Art Hack #4 The Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds is a compositional tool that dates back to the Renaissance and even before.  It is used primarily for landscape painting but is a very useful tool for still life, figures and even portraits.  The basic idea is that the strongest areas of a rectangular painting lie where the red lines intersect.  You can use the The Rule of Thirds to place your focal point or to create the weighted areas of the composition.  Just remember, the one place you DON’T want to place your focal point is in the center square ( unless you intentionally want a boring composition or you are sophisticated enough to know how to counterbalance that space!).  If you are a more advanced painter and want a challenge, try pushing the hots spots slightly away from the intersections while still maintaining your painting's balance.

Introducing Art Website Reviews

One way to learn more about art and art techniques is to spend time viewing the work of other artists and learning from the methods they have developed.  If you are new to art, it's an easy way to have free art lessons right in your studio.  For experienced artists it's a way to add to your repertoire and reinforce what you've already learned.  RFAA's bloggers would like to share some of the websites we've found along with a little review of what you'll find in each.  Here's our first one:

http://www.artshow.com/juriedshows/south.html

                If you are into entering art shows, this site is for you.  It lists all sorts of Calls for Artists by region of the country + international shows.  It also gives grant opportunities, art tutorials listed by medium, workshops, a market for selling your art (at a fee of course) and much much more.  Check it out when you have lots of time to browse all Artshow.com has to offer!

Art Hack #3 -- Acrylic Mediums

  What’s the Difference Among All Those Acrylic Mediums?

Walking down the medium aisle in your favorite art supply store or browsing through a catalogue at all those choices can get confusing so here’s a basic primer, on just a few of the mediums you might choose.  Mediums are used to thin the paint for glazing (creating transparent or translucent paint) Remember that every brand may be slightly different so buy a small bottle to see what suits your style the best.

Gloss Medium is shiny and dries clear. It may be thick or thin depending on the brand

Matte Medium is flat or dull and dries slightly less clear.  It too can be thick or thin.

Semi-gloss Medium is halfway between gloss and matte.

Heavy Body Mediums are thicker and may dry clear or slightly cloudy.

Gel Mediums are thicker and can be used to glue down collage as well as create Impasto or thick paint applications

Molding or Modeling Paste is a chalky super thick paste that can be sculpted but remains pliant after it dries -- for use in creating heavy texture.