need some art tips...

[Ummu Sufyaan]

:sl:
if any of you are into art, can you recommended me some tips as to how to go about interpreting my thoughts of an image onto paper, using the proper media. so what techniques, tools, what kind of paints to use, eg what is the difference if i use water colors, oil paints, etc...how to create an image using those water colored pencils (i think they're called Derwents)...

i know what i want to create, but i have next to no idea as to how to go about it...i tried the other day, but it turned out :hmm: :hiding:

just some really simple tips for a beginner, like me...

[Muslim Woman]

:sl:

I don't know anything about art :( but google knows something :)


Art for beginners by a beginner

http://www.jwjonline.net/about.php

Art Made Easy For Kids and Their Parents

http://www.art-made-easy.com/

[Woodrow]

The medium is of little importance. Try them all and see what you like. Try pencil, Charcoal, acrylic, water, tempera, even finger paints. Now learn to grasp a "feel" for the art.

A good exercise to repeat many times. Sit at a table, place an object such as a vase opposite you. Place your drawing surface on your lap under the table where you can not see it. Now try to draw the object with out looking at your drawing. Try to visualize your hands moving over and behind the object you are drawing.

Your early attempts will most likly be just pieces of smudged paper but continue with this exercise several times a day using different mediums. When you reach the point your drawing is recognizable you will have found the medium best for you and are now grasping a feel for art.

[Nájlá]

Imagine: First of all before you start your art piece you need to imagine how your piece will look like. How is it going to look like with materials you’ve used? For example if you’re going to draw a tree now we all know what a tree looks like but you need to imagine how it will look with the materials you’re going to use and what style is it going to be in.etc

Materials- You need to use materials your good at. Not everyone is good at all the materials. Using materials you know how they work and your good at using it is going to be easy.

Sketch- Before you start its good to do a sketch before you start that it will help you know what size the shapes will be etc. And that way you won’t get the shapes wrong.

Practise- Its okay if you get it wrong just keep practising and you’ll finally get there.
..
Woodrow has explained it well.

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[Eliphaz]

I use a Wacom graphics tablet. It's basically like a mouse in the shape of a pen which allows you to draw or paint directly onto your computer. It is fantastic with a program like Adobe Photoshop and allows you to create digital art which looks just like paintings (except you don't have to wash your brushes afterwards :D)

They are a very expensive to buy (£200+) but then again, you won't have to spend any money on art supplies and your artwork can be put online or sent to people really quickly.

Here is what is looks like:

[Re.TiReD]

AssalamuAlaykum

Interesting :D

I dont know but I'm guessing it'd be best to start off with a pencil? (obvious maybe? :embarrass)

And then after that you can experiment, I use both oil paints and acrylics and like both for different reasons, if I'm creating a gradient effect or basically want two colours to blend in well together then I use oil paints because you can do so much more with them, it takes aaages, absolutely aages to dry (I have 4 drying at home atm :exhausted) so you can do them over a period of several hours and keep going back if you're not happy.

Other than that I'm totally in :wub: with acrylic paints, they dont pong like oils and dry in a matter of 10-15 mins, but once you're done...you're done....you cant do anything with it once its onto paper or canvas...I cant find the word I'm looking for, gah!

In conclusion, its all trial and error. Dont be afraid to play around with your materials and make a mess :p

Wassalam

[Woodrow]

Acrylics can be a lot of fun if you don't think of them just as acrylics. It is fun to experiment with them. You can mix a lot of Acrylic Gesso and a little water in them and get an oil paint texture and longer drying time. You can also mix them with a lot of water and use them like water paints. I also found it fun to get various textures by mixing in things like sand

By mixing them at a ratio of 3 parts gesso and one part paint you get a texture and translucent quality similar to egg tempera.

With art do not get intimidated by the medium, experiment and play with it and learn to make it behave as you want.

Also try mixing in the clear acryic glace with the paint. You can get some nice effects.

[Re.TiReD]

By mixing them at a ratio of 3 parts gesso and one part paint you get a texture and translucent quality similar to egg tempera.

JazakAllah khayr for that, I recently got hold of some Acrylic Gesso, only used it once though but might try it like you said insha'Allah :D

My acrylic creation:

Its meant to say Al-Khabir but I didnt add the harakaat and stuff yet, I'm hoping to do something with the gesso to make it more interesting.

[Woodrow]

JazakAllah khayr for that, I recently got hold of some Acrylic Gesso, only used it once though but might try it like you said insha'Allah :D

My acrylic creation:

Its meant to say Al-Khabir but I didnt add the harakaat and stuff yet, I'm hoping to do something with the gesso to make it more interesting.

Very nice. It has the translucenese and glow I would expect from egg tempera. You did an excellent job getting it with acrylic.

[Re.TiReD]

Very nice. It has the translucenese and glow I would expect from egg tempera. You did an excellent job getting it with acrylic.

Maybe thats the light in my room? :embarrass

I'm trying to think out the box a little and do something different, not too sure what to try next though.

As-Samad.

By the way, is there anything you can use to protect your painting once its finished? So that nothing happens to the paintwork after a while?

[Woodrow]

Maybe thats the light in my room? :embarrass

I'm trying to think out the box a little and do something different, not too sure what to try next though.

http://i33.tinypic.com/30az9tu.jpg

As-Samad.

By the way, is there anything you can use to protect your painting once its finished? So that nothing happens to the paintwork after a while?

You have sevaral choices.

1. Spray it with expensive commercial fixative

2. Paint it with clear polyurethane paint (But that gives it a high gloss shine, which may or may not be wanted)

3. Lightly spray it with the cheapest hair spray you can find, (I found that to e the best way)

[Ummu Sufyaan]

:sl:
does it matter if i use paint brushes that are meant to be for oil paints, for water colored paints, or is that a no no...?

also, what does it mean when the paint brushes are colored at the end of the stick?

[Woodrow]

:sl:
does it matter if i use paint brushes that are meant to be for oil paints, for water colored paints, or is that a no no...?

also, what does it mean when the paint brushes are colored at the end of the stick?

The brushes are labelled as oil brushes, water brushes, etc as most artists find those type best for that medium. For example camel hair brushes are recognized the best for water colors and inks as they they have the soft gentle flow to hold water and flair nicely to give some nice gentle spreading brush strokes. The only rule I would stick to is not use oils on any brush not made for oil as the turpentine can damage other type bristles. But for any other medium try any brush type you want.

As for as the color brush ends I don't know. My brushes always ended up colored cause I used the ends to mix paints and for painting narrow lines.

[Re.TiReD]

also, what does it mean when the paint brushes are colored at the end of the stick?

The colours at the end tell you what medium you should use them for. I had a pack and there was a key at the back, for e.g. the red tipped ones are good for acrylics and oils whilst the blue ones are good for watercolours etc, I cant from the top of my head remember which is which though, I dont think I have the packaging anymore either.

I have a question though, when I buy my canvases, they come with tiny wooden chips, I dont know what they're for though, somebody once said they might be a substitute for palette knives but I'm not so sure...?

[Woodrow]

The colours at the end tell you what medium you should use them for. I had a pack and there was a key at the back, for e.g. the red tipped ones are good for acrylics and oils whilst the blue ones are good for watercolours etc, I cant from the top of my head remember which is which though, I dont think I have the packaging anymore either.

I have a question though, when I buy my canvases, they come with tiny wooden chips, I dont know what they're for though, somebody once said they might be a substitute for palette knives but I'm not so sure...?

I always used them chips as shims to help center the canvas in the frames when I framed them. Outside of that I have no idea, but they do make good palette knives.

[Re.TiReD]

I always used them chips as shims to help center the canvas in the frames when I framed them. Outside of that I have no idea, but they do make good palette knives.

Ohh, JazakAllah khayr. I throw them away and I find it to be such a waste :><: always wondered what they were used for, I use plastic palette knives though, maybe I'll try the wooden ones some day. Hmm maybe I'll post pics of my latest paintings later today insha'Allah!

[Woodrow]

Ohh, JazakAllah khayr. I throw them away and I find it to be such a waste :><: always wondered what they were used for, I use plastic palette knives though, maybe I'll try the wooden ones some day. Hmm maybe I'll post pics of my latest paintings leter today insha'Allah!

Please do post them. While I can no longer paint, I do enjoy looking at the work of others. I do cheat a little these days and found that to some extent I can use various computer programs to satisfy my artistic side.

[Re.TiReD]

Please do post them. While I can no longer paint, I do enjoy looking at the work of others. I do cheat a little these days and found that to some extent I can use various computer programs to satisfy my artistic side.

In reply to your rep (Since I cant rep again), it would have been amazing to see some of your work, khayr your posts in the computer art thread are amazing masha'Allah! I was thinking of making a youtube video with some art tips, about painting with different mediums and taking pics from the intital stages of my painting and then showing the finshed version at the end :D

Is it ok if I use some of the advice you've given in this thread also?

[Woodrow]

In reply to your rep (Since I cant rep again), it would have been amazing to see some of your work, khayr your posts in the computer art thread are amazing masha'Allah! I was thinking of making a youtube video with some art tips, about painting with different mediums and taking pics from the intital stages of my painting and then showing the finshed version at the end :D

Is it ok if I use some of the advice you've given in this thread also?

:sl:

anything and everything I post is public domain. If I have anything I am not willing to share it is not posted. If I post something it is free for the taking if anybody wants it.

For some reason Allaah(swt) has seen fit that my old paintings did not survive. Although a few I sold may still be in existence, but I do not know who may have them. A few were on display in the Meadows Art Museum but they have long been sold and are now in private hands.

Ironically my sister found the last painting I did and she mailed it to us, just before we moved from Minnesota. We had it for one day and in the process of moving it was accedently thrown into the land fill with the trash.

[Ummu Sufyaan]

:sl:
if you are sketching a sky (i.e no colors), how do you make it look 3D instead of flat?

[zakirs]

:sl:
if you are sketching a sky (i.e no colors), how do you make it look 3D instead of flat?

:sl:

Try getting inspired from this image and use the perspective effect. I.e make the clouds at faar distance smaller and closer ones larger..

http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/best-w/O...ue%20Water.jpg

[Italianguy]

:sl:
if you are sketching a sky (i.e no colors), how do you make it look 3D instead of flat?

My wife paints black and white paintings. She did one of the sky, It is amazing! It totaly look like it could be real. I ust asked her ow she made it look 3d. She said it's all in the shading and angle of content...i'm no artist so maybe you may know what that means:hmm:

[Woodrow]

My wife paints black and white paintings. She did one of the sky, It is amazing! It totaly look like it could be real. I ust asked her ow she made it look 3d. She said it's all in the shading and angle of content...i'm no artist so maybe you may know what that means:hmm:

It is very difficult to achieve 3D effects in black and white. I've always had to "cheat" and use a drafting technique called isometric drawing (also called perspectives). But you have to be cautious in drawing your guide lines and keep them barely visible so you can either draw over them or easily erase them with a gum eraser.

Any good mechanical drafting text book will give the basics of doing isometrics and it is easy to learn. but you want to find an old book as the new ones concentrate on CAD

[zakirs]

http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-Perspective

[Italianguy]

It is very difficult to achieve 3D effects in black and white. I've always had to "cheat" and use a drafting technique called isometric drawing (also called perspectives). But you have to be cautious in drawing your guide lines and keep them barely visible so you can either draw over them or easily erase them with a gum eraser.

Any good mechanical drafting text book will give the basics of doing isometrics and it is easy to learn. but you want to find an old book as the new ones concentrate on CAD

Yeah she said something like that. (i can't understand what she is saying?, some of the things she is saying she can't say in English, and i am not fluent in Tamil;D)

She also said she makes some clouds look small, and gradually tapers them up? It's cool because she did one in color, and if you stand back and them walk towards it, it looks as if the clouds move! ....I can only draw stick figuresimsad

[Woodrow]

Yeah she said something like that. (i can't understand what she is saying?, some of the things she is saying she can't say in English, and i am not fluent in Tamil;D)

She also said she makes some clouds look small, and gradually tapers them up? It's cool because she did one in color, and if you stand back and them walk towards it, it looks as if the clouds move! ....I can only draw stick figuresimsad

A neat object to draw in isometric is a three pronged proit impossible to build but can be drawn. Used to be one of the first isometric drawings a young draftsman did, has become an optical illusion classic.

[Italianguy]

A neat object to draw in isometric is a three pronged proit impossible to build but can be drawn. Used to be one of the first isometric drawings a young draftsman did, has become an optical illusion classic.

Oh wow, my wife is all excited! she just looked at that and said she saw a very similar (if not thatone) drawing in India.

She wants to know if you are Indian....i know, i know...but shes sitting right next to me. And i told her i thought you were Indian(Native American) but she doesn't understand that concept? I tried to tell her Christopher Columbus, got lost looking for India and crash landed here....he was so embaressed he decided to call the natives Indians....so his crew would't know they got lost;D

[Woodrow]

Oh wow, my wife is all excited! she just looked at that and said she saw a very similar (if not thatone) drawing in India.

She wants to know if you are Indian....i know, i know...but shes sitting right next to me. And i told her i thought you were Indian(Native American) but she doesn't understand that concept? I tried to tell her Christopher Columbus, got lost looking for India and crash landed here....he was so embaressed he decided to call the natives Indians....so his crew would't know they got lost;D

the drawing will be found in nearly all old dafting textbooks (pre 1960) it will also be found in most collections of optical illusions.

My wife is the Native American (Cheyenne) the Cheyenne are a sister tribe of the Sioux and like the Lakotah and Oglala Sioux their native language is Lakotah but we essentially live on the Standing Rock Lakotah reservation. This entire area which includes parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska is now called the "Republic of Lakotah" by the Lakotah and we are doing our best to become recognized internationally as a sovereign nation with no ties to the USA. At the moment most people think we are joking and we are not taken very seriously, but most of us are very serious about it and some of the Oglala on Pine Ridge are getting very fanatical.

getting back to art most native American tribes have a history of art. There were no written languages, but nearly all tribes left messages with pictograms that became widely recognized. the basic art work was very abstract as the Native Americans believed it was not permissible to make a realistic image of any living things. but the images were necessary for communication.

Typical rock paintings that would have been recognized and read by nearly all Native Americans.

[Ummu Sufyaan]

:sl:
i need advice on what sort of painting to draw for a shed/garage. i dont want to it to be a picture/scenery, but more like just colors on a piece of canvas. im not good with mixing colors, or adding detail to say flowers or something...so just something simple but at the same time "uplifting."

[zakirs]

Try painting a car just about to win a grandprix ? or just a checkered flag being waved ?

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