How to Paint

Edited by Maniac, KnowItSome, Maluniu, FlaminPunkMonkey and 26 others

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Painting is a medium through which many people find that their emotions and thoughts can shine through. No previous experience is necessary, and if youve ever taken an art class, even if it was finger painting in elementary school, then youve had an introduction to painting.
EditSteps

1. 1
Choose your paint. For your first painting, try using watercolor paints or acrylic paints. Both are water based and easy to use. In the future, after youve painted for a while, you may want to experiment with oil paints. Watercolors come in cases or small tubes of pigment. When used alone, they are thick and opaque, and do not cover much area. When used in combination with water, they will thin out and become transparent. Watercolors are used on specific paper made for use with watercolor; any old piece of paper will not necessarily work very well. If you have difficulty finding the right kind of paper, an employee at any arts and crafts store will be more than happy to show you various tablets of watercolor paper sheets.

Acrylics are tubes of paint ready to go to work.

Acrylics are tubes of paint ready to go to work. They do not need to be watered down, but can be to achieve a desired effect, such as tints and better coverage, as well as making your paint supply last a little longer. Unlike watercolors, when acrylics dry, they will not moisten again so dont squeeze out more paint than necessary. If you have paint leftover that you would like to use again, cover the tray or cup tightly in plastic wrap or tin foil. They will keep for several days to a week at the most. Acrylics are used on canvas panel, which is a canvas with a cardboard backing, or canvas that is stretched over a wooden frame.

2. 2
Get a canvas panel. For beginners, you may be more comfortable using a canvas panel than painting on a stretched canvas. Canvas panels are inexpensive and, while some artists may argue that stretched and mounted canvas is more professional, panels are just as good for painting on. The only downside is that if too much water or thick layers of paint are applied, the canvas will curl inward. This can be remedied by painting a large X on the back side from corner to corner to counteract the curl. You will encounter the same problem with watercolor sheets, and you may do the same thing; just make sure your X is done in white paint to avoid a darker color showing through your painting.

3. 3
Select brushes.

The larger the brush, the broader the stroke. The smaller the brush, the finer the stroke. Therefore, for covering large areas of canvas with paint, a bigger brush will get the job done quickly. A smaller brush will allow you to add detail more easily. For instance, if you are painting a landscape, you can use a big brush to lay down the base color for your sky. Then, you can go in with a small brush and add hues of different colors for clouds, sun rays, sky gradient, or even stars or birds.

When considering brushes, not only is size important, but material. Most brushes you will come across and probably use the most are made from synthetic hair. Take care to rinse the paint out of your brushes when you are done. When acrylic paint dries, it turns to plastic, thus ruining your brush. While working, keep your brushes in a cup of water to prevent them from hardening.

4. 4

Familiarize yourself with the color wheel, a circle of primary and secondary colors.

Familiarize yourself with the color wheel, a circle of primary and secondary colors.

Primary colors are: Red, Blue, and Yellow. These are colors that come straight from a tube; they cannot be made from mixing other colors. However, secondary colors (purple, green, and orange) can be made from the primary colors.

Red + Yellow=Orange Yellow + Blue=Green Red + Blue=Violet Mix the two primary colors in equal amounts for a true color, or add a little more of one color than the other. For example, making purple with slightly more blue than red will result in a bluish indigo color, while mixing with more red may result in a deep maroon. Adding a small amount of white or black to any color will make it lighter or darker. Mixing more white or black into certain colors may change them drastically, as red when mixed with white will become pink. If a color is too bright for your liking, mix the colors opposite into it to dull the vibrancy. A colors opposite is the one directly across from it on the color wheel, i.e. the opposite of red is green, yellow is violet, and blue is orange.

5. 5

Paint.

Paint. It may take some time to find out what you like to paint. Some people enjoy portraits, others landscapes, and further more, some enjoy abstract artwork. There is an endless list of things you could paint. For inspiration, think about what looks pleasing to your eye. Maybe you enjoy certain color combinations more than others? Maybe certain shapes? If you get stuck on what to paint, you can always reference from life. The classic example is a bowl of fruit. Its overflowing with different angles, colors, shapes, and sizes. Most importantly, it wont move, so you can reference from it as long as the fruit keeps. Then, you might try portrait. Chances are you wont find anyone to sit still long enough for you, so a photograph will probably suit you better when you first start. Here are some additional ideas:

Paint with just black and white.

Paint with just black and white. Or, choose any two colors and use in combination with black and white. Paint a picture with these colors only. Choose a subject matter and intentionally warp and distort the anatomy of it, i.e. painting a cat with legs longer than the length of its body, a house that retains its typical features but bends into a spiral, etc.

Illustrate a dream youve had before.

o o

Illustrate a dream youve had before. Ask someone to write down 3-5 random words, and paint what comes to mind when you read them. Try to paint water. It can be anything from an ocean to water running from the tap.

6. 6
Practice techniques.

When painting with acrylic, layer.

When painting with acrylic, layer. This means start with the farthest thing away in the background, for instance, paint the sky, then the mountain, then the plains for your background, then the trees, grass, and object of subject for your foreground. This prevents you having to paint around anything.

When painting with watercolor, always work from lightest to darkest.

When painting with watercolor, always work from lightest to darkest. Traditionally, there is no white paint in watercolor. These days you can cheat, as it is possible to buy a white watercolor, but for best results, start with very, very light colors for your outline before jumping in with the dark colors. An example would be painting something shiny, say a blue bowl. Take a very watered down light blue, and outline the shape of the bowl, and then outline, not fill in, where the light reflections of the bowl will go, giving it shape and making it more realistic.
EditTips Making skin tone doesnt have to be tricky, but if you just mix orange and white for a peach tone, youll notice it looks flat and unrealistic. Take a moment to look at your own skin. The underlying veins make all the difference in colors. For light skin tones, add just a touch of green, and for dark skin tones, just a touch of blue. Have a look at some classic examples of paintings, such as the work of Pablo Picasso, Johannes Vermeer, Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, Edvard Munch, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. They will give you an idea of different styles of painting. Visit art museums in your local area. If there are no museums, check in with art departments in colleges and schools nearby to see if they have anything on display. Some popular galleries in cities have online tours and high-resolution photographs of paintings. Try to befriend other painters. In some art schools or community-based art programs, they will have an open studio session where artists can use the same space to work. Talk to others about their methods and preferred style, watching other people work can show you what else is possible. Watch movies about art, such as:

o o

Girl with a Pearl Earring, which portrays the art of Vermeer. Several scenes deal with color theory and painting methods. Frida, about the life and art of Frida Kahlo, gives excellent examples of illustrating vision and expression, also painting techniques. Be spontaneous, if you have no idea what to paint, dip your brush in random colours and stoke it on your canvas, you'd be suprised what you create, maybe a subconcious buried passion.

EditWarnings Dont give up too soon. Painting is a typically long and repetitive hobby and can take anywhere from half an hour to months to finish just one piece. Always remember, most art looks bad until its finished. If youre not happy with the way it looks, just give it time and keep working. Although overworking a watercolor painting can make it muddy, a new layer on an acrylic painting serves to correct, hide, enhance the layers beneath it. EditThings You'll Need Paints, either watercolor or acrylic. The appropriate base material for your medium: watercolor - watercolor paper. Acrylic - stretched canvas, canvas board, acrylic paper or even masonite. Brushes of a variety of sizes in synthetic fiber. A cup of water. Reference subject (physical model, photograph, an image from a publication, etc.) A palette Pencil and rubber for sketching preliminary design (optional). Sketch pad for collecting ideas (optional). An easel (optional).

How to Oil Paint

Edited by Ben Rubenstein, Jack Herrick, Krystle C., Versageek and 52 others

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Have you ever wanted to paint beautiful, expressive paintings with oils? Here are some of the basics to guide you into the wonderful world of oil paints. Once you've got the basic techniques down, the world is your canvas!
EditSteps
Starting Out

1. 1
Choose your paints. Before you can even consider oil painting, you must get oil paints. Although there are dozens of brands of oil paint on the market, dont be drawn in by the attraction of budget supplies. Buying cheap, poor quality supplies will make your painting difficult, tedious, and frustrating. Paying a few dollars more will give you paints that require one coat instead of two or three for the same vibrancy and blend-ability.

o o

The most basic collection of oil paints should include the following colors: cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium red, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, titanium white, and mars black. You can use a combination of all of these colors to make any hue on the color wheel. You will find that you likely will run out of white paint the fastest, so buy a large tube of this while purchasing small or medium tubes of paint for the others. Avoid buying student sets of paint, as these will seem like a good deal, but offer the poorest quality supplies. Also avoid buying sets of paint that come with paint brushes, as the brushes will likely be of poor quality as well.

2. 2
Get the rest of your materials. Beginning painters often fall under the tendency to avoid getting certain supplies to save money. While this is a perfectly all right practice, there are a few basic painting essentials you will need to make oil painting enjoyable and easy.

o o

Choose a few basic paintbrushes of a high quality material. You dont need many brushes to start out, but get a few of each kind. Start with differing sizes of round, flat, and bristle brushes. Synthetic brushes are made of a very soft, fine bristle while natural hair brushes are a bit rougher. Use both for different painting techniques. You will also need a palette knife for blending paints, a painting palette, canvas boards or stretched canvas, and some old rags and jars for cleaning your brushes. Use linseed oil, poppy oil, or terpenoid to create a blending medium. Oil paint is very thick directly out of the tube, and must be made thinner for the first layers using a blending medium. Optional supplies include an easel or drafting desk, an apron, a drop cloth, and a specialized box for carrying all your supplies.

3. 3
Set up your work area. Because oil painting does require a lot of supplies, you will need a large area to use. Set up your easel or table in an area that is away from foot traffic and direct sunlight, if possible. If you have one, lay a drop cloth down to prevent any paint spills from ruining your floors.

o o

Oil paint can give off fumes, so make sure that your area is well ventilated with an open window or door. If you are using an easel, adjust it to the correct standing or sitting position and angle. Make sure that it is sitting in such a way to make painting comfortable for you, not difficult. Put on old paint clothes to protect your nice clothes and skin. Oil paint is notorious for being exceedingly difficult to clean off, so make sure that you take precautions to avoid coming into contact with it. If you have long hair, pull it up into a ponytail or bun to make sure that it does not fall in the paint. Remove any rings or bracelets that you might be wearing.
Assessing Your Painting

1. 1
Create a rough sketch. Use a hard pencil to create a light sketch of your subject. You can do this directly onto the canvas or onto tracing paper, and transfer it using a carbon copy. When youre drawing your subject, keep in mind the composition and use of negative space.
o

Composition is the placement of items on the canvas. Choose the best placement so that the eye is drawn around the entirety of the canvas, rather than left to linger on a single spot.

Negative space is the space around an object. If you are using an item in real life and are drawing it onto your canvas, draw difficult areas by looking at the space around the figure rather than at the figure itself. Consider what you will fill the negative space with once you start the painting in order to make your subject pop. Make note of overlapping figures, as these add depth to your composition. If your subject doesnt have any overlapping shapes, consider rearranging until you do. This will add realism to your painting.

2. 2
Find the light source. To create a realistic painting, you must have obvious patches of light and dark. Look at your subject and determine the angle at which the light is coming from, and where shadows and highlights are located.
o

All light sources cast shadows, but if they are directly above the subject it can be difficult to see them. Try moving your light or your subject so that the shadows and highlights are more obvious. You may not have incredibly dark shadows or incredibly bright highlights. In fact, you likely will have a range of values that are all very near each other. Dont be concerned if your light source isnt creating a strong definition of shadows and highlights.

3. 3
Consider your colors. For new painters, it is often very difficult to match the colors of their subject to the colors they mix with their paint. This is because the brain provides an idealized color value; you see the sky is blue, so you mix blue paint, only to realize that your paint is much brighter and colorful than the actual sky. The trick is to get past the symbols of color our brain uses, and examine the actual colors being used.
o

Is your painting set at nighttime? This will change the brightness of your paints. A painting set at night will be darker and richer than one during the day, which is most likely brighter. Check the color of the light source; on a bright sunny day, your subject will have a golden glow. On a gray day, the light is diffused through the clouds giving your subject a gray tint. You may also have actual colored lights - such as neon signs or tinted light bulbs - that affect the colors of your subject.

4. 4
Look at the movement of your subject. Are you painting a still life with little to no movement? Or is your figure in a field on a windy day, creating a lot of motion? Paying

attention to the movement of your subject is important for planning your brush strokes. Realistic paintings have brush strokes that create movement, or a lack thereof.
Creating Your Painting

1. 1
Mix your paints. Oil paint is extremely forgiving in the sense that it takes many days to begin to dry. However, it is nearly impossible to mix the same paint twice so mix your paints in large batches and preserve between painting sessions so that you always have enough of the right color.

o o o o

Use a color wheel to help you find colors to mix. The color wheel shows primary, secondary, and tertiary colors and how to make them. Pure hues are colors that have not been mixed with either white or black. You can mix the primary colors to create the secondary colors. To create a tint, add white to your paint. This will lighten it and make a more pastel color. To make a shade, add black to any paint color.

To make a tone, add white to a shade (any color with black added). Tones are the most widely used, as they represent most of the everyday colors we see.

2. 2
Begin painting. You can choose whatever painting technique you like, whether that be painting entire sections to completion or putting layers of paint over the entire canvas. When oil painting, though, use the thin-to-thick method in which you paint with thin paint before using thick paint.

Try painting basic subjects. All figures are made up out of a few basic shapes: the cube, cone, cylinder, and ring. Paint these in the form of real subjects, such as a box or orange, or paint a flat form of each. To thin your paint, use a blending medium (linseed oil or terpenoid) mixed with your paint. Dont use too much to start, but gradually add more until you get the consistency you want. It takes three days for a layer of paint to dry enough to add a second layer to the top, so be patient while you wait for your paint to dry.

3. 3

Try different techniques. There are dozens of ways to perfect your painting, but learning them all as a beginner can be overwhelming. instead, focus on picking up some of these techniques one at a time.
o

Try blending your paints. This is the process by which you slowly fade two or more different colors (think of a sunset). To do this, add layers of paint so that they are directly adjacent to each other on the canvas. Then, use flat brush to smooth the paints together, working with the direction of the blend. Try creating a glaze. This is when you use a solution of linseed oil, terpenoid, and varnish to create a transparent color. You can use this mixed with any paint color to create a see-through hue over dried paint. Use stippling to create small dots. Use a natural bristle brush (dry often works best), and tap it vertically against your canvas. You can build up these dots to create a more opaque figure. Try using a palette knife to paint. This technique is great for landscapes and creating movement on your canvas. Scoop up a bit of paint on the bottom edge of the knife, and sweep it across the canvas to create thick layers of paint.
Finishing Your Painting

1. 1
Correct any mistakes. You have about three days (while the oil paint is wet on the canvas) when you can alter any mistakes or remove them completely with a damp rag. Before you decide the painting is complete, take a step back and look at your painting in its totality to see if any changes are needed.

2. 2
Save unused paint. If you have a lot of paint left on your palette that was not used, save it for your next painting. Scoop it into small containers or into piles on your palette and cover with saran wrap.

3. 3
Clean your paint brushes. Oil paint will ruin your brushes if it is allowed to dry, so wash your brushes immediately after use. Rinse them under warm water and a little dish soap, then brush the bristles against the palm of your hand to make sure all the paint has been removed. Put the clean brushes, bristle-end up, in a jar or cup to dry. Make

sure that the brushes get adequate air circulation until they dry: Put your brushes them in an open area-- on a shelf or desk, for example, not in a closed cabinet or drawer.

4. 4
Wait. For oil paint to dry completely, it may take up to 3 months, even longer if your painting has many thick layers of paint. Put your painting where it wont be disturbed or damaged and allow it to air dry for the necessary time.

5. 5
Add a coat of varnish. When your painting has dried completely, add a coat of varnish to protect it and preserve the color. When the protective varnish has dried, youre done! Hang your beautiful creation for all to see!
EditVideo

EditTips Avoid using linseed oil as a medium for light colors: They will yellow quickly. Baby oil or olive oil works really well to remove the paint from your hands. Ivory black is very slow to dry: Avoid using it as an undercoat. EditWarnings
Oil paints and the carriers may be classified as hazardous materials in your area. Properly dispose of oil paints and carriers. Know and follow your national, regional and local regulations. Thinner and oil mediums are combustible (flammable). If available, store these chemicals in an approved solvent locker. Under no circumstance should you store flammable materials in enclosed areas. This would include paint that has been "cut" with any flammable substance and the rags that you used for clean-up. Thinner may cause a reaction on sensitive skin. Wash the affected area multiple times with soap and warm water, then rinse thoroughly. If you develop an allergic reaction, consult a health care professional and follow their advice. Keep paints and the carriers (mediums) away from your eyes and from sensitive skin. If you should get either in your eyes, flush with clear water for at least two minutes. It is best to use an eyewash cup or an eyewash station. If neither is available, a shot glass may work or let very gently running lukewarm tap water run directly on the eye. It is extremely important to immediately dilute the chemicals with copious amounts water. This action will minimize damage to sensitive eye tissues.

How to Make Paint Thinner

Edited by Maluniu, MercedesRune, Daniel Bauwens

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Over time, paint often loses moisture, becoming too thick for use in painting. While it can be tempting to throw old, thick paint away, this can quickly become quite an expensive habit. Knowing how to make paint thinner at home is not only quite simple, but can save you money and time as it keeps you from having to return to the paint or hardware store for more paint.
EditSteps
Oil-Based Paints

1. 1
Obtain a container in which to thin the paint.

When thinning paint, you must have a small bowl or other object in which you can place it to combine with the thinning agent. As oil-based paints can be difficult to remove, this object ideally should not be something that you still need for other purposes. Once it's been used to thin paint, the object will remain in your arsenal of painting supplies.

2. 2
Add the paint to the container.

Place the amount of paint which you wish to be thinned in the container. For best results, remove any large chunks of dried paint and discard them in an old paint can or trash bag.

3. 3
Add the paint thinner to the paint.

Turpentine or mineral spirits are the primary agents to use when it comes to thinning oil-based paints. Evaluate how much paint was placed in the container, and add the turpentine in a ratio of approximately 3 parts paint to 1 part thinner.

4. 4
Mix and evaluate the paint.

Once you have added the turpentine, carefully combine the two products. A stirstick of just about any kind works effectively to mix the paint and turpentine together. As with the container, don't use anything to stir the paint that you will need to use for any other purpose after this job is finished. Use a paintbrush to apply a small amount of the paint to the surface onto which it will be applied. If the paint still appears too thick, continue adding small amounts of turpentine until the paint reaches the desired consistency.
Water-Based Paints

1. 1
Find a container in which you can thin the paint.

Like oil-based paints, you must first find a container where the water-based paint and thinner can be combined. While water-based paints can be removed with slightly less difficulty than oil-based paints, this container should still be one that you will not miss in the event that it is ruined.

2. 2
Add the paint to the container.

Remove any dried pieces of paint from the liquid you pour into the mixing container.

3. 3
Add the paint thinner.

As suggested by the name, you will use water to thin water based paints. Add clean, cool water in a ratio of approximately 3 parts paint to 1 part water for best results.

4. 4
Mix and evaluate the paint.

Use a stir stick to mix the paint and water. You can then use a paintbrush to apply to it a wall or canvas. As described previously, if the paint is still too thick, continue adding water is small amounts, testing the paint after each addition.

EditTips If you are concerned about your ability to successfully make thin paint on your own, you may be able to have the service done for you at a hardware or home improvement store. Be aware, however, that you will typically have to pay a small fee for these services. Use caution not to add too much of the thinning agent. Oil-based paints take longer to dry than water-based paints. In the case of artists painting with the oilbased forms, the artists often use thicker forms of the paint to build up and add texture to the painting in the form of thicker areas and defined paint strokes. Making it too thin could cause it to run.

How to Blend Oil Paint

Edited by Maluniu, Tryme2, Harri, Thomscher and 5 others

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One of the biggest draws of using oil-based paints as a medium is the time it takes oil paint to dry. Because oil paint can take several days or even weeks to fully dry depending on temperature and humidity, artists can easily blend and touch up their works in progress and stretch out their painting over several sessions. Many artists find blending oil paint is significantly easier than blending other types of paints, particularly acrylics, which can dry within minutes of application.
EditSteps

1. 1
Begin your painting with a charcoal sketch. This sketch is the framework youll use to differentiate the areas where youll need to blend oil paint from the rest of the painting.

2. 2
Shake off the excess charcoal or spray the canvas with a fixative to prevent smudging.

3. 3
Add values of lightness and darkness to the sketch with an underpainting. The underpainting should be painted with a thinned out base color. Use turpentine or your preferred thinner to create the consistency of a watercolor. More pigment should be for use in the darker areas of the painting, and additional turpentine should mix into the base color when you are ready to paint the lightest values. The varying tones in the underpainting will be your guide when youre ready to blend oil paint.

4. 4
Allow the underpainting to dry. Typically, 10 to 15 minutes is sufficient.

5. 5
Combine your oil paints on your palette to create the darkest shade in your blend. You may either mix all of your various shades for the blend before you begin, or you may lighten the shade as you work. For novices, it is generally best to have all of the shades at your disposal until you are satisfied with the blend.

6. 6
Apply your shades in their approximate final locations, using the underpainting as a reference.

7. 7
Create a transition between the first two shades using a crosshatch stroke. Flat brushes tend to work best for blending. Round brushes are typically avoided.

8. 8
Smooth the blend by using parallel strokes along the transition you just created. The parallel strokes should be perpendicular to the lighter shades.

9. 9
Use a clean brush to blend the next shade, and repeat the technique using first crosshatched strokes followed by parallel stokes. A clean brush should always be used when working with a new shade, even if the actual color is the same.

10.
Finished.

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EditTips When creating contoured surfaces, allow distinction between the blended shades to create a shadow effect. Clean you brushes out with your favorite thinner after every use. Otherwise it will dry in the brushes and be very difficult to clean. Wear clothes you dont mind being damaged when working with oil paints. Unlike acrylics, oil paints cant be cleaned with just water and must be removed with a paint thinner such as turpentine. Because oil paint takes so long to dry, its OK to leave your used brushes while you work on your painting. You will be able to easily clean them later. EditWarnings Oil paints and the chemicals used to clean them are highly toxic. Ensure your work area is properly ventilated, and keep paints and cleaners out of reach of small children and pets.

How to Dispose of Paint Thinner

Edited by Nicole Willson, Daniel Fass, BR, Maniac and 1 other

3
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Paint thinner is a solvent that can be used to thin paint to the desired consistency for application. While excess paint thinner can be stored for later use, it is often necessary to dispose of paint thinner or paint that is mixed with paint thinner. These substances should not be discarded into the garbage, as most jurisdictions classify them as hazardous substances. You need to dispose of paint thinner in the proper, responsible way in order to protect the local environment from contamination.
EditSteps

1. 1
Avoid buying more paint thinner than you need. The simplest way to deal with the issue of disposal is to buy only what you need. If you are able to use all the paint thinner you purchased, you can rinse the can out with water (this is best done outside with a garden hose), wrap it in paper, and discard it in the trash can.

2. 2
Save your excess paint thinner for future use. Unused paint thinner can be poured into a clean glass or plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. Label the container clearly and store it in a dark, dry area. Consider offering it to a friend or a neighbor who might need it. You may also be able to donate the paint thinner to a local group, such as a church, that needs it for renovation projects.

3. 3
Take the paint thinner to a hazardous household waste collection facility. Many municipalities will have permanent sites available for the drop-off of hazardous materials like paint and paint thinner. In the United States, these facilities can be located through Earth911.com or the Environmental Protection Agency. Contact the facility to ask them how the paint thinner should be prepared for dropping off.

4. 4
Take the paint thinner to a hazardous household waste collection event. Many jurisdictions will hold annual or semiannual events for the disposal of and education about hazardous waste. These events can be found through your local jurisdiction's website. Many states in the United States have a Department of Environmental Protection (or a similar branch) that organizes these events.

5. 5
Dry the paint thinner and dispose of it in the garbage. If no hazardous waste collection site is available, you may have to discard the paint thinner in the garbage. Before doing this, take the lid off the can, stir an absorbent material like sawdust or cat litter into the paint thinner, and leave the can sitting out in a wellventilated area. Wait for the paint thinner to completely dry into clumps, then seal the whole can in a plastic bag before putting it in the trash.
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EditWarnings Never pour paint thinner down a drain. Cats love to eat this stuff!!!! Keep the paint thinner away from pets or children if leaving it out to dry. EditThings You'll Need Garden hose Paper Glass or plastic container Sawdust or cat litter Plastic bag

How to Stretch a Canvas

Edited by Rob, Lisa Radon, Len Pal, Ben Rubenstein and 10 others

50
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After having a frame built, the canvas needs to be stretched just right for it to work. Here's a personal tried-and-true method for stretching canvases with no viewable staples on the finished stretched canvas.
EditSteps

1. 1
Cut your piece of canvas at least 6-8 inches wider than the dimensions of the stretcher bars (taking into account the frame's depth). You'll need this extra canvas to have something to get a grip on to be able to pull and stretch it.

2. 2
Lay your frame centered on top of the canvas you've cut.

3. 3
Make sure that the grain of the canvas is lined up straight with the stretcher bars.

4. 4
Start with the longest side of the canvas. Fold it over, and plop down three staples with your heavy duty stapler near the center of that stretcher bar.

5. 5
Rotate the canvas. Or go to the opposite side and pull rather tight, fold the canvas over the frame, and put down three more staples near the center of that stretcher bar(exactly like the first side).

6. 6
Go to one of the unstapled sides and give the canvas a good solid pull, fold it over, and put in two staples.

7. 7
Go to the opposite and last unstapled side and pull the canvas very tight, fold it over the frame, and give it a few staples there as well.

8. 8
Go back to the first side and working from the centers to the corners, pull a piece of the loose canvas over the stretcher bar (generally standing/kneeling from the opposite side) putting in two staples or so for each section (depending on the size of the frame).

9. 9
Go to the opposite side of the canvas and repeat the previous step.

10.

10

Continue pulling and stapling pieces of the canvas moving around the canvas edges in the same order as above. If you want, you can staple near the corners and then place a staple between the center and the corner, instead.

11.

11

Continue until you have about four inches of unstapled space from the corners.

12.

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Fold the corners however suits you best and staple them down. One way that works is to tuck them under twice so that one straight edge is just even with the corner.

13.

13

Pull the corners very firmly, as this is the final tightening you give the canvas and the most important.

14.

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Once you're finished, flip the whole canvas over and tap it with your finger. It should sound like a drum. It should be very, very taut. If there is any creasing or strange pulling, you'll be able to see it from here. If you mis-stapled or don't have the canvas particularly taut, pull the staples and fix it. The canvas will sag far worse once it is painted.

15.

15

Pound in each staple with a hammer until it is flush with the wood.

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EditVideo EditTips Using an ordinary spray bottle filled with plain water, dampen the back of the stretched canvas. As it dries, it will shrink and thus tighten the canvas even more. The most important part is to make sure the canvas fibers run square to the frame. If they don't, the bars will twist and two opposite corners will lift up. Tearing the canvas will make a straighter line than cutting it will. There are special pliers (with a wider surface to avoid pulling holes in the canvas) made for stretching canvas. They are available at art supply stores. Note: regular desk staplers are not heavy duty enough to hold the canvas. You need a heavy duty staple gun. After canvas is stretched, put shims/wood wedges into corner to further stretch canvas. Unprimed (ungessoed) canvas is easier to stretch than primed (gessoed) canvas. Pull the canvas tight with your fingers, then use a good quality gesso. The gesso will tighten the canvas further as it dries. EditWarnings Use gloves, as this can be rough on the hands and may cause blisters. Be careful not to staple your fingers. EditThings You'll Need Good raw painter's canvas Stretcher bars assembled into a frame to stretch the canvas over Heavy duty stapler Box of staples Hammer

How to Mat a Watercolor Painting

Edited by Lois Wade, Sondra C, Flickety, Dvortygirl and 3 others

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Watercolors require more protection than acrylic or oils before matting or framing. Here are some basic steps to get you started.
EditSteps

1. 1
Protect the actual surface of your watercolor by spraying a protective sealant on the surface of your painting. This will protect the paper itself.
o

Use an acid-free sealant spray formulated for use with water colors, and be aware that some of the older sprays tend to yellow your paints somewhat.

2. 2
Mount your painting on a firm backing. You can find several varieties of backing board at most arts and crafts supply stores. Many are acid free and self adhesive.
o

Use mulberry hinges and wheat paste for the mounting. The hinges should be slightly lighter than the paper. In case of a problem it is better for the hinge to tear and not the painting. Attach the hinges only at the top of the watercolor paper to the backing, using only acid free material such as Foam Core. These hinges can be removed with water in the future if necessary. When framing and matting one does not want to do any harm and it should all be reversible.

3. 3
Measure and cut your backing material to the frame size.

4. 4
Measure and cut your matting material to the size and shape desired.

5. 5
Measure and cut your frame glass or plastic to size for the frame.
o

Always use museum glass or UV protective glazing, also available in acrylic glazing.

6. 6
Sandwich your glass, matting and painting into the frame and secure with frame tacks.

7. 7
Display proudly.
EditTips Paper is a natural organic material and will be moving. As the humidity changes, the paper will absorb moisture and dry out. So the paper should be free to move in the frame and not be attached to all sides as this could cause it to wrinkle or even tear. Select a mat that coordinates with the work. Mats should not be darker than the darkest color or lighter than the lightest color. Take a close look at the painting and decide what are the 3 most dominant colors in the painting. Use these colors in your selection. *Use at least two mats; one mat will make it look less expensive. When using two mats try to use complimentary colors for the strongest interest. Using a lighter mat on the outside and the darker on inside will help to direct the eye to the painting. o Note that in many watercolor competitions, they require a white mat, so it is better to double mat in white. Currently there are several types of matting material o Acid Free Buffered or what is called Regual Matboard should last about 7 years before the buffering gradually turns acid. o Museum quality made with 100% rag should last 25 to 50 years.

EditThings You'll Need Appropriately sized frame Appropriately sized frame UV proctive glass or acrylic glazing Appropriately sized matting material Acid Free Matting Mulberry hinges lighter than the watercolor paper 100% Acid Free Foam Core or similar backing Frame tacks Dust Cover Frame hanging kit Matt cutting board or frame shop.

How to Choose Artists' Watercolor Paper

Edited by Ben Rubenstein, Julian Black, Maluniu, Flickety and 1 other

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Selecting artists' watercolor paper can be tricky, because there are so many kinds to choose from. This article will tell you, the buyer, what to look for.
EditSteps

1. 1
Familiarize yourself with the types of paper available:

Weight and texture: Watercolor paper is available in a variety of weights and textures, and choosing the right paper will depend on technique as well as personal taste.

Absorbent ability: Unlike drawing and printmaking papers, watercolor paper contains sizing, which reduces the absorption of paint into the paper itself. The pigments remain on the surface of the paper, so the colors remain brilliant. (To see this for yourself, make one watercolor painting on heavy drawing paper and another on watercolor paper.)

Cost: Watercolor paper can be very expensive, but if you want to get the best results, you've got to use the right materials. Copier/cartridge paper, sketch paper, illustration board, and other types of papers and artists' boards aren't meant to be used with watercolor, and the results will reflect that.

Texture

1. 1
Understand the different qualities of texture is usually the first consideration when selecting paper. There are three general categories:

Hot-Press has a smooth surface, and is sometimes even labeled as "Smooth." It's your best bet if you work with fine detail, combine watercolor and fine pen-and-ink work, or use watercolor as a base for colored pencil.

Cold-Press has a noticeable texture that may not be suitable for extremely detailed work, but otherwise it's a versatile surface that lends itself to most watercolor techniques. Cold-press is the most commonly used surface, and if you're taking a beginning watercolor class your instructor will usually specify it on the supply list. There is no standard "cold-pressed" surface, however; the relative roughness of the paper and size of the grain varies between manufacturers. Strathmore's cold-press paper, for example, has a much larger grain, and thus a coarser appearance, than Arches.

Rough is--well, rough. It's great stuff if you're into bold brushwork and larger-scale paintings, but is generally not used by beginners.

Weight

1. 1
Understand the importance of weight. How thick the paper is is the next thing to consider. The weight of paper is given in pounds (or grams per square metre). The higher the number, the heavier the paper.

The most commonly-used weight is 140lb (300gsm) because it works well for most artists' purposes. If you plan to work very large or use a lot of heavy washes, there are much heavier papers available; 300lb (620gsm) is also popular.

Watercolor papers as light as 90lb (200g) are available, and they are usually less expensive than 140lb. However, they often end up causing problems for beginners because they buckle once you start applying washes. Unless you know how to stretch watercolor paper, they are best avoided.

Paper Size and Format

1. 1
Decide in what size and format you're going to buy your paper:

Pads usually contain 12-50 sheets (depending on weight) of watercolor paper, either spiral-bound (like a sketchbook) or glued along one edge. The spiral-bound kind are great if you want to keep all of your paintings together, or are traveling and want to keep an illustrated diary that includes your paintings. The glued ones make it easier to tear off a finished painting while it's drying and start work on another. They come in a range of sizes, usually from postcard-size up to 18 x 24" (45 x 60 cm).

Blocks contain 20-25 sheets of 140lb paper, glued together on all four sides. The advantage to blocks is that by having all four edges bound, the paper is less likely to buckle as you're painting. The thick backing board onto which the sheets of paper are bound keeps everything stable and makes it easy to hold the block of paper on your lap while working.

Sheets are a great deal if you want to try a paper without committing to an entire pad/block. You'll also end up switching to sheets if you work larger than 18 x 24", or want to use heavier-weight papers. You can buy most brands of 140lb watercolor paper either in individual 22 x 30" sheets, or in a package of 4-10.

Rolls are usually 44-60" wide and 10 yards long. If you love a particular paper so much you want to use it all the time, buying it buy the roll will be most economical in the long run. If you want to paint watercolors larger than 22 x 30", buying paper by the roll and cutting it yourself will be your only recourse.

Other things to keep in mind

1.

Note that there are some other important factors to consider when purchasing watercolor paper:

Acid-free paper is pretty much a given, anymore, but check the label to make sure (especially if you're buying cheap or "student" paper). You might end up painting something you're proud of; don't let acidic paper slowly destroy it. Whiteness of the paper can significantly affect the look of your finished painting. Some artists like a very bright white paper; others prefer a softer off-white. Some manufacturers (such as Arches and Fabriano) offer bright white papers for those who prefer it. Cleanliness is important when working with watercolors. There are people who can't go through the paper section of an art supply store without getting their dirty paws all over the paper. Not only are fingerprints and dirt impossible to get off paper, but the oils in people's fingerprints can mess up your painting. Buy the paper that's still sealed, or is on the bottom of the stack, and always check to make sure it's clean before buying it.

How to Put Together Equipment for Watercolour Painting

Edited by Flickety, Robertsloan2, Chris, MarkBarwell and 4 others

5
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Watercolour painting is a fabulously rewarding hobby and is an especially enjoyable way to start out when you first become interested in painting. Before you embark on your newfound artistic endeavours, it is important to make sure that you have a good set of appropriate equipment for watercolour painting. This article will help the beginner watercolour artist to choose the appropriate items when starting out.
EditSteps

1. 1

Obtain a field box or palette.

Obtain a field box or palette. To begin with, you can use a portable lightweight field box. It should be small and sturdy; easy to travel around with. You buy it empty and fill it up with your own choice of colours. It makes a good investment

and if you change your mind about the colours that you have bought, it is easy enough to change them. Alternately, watch for artist grade field box sets on clearance or deep discount sales. If the color range has two yellows, two reds, two blues, a gold color like yellow ochre, a reddish brown and a dark brown then the set will give you the basic colors you need. One or two greens in it may be useful. White is "body color" that may be useful for adding light details on dark areas. If you want to change the colors later, "half pans" of pan watercolor are all the same size so you can pull out a color you don't use much and replace it with a new one you've learned to love. Sometimes a set with a good field box is cost effective even if it's more than getting the same colors in a simple box if it's well designed and has extra features like a water bottle, snap in travel brush, folding palette sections. Watch for those on sale and if you're not fond of the paints, feel free to swap in half pans of good paint in other brands. "Full pans" are larger and take the space of two half pans in a watercolor box. You can also refill empty half pans from tubes of watercolor paint. If you change the color or brand, be sure to rinse out the remnants of the old paint before adding more. Fill it, let it dry and see the surface sink. Then add more till it's filled up by pouring. If it's the same brand you can add more before it's completely empty.

If you live in a very hot and dry climate, the best option would be to purchase tube colour paints.

If you live in a very hot and dry climate, the best option would be to purchase tube colour paints. Or if you're fond of using paint strong, direct from the tube. Some painters prefer using tube paints for their consistency.

Use tube watercolour paints on a plastic, lightweight palette; it's easy to hold and not too heavy.

Use tube watercolour paints on a plastic, lightweight palette; it's easy to hold and not too heavy. These palettes are also good if you prefer bringing more colors out into the field, they have many small slants to hold paint and large mixing areas in the middle once open. At home a large palette with a cover may be convenient. Porcelain palettes are expensive in large sizes but also come in smaller forms like the traditional seven well "flower palette." Porcelain has the advantage that it never stains, weighs more and is less likely to get knocked off the table. Plastic is lightweight. Covered palettes may let you keep paint moist rather than letting it dry out completely, though most watercolors will reactivate if you put water on the dried blob and let it soak for an hour.

The bigger boxes are more suitable for indoors, as they are too bulky to cart around with you on field trips.

The bigger boxes are more suitable for indoors, as they are too bulky to cart around with you on field trips. This depends on your transportation, your setup and the weight of the box. Judge how compact the box is and its weight when full against how far you'll walk carrying it before you settle down to paint. A tin with 48 half pans might be quite small compared to a large metal palette with forty or more slants in it.

2. 2

Purchase a good quality brush.

Purchase a good quality brush. You need one good brush; spend a bit of money on getting good quality. Buy a few more if you can afford it but you don't

need a huge selection of brushes. If you can afford it, Kolinsky sable brushes are lifetime brushes when properly cared for. If not, consider looking for top quality synthetic or synthetic/sable blends. You may replace good synthetics more often but they can be just as good for a year or two.

For your brush, look for one that has a wide "belly", so that it will hold and carry plenty of colour and that also comes to a fine point.

For your brush, look for one that has a wide "belly", so that it will hold and carry plenty of colour and that also comes to a fine point.

You can make a handy holder for your brushes out of a bamboo mat.

You can make a handy holder for your brushes out of a bamboo mat. This allows you to roll up the brushes and tie them together for ease of carrying.

3. 3

Purchase water soluble graphite pencils.

Purchase water soluble graphite pencils. These are very useful for a watercolor artist.

Ensure that you also get a propelling pencil, one that has a reasonably soft lead.

Ensure that you also get a propelling pencil, one that has a reasonably soft lead.

4. 4

Buy some sketchbooks.

Buy some sketchbooks. You can never have too many sketchbooks, in different shapes and sizes.

But whatever the size, the best type is spiral bound, as these are easier to use outdoors.

But whatever the size, the best type is spiral bound, as these are easier to use outdoors. You can open them out flat and they come in different sizes and different qualities of paper; heavier paper will take colour well, so that you are able to experiment with your paints. Look for "multi media" journals that have sizing on the pages to accept water. They allow more big washes and more freedom in your watercolor sketching than drawing paper.

5. 5
Choose good watercolor paper. Watercolor paper comes in sheets, pads or blocks. Each of these forms have different advantages. 100% rag watercolor paper is best, although some good mixed papers can also be effective. Get the best paper that you can afford because good paper will respond better to your early efforts. Many beginners get discouraged when cheap materials don't give good results.
o

Full sheets can be cut to half sheet or quarter sheet size for large finished paintings, suitable for your portfolio or framing and placing in galleries. They allow you to work large and are sometimes less expensive, though buying by mail order or online you may need to buy a minimum number of five or ten sheets. The disadvantage of loose sheets is that they need to be "stretched" soaked in water, then taped or stapled to dry out on a drawing board that's wood or Gatorboard. This is a lot of physical work for a beginner but useful to know. Stretching watercolor paper also removes some of the sizing and makes it more absorbent.

You should also get some watercolour paper in pad form, spiral bound with loose sheets which you can remove once you've done your work.

You should also get some watercolour paper in pad form, spiral bound with loose sheets which you can remove once you've done your work. This is handy and convenient but presents a problem you might notice in some sketch books too. Large wash areas and using a lot of water on it may make it "Cockle" and bubble up irregularly. Sometimes it won't even dry flat. One way to help reduce this problem is to sketch out a picture area smaller than the size of the pad by an inch or two on all sides, so there's dry paper around the wet area to help flatten it. Another is to weight down the edges of the paper while it's drying by stacking books on it. Watercolor blocks are extremely convenient, especially for working outdoors. They're bound like a pad on all four sides with a little inch on one side left unbound. With all four edges gummed down tight, they may bubble up but will dry completely flat. Look at the weight of the paper. It will say 90 pound, 140 pound, 300 pound or even 400 pound. This is the weight of a stack of 500 sheets of a certain really big size, not how much your pad weighs! 90lb paper is very light, common in student papers and multi media sketchbooks. It's not suited to very heavy washes unless you leave plenty of space to the edges and you may have to flatten it afterward but it's fine for watercolor sketching. 140lb watercolor paper is a good standard weight - quite thick, heavier than card stock and will usually flatten out again even if it cockles. 300lb paper and heavier is almost like cardboard and has a different feel, it's useful for some types of paintings because it can be very absorbent and you almost don't need a backing board for it. Choose the surface of your watercolor paper. Hot Press is very smooth, like computer paper. It's good for illustrations and styles where you may use fine line pen drawing with watercolor effects. It's hard to get broken color or dry brush effects on Hot Press. Cold Press is standard and it's what most inexpensive pads are. It has a medium texture that gives some broken color and texture interest but the peaks and valleys aren't so large that you can't work small. Rough watercolor paper has very large texture patches, big dips and peaks in the surface. It's good for working large, creating texture effects and doing various other special effects techniques. Each of these textures has its own best techniques and its own look when painted, so test them and discover what suits your style - or whether you like choosing the paper to fit a specific painting. Watercolor boards are another possible surface. They're either paper bonded to an archival board or a special water-absorbent gesso formula applied to MDF or archival boards. They have the advantage they don't need stretching and will not cockle at all. Watercolor ground can be applied to different surfaces to create a surface you can use watercolors on. This can be useful if you want to put a painting on the cover of your hardcover sketchbook or something.

6. 6
Assemble together various miscellaneous items. There is no need to spend a fortune on these extra items. Keep it simple:

a bottle of water; and.

a bottle of water; and

a collapsible pot for outdoors.

a collapsible pot for outdoors. Use two pots of water - one clean for adding water to washes and wetting your brush, one dirty for cleaning brushes. Some artists use three so that as the clean one gets dirty there's a second clean one to rely on. At home these water pots can just be jelly or peanut butter jars, cups, short fat drinking glasses, anything handy. Some artists find some of their favorite water containers at yard sales! Indoors, you may find a brush washer system useful. It's a plastic square or rectangular water bucket with two or three compartments. One will have angled notches where you can rest your brush with the hairs under the water but not actually leaning on the hairs, the other side has ridges to scrub your brush against to clean off thick paint. These are useful for watercolor and acrylics, for oil paints the brush washer systems are different. It's similar to the two jar system but has some perks to make brush washing easier. Set out a mixing dish or palette. The plastic palettes for use with tube paints have mixing areas and so do field boxes. At home though, you can supplement these or just use a cheap ceramic or glass plate. Plastic plates can also work but these may become stained a lot easier than ceramic, glass or Corelle.

Extra cups for mixing large washes like sky color are useful. Choose a clear cup or one with a white interior so you can accurately judge the strength of the wash. For pouring effects you may need several of these, yard sales are a good choice.

7. 7
Watercolor easel, folding table or drawing board. Each has its advantages. A watercolor easel is designed so that it can tilt completely flat or at any angle - this allows an experienced painter to let paint deliberately run, or colors poured into earlier washes to move in the direction you want. A table is just convenient. Outdoors, field easels are usually lightweight and can double for holding other types of painting equipment outdoors. Indoors, a multifunction easel that can lay flat will serve for watercolors as well as oils, acrylics and pastels. Or just work on a table indoors. If you use a drawing board with stretched paper, you can put it at a slant to let water run by stacking books under the high end and prop something heavy in front of it so it won't slide off. Watercolor easels work very well with watercolor blocks. The lightweight outdoor ones are cheaper, so the budget minded could just use the outdoor easel at home and tuck it away in the closet when you're done.
EditVideo

EditTips Always keep your brushes in good condition by cleaning them well after use. Use a gentle dish detergent to wash them or even better, a brush cleaner/conditioner product that will strengthen the hairs and keep them in good condition. These help even with the synthetics and they're wonderful for natural sable. EditWarnings Don't ever put your brushes into the water jar hairs down to soak. This will bend them to a useless L shape and distort the hairs. Wipe brushes on a cloth or paper towel. Swish in the rinse water and wipe again. Rinse till clean, then shape the end with your fingers and rest the brush on its side or dangling hairs down if it has a loop on the end the way Chinese brushes do. Don't throw away worn out watercolor brushes. They're very useful for texture effects in foliage or grass. These are also the ones you can clip with scissors to make rough, irregular shapes out of their splayed out ends. EditThings

You'll Need

Field box or palette Mixing dish or home palette with slants and mixing areas. Watercolour paints (in containers or in tubes) Bamboo mat (if desired, for making a paintbrush holder) Brush - good quality Sketchbooks with heavy paper and spiral binding, especially "multi media." Watercolour paper in pad, block or sheet form. Board for stretching watercolor paper larger than your usual size if you use sheets, along with stapler or tape for stretching. Bottle of water Collapsible paint pot or water cups or brush washer system. Optional watercolor easel that adjusts to tilt or lay flat, or table, or drawing board with a clip.

How to Acrylic Paint

Edited by Sondra C, Mel, Eric, Teresa and 23 others

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Here is an article that explains on how to get started on painting with acrylic paint.
EditSteps

1. 1
Choose the right materials. Buy the best available material that you can afford.
spaceplay / pause

escstop

ffullscreen shift + slower / faster (latest Chrome and Safari) volume

mmute

seek

. seek to previous 126 seek to 10%, 20%, 60%

Buy brushes. Choose brushes that are suitable for acrylic paint, they should be either flat or round. If you can afford it buy brushes with natural hair. Look around in art supply stores and ask for professional advice or look for bargains and you might be lucky to find a good quality set brushes for little money. Buy acrylic paint. You can choose for two types of acrylic paints, student's quality or artist's quality. If you have a decent budget you can choose for the artist's quality, if you have little to spend choose for the student's quality. The difference between both is that there is more color pigment in the artist's quality the paint has a more vibrant color and is from a better quality. Choose for the right colors. When you first start to paint it's better to use some primary colors: red , blue and yellow other colors that might be handy to use are : white, brown and black. When you get more experienced you can buy more extra colors. To get different kinds of colors you can mix your basic ones: blue and yellow= green red and blue= purple blue and brown= black yellow and red= orange red and green= brown red and white= pink black and white= grey or blue,brown and white

2. 2
Choose a canvas. Any thick paper will work and you can even use printer paper for practices. If you're ready to do a complete work of art then you can buy canvas at a craft store, or you can learn to stretch your own canvas and prime it.
spaceplay / pause

escstop

ffullscreen shift + slower / faster (latest Chrome and Safari) volume

mmute seek

. seek to previous 126 seek to 10%, 20%, 60%

3. 3
Decide what to paint. You can paint whatever you like. Flowers, kittens, a mountain range, a busy cafe. You can paint from a photograph or use something around you as a model.

4. 4
Find a bright place and set up water, paper towels, paper plate with paint, brushes, and your canvas/paper.

5. 5
Get a paper plate or a palette, if you have one. Squeeze a little bit of each color you know you're going to use. Acrylic paint dries quickly, so you should only put out colors you're going to use within 15 minutes.

6. 6
Lightly sketch basic main parts. Lay out the basic shape and composition, and don't go into detail at this stage.

7. 7
Get ready to paint. Once you have sketched out your drawing, use a small amount of paint mixed with water to paint the first layer of your piece of art.

8. 8
Continue painting. Work from back to front.
o o o o o

Paint in the background. Skies, grasses, wood, dirt. These will probably mostly be solid colors or textures at this stage. Fill in some background detail, such as trees, grasses, clouds. Paint background shadows (gently scrub a little bit of black along the bottom of the object in the direction opposite of the light source). Add middle ground detail: a crowd, a house, a lake, a bowl of fruit. Do their cast shadows. Paint the foreground: kittens, a girl, individual flowers. Finish up their shadows. And don't be afraid to mix colors over and over and over again until you get it just right.

9. 9
Clean out your brushes right away. If paint dries into them, they will be ruined. Paint brushes are very expensive and should be taken care of. Throw away your paper plate. Dump out water. Throw away paper towels. Cap all bottles. Put work in a safe place to dry. Wipe down table. Store everything in ONE designated spot.
EditTips Don't be scared to paint because of your age. Don't force yourself to paint! Inspiration comes naturally. Practice practice practice! You may want to start out just making lines, start small! Then try painting a tree, or a flower. Don't be afraid to try painting in different ways or styles such as One Stroke Painting or Staffato! Just because you're not as good a painter as someone else, doesn't mean you have to stop. Just keep trying! Pay attention to details! Quality over quantity, right? Practice using one colour. This will help you learn to adjust tones within your painting. Try advanced techniques as you get more practice. Add depth by texturing, shadowing, lighting, and add more and more detail. Your paintings will become better with time. EditThings

You'll Need

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, black and white paint. A palette Well lit spot Acrylic paintbrushes (round and flat brushes). Not watercolor. Canvas A picture (mental image, printed, or live model)

How to Clean Oil Paintings to Preserve It for Years

Edited by Saartistssim, Maluniu, Jack Herrick, RMunsonNJ and 5 others

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Owning a good original painting has always a matter of pride for the owner. And nowadays purchasing modern paintings or original oil paintings have become easier with the popularity of online art galleries. But just as it takes one a long time to find an oil painting which one would like to own, an oil painting also needs a lot of caring and maintenance to retain its beauty for years to come. Professional help can be obtained to clean or refurbish your valuable oil paintings. However you can effectively clean the oil paintings on your own by following these few simple steps.
EditSteps

1. 1
For cleaning paintings, always make sure that the brush you are using is made of soft bristles. Soft brushes remove the dirt accumulated on the painting without damaging the painting.

2. 2
For cleaning the back of the painting, first remove the painting from its frame and put it down carefully on a clean surface.

3. 3
Now with the help of a small nozzle with a brush attachment, vacuum the dirt slowly and carefully.

4. 4
If necessary, you can place a paper cover on the back of the painting to prevent dust from getting accumulated there.

5. 5
If the varnish of the oil painting is looking aged, buy a gentle solvent known as conservation liquid to clean it.

6. 6
Before using the solvent directly on the painting, first test the reaction of the solvent by applying it on just one corner.

7. 7
If the solvent is good, put the painting in an area with sufficient ventilation.

8. 8
Now apply the solvent very carefully on the surface of the painting with the help of a cotton swab.

9. 9

For removing the surface dirt, use cotton swabs dampened with distilled water. Lightly roll the cotton swabs on the surface to remove dirt.

10.

10

In case the painting is showing signs of cracks or loose flakes, carefully dust the surface with the help of an extremely spongy and dry bristle brush such as a baby toothbrush or shaving cream brush.

11.

11

And if the surface of the oil painting is muggy, dirty or oily use a gentle detergent solution. Mix the solution in lukewarm water and then apply it on the surface of the painting with the help of new fiber cloths.

12.

12

For recently done modern paintings, make sure that your oil painting is free of built-up dirt, smoke, pet hair, dander, as well as bacteria or any fungal growth.

13.
Add method

13

For cleaning oil paintings covered in dust or yellowed varnish, look for a qualified professional.

Name your

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x Know another method for How to Clean Oil Paintings to Preserve It for Years? Add it here...
EditTips Never remove the dirt by bumping the painting. Never sink any part of the painting in water while cleaning it. Do not dust any loose, flaking paint as the paint pieces can be swept away and lost.

While dusting an oil painting, do not flex the canvas. Do not scrub or rub roughly to clean the painting. Avoid placing live plants around paintings, since pests and insects can fly up from the plants and stain the oil painting.

EditWarnings Do not use water, so-called conservation liquid or detergents. Why risk damaging your precious artwork? Leave it to professional conservators who have years of study and experience. Do not experiment; leave it for professionals. Remember that damage is never reversible! So take care of your artwork! EditThings You'll Need Well ventilated room Soft brushes Small nozzle vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment Paper cover Conservation liquid solvent Cotton swab Spongy dry bristle brush such as baby toothbrush or shaving cream brush Gentle detergent solution New fiber cloths

How to Oil Paint on Canvas

Edited by Sebby294, Teresa, Sanchit123, Robertsloan2 and 7 others

97
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Painting with oil is a very fine way of painting the canvas. Classic paintings like the Mona Lisa were oil-painted, along with beautiful Impressionist paintings such as those by Monet or Van Gogh.

EditSteps

1. 1
Purchase good quality oil painting materials, the best you can afford. If you're just starting out, you can find many of these things by looking at gift sets that include all or most of them, sometimes in a nice wooden storage box or a table easel. What you will need at a minimum is:
o

A stretched canvas the size of the painting you would like to do. It's a good thing to also purchase several small "canvas boards" for practice and preliminary studies. You can also use canvas paper or canvas that comes in pads, as long as they say they're suited for oil painting and are gessoed. Try to choose a small board with the exact proportions of the stretched canvas but if it's not, get one larger so that you can mark up that shape on it. Tubes of oil paint in a basic palette. If you're purchasing a set, it probably has all the most essential colors. The smallest essential palette has red, blue, yellow, Burnt Sienna and a large tube of white. If it's Winsor and Newton open stock, get Lemon Yellow, Permanent Rose and Ultramarine or French Ultramarine (they are chemically close.) If it's choosing primaries out of a set with more colors, use Alizarin Crimson or whichever the more purple cast red is, not the orange red. You could do without the Burnt Sienna but there's a reason for it besides mixing. If your set doesn't have it, use the reddish brown. Buy the oil and thinner. Linseed oil is a traditional oil painter's medium. Some artists like walnut oil better. If you want your painting to dry faster, choosing a medium like Winsor & Newton's "Liquin" will make the oil painting dry faster. You will also need turpentine, or odorless turpentine substitute, sometimes called turpenoid, or white mineral spirits. This is a thin liquid that has a strong or slight odor, it's paint thinner as opposed to a medium. Odorless thinners like turpenoid are healthier to use, but always have proper ventilation when using thinner. The oils are not toxic and can be used anywhere. Buy some removable artist grade varnish such as Damar varnish intended for oil paintings. Varnish will probably have some toxic fumes and should be applied outdoors or in a well ventilated area. Definitely choose a removable artist grade varnish. Varnish is supposed to be added after the oil painting has completely dried all the way through and chemically changed to "cure." At that point a clear removable varnish gets added to give it a nice glossy finish and protect the paint layer. Every 25 to 30 years, the varnish should be removed by a conservator (or the artist or owner) with a varnish remover solution and reapplied, because the varnishes become yellow over time and aren't intended to be permanent. This is why very old oil paintings turn brown. They often just need cleaning and a clear new coat of varnish to look as bright as if they were painted last year. You don't need to buy the varnish before finishing the painting, since you won't use it till the painting's done and completely dried. "Retouch varnish" can be used as soon as a painting is touch dry. It doesn't hurt the paint layer, but the painting should feel

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thoroughly dry and you should wait a good month before using it. That gives a temporary finish if you want to sell the painting sooner. Buy the brushes. Stiff ones are preferred. Bristle brushes are less expensive at the cheap end but good ones of either white synthetic fiber that's as stiff as bristle brushes are just as good. Some oil painters also use a soft sable brush with a long handle for different effects. Get a range of sizes, large medium and small, for blocking in areas, painting in the forms and objects and quite small ones for final details if you like detailed realism. A soft "rigger" brush with very long thin soft hairs gets used for ship's rigging, cat's whiskers and other long linear details in realism, it holds a lot of very thin paint and can be used to write your name small or do long smooth lines. For a beginner, it's recommended that you try a variety pack of bristle or synthetic bristle brushes with different shapes and sizes to discover the style each one creates. Palette knife, painting knife or non serrated butter knife to serve as one for mixing paint. Palette knives are pretty cheap though if you get the plastic ones. The nicer metal ones don't stain and will last for years if kept clean. Painting knives have different shapes like trowels and angled things, each has a different effect and you can use those instead of brushes to do your whole painting. Charcoal or a violet pastel pencil to sketch on the canvas. A palette to put your oil paints on while using them. This can be an actual palette with a thumb hole or you can improvise with a cheap plain ceramic, glass or melamine plate. Something that could stand up to being washed off with turpentine is good. Many artists prefer a gray palette because the colors show up truest on gray. If you use a flat piece of glass on a table (very cheap if you take it out of a cheap photo frame) you can put gray paper under it to have a gray easily cleaned palette for every time you need it. Two small cups for oil (or Liquin) and thinner. Some sets come with a "double dipper" that clips onto a palette, if so then your set probably also has a palette. Painting rags. These can be any kind of clean rags. Strong paper towels will work but cloth rags are reusable if washed. Cloth baby diapers that have been used and washed, even worn out stained ones, make really good painting rags. Paper towels wear out fast it's better to use old clothes that are soft like old t-shirts and stuff like that, actual rags. Try not to use fuzzy ones that shed though, since you may be wiping out painted areas with the rags. Use rags that are about at the end of their usefulness, unless you want to wash them out and keep reusing stained ones over and over. An easel to work at, either a table easel set up on a table or a standing easel. This doesn't need to be expensive. The cheapest "display easel" will hold up any reasonably sized canvas at a comfortable working angle and its legs will adjust to a standing or sitting height. Unless you're disabled by age, disease or injury limiting the amount of time you can stay on your feet, it's much healthier to stand at the easel. This will also let you stand back every few strokes to see how the painting looks before adding to it, which makes for a better painting. You can also prop up the painting against a chair or other support, or otherwise improvise something. A "painting horse" is a bench with a board sticking up at the end that you straddle and prop the canvas into a groove.

Sketching supplies to plan the painting - pencil or charcoal, sketchbook or drawing paper or even scrap paper. They don't need to be archival since these are working sketches but if you like your sketches, you might as well get an actual sketchbook and use a soft pencil or even a pen or marker for it. Just something to sketch with and something to sketch on, your favorites. Your usual sketchbook and favorite drawing tools. A safe, dust free place to put the wet painting to dry where nothing is going to bang into the wet side to smear it. Drying times for oil paintings vary from a few days to several months. Some types of oil painting take up to a year to "cure" before they can be varnished.

2. 2
Sketch a "notan" of the painting in your sketchbook or on scrap paper with a gray pen and a black one, or a pencil and a pen using the pencil as the gray. If it's a square, that's square. If it's rectangular or oval, decide if it's going to be vertical "portrait" orientation or horizontal "landscape" orientation. Do the notan drawings very small, just to place the light, dark and medium areas on the design. They can range from a large postage stamp to a business card size - the idea is to see it as if it was at a distance or a thumbnail. Do lots of them till you find the best design without worrying about the details.

3. 3
Using charcoal or the pencil, make a value drawing in your sketchbook. It can be quite detailed and shaded carefully or just loose to show you where the shadows and highlights are. This partly depends on how detailed and realist you want the painting with. A looser painting style can have a sketchier value sketch, but should still have one with more than "white middle and black" so that you can tell where there are at least five values - white accents, light value, medium, dark, black accents. Some painters like to not use pure black and white but just use "light, light middle, middle value, middle dark, dark" for the five values. It depends on the effect you want. If you don't like the sketch keep trying different versions of it till you get one you like.
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In the sketch, make sure the light falling on the person, objects or landscape elements is all going in the same direction. Pay attention to where the shadows go. They should all go the same direction and are shorter when the sun or lamp is high, longer if it's later or earlier in the day and the sun is low (or lamp is low). Directional lighting will make all the objects look more three dimensional. Draw the shapes of the shadows carefully and most of your subjects will look three dimensional at that point. This makes for good Impressionism or realism. If you want to do an abstract, do the pencil sketch loosely and work out where you want particular effects like spattering or strong texture strokes. Or skip the sketch stage on paper and proceed to the next.

Sketch the subject on the canvas board, canvas paper or canvas pad. Use charcoal or your violet pastel pencil. Mark up the exact proportions of the canvas on the board or pad if it's not exactly the same shape, so everything's placed the way it is in the planning sketches. Do this drawing as pure outlines. You can get detailed for realism by marking up eyes, mouth, any important shapes on it or you can keep it very simple just to the main shapes and main shadow shapes. Either way it should look like a Paint By Numbers canvas when the sketch is done. If you make mistakes, wipe off the charcoal or pastel pencil with a damp cloth, let that area dry and draw it again. Very correctable.

4. 4
Squeeze out a little of the paint on your palette and mix your colors. Set out your yellow, blue, red and a larger dab of white with some distance between them. Optional, use Burnt Sienna as well. Leave all the other colors in the box if it was a gift set.

5. 5
Paint the color study "Alla Prima." Just paint right over the sketch into the areas of each color. Because this doesn't need to be detailed, you can try painting the color study with the palette knife or painting knife. If you don't like any of your color choices, use the palette knife to scrape off that bit and put the mixed-up paint off to the side on your palette in case you need some muddy brown. The mix of all three primaries will harmonize throughout the painting and so the mixed up paint can be separated and mixed with a little more to turn it into pale or dark browns and grays. No waste with a simple primary palette. Keep playing with the Color Study until you like it as a simple, bold painting done with a fairly big brush and not much detail. If necessary, do more than one of them till you work out what mixtures and colors you like. You're doing this little practice painting with the paint right out of the tube. It doesn't need either thinner or oil for this technique. If you like the look, you can do the big painting the same way just by using the palette knife and tube paint with bold strokes onto the canvas, no extra oil and no thinned out layer. That's a style of oil painting that's fast and powerful.

6. 6
Draw the outline using a soft pencil or a thin stick of charcoal. On a landscape painting, using a violet pastel pencil is a very good choice because that color blends well with all the landscape colors without darkening or staining light colors as much as black. Charcoal and the violet pastel pencil are both easily corrected with a damp tissue or rag, so don't worry about making changes to the sketch! Draw it in, if you get it wrong wipe off the wrong bit and try again.

7. 7
Prepare some oil in a cup and some thinner in another one. Wipe your brushes and palette knife clean. Wash the brush you used if you used it for the color study, using the turpenoid - just dip it in the thinner and squeeze it out with a painting rag.

8. 8
Put a small dab of Burnt Sienna on your palette. Or if there isn't any white or much white in the three-color mud mix, use that for your brown thin layer. Thin it out by dipping your brush into the thinner, turpentine or turpenoid or Sansodor (the Winsor & Newton brand is good). Dip the wet brush into a little bit of paint and squidge it around till you have very thin, transparent paint that's light. Paint in the light areas on your painting following the notan. Using a little more paint, do the medium light and successively darker areas with the Burnt Sienna, still thinning it till it's like ink in texture. Even the dark areas should have a fair amount of paint thinner in them. The more thinner you use, the faster this transparent Burnt Sienna value layer will dry.
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Wow. The transparent value painting in Burnt Sienna usually looks pretty cool at this stage. It's still easy to change if you got it too dark somewhere or too light somewhere. Take a rag and wipe off the part you don't like and redo it the right value, or add a little more color. Or wipe out and change the shape. Gee, you thought oil painting had to be perfect, nope, it's very easy to correct and make changes all the way through. This stage will dry pretty fast, within a few minutes to half an hour. The thinnest parts may be touch dry by the time you finish the other corner. It only needs to be touch dry.

9. 9
Remember the rule "Fat Over Lean." This is structural. That first layer - the value sketch you paint over - was very lean - almost all turpentine or turpentine substitute, very little oil. Just the amount of oil in a little bit of staining paint to make it show up. It looks almost like watercolor on paper at that thinner layer. You can do successive washes in different colors if you want a fun technique at the "wash" layer. The next layer is "Alla Prima" or paint right from the tube the way you did the color study. That's sort of medium fatness, like someone who's not fat or skinny. After that, the more oil or Liquin that you add to the paint, the fatter it is. The problem of Lean Over Fat is that the oiliest layers dry the slowest, so the faster drying paint should be under it. Otherwise the outside will dry before the inside and the inside might remain squishy and sealed.
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Worst case, a painting that has Lean over Fat can slide off the canvas on a hot day, losing all paint cohesion. This happened at least once to a past student of a teacher who told the story.

Never use oil pastels under oil paint because their oil formula includes mineral oil that never dries. You can optionally add oil pastel marks on the last layer of an oil painting when it's touch dry.

10.

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Block in the colors in general for major areas first, then add a little more paint to make details lighter or darker, redder or yellower or bluer. Mix your colors half on the palette, half on the canvas. Start with getting the main areas of light and shadow blocked in with the right general colors, then add in more paint to modify them. Shade gradually and blend them gently where you want the paint to be smooth without showing much brush strokes. Dab on lots of it and leave it where you want strong textures like an Impressionist painting, or use knife strokes to make bold textures. Contrasting smooth textures and bold ones so that some parts of the painting are raised "impasto" texture and others are smooth and carefully painted is very lively. So vary the amount of "alla prima" texture you put on. Mix some of the oil into the paint if you want to lay it on thin and brush out the brush strokes to keep it smooth. As long as it's still wet, you can mix more oil or more paint in to make that layer fatter or thinner. But if it starts to dry or skin over, don't put anything leaner over what has fat in it.
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Unless you want a really ugly special effect, like painting a zombie's face and putting a big pocket of fat in on the cheek, then letting it dry wrong, then ripping it open to have the paint skin dangle down and the clump of brownish-red fat paint hit the air and dry solid, maybe dripping over the rip. Almost any mistake can be turned into a special effect once you know how it works.

11.

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Oil paints stay wet for days! This means you can paint all day, fool around with it, go to bed, put an empty box over the palette so your cat won't walk in it, start over tomorrow and keep making changes while it's wet. You can use the palette knife to scrape off whole areas of it before it dries and start over. Oil paint's slow drying time allows plenty of changes before you decide it's done and let it dry.

12.

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Leave it to dry. It would take at least two weeks unless you used Liquin as your medium. Liquin dries faster than paint from the tube, so use at least a bit of it into all the paint so that it all bonds well. It's not fat, but oil right from the tube is. You can also get alkyd oils that have alkyd (the main ingredient of Liquin medium) right in the tube paint, where the painting may take only a couple of days to a week to touch dry depending on how thick the paint is.

13.

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One of the traditional Old Masters techniques doesn't rely much on brush textures. Start as described here, do the thin Burnt Sienna layer, then using tube texture paint and carefully brushing it, do a realistic black and white painting with all the details of your subject just using Ivory Black and Titanium White. Let that "grisaille" or "dead layer" dry thoroughly. It will look like a black and white photo in a way, very detailed. Then start mixing oil with all your colors, using them very thin, start painting over the grisaille layer. Covering the black and white painting with various transparent colors will let the light bounce back and forth within the dried layers and give it a unique luminosity. Only slow heavily layered colored pencil painting comes close to the effect, it's one of the things oil painting is famous for.
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You can try this method if you have a lot of time to let each glazed layer dry before doing the next. But if you don't want to take that long, just let the grisaille dry, add a bit of oil, paint over it in the right colors and add one final glaze when that layer's dry. You can get as elaborate or as simple as you like with oil painting.

14.

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When you finish a day's painting session, clean your brushes by dipping them in the thinner and then use the painting rag to squeeze the paint out of them. Repeat several times till almost all the paint is off before swishing them in thinner, otherwise it wastes thinner. Store your painting rags and supplies away from any open flame or electrical circuits or heaters or anything that can start a fire. Seal them in a metal can if you have one handy. If you store your palette with paint squeezed on it in the fridge, it will slow the drying and you can use the squeezed out paint longer. But don't let anyone mistake it for food.

15.

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Store wet paintings somewhere safe that's free of dust, dark and cool if possible. You can build a vertical drying rack with a home built cabinet where you put peg board panels a couple of inches apart to lean one wet painting into each slot. If you do a lot of oil painting, this is a good DIY project to leave you more garage space. Since you are creating fumes with the thinner, it's a good idea to use the garage and other areas that people don't spend as much time in or have very good studio ventilation. Storing them in vertical slots reduces the amount of dust that falls on the painting while it's drying, it'll mostly accumulate on the top edge instead of the front of the painting.

16.

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With a "Gallery" canvas that is an inch and a half deep, you don't need to frame an oil painting. Just paint the sides too, either wrap the painting around or paint them black or put a design, do something fun with it. Then you don't need to buy a frame to either sell it in a gallery or give it as a present, it's ready to hang when it's dry and varnished.

17.

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Wait at least a month after the painting is touch dry to use retouch varnish and give the painting a temporary shiny, finished look. Some colors dry matte and flat, others shiny, it can be annoying till the varnish is on. Then wait another eleven months to add Damar varnish or any other removable conservator varnish and let that dry for a few days. Your painting will now last longer than you will.
EditTips Artist grade oil paint is stiffer, with a texture more like butter than liquid. Student grade oil paint is more fluid because it has more oil and less pigment in it. Thus the artist grade tube, if you like painting with thin fluid paints, will last much longer than the student grade tube the same size because you add your own linseed oil to get it that thin and the oil is what's cheap. Pigments are ground finer in artist grade oil paints, so they are more concentrated. You can save money buying painting butter or impasto medium if you like laying it on thick with a knife but don't want to spend a fortune using the pure from the tube expensive Artist Grade paint. When you paint well enough that other people will pay real money for your paintings, in general people will pay more for an Oil Painting than for other mediums even if they are equally durable and beautiful. There's something about Oil Painting that people think of as extremely valuable and permanent. Linseed oil is an edible vegetable oil but the linseed oil from stable shops and health food stores is not formulated for painting. Various types of painting oils have specific properties. Experiment if you like the medium. Burnt Sienna is a good base color to mix almost anyone's skin tone on unless they are so black they have blue highlights on African ebony darkness. It will handle most skin tones especially if modified with a little Yellow Ochre if the person's a bit sallow. Add a bit of red and you can do most red hair too, or brownish hair. Don't buy large tubes unless you need them. Once you're used to painting a lot, get a bigger tube of Ultramarine and a super giant tube of white or a two for one white sale. Ultramarine gets used up in much more quantity than other colors. Except maybe in portraits where Burnt Sienna can get used up almost as fast. Always get one size bigger tube of White because you'll use more of it shading everything up and mixing. If it's a mini set where all the tubes are the same size, buy an extra tube of White.

Student grade oil paint is very fluid, with a small amount of paint one can cover large areas Don't soak brushes with the hair end down in a jar of thinner. The hairs will get permanently bent and the brush will get ruined. Suspend the brush hairs down into a tub of thinner by pushing it into a spiral wire across the brush washer (that's what the wire spring across the top is for, to hold brushes upright upside down without touching the bottom) or just lay it flat on as shallow an angle as you can to let it soak. Putting a pebble or something into the thinner dish to prop up the head may let you do this. Use an easel if possible. Show 5 more tips

EditWarnings Do not smoke, use lanterns or open flames or heaters near oily painting rags, thinner buckets or flammable oil painting materials. Use proper ventilation while oil painting. If the thinner odor is annoying, it is probably dangerous. Odorless thinners are somewhat safer but it's still not a good idea to dry paintings in the same room you sleep in without an exhaust fan. Oil painting is like using spray paint indoors - be careful, it's toxic fumes and flammable. If you paint outdoors, be careful not to pour off used thinner or paint into the grass. It may be toxic to the environment. Recycle your cleaning bucket thinner by letting it stand with a screen to catch the sludge, when it's more or less clean pour it into a fresh jar and store the sludge for disposal. Dispose according to your neighborhood and city's rules for toxic trash. Sometimes if you use very little thinner, soak it up in paper towels and clean with minimal liquid, so that the trash is all toxic solids that can be sealed and disposed of properly rather than dealing with disposing of lots of goo. Do not pour the goo or used thinner or old dirty paint down the toilet. The stuff gets into the environment and may be toxic. Worse, it may gunk up your plumbing as it dries and give you a very immediate toxic waste problem. If you live with your parents, doing this can get you into some very deep trouble. If you rent, likewise your landlord. If you own your house, well, it's going to be you that has to pay the plumber. So no matter how you look at it, the toilet is not proper disposal for toxic paint! Save that for organic wastes and spoiled food. EditThings

You'll Need

Linseed oil (from an art shop) or Liquin or other painting medium. Water-soluble linseed oil if you're using water-soluble oil paints Thinner - turpentine, odorless mineral spirits, Sansodor, turpenoid or water-soluble oil thinner Oil paint, minimum Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Permanent Rose or Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna Easel (optional) Brushes (optional if you want to try knife painting) Palette knife for mixing (can be improvised with spoon or butter knife), optional painting knives of different shapes Palette or flat piece of glass or disposable paper palette Painting rags

Brush washer or thinner jar, small oil cup or double dipper Sketchbook plus pencil and pen, optional gray and black markers Canvas pad or cheap canvas boards for preliminary color studies and texture tests, mixing tests A safe place to dry wet paintings for weeks or months. Once touch dry they can be dusted Removable varnish such as Damar varnish for final varnishing after the painting has cured for a year. Even an alkyd painting should cure for a year Optional retouch varnish for a temporary finish, apply when it's dried for a month if you want to sell it faster or hang it sooner

How to Clean a Paintbrush

Edited by Artburn, Flickety, Ben Rubenstein, Sondra C and 11 others

94

Article

EditDiscuss

Wondering how to get the paint off of your brush? There are a lot of ways to do it. These time-proven methods to clean a paintbrush thoroughly and keep it usable for a long time are adaptable to almost any type of paint. Read on to learn how to clean your paintbrush.
EditSteps
Method One: Using a Solvent

1. 1
Wipe the brush on a rag or paper towel to remove as much paint as possible. Getting rid of the excess paint makes the job of cleaning your brush a lot easier.

2. 2
Rinse the brush in the appropriate solvent. It's okay to use the dirty solvent from your painting session. Pour it into a bowl or bucket and gently run your brush back and forth through the solvent to release the paint. You can wipe it along the sides and bottom of the container as well. Here are your solvent choices:

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Use mineral spirits for most oil-based paints. Use water for water-based paints like acrylic, watercolor, or latex, and also most white glues and wood glues. Use denatured alcohol for shellac. Check the product's label if you're not sure what kind of paint you have. It will contain instructions for what solvent to use.

3. 3
Wipe the brush again with a rag to remove any remaining solvent. You may skip this step if the solvent is water.

4. 4
Rinse the brush under running water. You may want to rub the bristles of between your fingers, but be very gentle with sable brushes.

5. 5
When the brush is clean, shake or blot out the extra water. Reshape the bristles to the correct form, then store the brush upright in a container so that the bristles are not deformed when dry.

Method Two: Using Fabric Softener

1. 1
Wipe the excess paint from the brush. Run the brush over a paper towel or a cloth to get rid of as much paint as possible.

2. 2
Mix together a gallon of warm water and 1/2 cup fabric softener. This solution will help loosen the paint from the brush, making it slip right off.

3. 3
Swish your brush through the solution. Swish it around for several seconds, until you see the paint coming off.

4. 4
Shake off the excess fabric softener solution.

5. 5
Reshape the bristles and stand the brush up to dry.

Method Three: Using Vinegar to Save a Paint-Hardened Brush

1. 1
Soak the brush in vinegar for an hour. Check to see if you can bend the bristles back; if you can't, keep soaking it for another hour.

2. 2
Place the brush in an old pot and cover it with vinegar. You want the vinegar to completely cover the brush's bristles.

3. 3
Bring the vinegar to a boil on the stove. Let it simmer for a few minutes with the paintbrush.

4. 4
Remove the brush and let it coil. It will be very hot to the touch at first, so be careful.

5. 5
Comb the brush bristles. You can use your finger or an old comb. Place it at the base of the bristles and pull through to comb out the loosened paint. Keep doing this until the hard globs of paint have all come loose.

6. 6
Rinse the brush. When the paint is loose, rinse the brush in running water to wash it all away.

7. 7
Repeat as necessary. You may need to do another vinegar boiling session and comb the brush again to get it back into shape.

8. 8
Let the brush dry. Place it upright in a jar and reshape the bristles.

EditVideo

EditTips Do not leave a brush on its bristles or in water. Instead, wrap a paper towel around the bristles, fold the end under, and lay it flat until it dries. Wrap a rubber band around the bristles when done. This tends to train the bristles, making the brush easier to control on the next job. If you are using latex (water based) paint and the color is deep, such as a dark green, black, etc, you may find that although cleaned, the bristles retain a "greasy" feel to them, and the brush feels like it is still full of paint. That's because it is! To correct this, simply clean the brush in mineral spirits. A couple of swishes should remove the oil based tints. If you use acrylic (latex), acetone (nail paint remover) can be use to save a dried up brush. Simply soak it for a minute or two in acetone, then wash off with soap. Repeat till the bristles are soft and clean. Use tweezers to remove those frizzy, gone crazy, hairs on the side. If you paint with artists' oils every day, you may find daily cleaning too timeconsuming. Try wrapping your brushes in plastic wrap or storing them in a resealable plastic bag. Leaving your brushes in solvent continuously will greatly shorten their useful life. Hot water can be used to help straighten stray nylon/poly brush filaments. Hold bent or stray filaments under hot water, you should see signs of improvement

within 60 seconds, then quickly run cold water over the filaments to set the new position. DO NOT attempt this procedure with china bristle.
EditWarnings Even if you use turpentine for your oil-painting mediums, you should use mineral spirits for the solvent. It's much less toxic. Don't forget to wash your hands after cleaning your brushes. EditThings You'll Used paint brush Solvent for paint used Soap Water Rags or paper towels

Need

How to Create Realistic Flesh Tones

Edited by Liz Boston, Ben Rubenstein, Axiom, Flickety and 12 others

127
Article EditDiscuss

This article will explain how to mix your paint to create realistic looking flesh tones for people in your artwork.
EditSteps

1. 1
Start with several colors of paint. In order to make the wide range of possible flesh tones to reflect the community of humanity, you will need several different paint colors. Prepare a blob each of:

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white paint red paint yellow paint green paint.

2. 2
Take your brush and take a tiny amount of red. Add it to the white. Mix. You should have a very light pink.

3. 3
Add a tiny bit of yellow. Mix. You should have a peach color.

4. 4
Take the smallest dot of green paint and add it to the peach color. Mix. Now you should have a light flesh tone.

5. 5
Add red and green to get a darker flesh tone.

6. 6
Add yellow to get a yellowish flesh tone.

7. 7
Adjust each flesh tone by adding more white, red, yellow, or green to it. If it gets too dark, just add white; if it gets too light, add darker colors bit by bit.

8. 8
Finished.

EditVideo

EditTips Adding yellow will make the color look warmer. Adding red will make the color look rosier. Red + yellow makes orange Red + green makes brown Red and green are complements. EditWarnings Start with the smallest amount of green you can; you can always add more. You don't want your flesh tone to look green! Don't be too scared of green. Touches of light green can bring shadows alive and will make the red areas appear warmer. The best way to brighten a colour is to introduce a little of its complimentary, even if it seems counter intuitive at first. A touch of green makes reds brighter. A touch of purple/violet does the same for yellows

How to Create an Abstract Painting

Edited by James Melbourne, Nicole Willson, Dave Crosby, Noraa and 30 others

231
Article EditDiscuss

Abstract painting might not look hard, as if the artist did not know what they were painting. Itmight look like it; however, this is far from the truth. Abstract can be more difficult than landscape or scenery, because there is nothing to copy from, and nothing

like it has been painted prior to the moment that the artist picked up the brush or palette knife.
EditSteps

1. 1
Buy a ready made canvas in a craft store. Buy any size that you feel you would like to work on. A smaller one, 10x10, or 12x12 might be best, if you are just learning and experimenting. The canvas will be ready to work on as is, but if you prefer a colored background, buy a jar of Gesso, to prime the canvas and give it a touch of color. The canvas dries quickly when using Gesso for Acrylics. Another option is using canvas board, which is cheaper, or you can even use gesso to prime Masonite or any other flat board if you want to work larger or are on a budget.

2. 2
Decide whether to use acrylics or oil paint. Acrylics have no odor, are easy to work with. They dry fast and can be painted over if you make a mistake. Oils are the complete opposite, but are not preferred because they take longer to dry and have an odor, and do not allow you to completely over-paint to start all over again,

3. 3
Buy a color chart and an easel and paints and brushes. Buy the basic colors at first, and use the color chart to determine which colors belong together.

4. 4
Start your painting by thinking of an object, or a scene. Do not think of the actual drawing, just dwell on the thought. Look at a vase, not at how it actually would be sketched, but how you would think it would look. Your imagination, and your feelings will create what you paint on the canvas. Remember, you are interpreting, not drawing.

5. 5
Study composition principles and see if you can do an abstract painting based on the idea of one of those principles rather than on a specific subject. This is very likely to turn out as a good abstract painting!

6. 6
Allow the brush to take over painting with one color. When your thought process stops, you stop. Add another color, shade it, make it lighter at any part, or heavier at another. Improve what you see on the canvas and of what you think should be added.

7. 7
Add a bit of yellow, to a part of the red, blend it and make various shades of orange. Some areas will be darker, some lighter according to the brush strokes.

8. 8
Remember once you feel that the painting is finished, STOP. Do not go back to improve or touch it up. Do not overwork your painting, but learn to finish it, the moment you feel it is finished.

EditVideo

EditTips Don't be afraid of drips and splatters. At times drips might add texture to your painting and so will splatters especially of a blending color. Use colors according to the feeling you wish to paint. Read about colors and how to use them to express emotions. Reds and yellows will be happy, while blues, blacks, and browns will signify darker feelings. The feeling you wish to convey will depend on the colors and brush strokes you use. Sometimes the best pictures you make are the ones with your eyes closed. So don't be afraid to close your eyes and just have fun with it. Don't wear nice clothes. Wear something you don't mind getting paint on. Experiment with adding textures to the canvas, and painting over them for added depth to the painting. Remember there are no mistakes; just have fun experimenting. EditWarnings
Wash your brushes with a cleaning solution after you are finished painting to keep your brushes soft and usable. Be sure to store your brushes brush-side up. You can also wrap your brushes in clear film or a carrier bag and they will stay fresh for weeks.

How to Make a Canvas

Edited by Permasofty, VermontGal, BR, Amy and 3 others

1
Article EditDiscuss

Making your own canvas panels can be a very satisfying project for any artist. Not only is your work showcased on the canvas, but your work is also the panel itself. This project is simple enough to create numerous panels at a time at a fraction of the cost of buying pre-made canvas panels.
EditSteps

1. 1
Purchase an accurate amount of linen or cotton canvas material for the project you will be working on. A typical canvas size is a 21 inch (53.34 cm) height x 50 inch (127 cm) width roll of canvas, which will give you 2 20 inch x 24 inch (50.8 cm x 60.96 cm) canvas panels.

2. 2
Purchase some beaver board. This is an extra heavy cardboard-like material made from wood fiber and cut into sheets.

3. 3
Cut the beaver board, using a razor blade, to the desired measurements of your specific project. This will serve as your mounting board for the canvas panel.

4. 4
Place the canvas material underneath the beaver board and outline a blueprint to cut along, approximately 1 inch (2.54 cm) longer than the board on each side.

5. 5

Cut along the blueprint.

6. 6
Apply glue over the entire backside of the canvas material.

7. 7
Place the glue-covered backside of the canvas against the beaver board and smooth out any bumps, air bubbles, or ripples in the material.

8. 8
Trim the corners of the canvas material by cutting a diagonal slice in line with the corner of the beaver board and folding each side of the slice so they are lying on top of each other in a perpendicular manner.

9. 9
Wrap the remaining 1 inch (2.54 cm) excess material around the backside of the board. Now you have a mounted canvas.

10.

10

Lay the mounted canvas face down on a clean, sturdy, flat surface.

11.

11

Place a large, flat board (a drawing board works best) on top of the face down mounted canvas making sure it covers the entire canvas panel.

12.

12

Set numerous heavy books on top of the flat board to allow the canvas to press; leave this to set overnight.

13.

13

Outline and cut a sheet of brown wrapping paper about 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) shy of the actual size of the mounted canvas

14.

14

Glue the wrapping paper to the back of the canvas panel.

15.

15

Repeat the steps for pressing by laying the panel on a flat surface, placing a flat board on top of the panel, and setting heavy books on top of the flat board allowing the wrapping paper to press overnight.
EditTips Use a piece of scrap canvas as your first attempt at making a canvas panel so you can get the actions down properly without tarnishing newly purchased canvas material. EditWarnings Anything larger than a 20 inch x 24 inch (50.8 cm x 60.96 cm) canvas panel has a higher risk of warping, so try to stay around this size when making your own. EditThings You'll Need Cotton or linen canvas material Beaver board Razor blade Glue Flat board Heavy books Brown wrapping paper

How to Prime a Canvas

Edited by Rob, Ben Rubenstein, Flickety, Zack and 2 others

2
Article EditDiscuss

Properly priming a canvas will protect it from the degenerative effects of oil paint as well as provide proper support and adherence of oil, acrylic or alkyd paints. Artist's canvas must be sealed and primed. Some primers (or painting ground), such as Gesso, will seal and prime in a single process. After stretching cotton duck or linen canvas on a stretcher bar, prepare it for painting by following these steps.
EditSteps

1. 1
Set up your canvas as best you can to reach all sides of it.

2. 2
Stir up your primer so that it's even and ready to go.

3. 3
Apply sizing or special glue to tighten canvas and seal the nap of the cloth if necessary.

4. 4
Apply the primer after the sizing is dry. Using a stiff brush, stroke parallel to the length of the canvas. Cover completely but spread as evenly and thinly as possible.

5. 5
Allow first coat to dry to touch.

6. 6
Apply a second coat in the same direction.

7. 7
Allow second coat to dry completely.

8. 8
Sand lightly and remove dust.

9. 9
Apply a final coat. Do not sand the final coat.

10.

10

Allow final coat to dry completely before painting.

EditVideo

EditTips Sand the canvas lightly between steps. Simply give a decent once over with fine sandpaper and brush off the dust to give it a smoother texture. Sanding between stages gives your canvas a smoother texture. After the final coat let the whole thing dry for a good 24 hours, and it will be a bit more solid and will take paint better. Optionally, you can use a priming knife or an old gift card to prime your canvas, simply scoop out a bit of paint and spread it on your canvas. The card will push the paint into the grooves and the canvas will absorb it. Benefits of this are a smoother surface, less time spent, and possibly fewer coats. Additional intermediate coats will stiffen your canvas further. 3-4 coats is enough. Thin painting grounds allow the canvas to better withstand the shrink and swell cause by humidity fluctuations. EditThings You'll Need Gesso primer A large brush, stiff bristles Sandpaper (optional) Sizing (optional)

How to Remove a Painting from a Frame

Edited by kdweeb, Krystle, Sondra C, Denis Camargo and 18 others

3
Article EditDiscuss

Crushed frame needing replacement

Sometimes it is necessary to reframe a painting due to its value, uniqueness or in order to transport it compactly. Instead of throwing away the work of art, removing and reframing can give a picture a renewed display time.
EditSteps

1. 1
Assess the damage to the painting. If serious, you may need to hire a professional restorer.

2. 2
Examine the front and back of the frame. Determine the method of attachment. Removal is reversal of assembly.

3. 3
Note which staples go to which part of the assembly.

4. 4
Remove staples, nails or screws from back of frame. It is not necessary to take out the staples holding the stretcher bar itself.

Use pliers to remove the staples if they don't come out easily. Continue around the back of the picture.

5. 5
Carefully wedge in the screwdriver to get a grip on the spline.

6. 6
Remove the spline from all the way around the painting.

7. 7
Pull any staples/nails found holding the canvas to the frame, being careful not to rip the canvas material too much. It may need to be re-attached to another stretcher bar if the current one is not reusable.

8. 8
Gently push the canvas backward or frame forward to separate from each other.

9. 9
Slowly poke under the canvas. The wood stretcher bar holds the canvas giving it shape. There is a crevice into which the spline used to fit, pinching the canvas taut. This is the same principle a screen door uses.

10.

10

Continue around the edge of the frame/picture. There may be many years that the canvas has been pressed folded. It is not glued to the wood, but may be stuck slightly.

11.

11

If transporting, carefully roll up around a foam cylinder and place in sturdy carton. Wrap loosely so paint does not chip and break off.

EditTips Some canvas art is actually adhered directly to the inside back of the frame. If the painting was framed before it was completely dry it could have adhered to the frame. In some cases it takes a full year for oils to dry. Use care separating the painting from the inside back of the frame to avoid pulling the paint away from the canvas. There may also be an indentation in the paint where the frame had been. Be sure these indentations are covered with your new frame. EditWarnings If the artwork is old, or of great value; you may want to hire an insured expert trained in properties of ancient paint to do the job. Keep the canvas on its support (stretcher bar) unless there is a compelling reason for removing it. There is risk of damaging it while removing it. Plus, the painting may be damaged when restretched later. Many paint repairs can be done without removing it from the supports. Also keep in mind that if the painting is directly up against glass, (which it should not be if framed correctly) that it might be stuck to the glass. Be very careful separating the two. Whenever rolling a painting on canvas, always roll with the paint surface on the outside of the roll. Rolling the paint surface inwards causes the paint film to

compress, and can cause it to visibly crack apart when unrolled. Rolling the paint surface outwards will cause the paint surface to crack apart, but the cracks will fit together neatly when unrolled.
EditThings

You'll Need

Flathead Screwdriver Pliers Hammer Foam core cylinder (Optional for transporting).
Helpful?

Using hammer to force screwdriver under staple to leverage it away from stretcher bar and canvas.

How to Paint With Watercolors as a Novice

Edited by James Quirk, Jack Herrick, Jamie Bresee, Michael and 18 others

27
Article EditDiscuss

A good way to learn how to paint with watercolor paints is to start with watercolor pencils. Once you've mastered them, move on to paints and you'll be a Pablo Picasso (or whatever artist you admire) in no time. Not every brush stroke will be exactly how you imagined it to be, and sometimes (believe it or not), mistakes can make your work a beautiful masterpiece.
EditSteps

1. 1
Use the pencils to color in a picture that you drew (or photocopied). Vary the depths of color by shading areas that are "raised." For example, draw a flower petal or a leaf (pressing hard on some areas, and lighter on the others).

2. 2
Use a dark watercolor pencil (black, brown, purple, etc) for shadows (like the one a tree casts).

3. 3

Dip your paintbrush in clean water once you've colored in your picture, and stroke or dab your brush on the paper, right over the colored areas. Or use a waterbrush - one with water in the handle that flows through a valve to the nylon brush tip.

4. 4
Experiment with the pencils, especially if you're new to using them. Start by painting small designs, like an insect, a single flower, or even something that you can put in front of you. To study the depths of color, try a shoe or a piece of fruit. Anything can become an artistic object.

5. 5
Use less water on your brush for more vibrant colors. For pale colors, use more water.

6. 6
Take a clean saucer or several clean cups or saucers. Scrape the tip of a watercolor pencil into the cup till you have some crumbs in the bottom. Use a different cup for each color, choosing red, yellow and blue. Once the powder is in the cups, add a few drops of water and stir with a toothpick until it's completely dissolved. You have created cups of liquid watercolor wash! And you didn't even have to go buy a different watercolor set to do it. Make these washes pretty strong, they will dry lighter than they look when they're wet. Remember that a half inch thick pool of liquid is transparent and a lot darker than the same consistency of paint in a very thin film.
o

Tape a piece of watercolor paper down on all four sides or use a watercolor block. Use a big wide brush or foam brush to cover the paper with clean water. Let it dry till the shine disappears but it's still damp. Start painting colors in random areas. Let them mingle on the paper. You're creating an abstract painting that might be a background for a more detailed one later. See what colors you get when the primary colors mingle. Some yellows and some blues make browns instead of greens, some reds and blues make gray instead of purple. This happens if the yellow's orangy or the red's orangy and you actually have all three primary colors in a mixture. For the best bright secondary colors, choose a greenish blue and a very cold "Lemon Yellow" for green, a purplish blue and a purplish red for bright purples. Hot pink makes good purple

with purplish blues. Almost any yellows and reds make good orange colors though it may be a little brownish if the yellow is too greenish or the red is too purplish. Hot pink sometimes also makes bright orange. Try dropping strong color into light color to see what happens when it spreads. Try dropping water or much thinner paint into a wet patch of stronger color, it will make a "blossom." That can be a problem in representational art - or it can be a blessing, since it's also a good way to make coral reef shapes and some kinds of flower petals or tree line shapes. Experiment with wet on wet techniques and wet on dry techniques. Just treat this sheet as a play sheet and write down everything you did to it. What happens by accident on it is something you can use deliberately later on to create blue skies with soft-edged pink clouds in them, background trees with soft edges that blur into mist, sharp wet on dry details in the foreground. Once your play sheet is completely done and brightly colorful, let it dry and then doodle on it with a black pen drawing anything the shapes make you think of. You'll have a wonderful creative art project that's also taught you a lot about wet in wet watercolor painting.

7. 7
Repeat this exercise with wet on dry techniques or color into color areas. Try painting a thin wash of one color and "charging" other colors into it. Try tilting the board to let drips run, or pouring strong color. Cut out shapes in masking tape and put them over areas you want to keep white, then peel them up afterward to have reserved whites.
o

Draw or trace something onto a play sheet. Try painting around it from the outside without painting the thing itself. This is especially cool if it's got a complex shape like a tree with branches or a fancy design. Paint an area with one color, like pink. Let it dry. Glaze over it with a thin yellow wash to see how it looks compared to an area where you mixed the pink and yellow to put it on in one go. Glazing is another watercolor technique that's very useful.

8. 8
Read online articles on watercolor painting and watch paint-along videos. Try the projects in these lessons, there are lots of good free ones on Youtube and elsewhere. Take out books from the library on watercolor painting and try the techniques in them. A related subject that's very useful for watercolorists to study is Sumi-E or Japanese ink painting - the classical Japanese techniques translate well to watercolor and will give you a wide variety of beautiful effects.

9. 9
Have fun with it and socialize with other watercolor artists! As soon as you've completed any exercises successfully, you're not the newest beginner any more. Someone may need help with something you already understood. Painters better than you are will often be happy to teach once you start hanging out with them online or offline. Classes are available at many community colleges or privately held workshops. Look for beginner level ones at first and advance as you learn. Remember that watercolor painting is considered to be the most difficult of painting mediums by many professional artists and don't be discouraged that you can't always control its effects - good watercolorists learn to let the paint do a lot of the work and enjoy the spontaneity of unexpected results. Don't be afraid to combine it with other mediums like pastels, pastel pencils, colored pencils, oil pastels or acrylics. Watercolor is a powerful element for multi media painting and a failed watercolor painting or play sheet on good paper can become the basis for a fabulous mixed media artwork.

EditVideo

EditTips "Practice makes perfect" is the phrase you need to remind yourself of when you start painting.

Investment in good quality materials is critical. Watercolor paper that will stand up to your best effort is at least 140 lb. stock. It comes in "blocks" that give support to the individual pages until they are complete, and ready to remove and frame. 100% cold pressed cotton paper will give you the best results. "Trial and Error" means that you experiment and try things to find out what happens. A failed trial does not mean you're a bad painter or a bad person or have no talent. It means that technique produced that result - and it might be exactly right for a different painting! You did not fail. That technique didn't work as you expected it to, but now you know what'll happen if you do it. Buy the best quality watercolor pencils your budget will allow. Less expensive pencils will show up as "watered down" color, even with deep or vibrant colors since they are manufactured with lower pigment levels. Two brands, Derwent Inktense and Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer, do not "reactivate" when they've dried - you can't wet them again to lighten them or move color. They can be useful for placing areas you want to paint over without picking up underlying color. Most watercolor pencils do reactivate, so that gives some margin for lightening if you think you put too much on. Too much water and brushing in one spot will make your paper tear and fall apart. Sometimes, it's best to let the paint dry and begin painting again. If you're really in a hurry use a hairdryer, but take care - it can cause the paint to run. Watercolor paper or card stock works a lot better than regular printer paper. Thin papers will buckle and curl up, they may not ever dry flat. Watercolor paper of the same weight will flatten more when it's dry than card stock, it's sized to give it a different texture. If you find that painting is your niche, stick with it and have patience. Always sign your work. This is very important. You never know whose hands it could end up in. Date it on the back so that you can see your progress and understand how much you've learned.

EditThings You'll Need Watercolor pencils Watercolor paper Watercolor brushes Bowl of water paper towels (for dabbing off any excess water) Pigments gum arabic or other watersoluble gums possibly preservatives or glycerin for texture. o Paint manufacturers each have unique "binder" formulas to make their watercolor paints dissolve easily, re-wet easily and stay consistent over time.

How to Clean an Oil Painting

Edited by Choicefresh, R2d2, Flickety, Bo and 12 others

40
Article EditDiscuss

Oil paintings are a unique and sensitive media. They can collect dirt and stains over time, though, and you might be at a loss on how to clean them you can't use water, paint thinner, alcohol, or any abrasive force. Fear not, though! Here's how to bring out the original vibrancy of your oil painting.
EditSteps
Method 1 of 2: Use Spit

1. 1
Buy several cotton swabs. Using your spit to clean a work of art might seem both crazy and profane, but it's a method museum curators around the world use. Saliva has enough enzymes to break down dirt and grime, but not so much that it will damage the paint. It'll take a lot of cotton swabs, though, so stock up with a full box.
o

Be aware that this method takes some patience ask a museum intern how many hours it can take to clean a large painting this way. (Hint: It's more than 2.) But if you want to meticulously clean your painting with almost zero risk of damage to the oils, this is the way to go.

2. 2
Lightly wet the swab with your spit. You don't want the cotton soaking wet, but it should be wet enough to pick up any dirt particles with ease.

3. 3

Gently dab the wet cotton over the painting. Don't move the cotton from side to side, but instead up and down in small, soft dotting motions. Aim to work around a square inch at a time.

4. 4
Wet the other end of the swab. Once the first end has picked up so much dirt that it's no longer useful, move on to the other end. When that one is dirty, discard the swab and move on to the next.

5. 5
Keep a glass of water handy. You should be working slowly enough that you don't feel like you're running out of saliva. Just in case your mouth does start to get dry, though, take a sip of water and wait a minute or two before going back for more spit.
Method 2 of 2: Use Bread

1. 1
Buy a doughy bread. A loaf or two, or more, depending on the paintings and their size.

2. 2
Work on a large white surface outside or inside in a controlled area .

3. 3
Grab the center of the pieces of bread

4. 4
Lightly dab and brush the bread against the paint. It should absorb the dirt or whatever imperfection that was added over time.

5. 5
Clear away crumbs. Use a soft brush, like a soft house paint brush, to remove the crumbs from the bread and clean the painting of the bread.

6. 6
Keep up maintenance. Check for anything you may have missed, and do this on a lighter scale on a regular basis to keep your paintings in the best conditions.

7. 7
Finished.

EditVideo

In addition to oil painting cleaning techniques, this video also explains how to clean water color paintings.

EditTips Conservators refer to saliva as 'natural emulsifier'. They often keep a little jar on hand. You should be sure there are no condition issues with your paintings first, as any cleaning method could result in paint loss. Pay careful attention to how well the oil paint is adhered to the canvas. Take any painting with condition issues to a professional conservator. If they do suggest repairs, seek a second opinion. Today's technology makes conservation easier, but you are taking someone in trust with a valuable object, either monetarily or sentimentally prized. Good luck! Use this method for surface dirt only EditWarnings
Cleaning of high-value paintings should be left to a competent professional conservator or restorer

How to Double Mount Paper

Edited by Meg, Tipsy, Teresa

0
Article EditDiscuss

Double mounting paper is a fantastic effect that looks stunning on posters, drawings or projects that have slabs of writing and pictures stuck on to it!
EditSteps

1. 1
Trace picture or writing on to colored paper using the far side of the ruler to make the first paper larger than the picture/writing.

2. 2
Trace around the first colored paper on a different colored piece of paper.

3. 3
Stick the paper on the poster or whatever you are doing.

4. 4
Present with pride unless you have told others or they knew how to do this, but not many people will do this!!

5. 5
Try to use matching colors like black and other bright colors like pink, blue and green. Red and pink are a good combination, or purple and pink, gold and silver, or white and black.
EditTips You can use the double mounting trick and add more paper to triple mount it! Use the same color but in different shades to make it stand out. EditWarnings Don't cut yourself. Don't glue your fingers together.

How to Make Glow in the Dark Paint

Edited by Troy Myers, Silvian, Andy Zhang, Harold R and 39 others

1K+
Article EditDiscuss

Learn the secrets to making glow-in-the-dark paint. It's so easy and you can save a lot of money.
EditSteps

1. 1
Obtain glow-in-the-dark powder.

2. 2
Glow powder comes in different grades ranging from Grade 0 on the high end to Grade 7 on the low end. The main difference between grades is brightness compared to cost. Within each grade, there are various particle sizes

available ranging from 8 micron to 60,000 micron. Larger particles are brighter, but also make a rougher paint which can looked speckled.

3. 3
If you are planning to use a water-based medium, then you will need "coated glow powder" also known as "coated phosphorescent pigment". For solvent or oil-based mediums, you can use standard or uncollated glow powder.

4. 4
Obtain a paint medium

5. 5
When choosing a paint medium, look for a paint that is clear, thick, and has no UV filters added. Solvent Based mediums have harmful fumes and are not safe for children and can catch fire. A water based medium is recommended for use indoors, or in children's rooms or with children's crafts. Consider buying a medium that is specifically designed to suspend phosphorescent pigment.

6. 6
Add 20% by volume of glow powder to paint medium.

7. 7
Stir and you're finished.

8. 8
Depending on your powder/medium combination, your new mix may or may not have shelf life. Therefore only mix what you can use within an hour.

9. 9
Finished.

EditVideo

EditTips Note that while powder is usually sold by the Ounce (weight measure), paint is usually sold by the Fluid Ounce (volume measure). The two measurements do not correlate. EditWarnings While glow powders are mostly safe, they can pose inhalation hazards. Also, many mediums have other hazards. Therefore, working with glow paints is not appropriate for projects involving children. If you have children make sure it is out of reach, they could get sick if it is swallowed. EditThings You'll Need Glow in the dark powder

How to Paint with Soap Bubbles

Edited by Sondra C, Ben Rubenstein, Brigitta M., Flickety and 2 others

Article

EditDiscuss

Looking for a fun way to teach your children about colors or do you just want them to do something besides play console or computer games and the weather isn't cooperating? Then try this fun, yet messy activity.
EditSteps
Preparation

1. 1
Gather your supplies. See "Things You'll Need"

2. 2
Lay out your newspapers on whatever surface you'll be working on.

Soap Bubble Paint

1. 1
Mix together some bubble solution with a few drops of paint into one of the bowls or cups. You'll need just enough paint to get the color you want, but be careful of adding too much or the solution will not blow colour.

2. 2
Repeat for each color of solution you want to make.
Painting

1. 1
Dip a bubble wand into the color of your choice.

2. 2
Blow bubbles directly onto the construction paper or poster board.
Add method

Name your

Add Method

x Know another method for How to Paint with Soap Bubbles? Add it here...

EditTips The bubble/paint solution is also fun when bathing, just be sure to clean up right away or itwill stain. EditThings You'll Need Newspaper (or something else to cover the surface you'll be working on) Construction paper or poster board (you could use standard printer paper but it has a tendency to soak through rather quickly) Several bottles of bubble solution (either homemade or store bought works fine) Various colors of tempera or acrylic paints Bubble wands (one for each color) Small bowls or cups (One for each color and make sure you don't plan on eating out of these later. A good idea is to use disposable plastic or paper cups).

How to Paint With Fruit and Vegetables

Edited by nains, Flickety, Ben Rubenstein, D rae and 11 others

20
Article EditDiscuss

Fed up of eating the same old veggies and fruit? Try something new! Instead of eating your veggies and fruit, try painting with them...
EditIngredients Lady finger bananas - 1 or 2 A pod of French beans EditSteps

1. 1
Set out your card or paper, or any other type of paper you want to paint on.

2. 2
Prepare your paints (watercolors are not advised). Assemble a color palette. Make a special palette for the paint rather than dipping it directly into your usual paints; otherwise you may get pieces of vegetable or fruit stuck in there and they'll rot eventually!

3. 3
Keep the consistency of the paint fairly thin & fluid without being watery. Don't make it too thick.

4. 4
Create your first fruit and veggie painting - a flower. The instructions follow in the next few steps.

5. 5
Paint the "flower" section first:

o o o

Chop off a Lady finger's top portion - breadth-wise. Discard the small cut-off end. Dip the end of the long piece left into your color palette, choosing the color that you like most. You are trying to create a flower, so think of colors for flowers. Stamp your lady finger like a rubber stamp on the desired area of your paper. Lo! You have a beautiful flower in front of you. Didnt get it? Dont worry. Try again but be sure not to stamp too hard or the design might smudge or even disintegrate.

6. 6
Paint the vegetable "leaves" next:

o o o

Cut a pod of French beans breadth-wise, in a slightly slanted direction. With these, you can make some leaves for the flower. Dip them into green paint and stamp them below your lady finger flowers. You can also make French bean petals and make the center using the rear end of a pencil.

7. 7
Try other sorts of vegetables and fruits. Potatoes are very popular with young children (they're easy to hold) and you can also carve them to create interesting raised shapes, such as stars, half moons or circles etc. Look for fruit and vegetables that have interesting seeds that will make unusual patterns on your paper when you press them.

8. 8
Finished.

EditTips Try printing on old newspapers first for practice. Make a floral border for your greeting cards or for a scrapbook. Apply only a little layer of paint on the fruit or veggies, to avoid smudging. EditWarnings Ensure you are safely using any knives while doing this project. Wash up well after painting and discard the veggies in the garbage- they're not fit for eating anymore. EditThings You'll Need Knife Poster, acrylic paints or other paints of your choice; choose your preferred colors Card paper Palette / color dish

How to Make a Sketchbook

Edited by Vivek Kumar Rohra, KnowItSome, Jack Herrick, Master Tyler and 16 others

18
Article EditDiscuss

You can find a wide variety of sketchbooks at bookstores and art stores, but nothing will ever be quite as unique as binding your own.Not only will it be more personal, but it'll save you money as well! Here's how to turn your sketchbook into a work of art itself.
EditSteps

1. 1
Separate your paper into equal piles. Make three or more piles consisting of five or more sheets. You can use any kind of paper you like.

2. 2
Fold each of the piles in half. These are called signatures.

3. 3
Make three or more signatures depending upon how much paper you have and how big you want your sketchbook to be.

4. 4
Obtain a sheet of card for your cover. This should be at least 2 cm longer than your sheets of paper and about 1cm wider.

5. 5
Draw out the spine in the center of the card. The spine should measure 1/2 cm for each signature. So if you are using 4 signatures, the spine should measure 2 cm.

6. 6
Score along the lines of your spine and fold into the shape of the cover.

7. 7
Mark out four lines in on the inside spine of your cover. The lines nearest the edges should be at least 2cm away from the edge and the rest should be spaced equally. Mark these 1, 2, 3 and 4 (working down).

8. 8
Cut slits along each of the lines.

9. 9
Take the signatures and mark the equivalent 1, 2, 3 and 4 points. Make holes at these points using a pin.

10.

10

Thread up a needle. You will need 2x the length of the spine for each signature you are using.

11.

11

Thread through point 3, leaving a long tail, Go around the outside of the signature and enter it through point 4.

12.

12

Loop around the bottom of the cover and thread through the back of point 4 on the cover.

13.

13

Thread back through point 4 on the signature.

14.

14

Thread down through point 3 of the signature and the cover.

15.

15

Thread on the outside through point 2 of the cover and the signature.

16.

16

Turn the book over and tie the tail and the thread together.

17.

17

Thread through point 1 of the signature and the cover.

18.

18

Thread up over the top and back through point 1 of the signature but not the cover.

19.

19

Take a new signature and thread through point 1.

20.

20

Thread through point 2 of the signature and the cover.

21.

21

Thread around the back and through point 3 of the cover and the signature.

22.

22

Thread through point 4 of the signature and the cover.

23.

23

Loop around the bottom and back through point 4 of the signature but not the cover.

24.

24

Go along the back of the signature and out of point 3.

25.

25

Thread through point 2 of the signature but not the cover.

26.

26

Come up through point 1 of the signature.

27.

27

Loop around the top of the signature and the cover and back though point 1 of the cover. If you are going to add another signature, continue from step 19 or else tie the thread through one of the inside stitches and cut off.

28.

28

To make your book look even more glam, cover it in fancy wrapping paper, posters, make a collage or anything you like. But remember to use your imagination and be creative with the materials you use.

Add method

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EditWarnings Avoid poking yourself with pins or cutting yourself. Be careful not to crumble or wrinkle your paper so it does not ruin your final outcome. EditThings You'll A sheet of card Dental floss or thread Stanley knife Sewing needle

Need

15 sheets of paper or more Pencil Pins Ruler Scissors

How to Preserve Expensive Oil Paintings

Edited by Mr handsome, Peter, Flickety, OhioMike and 6 others

0
Article EditDiscuss

Owning a genuine oil painting for your home or office is a matter of pride. But to make this long-lasting and durable art a part of the family for generations it needs proper care and handling. And preserving an oil painting is not at all a difficult task provided you follow all the guidelines.
EditSteps

1. 1
Select the room where the painting is going to be hanged.

1. Select a room with proper lighting 200 lux.[1] 2. Make sure that the room has a stable temperature that is neither too hot nor too humid. 1. During summer months, keep the rooms ambient temperature 70-75F, and a relative humidity of 45-55%.[1] 2. During winter months, keep the rooms ambient temperature 65-70F and a relative humidity of 40%-45%.[ 3. Hang paintings away from direct sunlight, bright overhead lights, and fireplaces.

2. 2
Purchase strong picture hooks and insert them properly into the wall and then hang your painting on it with the help of the wire. Use two picture hooks which are appropriate to the wall and strong enough.

3. 3
Before hanging the oil painting, coat the surface with a layer of varnish to preserve it. But this should be done only after the painting has thoroughly dried or you can take help of some knowledgeable conservator.

4. 4
From time to time check the wire to make sure that it is in good working condition. If required, change the wire.

5. 5
Whenever you need to take down the painting from the wall for cleaning, handle it by the frame without touching the painted surface. Always wash your hands before handling an oil painting as fluid from your hands can damage the surface.

6. 6
Regularly clean the painting to maintain its beauty. Clean the painting with soft brushes, moist cotton wool or soft micro fibre cloth. And for cleaning the back of the painting use a vacuum cleaner or soft brushes.

7. 7
In case insect infestation is found, keep the oil painting in a plastic bag and ask an expert to examine it.

EditTips Avoid hanging oil paintings in hallways or on walls where there is frequent family movement. When hanging the painting always use good quality wire and it must be strong enough to hold the weight of the painting. Never use any rough piece of cloth for cleaning it. Dont keep the painting in a room with fluctuating temperatures. Dont rely on a regular nail for hanging a priceless painting. EditThings You'll Good quality wire Strong picture hooks Varnish Soft brushes Moist cotton wool Soft micro fibre cloth Vacuum cleaner Plastic bag

Need

How to Make Paint Brushes Easier to Clean

Edited by Frederick Showler, James Quirk, Tom Viren, Ben Rubenstein and 11 others

0
Article EditDiscuss

One of the best ways to reduce paintbrush cleaning time is to stop it from completely filling up with paint. This is done before painting.

EditSteps

1. 1
Make sure the brush is dry and clean.

2. 2
Using duct tape, tape around where the bristles join the handle, making sure the tape covers about half an inch or more of the bristles.

3. 3
Cut across the duct tape at about 45 degrees, as this will make it easier to find the end of the tape when it's time to remove it.

4. 4
Soak the taped brush for a few minutes in water or mineral spirits (depending upon the type of paint). This will stop the paint from entering the ferrule area against the handle. When it is time to clean the brush, just remove the duct tape and there will be no paint to clean out from the ferrule area which effectively reduces cleaning time.

EditTips Alternatively when using latex or acrylics, before you paint, dunk the brush in a bucket of water ensuring the filaments or bristles are submerged past the ferrule (metal portion), allow bubbles to escape from between the brush filaments. Remove the brush from the water, squeeze the water out, then lightly holding the handle of the brush, tap the ferrule gently on the tip of your work shoe. This process will splash water under your shoe and behind you, be sure to do this outside or over a drop cloth. It is not your goal to fully remove the water as this water will remain between the filaments allowing easier cleanup. Here is a simple way to make your brush hang on paint bucket. Take a nail or screw (or even better a C shaped screw) and just insert it in the handle of the paint brush. This allows you to hang the brush in the bucket. EditThings You'll Need Paintbrush Duct tape Scissors Water or mineral spirits

How to Paint a Landscape in Oils

Edited by Fay VanDyke, Teresa, Flickety, Maluniu and 4 others

1
Article EditDiscuss

You've been painting landscapes using oil colors for a while now, maybe even years. However, you're frustrated over turning your landscapes into a muddy mess. Relieve your frustration and learn how to paint a landscape in oils by following these easy steps.
EditSteps

1. 1

Find a photograph that you would like to paint.

Find a photograph that you would like to paint.

2. 2
Tape the photo to your easel and get yourself set up to paint.

3. 3

Lay out your colors onto your palette. Make a habit of laying them out in the same order every time. Eventually, you will instinctively know where each color is. This is especially handy if you're painting on location.

4. 4
In the jar, mix 1 part of the poppy seed oil with 2 parts of the sunflower oil. For example: use 1/8 cup of poppy seed oil and 1/4 cup of sunflower oil.

5. 5
Choose a medium sized brush to begin.

6. 6
Mix raw sienna with a little turpentine on your palette. Mixing it with turpentine, rather than the oil, will allow it to dry faster. For the first sketch, you will need the thinned paint to dry quickly.
o o

Raw Sienna is a great neutral color to start with and will cover easily. Don't mix it too thin, but thin enough so that the paint flows smoothly and is transparent.

7. 7
Using the thinned raw sienna, make a quick sketch on your canvas of the main bodies of land. Make sure your horizon line is correctly indicated at 1/3 or 2/3 of the way down on the canvas, depending on how much sky is in your photo.

8. 8
While your sketch lines are drying some, start mixing your paints. Use the oil mixture to mix your paints with.
o

To begin with, your paints are going to be fairly thin and transparent. With each subsequent layer, the paint should be thicker and the oil mixture less. In this way you will be painting fat over lean. This is very important as the first layers of paint will absorb the oil from the layers on top of them. If the top layers dry faster than the lower layers, the painting will crack.

9. 9
Paint the sky first.
o

If there is a lot of color in your sky, just block in the main color.

10.

10

Block in your shadows and the dominant colors of the landscape.

11.

11

Allow to dry completely before continuing (about 48 hours). When taking a break, make sure youclean your brushes properly and take care of your paints by covering your palette and capping the oil tightly.

12.

12

With each successive layer there are a few things to remember.

o

When anything recedes into the distance, there is atmosphere between you and that object. Therefore, there will be less detail and less color saturation in the your distant objects (such as mountain and trees). The darkest shadows will be in the foreground. Many people tend to think that the darkest shadows are in the distance. However, if you gaze carefully at any landscape you will see that because of the atmosphere, the shadows are muted compared to the shadows in the foreground. Remember the rule of thirds. It is a compositional rule that not only helps you place your scene correctly on the canvas, but it also helps you develop a nicely balanced painting. Common among photographers, but also an essential for artists.

13.

13

Make sure your paint is a little thicker than last time and begin painting in more detail. Continue each time with thicker paint and more detail until your painting is finished.
EditTips To keep colors intense and bright, mix them with their nearest neighbors on the color wheel - like blue and green for blue-green. To make a grayish or brownish color, mix opposites on the color wheel like yellow and violet or green and red.

Mixed-complement neutrals are much livelier than using brown or gray paint. Also if you mix them from the other colors in the painting, they will create a subliminal color harmony - the blue of the sky and the oranges in the poppies make a nice olive green or rich brown for twigs and leaves. Painting with the mixture of oil (poppy seed and sunflower oil) and in very thin layers is called glazing. It allows you to let other layers show through or change a color completely. It will help you to keep from making a muddy mess (as is so common when painting with oils). By making your layers a little thicker every time, you can control the amount of paint you use and how much detail you want to add. Choose a neutral palette for mixing your colors accurately. Glass works nicely too, but it needs to be white or gray underneath. Gray palettes allow you to judge how light or dark a mixture is more easily than white palettes do. It's recommended that after a layer is dry and before you begin to paint again, to brush the canvas with retouch varnish. This will allow the layers to bond together. The most detail should be done thickly and as the last layer.

EditWarnings Artist grade oil paints, thinners (turpentine or odorless mineral spirits), varnishes and some mediums used with oil paints are toxic. Student grade oil paints use non toxic pigments and they're safe along with linseed oil (a purer artist's version of the salad oil). Wear thin rubber gloves when painting if your skin is sensitive. Be sure to work in a well ventilated area, that's essential. Wash up with a hand care product like Plumber's Goop or an artist soap rather than washing with paint thinner. It is suggested that you paint from your own photos as there are copyright laws that apply. The copyright act is a federal law and not a state law. It gives the artist (or photographer, in this case), the legal right to control what happens to their work. If you don't take your own photographs, ask a family member or friend to let you borrow a few photos to choose from. You can also look for packs of stock photos you can buy or find websites that offer stock photos free for use to artists. Some art communities offer shared photos taken by members, free for use to other members. It's courteous to credit the photographer when someone gives you permission to use their photos. It's also courteous to show them the art, they're probably curious. If you see a photo you like on Flickr or other photo sharing sites, contact the photographer, ask permission and only use it if the photographer gives you permission. Honor any conditions the photographer sets such as "always give credit" or "don't sell the painting" or "percentage of the proceeds must support my charity-cause." Keep and print out any emails with permission from photographers so there is dated proof of permission in case there's trouble.

EditThings You'll Need quality oil paints poppy seed oil [ sunflower oil turpentine or turpenoid paper towels (preferably Viva for better absorption) or rags a good palette oil paint brushes a glass jar with a good lid to mix the poppy seed and sunflower oils

How to Paint a Weeping Willow

Edited by Serena.C, Teresa, Maniac, Sizito and 1 other

0
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A weeping willow is one of the most majestic trees known to Earth. What with their long flowing leaves and long,outstretched branches, it's as if a furry hand is creeping through the leaves. Here, we'll tell you how to paint it.
EditSteps

1. 1
Start by mixing your paints. For the weeping willow, we need a light, but not lime, green. So, mix yellow and blue until you get dark green, then add a quarter of a teaspoon of yellow. Then mix brown and white together until you get a grey, then add half a teaspoon of red. You will now have brown. Mix a darker green. Blue and Yellow. And a light blue, dark blue mixed with a quarter teaspoon of white.

2. 2
Paint the grass, leaving a tiny white hole in the middle. Like in the picture. The grass should be a flat rectangle, and then, with a smaller brush, tiny flecks over the top, like a green, shaggy rug.

3. 3

Paint the trunk, from the white hole, upwards, like a firework. And then, when at the top, off comes the sparks. Paint quick, detailed lines around 4-5 cm long every time. These are the branches, curve them downwards.

4. 4
Now, for the leaves. Detailed flecks of green, all up the branch, perhaps one or two floating to the ground in the wind. Finished!
EditVideo

EditTips Try not to be too vigourous, just slowly, in spare time.

How to Remove Acrylic Paint from a Deck

Edited by Trunchbull, KatherineP, LydiaRussellXP, TechFlash1 and 3 others

Article

EditDiscuss

When acrylic paint is spilled on a deck, it is easy to remove especially if still fresh. Removing a dried or old paint will require more work. The steps below will show you how to effectively remove acrylic paint from a deck, whether it be fresh or old paint.
EditSteps

Fresh Acrylic Paint

1. 1
Wipe the fresh acrylic paint on your deck with a wet cloth. Get as much paint as you possibly can. Change the cloth when needed.

2. 2
Fill a bucket with hot water and add some liquid dish-washing soap in it to make a detergent solution.

3. 3
Scrub the remaining paint with a scrub brush dipped into the soapy solution. Keep on scrubbing and keep on adding soap solution until the acrylic paint on your deck is completely gone.

4. 4
Rinse the area with clear water using a hose.
Old Acrylic Paint on a Small Area

1. 1
Use a putty knife or a paint scraper to scrape the old acrylic paint off your deck. Your goal is to remove as much paint as you can without damaging the wood.

2. 2
Rub the remaining paint using steel wool (number 0000) or fine sandpaper. Do this very gently to remove only the paint.

3. 3

Rub the remaining acrylic paint with a cloth moistened with alcohol. Keep adding alcohol on the cloth and keep on rubbing until all the paint is gone. Change the cloth when needed.

4. 4
Rinse the area with clear water using a hose.
Old Acrylic Paint on a Large Area

Make sure to wear protective gloves, protective eye wear, mask and protective clothing if applying this method.

1. 1
Apply a paint stripper on the old acrylic paint. You can use a paintbrush or a dense broom. Leave the stripper on the deck for about an hour. Be sure to check and follow the manufacturer's instructions on how to use the chemical stripper.

2. 2
Rinse the paint off using a high-pressure hose.

3. 3
Use a putty knife or a paint scraper to scrape the remaining acrylic paint.

4. 4
Let the deck dry fully.

5. 5
Sand the area using a random-orbit sander and 80-grit paper. This will completely remove all the remaining acrylic paint.

6. 6

Apply a sealer to your deck's surface, if needed. The sealer will protect your deck from future stains.
EditTips You can use acetone instead of alcohol. In case you get burned with the paint stripper, apply vinegar to the burned area. Make sure to wash yourself thoroughly after using the paint stripper. If you don't, you might have skin irritations. Before applying the paint stripper, make sure to cover any plants that are near your deck. EditWarnings Paint strippers contain strong chemicals, like lye which are dangerous. EditThings You'll Need Pieces of cloth Bucket Liquid dish-washing soap Scrub brush Hose Putty knife or a paint scraper Steel wool (number 0000) or a fine sandpaper Alcohol Paint stripper Paintbrush or a dense broom Protective gloves Protective eye wear Mask Protective clothing Random-orbit sander 80-grit paper High-pressure hose

How to Paint Over Wallpaper

Edited by Harri, Katiekinz, Adrian Evangelista, Steve and 5 others

132
Article

EditDiscuss

Professional painters and home remodelers will suggest that the best option for painting a wall is to first remove any wallpaper from the surface. However, wallpaper with a strong adhesive can be hard to remove. Painting over the wallpaper may be the better option under these circumstances. Here are a few tips for painting over wallpaper.
EditSteps
Cleaning and Prepping the Wallpaper

1. 1
Clean the entire surface thoroughly with TSP or a TSP substitute. TSP stands for trisodium phosphate; it's an excellent cleaning agent that is often used after mineral spirits, but can absolutely be used on its own.

TSP substitutes, often sodium carbonate based, are used largely for environmental reasons, but are less effective at removing oil and grime than TSP. Still, they are perfectly acceptable to use in this instance.

2. 2
Rinse off the entire surface with water and a clean cloth to remove your cleaner . Make sure you give wall adequate time to dry after rinsing and wiping.

3. 3
Check the condition of the wall. Imperfections will be much more visible after the wallpaper is painted, so it's a good idea to hit those before you apply a coat of primer or paint.

o o o

Rub your hand along the wall to feel for bumps and tears in the paper. All of the wallpaper should be securely attached to the wall. Check all seams and edges to ensure that no pieces are peeling or loose. Use wallpaper paste to glue down any sections that are coming loose.

4. 4
Cover any damaged areas and seams with spackle or joint compound . You may need to apply several layers of joint compound, as the compound often shrinks when dried. You can always sand away excess compound you can't add more once you begin painting.

5. 5
Use fine sandpaper (about 120-grit) to go over the walls to ensure a smooth surface before painting. Primer and paint attaches better to sanded areas. A symptom of inadequate sanding is the appearance of small air bubbles on the surface of the wall; this is a clear sign that you haven't sanded the wallpaper enough.

Wipe off all dust with tack cloth after final sanding. Dust and grit will mar the final look of the wall if too much is left while painting.
Applying Sealer, Primer, and Coats of Paint

1. 1
Apply a sealer to the wallpaper (optional). This will help prevent the wallpaper from possibly loosening after it is painted. Make sure to use an oil-based or shellac sealer, not a water-based sealer. Water-based sealers may cause the wallpaper to loosen from its bearing, defeating the purpose of sealing.

2. 2
Tape areas where you do not want to paint, such as baseboards and window trim . Make sure that no spaces exist in these areas, as paint may bleed through, covering unwanted edges and corners.

3. 3
Prime the entire wallpapered area with an oil-based or shellac primer. Again, stay away from water-based primers. Once dry, give the wallpaper a light sand using fine-grit sandpaper, paying special attention to the areas where spackle or compound was applied.

o o

Follow manufacturer instructions for application methods and drying time. Check over walls after primer is dry for any possible damage that might have been missed earlier. If holes or tears are detected, apply spackle again and re-coat the area with primer.

4. 4
Paint the walls following manufacturer recommendations for application and drying time. Instead of a latex-based paint, many professionals prefer using an oil-based paint for these situations, as the moisture in latex may eventually unhinge some of the wallpaper under the coat of paint.

Apply two coats of paint for best results. Wait one full day before applying the second coat, and lightly sand the first coat for best results.

5. 5
Remove the painter's tape from the wall and inspect your work. You should have a beautifully painted wall, in which the wallpaper underneath is no longer visible.

EditVideo

EditTips Have your primer tinted the color that you are planning to paint the wall. This service is typically free and will give you better coverage of your hue. EditWarnings Some wallpaper may be too brittle for painting and can peel away when painted. Test a small area of your wall and check the results before painting the entire piece. EditThings

You'll Need

Wallpaper paste Sandpaper Wall mud Damp cloth Painter's tape Stain-blocking primer Paint brush Paint roller Box blade Interior wall paint

How to Mix Colors to Get Turquoise

Edited by Anita K. Moore, Shaiaqua, Flickety, Starr and 15 others

312
Article EditDiscuss

Turquoise, also known as aquamarine, is a blend of the colors blue and green. It comes in many shades, ranging from soft, pale colors to vibrant, intense colors. The color span starts as a light greenish-blue, aquamarine, and ranges through to a bluish-green, turquoise. Here are some tips on creating the color turquoise with your paint.
EditSteps

1. 1
Assemble the first six items in the material list. See "Things You'll Need" below.

2. 2
Place a small amount of blue paint on one side of the palette and green paint on the other side.

3. 3
Since turquoise has more blue than green in it, put one-paintbrush scoop of green paint for every two-paintbrush scoops of blue paint in the middle of the palette and mix.

4. 4
Continue to mix the paints together until the paint is evenly distributed throughout your color sample.

5. 5
You now have turquoise.

EditTips You can vary the color intensity by changing the color ratios. Currently, the ratio is 2:1 (two blue:one green). Create pale shades of turquoise by adding small amounts of blue and green to white paint. You can also mix turquoise by adding just a touch of yellow paint to your blue paint. A 1:6 ratio or 1:5 may give good results. Turquoise is often referred to as a calming color because the meaning of aquamarine refers to the water of the sea. A link is provided below to a definition. EditWarnings Most types of paints can stain work surface and clothes. Make sure that you wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty, and protect your work surfaces. Some pigments are stronger than others. If you don't get the turquoise hue you want in the first mix, add more green or yellow to the blue or add more blue to the mix till you do. If the green or yellow is very strong, consider a fresh pile of blue with only a brush load of the previous mix to try for turquoise. EditThings You'll Need Paintbrush Blue (cyan) paint (Other blues won't give you good results.) Green (or yellow) paint Palette Canvas/paper Cup of water for watercolor paints Clothes that you don't mind getting dirty Newspaper or drop cloths to protect work surfaces

How to Revive Paintbrushes With Vinegar

Edited by Flickety, Maluniu

51
Article EditDiscuss

It doesn't matter if you're the next Da Vinci or just need to paint the bedroom, you can't operate with a set of crusty, old brushes. Follow these simple steps and find out how to revive your old paintbrushes and make them soft and supple. Using distilled white vinegar is safe, highly effective and very inexpensive.

EditSteps

1. 1
Soak the bristles. Pour the vinegar into the bottom of the saucepan. You'll only need enough vinegar to cover the bristles.

Drop in your brushes.

Let the brushes soak for about an hour.

2. 2

Allow time to simmer. After letting your brushes pre-soak, put the saucepan on the stove and turn up the heat. Use enough heat to let the brushes simmer in the vinegar. The heated vinegar will help moisturize and restore your paintbrushes to their original condition.

3. 3
Rinse. After simmering in the saucepan for a few minutes, drain the vinegar and rinse your revived paintbrushes under running water. Your brushes should be like new and you're ready to paint.

4. 4
Finished.

Add method

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EditTips Use a heavy-based saucepan to heat the paintbrushes in. EditWarnings Always dispose of paint in the appropriate way; do not rinse down the drain. EditThings You'll Distilled white vinegar Paintbrush Saucepan Stove

Need

How to Paint with Smoke

Edited by Alice, Nathan Wong, Jack Herrick, Andrew D and 13 others

4
Article EditDiscuss

Beginning with Wolfgang Paalen, visionary artists, including well-known surrealists such as Salvador Dali, practiced the fine art of "painting with smoke," otherwise known as "fumage." More delicate than charcoal, providing intriguing textures and patterns, fumage can serve as a standalone media or as an innovative approach to guiding the application of other media.
EditSteps

1. 1
Protect your workspace. If you do not have a work area that you can afford to mark with wax drippings, lay out a covering (such as an old tablecloth) to catch the dripping wax.

2. 2
Prop up your board or paper (hereafter referred to generically as "canvas") so that you are looking up at it. You'll need to work from beneath the canvas most of the time, so you may want to hang it from an elevated position, but if you can manage to hold it with one hand, you can use your non-dominant hand to change its angle as the candle's flame moves across the surface.

3. 3
Light your candle. Slender candles work best, but feel free to experiment. It's helpful to keep a pillar candle lit nearby to quickly re-light the one in use.

4. 4
Begin dragging the candle flame along the underside of the canvas. As you guide the candle just beneath the canvas, you will see dark shapes forming on the surface of your canvas.

5. 5
Vary the motions of your candle and the angle of the canvas. The best way to "learn" fumage is to experiment with it. See what effects you can get by using tilting the canvas or the candle slightly, or by moving the candle at different speeds or in different patterns of motion. For more information, see the "tips" section below.

6. 6
Blow out the candle and spray the surface with fixative. When you are satisfied with your design, apply the fixative (a stabilizing or preserving agent, such as varnish) to keep it from smearing. Before you do so, you may wish to intentionally smear some of the soot marks with your hand, a brush, or some other implement.

7. 7
Experiment using fumage in combination with other media. Wolfgang Paalen, the father of fumage, quickly progressed toward using fumage as a catalyst for his artworks, the seed from which the whole work would spring forth. With the fumage work providing his starting point, he would then add layers of oil paint, for example, to fully express his artistic vision. You can apply other media to the canvas either before or after you apply the fixative.

EditTips Vary the speed at which you drag the candle flame. Try quick, short movements versus slow, long ones. Vary candle width/length and wick length. Longer wicks allow for more fluid patterning. Short wicks are good for darker applications, filling in certain areas. Try holding your canvas at different angles and coordinating the movements of the candle with this. The pattern made depends a lot on the movement and the angles of both the candle and the canvas. For example, a sideways flame will 'lick' the surface with a light line. Vary the distance between flame and surface. The closer the flame is to the surface, the darker the resulting color on the canvas will be. Before you apply the fixative try using different-sized erasers to create patterns in the smoke design. Using this apply/erase method, detailed layering is possible. Try creating a 'candle palette'. Have different sized candles with varying lengths of wick on hand to use. Vary the angle at which you hold the candle. For example, when the flame is directly perpendicular to the surface, it will make a circle. EditWarnings To avoid fire or scorching, do not hold a flame to canvas for a long period of time. If you are using paper, you'll need to be especially careful. Never attempt fumage without adult supervision.

Always be aware of how close the flame is to the surface. This is why it is best to work from below, or at an angle where the surface is always visible to you. Otherwise, you can easily burn the surface. As always, when working with fire, be careful of flames as you run a risk of getting burned. Keep flammable items away from your work area. Spray fixative in a well-ventilated area, away from all flames.

EditThings

You'll Need

Fire extinguisher. Candles. A "canvas" or base of some sort: paper (at least 100 lb. weight, preferably heavier,) illustration/Bristol board, Masonite (gessoed to make the surface more receptive), wood, or fiberboard, etc. Fixative (Fixatives used for charcoal or pencil drawings are appropriate, and may be purchased at your local art supply store). Matches/lighter. Flame retardant floor covering/work bench.

How to Select Art for Your Home

Edited by Lynne Taetzsch, Sean Hickey, Krystle C., Sondra C and 14 others

1
Article EditDiscuss

Selecting art for your home can be an exciting adventure and a source of enjoyment for years to come. Keys to success are figuring out what kind of art you like, how it will fit in with the rest of your interior design plans, and how to exhibit the art to the best effect in your home.

EditSteps

1. 1
Look at as much art as possible before you make your selection. In addition to museums and for-profit galleries, check out local outdoor exhibitions, co-op and non-profit galleries, and art in public spaces such as banks, restaurants and libraries. The Internet is another great way to find a large variety of fine art available worldwide. One advantage of using the Internet is that you can search for the specific kind of art you are interested in, whether it's photography, impressionism, bronze sculpture, or abstract painting.

2. 2
Search for great art that you favor. eBay is they best place to search. Check out the self-representing artists for your best values. Stay clear of the assembly line Chinese art, as these are mostly ripoffs from legitimate artists on eBay. There are many artists who represent themselves at a savings to you. Check out the S.R.A., Folk Art and Contemporary categories for your best buys! Don't forget to check feedback. Numerous negatives will often burn you. Read about the seller and ask questions before you bid. If they don't respond, look on down the line. You'll find a seller you like who will respond.

3. 3
Visit school art shows. If you live near a big city which has a well-known Art School, find out when students are going to exhibit their work and attend the show. Though students at famous European schools are likely to be asking more for their work than unknown small town schools, you are still going to be buying cheaper than at a commercial gallery, you know the artist is a top performer in their year, you can be sure they have put a lot of work into their piece, and who knows, they may become very famous and their early paintings will be sought after!

4. 4
Select art by size to fit a particular space. Art that is too large will overwhelm and art that is too small will be lost and look out of proportion. The bolder the art,

the more room it needs to breathe. Measure the space you want to hang the art and leave enough "white space" so that the painting will not feel crowded.

5. 5
Choose one that harmonizes with the colour of your room. When selecting a painting to match color, select one or two of the boldest colors in your room and look for art that has those colors in it. You're not looking for an exact match here. Picking up one or two of the same colors will send a message that the painting belongs in this environment.

6. 6
Opt for paintings that matches the style of the paintings is your room. If your house is filled with antiques, for example, you'll want to use antique-style frames on the paintings you hang there. If you have contemporary furniture in large rooms with high ceilings, you'll want to hang large contemporary paintings.

7. 7
Amend your room if the painting doesn't suit. If you find that when you get the art home and place it on a wall or pedestal, it doesn't work with its surroundings. If you bring a painting home and it clashes with its environment, first try hanging it in various rooms on different walls. It may look great in a place you hadn't planned on hanging it. If you can't find a place where the art looks its best, you may need to make some changes in the room, such as moving furniture or taking down patterned wallpaper and repainting in a neutral color. The changes will be worth making in order to enjoy the art you love.

8. 8
Hang correctly. As a rule, paintings should be hung so that the center of the painting is at eye level. Sculpture may sit on the floor, a table, or pedestal. Rules should be considered guidelines only, however, so feel free to experiment. One collector hung an acrylic painting on her bedroom ceiling so she could better view it while lying down.

9. 9

Make the painting the center of attraction of your room of your house by playing down the other design elements such as window coverings, carpeting, wall coverings, and even furniture. A room crowded with other colors, textures, and objects will take the spotlight away from the art.

10.

10

Experiment to learn what pleases you and what doesn't. Selecting and displaying art is an art in itself. You will be well-rewarded for the time you invest by finding more satisfaction both in the art and in your home.
EditTips Discover what kind of art you like by looking at as much art as possible. Look on the Internet or in local galleries, museums, and public spaces. Make sure there is enough light on the art to show it off. Consider track lighting or picture lights if the art requires more light. Another choice is color. Consider how art with muted colors, black-and-white art, or or colors interacts with the colors in your room. A wide light-colored mat and neutral frame create a protected environment for the art within.

How to Paint Artwork for Your Walls

Edited by Deborah, Ben Rubenstein, Chaos_guy, Flickety and 13 others

0
Article EditDiscuss

Here's how to create artwork for your walls that matches your decor, costs very little, and is fun to make, even if you are "artistically challenged".
EditSteps

1. 1
Decide on a "theme" for the painting. "Abstract" works pretty well since everyone can draw a few shapes and smack paint on canvas to create a nice work of abstract art. If you feel more artistic, think about one of the more common themes for art - a still life of flowers or fruit, a landscape with a cute little house and some fields, or a portrait of a pet or a person.

2. 2
Look at your wall and decide how large a painting you want on it. Some common canvas sizes are 8"x10", 16"x20", and 24"x36". There are also smaller or larger ones if you want to do a series of tiny paintings or a really huge one.

3. 3
Get a piece of paper and sketch your idea. If you can get the paper in the same size that your art will be in, that's great, but if not (ie, if you're using a huge canvas and just don't have that extra roll of art paper lying around), then just sketch it to scale and don't worry. Think about what colors you want before you go out to get your materials.

4. 4
Go to any hobby or art supply store and buy a stretched canvas in your chosen size.

5. 5
Pick up some acrylic paints in colors similar to the color theme in your room. If you decided on paint colors before you left the house, check to see that you get all the ones you wanted. Black and white are not always good to have for making colors lighter or darker To make shades, use the opposite of the color to darken it. For example, use green to darken red. Use a few paintbrushes or sponges to get it from the bottle to the canvas!

6. 6
Spread some newspapers or a drop cloth under your canvas to protect your furniture. Prop the canvas up on a chair, table, or easel while you work, and sit or stand as you feel comfortable.

7. 7
Paint! Have fun with it - again, don't try to be perfect.

8. 8
Once you feel it's done-leave it alone!

9. 9
Hang your new artwork and enjoy the compliments from friends!

EditTips Don't be afraid to mess up. You can always paint over anything you don't like. Remember that sketching is rough - don't try to be perfect, just lightly use your pencil to outline the shapes or figures in your idea. The paint will fill in the detail. Don't worry too much on what the art style looks like. Remember,Things aren't always what they seem(Abstract) and if they are, they do not need to be professional looking. Once you're happy with the finished product, then leave it and be proud to hang it up. Have fun, you're just trying to find something to complement the colors in your room, not exceed Picasso's achievements. This is a cheap way to make artwork, but be prepared to spend a good chunk of money on larger canvases. Smaller is better for a DIY artist on a budget. You can transfer a paper design to the canvas using the old "color the back, then trace the lines" technique - if you had a great design on paper and are afraid it won't work so well on canvas, this might make things easier. If you're afraid to let your creativity loose, let a young child show you how. You could learn a lot from the lack of creative inhibition most children have. EditWarnings Acrylics will usually come off easily with water if you catch them before they dry. Still, use that drop cloth! EditThings You'll Need Pencil and paper Room in need of decorating Canvas Paints Paintbrushes, sponges, etc. Drop cloth or newspaper Plastic disposable plates or cups to put paint in Cup of water for rinsing out brush

How to Draw With Charcoal

Edited by George B., Sondra C, Ben Rubenstein, Noraa and 25 others

87
Article EditDiscuss

Charcoal drawing is a well-recognized media. Very professional-looking blackwhite images can be drawn just with a little chunk of charcoal and eraser. It's like making abstract photos without using a computer. Charcoal is also a good way of learning gray gradients and lighting techniques. But many people wondered how those images are made to look so cool with just a piece of charcoal.
EditSteps

1. 1
Set up your workspace. Charcoal can draw on almost any type of paper meant for drawing. Remember, though, that coal is also very messy. It comes off your skin very easily, but to avoid your table becoming all black, put some newspapers or other papers under your workspace.
spaceplay / pause

escstop

ffullscreen shift + slower / faster (latest Chrome and Safari) volume

mmute seek

. seek to previous 126 seek to 10%, 20%, 60%

2. 2
Take a charcoal crayon and fill an entire paper up with black. You don't need to draw anything yet. Just turn the white paper black. Don't leave any blank, white spots.
spaceplay / pause

escstop

ffullscreen shift + slower / faster (latest Chrome and Safari) volume

mmute seek

. seek to previous 126 seek to 10%, 20%, 60%

3. 3
Find a good black-and-white photo. Try a portrait, even if you are a beginner. Put it in front of you and turn it upside down. If you do that, you do not have exact imagination of what you are drawing and your image will be unique. Aim for some basic highlights of the human face; you do not need to copy the image exactly.
spaceplay / pause

escstop

ffullscreen shift + slower / faster (latest Chrome and Safari) volume

mmute seek

. seek to previous 126 seek to 10%, 20%, 60%

4. 4
Take a piece of eraser and erase out the outline of the head. That's right, you will be drawing with an eraser.
spaceplay / pause

escstop

ffullscreen shift + slower / faster (latest Chrome and Safari) volume

mmute seek

. seek to previous 126 seek to 10%, 20%, 60%

5. 5
Start with the eyes, since they are the whitest spots on your face. Do not place them all the way on top of the image, since that's where you will draw hair. Also, consider eyeballs and the shines: Once you have the basic eye outline, take eraser and slightly make a rounded line inside of the eyeball. Now, your eyes really look realistic.
spaceplay / pause

escstop

ffullscreen shift + slower / faster (latest Chrome and Safari) volume

mmute seek

. seek to previous 126 seek to 10%, 20%, 60%

6. 6
Look at the photo and start finding the areas that are lightest. Now, take your eraser and erase those areas out. Apply less and less pressure as you go out of the lighted area. Now, take your finger and rub those areas. That blends the gradient and makes it more realistic.
spaceplay / pause

escstop

ffullscreen shift + slower / faster (latest Chrome and Safari) volume

mmute seek

. seek to previous 126 seek to 10%, 20%, 60%

7. 7
Start working on the details. You might want to take the charcoal again and make some outlines. Also, you can take eraser and erase other, additional areas out.

8. 8
Try to shape the hair. Take eraser and make lines along the black area that is supposed to be hair. Now, take the coal and make the lines thinner. Be sure to follow patterns shown on the photo.

9. 9
Erase the black background. Take eraser and erase everything besides the portrait. Then take the charcoal and fill in the outline that used to be white. Make the outline thin.

10.

10

Turn the portrait over and admire. But realize that that was just a start up exercise. Your image is probably not the best and looks nothing like the photo (but it looks like human!). If you want to, you can start all over again to get more practice. Once you think you've mastered making gray gradients, you can move on.

11.

11

Draw a still life. Take some fruit, vase (maybe with flowers) and place them on a chair or table. Pay close attention to lighting and shading and use same techniques as you used in portrait to bring the image to your paper.

12.

12

Move on to even harder stuff. Look out your window and draw what you see: Trees, streets, houses. Again, notice all the shading and lighting. Try to learn new techniques.

13.
EditVideo

13

When finished with a drawing, spray it with a fixative to prevent smudging. You may also try hairspray, but in some cases this may ruin the piece.

Speed drawing of a realistic charcoal portrait.

EditTips After working with charcoal, you will probably get your hands and face dirty (yes, face. It's weird how the stains get there, but it's very possible to get your face dirty). Don't worry, charcoal cleans up easily with plenty of soap. Though you can use your regular eraser, it is better to use a kneaded eraser, as it is a special type that's made especially for coal. These erasers are very soft, like wet clay. You can give it whatever shape you can. They're not sold in most stores, so here's how to make a substitute (although real one is a lot better). You take little chunk of bread and roll it, until it looks like one substance with no holes. Try making it more solid by rolling it even more. Now, "carve" a sharp point out of it to make it look like an "Eraser Pencil". Now, you can add more specific highlights to your image. And if you need to erase a big portion, just use a regular eraser (or make your soft eraser wider). Artist's charcoal can be found in your local art store. EditWarnings Always wash your hands after working with coal. Never put your hands in your mouth or pick your nose if you did not wash them. Always keep your workspace ventilated. You don't want to breathe in too much charcoal. Don't touch your picture after drawings unless you have washed your hands as your picture will be ruined with smudged fingerprints. EditThings You'll Need A piece of white paper Artist's charcoal Eraser Kneadable eraser or slice of bread (see tips).

How to Mix Colors

Edited by Donna Engstrom, Jack Herrick, Flickety, Ben Rubenstein and 63 others

365
Article EditDiscuss

When it comes to mixing up the basic colors and making all those purples and greens and oranges we love, how you do it depends on many things. The question is, are you mixing pigments, or are you mixing light? We'll show you how to work with each medium and give you the tools to mix all the colors of the rainbow!

Contents
o o o o o o

1 Steps 1.1 Mixing PaintSubtractive Color 1.2 Mixing LightAdditive Color 1.3 Advanced Color Theory 1.4 Mixing Paint Colors 2 Tips 2.1 Color Samples & Recipes 2.2 More Tips 3 Things You'll Need 4 Related wikiHows 5 Sources and Citations 6 Related wikiHows

EditSteps
Mixing PaintSubtractive Color

Red

Magenta

Yellow

Cyan

Blue

Black

White

1. 1
Assemble the colors of paint shown above. Any type of paint will doeven house paintbut a few small tubes of oils or perhaps acrylics will be the most effective (and least messy) for these exercises. Let's start by seeing what happens when we mix a just 2 colors togetherred and blue.
o

Note: you can make black by mixing it from the available colors, but unless you are really precise with your mixing proportions, mixing the same "black" twice will prove very difficult. Save your colors for color, and use black as itself, or to darken up the other colors as desired. See our 'More Tips' section, below, for help in choosing the best magenta and cyan paints.

2. 2
Mix red and blue together. Everybody knows red and blue mixed together make purple, right? While its true that they do, its not a bright, vibrant purple. Instead, they create something more like this:

It doesn't exactly rock your world, right? That's because red and blue are secondary colorsmixtures of primary colors themselves, each one subtracting more and

reflecting less from the spectrum, giving you a purple thats dark and muddy instead of vibrant and bright.

3. 3
Now try this: Mix together magenta with a small amount of cyan, and youll see the difference. Now you get something more like this:

You can see how using the true primary colorsmagenta and cyanresults in a much brighter and more vibrant hue. If you want a richer purple, add more blue. A darker purple, add black. For more on this, see How To Determine Correct Primary Colors.

4. 4
Combine pigments to make primary and secondary colors. There are 3 primary pigment colors: cyan, magenta, and yellow. There are also 3 secondary colors, made by mixing two primary colors together:
o o o o o

Cyan + yellow = green Cyan + magenta = blue Magenta + yellow = red. Cyan + magenta + yellow = black. With subtractive color mixing, the presence of all colors results in black.

5. 5
See below. Our Mixing Paint Colors section gives more detailed help for mixing all the various hues as well as light, dark, and grayish colors. In our Tips section, we offer you a comprehensive list of colors and the blends you can use to create those colors on your palette.
Mixing LightAdditive Color

1. 1

Take a look at your monitor. Look at the white areas on this page, and get really close. If you have a magnifying glass, so much the better. What you see when you get up close and personal with your screen is not white, but red, green and blue dots. Unlike pigments, which work by absorbing color, light is additive, and works by combining light. Movies and display screens, whether theyre your 60-inch plasma television or your 3.5inch retina display on your iPhone, all work using additive color mixing.

2. 2
Combine light to make primary and secondary colors. Like subtractive color, there are 3 primary colors, and 3 secondary colors, made by mixing the primary colors together. The results may surprise you:
o o o o o

Mixing red + blue = magenta Mixing blue + green = cyan Mixing green + red = yellow With additive color mixing, the presence of all colors results in white. Notice that the primary additive colors are the same as the secondary subtractive colors, and vice-versa. How can this be? Consider that subtractive color works by a combined process: it absorbs some colors, and what we perceive is whats left:reflected light. The reflected color is the color of light that is left after all the other colors are absorbed.
Advanced Color Theory

1. 1
The Subjective Nature of Color Perception. How humans perceive color, and how we define it, is as much subjective as it is objective. While science can define and measure light down to the nanometer, what our eyes perceive is a complex mix of not just the hue, but the saturation and the lightness of the color as well. This is further complicated by how we perceive the same color against different backgrounds
o

Consider this simple example to illustrate color perception:

o o

Do you see a bluish-green, a blue, a creamy yellow, a bright yellow, and a bright green? Now look at the actual colors. There are only 3:

What we see is as much about where we see it as about the actual values. To make things even more interesting, add the fact that every one of us perceives color to some degree differently than everybody else. Some peoples color perception is so different that we term this color blindness, though its simply an imbalance in color perception.

2. 2
Hue, Saturation, and Lightness, the Three Dimensions of Color. Any given color can be said to have three dimensions: hue, saturation, and lightness.
o

Hue refers to a color's position on the color wheel, red, orange, yellow, etc., plus all the intermediate colors such as red-orange and orange-yellow. Some examples: Pink's hue is magenta or red (or something in between). Brown's hue is orange, because brown is dark orange. Saturation is what gives you rich, bright colors, like those in the rainbow or on the color wheel. Pale colors (tints), dark colors (shades), and muted colors (tones) are less saturated. Lightness indicates how close a color is to white or black, regardless of the color. If you took a B&W photo of your colors, this tells us which ones would be lighter or darker. For example, bright yellow is a relatively light color. Its lightness can be increased even more by adding white to make pale yellow. Bright blue is naturally dark, low on the lightness scale, but dark blue is even lower.
Mixing Paint Colors

1. 1
Follow these guidelines to mix any and every color .
o

o o o

Magenta, yellow, and cyan (turquoise blue) are the subtractive primary colors, which means they can be combined to make any other color but cannot themselves be mixed from other colors. Subtractive primaries are used when mixing pigments such as inks, dyes, and paints. Magenta and yellow mixed together make reds and oranges. Yellow and cyan mixed together make greens. Cyan and magenta mixed together make blues and purples.

All these colors, including red and blue, were made from only three paints, magenta, yellow, and cyan.

Brights: If you arrange your color wheel as a triangle, with magenta, yellow, and cyan in the three corners, then to make bright colors, just mix any of the colors on only one side of the triangle. For example, you can mix magenta with orange or yellow to make red, mix red with yellow to make orange, or mix orange with red to make orange-red. There's no need to limit yourself to using only the primaries, and if you want really bright colors, you'll find that mixing colors nearer each other on the color wheel will give you better results.

This disappointing "purple" was made by mixing red and blue.

If you mix colors from two different sides of the triangle, for example blue and red, you won't get a bright color. Blue and red together make a very dark purple.

Add white to make a tint, black to make a shade, or both to make a tone.

Low saturation colors (colors that aren't bright) come in three basic varieties: tints (light colors), shades (dark colors), and tones (muted, dull colors). Tints: Any color can be lightened by adding white. For a very light color it may be better to add your main color to the white a little at a time so you don't waste paint. Shades: Any color can be darkened by adding black. Some artists prefer to add the color's complement, which is its opposite color on an accurate CMY/RGB color wheel. For example, green can be used to darken magenta, and magenta to darken green, because they are across from each other on the color wheel. Add black, or a complement, a little at a time so you don't overdo it. Tones: By adding both white and black (or white and the color's complement), you can make your color muted, grayish, or dull. By varying the relative amounts of black and white you add to your mix, you can obtain whatever lightness and saturation you're looking for. Example: add both white and black to yellow to make light olive green. The black will darken yellow, turning it into olive green, and the white will lighten that olive green. Different light olive greens can be mixed by controlling how much of each is added.
o

For an unsaturated color like brown (dark orange), you can adjust the hue the same way as you would for bright orange, by adding small amounts of nearby colors on the color wheel: magenta, yellow, red, or orange. These will brighten your brown as well as changing the hue. But since brown is not a bright color, you can also use colors from other sides of the triangle like green or blue, which will darken brown while also changing the hue. Black can be made by mixing any two complements, but it can also be mixed from three or more colors evenly spaced around the color wheel. Just make sure you don't add any white or any color that has white in it, unless you want a shade of gray. If the black you are making is leaning too much toward some color, neutralize it by adding a little of that color's opposite. White can't be mixed from other paints. Like the three primariesmagenta, yellow, and cyanit will have to be purchased, unless you are working in a medium like water color in which your paper provides the white you need.

2. 2

Plan your strategy. Think about the hue, lightness, and saturation of the color you have and of the color you want, and make the necessary adjustments.
o

For example, green's hue can be changed toward cyan or toward yellow, its neighbors on the color wheel. It can be made lighter by adding white. Or it can be made darker by adding black or green's complement, which will be purple, magenta, or red, depending on the hue of the green. You can make it duller by adding both black and white, or you can make an unsaturated green a little brighter by adding (bright) green. Here's another example. You've mixed red and white to make pink, but your pink is too bright and too warm (yellowish). To correct the warm hue, you will have to add some magenta. To dull your bright pink, you will have to add either white, its complement (or black), or both. You need to decide whether you want a darker pink (add only the complement), a grayish pink (add both white and the complement), or just a lighter pink (add white only). If you plan to adjust the hue with magenta and dull your pink with green or cyan (complements of magenta and red), you can try to combine those steps by using a color that is in between magenta and cyan, like blue.

3. 3
Mix your colors, and get going on that masterpiece! If all this sounds overwhelming, you may just need some practice. Making yourself a color reference booklet can be a good way to practice using the principles of color theory. Even printing one on your computer can provide you with a helpful reference until you've gotten more practice and are starting to find the process more intuitive. How to Make Yourself a Color Reference Booklet
EditTips
Color Samples & Recipes

Find the color you want and follow the instructions below it. Each color chip represents a whole range of possibilities, and you can adjust the amounts of paint you use to obtain the exact color you're looking for. For example, any light color can be made lighter or darker by adding more or less white. Complements are opposite colors on an accurate RGB/CMY color wheel.

Magenta

Light Magenta

Dark Magenta

Dull Magenta

Magenta: Magenta can't be mixed from other colors. You will have to buy it.

o o o

Light Magenta: Add white to magenta. Dark Magenta: Add a small amount of black (or green) to magenta. Green is magenta's complement. Dull Magenta: Add both white and black (or green) to magenta.

Red
o o o

Light Red

Dark Red

Dull Red

Red: Add a small amount of yellow or orange to magenta. Light Red (Salmon pink, coral): Add white to red. Use less white and more red for coral. Dark Red: Add a small amount of black (or cyan) to red. Cyan is red's complement. Dull Red: Add both white and black (or cyan) to red.

Orange
o o o

Light Orange

Dark Orange

Dull Orange

Orange: Mix yellow with magenta or red. Light Orange (Peach): Add white to orange. Dark Orange (Brown): Add a small amount of black (or blue) to orange. (Or mix red and green.) Blue is orange's complement. Dull Orange (Light Brown): Add both white and black (or blue) to orange.

Yellow
o o o

Light Yellow

Dark Yellow

Dull Yellow

Yellow: Yellow can't be mixed from other colors. You will have to buy it. Light Yellow: Add white to yellow. Dark Yellow (Olive Green): Add a small amount of black (or violet-blue) to yellow. Violet-blue is yellow's complement. Dull Yellow (Light Olive): Add both white and black (or violet-blue) to yellow.

Lime Green
o o o

Light Lime

Dark Lime

Dull Lime

Lime Green: Add a small amount of green or cyan to yellow. Light Lime: Add white to lime green. Dark Lime: Add a small amount of black (or purple) to lime green. Purple is lime green's complement. Dull Lime: Add both white and black (or purple) to lime green.

Green
o o o

Light Green

Dark Green

Gray-Green

Green: Mix cyan and yellow. Light Green: Add white to green. Dark Green: Add a small amount of black (or magenta) to green. Magenta is green's complement. Gray-Green: Add both white and black (or magenta) to green.

Teal Green
o o o

Light Teal

Dark Teal

Gray-Teal

Teal Green: Mix cyan with a small amount of yellow or green. Light Teal: Add white to teal green. Dark Teal: Add a small amount of black (or magenta-red) to teal green. Magenta-red is teal green's complement. Gray-Teal: Add both white and black (or magenta-red) to teal green.

Cyan

Light Cyan

Dark Cyan

Gray-Cyan

 o o o

Cyan (turquoise blue): Cyan can't be mixed from other colors. You will have to buy it. Light Cyan: Add white to cyan. Dark Cyan: Add a small amount of black (or red) to cyan. Red is cyan's complement. Gray-Cyan: Add both white and black (or red) to cyan.

Blue
o o o

Light Blue

Dark Blue

Gray-Blue

Blue: Add a small amount of purple or magenta to cyan. Light Blue: Add white to blue. Dark Blue: Add a small amount of black (or orange) to blue. Orange is blue's complement. Gray-Blue: Add both white and black (or orange) to blue.

Violet-Blue
o o o

Light Violet-Blue

Dark Violet-Blue

Grayish Violet-Blue

Violet-Blue: Mix magenta with cyan or blue. Light Violet (Lavender): Add white to violet-blue. Dark Violet-Blue: Add a small amount of black (or yellow) to violet-blue. Yellow is violet's complement. Grayish Violet-Blue: Add both white and black (or yellow) to violet-blue.

Purple
o o o

Light Purple

Dark Purple

Dull Purple

Purple: Mix magenta with a small amount of cyan, blue, or violet. Light Purple: Add white to purple. Dark Purple: Add a small amount of black (or lime green) to purple. Lime green is purple's complement. Dull Purple: Add both white and black (or lime green) to purple.

Black: You can make black by mixing any two complements or any three colors spaced evenly around an accurate CMY/RGB color wheel, such as red, green, and blue. If you get a dark color instead of true black, correct it by adding the complement of that color. White: White can't be mixed. You will have to buy it. For a warmer white (such as cream), add a tiny amount of yellow. For a cooler white, add a small amount of cyan. Gray: Gray is black and white mixed together. See black, above.
More Tips

When mixing paints, add small amounts to adjust a color. You can always add more. This is especially true for black and blue, which tend to be very dominant. Add a little at a time until you get the result you want. You can use your eyes to find complementary colors. This is the old trick of staring at the color then looking at a white surface. You will see the opposite color appear due to the color fatigue of your eyes. Finding good primary colors to buy can be tricky. Look for magenta that doesn't contain any white or blue pigments (PW and PB). Violet and Red pigments such as PV19 and PR122 are best. PB15:3 is a good cyan. PB15 and PG7 are good too. If you're looking for craft paint or icing colors, you can try to match the colors in printer ink. Either print a sample from your computer printer to take shopping with you, or look for the primary colors inside the flaps of a box of cereal or cookies. Mixing and visual complementary colours are a little different, so we need one colour triangle for which colour pairs visually balance a painting, and another for which pairs best darken each other. Ultramarine sits very well against lemon yellow and other cool yellows, but to darken those yellows use a violet. On the net try, for instance, HILARY PAGE article Visual Complements for a good explanation. How many different tubes of paint do you really need for a painting? Jean-Louis Morelle's watercolour book shows how to use the cyan-yellow-magenta colour triangle to mix virtually every colour you need from just four or five, but you will find that three plus white (white is the paper in watercolour) can do it! Best mixing range comes using colours close to the CMY primaries, but to mix for shadows and darker colours one or even better, two should be darker than those primaries. eg Prussian or cobalt blue, alizarin crimson. What are you painting? The colors you need depend entirely on what you're painting. For example, ultramarine, Naples yellow, burnt sienna and white work for landscapes with distance if bright greens and yellows are not needed.

EditThings

You'll Need

Palette Disposable paper ones are nice. Mixing knife or palette knife (any size will do) Watercolor paper or primed canvas (there are pads available of both at your local art supply store; actual primed canvas is good) Containers of water or paint thinner for cleaning brushes

Synthetic brush of your choice (#8 round or #6 flat is good) Spray bottle to keep water-based paint moist Paper towel for blotting and cleaning brush Color Wheel How to Construct a Color Wheel Paints A smock or an old shirt you would not mind getting dirty Gloves

How to Create a Reverse Painting on Glass

Edited by Mayanne Mackay, Flickety, Brandywine, Travis Derouin and 5 others

31
Article EditDiscuss

The age old technique of reverse painting on glass has been considered a popular art of the people for many centuries. This article is an introduction to A Guide to Reverse Painting on Glass, which includes history, characteristics, using glass as a painting support, applying outlines, applying paint, and the materials required. You can access this reverse painting guide free: Please use the external link further down the page.
EditSteps

1. 1
Discover what reverse painting is. A reverse painting is created by painting a subject onto one side of a sheet of glass (or plexiglass), after which it is viewed from the other side of the glass, or through the glass. For more details, see the information in "Tips".

2. 2
Create your own reverse painting. Make sure the glass you use is totally free of scratches before choosing it as a support to paint on. Always work in a relatively dust free area when painting on glass.

3. 3
Work methodically. It is essential to work in a methodical way. This is because glass is a non-absorbent surface. Therefore, the paint will take longer to dry and can lift off easily. In addition, since you are working back-to-front and applying the finer details first, you need a lot of patience and extra concentration.

4. 4
If possible, use good quality paint brushes when working on glass, particularly for applying finer details.

5. 5
Keep the glass dust free. Wrap it in clean newspapers where possible.

6. 6
Finished.

EditTips Contrary to painting on a canvas or similar support, the reverse painting technique requires an artist to paint in reverse, or 'back to front'. Normally when an artwork is created on a support such as canvas, wood, or even on a wall, it is painted from the same angle and direction that it will ultimately be viewed from when completed. However, in the case of a reverse painting the painted side of the artwork (applied on one side of the glass) and the viewing side (perceived from the other side of the glass) means that the painted side of the artwork and the viewing side are opposed to one another. For those who see a reverse painting on glass for the very first time it can take a little while to realise that what may seem to be a painting under a protective sheet of glass - is in reality an artwork that has been painted on the glass itself. When painting with any techniques, always paint the object in front first, then add the rest behind, unless you want a ghost. Similarly, an artwork that is created on a canvas will usually begin with a rough outline and then gradually develop towards its completion and finishing touches. In the case of a reverse painting, this procedure will begin where it would normally end. This means that the finishing touches, such as finer details and the artist's signature, will be applied first (rather than last), and the background applications of colour will be added later (instead of at the beginning).

The effect that glass can give to a reverse painting can make it a very beautiful object. In order to enhance this effect, some artists use thicker glass as a support for their artwork. It is for this specific reason that the term 'reverse painting' is popularly used when describing this unusual and intricate painting technique which involves the use of glass as a support.

EditWarnings Always store glass somewhere safe where there are no risks for small children or pets.

How to Draw A Gnome

Edited by JamieBres26, KnowItSome, Sondra C, Krystle and 14 others

3
Article EditDiscuss

Drawing a gnome is something everyone can do, at least in a simple form. If you are a more skilled artist, you will probably feel more confident adding in extra detail on the gnome but for the purposes of this article, a simple gnome drawing is outlined.
EditSteps

1. 1
Look at the photo of the gnome above. Use this photo to assist the design and drawing method for your gnome. Gnomes are renowned for having a red pointed hat and a long white beard. They usually wear boots and a belt.

2. 2
Draw the gnome's face. Make it round and add the long white beard to the second half of the face. Bring the beard right down to its point.

3. 3
Add details to the face. This photo highlights some of the close-up features - a small white mustache, bushy eyebrows, twinkling eyes and a pudgy nose.

4. 4
Draw the body of the gnome. The gnome clothing should consist of a top and pants, held together in the middle with a large belt and buckle. The clothing tends to be blue in coloration and the belt black. However, you can choose any colors you like - there is no hard and fast rule about the color of gnome clothing.

5. 5
Decide whether you want your gnome to be holding something, have his arms hanging beside his body or just have his hands behind his back.

6. 6
Draw the boots. The boots should come up to just under the knees. Make them appear soft and crinkled.

7. 7
Draw the hat. Obviously, it is pointed and long. Color it red.

8. 8
Consider the background. If you want the gnome to have a background as well, consider a garden setting, a gnome village, an exotic location for a welltraveled gnome or a flower bed as some ideas for a background.

9. 9
Finished.

EditVideo

EditTips Once your pencil drawing is complete, spray it lightly with hair spray so it wont smear while it is being handled. By keeping your pencils sharpened, you can make thinner lines, and add detail much easier. Draw lightly with your pencil until you are satisfied with it. Once you are satisfied with it, go over it a little darker with your pencil, so you have a drawing that you are proud of. It's always good, especially if a beginner to practice when you can. Tracing images from books with tracing paper will help you better your talent. Don't expect it to happen overnight, practice makes perfect!

How to Thicken Paint

Edited by Workshopgirl, Maluniu, Livinginadaydream, AFC8871 and 1 other

Article EditDiscuss

Occasionally when you bring paint home from the store, it is not as thick as you need it to be. It may be runny and just drip down the wall. Or perhaps the paint has been sitting around for a while and has turned watery. You could go to the store to buy more paint or you could just learn how to thicken paint yourself. Cellosize hydroxyethyl cellulose, or cellosize hec, is a thickener that is a nonionic, water soluble polymer and can be added to paint as a thickening agent. It can be found in most home improvement stores and is an easy, convenient way to thicken paint.
EditSteps

1. 1
Pour the paint that you need to thicken into a large paint bucket.

2. 2
Mix the cellosize hydroxyehtyl cellulose, the thickening agent, in another container.
o

Use a high-shear mixer and pour in the initial amount of water. Follow the manufacturer's directions on the package regarding the amounts. Put the mixer on slow and sift in the cellosize hec. Mix the thickener on slow until the particles have been wetted out. Agitate the mix continuously until it is smooth and clear. This should take about 2 to 3 minutes. Create the thickener using a slurry solution. Follow the manufacturer's directions on the package of cellosize hec but usually a slurry contains 6 parts water to 1 part cellosize hec. It can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes for the slurry to mix,

depending on environmental factors, such as the air temperature or the water temperature.

3. 3
Add the thickening agent to the paint in the large paint bucket. Stir it in slowly using a large paint stirring stick with constant agitation until the solution has completely mixed and the paint is homogeneous. If you have created the thickening agent as a slurry, add it to the paint immediately.
EditVideo

EditTips Adding a preservative to the thickening agent is recommended and should be added right after the particles have wetted out. Cellosize hydroxyethyl cellulose will help thickened paint keep more than 90 percent of the viscosity under a wider range of environmental factors for 6 months or more. Store unused cellosize hec in a dry place less than 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) since moisture can cause the powder to become lumpy. EditWarnings If cellosize hec is spilled, vacuum or sweep up the spill immediately before it gets a chance to get wet and sticks. Use caution when handling paint and follow safety directions on the container. Do not prepare a solution that is more than 2 to 3 percent by weight; the solution could become hard to handle after being mixed. EditThings You'll Need Cellosize Hydroxyethyl Cellulose Paint Large Paint Bucket Container High-shear Mixer Paint Stirring Stick

How to Thin Acrylic Paint

Edited by Maluniu, sherry willey, BR, Katy B and 1 other

11
Article

EditDiscuss

Acrylic paint is a type of paint commonly used by artists, and in most cases, is a water soluble product. Thinning acrylic paint is done at times to achieve a different consistency and color. Many artists find that acrylic paint can be thinned by simply adding water to the paint. However, in certain situations where a specific consistency is desired, or if you have acrylic enamel, or a non-soluble acrylic paint, then you will need to follow additional steps to thin the paint. Finding the perfect method of thinning acrylic paint to achieve your desired color and consistency may take some practice, but can be easily achieved over time.
EditSteps

1. 1
Add water to your acrylic paint. Adding a small amount at a time and mixing more into the paint as you go to achieve the desired consistency. The paint comes out of the tub thick and at full-color strength but can be thinned all the way to the consistency of water colors.

2. 2

Take a palette knife and a palette to experiment with desired concentration of the paint, until an optimal color concentration is achieved. Make sure to mix the water in with the paint as thoroughly as possible to avoid clumping or too runny of a consistency.

3. 3
Add gesso to the paint and water mixture and stir with a paint brush. Gesso makes acrylic and oil paints adhere better to canvases and other surfaces. Adding gesso will thin and extend the paint, but it will also lighten the color slightly.

4. 4
Thin and extend your acrylic paint even more with a textile medium. Textile mediums are water-soluble products that used by many painters who want a smoother finish to their paintings. It is an optional step in the thinning process, but one that is preferred by most.

5. 5
Continue the thinning process by adding mineral spirits to the paint. Mineral spirits can also be used on acrylic paints that are not water based, in these situations mineral spirits are the only thing that thin the paint. You can also add a capful of rubbing alcohol to mineral spirits as well to thin the paint even more.

EditVideo

EditTips Make sure to thoroughly clean any brushes or tools you are using to thin your paint. When paint is being excessively thinned and is very light in color and consistency, dirt and other colors of paint left behind on tools can easily seep into your paint and destroy the color. Once dry, acrylic paint cannot be reconstituted with water, so it is important to not take breaks when attempting to thin acrylic paint. It is important to know that the paint will dry very quickly, which is feature of the paint that most artists favor. Rubbing alcohol and mineral spirits can also be used to thin acrylic paints enough to remove the paint from objects such as paint brushes. EditThings You'll Acrylic enamel Gesso Palette knife Water Acrylic paint Palette Rubbing alcohol

Need

Mineral spirits Textile medium Paint brush