More good oil painting finds in Sydney, Australia

Posted August 15, 2010 By admin

This time at the NSW Art Gallery, Sydney next to the famous Botanical Gardens, I found some more beautiful fine art oil paintings. I hope you enjoy these as I did.

Interior with Wardrobe Mirror by Grace Cossington Smith 1955

Interior with Wardrobe Mirror by Grace Cossington Smith 1955

I loved the painting technique used in this painting. The subject of the painting is nothing extraordinary but yet, the color combination as well as the reflection of the outside through the mirror makes the painting very inviting. Would love to own a piece of oil painting like this one!

Rhythmic compositionin yellow green minor by Roy de Maistre 1919

Rhythmic compositionin yellow green minor by Roy de Maistre 1919

I’m not a fan of abstract oil painting, but this oil on canvas by Roy de Maistre is different! I don’t mind this at all. I love the colors and the curves (as opposed to sharp edges and harsh colors). Enjoy!!

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Some good oil painting I found at the Australian Museum, Sydney

Posted August 10, 2010 By admin

Amongst other oil on canvas paintings I found on my recent visit to the Australian Museum just opposite to the famous Sydney Hyde Park, these beautiful pieces I love for different reasons.

Where the Wild Flowers once Grew by Gordon Syrons 2010

Where the Wild Flowers once Grew by Gordon Syrons 2010

I loved the purple violet colors in this painting by Gordon Syrons.

Judgement by his Peers by Gordon Syrons 1978

Judgement by his Peers by Gordon Syrons 1978

On a completely different topic, also by Gordon Syrons, is this painting which represents something that maybe only the minority would truly understand and appreciate.

Savages by Gordon Syrons 2007

Savages by Gordon Syrons 2007

Oil paintings can say so much. I can stand there looking at them for a long time. What I enjoy is interpreting the oil painting. What’s more fun is getting someone else tell you their interpretation of the same oil painting and you’ll be amazed some of things that come out. We all perceive things differently, same for oil paintings and other things in life.

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Oil Paintings for the Nursery or Kids’ Room

Posted August 9, 2010 By admin

oil-painting-for-childrenIf you are wondering how you might be able to give your kids’ room a new look then consider the many painting schemes that are easily available for making their room more colorful and interesting.

I’ve seen many parents sticking posters everywhere in the nursery of kids’ room, but it would be much classier to hang up a painting of your child’s or your favorite character, or if you are concerned about how securely the painting is hung, then you can perhaps get a painting book so you can actually paint patterns or characters onto the wall. This might take some effort but it should be quite economical.

Painting books generally have all the steps about how to complete the project. They have information from color schemes to how to make use of different color and how to prepare a new color from mixing the different colors to get a new combination which will be unique for your kids’ room.

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Choosing Your Paint Brushes and Caring for Them

Posted July 25, 2010 By admin

Choosing the right paintbrush

Choosing the right paintbrush

The paint brush is an important tool because it is through the paint brush that the painter expresses his or her emotions.

Typically, oil painters need two kinds of brushes. One is stiff and the other is soft. A painter usually has a range of sizes for both types of brushes.

The stiff brushes are used for most of the painting tasks and it comes in three shapes: the round, the flat and the filbert. For art beginners, filbert is a shape that is rounded at the base and tapers to a point at the tip. Stiff brushes are made of hog bristles but there are also synthetic bristles available that can make acceptable results. Brushes made with natural fibres are usually more expensive, but will generally give you a better result too.

The soft brushes are used for painting the finer details. I think the best soft brushes are the ones made of sable. Since sable brushes are expensive, there are substitutes available. But the brush strokes made using these replacements are not as good as the ones made by the sable-made soft brush. Basically you get what you pay for.

There is also a kind of brush made of either sable or hog hair. It is called a fan-head brush and it is needed to seamlessly blend paint on the canvas.

It is important to get paint brushes that you like working with because chances are they will stay with you for a while. For this reason, it is important also to know how to care for them so they can last a long time.

Caring for your paint brushes

1. NEVER use your paint brushes to mix paint. Use painting knives to mix paint.

2. NEVER stand your paint brushes pointing down, especially for the soft brushes. This may permanently bend or damage those expensive hair or bristles.

3. Use the right amount of paint on the brush. Too much paint will clog the ferrules, the part that holds the hair or bristles together. If the ferrules get clogged, you have to clean it and cannot avoid parting the hairs. If this is done too often, the brush ultimately become useless.

4. Clean your paint brushes as soon as you have finished using them.  You may use turpentine with soap and water. For soft brushes, these can be dipped in milk and allowed to dry for a couple of days.

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Basics of Painting with Oil Paints

Posted July 5, 2010 By admin

Some tools you need for Oil Painting

Some tools you need for Oil Painting

Oil paintings are nice to look at, but also fun to do. If you have ever thought about maybe painting with oil, then here are some basics to get you started.

First of all, think about where you might do your oil painting. You need an area that is well ventilated, both for the smell and for the work to dry. Preferably you can find a semi outdoor area. If you have to work outside, then make sure you can secure everything quickly in case of wind or rain. You should also be wary of flying insects if you are working outdoors.

Once you have get yourself organized in your new work area, the first thing to do is to lay down your drop cloth, tarp and a plastic bag. Secure the drop cloth by masking taping the edges to prevent it from bunching up. Then set up your oil paintings work area on the drop cloth so it is important that you have enough room to work in comfortably. If you are going to work on your oil paintings with a table easel set up on a table, you’ll want to cover the floor below the table top and the place where you will stand or sit.

Dress in your old clothes or wear an apron and gloves. You’ll also need a container that has paint thinner and a container that holds a combination of two parts paint thinner and one part walnut oil. These containers should be about three inches high and two inches around. Each should be filled to the half way mark. You’ll need a comfortable set up with an easy reach for your paint palette and knife, your brushes, the two containers, as well as paint rags and tubes.

Then you can set up the paints you’ll use for your oil paintings. If you have a variety of colors, you don’t need all of them squeezed out onto your paint palette. Start with just two or three colors. It might be easiest to start with primary colors like cadmium red, yellow and blue. A dime size spot of each color would be sufficient to start with. Space them as far from each other on the palette as possible, as if you are putting dots on the three points of a triangle. In the center of this paint triangle squeeze a nickel-size spot of Titanium white oil paint. When you are ready you can mix the paint as required with your knife.

Congratulations, you are now ready to paint!

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Preserving And Protecting Your Beloved Oil Paintings

Posted June 22, 2010 By admin

Oil Painting by my Grandfather H Malek of the view from his yard

Oil Painting by my Grandfather H Malek of the view from his yard

It is important to know how to look after your oil painting properly once you own one. You may have just purchased your first oil painting, to add that touch of style to your study, living room, or bedroom. Oil paintings are beautiful additions to the house, and are great conversation pieces as well (remember my post about bringing one of my Grandfather’s painting to work). They can also be a great investment if they are kept in their top condition. Here are some simple steps you can take to preserve the appearance of you oil paintings.

You should always check the location where you intend to place your painting and avoid any area that is prone to extreme heat or cold, or humidity. This includes places like over the fireplace and in direct line of an air conditioner.You should also keep in mind that prolonged sunlight will cause the paint to fade, and choose the location accordingly.

A layer of dust will also spoil the painting, as it will dry the oil colors out and therefore fade the painting. Dust your painting regularly, but remember not to use surface cleaners. A dry and soft cloth will suffice.

When moving the painting from one place to another, whether to a different room or a different building altogether, make sure you lay a flat piece of cardboard, a mat, or other firm material on both the front and the back of the picture, and then wrap it in Styrofoam or bubble wrap. Remember that any moisture build up could damage the painting so if it must be left wrapped up for a long period of time then store it in a dry place.

If your painting is damaged despite your best efforts, do not try to retouch or repair it yourself.  You should take it to a professional conservator who can do any necessary repair on the painting properly.

If you follow these simple instructions in caring for your oil paintings, they should remain in top condition and available for your enjoyment for many years to come.

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Oil Paintings

Posted June 19, 2010 By admin

Paintings are one of the most beautiful creations of man, the Vatican City demonstrates this perfectly. A good painting has the power to trigger extreme emotions from its spectator. Oil paintings are beautiful art forms, and these antique elements continue to mark their stand through generations.

The Creation of Man by Michelangelo at the Sistine Chapel

Why Oil Paintings you ask?

The great painters and the artists of the past chose to work on oil paintings because it rendered a very realistic output. The paintings differed from those produced by water colors, because oil paintings provided a rich and vivid visual effect.

Oil paintings originated during the middle ages when there was a high demand for waterproof artwork. Oil paint became known for its durability and long lasting resistance. But for the durability of oil paints, we would not be privileged to see paintings from hundreds of years ago. Having said this, some famous paintings do get touched up from time to time so they are at their best presentation.

Behind the beauty of oil paintings is the hard work of the artist. A classical work may take several weeks to months to complete. Color pigments and binders are the constituents of the oil paints. Linseed oils, poppy seed oils, safflower oils and walnut oils are the oils that get mixed with the pigments. Brushers made up of different fibers are used to paint. Oil painting is said to take a lot of work because it does not dry up easily, and if the artists want to paint in layers, they would have to wait for the paints to dry at each level which may take up to a week. The oils used would dry at their own pace.

Unlike water paintings, changes to oil paintings can be made during its drying period.  Oil paintings do not dry through evaporation, they have to be oxidized. And then these paints are varnished after six months or a year. Some art conservators consider an oil painting to be dry only after its 60-80 years old.

Oil paintings reached the pinnacle during the renaissance, where artists began to select wooden panels as their base medium. They would stretch their canvas over the wooden panel. Artists used a variety of brushes to produce different kinds of unique effects, knives and blades were also used. Some artists painted with their fingers too.

Typically, my Grandfather painted on canvas, but when he ran out and we haven’t had time to buy new ones for him, he would paint on anything! He has painted on wooden boards, back of other paintings, and believe it or not, he’s painted directly onto the wall of his dining room!

Oil paintings today

Oil painting is an astonishing art form and even today there are many artists who work fabulously with oil paints. But now there are more sophisticated tools to produce oil paintings such as water miscible oil paints. These paints can be thinned and cleaned up with water rather than using the turpentine. Earlier turpentine was used as a cleaner and / or thinner in oil paintings. These water miscible oil paints reduce the deep odor of toxic chemicals. Those days artist coated a blended mixture on the canvas before they started painting, this was done to protect the canvas from the toxic nature of the paints. But with the improvements of paints, some of the older safety measures are no longer required.

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What You Need to Know Before Investing in Art

Posted June 6, 2010 By admin

The Famous "Starry Night" by Van Gogh

A properly chosen painting can essentially increase in value in just a few years. And it is not as hard to choose a piece of art fitting in this category as it might seem at first.

Before investing any substantial amount of money in paintings, you should consider:

  • Why is there a difference in the price for different paintings?
  • How to choose a painting that will eventually increase in value?
  • What is the right price to pay for the painting and not overpay?
  • What factors influence the cost of a painting?

These and other questions are what you will have to consider when you want to buy a painting, be it to change or add to the decor of your house and / or to make a wise investment for your hard earned money.

The difference in price of paintings can be astonishing. For two almost identical paintings (the canvas, oil) in different places you could be asked to pay from $500 to $5000. How do you make the right choice in a situation like that? Often buyers simply don’t recognize the factors that price consist of. In the best-case scenario when you know an artist personally and you are buying a painting directly from him or her - the price practically equals the expenses of the painting. But it is not often that you would personally know a painter, although with the increased convenience of the internet these days, buying directly from painters are more possible.

If you buy a painting from an art gallery, the price is influenced by a number of factors. First of all - rent of the gallery space: the majority of galleries are located in nice places therefore have high rent; Salary of employees of a gallery who carry out the exhibitions; Cost of advertising (including expenses for posters, catalogs, invitations to opening of exhibitions, etc); Financing other non-commercial art projects, and many other things. You will have to pay at least twice as much than if you buy a painting from the painter directly.

Having said this, there are benefits to buying from an exhibition or through an art gallery. These places will generally offer you works of art that have already gone through preliminary selection and tough competition. You know for sure it is a good investment.

If you are buying a painting directly from an artist, all you can do is basically rely on your own taste and on some attributes of professionalism and success of the artist. For example, it is relevant to know whether the artist has had art education. Certainly there are some talented self-educated artists, but they are very rare.

There are some other questions you may want to ask your artist. For example:

  • Do they have any works exhibited in large museums?
  • Are they a winner of any art competitions?
  • Where was their recent exhibition? A list of exhibitions will tell you a lot about him or her.
  • Whether they a catalog of exhibitions, posters, booklets and other advertising material?
  • Do they have a professional looking website? A good website is also a sign of professionalism. Certainly not all talented artists have their own websites but most of them do.

If you are buying from a gallery or other reseller, it doesn’t hurt to ask them to point to you those artwork that are likely to rise in value in the near future or to tell you which of the artists they see as having potential to succeed.

If you have problems with going to galleries and attending the opening days you can do everything online. Search in Google or in any other catalog under the category “art” and look at the personal websites of the artists. You will definitely be able to obtain a lot of information online.  The only problem I see is that sometimes online you can’t really see what the painting really looks like in real life. To minimize this disadvantage, make sure you ask for a large picture of the painting so that you can see it in detail on your computer. Usually if you like what you see on the computer screen, the original painting will not disappoint you but like anything else, there will be that odd exception from time to time.

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Frame Painting - Art Prints Framed

Posted June 1, 2010 By admin

Painting with a Textured Frame

Purchasing a framed painting (a large one anyway) may seem daunting to the first timer and may affect the decision they make in purchasing the painting itself. What I do is look at the painting and frame in isolation and then together as one piece.  If the choice is available, I usually like buying the painting unframed and then framing separately.

It is fairly simple to frame and relatively inexpensive. Many of the art frames can be purchased to match your décor and/or other artwork adjacent. Sometimes an ordinary piece of art can become somewhat if you choose the right frame. The choices are limitless when it comes to finding the right frame online or offline. Having said this, I have bought paintings before with the frame because I happened to like the combination which was a bonus.

If you are purchasing an unframed work directly from the artist it never hurts to ask if they have a connection to get you a good priced frame. Artists that sell a lot will not purchase frames at retail price. They usually have a friendly source or a good business connection that deals with frames, so talk to him or her and see if you can get you a discount. It never hurts to ask.

If you prefer to look for a frame yourself then I’m sure you won’t have a problem

Painting with a Sophisdicated Golden Frame

finding a professional framers in your area. They are quite common place nowadays. As with any service or profession some are good and some are not so good. Shop around for the best service, best price, and look for value as you would for any other product or service.

Below are just a few tips to help you choose your frame.

Size

Making any sized frame “work” with a piece you must ultimately control the proportions with matting. A wide frame requires more matting than a narrow frame.

Style

By looking at your painting you will see how the coloring, theme and medium will most often direct you toward a particular  type of frames. Generally the frame should go with the theme, medium and style of

Painting with a Simple Black Frame

the painting. If you are still having a hard time with choosing your frame you can also use the décor of your room in which the piece will hang as your guide. For example, you wouldn’t use a wooden frame with an unfinished look more suitable for a cottage in a condo with a modern decor.

Wooden frames will look good with most paintings, it’s more a matter of the color of the wood and how the wood is finished.  Wood can be stained in colors like walnut, cherry, oak, ash, basswood, poplar, and pine. Stained wood can be plain, carved, simple or ornate. And, many wood frames are available in lacquer finishes, faux finishes, and gold or sliver leaf.

Metal frames work well with certain décor, or with more  modern pieces and posters can also be a good choice. I would however stay well away from plastic or acrylic frames. They just don’t do anything for your feel, decor or the value of your painting.

If you are going to buy your frame online, make sure you know exactly what you are buying. You would preferably have checked out different frames at a store before making your purchase online.

Painting with a Walnut & Gold Swept Frame

Painting with Raw Wooden Frame

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Another Story with One of my Grandfather’s Paintings

Posted May 18, 2010 By admin

Another Painting by my Grandfather H Malek

I think this picture is big enough to show the amazing brush strokes used to paint this painting. Especially the sky and the fierce waves coming into the shore. Mind you, it is an oil painting of a shore that existed only in my Grandpa’s imagination!

Like with many great paintings, there are many ways to interpret what is happening in this painting. To me, it was a sunny day but the painting has just captured the moment when the weather is changing and a storm is coming! The tree on the left is tilted by the strong wind and the waves are hitting the rocks and rushing to the shore. You can see the sky was starting to turn gray and the water reflecting the colors of the sky.

To truly appreciate this painting, I think you might need to step back a little from your computer screen and you’ll see everything I’ve described. If you have a different interpretation, I would love to hear it!

Oh, I haven’t told you the story I was going to tell you yet. I actually took this painting to display in my office (it was portable as it was on canvas and only slightly larger than A4 size). Literally every single person whose come into my office has complimented how amazing the painting is (especially when I told them my Grandpa painted it). It was certainly a great topic for conversation!!

Well, one of my colleagues even offered to buy it off me. I told my Grandfather and he said I should gift it to her. NO WAY!!! Sorry… but I’m keeping it! She even said to give her a price, but I never could have parted with it. It means a lot to me. Anyway, I did gift to her a print of the painting and she has that in her work area.

Enjoy!

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