I have to enter a canvas for a charity event and i don’t want to paint on it (that will just mess it up) so can just use a 4B pencil, sketch something on it and then fixitive it? Does that count as a finished product? How do you make a pencil drawing into a finished artwork? Should i do anything to the canvas beforehand/afterward?

Does it have to be on a canvas? If not you could use stiff bristol board or paper, spray it , then frame it.
Have fun with it,
Jeff

I live near Corpus Christi, TX. I am looking to get a really nice portrait tattoo of my Father who passed in Feb.. I know they are hard to do so I want the best in the area. Does anyone know a good website, forum or anything where I can do some research? I have been calling and visiting local shops but they all claim to be good at portraits. I don’t want to just trust their words for it and end up with something I will regret the rest of my life.
Help please!
Beth

At our studio, we do not SPECIALIZE in portraits so we refer them out. That’s all there is to it for us. We only let our clients go to someone who does them almost exclusively.

It is one thing to see a decent looking portrait in a portfolio, but if you cannot see a reference photo, you have no idea if the artist has captured that person well. Always see both a reference photo and the tattoo after picture. Don’t rely on drawn designs.

Another tip is to see how well they do celebrity portraits – faces you know and see all the time – I call it the Elvis test. Anyone who has done a lot of portraits have likely been asked for an Elvis – trust me, I have seen a lot of poor quality Elvi out there! (haha).

Look at the work of some of the great portrait artists like Nikko Hurtado, Bob Tyrrell, Aaron Bell, Anil Gupta (there are many more but these are who come to mind at the moment.)

If the work doesn’t measure up – keep looking.

I just moved into my first apartment and it has cathedral ceilings so there is a lot of blank wall. I wanna hang stuff up so it doesn’t look so institutionalized (all white walls…) but is it tacky to hang up posters? Like… just paper posters.

I’d opt for some beautiful rugs or fabric with an intricate, color coordinated pattern that you love.

Posters are fine but you are right, too many can make a place look tacky. I hung large baskets on the walls in the kitchen and beautiful rugs in the living room. I saved the bedroom and bathroom for posters where not too many people but me hung out. The rugs can be used sometime later on in your life on the floor when you have collected some artwork for the walls.

I was so pleased to be accepted on this site .http://www.ickenoxartshop.co.uk But now I have paid the entry fee they will not answer my emails so artists beware. Have anyone else had this experience ?

Too bad. E-bay is fine to sell off stuff you don’t want but you’ll never get what your artwork is worth. You could join ArtWanted for free and post some work there and ask your own prices. I get about 300 hits on my work every day (more than if I showed in a gallery). See my stuff and click ‘JOIN’ for more info.
http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=31019&SubGal=Oil

I tried an inkjet printer (as it was easily available) and it’s pretty bad, the print fades quickly despite I put UV protectant on top. I don’t want just small prints, I’d like one maybe 9×15" without paying tons of money. Which option would you recommend me to research further?

Your local Kinko’s or Office depot can do that for you and it’s not that expensive. You can even send it to them electronically and pick it up the same day. You don’t mention where you live or I could give you more names of places that could help you.

Good luck,

I am painting the bowl of a birdbath. The paint in the bowl will be under water on a regular basis. What type of paint will tolerate being under water for extended periods of time?

Ask this question in construction and remodeling section not in arts section.

I have been working on watercolor painting that is about 30" by 24" and it is not finished yet. It is Fabriano paper that I am working on and my kitten bit into it. Normally the animals in my house are kept out of my studio, but I had brought the painting downstairs to transport somewhere and he bit into it. It’s a small few holes on the part that is not painted in yet. Any suggestions on how to fix it? Thanks!

I bet if you go on the back of the paper, get it really really wet just over the puncture marks, let it sit, and then work the paper back and forth with a small tool, like a cuticle pusher, in really small strokes, it might help blend the paper fibers and "heal" the paper. keep the worked spot small, and keep it flat while it dries so the paper doesn’t warp. Try it on a scrap piece of the same type of paper first.

According to Encarta:

Most artists today use commercial materials but some prefer to make their own paints in the traditional way. Oil paint consists of pigment ground in oil that dries on exposure to air. The pigments, or colored powders, must be lightproof, insoluble, and chemically inert. The oil is usually linseed but may be poppy or walnut. Sometimes varnish is added to the mixture, which is then ground. The stiff, creamy paste that results is packaged in flexible tubes.

The painting surface consists of a support, either a wood or composition panel, or more frequently, linen, cotton, or jute canvas stretched on a frame or glued to a board. The support is covered with a ground, a thin coating of gesso or other gypsum and glue, or size. The ground makes the support less absorbant and provides an even painting surface that is neither too rough nor too smooth. The ground may be white but is often given a toning coat of gray, tan, or pink.

Traditionally, oil painting proceeds in stages. First the design may be sketched on the ground in pencil, charcoal, or paint diluted with turpentine. Then broad areas of color are filled in with thin paint. They are successively refined and corrected in thicker paint to which oil and varnish are added. The paint is usually applied with brushes made from stiff hog bristle, although softer brushes of badger or sable hair may be used. Paint may also be applied with a flexible, wide-bladed painting or palette knife, or the fingers. The process may require only a few sessions or extend over months or even years.

Once the painting has dried, at least a year after completion it is varnished to protect it from dirt and to enrich the color. Because all varnishes eventually darken, the varnish used should be removable and eventually replaced.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Looks good to me. I think you have it figured out although I buy mine and have added linseed oil to thin it out or give it texture. I usually paint a layer of white let it dry then go from there. I have never used varnish and you will need terpintine for cleaning brushes. Go to Hobby Lobby or Michaels or other art supply dealers look around if you are wanting to go abstract I would use a larger canvas and larger brushes. They can be pretty expensive but are also sold in sets.
Have fun I wish I had time to pull mine out and paint more often.

I am collecting paintings/prints of all the places i have travelled and framing them for my house. Some places I visited I wasnt able to find paintings. I dont know how i can now get them at home. They are sold in most souvenir shops in each country but i need to know if there is anywhere in Australia or on the net? They are only around 25 cm * 30cm in size and arent very expensive (not by well known artists) I have tried ebay etc.

These are the places i need:
Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester, Vigo – Spain, Singapore, Taipei, Hunan – China, Stuttgart – Germany, Los Angeles, Marseille – France.

I would be so so thankful if anyone could help me out.
Thanks!

Try finding the Tourist information sites for each of those places, they should be able to put you in touch with souvenir suppliers.

Alternatively look in e-bay

I have several old family paintings. I believe they are oil but I am not sure. Through the years they have gotten dirty. Dust and yellow lines running down them. I don’t know what has caused this. What can I use to clean them with out damaging the picture?
Thank you
Red

If you really love them take them to a specialist. He/she will remove the dirt and the varnish and re-varnish the painting and it will look like new.

Do it yourself and you will be in a world of hurt.

But if you really have to. Start wil cotton-wool rolled on a stick. dampen with water and systematically roll them over the painting. Start at the bottom and work your way up in strips. Do not rub. Do not push. Do not leak. Refresh the cotton every few turns and keep your water clean.

If you are done you repeat the process with a varnish solvent. Be very careful to only dissolve the varnish and not the painting. When you are done you re-varnish the painting.