and enjoy these beautiful works of art that may show an individual, a group of people or an animal. The ready availability of skilled artists has also resulted in a lucrative oil painting portrait business in the United States. In recent times, oil painting portraits have become increasingly affordable, and are a popular gift choice to mark special occasions. Clients can choose to have themselves, family members, friends or favorite pets painted in a particular style or size. The artist may paint subjects over a number of settings, or work from a photograph to create a likeness in oil and canvas. Because the artist has to paint in layers, a portrait can take up to several weeks to complete.

Abstract Art

Nonrepresentational or nonobjective art is not an invention of the twentieth century. A number of cultures, like the Islamic and Jewish, have developed over the centuries a high standard of decorative or non-figurative art forms. Today, abstract art is generally understood to be the form of art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses shapes and colors in a nonrepresentational or subjective way.
According to art experts, in its purest form in Western art, an abstract art is one without a recognizable subject, one which does not relate to something external. This type of ornamental art, without figurative representation occurs today in many cultures. As the modern abstract movement in sculpture and paining emerged in Europe and North America between 1910 and 1920, two approaches have been generally accepted to produce different abstract styles: images that have been "abstracted" from nature to the point where they no longer reflect a conventional reality, and nonobjective, or "pure" art forms, which do not share any reference to reality. A further distinction tends to be made between abstract art which is geometric, such as the work of Piet Mondrian, and abstract art that is more fluid, such as in the works of Wassily Kandinsky. It was Kandinsky who once said that "of all arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and of colors, and that you are a true poet; this last is essential."
Abstract art began in the avant-garde movements of the late 19th century -Impressionism, neo-Impressionism, and post-Impressionism. These painting styles reduced the importance of the original subject matter and began to emphasize the creative process of painting itself. As artists in Europe at the early twentieth century "broke free" from the conventional representational rules art forms had to follow, figurative abstractions, or simplifications of reality, where detail is eliminated from recognizable objects leaving only the essence or some degree of recognizable form, became popular increasing the variations of art forms and view points. With different abstract styles, like Synchronism and Orphism, abstract art emphasized on color over form, on feelings over logic. The action painting of an American Abstract Expressionist, Jackson Pollock, who dripped, dropped, smeared, spattered, or thrown paint on the canvas, is a good example of such a tremendous change in art focus and technique.
After the introduction of technology and the mass utilization of software programs that assisted people "play around" with their own photographs, paintings or other art forms, abstract art has gained more popularity than ever before. But although being able to draw well is not an issue anymore, as Kandinsky pointed out, being a "true" poet is what still separates the amateur attempts to create abstract art from the artifacts of a true talent.

Author: Jonathon Hardcastle




Color Psychology: The Joy and Pain of Yellow

Warm and luminous like sunlight, the right shade of yellow brings cheer to dreary rooms. Some bright yellows, however, cause people pain in interior design.
Imagine you're driving by a green field of grass, punctuated by yellow wild flowers. Your eye gets distracted by the yellow flowers and your brain forgets the peaceful green grass.
In an office, you easily find yellow legal pads. The reason: our eyes see yellow first, before other colors. As the most visible color, yellow grabs attention.
Like the sun, too much bright yellow hurts our eyes and agitates us. Brilliant yellows make our eyes tired. Therefore, like road workers use yellow flags for caution, you want to use yellow with caution.
Paint walls a pale yellow to mimic a sun-filled space and create a soothing feeling for the room's occupants. Choose soft creamy yellows, not dingy, dirty-looking yellows that make people nauseous.
In contrast, bright-yellow painted walls can cause feelings of turmoil and hostility. Use bright yellows sparingly, especially in high-anxiety spaces like kitchens. Naturally bright rooms that have been painted bright yellow over-stimulate some people and may bring about angry feelings. Babies cry more and adults lose their tempers more often when surrounded by bright yellow walls.
However, that very same dazzling yellow room may be just the perfect place on an overcast day in a cold climate. Small doses of bright yellows added with accessories add punch, catch the eye, and make rooms feel lively.
Like the color red, yellow speeds up our metabolism. This color psychology aspect makes yellow a good color for china or table-top accessories. There's nothing like a cup of coffee in a yellow mug to wake you up!
Think of the natural sunlight when you use yellow. Soft, warm rays feel good. Bright, hot rays feel painful. As with all interior design, balance using the color yellow ensures harmony. The color psychology beneath the color yellow helps you create a joyful home.

Author: Jeanette Joy Fisher



The Inventor of Oil Paintings


In comparison to many other art forms, oil painting is still considered relatively new. Oil painting is the use of oil in pigments in order to paint. Oil paintings date back to the 1400’s. Before oil painting, paint was mixed with plaster found in frescoes or egg in tempera paints. The invention of oil paintings occurred because of a new desire for realism in art. Jan Van Eyck is the man credited with the invention of oil painting.
The desire for a more realistic look in art started in early fifteenth century Europe. Previously, art was very mythological and decorative, but with the onset of the Renaissance, artists began to understand concepts and laws behind the ideas of perspective and colors. As a result, more artists began painting realer images.
Jan Van Eyck had a desire to mimic nature in his paintings. In order to achieve his goal, he painted every minute detail about the object he could. Van Eyck’s attention to detail allowed his paintings to seem alive. Unfortunately for Van Eyck, the current painting styles and supplies could not help him achieve his goal of total realism. As a solution to his problem, Van Eyck created oil paintings.
Before Van Eyck, Renaissance painters did not buy colors that were already made. Painters had to make colors themselves from ground up pigments found in plants and minerals that were combined with binder to form a paste. This type of paint was called tempera paint. The problem with tempera paint was that it dried very quickly, and made it virtually impossible to have smooth transitions in painting. Van Eyck wanted to create realism via shading, so tempera paint did not suit his needs. Instead of using egg found in tempera paint, Van Eyck decided to use oil in order to work much more accurately and slowly. Having an oil binder allows the painter to make glossy colors that can be applied in several layers (also known as glazes).
With a tiny pointed brush, Van Eyck was further able to create vivid detail in his paintings. Van Eyck’s work impressed many people, including other artists. Soon, many artists were using oil in their paint mixtures, and oil paintings became a very popular form of art. Oil colors have changed since the time of Van Eyck, but the principals remain the same. Oil paintings allow the painter to create more detailed settings via shading as well as create more lifelike portraits. Van Eyck’s contribution changed art forever.
Author : Sara Swansson

Da Vinci's Monalisa

Peace and Painting Da Vinci's Monalisa

She makes me want to be a painter. She makes me acutely aware of my inability to paint. Every time I see her I wish I had a brush, a canvas, palette and colours with which I could record her for posterity.
Something about her is ethereal and something about her is tragic. She looks so sad it makes my heart want to cry, to cradle her in my arms and wipe all her future tears away.
I met her some months ago. She is one of my students' girlfriend and her name is Peace. Perhaps, there is truly something about her that is at peace and there is also something about her that is chaotic...She stopped attending classes at her university, a teachers' college, some months ago and had to be hospitalized for, what I suspect was, psychiatric care.
She came dressed in a short Qi Pao, that loveliest of sexy dresses ever invented by human beings. And, the Qi Pao has now been around for over five hundred years, or so she informed me.
White, with blue flowers, her dress ended a little above her stockinged knees. And from the upper thigh down it was slit down the sides and I couldn't help gaze at the creamy skin, despite my reluctance to do so.
She continues to live away from home and her parents send her a few hundred kuai (RMB) every month. It's enough, she says, for her to meet her expenses. It's not enough for her wanderlust, though. She spent a few months in a town near Xi'An, the ancient capital of China, with one of her former classmates. She rented a room near his university in Xi'An and paid a mere seventy yuan a month as rent. The people there were very kind and welcoming, she informed me, more than the people in Huainan, a fact I have noticed more than once about the city where I am located.
There's much I can write about her oval face, milky skin and light brown, sad eyes and dishevelled hair but all that writing would be nowhere near a patch on a painting that captured her beauty.
If I were a painter, I know, I would have created a masterpiece had I painted her. 'You have painted me in your heart and that makes you a greater painter,' she spoke enigmatically when I told her of my regret...
I wonder if she is right...I wonder if she thinks I have her picture in my heart...I wonder if she somehow knows more than I do...
I wonder if she is a painter who can paint her own picture wherever she wants...I wonder why she looks sad...
Had Leonardo Da Vanci seen her, Peace would certainly have been his Monalisa...


Author : Rajesh Kanoi

ART AND THE ARTIST

Understanding The Artist
Many times, when art is not understood, it is devalued in our minds. We are not sure just what the artist intended, how he wanted us to react. And what are we supposed to think about his work? All are legitimate questions. Maybe we can uncover the answers.
Picasso was certainly a misunderstood artist. We look at some of his later works and wonder at the health of his mind! His drawings, though, done at the beginning of his career, prove he was of an excellant mind and an equally excellent draftsman. His drawings are beautiful and highly refined.
As he progressed, his drawings changed to symbols of the subject matter. It looked like something we knew and could identify, but then again, it was so very different. Instead of a literal rendition of a face, he drew and painted as if he were seeing two or three sides at once.
His painting grew more bizarre and the public's feelings, at times, were mixed. On one hand, he seemed a genius, on the other, was he for real or what? Was he putting us on? Was it huge joke he had perpetrated on us? We're still not sure!
When we view representational art, we know what we are looking. It's a vase with flowers on a lace tablecloth. There is no guess work involved. We can easily identify the subject matter. Not so with abstract art. Because we can't identify anything, we are unsure of ourselves and what our reaction should be.
We turn away out of confusion and our own inability to understand and appreciate the work presented to us. An abstract painting usually starts out with a recognizable subject. The artist wants to go a step further, do something different. So he begins to take apart, to dissect his subject, slice it, dice it, reduce it to it's barest essentials. Many times there isn't any thing left of it's identity, only lines and unrecognizable shapes.But the artist wants to tell us something about that object. If he/she cannot excite us with a full rendition of the object, then he/she must resort to a feeling or a mood. This is where color and design enter in. The artist must engage our attention with the only meansleft to him now, color and design.
So when you stand in front of a painting and you can't make anything out of it, look at the title, that will help you and if it doesn't, well then, just enjoy what is there before you. Don't try to label and identify, simply appreciate the colors and design, try to feel the mood and let the painting speak to you.


Author : Kay Milam
www.milamstudios.com

COLOR MEANINGS

Colors have meanings and they send messages. These meaning will not be the same everywhere. Culture and traditiontell us what meaning is attached to a color.
Color has been scientifically proved to affect our minds and bodies.
Red, for instance, is a hot, passionate color.
Its known to raise the heartrate
Dialate the pupils
Increase blood pressure
Increase the appetite!
A note there for dieters !!
Blue is restfull
Known to lower blood pressure
Lessen heart rate
Calming
Hospitals and waiting rooms usually done in blue

MEANINGS OF COLORS
RED = Power - Attention - Excitement Passion Aggression - Anger-War

PINK = Sweet - Feminine - Romance - Softness Warmth: with some of red's characteristics.

ORANGE = Wild - Exotic:also has red's characrteristics.

GREEN = Restful -Quality -Solidity -Greed-SickGrass - Trees- Nature

BLUE = Relaxed - Calm - SereneLoyal - Depressing-Water-Sky

PURPLE = Power - Grandeur - ExpensiveRoyalty - Anger

BLACK = Serene - Elegant - Quality - PowerStealth - Strength - Sinister - Bad - Darkness

WHITE = Purity - Deity - Elegant - Strength Plain - Cold

COLOR - WHAT ABOUT IT ?
Color...WOW !!!..we see it everywhere.
And isn't it glorious!?
Color exerts such a tremendous influence on our minds and bodies; reflecting and affecting ourfeelings and emotions.
Most people with normal eyesight feel this influence.
Our daily mood swings are affected by color.
Likes and dislikes, are strongly affected by color i
In our surroundings
In what we choose to wear
What color we paint ourhouse and so on.
Moods are described as being blue
Envy as being green
Anger as being red.
Each hue or color exerts its own influence or affect upon us.
Animals and even insects will react to different colors.
Where do our ideas and perceptions of color come from?
They come from our own culture
Experiences
History
The mind-body connection.
In the U.S.A., our culture dictates that white is for brides and black is for funerals.
In other countries these colors are reversed.
All this is changing.
Different meanings are now being attached to colors and our ideas and perceptions are in a state of flux.

THE SIGNALS THAT COLOR SENDS
Subtle
Stimulating
Soothing
Inflaming
Seductive
Repellant
Aggression
Calming
Fluffy
Sunny
Happy
It is a fact, we are very susceptible and easily influenced by color.
Color also determines what products we will buy, from cars, furniture, and clothing, to computers and kitchen appliances. All consumer goods manufactureers know what the color trends are. Studies are conducted and consumer goodsare made in the colors that are hot, market wise.

We influence others in the colors we select and use. Red sends a very different message than blue.
Red shouts, blue sighs.

We communicate to each other by our colored clothing, rugs, wall paint, etc.. Color will say in no uncertain terms just what you may be feeling and show for all to see, your outlook on life. The delight and enjoyment of color is a nearly universal thing.
Even without an in-depth study of color, our perception and recognition of different colors is tremendous.
The study of color will quickly alert and teach us of the many nuances of shades and tones and opens a whole new world of seeing.

How boring, dull and monotonous this world would be if all the color were gone and we saw everything in black, white and shades of gray. Color, its everywhere! And aren't we glad for it? Color lifts up or casts us down. What power color has!

Color's history goes back to Day1 and is full of meanings and symbolisms.
The early artists drew pictures symbolizing the wild game that they hoped to trap and kill, thinking the drawn imagewould have magical powers to enable them to have asuccessful hunt.He first drew with the black charcoal that was picked up from the fireplace. Then he discovered that the colored dirt right under his feet could be used to further enhance the art work.
An early day artist would have seen that color would greatly add to the image, making it more lifelike andreal. No longer was he satisfied to only use black!

In Egypt, color and most features of art, were connected with religion. Rigid rules of color and pattern were used, no artistic license was allowed.
Art for art's sake, was developed with the Cretan civilization. They painted just for the sheer enjoyment and love of decorating their homes.
Colors were bright and happy, in realistic themes and or ornamentation on walls, ceilings, porches and posts.
The Romans also painted in color to beautify their surroundings, to make a small room look fashionable, to give it class, and bring the beauty of the outdoors, inside.
Through the ages, art has gone through many transitions. From the flat modeled, colored cave paintings, to brightly colored religious works, to art for decorativepurposes and for the pure enjoyment of man.
We may not always understand just what the artistis saying.
What we do understand is color!
The artist can move us to feelings of loathing, apprehension, bewilderment, warmth, of encouragement, depression, unconcern, and or indifference, not only with his subject matter, but most certainly with his color.
Color has a language all it's own.Our emotions are influenced and affected by color.We feel happy or blue by the colors in our homes and work places.
It is definitly felt and experienced by all, even the color blind
But that's a subject for another chapter. :-)

Author : Kay Milam
www.milamstudios.com

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Welcome to My Art Gallery

Welcome to 'studioart'.
The online gallery of my paintings.and illustrations. :))
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"Everyday"
Mixed Media on Paper
Night is a Mother.......and everyday she deliver a baby that baby means a new Sun of new Day.
(The painting about the cycle of Day & Night)
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"Fantasy"
Mixed Media on Paper
This is a Fantasy of mine "if one brain will controll all the people from this Planet
then there wouldn't be any missunderstanding..... :))"
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"Past & Future"
Mixed Media on Paper
It's about what i was and what i would be ;))
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"Chacha-jan"
Oil on Canvas
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"Suhas"
Oil on Canvas
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"Self"
Digital Media :- in Artrage
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"The Kisssssssss"
Digital Media :- in Artrage




"The Wall"
Digital Media :- in Photoshop



Close up of "The Wall"
Digital Media :- in Photoshop





"Top Light"
Digital Media :- in Photoshop




"The Plant"
Digital Media :- in Photoshop




"Boom in Pharma Sector" a illustration
Digital Media :- in Photoshop
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"Curtain"
Digital Media :- in Photoshop
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"IT in India" a illustration
Digital Media :- in Photoshop






"A Illustration"
Digital Media :- in Photoshop




"A Illustration on Budget"
Digital Media :- in Photoshop




"Connectivity " a illustration
Digital Media :- in Photoshop





"A Illustration"
Digital Media :- in Photoshop





"Tea time" a illustration
Digital Media :- in Photoshop




"Fussssssssssssssssssssss :))" a illustration
Digital Media :- in Photoshop




"Are dhil de reeeeeee " a illustration
Digital Media :- in Photoshop




"Ladu kasa kadhu?" (Marathi) a illustration
Digital Media :- in Photoshop





"Making own way" a illustration
Digital Media :- in Photoshop



"Din Me Tare... :)" a illustration
Digital Media :- in Photoshop
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"Comp my friend"
Digital Media :- in Photoshop.
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If you need to contact me with a general enquiry or comment, you can post your coments or
you can mail me..my mail id
:))

ART AND CREATIVITY WHAT IS IT? WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

Are people born creative? Is the urge to make things, to draw, to paint, to just put things together, an inherent part of our being? Many say yes, we are born with the desire to create, hence, the thirst for more knowledge. The quest for knowing is paramount to the human species and most of us will spend our lives in pursuit of knowledge. We have all seen the vastly creative child prodigy who could compose symphonies at age three or paint wonderful abstract paintings that have astounded the art world! But the majority of us aren't child prodigies and haven't astounded anyone. So we would say no, we are not creative.To be creative, we mistakenly believe, we must be a magical, mystical, artist and paint magnificent paintings or make monumental sculptures and if we aren’t doing this, then we simply are not creative. Our general line of thinking is that artists possess magical powers in being creative and therefore are so different from us.
The truth is, artists are not magical, mystical or different from anyone else. In fact, the artist, they, us, we, you and I, are just like the next door neighbor, just average people. Some of us may look a bit odd :-) but that is beside the point. Any creative person is an artist by the fact of their own creativeness.
Perhaps what is not average about the artist, though, is the burning desire to make something, to create. A artistic creative person's hands are always busy, even when it's only making bread. How many cookbooks on bread making have you seen? There are as many different books as there are cooks and each is very creative in shapes and tastes of bread.
The knitter or crocheter who is not satisfied to merely make things from other people's patterns, will make up a new pattern or expand and change the existing patterm. A creative person is not satisfied to just copy anothers design, they want to do their own thing. That desire is what seperates the creative artist from the crowd. Creativity will show up in many ways, not just painting or sculpting but in decorating and beautifying a home, using scraps to make quilts, planting gorgeous flower beds, sewing and so on.
There is a creative streak in all of us. Find what you are creative in and excel in it! Make your mark!

Author : Kay Milam
www.milamstudios.com

ART AND CREATIVITY HOW DO YOU ACQUIRE IT?

We were all fairly creative when we were children. Remember what we made out of cardboard boxes, the stories we made up about imaginary playmates, roads we built in the dirt, mud pies, (I loved making mud pies), the lives we invented for our paper dolls. We were at our creative best then.
Somewhere, in the growing up process, many times, we loose that spark. We become fearful, we're afraid of criticism from our peers, our parents, our teachers, afraid we can't measure up to someone else's expectations, afraid we won't do it right. So afraid to be different, to stand out, afraid to not be COOL!
Who defines COOL anyway!!
But....... we stop making things. It's easier that way. No judgements, no criticisms, no pain. Our creativity goes dormant. But dormant doens't mean dead. It means sleeping, resting, time out, siesta, nap time, etc.. A dormant condition is a condition just waiting for prince/princess charming to kiss it awake!
Where would we find a kiss that would awaken our creativity?
For starters, go to where the charming prince kisser would live. Kissers like that lurk in art museums, they attend exhibits, art openings, are members of local art leagues, they culitivate artsy friends, subscribe to art magazines.
In order for creativity to be kissed and awakened, do the things and go to the places the charming kisser does and goes.
You will get kissed!! Guaranteed!
Once kissed there is no turning back. It's full steam ahead. Creativity has been kissed, stirred and awakened. It will not be denied.
Awakened, your creativity will stretch and reach into realms you never knew existed. It is possible to gain back our childlike creativeness. It can be nurtured, cultivated and expanded.
By the simple act of doing, our imagination is stirred and awakened. One crazy, wild, idea leads to another and another, it's like a tidal wave that engulfs us.
We are high on enthusiasm, the adrenaline is flowing, the pace is fast and furious. (Sounds like I'm describing a football game) New possibilities are opened up, new avenues are explored, a most satisfying and rewarding way of life has presented itself to us.
A creative spirit is free for all to acquire. To help jump-start your own creativeness try the following excerise.
Cut out magazine pictures of ordinary items
With each item, do the most bizarre thing that could be done with it. For example:
Cut it up into odd shapes and rearrange it (Abstract paintings are made of stuff like this)
Take pieces from several several photos and combine them
Glue them down on cardboard
Paint some of the shapes black or some other color
Cut apart faces and put ears on a teapot, hair on a fence post, etc.
Use these colleges to start a painting or a sculpture
Drip and drop ink or really fluid paint on paper or canvas
Sling it like Jackson Pollock did
Wildly with swinging arms
Place a large canvas on the floor and paint with thin paint.
Splattering the oils with turp
Watercolor with water or alcohol.
Spray the watercolor with the waterhose or run the shower on it.
Don't think fine art painting, I'll ruin it...just sling paint and enjoy the process
Your creativity has been kissed, life will never be the same again!
Artists, who have been kissed, and did approach their work with an open mind, and believed anything was possible; have created some very powerful works.
Works that would not have happened, if they had refused to go with the flow and allow things to happen, even when they seemed like mistakes. Sometimes, these mistakes are so.o.o.o interesting, use them, see what can be done with them. Your work will be the better for it. We are not able to completely think a painting through, unexpected things will happen that we didn't plan on or consider. Use them!.
Creating is mostly 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Work with what is happening on your canvas or paper.
Allow things to just happen and then build on it.


Author : Kay Milam
www.milamstudios.com