Alina Bradford's Blog
Posted by Alina Bradford
Hello everyone,
I hope 2007 was good to everyone and I hope that 2008 is even better.
Here at Painting/Drawing we will be having some new and wonderful articles for you in 2008. Keep on the lookout for a new traveling artist article series that I will be unveiling in January. There will also be tons more how-to articles to keep you growing as an artist, as well as reviews of books and art supplies.
Don't forget to sketch all the wonderful New Years sights that you see!
Be safe!
Alina
Posted by Alina Bradford
When most people think of New Year's resolutions they think of "lose five pounds" or "make more money". If you are interested in growing your artistic ability, though, this may be the perfect time of the year to figure out where you want to be, skill-wise, this time next year. If you aspire to becoming a professional artist, you may want to include this wish in your New Years resolutions.
Last year I wrote quite a bit on how one could go about making artistic resolutions and how to boost your New Year's creativity here and here.
Make sure that your goal is reachable and not pie-in-the-sky. For example, if you are a new artist and you make a resolution to be in a gallery by 2009...well, let's just say that that's probably not going to happen. Instead, pick one or two areas you can grow in, such as learning how to paint in watercolors or use a pallete knife.
Did I complete my resolutions that I made in the link above? Well, I completed six canvas works in 2007 and entered a show in Southern Oklahoma. Not too great, but I guess I could have done more shows if I hadn't been planning my wedding, lol.
My resolutions this year? Once again, painting on canvas and not pixels is high on my list. Also, I would like to grow in making more realistic objects, even though my work is impressionalistic.
Happy New Year's!
Alina
Posted by Alina Bradford
Happy Holidays!
Last year around this time I talked about getting inspiration from the Christmas holiday for your drawings and paintings. It occurred to me that Christmas isn't the only holiday that people celebrate in December. Wow, how could I have missed that! There's Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Years to name a few.
To all of you who celebrate a different holiday than Christmas, you can still take advantage of the tips in the article Christmas Art. There are some tips that can be made to fit whatever traditions you use to celebrate the holidays.
I hope you have a great holiday season.
Alina
Posted by Alina Bradford
Imagine having a hotel room that features an HD screen that displays fine art. Sounds wonderful, right?
Earlier in 2007, GalleryPlayer, who specializes in HD "lifestyle" imagery, partnered with Guest-Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd., a provider
of hospitality multi-media services, to create the largest library of the world's finest HD art. Their goal? To bring the collection to the global hotel industry.
The collection promises to be brilliant high definition images as a part of the regular TV channels. These will be displayed in individual rooms and hotel guests can personalize their in-room HD displays to their preference.
I can't wait to visit one of these hotels and try it out.
Alina
Posted by Alina Bradford
I recieved this letter a few days ago:
Do you have any advice on using oil pastels? Are they like crayons and how do you get them to turn out with a good finish? I really appreciate your help, thanks!
> 'Opal'
Here was my answer:
I have an article about oil pastels here, that may help you. Basically, oil pastels are firm sticks of paint. They work somewhat like crayons, but are much softer. The more heat the pastel gets from your hands the more it is like oil paint. Generally, to get a good finish you layer the pastels on good paper with plenty of finger heat. If the artist does a good job, it is very hard to tell the difference between an oil painting and a oil pastel painting.
Hope that helps,
Alina
