Painting – Three Art Tips

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If you create an abundance of art you will find you must frequently measure out your canvas size. To save time and possible errors, I cut out a set of templates in standard sizes.

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Each template is labeled with the size and has a hole punched at the top for easy storage inside the art closet.

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Keep a look out for old painted cabinets on the curb on trash pick-up day. Carry them home, bind the raw edges with duct tape, and you have a perfect waterproof board for mounting watercolor or acrylic paper/canvas.

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A full sheet of plexiglass makes a durable and light mounting board for your larger size paper/canvas sheets. Painter’s tape/blue tape works perfectly with plexiglass and keeps your paper stable and flat until you are ready to remove it.

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Painting – Amish Man and Son

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In January I took part in the WetCanvas Watercolor Challenge January 2013. I live only an hour and a half away from Lancaster, and have often visited this lovely area. I was really pleased with the way this small painting turned out.

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Winsor & Newton Paints (Winsor Blue, Quinacridone Magenta, Permanent Rose, Hooker’s Green, Cobalt Blue, Burnt Sienna and Naples Yellow)

Arches 300 lb Cold Press Paper

You can see the work of the other participants here: Wet Canvas January 2013 Watercolor Challenge.

My work was posted on page nine of the thread.

Why not try the February challenge? The WetCanvas Forums are free. Find the link to WetCanvas in the top right hand corner of this page. You can also go directly to the Challenge through this link: Wet Canvas February 2013 Watercolor Challenge. It’s as easy as signing up and beginning to paint.

You can find my step-by-step progress below.

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Original reference photograph posted by Yorky

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Watercolor Tip: Black out of the tube is usually flat and lifeless. Mix up your own blacks and deep tones by combining contrasting colors.

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I mixed Hooker’s Green, Quinacridone Magenta, and Winsor Blue, and even a bit of yellow. You can pick out the different hues of colors blending together in the thinner areas of paint, notice the deep tone they create when mixed together.

Paintings and Projects – Big Huge Labs Color Generator

This amazing photograph was taken by my nephew. What a great eye he has for color and composition. I hope to paint this one day. When I do I will use the newest tool I have found to come up with the proper colors to use in my artwork. Big Huge Labs Color Generator is a free site well worth joining. Creating a free account allows you to download photographs, push their easy to read “create” button, and immediately see a detailed color chart with html symbols included too. This is an invaluable tool for painters and crafters alike. Listed below are the names and html symbols for all the colors in the photograph above. What I couldn’t show is the color chart that was also included. Take a look. I’m sure you will enjoy experimenting with your own photographs.

These are the html colors Big Huge Labs gave me for the photograph above: #351b32 plum, #63825f axolotl, #8b8c9b amethyst smoke, #493145 loulou, #2c1229 blackcurrant, #3e6525 green house, #a0a8a8 hit grey, #91a595 pewter, #9dab9e robins egg blue, #506933 green leaf, #c8d2c5 sea mist, #627c58 axolotl, #625776 comet, #c2d0be paris white, #5e7c34 dingley

This is also a perfect site to use to compare the colors of an online purchase with what you already have in your house or closet.

Click here to visit the Big Huge Labs Color Generator.