Favorite tools and a few tips for different art jobs!

Hi Everyone! Giving you a peek into my art life/tools I really like.

Click images to view larger.

I buy as small of a bottle or tube of paint etc. that I can (except for black/white paint) since I switch mediums. A lot of times stuff dries up or goes bad before I get back to it again. My masking fluid (above) is dried up :-( It is quite full!

WATERCOLOR / GUACHE
Above is my ALL TIME favorite brush/shape. I like that I can get a fine line to a decent size brush stoke width with out switching brushes :-) Blick art materials refers to them as "angular" http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-studio-decorative-angular/

Love particle board or heavy card board. I just use cheap masking tape to tape down watercolor paper. Don't leave it on for too long - the tape gets goooey. If I will be using a lot of water/washes. Artist tape works better.

Second favorite brush is a square shape :-) I like the shorter stubby ones for lettering.

White ceramic plates for mixing watercolor / guache. Also, if you do any cutting, get a cutting mat. it makes cutting so much easier! I picked up the plates on sale at Target. This cutting mat came from Blicks http://www.dickblick.com/categories/cuttingmats/


ACRYLICS

My newest tool is an easel. TIP: buy it during back to school sales and get a great price! http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-shannon-easel/ . I used to hunch over my light table or hold the canvas in my left hand! This makes life so much better :-) Be sure to check the extension height. Mine goes up to 8 feet and just misses the ceiling.

This photo gives you a peak at my ALL TIME favorite tool! A light table! It is 20+ years old. Thanks Mom and Dad still love this present :-)

I use two mason jars for water. I will have a scrap piece of paper to brush out a color I am done with, then I wash it in one water jar, and then give it another wash in the 'clean' water jar. I have a thing about keeping my brushes in good shape. Lay them flat until dry.

As you can see, I use a disposable palette for acrylic paint. I will use it for quite awhile. You can peel off the paint after it dries.

In the photo above is a jar of molding paste. See image below to get and idea of how thick you can make it. Yup, I like texture! You can get higher peaks than this quarter inch thick butterfly wing.

Palette knives rock! If you haven't tried using them, give it a shot. Below are my two favorite. The plastic ones are a couple of bucks for several in a package. That is an 8"x10" panel so you get an idea of the scale.

Trusty tools and long time favorites. Of these, I like a kneaded eraser the best. Besides the obvious that it erases, you can use it to lighten and smear. I also play with it while I am 'thinking'.  C-thru rulers are just so darn handy. Everyone needs an X-Acto knife :-)

Love or hate any of these tools? :-) Please share what you use and any great art tips you have - would love to hear!
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog.

Creating Art for Licensing - Make it Easier on Yourself

The Skinny if you don't want to read more: Paint and scan the art in steps. Nuff said :-)

These are acrylic paint on cotton canvas panel. I only used one palette knife. The small square ones are 6" x 6" panel and the larger one with the two gold pears is 9"x 12" panel. These are part of an 'apples and pears' collection I am working on.

I paint small - so I can scan them it at a HIGH resolution. Normally If I were painting these to sell in a gallery or some place similar, I would block in the darks and work up to the light colors. I would have painted the background first over the stems and then paint the stems on top of the background, cuz that is easy.

BUT, for art licensing you are probably going to want just the pear/apple alone with no background. It is much easier to remove a white background in photoshop, THEN go back and paint in a background.

One more thought: If a manufacturer wants a different background - this may make that easier to accomplish. Especially if what I have shown them has the pear/apple on a separate layer already in photoshop (or illustrator).

I would LOVE! it if you would share how you handle art for licensing. If you don't want that to be public - shoot me an email anntroe@cox.net. Thanks so much for reading and sharing :-D

You might also like:
Palette Knife Pumpkins      Painting: Breaking the Rules      Changing Medium and Style

Make my day and follow this blog :-D - links in the right-hand column of each page.

Breaking the Rules - Do you?

 

When mixing color, I break these two rules - sometimes.

1. Don't use black in a painting.
2. Don't mix more than three colors together at a time.

The above two rules were taught in classes I took way back when. I see them pop up in art books & on blogs. I have done this when I paint with guache AND in the above pear palette knife acrylic unfinished painting.

Black was mixed in to get the darkest green you see above. There, I admit it. If you are new to painting, just use very small amounts of black at a time. It is a strong color and you won't need much when your are mixing. In other paintings, I have made a lovely mud out of several colors.

NOW, I think these rules are great. They help keep me from over mixing paint. Not using black can give a painting more interest and help to limit your palette.

Am I the only black-user-mud-maker out there?