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How To: Stretch a canvas

It's no secret, artists are broke. That's why they're referred to as "starving artists". One day these artists will achieve unimaginable success, but for most of their lives, they'll be struggling to survive… struggling to keep their vision alive. That's why they need to work cheap. And that's why they stretch their own canvases, not buy pre-made ones or have the hobby shop do it. If you’re a starving artist, save a few bucks, hone your carpentry skills, and stretch your own canvas.

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: Use opaque watercolors in Chinese watercolor painting

The esteemed tradition of Chinese watercolor goes back thousands of years and hasn't changed much in terms of composition, subject matter, and materials used. So back then as much as today sky dieties and kings would sip green tea outside pagodas perched high above the clouds, surrounded by monumental mountains and far removed from mortal space.

How To: Do Photoshop painting basics for beginners

This series is the basic training you need to get up and running with Photoshop, so that you can be a better digital painter. Knowing how to use all the tools and options that pertain to digital painting, photomanipulation, and photo editing will save you lots of time, so it's worth learning the basics first.

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 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 an ocean in your composition

In this Fine Art video tutorial you will learn how to paint an ocean in your composition from Angeline-Marie Martinez, a professional artist. She shows one of the ways of painting an ocean in this clip. Her canvas is already painted with a back ground of the sky on top and water at the bottom. Her palette has a lot of colors like light and dark shades of blue, green and white. Take some white paint on the brush and pick up some of the other colors as well and paint on the canvas. The waves of...

How To: Combine different media in the same painting

Many artists are loyal to one particular medium, even within the general artistic field of painting. Some prefer oil paints, some oil pastels, some illustration markers, some color pencils. This video demonstrates how to combine these four popular media in one work to create a wonderfully detailed, colorful portrait. Broaden your horizons and use all of the tools available to improve your art.

How To: Use a Buddha Board and waterbrush pens for calligraphy

Whether you are just starting out doing Chinese calligraphy and painting or a have been doing it your whole life, practice is crucial. Rather than wasting ink, paint, and paper on practice pieces that you are going to discard or throw away afterwards, now you can use a Buddha Board! These devices allow you to use a waterbrush pen and water, no paper, ink, or paint, to create images that will disappear after the water dries! No mess, no waste, just an effective way to practice your art and sav...

How To: Paint a Blue Butterfly and Iris using a Hake brush

The Hake brush is a type of flat brush used in Chinese painting along with the more typical trimmed brush. In this video the artist demonstrates the use of such a brush to create painting of an Iris with a blue butterfly and some calligraphy to finish it off. If you don't already have a Hake brush as part of your Chinese art toolkit, this video should convince you to invest in one.

How To: Paint a Daylily in the traditional Chinese style

This video demonstration will teach you how to draw a Daylily in the Han Chinese painting style. It is very detailed, and should be easy to follow even for novice painters looking to improve their painting skills. The painter in the video talk you through not only what colors to use and the techniques he uses, but also the significance of the Daylily and the legends surrounding it.

How To: Paint Carnation flowers in the Chinese brush style

In a special Mother's Day installment of their weekly instructional series on Chinese painting, Blue Heron Art's Henry teaches us to paint Chinese Carnations in watercolor, with calligraphy highlights done in ink with a brush. His grace and accuracy with both the watercolor and the ink would be challenging for many of the less-artistically-inclined to emulate, but the finished product is beautiful and should impress all but the choosiest of moms if their child were to make / buy it for them.

How To: Color with oil pastels

If you want to color with oil pastels you should first make sure you have a sketch book, oil pastels, cotton swabs and an eraser. First, you should place a banana or your choice of object on the sketchbook paper and trace the outline. Next, you should color in the banana or object the color you want to. You should add in detail to your object, by first coloring along the bottom of the banana with yellow. Next, add in a little green to add detail to the banana. You can blend the two colors to ...

How To: Paint a easter bunny with ink and water

This video demonstrates how to paint a rabbit in leftover ground ink. The style used is called sumi-e. Using a the side of a thick brush, create a filled in circle in the center of your page. This will be the head. Below this circle, add an elongated abstract oval shape for the body. Add a small circle at the back bottom area of the body for the tail. From the top back of the head, add two long thick lines for the ears. Using the thin tip of a brush add the details of the face including the n...

How To: Paint a quick watercolor

This is a video about how to create a simple water color painting. First we have to select the seen that we are going to paint on the paper. Next give a rough sketch on the paper about the scene that you have imagine or select to paint with a pencil. Next take the water proof marker give the outlines to that paint. Then you have to give two washes to your paint. First one is warm wash. For that you have to take yellow, orange, and red colors. First wet the paper with the water. Next splash on...

How To: Set up your table for watercolor painting

In this how-to video, you will learn how use set up a studio table for watercolor. First, make a water blotter out of toilet paper and tissue folded in half. Fold the towel into the paper. The gator board and paper should be in front of you, with the sketch at the left side. If you are right handed, everything should be on the right side. This allows for ease of painting. The kleenex and trash can should be on the right as well. If you are left handed, everything should be on the left. This p...

How To: Paint a Fender Telecaster electric guitar

This video will show you the steps to wire in a humbucker and coil into a Fender Telecaster electric guitar. And you'll get to learn how to paint it as well! What's humbucker? Well, it's a type of electric guitar pickup, that'll help you improve your rocking out. What are you waiting for? Get some sandpaper, paint, wires, and get started!

How To: Paint the body of a guitar

In this tutorial, we learn how to paint a guitar! Before you begin, you will want to take your guitar apart. Once you've done that, go outside and clean your guitar removing any dust on it. Your next step is to smooth the whole body of the guitar with 100 grit followed by 150 grit. After this, hang your guitar up somewhere and apply 4 layers of sanding sealer (which should equal one can). Make sure to sand down the 150 grit between each layer once it's dry, so the next layer has a grip to sti...

How To: Paint Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars

This artist shows how to quick paint/draw Obi-Wan Kenobi utilizing his mouse and pc. He starts out with a rough sketch of his character, making a black outline of his figure. He then goes back over his initial sketch with blue lines, cleaning up the lines, making them smoother. Once the blue lines are completed, the first black line sketch is erased and the blue lines smoothed out even more! Piece by piece, color is applied to each part of the character. It is placed roughly at first but smoo...

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 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 Mother's and Father's Day mugs

This video demonstrates how to paint Mother’s and Father’s Day mugs. This is a ceramic painting project. For this project, you will need the following supplies: 2 mugs, a Marabu ceramic kit, a paintbrush, a soft pencil, tissue, masking tape, a marabu porcelain paint pen, a jar of water, paper, scissors, tracing paper, and a sheet of paper with the lettering that you want to use on the cup. On your PC, use any decorative font that you like.

How To: Draw nine goldfish in free style

In this video, artist Henry Li, shows you how to draw nine goldfish in a free hand, loose style. He demonstrates proper hand placement, and technique in order to achieve a fluid motion to the piece. Nine goldfish is a good omen for Chinese, it suggest best fortune. Watch the magic happen as he shows you exactly how to achieve this excellent work of art.

How To: Transfer a painting done on rice paper to silicone

This video shows you how to dry-mount a painting done on rice paper with silicone release paper. This method is to transfer the silicon adhesive film to the backing material first, then take the release paper off and mount the painting on. Artist, Henry Li gives you everything you need to know to properly mount your beautiful painting on the silicone to transfer as you please.

How To: Paint Chinese bamboo on xuan paper

In this video artist Henry Li demonstrates exactly how to paint beautiful Chinese bamboo on xuan paper. Make sure to grab your ink and brushes to see the magic happen and this wonderful artist paints this wonderful piece. Perfect to practice your skills or paint a excellent piece for everyone to enjoy on your wall.

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: Easily paint an orchid

In this art tutorial, you will learn how to draw and then paint an orchid. You will need a Chinese paintbrush, a plate for the paint, water and paper. For paint colors, you should make sure you have red, yellow, black, green, blue and purple. First, dip your brush into the water and then mix yellow, red and black, dabbing some of each color onto the brush. When doing this, do not actually mix the colors on the brush. You want the red on one part of the brush, the yellow on another part, and t...

How To: Oil paint metal objects with Hall Groat

In this Painting Metallic Surfaces Hall video tutorial, learn how to paint metal objects with oil paint. This is a good tutorial to learn how to paint metal surfaces so that it looks like real metal. The examples used in this video is the painting of a pocket watch, ornament, teapot, martini glass, and more. To begin, evaluate the colors of the metal object you are painting. Make sure to pick up colors that are reflected and also make sure to pick up images that appear in the reflection of an...