Tag Archives: Van Gogh

How to Decorate A Still Life for a Painting

Posted on by

If you want to be successful at painting a still-life then you need to pay some serious attention to how you set it up first. You need to pay attention to the composition, mood and lighting of the objects that you want to paint. This is why it is important to pay attention to the still life composition by arranging and rearranging the components of the painting until you are satisfied that it is perfect.

A still life is just simply a work of art that depicts inanimate subject matter. Typical food, flowers, plants, rocks, curios glasses, vases, books jewelry, coins and pipes are part of a still life composition but technically any object at all will do. Before the 1700s religious artifacts largely comprised the composition of still lives. They were first seen on the walls of Egyptian tombs.

That is why part of painting a still life is all about choosing objects that have some kind of importance to you. You can even do a portrait of someone by simply depicting their objects. The still life portrait is quite an interesting way of expressing the personality of someone without actually painting them.

Still life lighting is also important. It will figure into how atmospheric or moody your final result will appear on the canvas. Determining whether or not you are using natural or artificial light is also important. This will determine whether or into you are painting short or long shadows in your work. Painting these shadows properly is crucial to achieving realism in painting.

Still lifes can be in any style including realism, impressionism, expressionism and abstract expressionism. Some of the most famous still lifes in history, such as Van Gogh’s sunflowers, bordered on being abstractions.

If you don’t think you can control the lighting for your still life then you may want to take a picture of a still life and proceed from there. Many artists nowadays use this type of technique so that they can paint from an image where the light source is completely constant.

If you are just starting out as a still-life painter just make sure the still-life arrangement you are painting is very simple. Start out by painting a bowl with a couple of pieces of fruit or a simple plant. Then move on to paint more elaborate still lifes when you become better at mastering still life composition.

The art of painting still lifes has been around since the beginning of the art of painting and the popularity of this type of painting is still going strong today!

How to Decorate With Tile Coasters

Posted on by

Tile coasters are very hot right now. It is because you can print anything on them. They especially suit older works of art and if you go onto any of the big sites you will see that many types of tile coasters have actually now become collector’s items. They actually look like reproductions of vintage postcards with images on them by Diego Riviera, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Freda Kahlo and others.
You can also get humorous ceramic tiles. These have jokes, political statements or funny images on them. An example would be the image of a piggy bank saying the phrase “Change is good.” You can also get the old iconic signs like a big peace symbol, the big LOVE image with the crooked L or the smiley face.
One drawback of tile coasters is that they are fragile and that they do break easily. Sometimes the condensation from the glass creates suction and this causes the coaster to stick to the tile. This is usually noticed to late by the user of the glass and the tile smashes to the floor.
One of the most unique developments in the industry of tile coasters is AbsorbaStone. These are coasters that work great and look great .They have a textured finish that keeps them from bonding with the bottom of the glass so it does not pick the tile up, drop it and smash it. This type of coaster is usually backed by cork to keep them skid free. This technology is also used to make cutting boards, trivets and memo boards.
Another popular type of coaster is the recycled variety. These are made from recycled ceramic tiles. Images are painted on them and then they are lacquered so they are durable.
Thinking of getting a tile coaster of a different sort? You can now get tile coasters that are actually made out of SCRABBLE Tiles. These are easy to make yourself. You simply glue Scrabble tiles to thin cork sheets in clever drink related patterns and then coat the whole thing with a sealant. You can buy about 100 regular wooden tiles for about $100 from Hasbro, the manufacturer of Scrabble tiles. You can also go to garage sales and buy old games and collect the tiles for making your own tile coasters that way.
There are also plenty of places online where you can get your business logo branded onto some tile coasters. These make a great Xmas gift. These places online that sell customized tiles tend to allow you to upload some kind of image of your own which they then print onto the tile. You usually order these in bulk although some suppliers of tile coasters will let you do this one by one. These can make great corporate Christmas gifts. The beauty is you can have any type of message printed up on a ceramic tile the way you can a button or a T-shirt or a mug. It is a great way to get the word out about your product.