Author: Sarah Freelandbr
Source: downloadbr
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Getting a tattoo has become a new fad in todays society. Once frowned upon by mainstream society, it is now become a commonly viewed item in everyday life. Upon getting a tattoo, finding an artist of your liking is a big part. Since this is a permanent deal, it has to be done properly or else you will be living with this forever.
Make sure to research the artist and the tattoo shop or studio. They should have all of the proper resources to get your tattooing done properly and in the most cost effective way possible. Most shops have flash art available, for those who need ideas on what to get. They should also have fine art tattooing books available, for further ideas on ideas. Once you have an idea on what to get, they should be able to present your idea through a simple piece of artwork, which should show you if the drawing is exactly what you are thinking of.
Each artist has its own specialty in what they draw. Some specialize in tribal designs, while others are in Celtic designs. Make sure they are able to draw up whatever it is you are looking for. They should have proper tattoo supplies, which should comply with safety standards. They should have a proper tattoo gun, or a homemade one that works properly. They should know how to clean it properly as well as work it.
When coming to the actual tattooing of the art you had drawn up, make sure it is exactly the way you want it done. Make sure they have a variety of tattoo dyes, colors and pigments if you are looking for color in your tattoo. They should be able to distinguish what blends well with your skin tone.
For more information on tattoo, body art and body piercing supplies, care and safety visit the tattoo and body piercing information center at http://www.TattooandPiercingSupplies.com Tattoo and Piercing Supplies is your source for body piercing and tattoo equipment including guns, tattoo machines, inks, needles, power supplies and body jewelry.br
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Author: Anna Meenaghanbr
Source: ezinearticles.combr
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Pastels are a strong and also colourful way of painting. The medium itself is dry and because of its powdery surface the light reflects well. So, with pastels, they give out very intense colouring, more so than any other medium.

One advantage with these is, that you do not have to wait for the paint to dry, because this is a dry medium. As for artists, this can be quite trying, having to be patient. This being so, you can go directly with your pastels and colour your surface straightaway.

Therefore it will be longer lasting than oil paint, simply because it has no varnish or oil contained in it to yellow and crack over the years.

Degas used this form of medium quite significantly for his artworks, which demonstrated how vibrant the colours can appear with the movement of colour and light showing throughout his work. Personally I loved his pictures of racehorses and ballet dancers.

Amazingly enough, pastels used in the 18th Century, are still lovely, bright and fresh today. You can frame pastels under glass as long as there is a mount mat between the surface and the glass, as you do not want the glass to come into contact with your picture.

In actual fact, strangely enough, the pigments in pastel paints are just the same as the ones used in oil and watercolours. The main difference is how they are produced. For example, watercolours are made by mixing gum with pigment and pastels have chalk and water mixed with the pigment so that it forms a paste. Oil paints consist of finely mixed pigment with oil.

When pastels are manufactured, after the colour has been checked and sometimes more pigments added, the paste has to be pounded to remove the air in it. Then it can be shaped into long, round, strips which then can be cut into short lengths for pastels.

They are then dried and each one labelled and put in boxes, carefully, to avoid them getting damaged. I think that most companies also apply a binding agent to keep the powder together in these short sticks.

Obviously the amount of binding agent in the mix will ultimately affect the finished products strength and the mark that the pastel will make. At one time, it may not be so now, Rowney used to be one of the companies that did not include a binding agent when making pastels. This is probably why their pastels had a softness about them and very good durability.

As for the colouring itself, the strength of the pastels colouring is decided by how much chalk is mixed with the pastel. A small amount of chalk will yield a dark tint, whilst much chalk will produce a pale tint. So ,you will find there will be ranges of colour with every tint.

Pastels too, are graded from light tints to dark shades. To appreciate pastels at their best, just look at the works of Degas and how inspirational his paintings were and still are to the present day.

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pLooking for more great How To guides on art? The author, a target=_new href=http://annameenaghanart.com rel=nofollowcontemporary artist/a Anna Meenaghan, has a lot more on her online art community website. As a a target=_new href=http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_5_contemporary_painter rel=nofollowcontemporary painter/a she certainly knows a thing or two about art and is now happily passing on her knowledge to anyone that wants to find out more about art/pbr
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Author: Andrew Wills
Source: articledashboard.com

The current photographic exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Art Off/Site gallery, entitled Embracing Eatonville (January 20 – March18) features the photographs of Dawoud Bey, Lonnie Graham, Carrie Mae Weems, and Deborah Willis, each of whom attempts to represent (in varying ways) the historic town of Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville is the oldest black incorporated town in the United States, and hometown of renowned writer Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960).

I was immediately drawn to the pigmented ink-jet prints of Dawoud Bey, which present themselves in the form of portraits of high school students in their classrooms, accompanied by a few lines of the student’s own verbal self-description. The photographs, though richly colored and saturated, remain stark in their documentary style shooting and presentation. The verbal statements help to further the subjects’ expressive demeanors, although sometimes confusing the viewer by offering two conflicting positions. The self-description that the high school students attribute to themselves is not always reinforced through their actual expressions, which gives the work another layer of meaning that is less about a specific residential spirit and more about traits that are universally human. Even still, the subjects of these portraits serve to represent the future of Eatonville as its most potential-filled residents.

Although the subjects of these portraits are specific to the town of Eatonville, I felt that their youthful naivety could transcend geographic location and therefore, I could relate to the subjects without having knowledge of the importance of the town itself. This work alone could represent various towns or cities, but combined with the other three artists contributed to a unique spirit of the Eatonville that I was constructing for myself.

Lonnie Graham’s photographs, also pigmented ink-jet prints, contrast Bey’s photographs by embodying spontaneity, which for me is then transformed into a certain type of sentimentality. The photographs depict the people of Eatonville during a several day town festival. The photographer includes a range of age groups, depicting Eatonville’s present a useful addition to the future that Bey represents. My “imaginary” Eatonville is coming together.

Carrie Mae Weems’ silver gelatin prints are the only works to directly reference Hurston, offering historical re-enactments of some of the writer’s days: jotting down some observations in her notebook, walking beneath willow trees, washing her feet in a basin, among other daily rituals. I was not immediately interested in Weems’ photographs, perhaps because my unfamiliarity with Eatonville’s historical roots causes me to reject the town as a historical real place in favor of something that I am able to construct on my own, something more imaginary, immediate, and contemporary.

Returning to the medium of pigmented inkjet prints, the photographs of Deborah Willis embody the timelessness of Eatonville, as well as representing social sites and gendered places that maintain historical importance by transforming it. Willis photographs socially charged locales: a high school football field, the view from a preacher’s pulpit, and perhaps most notably in this series, the beauty salon. This specific location speaks of a site of female power, which has replaced other gendered spaces of Hurston’s era, like the storefront porch which is a social site of male power.

The approach of this exhibit is not an uncommon one: an embodiment of the spirit of a place. The wonderful thing about this type of exhibit is that the viewer can extract the elements of his or her choice to construct his or her own imaginary place with its own personal significance. What’s important is the photographic embodiment or encapsulation of the importance of place and home, both real and imagined.

Author: Richard Pace
Source: isnare.com

Since time immemorial cultures worldwide have been using tapestries as an innovative medium of decorating their homes, churches and buildings. This trend has continued till today. In a true historical sense tapestries and wall hangings are art forms that serve to depict the cultural scenario of a particular place. It is one of the most complete and durable art forms based upon textile

These days’ tapestries are a very popular part of every home decor and there are many experiments being done with them. Provided that the weaver has the skill to do so, elegant styles based on floral and landscapes as well as medieval designs, and modern art can be infused to create a tapestry that is an art work by itself. Such works give a unique dimension to this traditional art form, giving pleasure to art lovers and interior designers in its wide variety.

Tapestry belonging to the medieval times, were usually made of wool. Durability and maintenance were better due to the strength of the fabric which could sustain the pigmentation as well as dyeing effects. The warmth of wool tapestries could be maintained if mixed with synthetic polymers. A basic use of natural materials has been retained for weaving tapestry, till date.

Today’s wall tapestry uses different types of fibers, the stress is on new and improved fiber for reproducing famous works of art on tapestries. Vast improvement in dye and pigment standards, ensure that consumers can procure faithful reproductions of historical designs, like the ones to be found in European churches and museums.

Those of you with a flair for uniqueness in decoration can, try a tapestry that will totally change the atmosphere of your room. A tapestry can be an answer for any decorators challenge in doing up a large room or odd niches while maintaining a certain atmosphere to the place. A well chosen tapestry, adds a dash of history while mingling with the theme, adding color and giving your home, a unique flavor.

Creative use of a tapestry can do away lapses in decoration by infusing a spark of color or opening a vista to a different era. These days consumers are spoilt for choice literally, they can choose to be with any piece or time in history as they wish to.

For many centuries art lovers have been appreciating the versatility of the tapestry. The modern day use of weaving introduces mixing of new fabrics and techniques with centuries of age old tradition, making the tapestry a versatile, charming, and beautiful art d?cor to be cherished. Tapestries are a family heirloom that can be passed down from one generation to the other.