The majority of the world's masterpieces of art have been created with oil paints. Basically, oils are pigments that are bound into a "drying oil" which is an oil that hardens when exposed to air. The most common oil used is linseed oil. Here are a few facts about oil paints.
It's the mid 1500's and King Henry VIII and his court were ardent admirers of miniature portraits. These little treasures became mementos of loved ones.
Over the years there has been a number of myths concerning how to clean your oil painting. You can only imagine my surprise to see that these myths have survived and are now appearing on websites as being legitimate ways to clean your art.
Pharaohs ruled Egypt when encaustic painting was first used. This ancient paint has waxed and waned in use over the centuries, but was made popular again by such 20th century artists as Jasper Johns and Diego Rivera.
Technology has made leaps and bounds since the first print was inked and pressed. The computer has revolutionized the process into what is now commonly called a Giclee print. Basically, it is the exact same process when you take a photograph, down load it into your computer and print it out on your ink jet printer.
Today’s artwork boasts so many vibrant colors that strike our fancy, we often overlook where they come from. Before modern science, pigment-making was a tricky process that involved transforming sources from nature into the paint colors used in artwork.
Days of the week are in colors, printed numbers have personalities, and splashes of color flash in front of you with loud sounds and music. No, it’s not Alice in Wonderland or Fantasia, it’s a very real sensory phenomenon called synesthesia.
Rodin’s The Thinker. Michelangelo’s Pieta. New York City’s Statue of Liberty. These sculptures are just a few of many examples throughout millennia that demonstrate our instinctive desire to create art.
