This weeks table runner is fabric and vinyl based. You can purchase pieces from the fabric
stores and they are ready to go. Table runner can be fun to work with and can complete in
time for your party.

No base coat is required. You can lay out the design with pencil and just start painting
with your paints. Even small design of butterfly, sea shells, floral would just work fine.
The found object like trimmings or lace from your house can enhance the ends if you can stick
them with an ordinary fabric glue.

Once you complete your painting, let it completely dry. You will really enjoy the project with
your kids if they are interested in an quick turn around project.

Once again we turn to Acrylic painting and use folk art enamel paints from
art store to enhance our home decoration. One can also use the regular folk
art acrylics too. But, the enamel stays for longer period of time.

Finding a glass used for wine, water or juice will work just fine. I love to work
with ceramics and other glass ware from my dining area or get one if I am using
as a gift for friends. It is very welcome gift at any time. My friends love it.

The painting is relatively easy. If you are doing it for the first time you can
use a post card or picture to paint from. Practicing on a paper first would help
you build your confidence. Just draw few lines on paper and start painting with
your flat brush with double color loaded to it. Fruits and floral look very good
along with some vines.

Once completed, let it dry for half an hour and you can stick in the oven on the
cookie sheet for half an hour at 200 0F. Let it cool down and when washing use
cold water and mild soap. Your guest would love it for your party and you can come
up with special theme like sea shells or so.

Grab one of those objects and start creating work of art. Here’s how you begin:

1. Look at some of the art web sites or Google some
2. Here’s the one with many ideas: www.Alkasdesigns.com (it’s my decorative site)
3. Acrylic paints works the best
4. Use flat brushes and double load with two colors and load well
5. Start painting either floral, fruit or anything you like
6. You can let it dry and believe me it dries quickly
7. If it is glass surface, you can put it in oven at 200 F for 25 minutes

When you paint on object and put it against a great background, it looks distinctive.

If you love landscape and plan on making a painting of a beach scene
with palm tree, this brush can come in very handy. Once you have your
main trunk ready for the tree and branches coming out of the main tree,
all you do is just use the fan brush with the desired paint and gently
pull out from the branch line and tapper it off when you are at the end.
You can create beautiful palm tree.

When turning your brush on sides for your stroke and continuing to do so,
will surely create different art work. You have to try it out to believe it.

Greeting cards can be prepared using your fan brush with different angle.
Sideways, up and down and turning as you go can bring in great effects.

For example you are on the sea shore and if the sunset is your theme, think
of various colors that you can put on your palette. Keeping that in mind,
you can use your flat or fan brush and with mixtures of colors on the brush,
your abstract can come alive. You can name the work: Sunset.

Once you know your pattern and form, you can literary go ahead with it, keeping
the sunset in mind. However, if you do not have any idea of how to go about it,
think for a while and draw something with Pencil on the card, some shapes, some
guidelines and placement. Once you have that, you can start putting your colors
and experiment with your different size flat brushes and even a script liner or use
your round brushes if needed.

A trip to Art store will help you choose your brushes.

Greeting cards known as blank note cards are available in the packets in the art stores with matching envelopes.
It can create lasting impression if it is hand made. Hand made items has deep
value and meaning to it. It is always appreciated by the receiver.

Using household tools or even some textured tools one can make a beautiful
abstract greeting card. Look for some textured surface paper, knife or anything
else that you can find and experiment with lines and curves and shapes.
You will be amazed of your own creation.

One of the ways you can bring some dimensional effect to your card or painting is
using High definition acrylic paint.

Benefits:

1. It captures color and texture in same stroke, without the time and cost required with oil painting

2. This high definition acrylic paint does not require special skills.

3. It combines high pigmentation and a thick paint formula that is highly visual, light reflecting and dries with high definition.

4  The result is a beautiful work of art with the look and feel of a fine oil painting.

5. Paints can be applied with a brush, a painting knife or the writer tip on the bottle.

6. All paints have a semi-gloss sheen when dry.

7. Paint can be used on wood, canvas and many more surfaces.

8. Paints blend easily on palette or project.

9. Clean up is easy with soap and water.

10. Projects air dry in 24 hours, cure in 72 hours.

It is available at Michaels stores under Folk art paints.

This digital age can bring wonders to our world and it has certainly brought
wonders to my art. I have been able to combine several techniques like water color,
acrylic, digital work, mono print and collage it to create most amazing art work. You can
do the same if you just learn these techniques.Your world will open up and you
will be able to create wonders in the world of art.

The basics of this technique is that using the flat brushes more often and using the
combination of colors to bring the shaded effect. The painting moves very fast and
one can accomplish lot in matter of hours, if not minutes. Well, I have created paintings
in matter of minutes too.

Using the combination of dark and light, for a shaded broad leaf can almost take
you in wonderland. The dark green and the white or cream color combination can produce
a beautiful leaf in matter of seconds. It is the way you load the brush with two colors and move it.

Go ahead and grab the paints of folk art acrylic paint with standard flat brushes which are
size: 3/4″, Size 10, 8 and a script liner and you will be on your way to painting creative art work.

Those artists who like to work with oils have great news. These
wOil pigments are non-toxic and odorless and easy to use with
the specific wOil medium.

The following are the benefits:

1. It has a very smooth buttery consistency which allows ease of use for the artist.
The viscosity or thickness of the color is medium to heavy body which can be used directly
from the tube or thinned with water or with wOil mediums as desired.

2. The color and blending:These can be blended with traditional oil color and mediums.
wOil Color is not classified as a water based color but can be blended with acrylic based color (add a few drops of water).

3. It has luster:The reflective quality of the wOil film varies from color to color because each
pigment requires differing volumes of oil in formulation. The addition of water mixed to thin the
color as well as the use of wOil mediums will also alter surface luster.

4. wOil Permanence – Most artists want to be sure that their colors are permanent. Pigment developments
have led to continued improvements in the light fastness of artists’ colors. These improvements have been
utilized in wOil. All wOil colors are rated Light fastness I or II and are recommended as permanent for artists’ use.

5. wOil Drying time – When wOil is thinned with water, the water evaporates from the paint film fairly rapidly,
leaving behind a traditional film of oil that dries by means of oxidation. The different drying rates of wOil
colors are due to the different reaction of each pigment when mixed with oil. wOil colors should dry
between 3 and 5 days which is slightly faster than traditional oil colors.

If you are fan of oils and want to be extra careful breathing them, this is the best alternative.

Visit: www.Alkasdesigns.com and check out the wOil album

Mastering this technique is all worth it. Double loading your brush with
two or more paints brings a shading effect in the leaves, floral, fruits and
many other painting. One can use a drop of paint with more of the floating medium
( a clear medium without pigment)for shadow leaves. It gives an diffused look and can
use for many backgrounds as a filler. Same can be used on the side of the fruit or
flower for shading too.

There are versatile usage of the same technique for creating Landscape, Animals, Birds,
and even portraits.

Visit the website: www.Alkasdesigns.com and check out the albums for many different
paintings.