Gourd art

Gourd art involves creating works of art using Lagenaria spp. hard-shell gourds as an art medium. Gourd surfaces may be carved, painted, sanded, burned, dyed, and polished. Typically, a harvested gourd is left to dry over a period of months before the woody surface is suitable for decorating.

 Gourd decoration, including pyrography, is an ancient tradition in Africa and Asia as well as among the indigenous peoples of the Americas, notably the central highland people of Peru, the Navajo, Hopi and Pueblo nations of the American Southwest, and the Nuxálk and Haida nations of British Columbia. Gourd crafting and painting has evolved from early hand carvings to the modern day use, by some, of electric wood burners and high-speed pen-shaped rotary tools that can be used to inscribe almost any design.

Pastel Painting

What is Pastel Paint?

The word “PASTEL” comes from the paste made of pure, powdered color pigment, bound together with a minimum of resin or gum, and molded into stick form.  If this same powdered color pigment were bound with an oil medium, it would be oil paint.  Because pastel sticks are formed with a minimum of resin or binder, usually just enough to hold the stick together, it is generally the most pure form of pigment that can be applied to a painting surface (generally paper) giving pastel paintings a vivid, luminous appearance

Acrylic paintings

 Acrylics are extremely versatile, fast-drying paints, and can be used straight from the tube like oils or thinned with water or a medium and used like watercolors. And a lot in-between.

Fabric Painting

 About Fabric Painting-

Fabric painting is an excellent way to spruce up an old household item or garment without having to replace it with a new one. All you need are fabric paints and a few good ideas to add personality to anything from old tennis shoes to lampshades. Although it helps to have some artistic abilities, you don't have to be an accomplished artist to paint on fabric. By learning a few basic strokes, you can transform your wardrobe or fabric furnishings as well as make creative gifts.

Best Fabrics for Painting-Fabrics should be a natural fiber or natural blend. For best results, paint on washable 100 percent cotton fabric. However, rayons and silks will also work. Textured or colored fabrics might produce variations in colors, while white or cream-colored fabrics can somewhat dull paints. To be sure of the effect on a particular textile, first test your paint on scrap fabric.

Fabric Paints-The various fabric paints available can easily overwhelm a novice. Fabric paints range from translucent, opaque and acrylic paints to those made exclusively for textiles. Acrylics, which come in tubes, jars and bottles, can be mixed with other paints for creating new colors. You can also dilute them with water or acrylic mediums. When applied directly to the fabric, they dry stiff, so it's better to mix with some type of medium for softer finishes.

Brushes-Choose brushes based on the desired effects you plan to create. For example, flat shaders have a chiseled edge, making them suitable for making clean edges and in making the "S" stroke for painting leaves. They're also ideal for filling in large areas. Liner brushes are used for making stems, scrolls, tendrils and other flowing lines. Scrubbers have tapered round bristles that work well for stippling effects or blending colors.

Painting Techniques-Fabric painting techniques include reverse stamping, stamp printing, screen printing and scratching. Reverse stamping gives the look of batik fabrics and is done as a "wet" technique. One or more colors are layered onto a wet extender base. Using fingertips, gently smooth brush strokes. Stamp printing is done with stamps, either homemade or purchased. The technique involves stamping on fabrics such as unbleached cottons or calicos, which are heavier than muslin fabrics. Screen printing is a technique done on thick fabrics such as duck fabric. Scratching, which is similar to reverse stamping, involves removing painting with a stamp and is usually done on poplin fabric.

History-Fabric painting is an ancient art with printing blocks dating as far back as 3000 B.C. Painted fabrics were found in 327 B.C. in India, with the invasion of Alexander the Great. Trade routes developed, and painted Indian fabrics were traded not only throughout Asia and Egypt, but also in Africa and Europe. The Chinese were also producing block printing on fabric and sharing their stencil and resist techniques with Japan, as seen in the beautiful Japanese fabric patterning. Various other fabric painting techniques have continued to evolve throughout the world.

Warnings-When painting one-sided designs such as on T-shirts, add some newspaper sheets, cardboard or plastic inside the shirt to prevent paint from seeping to the back of the shirt. For best results, always use tightly woven fabrics, because they produce brighter results.

Glass painting

Glass painting is an ancient art that rises and falls in popularity as techniques and materials change. In the early 1300s, large glass projects were often funded by wealthy families or through church organizations as stained, colored and painted glass were prohibitively expensive. The revival of modern glass painting is no longer associated with iconic religious windows or detailed Victorian panels. Today, glass painting has been brought into the everyday kitchen, allowing any artist, from beginner to expert, to play with the translucent effects of painting on glass.

 Types

• There are two basic types of glass painting: high fire glass painting and low fire glass painting. High fire painting requires the paint or stain to be fired at up to 1,200 degrees, and low fire painting allows the paint to be fired at 325 degrees.
  
  

Traditional Glass Painting

• High fire glass painting is considered traditional. This is the stain and paint work that has developed over hundreds of years in union with glass panels primarily used as church windows. According to M. Bradley Walker's 1999 article in Warm Glass, this type of glass painting uses four basic paint mixtures: vinegar trace, matte, silver stain and oil-based paints. Vinegar trace paints are used for line work. The color is often quite dark and opaque. This paint is applied with both the surface of the glass being wet and the paint being wet. Once the paint dries it cannot be painted over if an area is thin. The paint can be scraped away allowing for detail, shading and textural effects. This paint is fired at 1,100 degrees to a smooth finish.
  

High Fire Painting

• After trace paint is fired, matte paint is applied. This paint fills in backgrounds and shadows, and its color range is somewhat limited to blacks, blues, browns and greens. It also fires to 1,100 degrees. For red, orange and yellow colors, silver stain, or silver nitrate, is used. This stain changes color during firing. This stain is generally applied on the other side of the glass from trace and matte paints. Oil-based paints for stained glass can also be used. These fire at a lesser temperature.
  
  

Low Fire Glass Painting

• Low fire glass painting is relatively new. Products like glass paint markers are just entering the marketplace. There are a number of manufacturers who produce lines of paints and stains that range in features, colors and uses. Acrylic lines of glass paints offer opaque colors. Resin-based paints are transparent and offer opportunities to create frosted and glossy effects. Some products are more durable and intended for the regular use of the finished product. These glass stains can be applied to most glass surfaces. The paints are hardened or fixed by baking in the kitchen oven. Generally, bake time will be something like 40 minutes at 325 degrees. This may vary depending on the manufacturer and exact type of product. Some glass paints are designed to air dry and to be more decorative than functional.

Considerations

• In addition to glass painting, new products are available to mimic leading. These include adhesive lead, outline pastes and a variety of foil tapes. These products can be applied over the stain/paint work to further the illusion of authenticity. In addition, the foil tapes can be used to join pieces of glass together allowing for even more options. Rubber stamps can be used for design with the enamel glass paints, and stencils will also allow for easy design transfer. One of the attributes of glass painting is that a drawing, design or image can be attached to the back of the glass allowing for a direct transfer to glass painting.

About Warli Art

The tribal (warli, malharkoli, kokani, katkari) of Thane district in Maharashtra make Warli paintings. They do not consist of the myriad primary colours, so intimately associated with folk painting in India. Instead they are painted on an austere brown surface with the use of only one colour-white The only exception are red and yellow auspicious dots which are used to decorate the painting. The first impression of sobriety, however, is countered by the ebullience of the thems depicted. Men, animals and trees from a loose, rhythmic pattern across the entire sheet. This results in a light swinging and swirling movement, describing the day to day activities of the Warlis. Warli art was first discovered in early seventies. In many important respects, it was different from the folk and tribal idiom known to urban India till then. It did not narrate mythological stories in vibrant as did the Madhubani paintings of Mithila, nor did it contain the robust sensuality of the pata paintings found in the districts of Bengal, Orissa or Rajasthan.

Warli painting though essentially the same, depicting the marriage ceremony with the vegetation goddess in the center, her guardian in a side cauk and a surrounding landscape in which the preparations for the wedding are taking place, are far from repetitive for there are considerable differences in form and content between one area and another.

The Warli are short in stature with dark, burnt complexions and broad physical features. They share a connon religious awe of the Tiger God and roughly carved wooden statues of him can be found installed in all parts of the district.

Agriculture is their main occupation and provides bare sustenance to the Warlis. With paddy as their main crop, harvested once a year, there is little or no surplus for the coming year. An average of two to three acres for a family of five is barely sufficient for the year and the summer months find the Warlis looking for part-time jobs.The men of the family work during summer on other farm, constructing bunds, in bricks factories, repairing road for the Government or with the forest department.

The women lend a helping hand by cutting grass to be sold in the market.

The rough and rugged foothiils of the Sahyadri range, which comprise the main part of Thane, afford easy refuge to those who shun contact with the outside world.The undulating landscape, leading to higher and more invincible hills in the east which forms a natural boundary between thane and the rest of the state. The Warlis live in the rugged part of the country and keep much to themselves and have their own social organisation.The is no caste differentiation among them.

Warli Painting

Tanjore paintings

Thanjavur paintings basically signify paintings created using a style and technique, which originated in Thanjavur during the Maratha period in the 16th century.  A typical Thanjavur painting would consist of one main figure, a deity, with a well-rounded body & almond shaped eyes. This figure would be housed in an enclosure created by means of an arch, curtains etc. The painting would be made by the gilded and gem-set technique - a technique where gold leaves & sparkling stones are used to highlight certain aspects of the painting like ornaments, dresses etc. 

The painting would be bright and colourful and breathtakingly beautiful. The impact in a darken room is that of a glowing presence. While most of the paintings would depict the Child Krishna and his various pranks, paintings of other deities were also created. Over a period of time changes have occurred in the stylization - for example, the figures are no longer round. Presiding deities of various famous temples are also being depicted in the paintings. The technique is now more in use than the style.  

Tanjore Painting is a peculiar, ancient, miniature type of painting named after the place Thanjavur (called Tanjore in English) in Tamil Nadu, a Southern state of INDIA. Thanjavur district is famous for various arts and crafts in which paintings are ranked high among the other arts like Thanjavur Toys, Thanjavur Plates, etc. Its origin dates back to the Nayak & the Maratha period in the 16th century. 

The Maratha rule of Thanjavur lasted for about 2 centuries from the late 16th century. The Thanjavur school of painting evolved in a period full of political chaos in South India. Thanjavur Paintings flourished under the patronage of the Nayak & Maratha princes in the 16th to the 18th centuries. The art was practiced by two main communities namely - the Rajus in Tanjore and Trichy(a city near Tanjore) and Naidus in Madurai(a city ruled by Pandiyas) The artists (Rajus & Naidus) who are originally Telugu speaking people from "Rayalseema" region, moved to Tamil Nadu in the wake of the Nayaks rule of Madurai & Tanjore. The paintings were rooted in tradition and innovation was limited. The art was sacred to those master craftsmen who choose to be anonymous and humble. 

Paintings were done on materials like wood, glass, mica, exotic media such as ivory, murals and manuscripts. Most of the paintings were of Hindu deities & saints. Other courtly and secular portraits were also created. 

The early paintings were embedded with real Diamonds, Rubies and other precious stones. Later, use of semi-precious and artificial stones gained popularity. There are some examples of this art in the "Saraswathi Mahal Library", in Tanjore, set up & developed by King - Serfoji II This monarch, who reigned from 1798 to 1832, to whom we owe the "Ganesha shrine" in the "Tanjore Big Temple", played an important part in the history of the art of his times. 

Oil paintings-By Pablo Picasso

Oil paintings-By Pablo Picasso

Orientation: Vertical

Title: Enamel Saucepan

Artist: Pablo Picasso

Acclaimed co-founder of Cubism and one of the most influential and creative artists of 20th century art. Pablo Picasso, a Spanish Cubist Painter, initiated the Cubism art movement. Cubist subjects were broken, studied and reassembled in strange new ways. Fragmentation through geometric forms allowed artists of all types to express in an entirely new way.

During the Second World War, Picasso remained in Paris while the Germans occupied the city. Picasso’s artistic style did not fit the Nazi ideal of art, so he did not exhibit during this time. Retreating to his studio, he continued to paint, producing works such as the Still Life with Guitar (1942) and The Charnel House (1944–48). Although the Germans outlawed bronze casting in Paris, Picasso continued regardless, using bronze smuggled to him by the French Resistance.

Around this time, Picasso took up writing as an alternative outlet. Between 1935 and 1959 he wrote over 300 poems. Largely untitled except for a date and sometimes the location of where it was written (for example “Paris 16 May 1936”), these works were gustatory, erotic and at times scatological, as were his two full-length plays Desire Caught by the Tail (1941) and The Four Little Girls (1949).

In 1944, after the liberation of Paris, Picasso began a romantic relationship with a young art student named Fran?oise Gilot. She was 40 years younger than he was. Picasso grew tired of his mistress Dora Maar; Picasso and Gilot began to live together. Eventually they had two children: Claude, born in 1947 and Paloma, born in 1949. In her 1964 book Life with Picasso, she describes his abusive treatment and myriad infidelities which led her to leave him, taking the children with her. This was a severe blow to Picasso.

Picasso had affairs with women an even greater age disparity than his and Gilot's. While still involved with Gilot, in 1951 Picasso had a six-week affair with Geneviève Laporte, who was four years younger than Gilot. Eventually, as evident in his work, Picasso began to come to terms with his advancing age and his waning attraction to young women.[citation needed] By his 70s, many paintings, ink drawings and prints have as their theme an old, grotesque dwarf as the doting lover of a beautiful young model.

Beautiful Paintings Of Nature

Beautiful Pencil sketches

Beautiful Pencil sketches

PORTRAITS

Crop Art - INCREDIBLE!!!

Stunning crop art has sprung up across rice fields in Japan. 
But this is no alien creation - the designs have been cleverly planted.

MR.CRAYOLA......

Don Marco,The Master Crayola Artist

Don Marco was born in Northern Minnesota in the late 1920's. His interest in art was evident even before starting school. As a young adult in the Army Air Corp, he began his life's career in Air Traffic Control, which continued until his retirement from Honolulu International Airport in 1973... Much of his spare time was spent as a professional artist. Before retirement, Don started developing a technique to create fine art, using Crayola Crayons. Shortly after retiring, he published his first print. Living in Southern California, his work was in demand, including commissions from Burt Reynolds and a one-man show at his Dinner Theater in Florida ..

                                                                     Tom Selleck

                                                                         Quigley

                                                                    Navajo Meeting

                                                                              Eagle