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One of the most rewarding things you can do with a finished framed painting is to give it to someone as a gift.  Yes, you can sell your art, but when you give a painting away, it is like giving a piece of your heart to someone you care about.  Lets face it most of us aren’t going to become rich selling artwork.  Most people take up the craft as a hobby to fulfill their creative inner spirit.  I started painting as a hobby as my children grew and didn’t “need” me anymore.  I have never really had the desire to travel to shows and get my work out in the public for sale.  I have and do sell work, don’t misunderstand me, I just want you to know that true beauty in art comes from within your desire to make someone happy by presenting them with something as original as a painting done by you!

You can personalize your work pretty easily as well.  For example, painting the mountain scene from the family cottage or camp would have an insurmountable sentimental impact to the recipient. My niece’s first painting was titled “Pops’ Cabin” whom she gave to her 90-year-old great grandfather. The painting was that of a cabin in the woods.  It didn’t resemble his cabin at all.  The painting represented an important time in her grandfather’s life and the time he spent there with his loved ones.  The painting was from her heart and he knew that.  Needless to say it brought him to tears because he was so touched by her thoughtfulness.

Landscapes, homes, vacation scenes, and portraits all can be created into un-price able works of art when given to someone you care about.  Another reason to give your art away is this; Holidays and special occasions when you ask what to give the person or family that “has everything”.  I bet that they don’t have a painting of their children playing on the beach on the last family vacation. They don’t have a painting of the tree swing at the old farm house. Get the point!  I know what your thinking, I’ve just started painting and I can’t paint people!  Believe me there are ways to paint the suggestion of just about anything – including people. The key is to practice, practice, practice. Do yourself a favor, don’t be a perfectionist.  Accept what you can do, do it, and then give it to someone.

Yes you will need to practice your painting skills before you feel confident enough to give your works as gifts and I’m not saying that your going to love every thing you create.  If you are thinking about developing your skills as a painter, consider the pleasure you’ll get and give when you give it away!

Now I have explained the joy and pleasure you will receive when you give a painting to someone as a gift. I sincerely hope that this article has been useful.  If you are just starting out as an acrylic painter – keep it simple, have fun, and enjoy learning to paint.

Julie Shoemaker is an avid painter and hobbyist who regularly gives paintings as gifts to family and friends.  To read more articles like the one here, and to see more free art tips, tricks and techniques and free step by step lessons please visit http://www.IamPainting.org

As our children grow, they need well-rounded stimulation and exposure to various interests in order to become informed and educated adults later. Most children are taught to engage in sports, while their exposure to the arts may not be as intensive. As the daughter of a teacher who has taught the basics of art, dance, music and theater to children; I have an appreciation for what they have to offer. My life has been enhanced greatly by art and music, especially. If you are thinking about enrolling your child in after school programs, consider an art, music or dance class to get them started in the fascinating world of the arts. My mother’s students through the 45 years she has taught have appreciated what they learned from her, and have come back at times to tell her so. The arts are meaningful and broaden your child’s world tremendously.

For example, if you child wants to play an instrument, encourage this and find a tutor or enroll them in a class. Let your child choose an instrument then either rent one or buy a second-hand instrument until you know he or she likes it enough to get a new one. Music teaches discipline, and studies by experts claim that it can help with learning mathematics as well. Besides, music is a good outlet for children, and pulls them away from less educational pursuits like video games or chatting online. By stimulating your child’s brain, you are allowing them to gain mastery of a subject. By sticking with lessons and completing them one-by-one, your child will gain in self confidence, too.

If your child loves to dance, there are courses at the arts or recreational centers in your community on ballet, tap or more. Sign up for a course in the topic he or she finds most interesting, and make sure to give encouragement as the courses progress. Dance promotes agility, grace and physical fitness. Install these interests early to set them up for interest in these disciplines as they mature. Go to the dance performance at the end of the course, and your child will be happy to know that you support all their hard work. It means a lot for them to see that you approve of what they are doing.

Art is most near and dear to my heart, as I am a trained illustrator. Let your child try a broad spectrum of different arts and crafts, so he or she can see what is most interesting to pursue further. For example, there are courses in pottery-making, drawing, painting, enamelling, sculpture and much more. I myself have taught children in drawing and painting, and they absorb what is taught to them like sponges when interested in the subject. Make sure to find a teacher who will make learning fun and give them positive encouragement. Many of my students have told me at the beginning, “I can’t do this. I can’t even draw a straight line.” That doesn’t matter, there is no right and wrong in creative art. It’s the artist’s creative license to do whatever he or she wants. My main concern with insecure students is to let them know that it takes time and practise, like in any branch of the arts, to become skilled. It doesn’t happen overnight, no matter how talented you are. Then, I go ahead and teach them, project-by-project, to gain confidence and see that art truly is for them. Some of my students have taken off to create projects on their own, once they realized that perfection isn’t expected of them. The pressure is off, and they can be free to enjoy whatever medium they like the most.

As a kid, my mother and father enrolled me in a wide variety of courses. As a shy child, it scared me at first, but even the courses I wasn’t as interested in were educational to me. I took away from each course a little more knowledge and appreciation for what the pros have to do to become good at their craft. Though I didn’t get into dance, I loved drawing, painting, music and pottery. And, trying different things pulled me out of my shell, making the shyness disappear later on.

I am a professional artist, my preferred style is realistic art, but I appreciate different disciplines unlike mine, such as impressionistic or abstract art. My mother teaches her young students to appreciate the Old Masters (painters like Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, etc.) every year, and they love it. Each child is taught to choose a painting they like, then try to paint it, using basic tempera paint. It is amazing how lovely the paintings can turn out, and every year she gets copies of the work before it goes home with the kids. Unbeknown to these three to five year old children, classic training in painting includes copying the Old Masters further along in art education. Trying it early is invaluable, and there is no pressure to create a masterpiece, just in having fun and seeing how each child interprets the original painting. The kids love it, and work hard to do a good job, so they can go home and give it to their parents. A very worthwhile project.

Having grown up immersed in the arts myself, I truly encourage you to give your child exposure to them away from what they learn in elementary school. If they enjoy a certain branch of the arts, encourage it, and later as adults they will do this for their children in return. The arts make the world a prettier, more musical and interesting place. No time spent on learning them is wasted. So, go ahead and enroll them in a course after school. You won’t be disappointed, and maybe you will open their eyes to a new passion to pursue. It’s most definitely worth a try.

Culinary arts school is a booming career option in recent times. Any individual who enjoys food and cooking can surely benefit by choosing this as a career. Such school trains the students to become professionals in this field. After completion of the course, many students successfully set up their own culinary ventures. Most people think that making food is an extremely easy task and that these schools only teach to create dishes. But today, many culinary schools have dynamic programs in their course structure which not only includes preparing various cuisines, but also offer safety and hygienic business information. So, culinary is a serious profession which includes combination of science and art as well.

A well trained and skilled chef can make food become more than a biological necessity. It’s an art form meant to be savored. You can’t taste a painting or smell music – but good food is meant to be consumed and appreciated on many different levels.

Choosing The Right Program:

Students need to decide on programs that they are interested in making the career. If students desire to become soup chefs then, need to ensure that the school they choose has reputation in that course. If individuals want to start their catering venture, then they have to locate the school that specializes in that course itself. After enrolling, individuals need to attend the school regularly. It enables them to learn the course more efficiently and systematically.

Ask as many questions to instructor, observe their tactics and try to imbibe the qualities for improvement. The feedback given by the teachers is always important, using which individuals excel not only in their exams but also in the future professions.

Maintain a good rapport with teachers and friends, because there references might prove useful after completion of courses. Some schools provide extra tutorial or workshops to students on weekdays, which are not included in the syllabus. Notable people from culinary fields are invited to give the lectures. By attending such classes, an individual get the idea about the actual culinary world. Hence, gain maximum benefits from the facilities provided at the school. Some schools also take study trips to different locations to understand the food habits of various cultures.

Attending a culinary arts program isn’t the only way into the culinary industry. However, formal training can provide you with an extensive knowledge of proper techniques, high-end ingredients and the ins and outs of the business. Attend into a culinary arts program with the determination to learn as much as you can, and you’ll come away with a valuable education that can help you reach your career goals.

Summary:
To become a successful in every field, an individual has to put in efforts and same is in case of culinary art. Culinary schools of recent times provide excellent training and facilities, but it totally depends upon the students how much knowledge they acquire from it. While pursuing the culinary program, do the best as these qualities remains for lifetime and this is what required by employers too. Arts culinary schools thus, help in fulfilling the dreams of students of becoming eminent chefs.

From skillful caricaturists to passionate crusaders for political causes, Israeli artists have throughout history in one form or another created a political work of art. Whether biblical stories of Jewish bravery and martyrdom, the birth of Zionism or more modern examples of courage, political art has always played a part in the soul of Israeli creations of art. At the same time, even in modern times of today artists are often scared to link their creations to history and politics.

In the following, this article examines four aspects analyzing the issue of art & politics.

Artists & Politics

The first aspect addressing the subject of artists and politics examines the extent of public involvement by Israeli artists in taking a political standpoint expressed through their art paintings.

From a democratic point of view which seeks to protect freedom of expression, it is important that art work tackle political issues and influence public debate

However, the problem in Israel for artists who want to express an anti-establishment view is the concern over the fact that the establishment represents their main source of support and financing. While those who want to back up the establishment are not doing so out of fear of being accused by their artist friends that their creative work is influenced by economic reasons. As such it can be concluded that in our time the majority of Israeli artists are “fearful” when it comes to touching upon political issues.

Politicians & Art

In the second aspect addressing politicians and art, I examine the involvement and understanding of political leaders in the creations of art. There is no doubt, that an artistic point of perspective opens horizons contributing to the development of a more open-minded way of thinking.

For this reason, Israeli leaders – whose personalities are often channeled through the security and/or party platform – should show interest in the arts as a tool for personal development which can widen their world view.

From a public point of view, a politician, who has knowledge and proven interest in cultural issues, will be considered as having preferable characteristics of experience and knowledge.

Politics in Art

Addressing the third aspect of politics in art, the following questions I believe are at the heart of the issue: To what extent does the political and public activity of the artist influence the artistic evaluation of his creations in the present and the future? If the official establishment wants the prestige of a particular artist can it increase or decrease the value of his art?

Art in Politics

In the fourth aspect of art in politics I raise the question if to a certain extent there is an artist at work in the political making? Can we make the assertion that certain people have a political-artistic talent which makes it easier for them to succeed in the political arena?

In this context, I very much believe, that in order to be a player in the political arena winning public opinion, a leader needs to be creative and have strong interpersonal skills combining artistic elements.

Amos Aharoni, an Israeli businessman who holds an M.B.A in Political Science, is the founder and owner of the Amos Aharoni Collection

Arts culinary school is a booming career option in recent times. Any individual who enjoys food and cooking can surely benefit by choosing this as a career. Such school trains the students to become professionals in this field. After completion of the course, many students successfully set up their own culinary ventures. Most people think that making food is an extremely easy task and that these schools only teach to create dishes. But today, many culinary schools have dynamic programs in their course structure which not only includes preparing various cuisines, but also offer safety and hygienic business information. So, culinary is a serious profession which includes combination of science and art as well.

A well trained and skilled chef can make food become more than a biological necessity. It’s an art form meant to be savored. You can’t taste a painting or smell music – but good food is meant to be consumed and appreciated on many different levels.

Choosing The Right Program:

Students need to decide on programs that they are interested in making the career. If students desire to become soup chefs then, need to ensure that the school they choose has reputation in that course. If individuals want to start their catering venture, then they have to locate the school that specializes in that course itself. After enrolling, individuals need to attend the school regularly. It enables them to learn the course more efficiently and systematically.

Ask as many questions to instructor, observe their tactics and try to imbibe the qualities for improvement. The feedback given by the teachers is always important, using which individuals excel not only in their exams but also in the future professions.

Maintain a good rapport with teachers and friends, because there references might prove useful after completion of courses. Some schools provide extra tutorial or workshops to students on weekdays, which are not included in the syllabus. Notable people from culinary fields are invited to give the lectures. By attending such classes, an individual get the idea about the actual culinary world. Hence, gain maximum benefits from the facilities provided at the school. Some schools also take study trips to different locations to understand the food habits of various cultures.

Attending a culinary arts program isn’t the only way into the culinary industry. However, formal training can provide you with an extensive knowledge of proper techniques, high-end ingredients and the ins and outs of the business. Attend into a culinary arts program with the determination to learn as much as you can, and you’ll come away with a valuable education that can help you reach your career goals.

Summary:

To become a successful in every field, an individual has to put in efforts and same is in case of culinary art. Culinary schools of recent times provide excellent training and facilities, but it totally depends upon the students how much knowledge they acquire from it. While pursuing the culinary program, do the best as these qualities remains for lifetime and this is what required by employers too. Arts culinary schools thus, help in fulfilling the dreams of students of becoming eminent chefs.

Good drawing tutorials and drawing materials are hard to come by. If you’ve been looking around on the Internet for some good drawing materials, I’m afraid you’ll have to spend lots of time to come across some good ones.

The problem with finding good drawing tutorials is that it can be time consuming to come up with good quality drawing materials.

For instance, writing a set of drawing lessons involve hours and hours of pre-planning and organization. The author will then have to spend time going back again and again to re-organize, rewrite or redraw the illustrations in the drawing lessons until all the nitty gritty details have been ironed out.

Due to this time consuming process, many authors take “short cuts” when creating drawing materials. They create just one illustration, and think they’re done with it. They write the instructions just once, and think that it’s completed. But we all know, that’s far from completing a set of quality drawing lessons.

When we spend a little time to think about why some authors would do that, it all boils down to the dollar sign. Many free resources that you’ll find on the Internet are put out for one simple reason: to make a quick buck off some advertisements.

I know that sounds a little bit harsh but it’s the truth. Make a search for the free drawing materials on the Internet and you’ll find lots of proof of what I’m talking about.

If the goal, right from Day 1, is not to create materials that’ll really help others improve their drawing skills, the focus is already wrong right from the very beginning. These authors choose to focus on the short term dollar sign rather than focus on creating quality content. When the focus is wrong, the end result is predictable. Crappy materials get churned out.

Also, from the reader’s point of view, note that when the website becomes unprofitable for the author to continue creating content, the site is going down the drain. That’s because the author will not continue investing valuable time working on a website that’s now becoming a burden.

So if you come across a website with quality drawing lessons, be sure to support the site. When a drawing website becomes profitable for the author, more quality content will follow.

But I digressed a little. The whole point of this article is to help you choose quality drawing materials. To do that, you need to be able to tell difference between quality and crappy drawing materials. Here are some tips.

When choosing quality materials, the first thing to check for is the end result. Always look for sample drawings. If the sample looks really good, chances are the author knows what he or she is talking about. After all, we now can establish the fact that the author holds the key to whatever drawing problems we may be facing.

Also, look for hints of amount of work done when developing the product. For example, has the work been proof read? Have it gone through stringent quality checks? What has been done to collect feedback?

Finally, it’s very important for the reader to look out for little tell-tale signs of the authors ability to deliver good training materials. All good trainers know how to communicate effectively to ensure that the message gets across.

For instance, does the author know when to insert key messages in the content? The time to do this is when the author has got the reader’s attention. You can tell how good an author is just by reading some sample paragraphs.

The above information will help you make a better decision when it comes to choosing high quality drawing lessons. Good luck in your seach!

Cutting and painting can only go so far. If that’s all you wanted to do with your photos, you shouldn’t have bothered purchasing Adobe Photoshop 7.0. This software is very powerful, and it would be such a waste if you don’t allow your knowledge and skills to grow with it.

If it’s your first time to use any Photoshop software, you might as well start with the best.

The Pixelate Function
Look for the Filter section in the tool menu situated on top of your screen. There are various options under the Filter category, and you can start playing with images with the pixelate function. The pixelate function allows you to modify images and turn them into different artistic styles. Remember when your art appreciation class required you to do a mosaic all by yourself and with your own two hands? It was hard work, wasn’t it? Now imagine being able to do that with any photo or image saved in your computer with just one click! And yes, you can do that just by clicking on pixelate and mosaic next.

Other artistic styles included under pixelate are crystallize, fragment, facet, color halftone, pointillize, and mezzotint.

How to Get Rid of Blemishes
Are you afraid of having your photos taken in close range because you don’t want to make your blemishes – acne, scars, and so forth – too visible? If that’s your only problem, Photoshop 7.0 can certainly eliminate such worries. There are various ways to accomplish that, but the easiest and basic strategy – which is where you should start as well – you could use is the blur function.

The blur function is still under the Filter category. Select the area that you wish to fade away into oblivion and then start clicking the blur function. Keep clicking blur or pressing Ctrl F until the area’s properly invisible. If the area’s too big, blurring the area would be definitely noticeable. But if they’re as small as dots on your face, rest assured that you could later on enjoy a blemish-free face from hereon forward in all your images.

The Importance of Layers
You hear about how important layering is in various aspects. Layering is important when applying fragrance to your skin or when you’re wearing clothes for fashion, winter, and sports. But layering is important in enhancing images as well, and you could learn how and why through Photoshop 7.0.

Now, in the previous version of Photoshop, using the Layer opacity affects all the layers you have in your image. Changing or modifying the effects of Layer opacity is slightly complicated however…until the arrival of the Fill opacity of Photoshop 7.0, that is. With the Fill opacity, only the layer you specified will be affected when you make certain changes.

Why the Magic Wand is Magical Indeed
Let’s say that you have a photo of — Barney the purple dinosaur in a garden background. Now, you want to get only the outline of Barney and nothing else. In the old days, you’d have to painstakingly cut it part by part. But in Photoshop 7.0, all you have to do is click the outline of Barney with the magic wand and voila! Mission accomplished. If it can’t be done in one click, you could just add everything to a selection until you complete Barney’s image.

Practice, practice, practice is all you need to do to master Photoshop 7.0. Good luck!

If your major interest is information related to blogging tutorial set or any other such as pregnancy magazine, technology blogs, political blog advertising or streaming radio, this article can prove useful.

Your commissions should be reinvested into PPC ads and e-zine advertising, especially solo ads. The urge to get your own domain name and hosting may start to grow and this is strongly urged. However, if you choose to remain on Blogger like me then no problem; it’s not what you have, but what you do with it that counts.

Web logging is a relatively new term that has just begun to make its rounds through the Internet world. You may have asked yourself in the past “what is web logging and why everyone is talking about it?” And the answer is relatively simple. Web logging is nothing more than a website that is updated regularly with the newest entries being displayed at the top. A blog is pretty much an online journal where anybody can go and type their thoughts for the rest of the Internet world to read.

You have your own domain name and web hosting, but you decide to host your blog elsewhere. Why? If your website is www dot com then your blog should be hosted. There is no reason for you to use an external blog service. First of all, you are putting the control of your blog in their hands- what happens when they decide to erase it? – Believe me, it happens. The second reason this is silly is because you should want to brand yourself and your business. Using another company’s domain is great for their branding but not yours.

You should not forget that even if your immediate blogging tutorial set quest isn’t answered in this article, you could even take it further by doing a search on Google to get specific blogging tutorial set information.

In the sales model, you devote a blog to a single product, or range of products. When offline companies start blogs, their blogs are sales blogs – they’re using their blogs to sell their products. If you have products that you want to sell, a sales blog is an excellent business model. You could sell a product that you’ve created – an ebook, a DVD, or art work – or products that you buy from others, and resell.

Web logging for money is a simple and enjoyable way to build a presence online and make some cash while you’re at it. Actually, web logging for money is the bread and butter of internet marketing currently and there are millions of people making a small fortune doing it.

If you run a business site, but do not currently have a blog, there is a great chance that you are leaving money on the table. Regardless of what kind of business you are in, a dynamic and interactive web log will improve customer response and add profits to your bottom line.

A lot of well-meaning people searching for blogging tutorial set also searched online for java blog software, magazine deals, and even lists of blog sites.

An English tutorial is beneficial for both those who are learning English as a second language and for those native English speakers who are preparing for an exam. The use of subject-verb agreement in forming sentences is of utmost importance in both speaking and writing grammatically correct English. Other facets of the English language that are often taught or refreshed in a tutorial include:

While a picture speaks a thousand words, those words tend to have one main meaning – with the possible exception of the still-mysterious Mona Lisa. But what if you had the chance to change those words? Are you interested in having that chance? If so, all you need to do is get help with a Photo Shop tutorial on effects.

Adobe Photo Shop today is the world’s leading digital imaging software program, and it allows users to edit their pictures with an amazing array of tools.

Tone – With just a click of your mouse, you can immediately turn your 100% colored photo into a black and white picture to make it seem older. You can also choose to give it a sepia look for a similarly quaint but more artistic impact.

Text – With the help of an Adobe Photo Shop tutorial on effects, you can also add cute text or captions to and within your photos. Unlike older programs which require you to copy and paste text with white backgrounds, Adobe Photo Shop has a transparent background so that only the very shapes of the letters are pasted on your photo. With this option, the text you’re adding will be made a part of the very photo.

Selection – Sometimes, you wish to create an effect on only one part of the photo. Adobe Photo Shop anticipates this need, and even better, lets you choose the shape of your selected part. When you’ve selected which part of the photo you wish to edit, all subsequent changes will then take effect on that part alone. It’s as easy and simple as that!

Mosaic – Remember your old art lessons in primary school and you had to create a mosaic project? Well, how about doing a mosaic version of your photo? It seems to require harder work with only your keyboard and mouse, but think again. Thanks to Adobe Photo Shop, you can create your own mosaic with just a click and even choose the cell size for your photo.

Blur – Faded patches in a photo are interesting, and you can intentionally make such patches on your photo if there are none to begin with. Under the same category of tools – Filter – in which you’ll also find other effect options like Mosaic and Pointillize, you can use the Blur option and apply it to a selected part of your photo or all of it. Keep pressing the Blur button until you reach your preferred degree of blurriness.

Color Pencil – Have you ever imagined what your photo would look like if it had been drawn using colored pencils? Imagine no more with the help of Adobe Photo Shop. Under the colored pencil function (still in the Filter category), you can also choose the degree of stroke pressure, paper brightness, and pencil width applied to your photo.

Neon Glow – Do you want your photo to outshine everything else in its vicinity? You can literally achieve that with the neon effects of Adobe Photo Shop. Once more, it can be a part of or the whole photo that could be changed with this option. The impact of this function can be modified according to neon color, glow, and brightness.

There are many other effects that Adobe Photo Shop can provide you and to change your photo, but self-study and self-exploration won’t get you anywhere fast anytime soon. If you want to learn now, find the best Photo Shop tutorial in the Internet and start watching.