The Sphinx of Giza

In Greek mythology, the sphinx is a creature with a head of a woman, a body of a lion, and the wings of a bird.  This mythical creature was given a famous role of a guardian of the city of Thebes.  Anybody who wish passage must answer a riddle or be devoured.  The riddle goes: “Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?”

The riddle (and a second one) was answered by Oedipus, and the sphinx killed herself in despair.  In Egypt, however, the sphinx is a symbol of power and wisdom.    Sphinxes are made with heads of kings or gods on a lion’s body.  The most famous of all Egyptian sphinxes is the Sphinx of Giza.  This sphinx has been an inspiration for many authors, film makers, historians and was even used as a subject for abstract painting.

What’s amazing about this man-made structure is that it’s made out of bedrock of Muqqatam Formation; which was formed 50 million years ago from sediments and remains of now-extinct plankton at the bottom of the sea.  It was believed a quarry was built where the sphinx stood.  The quarry was for the stones to be used for the construction of the great pyramids.  In the area where the body of the sphinx is located, the stones were believed to be substandard.

A visionary has conceived an idea to use that substandard stone to form a Sphinx.  When the Sphinx was completed, it was left for years and was buried under tons of sand.  Legend has it that when King Thutmose IV was still a prince, he fell asleep beneath the shade of the Sphinx.  The Sphinx implored the prince to uncover him from the sand and promised him the throne.  The request was granted and Thutmose was ordained king of Egypt.

Right now, the sphinx is slowly deteriorating because of the elements and smog.  Restoration only caused further damage to the Sphinx, so it was left alone.  No one knows whom the Sphinx of Giza signifies.  Most historians speculate that it was Cephren, others state it was his guardian deity.

There are other images of the sphinx in abstract art paintings.  This can be a great addition to your collection, so consider looking for a sphinx when you buy abstract art.

Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal is featured among the 8 wonders of the world.  It was built in between 1631-1648 under the order of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.  It is said that the construction was to fulfil a dying request of Sha Jahan’s favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal.  Legend has it that during the last hours of Mumtaz Mahal, she made him promise to build her a mausoleum of unsurpassable beauty and splendour.  True to his word, Shah Jahan built her a tomb unlike any other in the world.  Such beauty is often subjects of many gallery paintings.

Taj Mahal’s construction took 22 years under the labor of 20,000 workers.  The master architect was Ustad ‘Isa, which was the most renowned Islamic architect during that period.  Craftsmen from Baghdad, Shiraz, and Bukhara were employed to work on special areas in the structure.  An interlocking arabesque concept was used; each single aspect of the building has its own individual place, but is still incorporated in the whole structure.  Such concept can be applied when making an abstract art painting. When his wife died, Shah Jahan showed no interest in ruling over the city.  His obsession was to have the monument finished, as promised, for his deceased wife.  Because of this, he has failed to see the conspiracy laid by his son Aurangzeb to seize the throne.  Upon Aurangzeb’s declaration as an Emperor, Shah Jahan was imprisoned in a tower in Red Fort, Agra.  The only thing that keeps his sanity is his view of the mausoleum he has built for his wife.

The entire structure was inlaid with marble.  The marble creates such an image of the Taj Mahal during sun set, when the orange rays cast by the sun is reflected by the intricate marbling.  At dawn, the Taj Mahal gives an image as if it’s floating in air on a heavy fog when viewed from the Jamuna River.  Literally, treasure chests upon treasure chests of jewels like rubies and topaz were used to decorate the walls and ceilings of several rooms in the monument.  The intricate design and artwork of Taj Mahal is a wonderful subject for abstract painting.

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is the towering icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.  It was built by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, and was the highest structure in the world until the completion of the Empire State Building.  The Eiffel Tower was built for the Paris exhibition in 1889.  It stands about 300 meters (984 feet), about as tall as an 81-storey building.  This backdrop of Paris has been a subject of several abstract art paintings.

The Eiffel Tower has three levels for its visitors.  Tickets are bought depending on whether you will use the stairs or the lifts for each level.  Novelist Guy de Maupassant, claiming to hate the tower with a passion, usually had his lunch in one of its restaurants every day.  He said that it’s the only place in Paris where you cannot see the structure.  Still, many famous personalities come to the Tower to see the site of Paris as well as eat in one of its restaurants.  Jules Verne is an expensive restaurant located at the second floor of the Tower, and is accessed via private lift.

There is a controversy over the image of the tower captured in films and photographs.  In March 1992, the French Court has made a ruling that the light display of the Tower at night is protected by copyright.  No one is permitted to take a picture of the tower at night except in panoramic view.  To celebrate its 100^th anniversary, SNTE (Société nouvelle d’exploitation de la tour Eiffel) installed a special lighting display on tower.  Since they are the ones who installed the lighting display, they were granted copyright privileges of night time and you must get their permission in order to publish contemporary photographs of the tower.

If you wish to make an abstract art painting of the tower, consider booking a hotel that gives you a panoramic view of the tower just to be safe.  When you get the chance to be in Paris, ask where you can get gallery paintings of the Eiffel Tower.

Landscaping Design for Beginners

For most people, planning front yard landscape is easy but for some who have just started out in decorating their front yard, here’s something to help you jumpstart. If this will be your first time, you may be nervous and may be lost in choosing which method you would use to decorate your yard. It is your prerogative if you would take into consideration the things I would say and recommend but I hope in the end, you would achieve a beautiful front yard.

You start decorating your front yard landscape with bushes built around the yard and this marks off boundary. Within the bushes, you can put in peonies or creepers that would absolutely look admiring. Another good thing that you can add within the bush are hedges.

There are amalgams of hedges that come up and there are number of collars they’re available in, thus getting hedges on your yard would make a great idea. You can choose from various selections, from seasonal, deciduous, flowering to evergreen. It is best to plant them in spring, water it well and it’ll be fine.

If you want something different, a valuable option is gardening. What you can do is to get that little garden inside the bush patch and embellish it with some roses or peonies or lilies whichever you prefer. They would surely look splendid.  Or you can use those little hedges to decorate some creative pattern on your yard’s surface or on the sides of your car path or walkway.

These front landscape ideas for beginners will surely give you fulfilment and maybe you could become great landscape designers as well. Just a little trivia, did you know that landscape designs are one of the most common abstract art painting canvasses? I have seen amazing masterpieces in various gallery paintings that sometimes I get inspiration from them. And I even bought an abstract painting to decorate my wall and partnered it with my landscape design.

Face Painting: What and how to use face paints?

Modern paintings like abstract paintings and body painting is becoming popular nowadays, one of these modern painting methods is face painting that is especially popular amongst children party. Many artists also use face painting as their source of income.

As an artists it is important to know what paint one should use, where to get it and how to use it.

1. Choosing the right face paint to use.

The best brand would be the Wolfe Bros., a.k.a. Wolfe Face Art and FX. Snazaroo and Ben is also a good brand. These brands are all high quality, easy to use and they are FDA approved, meaning safe to use for your skin. They are also available water-based that is so easy to wash off.

2. Arrange all your materials such as face paints, cup of water, paper towels, brushes, and sponges on a table next to your hand. Fold up a paper towel and lay your brushes on top of it. Now set up 2 chairs facing each other. One chair is for you and the other one for the person you will do the face painting with.

3. Dip your brush in the water then bring your brush to the paint. Mix the water from your brush with the paint, working the paint into creamy consistency.

4. As for the sponge, you may either use it on its original form or cut it in half suing the scissor. Then dip one end of it in the water and pat it onto the paper towel to remove excess moisture. Rub the sponge with firm pressure in the paint, loading of paint on one end.

5. When applying the paint on the face on a full-face design, use the sponge to cover large areas of the face, the use the brush to add smaller details. Once you have applied the paint onto your sponge, use a dabbling movement to apply the paint. In case the paint comes out too streaky, go back over it with the use of the sponge with a light dabbing movement. Let the paint dry first before adding more details.

As an artist it is indeed a fulfillment at the end if you create good face paint. Same applies for other painting genre such as abstract art, plein air, contemporary paintings, landscapes, and others.

Flower Painting Ideas

Flowers are very attractive subject matter especially for those artists who really love any species of it. Despite the range of flowers that exist in nature, this project should not be off-putting. Flowers can be broken down into its important parts to help you with your drawing and painting.

Sketching the Flower

In sketching, you can either use a real flower or a photograph of it. Tulips work well as a simple flower subject. First, put the flower in a vase to keep it steady. Using your pencil, sketch the flower, following the gentle curve of the stem. Continue until you are satisfied with the sketch of the stem. Then start sketching the inner most flower petals, use dotted lines to reflect where the petals overlap one another. Start from the center and move outward. Once you feel satisfied with the arrangements of the petals, you can then erase the dotted lines. Don’t forget to sketch the pistils and stamen if they peek through the top of the petals.

Painting the Petals

Try to observe carefully the shadows and how they appear on the flower. This affects the color temperature of the flower, making the flower look more lifelike. The warmer the temperature, the lighter the shade of the color and the cooler its hues the darker the shade will be. Using pictures is helpful in this because the light can change the shadows on the flower before you have completed the painting.

To start with, use a heavy cartridge of paper. Then make an underwash for the flower. Underwash is a universal color that seems to lie beneath the whole flower and will be the flower’s lightest hue. This remove the white of the paper and gives a good contrast to the color temperatures you will apply to the petals. Use a watercolor underwash and an acrylic paint as the surface paint. Coat the colors on the flower in stages, depicting the various color temperatures. Build the colors on top of the underwash, keeping an eye out for the variation in color temperatures. When creating brush strokes, always remember that there are color lines in the center of the flower that pull outward toward the ends of the petals.

Painting the Leaves and the Stem

You can use the method above regarding the underwash and color temperature for the leaves and stem of the flower. Take note that the most distinguished aspect of the leaf is its vein structure and how the light and shadows reflects off of the leaf. When sketching the leaf, make a general outline of the leaf, applying the details later when you start to paint the leaf.

The key to achieve a successful floral painting is to paint in stages, building color around the light and shadows on the leaf and adding vein detail after you have accurately reflected the color temperatures on the leaf.

Truly, floral paintings are good for wall decorations either at home or in your work. Another genre of paintings that can also add and intensify your room’s personality is abstract art paintings. Abstract art are perfect for those people who love to exercise their mind and imagination. Buy abstract art now on a gallery or on line!



Floral Paintings: What flowers are commonly use by artists?

Flowers are important and symbolic items for ceremony, celebrations, and festivals. No wonder many artists find flowers as their most chosen subject for painting. Floral art aside from abstract art, landscape, seascape, and still-life has also defined the legacy of several popular painters and continues to be one of the most well-known categories of art brought and sold today. So given the endless variety of flowers on earth, which one are most frequently painted? Artist over the centuries have gravitated towards specific species when making their works of art.

 

Roses

These are probably the most popular flower in history. They have been used to represent love, ceremony, death, and endless other human endeavors. There are over 100 varieties which include many colors as well. Not to mention the symbolism of the delicate petals protected by the dangerous thorns is ripe with symbolism. So it is usual that roses are painted more than any other flower out there. Artist in the past are fine tuned their skill to construct and shape the petals of a rose.

 

Orchids

These flowers are more mysterious since no one knows how many varieties of them truly exist. New orchid species are continuously being discovered. Their cult like following likely stems from the combination of their rarity and variety and the beauty of so many species.

 

Wildflowers

Another flower that you can often see in most floral art is the wildflower. It depicts not so much a species but a category of flower. However, the fact remains those artists have often tried to capture the radiance that wildflowers provide in the wilderness. There are numbers of colors and shapes and given that they often grown in groups and bunches only makes them more tempting for artist to imitate on a canvas. Contrasting colors of wildflowers in the same setting makes for great art.

 

Lilies

Lilies on a canvas are also popular, bug beautiful blooms that last for a long time projected into brilliant paintings. Right labeling of a flower as a lily seems to be challenging in that there are many species that are similar but nor of the official variety. Regardless of their colors, lilies are perfect paintings for wall decoration.

So, what other flowers are most famous use by artists as a subject? There are so many that could complete this list. Daisies with their simplicity appeal to those wanting to paint with white. Eastern cultures have made art featuring Lotus flowers renowned. Tulips, daffodils, and marigolds are standards of spring. Exotics like Bougainvilleas, Anthuriums, and Birds of Paradise are featured in art from tropical areas over the world.

Several of flower species not discussed here that have been featured in flower paintings. Given the joy, beauty, and symbolism flowers bring to human cultures, it’s no surprise that flower paintings continue to be as popular as they are. Floral art is also now more available than ever, you may want to search online to see an endless number of flower galleries and collections.

You might also want to take a look on contemporary paintings, landscape paintings, abstract art paintings and other still-life paintings online. Who knows, you might find the one you are looking for!

The Beauty of Fabric Painting

Painting on a fabric aids to enhance the textiles. There are several patterns and styles that can be created on fabric. One popular design is flowers. There are huge numbers of kind of flowers that’s why artists have no limitation and can even create their own look of a flower without even referencing a particular kind.

Fabric Painting Step1:

Choose or look for a fabric that you would like to paint. Think about how you will use the fabric when the painting is complete since different fabrics are better suited for various types of projects. For instance, silk and cotton fabrics are perfect for creating garments and a thick cotton/poly blend is ideal for drapes and upholstery, and a duck cloth or heavy canvas is ideal for a tablecloth. A fabric with a coating such as oil cloth is not an ideal fabric for this process.

Fabric Painting Step2:

Wash the fabric or clean it as indicated to the care instruction. For example, most silk fabrics are not washable and could be clean through dry-cleaned to remove any dirt that could hinder the steadfastness of the paint on the fabric.

Fabric Painting Step3:

Choose the type of paint you will apply on your fabric. Different paints are formulated for various types of fabrics. Like for an instance, there are paints made deliberately for painting on silk. Have a variety of hues for painting or the primary colors (red, yellow and blue) with black and white for mixing your own colors.

Fabric Painting Step4:

Before applying the paint, test it first on the fabric by trying different brush strokes and methods for painting on a scrap piece of fabric. If you are creating this fabric for a wearable item that will be washed, wash the scrap of fabric to ensure steadfastness. The fabric paint label should detail care instructions and always follow those instructions.

Fabric Painting Step5:

Start painting the fabric! To produce a flower, press down with the side of the brush, making an ovular shape on the fabric with the paint. Do this in a circular, changing the direction of the brush to point outward, completing the circle to form a basic flower shape. Paint the inside of the circle to finish the center of the flower. Another technique flower painting is through laying a translucent fabric on top of a picture of flowers. Just follow the outline of the flower with the paint and brush, producing a replica of the flower in the picture. To create depth in the flower, water down the paint to create a lighter mark, adding highlights with the thicker paint.

Fabric Painting Step6:

Cure the paint as indicated by the label on the fabric paint. Basically, this inquire letting the paint fry completely and ironing with a hot iron on the backside of the fabric to cure the paint.

Do you like fabric painting? Try abstract art too! Visit abstract art galleries on line and see among the gallery paintings that suits your taste.

Abstract Canvas Painting Tips

I know every artist wants to create the best and unique artwork. This goal is of course difficult to obtain if you are a beginner. Here are some tips to help you with:

Colors

Every artist has its preference towards a particular color. He/she will then try to include this color in each of his/her artwork. You may love to use this color the most or even might not mind using only this favorite color over a canvas. Either way, what most important thing you should always remember to mix proper and appropriate colors. If you want your painting to become loud and energetic, I then suggest that you use colors with bright colors and you like the opposite of it, try using subtle colors!

 

Brushes

It doesn’t matter how many brushes you use to create your art piece. The truth is you can keep them aside and try using some other tools. Try painting knife or a pallet knife instead or if you also like, use your nails or needles.

 

Camera

You can use this to capture your favorite things. After capturing, you may want to transfer these photos into paintings.
Left over colors

Most of the time, a considerate amount of hues remain after the painting session. You can put them in small empty containers and seal them properly. Instead of sealing them with a lid, you can use some good cling wrap. You can also draw a small stroke from the same color over the container to serve as your mark of what color that container has.

 

Glass Palette

Place this over a clean white paper which acts like a neutral background, and use it as a palette. Make sure that the glass is as thick as your standard windowpane. By suing these you can clearly see colors as you go mixing them over the glass pane.

 

Using alternatives in your regular art is a great abstract painting ideas. With the tips above, you can produce a new and unique abstract art canvas. Wherever you go shopping, traveling, partying, or even during work, spend time to look around you and experiment things that you could easily transfer to your canvas. Try adding some fun to your abstract art painting by experimenting with the unusual things and you will have an amazing painting ready on your canvas!

Painting Ideas

Most artists expressed their feeling though a painting. Painting has been used fro thousands of years now to express human emotions. It is rightfully said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Painting a tiny flower, a huge gathering, an old fort or latest model can be accomplished using a canvas, colors and painting tools. Aside from those physical materials, you also need to have a wild imagination that is your key to a successful masterpiece.

 

Canvas Art Ideas

 

1. You should know your interest area. If you like things such as gadgets or vehicles, you can try them on a canvas! It doesn’t matter if you’re a first timer or not, I believe you will enjoy doing this. Same thing goes if you love nature, why not spend time to go to the nearest favorite spot and start your masterpiece?

 

1. Floral Art is probably one of the best painting ideas for the novices. All by yourself, you can arrange your favorite flowers in a vase or buy a simple affordable bouquet and start your work with keen observation. A single flower is also enough to make your canvas artwork.

 

1. Try new things! If you enjoy painting a particular genre and is good at it, you may also try to do something that is completely different. Try landscape, abstract art, contemporary paintings as well and others.

 

1. If you are tired of looking for a subject to paint with, look at yourself in a mirror. Why not paint your hands, or your legs with your favorite footwear on. Remember, do not limit yourself on one thing, explore, enjoy and experiment!

 

1. Thinking weird might also help you. Let say an ants queue over your books stack, or a mobile phone placed inside your formal shoes, as if on a phone stand. It’s a matter of thinking something unusual. The more you think weird the more it will become unique!

 

1. Try abstract paintings! If you think landscape or still life paintings are too hard for you since you are a novice, why not try abstract art paintings instead? It will be easier for you to create this and express your feelings!