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Do you ever consider how much that piece of art on your wall may be worth? Do you have an original piece of art by a unknown artist or are you lucky enough to have an original piece of art by a popular artist? The art world is often in uproar when a rare piece is placed on the market and eager collectors almost fall over themselves to obtain this rare art piece for their collections. Here are the top 10 most expensive art pieces recorded to date in descending order. Prepare to be surprised.

Please note: The prices quoted are take into consideration inflation from the original reported auctions or private sales and is priced in millions USD. This list provides estimated worth’s only and is not intended to be an accurate record of art sales. This article is used to illustrate art worth in general terms.

10. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II by Gustav Klimt – $89.1 Million

Adele Bloch-Bauer II was painted in 1912 by Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy industrialist of the time, who was a keen sponsor the arts and supported Gustav Klimt’s work. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model ever to be painted twice by Gustav Klimt. This item was part of a set of two and Adele also appeared in the much more famous “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I”.

9. Portrait de l’artiste sans barbe by Vincent van Gogh – $90.1 Million

One of the numerous self portraits Vincent Van Gogh painted, this particular version is the most recognizable and popular. Painted in 1889, this piece created massive waves of interest when it was placed at auction at Christie’s, New York. Christie’s only estimated this piece would sell for around $20 Million.

8. Dora Maar au Chat by Pablo Picasso – $97 Million

Dora Maar au Chat commonly known as Dora Maar with Cat was painted in 1941 by Pablo Picasso. This wonderful work by Picasso features his Croatian mistress, Dora Maar, seated on a chair with a small black cat perched on her shoulders. As was often seen with his work, he uses wide swaths of contrasting color to draw out the subject.

7. Irises by Vincent Van Gogh – $97.5 Million

Irises is one of the most famous pieces painted by Vincent van Gogh. This piece was one of his early works while he was at the asylum in Saint-R?-de-Provence, France and was painted shortly before his death in 1890. This item is currently on view at the Getty Museum in California.

6. Gar? ?a pipe by Pablo Picasso – $113.4 Million

Currently owned by the John Hay Whitney’s estate, it sold for $104.1 million at an auction in New York’s Sotheby’s in 2004. Sotheby’s originally estimated a pre-sale worth of $70 million. Many of the worlds experts in the art industry speculated that the painting’s high sale price has much more to do with the artist’s name than with the historical importance of the painting itself.

5. Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre by Pierre-Auguste Renoir – $122.8 Million

Commonly known as Le Moulin de la Galette, this wonderful work by the famous French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir was painted in 1876 at the Mus?d?Orsay in Paris. Bal au Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre is a smaller version of an impressionist painting Renoir painted of the same name.

4. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh – $129.7 Million

Again, Vincent van Gogh graces our list with one of the most expensive works of art of all time. This portrait of Gachet was painted just outside Paris in 1890, and depicts his then doctor, Paul Gachet. Gachet, who looked after Vincent during the artist’s last months. Gachet was an hobby artist and became good friends with Van Gogh.

3. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt – $137.6 Million

The partner to the previously described piece of art. This is the first portrait of Adel Bloch-Bauer Klimt and was painted in 1907. According to reports, it was sold in June 2006 for $135 million to Ronald Lauder for his gallery in New York City. At that time it set a record as the most expensive painting ever sold.

2. Woman III by Willem de Kooning – $140.2 Million

Painted in 1953 by the abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning this fantastic piece is one of 6 paintings by Kooning in which the central theme was a woman. Woman III was sold by David Geffen in November 2006 to the billionaire Steven A. Cohen for a reported $137.5 Million.

1. No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock – $142.7 Million

Finally, we come to the most valuable art to date, No. 5,1948 by the artist Jackson Pollock. This abstract art, painted in 1948, was created on a 8 x 4 feet sheet of fiberboard, with large amounts of thick brown and yellow paint drizzled on top of it, forming a chaotic nest-like appearance. This work of art was sold by David Geffen in 2006 for $140 Million making it the most valuable piece of art ever sold.

So, as you can see, there is some vastly valuable works of art in the art industry being sold. I am certain you are asking yourself “What about other pieces of older art?” All of these wondrous pieces of art in this list were painted after 1800. Any art previous to this date is usually in the hands of museums across the world. The Mona Lisa, as an example, was insured in 1962 for around $100 Million. When we consider the rate of inflation it is fair to assume that its current worth would be around $670 Million today. However, it is unlikely you will ever see this majestic smile in Christie’s or Sotheby’s anytime soon.

If you have been inspired by these items and would like to see more. Thankfully you do not have to pay anywhere near these prices if you would like a copy of these items on your wall! You can discover wonderful reproductions of each of these items in many sizes, formats and mediums on our Arteblanche.com website. We have one of the world’s largest inventories of art from the popular artists in this list to unknown artists and cover every aspect and work of art imaginable. We hope you have found this article informative and as inspiring as we did in writing this.

There was a time when the karate man was looked upon with respect and feared. A time when, if someone said they were a black belt, it caused others to be impressed. You can say that karate has become outdated. But what has really happened is that karate has become exposed. There has been an interesting development in the martial arts in the late 20th Century and into the 21st. Martial arts have evolved and become much more true to life than ever.

If you are one of those people who like to question things then maybe this thought has gone through your mind. Why are there so many different martial arts systems in the world. We all have two arms and two legs don’t we? So why all the different systems of self defense? I know that systems were usually born out of a need such as one group of people having to fight another group who were better armed. So they developed systems to fight those men who used certain weapons a certain way. Unfortunately these men thought their system more effectual than they should.

So let’s look at what we have in the world without going into a deep history lesson. You basically have karate and ju-jitsu from Okinawa and Japan. You have a multitude of kung fu systems from China. You have Tae Kwon Do and a few others like Tang Soo Do from Korea; boxing and wrestling from Europe of course. Of these there is every variation under the sun. You name it and someone has tried to develop it into a fighting system. But what do we really have. The fact is that all we really have is three men out there. It all boils down to THREE. You have boxers or people who fight predominantly with their hands, kickers who like to use kicks as their main weapon and grapplers who like to take people to the ground and finish them there. That’s really it. Just those three. Now there are people who are good at one, two or even three of those methods. Those guys are now known as mixed martial artists.

Someone once asked, what is truth? I think we can ask that same question here. I mean how can the average guy deal with someone who is skilled in one or even three of the main fighting methods? You know, the grappler who can kick and box. If the guy is good at all three methods then do I have to be good at all three methods, too? Do I have to fight in the same manner? I know karate won’t do the job. Definitely Tae Kwon Do will not do. How about adding a self defense class or two. Will that help? I don’t think so. What about kung fu and all the various animal styles? No. You can pretend to be an animal but that won’t beat the skilled boxer, kicker, grappler. So how do we deal with this guy. It can’t be using his own methods. You can’t box a boxer and expect to win if he’s really good at what he does. Let’s just assume this guy is a really good mixed martial artist who happens to be a thug and wants to rob and maybe even kill you. What’s the answer if you don’t have a weapon at hand?

The answer is elementory yet intricate. In order to effectively deal with a skilled thug you must first put away all your preconceived ideas about what real combat is. Forget the ring. Forget what you see on TV. How can an older man; say middle-aged, defend against a group of younger, stronger and faster opponents. It will not be by speed and power. If he is to win; and he must, he has to do something all together different. Yes the older man is a master of self-defense. But his system is highly evolved. He relies on a core group of concepts rather than techniques. Of course he uses proper technique but it is all grounded in his core principals. He also has the amazing ability to fight in a very apropos manner because he is guided by highly developed contact reflexes. In other words, if he is touched by an aggressor, the older man instantly knows all about him and deals with him in proper time with super preparatory application. That means he stops the first attack and all future attacks immediately. He also uses skeletal alignment to enhance his power. He is able to hit much harder than his younger counterparts who use muscle to deliver their blows. The skilled older man delivers his strikes with his bones which feels like being hit with the end of an iron rod.

The answer is to unite with the opponent’s energy. No struggling or resisting but moving according to “the now”. To be able to discharge a highly potent “motion martial art”. Not static or choppy, muscular movements but relaxed yet aligned motions that can deal with an attack as if it were just a crude language. Yes, the answer is to have a highly developed and fluent martial language as a complete and elaborate communication. Yes, self defense can be like this. The only martial art I know that achieves this elevated dexterity is Wing Chun.

If a person truly dedicates him or herself to only doing and developing a system that is fit for the 21st Century real world self defense, then he must use external defenses guided by internal faculty. A system that encompasses the most effective techniques a person can deliver with the most advanced internal concepts one can make manifest. Now I mentioned Wing Chun earlier but not every Wing Chun teacher has developed in this manner or to this level. It is rare to find people who have this high level skill. But they are out there.

If you really want to get involved with a martial art and want to find verity, then take a few steps back. Get back far enough away from what is traditionally known and taught. Take an honest look around and see if the martial art before you justifies itself intellectually. Ask the hard questions. Will it work against the boxer, kicker, grappler guy? Can it be done effortlessly? What makes the most sense? Study and do research before you join a school. I can tell you right now, forget karate and Tae Kwon Do unless you just want to do a sport. Don’t be too reverent with any martial art system. Be honest with yourself and hopefully you’ll find a good teacher.

In today’s world of computers, it would seem so impossible if you have not even heard of Adobe Photo Shop. It hails among the most important programs of today, being the leading photo-processing and graphics software in the market. Learning how to use this program is already a prerequisite for anyone who wants to venture into digital visual arts. It is therefore not surprising why there are tons of photo shop tutorials out there. People really want to learn how to use the program. But among tutorials, the best type for learning is probably the photo shop video tutorial.

In all fairness to other types of photo shop tutorials, normal photo shop instructional resources are indeed very useful. They teach people a wide range ways to use photo shop to their advantage. However, most of these usual tutorial versions can be hard to follow since they only tell people what to do, but not necessarily show them how to do it. When such is the case, it would really be helpful to see what is being taught. This is normally something that people taking photo shop classes can enjoy, but now even people at home can learn photo shop and see how it is down with the help of a photo shop video tutorial.

What a Photo Shop Video Tutorial Can Teach You

There are many specific types of photo shop video tutorials available, some very specialized while others very simple. However, they have a common goal of making you understand the capabilities of photo shop better and make use of them for your own projects. Some photo shop video tutorials teach basic stuff about the program. This type of tutorial instructs users in making themselves familiar with software – its regular menus, common tools and basic functionalities.

There are also photo shop video tutorials that teach more specific functions of the program. Some specifically teach the color enhancing and manipulation capabilities of photo shop that help adjust the tints or hues of photos. There are also photo shop video tutorials that teach users how to scan pictures for optimum quality. While other tutorials instruct the various ways of editing pictures to make them even more interesting than they already are. These tutorials are very useful for photographers, both digital and film users.

Other photo shop video tutorials teach more advanced functionalities of the program. There are tutorials that teach how to make effects out text, making them even more interesting and very catchy. Others show how to make special effects out of images to make them even more appealing, exciting, or fascinating to viewers. There are some that how to come up with textures that make pictures pop out into real life. These tutorials are very useful for the more advanced graphics designers and visual artists.

Where to Look for Photo Shop Video Tutorials

There are many places to look for photo shop video tutorials. Most software stores have them on stock together with video tutorials for other software. Tutorials can also be found online through various instructional websites sites that offer those who want to learn how to use the program. The good thing about them is that they can easily be reached via the Internet and some of them are even for free.

Here are some websites that offer photo shop video tutorials:

• http://video-tutes.com/packages/PSDesign1.php
• http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials.html
• http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Photoshop/1
• http://www.photoshop-tutorials-4-you.com/

Learning photo shop is now very easy thanks to video tutorials.

The first type of boring pencil drawing tutorials are just too short. There are a few pictures in various stages, and underneath you find a few captions, and that?s it. The captions are short sentences that explain the technique. They are useful but they never fail to make me think that there should be more.

It just doesn?t feel natural. It?s like talking to someone who always reply with short sentences. You ask them a question, they give you a one word answer. Then you think, probably they?re just shy. So you try again to make contact and you bring up another subject. This time they do a little better. They come with up exactly two words, just so they can make up a sentence to satisfy you.

You ever meet somebody like that? It?s almost impossible to carry on a conversation with people like that. And it?s probably people who are like that who will put out tutorials that are so short.

The second type of tutorials that will bore you to tears, are just too serious. They talk nothing but technique, technique, technique. That?s like having an art teacher, who walks into the classroom and talk nothing but art techniques.

There are no stories, no background information, no interesting examples, no nothing. Just a bunch of boring information on art theories and techniques. A computer can do this job. We don?t need a human being if it?s just dishing out information.

What we really need, is someone who can connect and respond to the students. No computer in the world can do that.

I developed a drawing Home Study Course for the members of my own website, and I promise them that there?ll be no boring, monotonous drawing tutorials from me!

I can?t stand those materials, so I won?t make it worse by producing more contaminants for this world. So what I did was to go on with my usual story telling style, and tell the most interesting stories and deliver the most digestible drawing tutorials to my members.

No more boring pencil drawing tutorials for anyone!

I know Paul Klee did abstract art, but how do I define his style more closely?