Do Colors Change What is Beautiful

What is beautiful? The term is a bit subjective, don’t you think? After all, isn’t beauty in the eye of the beholder?

It most certainly is, but one undeniable quality about color is its ability to make all things beautiful!

This is why color-field painting, with its abstract merging of vivid colors, is responsible for some beautiful works of art. In this post we will look at how color-field painting evokes emotions and has the ability to change an environment.

By now we know how color impacts art and also stirs emotion in people. Recent posts discuss color therapy, known as chromotherapy and the psychology of color, offering insight into how color can impact an individual. As artists, we know the emotional impact art can have on us. Vivid colors can stir emotions and hold an observers heart once they pass.

Sometimes, color makes beautiful what was not beautiful before. This is the case of color-field painting; color, shape, composition, proportion, balance, style, and scale change a blank canvas into a brilliant work of art.

This style of art is very abstract and those who are best known for its development are considered Abstract Expressionists. Color-field painting emerged in New York in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. It was a type of art inspired by European modernism and made popular by artists like Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman.

What sets color-field painting apart from other types of abstract art is the artist’s regard for paint. With the main focus being color, shape, composition, proportion, balance, style, and scale, there is less emphasis on gesture, brushstrokes and consistent actions that create form and process. In fact, the entire work of art is created by the artist who determines what elements he or she will add to convey a sense of place, atmosphere, or environment. In other words, what makes color-field painting beautiful, is its subjectivity.

Like most art, the beauty of color-field painting is in the eye of the beholder. These colorful pieces are nice accents for decoration and fun to paint too! But don’t let the look of simplicity fool you. This style is not easy to perfect and contrary to how it appears, cannot be replicated by a 6 year old!

Have you splashed your art palette with color today? Try it and see how color changes what you see as beautiful.

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Benefits of Making Your Own Paints

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Did you know that you can easily and affordably make your own paints right at home? The supplies needed to make oil paints, acrylics, watercolors or pastels are fairly inexpensive and they can be easily purchased online or at a local shop. You don’t need a giant studio or an excessive amount of supplies to make your own paints – all you need are a few basic ingredients pertinent to each medium, and a tabletop that you can use as your work area.

You might wonder, “Why should I bother making my own paints?”

There are a number of reasons why it is beneficial for artists to make their own paints. For starters, when you break down a specific medium to its individual components, it helps you to understand the nature of the medium. Taking part in the process of creating an oil paint or a pastel stick provides invaluable insight into the qualities of that particular medium. Plus, the magic of watching loose powdered pigment transform into a usable paint can become part of the overall creative experience.

One of the best things about making your own paints is that you can control the hue, value and intensity of each color. If you need a specific shade of green that is difficult to mix using commercial paints, you can create your own. If you need a range of blues to create skyscapes and seascapes, you can create the exact colors that you need and save them for future use.

It’s easy to forget that there was once a time when all artists either had to make their own paints or purchase these supplies from a local artisan. The vast majority of artists today buy their paints and art materials off the shelf. Most artists don’t even think twice about how these materials are made or what is actually in them. This has changed our relationships to our art materials. By making your own paints, you can reinvigorate your connection to the materials that you use to create art.

In future articles, we’ll take a closer look at the process involved for making oil paints, pastels, watercolors and acrylics.

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How to Make Your Mistakes Work for You

Every artist knows the feeling of working for hours on a piece, only to make some kind of mistake. Whether it’s spilling paint, making a mark that can’t be erased, or stepping back and realizing that your drawing is out of proportion – we’ve all been there at some point. But when you goof up, does it mean that your artwork is ruined? Not necessarily!

Here are some tips that can help save your artwork after you’ve made a mistake that you can’t undo:

• Cover over it. This is probably your first impulse, so ask yourself, “Is there a way to cover this mistake?” If you’re painting in acrylics, you can cover over it. But if you’re working in watercolors or colored pencil, covering over mistakes is not an option. In that case…

• Work the mistake into the composition. Do all you can to make the mistake blend into the artwork, so that it seems like an intentional part of the piece. This may require you to…

• Embrace the unexpected. Ask yourself, “How can I adjust my original vision for the piece to incorporate this unexpected addition?” You might surprise yourself, as this can produce a very creative approach that you may not have otherwise taken.

Above all, don’t panic. Art is a process of creation, one that requires a balance between control and letting go. By letting go and welcoming whatever happens, you free your creative flow and allow your muses to guide you.

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Introduction to Color Expert Johannes Itten

“Color is life; for a world without color appears to us as dead.” – Johannes Itten

When you take an art course on color theory, you can thank Johannes Itten for laying much of the foundation for what you’re being taught. Johannes Itten was a Swiss artist and teacher who taught at the Bauhaus in Germany. He published several books on art theory, the most popular being The Art of Color.

Sir Isaac Newton is credited with creating the first color wheel, which included 6 colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan and blue. Around 250 years later, Johannes Itten expanded Newton’s color wheel to include 12 colors instead of 6. These 12 colors included red, yellow and blue as the primary colors; orange, green and purple as the secondary colors, and 6 intermediary colors created by mixing a primary color with a secondary color. This is the same color wheel often used in school’s today to teach students about color theory.

Itten also examined color saturation, contrast and hue, devising theories for creating different color combinations that are still useful to artists and designers today. He looked at the expressiveness of color, and also the way colors affect one another. He also explored the emotional properties of colors which he considered to be fairly subjective, proposing that we each have different individual reactions to colors.

For more information about Johannes Itten and his color theories, look for his books online or in your local library.

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Do you love Cats?

Cats are great to use in Art! Aren’t cats cuddly, cute, calm, curious, playful, as well as finicky. Cats are among our most popular pets. They come in numerous breeds and coat patterns including Tuxedo (bicolor), Tabby (marbled), Calico (Tortoiseshell), Colorpoint (Siamese), and white. Photorealistic patterns of colorful felines in an assortment of poses and expressions are fun to enjoy painting and so relaxing! Some find cats even cutie! Cats can be found in different kinds of art where there are many great shots of them playing, staring, yawning, and just being curious.

I wonder if our cats know we love them? I know that my cat does. One thing that is for sure they make good companions and they are so sweet! My cat is very affectionate. I think that cats aren’t too much of a hassle to take care of. I don’t see people walking my neighborhood with their cat besides them.

Cats make it fun to paint! I love relaxing and painting cats on my Windows computer! I hope you do as well.

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What Every Artist Should Know About Copyright (www.segmation.com)

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All artists should be aware of copyright – that is, the exclusive rights that you, as the creator of your art, are granted from the moment your artwork is created.

Because you are the copyright owner of your original artwork, you have the sole right to distribute your art and make reproductions of it. No one else can do this without your consent. If they do, it is illegal and you can take legal action.

Technically, the moment you create your artwork, it is copyrighted. While it might be helpful to draw or paint the copyright symbol © onto your art (followed by the year and your name), this symbol is no longer necessary to protect your copyright. It’s more of a visual reminder to let others know that your art is copyrighted.

However, if you should ever take someone to court because they infringed upon your copyright, the only way to get the utmost in legal protection is to register your copyright with the US Copyright Office. Ideally you should do this immediately after the artwork is finished.

If the artwork is registered with the US Copyright Office, offenders can be held liable for up to $30,000 in statutory damages or even $150,000 if you can prove that they already knew your art was copyrighted but reproduced it anyway.

Registering your copyright is easy. You can fill out the form entirely online at the website of the US Copyright Office, pay the fee, and upload images of your art. Once processing is complete, they will snail mail you a certificate of registration. Even though that may take a few months, your copyright is officially registered from the date you filled out the form, made the payment and uploaded your art.

The cost to register your art is $35, but if you register your artwork as a “series”, you can register as many works of art as you want (as long as they were created in the same year) for one single fee of $35. For instance, if you created 12 landscape paintings in 2010, you can register all 12 landscapes under the same claim for a single $35 fee. This is a great way to save money on registration fees.

In short, it’s always a wise idea to protect your copyright by registering your art with the US Copyright Office. If and when your art becomes wildly popular, you may need that legal protection if anyone infringes upon your copyright.

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A Closer Look at the Color Red www.segmation.com

A Closer Look at the Color Red.

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You’ll find in our SegPlayPC Music Mation pattern collection fun, off-beat set of great colorful digital patterns. We know you’ll enjoy coloring these great patterns! What a great stress reliever as well.

Gorgeous art painting patterns to color and relax with. You don’t have to be a professional artist to enjoy this. Join the fun today! Segmation.com

These patterns are sure to bring out a rich musical feeling as you paint them. We’ve found a well-rounded series of musical themed photographs and created a SegPlayPC™ pattern set with them. You’ll find pianos, guitars, drums, harmonicas, flutes, saxophones, clarinets, violins, pipes, trumpets, and one passionate guy doing his best at singing karaoke!

You can find a wide collection of Music mation Scenes paint by number patterns and is available at the Segmation web site. These patterns may be viewed, painted, and printed using SegPlay™PC a fun, computerized paint-by-numbers program for Windows 7, 2000, XP, and Vista. Enjoy!

Art for Peace

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Art can be a powerful vehicle for social change, offering the opportunity for reflection upon pressing issues and social injustices. Through image-making, those who feel powerless are given a voice. One of the most critical, ongoing topics of global concern is the quest for world peace.

In September, scores of artists gathered in Moscow, Russia to paint benches for the The Bench of Peace International Art Project, shown above. Placed side by side, the benches stretched 400 meters along Lavrushinsky Lane and were later auctioned off for charity. Events such as this demonstrate that art is not just about making a pretty picture – art also makes a statement, one that may linger in viewers’ memories long after they’ve stopped looking at the art.

Pablo Picasso, one of the 20th centuries most celebrated artists, created many drawings and lithographs of doves, the international symbol of peace. While his first dove artwork in 1949 was created in a realistic style, his subsequent peace doves took on a more elegant, minimalistic style. On the opposite end of the spectrum, his painting Guernica depicts the horrors of war, and is hailed as one of history’s most powerful anti-war paintings.

Organizations such as the Global Art Project aim to promote peace through art. Through various visual art projects, they seek to educate the public about diversity and tolerance. Art for peace can take the form of community-based projects that focus participants’ minds on the causes of conflicts and solutions for spreading inner harmony and outer peace.

From conceptual street art to traditional fine art, the variety of art created for peace demonstrates the power of images to transform the world, one person at a time.

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In Awe of Autumn and Thanksgiving

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Autumn is one of the four annual seasons and ranges (in the Northern Hemisphere) from September 22th to December 21st. The exact times are measured by the Autumn equinox and the Winter solstice. Autumn is associated with many natural events including harvesting of crops, a cooling of temperatures, a graying of skies, and most noticeably, the changing colors of leaves. Segmation’s “In Awe of Autumn” set contains a colorful array of photographs which depict autumn at its finest. Yellow, red, and orange leaves are shown in numerous forms. Skies are shown with dynamic coloring as well. Rivers, mountains, fields, ducks, apples, and country roads are also shown in fall season.

Segmation’s In Awe of Autumn set contains over 20 paintable patterns in all different painting levels.

You’ll find in our Segmation SegPlay® Thanksgiving pattern collection, many contemporary scenes of the Thanksgiving holiday, including numerous colorful turkeys, cornucopias, pumpkins, pilgrims, thanksgiving art, being thankful and harvests.  Gooble Gooble!

Have fun and relax with beautiful online painting art. So fun and easy to use with no mess but just a mouse!

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