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Hot Painting Tips How-Tos

How To: Spray paint with a layering technique

Try out a layering technique using spray paint. Always wear a mask when painting with spray paint indoors. Create interesting compositions on old shopping bags. Add depth and tone to stencils by building up layers of material texture, drawing and spray paint. Dry your work with a heat gun if you have one.

How To: Design and carve a Chinese name chop seal stamp

Any artist who excels enough in his profession will create some sort of signature on his painting to notify other it's his work. Some painters, like Jan van Eyck, are cryptic with their inscriptions, putting it in almost impossible to see areas in the painting, while others, like Chinese painters, put their literal stamp on paintings with a carved seal stamp.

How To: Paint an eye in acrylic paint

This painting tutorial demonstrates how to make a painting of an eye with acrylic paint. Use a photograph as a reference. Begin with light washes of paint, and slowly lay down more paint mixed with liquid medium or drying retardant. Use small amounts of blending color as a final layer.

How To: Paint believable rocks

Wilson Bickford teaches us how to paint believable rocks in this tutorial. To begin, you will first start with an easel and several paints. Wet your small paint brush with a mixture of brown and black and paint a rock shape on the paper. You will do this by drawing many lumps and bumps to make it look like a natural rock. Use white paint on the side of the rock to give it a light glare where the sun would naturally hit it. To finish the rock, paint on browns to it, to add a dirt color and mak...

How To: Paint the texture of water

Watch this instructional painting video to create a water like effect on the surface of canvas, wood or paper. Use acrylic paint and a spray bottle with some paint thinner. Spray the turpentine onto wet paint and watch the paint separate into shapes that look like the surface of water, splashes and wave patterns.

How To: Paint in a Norwegian folk style called "rosemaling"

In this video, Linnea Rose teaches us how to paint in a Norwegian folk style called "rosemaling". With this, you will double load your brush and do the strokes in the correct way. To double load your brush, first dip one corner into a color, then dip another color into the other color. After this, stroke again in between the two colors. Next, go to your canvas and simply stroke a looped shake on the paper. Firmly press down with your brush and as your curve around you lift it up to the chisel...

How To: Do Acrylic Painting on Feathers

In this video series, watch as artist Carolyn Travisano teaches how to d acrylic painting on feathers. Learn how to choose the feathers, choose brushes, choose paint, how to get inspiration, how to prepare the paint pallet, how to design a layout, how to fill in colors, how to do stage comparisons, how to work the feathers, how to add detail, how to do shadowing, how to do the finishing spray, and how to mount the feathers.

How To: Paint on plexiglass

Watch this instructional painting video to begin painting on plexiglass. Create some cool effects using spray paint, paint thinner, acrylic paint. Make marks and unique textures using your finger, scratching tools and stencils.

How To: Pour acrylic paint

Demonstration of Helen's unique acrylic pouring technique. This technique comes to life when the acrylic paint is mixed with water and, literally, poured onto the canvas, creating free-flowing shapes and forms.

How To: Paint sand in your composition

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to paint sand. Users will need a palette knife and paint brush. The colors needed for the sand are: iron oxide, pure white, burnt umber and burnt salmon. Collect all 4 colors on the palette knife and apply it lightly onto the canvas. If it is too dark, add some more white paint. Then use a paint brush to smooth out the edges and blend the sand together. This video will benefit those viewers who are interested in art and painting, and would like to lea...

How To: Paint the human body

Painting the human body can be difficult and takes a lot of practice. Our art expert is here to teach you all about figure painting, including tips on mixing paint colors for skin tone, lighting, depth and even backgrounds, in this free video art lesson.

How To: Paint jeans

In this video clip, learn how to paint a pair of jeans. You can learn how to add a unique and dramatic look to this ordinary piece of clothing. Our expert, Kristine Mueller, shows you tips and techniques for painting on jeans.

How To: Collage and paint aluminum foil

This video demonstrates how to create an artwork using ordinary aluminum foil from your kitchen. This technique is good for those people who have no inspiration of what to paint but want to be creative. This collage technique is a fun way for beginners to experiment with textures, composition and color. Materials used in this video are aluminum foil, a glue stick, Bitumen (a material used as primer for painting on metal without rusting), collage or textured paper, spray paint, acrylic paint, ...

How To: Paint your pet's portrait without an art background

Dog trainer Emily Larlham from Dogmantics teaches how to paint your pet's portrait without having a background in art. Colors used in this tutorial include Titanium White, French Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna (a brown), Burnt Umber (a dark brown), Alizeran Crimson (a red), Cadmium Yellow, and Cadmium Orange. Other colors that are a good beginners palate include Cadmium Red and Yellow Ochre.

How To: Paint distant trees in watercolor

Learn the required techniques for painting distant watercolor trees. In other words, these are the trees that sit in the distant landscape, providing the background - the 'supporting cast' if you like - for the more important elements in your painting, maybe a house, a figure or a river, etc. Paint distant trees in watercolor.

How To: Paint a red rose

In this tutorial, we learn how to paint a red rose. First, you will add some red paint to your brush and paint along lines of a rose outline. Use an angled brush so you can get a better accuracy while you are painting. After this, continue to paint around the petals until you reach the entire area of the rose. Then, paint the inside of the rose. You will then mix the red together with darker colors and whites to add depth to the flower on the paper. Once finished, you will have a gorgeous red...

How To: Understanding the difference between ink & watercolor

Learn how to understand the Difference between Chinese ink and watercolor with Chinese paintings. There are several differences between ink and watercolor art. Learn how to spot these variations with this video tutorial from Blue Heron Arts. This tutorial shows the differences between Chinese and Western culture paintings, which is largely rooted in the use of rice paper in Chinese artwork as well as the stretching of the paper prior to painting. Additionally, different types of paints are us...

How To: Paint birds in watercolor

Watercolor painting is a great way to get introduced to the world of painting and fine art. The free flowing nature of watercolor allows you to start out simply as you refine your craft. You can make any shape or image that comes to your imagination. In this video series, learn how to paint birds in watercolor.

How To: Paint a bronze metal effect on ceramics

This instructional painting video demonstrates how to paint a bronze effect on ceramics. You can use this technique on just about any surface, such as wood, canvas, metal, plastic, or paper. Apply gold metallic paint, Bitumen, cadmium yellow paint and primary blue paint. Dry the metallic surface with a heat gun if you have one.

How To: Paint bamboo in Chinese ink painting

Watch this instructional painting video to paint bamboo using sumi-e ink and Chinese rice paper. This fluid method of painting does not allow much room for mistakes. Every brush stroke counts. You should go look at some real bamboo to absorb a real sense of the plant. Spirit and technique are required to paint bamboo in the traditional style.

How To: Make an easy $20 DIY art easel

In this video, we learn how to make an easy $20 DIY art easel with Patrick Lawrence. Each side should be about 6' tall, and make sure you screw it into the wall when you are finished. First, you will hold these together with a carriage bolt that slides up and down the two pieces of wood. At the top, screw the screws into the wall and at the bottom, bolt it up the same way as in the middle using a wing nut and a big washer. That's all there is to making an easel yourself, saving you tons of mo...

How To: Stencil with gravel and spray paint

Watch this demonstration of a spray paint layering technique. All you need is some gravel and spray paint to add a unique stenciling effect to the surface of your artwork. Use any object to create negative space with spray paint. Use this technique on collages, paintings, assemblage pieces, and clothing.

How To: Use acetate sheet to develop watercolor painting

This video teaches the secrets of using acetate sheet to develop watercolor painting. Some tips of using acetate sheet to develop watercolor painting are: Acetate sheets will come to use mainly when painting flowers, nature, birds, animals, etc. (e.g., flower in this video). In this case first finish painting the flower and some easy parts. Now painting the weeds is difficult as you may find it tough to get it in the right area. Now you can place an acetate on top of your painting and draw th...

How To: Paint a guitar body using spray paint

In this video Teddy Zane shows you how to paint a guitar with spray paint. It begins by painting the whole guitar with one color of flat paint, and then creating a panel where you want the picture, out of tape. Next lay your picture on top of the tape and use a scalpel or razor to cut out the design as a template carefully ensuring you do not cut the guitar, only the image and the tape. Once the entire image is cut, pull off the tape to expose the guitar beneath. Cover the rest of the guitar ...

How To: Paint a leaf tree with oil paints

In this tutorial, we learn how to paint a leaf tree with oil paints. First, paint light green on the leaves using a blank canvas. After this, add in a dark green color to make the stems and the middle of the leaf. Use different greens to draw the leaf out towards where the tree would be. You can blend in darker parts to make highlights, then use white to make a shine on the leaf. If you make a mistake, don't worry. Just use paints to make something change on the leaf and make it unique and al...

How To: Paint on ceramic dinner plates

In this how-to video, you will learn how to paint on your ceramic dinner plates. You will need a ceramic paint kit, a soft pencil, masking tape, a porcelain painter pen, scrap paper, scissors, scrap paper, tracing paper, Celtic patterns, and a jar of water. Place the tracing paper over the copy of the Celtic patterns. Tape both down to the surface with the tape. Trace the pattern onto the tracing paper using the pencil. Clean the plate and stick tracing paper over the plate. Trace over the pa...

How To: Paint waterfalls with Hall Groat

When painting the foliage make sure that you use a dry brush technique and that you use this to break up the harsh rock formations that you have created by simply pressing the brush down against the rock formation. Make sure that you don't segregate the areas in the painting. Make sure that you blend the areas together to make the picture complete. You want to take the warm, more contrasting areas and use them to break up the harsher style of the rest of the picture. You want to layer the col...

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