ART tips for Water color painting – 2

Water color is beautiful too except that it is more challenging than Acrylic or
oil painting. It is somewhat unforgiving if you make mistake unless you’re experienced
artist. I love challenges and early on took that challenge and luckily found the best
teacher so I could master the skills.

The skills and techniques came in very handy as I had to work on a challenging commission art.
The piece came out to be beautiful and you can see it on the website under the tab artwork.
Yes, I’m proud of it.

1. A water color wash is great way to start for a beginner. Wetting the paper first and then
painting fast or wet for a longer period of time to allow more time for painting.
2. Wet on wet painting is my favorite and it is advisable to work in this technique to get the
desired results. You can develop the soft edges with this technique.
3. If the wet brush stroke is applied on the dry paper the edges of painting will be sharper.
However, shortly after the application, a damp brush can be dragged through one edge to blend it away.
4. When you paint large area with a darker color, some small areas can be removed to reveal light shapes.
The dark and light contrast is always great for painting.
5. If the color is non staining, the brush can be used for lifting up the darker color to show the
contrast of light and dark.
6. When you have some accidents or have made mistakes, one can either correct it by applying more color
and fixing it or incorporating in your design with your additional paint.
7. One can use the back of the brush handle for light scrapping. Make sure it is gentle otherwise the
paper will start tearing.
Happy Painting!!

ART tips for Acrylic painting

Acrylic painting has really taken off and it is preferred by many due
to convenience of painting. There is no odor, it dries quickly (although some artists do
not prefer that), no health risk, Opaque in nature, can water it down to use as
water color, some basic paints are easy to purchase as it is not pricy, Everyone from
young kids to adults can easily paint with it and correct  mistakes if you make one.

Now, this month I would like to share some tips for creative acrylic painting which I have acquired
over long period of time. Believe me it is worth your time reading and applying them in your own
painting.

They are:

1. If you are starter, use basic brand of paintings or folk art paintings
2. Advance artist use Liquitex brand
3. Since Acrylic paints dry fast, squeeze only little as desire and keep a spray bottle handy
4. Keep a habit of blotting your brushes by keeping the a wash cloth handy or a paper towel
5. To improve the flow of painting, use medium instead of water
6. In order to achieve hard edges, one can use masking tape
7. You can use the acrylic paint as a glaze by watering down and using the thin coat over the painted area
8. If working with paper, dampen the paper first so that it would work better as the paint dries faster
9. If the paint is thick it can almost act as glue when working with collage
Happy Painting!

Creative Acrylic – One Stroke Painting – 5

One stroke painting” technique is easy to learn and provides satisfying results for those new to painting or
those who are artists already. It is for everyone from young to adults. It is for every day use as well as
as for special occasions like Birthday party, Wedding party, Summer party or just a painting party. One can
learn simple strokes of painting and take home a nice piece of art to hang on your walls.It is just fun
all the way.

Learning should be fun and pleasure and this technique provides both of them and much more. There are variety
of surfaces and brushes as I mentioned earlier in my blogs and they are easy to obtain. There is nothing
complicated about it.

Our time today is quite stressful and to release the stress, this technique works the best. I had started
taking painting lessons some 24 years ago to release the stress and have serene, quiet moments with the
source and I actually experienced that with the painting classes. Later on, when I learned this technique
while learning acrylic painting, it brought me more in depth feeling of helping others feel the same way
while creating art.

ART is the most important skill to have for anyone. Any art is good as it brings creativity to one’s
mind and soul. It brings tremendous peace to our life and I highly recommend this technique of art to
just about anyone.

Please visit www.Alkasdesigns.com for more information on this technique and thanks to Donna Dewberry
for bringing this to the world and helping thousands of people all across the globe to uplift their
soul and indulge in this art.

Creative Acrylic – One Stroke Painting – 4

Let me provide informationabout different paints, sealers and mediums today. I have provided
general information about it and I would like to go in more details. By reading earlier
three blogs, you will see how easy it is to learn this technique and follow it for your
art work. It gets creative with every stroke.

Paints:Variety of paints include
1.Plaid folkart for fabric – one that can be applied for fabric with brush and the other is
with the tip, applied directly to the fabric.
2.Outdoor paints- They are made to withstand weather conditions and they contain sealer that
resist fading
3.Enamel paints- These are used for glass and metal surfaces and look beautiful when applied.
4.Folkart acrylic- can be used for many different surfaces like canvas, paper, even glass with medium.

Sealers

There are variety of sealers on the market and each one of them are designed to be used with a specific
products. When you seal the paintint, it lasts longer. They are available in either spray or brush -on
form. Apart from that, you have choices of finishes like glossy, satin and matte.
Mediums

There are more variety of mediums to use with your paints than you can imagine.

1. Floating medium to be used with folkart paints – This is opaque without paint in it.
2. Blending gel – This is more for blending and it will prevent dry edges. It also extends
the drying time without thinning the color.
3. Glazing medium – This also extends the drying time and make the paint transparent without
making it watery. It gives paint semi-glossy appearance.
4. Crackle medium – It gives aged look to the paint. Most of the artists use as a background
and as a base layer with dark color. Once it is dry paint is applied with lighter shade whic
produces great contrast.
5. Clear medium-It is used with enamel paints. It adds fluff to paint without adding pigment.

Visit: www.Alkasdesigns.com for more ideas.

Creative acrylic-One Stroke painting- 3

It is time to enjoy summer and outdoors and put your creative ideas to work.
As I discussed in the 2 previous blogs about this acrylinc painting technique
of One Stroke – you can put it to work for outdoor art.

There are many ways to use this art: for planter, mail box, welcome sign, outdoor
or indoor furniture, water can, boards etc. It can be used for kids as well as
adult parties. Everyone can enjoy the art and use it for their own decor. Folk art
paints are easy to obtain from the craft or hobby store. The flat brushes are easy
to use with soft bristles.There are folk art outdoor paints.These acrylic paints are
made to withstand the elements.They contain sealers that resists the fading caused by
sun light and other weather conditions.

The summer months bring lots of day light and it stays longer during the day so the
colors for paintings should be vibrant and bright. The yellows can be used with reds
to show the brightness and it shows well in summer months. Different shades of orange
shows very well.

Here’s and example of  vibrant yellow colors with reds. This is quite easy to paint. This

is painted on the canvas and I used water soluble oils. However, you can use folkart acrylic paints.

For vibrant colors and flowers visit:www.Alkasdesigns.com