Portrait or portrait painting is a popular art form. It is basically a type of handmade painting made by looking at a photograph. However every artist cannot make a painting from photographs. There are special artists knows as portrait artists, who are adept at drawing such portraits.
The portrait artists are specialized artists who are experts at creating the portrait paintings. Whether you want, photo portraits or live portraits, these artists can create them, for you. These artists create these portraits by incorporating elements that provide them with a real world look that is truly unique. This is because these artists study every detail of the subject closely. They work very hard to give the portraits a perfect look.
How to get the best portraits?
The most important trick to get the best portraits for your self is to select the right portrait artists. The portrait artists you choose should be very meticulous about details. Also the artists should have a considerable experience. This is because the more portraits they have drawn, the fewer mistakes they will commit and the better they will make the portrait.
Apart from selecting the right portrait artists, it is important that you select the right photograph. After all, the quality of the portraits is fully dependent on the quality of the photographs that you want to be converted into portraits. There are certain qualities that a photograph must have in order to get a portrait made from it.
Selecting the right photographs
The photographs that you should select for creating portrait paintings should be bright enough. Also they should have been taken in proper lighting conditions. Always keep this fact in mind that the photographs taken in natural light are much better than the ones that are taken with the help of a loud flash. These types of pictures usually have much more clarity. The clear pictures help the artists to judge the right colors and use the perfect brush strokes that will help to give the portraits a real world look.
Finding the portrait artists for a great portrait
Finding the portrait artists is a very easy thing these days. Here are some ways that can help you. If you have seen a portrait in a friend’s or relatives’ home, you can ask him or her about the artists. This type of reference is always helpful as this way you always have the results in front of your eyes.
Another way is to look for artists from any of the portrait schools. There is a lot of information on these schools available on the internet. These schools have many young artists who can make your portraits in a fast and inexpensive way.
Also you can look for portrait artists on the Internet. There are many websites that feature the works of various portrait artists. Also there are various individual artists who have their own websites. You can get their contact information from there and contact them.
Since its conception, art in all of its various forms has been created for the sole purpose of the artist describing for the world his or her personal visions of a person, event, or place. As a result visual works of art leave the viewer with an impression of an extreme emotion. Whether that feeling is joy or the deepest pits of despair, the artist has done their job if something of their reality shows through their work. Painters of all races and ethnic backgrounds can surely relate to the “starving artist” theory. But for black artist the struggle has been a little more intense. Not only in the U.S. as the children of freed slaves, but unfortunately in their mother continent of Africa, Black American artists have faced discrimination and censorship. Fortunately both sets of unique, gifted artists are beginning to see some of the attention and praise they deserve. Black art painting is finally being seen for the huge contribution to history and the art world that it is.
Both sides of the world have produced amazingly gifted artists. In the Western hemisphere there are certain black men and women who paved the way for the African American artists of today. Horace Pippin is one of those men. After an injury in WWI, Pippin discovered his underlying talent for rich, historical painting. While he avoided the unpleasantness of life for a black man in the U.S. during that time period, he did produce black art paintings that spoke volumes to the viewer. His work was displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in 1938. A less known black artist that contributed to the black art movement in the United States is Walter Ellison. His most famous work is “Train Station” located in the Art Institute of Chicago. That painting is an honest look at the difficulties facing black families as they migrated north in the hope of a better future than the south could or would offer. These two exceptional black artists help give hope of recognition to the many gifted black artists that were to follow.
The scenario for artists from and living in Africa is different though. Despite the struggles with racial discrimination and inherent prejudice in the U.S., African artists are faced with even more difficult issues. Apartheid and censorship have long plagued this long suffering group of artists and painters. While expressing their views of the political unrest and unfair treatment, African artists have been subjected to severe punishment and censorship unheard of in the West. Thanks in part to the academic world’s growing interest in the work of the modern black artist, black art painting is receiving more attention and registering in the minds of museum curators and art galleries alike. Most of the credit belongs to the fortitude and artistic expression of the African artists themselves.
From its humble beginning in rock painting to its depictions of slavery, apartheid, and injustice, black fine art is an expression of the feelings and emotions of a diverse, racially unified community of artists. The rest of the world now has the opportunity to see and experience this unique form of painting.
Mr. Moyo Ogundipe has a Bachelors of Arts degree in Fine Art from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and a Master of Fine Art degree in Painting from The Hoffberger School of Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, USA.
One of Africa’s most celebrated and renowned contemporary black American artists, Mr. Ogundipe has exhibited extensively in Africa, Europe and the USA. His paintings have been described as hypnotic, colorful and densely patterned.
In 1996, Mr. Ogundipe was awarded the Pollock-Krasner Fellowship. And in 2005 he was invited to become a member of Africobra, an organization founded in the 1960s and whose membership comprises of distinguished African-American artists.
Find and buy black art prints from Moyo Ogundipe at www.Maigida.com.
As tattoos become more popular these days, more and more people are getting tattoos or talking about getting one. This is great for the industry and even better for those who would like to get involved in the tattoo industry. But don?t think that becoming a professional tattoo artist is easy. There really isn?t any such thing as easy money by becoming a tattoo artist.
Many tattoo artist aspirants believe that purchasing a D.I.Y. tattoo kit from the advertisements of tattoo magazines is the starting point towards becoming a successful tattoo artist. Be aware that this equipment is of inferior quality and lacks precision. What next? Find a person to practice. And the result is dozens and dozens of people with awful tattoos and terrible scars and who will put you in their hate list forever. Furthermore, a true artist will be reluctant to take you under his wings because he is going to have a headache trying to guide you back on the right path.
The alternative is to pay a fee to a tattoo artist or shop to teach you the trade. So what is the type of fee to pay? As far as I know there are no reputable artists teaching you all he know for a fee. A true artist is not a true blooded businessman. If an artist is willing to teach you for a small fee, then consider this. Is he willing to part with all he knows for what you are paying? In one Asian country, the majority of tattoo shop websites advertise tattoo courses for a very small fee. But the problem is that after completing the course, you will have to come back for one refresher course then another and another. And I understand that after completion several such courses, you will not be able to tattoo properly. So the chances are you will be paying good money to some businessman who is just trying to make a fast buck.
So then, how to become a successful tattoo artist? For starters, you?ll need talent. You will never make it in the tattoo industry by tracing or stenciling, you will need to be able to draw great designs. To even get considered as a tattoo artist, a portfolio is needed. This will require you to draw lots of great designs to build up a portfolio. Your portfolio is proof that you have the skills that are needed to succeed in the industry. Without a portfolio, don?t even bother. I remember one South American guy asking me to train him to become a tattoo artist. And he said money is no problem. I told him that money is not an issue, just draw me a colored dragon and then a reaper. He came back after one week, and said he couldn?t draw a proper dragon or reaper. So end of story.
Once you have a portfolio to showcase your talents, you will need a mentor, someone who is willing to teach you the trade and share their secrets with you. Now this is the tricky thing, tattoo artists don?t like giving away their secrets. Simple reason is because many of them have been let down by their apprentices. Just take the case of my mentor. He has taken more than 20 people under his wings (all without any fee), but today only 3 of his graduates still “recognise” him as mentor. What happened to the rest? They have their own shops, but tell their customers that they can do the same quality of work as their mentor (also my mentor), but their prices are cheaper. So you know how much it hurts to be treated like my mentor? If you do find someone good, a real professional who is willing to tell you anything at all about the industry, then be grateful.
To train as a tattoo artist, you will need proper, high-quality equipment such as a precision tattoo machine, power supplies, shading equipment, needles, medical equipment and sanitation supplies. You will also need to know about cleanliness and what can and can?t be reused, as well as how to clean and sterilize your equipment. The popular professional tattoo artists are successful for a number of reasons, but mainly because they are clean and very talented.
You can succeed in the tattoo industry, but you will need to be talented, self-driven and dedicated. If you want to make lots of money as a tattoo artist, you are wasting your time. Become a tattoo artist because you love the art and love to create breath-taking pieces of body art. Be prepared to work for free and, most of all, if you get someone to stop and share a secret or two with you, take their advice. You will definitely need it.
What you do is you apprentice and work for a tattoo artist for very little pay. You do this so that he/she can take you under his/her wing and show you how to take your artistic skill and transfer it to the art that is called tattooing. If the master you’re apprenticing for is good, then along the way you’ll also learn about how to run a shop, what it takes to succeed, and what NOT to do…
How long does it take? Well…that depends on how fast you pick it up and how good your master is. It’s not uncommon for tattoo artists to apprentice for more than one artist in their careers…and each apprenticeship can last for several years.
This is not to discourage you…but the guys on Miami Ink didn’t just “decide” to become rock star tattoo artists one day. They scraped just to get by for many years before they became successful…and, chances are, you’ll have to, too.
The only question as important, or more important than choosing the perfect Tattoo , is How To Select A Tattoo Artist. It doesnt matter if you find the perfect Tattoo , the one that will alway’s be the best representation of you and the story of your life, if the Tattoo artist is less than sufficient to create the Tat itself. Artist selection is definitely just as important as choosing the Tattoo itself, but how can we know which one to trust?
Well, unfortunately , tattoo’s arent like paintings or other artwork done on a physical canvas. Even though skin is definitely a physical canvas of sort’s, it cant be hung on a wall somewhere, whether it be the Tattoo artist’s office or a gallery somewhere. It if was, we could simply browse through past work and get a real idea of the Tattoo Artists ability.
What about picture’s of past work?
That is the number 1 question I am asked when discussing how to select a tattoo artist. And yes, pictures do help. They will let you know the drawing skills of the that artist. But pictures are usually taken immediatley after the Tattoo is finished, or soon there-after. But that isnt always a true measure of the Artist’s talent. There is a reason for this…
Tattoo’s and skin change.
How many time’s have we seen a great looking tattoo on one of our friends or acquaintance’s, and later on down the road, not too far down the road, they are back at the Tattoo Studio getting the Tattoo reworked. We all know that Tattoo reworks over time arent neccessarily a sign of an inept Tattoo artist, but sometimes the reason’s for the rework are definitely a sign, a bad sign.
When asked “How to select a Tattoo Artist”, the number 1 answer is a common answer to many of the talent inqueries we face. And the answer it’s pretty simple.
Black and white photography (and, latterly, colour photography) always emphasises the dividing line marking the intersection between time(s) and space(s), the intersection and interpenetration of today and yesterday, today and tomorrow – of my life and someone else?s. It points to the event experienced by a person (someone we know or don?t know, myself, just someone, nature, or society as a whole) at the moment when my attention is directed at the rectangular frame recording that which has already been and gone and which is yet present in my life just so long as I am looking at (remembering) it.
Those who turn our life, the reality of our experience, into photographic images measure it as a news reporter does, give it aesthetic order as does a film director, and ?set up? frames to ?please the eye? – just as the archivist who acts as custodian of the past. And yet sometimes subordination to the past (not to history, i.e. not to past time in the form of events) turns out to be too confining a role for the photographer and he becomes an Artist. An Artist who subordinates to himself and his will time, space, and the reality of time and space, directing the facial expressions of the main actors in his art – i.e. time (considered as a flow of passing moments) and events. In his hands the camera, negatives/positives, exhibits, and other tools of trade become instruments in the attainment of higher goals. This is how it was that at some point in his photographic career Andrey Chezhin became not a master of artistic photography or some particular genre of photography, but an artist uplifted by the coloured wings of the style of our age – that style which the critics love to slate, postmodernism.
Andrey Chezhin?s reincarnation occurred in the not so distant past, against the background of historic events that had broken the consciousness of generations condemned to witness the change of course undergone by the giant ghost ship USSR-Russia as it turned from socialism to capitalism and from total paralysis of its executive structures to idiocy.
The English language is extremely rich, and provides the possibility of precise communication. Our language evolves rapidly, and while some new expressions emerge to describe modern life, many existing words have their common usage modified and corrupted. The term ?Artist? provides a good example.
As a young boy, I dreamed of becoming an Artist, and that single word proficiently expressed my desire to paint and draw. Today I am a professional Artist, but have to qualify my title with an explanation.
My aging 1990 concise Oxford dictionary defines an Artist firstly as a painter (of pictures).
The word immediately before Artist is Artisan, meaning a skilled (manual) worker.
The word immediately after Artist is Artiste, meaning a professional performer, especially a singer or dancer.
The terms Artisan and Artiste are rarely used today. Our language has evolved, and Artist has become a generic word applied to any person who expresses their self through any medium.
The connection between artists and painting has become so diluted that the word is increasingly used to denote ?skilled? people in non-”arts” activities, such as “scam artist” (a person very adept at deceiving others), “con artist” (a person very adept at committing fraud), and p*ss artist Artist as an all-purpose title, but it does not effectively describe whether you paint, sing, dance, have a manual skill, or are about to empty the drinks cabinet!
So why is it that our language has evolved along these lines? Why would an Artiste or Artisan prefer to use a title that less adequately describes their skill, and invokes ambiguity?
Maybe the change has come about through ignorance, and falling standards of education? Could it be that people think Artiste is the French pronunciation of Artist? Well it is, but Artiste is also an English word with a different meaning or it was!
Perhaps the change of language is a form of spin doctoring? My dictionary offers a further definition of an Artist as ?a person who works with the dedication and attributes of an artist?. It?s not a very good definition, since it effectively it says that an Artist is ?someone who works with the dedication and attributes of some one who works with dedication and attributes? (which is a bit like defining sticky tape as – tape that is sticky)! However, if someone is a singing artiste but prefers to be described as an Artist, they are really saying they are more than a singer because they perform with dedication and attributes?
Re-defining the word is possibly just a reflection of changing perceptions, and a growing acceptance that art is the act of creation/expression? If we agree to the modern view, which applauds the act of creation rather than the end product, we all become Artists, because we all create something at sometime. This shift of focus from the Artist?s product, to the creative/expressive process severs the necessity for skill, and the title Artist is available for use without fear of derision.
I create Portraits for a living. My artwork is not about me expressing my inner self, or being imaginative, but producing a likeness, and working to a client’s specifications. Maybe that makes me an Artisan: a skilled manual worker, and not an Artist after all?
An evolving painting created by four artists working simultaneously on the same digital canvas. The painting process was unplanned and free form. The artists took cues from each others actions. This is the evolved version of the Exquisite Corpse which was started in the 1920’s by surrealists. The basic format was for one artist to start a work on one section of the painting, and then provide the bottom strip of that piece for the next artist to work from, and then hand it off another artist. This usually happened a few times. The end result was an amazing conglomerative synthesis of creativity.
Once digital technology became available in the 90’s Parks, Walters, and Yow conducted a series of “digital exquisite corpse” experiments. They were the first of their kind. See below:
Summary Here?s the scoop on what you must know when designing a website to showcase your art, impress galleries, and win over collectors. Learn how to avoid the mistakes most emerging artists make when creating their online portfolio.
1.You need an artists website
Any artist who can classify themselves as either ?emerging? or ?mid-career? will definitely benefit from having their own website to promote their work. At this stage of your career it is important to be able to have a place where anyone in the world can easily access and view your work.
2.Know who you are trying to impress
Are you trying to engage a Soho gallery to sell your $20,000 paintings or sell $5 prints to children in Korea? That Soho gallery might not be impressed when they see your online-store selling prints and art cards ? but on the other hand, you could make a very handsome living if you really knew how to market those art cards. 3.Make your website fit with your overall art marketing strategy
A website is most effective when it is part of a larger overall marketing strategy for your art. This includes mailings, lots of in-person gallery visits and presentations, regular (physical) showings of your work, and developing relationships with the art world. An effectively planned website can greatly compliment and simplify your other marketing efforts.
4.There is a real market for art on the internet
The internet is quickly becoming an accepted place to showcase your art to collectors and arts professionals. They might still want to see your work in person before they buy, but the fact remains: they saw it first on your website! Having an online art presence is very important at this time.
5.Have your own website and a website portfolio service
A website portfolio service (e.g. www.absolutearts.com or www.art-exchange.com is like an online slide registry. For a fee you can upload images of your work together with a bio, artist statement, and resume. They have many visitors and are a convenient way to make your work accessible to potential clients. The down side is that they don?t display your work well, and there is little flexibility in how the art is showcased.
Your own website, on the other hand will require more work to promote, but you?ll be able to present the work in the most beautiful way. Remember the times you?ve been taken into the dimmer room in a commercial gallery? How that art which looked fairly good on the main gallery wall suddenly became something you had to take home? That?s how a good artist?s website should showcase your work.
We recommend both options ? they are a perfect compliment.
6. Have a website that collectors and art professionals will enjoy
Here are some common elements which most dealers and galleries would agree on for your website design:
- Keep the site simple and elegant with the focus on the art itself and don?t overpower the art with a site that looks too busy - Avoid advertising such as banner adds or sidebar adds. If you must have them, put them in a separate ?resource? section - Avoid complex effects like flash movies. In the time it takes to play your exotic entry page, your visitor may have moved on. Include your bio, artist statement, resume, contact information, gallery(s) of your work, contact information, and a pricelist.
Showcase your work beautifully
You need to have visual design skills to create a beautiful artist website. Here are some points to get you started:
- Most Important: Use high-quality, professionally-photographed images. Excellence in, excellence out! - Keep the website simple and elegant with the focus on the art. - Create multiple galleries to compliment the work ? just as a good physical gallery would do. - Choose colors that compliment (not overpower) the work. Think of the colors you would use in a physical gallery to showcase your work ? neutral colors like cr
