Finding Ideas

                                           On the available paintings tab of this blog

Wanted to spend some time today sharing some helpful links.   There are times I know I just need something to give me a kick in the rear to get going.  Having some sites on the web to spark ideas is wonderful.  I have some old favorites and a new site (at least for me) that are great to go to.

The idea for the painting on today's post came from a site I just discovered;
paintmyphoto.ning.com  This is a site photographers and painters get together.  Photographers offer photos for painters to paint,  how cool is that!  You can as a painter post your paintings there also, and there are a number of forums for tips and ideas.  I have posted both paintings and some of my photos for other painters to use.

One of my old favorites,  is a web site called Wet Canvas  This site has activity for all media, and a great photo reference library.

Also, if you need an idea or challenge Daily Paint Works isn't just for selling and buying art, (although I highly recommend a little shopping there), it also has challenges, contests, and tutorials.

And one more site I just found for painters wanting to understand color;  Hand Print
This has information on color pigments and more.  I haven't finished looking around the whole site but use it mainly for pigment detailed information.

Hope these sites help you out, and let me know of any others that are good too.

Mary

Painting from photos

First Gold, 10 x 8 inches, acrylic on canvas

Most artist use photos as a tool for painting. A painter will sometimes grid out the photo and do a direct representation, or use the photo as a reference. 

 I have mixed feelings about using a photo; my gut feeling is the photo can be a crutch.  Painting to me is observing something and directly painting, or using my imagination and going from there.  Now having said that there are times I find a photo useful.  But, for a photo to be useful I still need to have seen with my own eyes what I plan to paint, or at the least pictured it in my mind before hand.

The Golden Shore, 10 x 8 inches, Acrylic on canvas

 

Golden Reeds, 12 x 16 inches, acrylic Sold

The paintings I am showing,The Golden Shore, and First Gold, and Golden Reeds, came from a couple good photos.  The location I am very familiar with so there is an image etched in my mind beyond the photo. 

  So, rule one know your subject well. 

 Also, the photo I have is a very good one.   

  Second rule; only use a good photo for reference.  A poor photo will often only help to create a poor painting.

Those are my thoughts on the subject, just wanted to share them with you.

Mary       Schiros_Art

The photos....

putting the PC to work

There are many art tools, paper, paint, brushes, but sometimes over looked, is using a photo.
The digital camera is important, for saving records of your work to files, and for sharing by email or on sites like Facebook, Wetcanvas.com or Myspace.
But there is so much more that can be done with those photos. Playing with saved copies of the photos on Photoshop, Paint.net or a free and easy one IrfanView, can help you create. Notice I mentioned using "saved copies". That is very important. A photo of art work you plan to experiment with should be a extra saved copy, with a separate file name so that the original isn't lost or destroyed.
The program I use is IrfanView it has options for creating negatives, and a number of special effects. I have a couple of pics of paintings that were cropped, turned into negatives, and I used a color swap program, that lets me see what other looks I can get from an original idea.
Give it a try with some of your work and see if it sparks some new ideas from your originals.