By Carol Burns in Art And Culture, How To
In the early 20th century, household paint (or interior paint) inspired a whole art movement: abstract expressionism. The enormous canvases favored by artists like Jackson Pollock would have made using traditional tubes of paint prohibitively expensive. More poetically, Pollock—one of…
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By Carol Burns in Artwork
Visiting an art supply shop can be daunting even for the most seasoned artist. So plan ahead with our A to Z of art materials. A is for… acrylic Less than a century old, acrylic paint is a fast favorite…
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By Carol Burns in Art And Culture, How To
Watercolor painting has a reputation as being for hobby painters only, while artists pat themselves on the back using “proper” paints like acrylic and oils. But this medium has a long and proud history in art going back centuries. What…
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By Carol Burns in How To
A color wash is as important to painters as a paintbrush. A blank white canvas can be unnerving for artists. Any mark can feel indelible—what if you get it wrong? What’s more, an unprepped canvas can affect your work by…
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By Carol Burns in How To
Paintbrushes date back to the Paleolithic era around 2.5 million years. Ancient Chinese and Egyptian civilizations were among the first to develop painting with brushes for fine art and decoration. In terms of design, very little has changed since then. Brushes…
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By Carol Burns in How To
Celebrating its first century, acrylic paint has found its way on to more and more artists’ palettes. So how does this relative newcomer compare to oil paint—and which one should you use? Anyone who has ever decorated a room will…
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By Carol Burns in How To
The most successful artists set up multiple ways of making money from their art and training. One of the most popular ways for artists and makers to boost their income is to share their skills and talents through art classes and…
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By Carol Burns in Art And Culture, Artwork, How To
The color black does not reflect light. In fact, the color absorbs light, along with our dreams, our fears, our terrors and nightmares. For artists, black paintings often represents our deepest, darkest thoughts and secrets. Perhaps this vulnerability makes it…
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By Carol Burns in Art And Culture
For an artist, the color white is a blank space. Traditionally, white paint is a mixer, something to add to real pigments to lighten the hue. But is white a neutral or a base color for artists, or is it…
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By Carol Burns in Art And Culture
The color yellow is the black sheep of the primary color family. While red signifies luxury and passion and blue the beatific and ethereal, yellow denotes illness and malady. And artists have made maximum use of this meaning throughout history.…
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