If you love to capture some of your memorable stories through photographs, then the best thing for you to consider is having a portrait painting of your memories. You can use some of your memorable photographs and turn them to beautiful art works by creating their portrait paintings. You can use the photographs of your family members, pets and even photos of special occasions and have them created into an oil portrait painting. The main objective of creating an oil portrait painting is to capture all the special memories into it for several years.

You can find many expert artists who can easily turn any of your favorite photographs into a special and unique oil portrait painting. These expert artists create portrait paintings in such a way that they appear to be real with all its essential details making it a memorable one. The process of creating an oil portrait painting with the help of a photograph is quite simple and easy. All you need to do is to submit your selected photograph to the artist who would then create a beautiful oil portrait painting out of it. You can even have a look at the painting while it is being created in order to make any necessary changes in the portrait.

Oil portrait paintings are regarded to be one of the world’s famous art works that can be created only by skilled and professional artist. Another aspect of portrait painting is that it allows higher level of subject detailing in it as a result of which it would be difficult to compare between a real photo and an oil portrait painting.

It could often be expensive to create an oil portrait painting as a lot of skill and knowledge is required with respect to the oil works needed to be done on the painting. You can still find many artists online who could create a portrait painting at reasonable price. You can use them to gift your family members or friends on any special occasions.

Photograph is a medium that captures some of the memorable stories and stores it with time. However portrait paintings are capable to preserve such memorable moments and pass it on to every generation for several years. Oil portrait painting is one of the best methods to change a simple family photograph into a unique art form.

Varnishing is an important step to shield the oil painting.  A thin coating of varnish not only brightens the painting but also protects it from dust particles, dirt and pollution present in the environment.

Varnished oil paintings are durable and last longer. Before varnishing one has to ensure that the oil painting is dried completely otherwise the applied varnish may crack resulting in the damage of the oil painting. Gloss and matte are the two types of varnishes. The use of gloss varnish helps in drying the oil painting completely which makes the painting look clearer than the previous one, while the matte varnish gives a frosted glass like appearance thus fading the original oil painting. Matte varnish requires a substantial amount of time to dry completely.

Once the oil paintings becomes completely dry, you can clean the painting   so that its surface is free from dust particles, dirt and grease. Cleaning can be done by wiping the surface of the painting with a moist rag dipped in a small quantity of ordinary liquid detergent diluted with cold water. This process can be repeated with plain water to eradicate the remains of detergents used earlier. Thus, varnish flows out evenly on the surface of the painting without leaving back the imprints of the brush.

Let the painting be left to dry for around 8 to 10 hours. Now since you are ready to varnish you have to find a suitable work area. Varnishing should mostly be done in a ventilated room with the room temperature around 70 to 75 Degrees Fahrenheit .This helps the varnish to dry faster.

Spray varnishes dry quickly but most of the artists prefer applying varnish with a brush to obtain good results. Therefore, one should choose a high quality brush so that its bristles do not fall onto the painting. The varnish should be applied immediately with the help of a good quality brush as it dries faster.

One should begin the painting from the top corner and continue it in a straight line to the right and finally return back to the same line. Re-soak the brush and varnish the next line in parallel strokes from one edge to the other until the process is completely finished. Always varnish in the same direction in order to avoid air bubbles on the surface of the painting.

Now after the first coat of varnish is dry, one can apply a second coat on the complete layer to fix rough areas. The second coating of varnish should be applied at right angles to the first coat. This gives a good-quality and an even finish.

Let the painting be kept flat for 10-15 minutes as soon as one has finished varnishing in order to prevent the varnish running down the painting. Now hang the painting upwards against the wall to help it dry facing inwards. It takes nearly one to two days to dry completely from top to the bottom of the painting.

Thus a varnished painting not only helps in sealing and protecting the painting’s surface but also brightens it by adding luster and depth to the original oil painting.

The real secret that would make up an oil painting is the composition. If the composition of the painting is done properly with its elements well organized then it would catch the eye of the viewer around the painting.

There are a number of ways to create the structure of the landscape painting example like a painting with a mother covering over and protecting a sleeping child or the composition of the opposing angles in which two fighters are standing in a boxing match.

Some Of The Basic Principles Of Composition are as follows:

v      One of the organized varieties of oil painting is the beauty.

v      If you create a variety of oil painting it would help in increasing the interest among others.

v      A complete oil painting should have the three elements in it that are the dominant element, the sub-dominant element and the subordinate elements organized with well interesting relationships. This helps in creating a particular order for the viewer which does entertains the eye of the viewer with its varied and unique order.

v      You can enhance the dominant element by positioning it in the central part of the oil painting with respect to its size and interest throughout the painting and through the complexity of the element like if a viewer is drawn towards the human face present in the oil painting.

v      Such elements need to be varied according to their size and shape to create a maximum interest among the viewers.

v      You would have to create a path or a medium which would therefore help the viewer to find those elements more interesting.

v      Small sketches of your painting would help you out in organizing the painting before getting the details into the painting.

v      The negative areas in the painting i.e., the spaces between the objects is equally important as the objects in the painting.

v      The most powerful part of the painting is the centre, not exactly the centre, but the area around the centre is the most important part of the painting as it is the part where the dominant element gains the most strength from the painting.

v      A tension created between the two elements would help in adding up more interest like the opposing thrust present between the two fighters in a painting.

v      If you create a horizontal division among the oil painting then it would help in creating peacefulness throughout the painting.

v      But those horizontal divisions created should not be equal as it would make it a dull and boring oil painting.

v      In a painting of scenario which consists of a sky, mountain and a valley, if you would prefer the sky to dominate among the entire painting then you should make the sky almost half of the height of the canvas. But if you would create a linear stacking of the painting i.e., 3-2-1, then it would make the painting less interesting. Therefore, instead of that creating a 3-1-2 stacking would be more interesting thus making the sky 3, the mountain 1 and the valley 2.

Therefore, to be sure of completing an oil painting, you should understand the technique, the color theory, and its forms of drawing and have a deep knowledge on its basic structure. Hence, it could be said that composition is the secret of a complete oil painting.

Oil paintings are one of a kind in its art due to the uniqueness of its texture and color. They create a great impact on all ages with its artistic way of expressing feelings. An oil painting is a nice way for one to express their feelings, emotions and ideas to others. A lot people in this world might have drawn a painting once in their life. Each of ones painting depicts a different and unique meaning from it. Most of the people are unable to express their feelings, thoughts and ideas to others. Therefore, an oil painting on canvas helps out in expressing it through the medium of art.
A painting can be created either using water paint or oil paint. If you have a deep interest in paintings and art that have been created using oil paints then you can find one of your favorite paintings from among different categories under it. You can complete the painting by using different types of material for painting like a cardboard or a canvas. From the beginning when painting came in existence, classic oil paintings have been one of the most popular ones. They are found to be one of the most expensive works of art due to its high quality and fine art. Nowadays, most of the priceless oil paintings have been displayed out in exhibitions and museums for the people who admire such valuable paintings and understand its art. Some of the paintings that are displayed in an exhibition can also be bought for oneself. Therefore, before purchasing an oil painting you should note down the following points:

• You should buy a painting that really gives you a feel of the art in it. It must reflect out the feelings and ideas that you would want to express. So, just do not buy an landscape oil painting without having a deep knowledge about the art in it.
• Keep a deep knowledge on the forms and different styles of oil painting which would help you in making a right purchase.
• Try to focus on a number of styles, artist or genre instead of a single one. It would help you in finding out your required painting.
• Keep your eyes sharp as sometimes you would pass through a painting that would suite your requirement but due to your angle of viewing an art you would miss it.
• When you are planning to buy an oil painting do remember to take complete pleasure out of it.
• If you are purchasing and a painting to display it out in your home then try to find a painting that would mix up well with the theme of your home.
• Try avoiding the copy version of original art forms and instead try to buy the original unique piece of art.
• Do find out whether the style of the painting represents what you are looking for to express it as a gift for some one special.
• In case you are buying a painting for yourself then find out if the style of the painting relates closely with your inner personality.
• Find out what genre you would prefer the painting to belike ancient or contemporary masterpieces.
• Try visiting a number of art galleries before you purchase an oil painting. This would help you in getting a unique painting.
• Find out whether you would like reality or a fantasy painting and whether it relates with your taste.
• Then try sorting out the categories and make a right choice from among them.

Thus, if you are a deep enthusiast of an abstract oil painting and want to have one then try finding different online stores and get the right deal of your choice and taste for painting. Also remember that a painting is a simple art form by the portrayed by the artist but if looked deeply it could express your hidden thoughts and feelings.

Portrait paintings and sketches of the mere loved ones were the only way that could be used to preserve the posterity before the existence of photography. In the early 1500s, Leonardo Da Vinci, an Italian artist, painted an oil painting portrait of a smiling women named as Mona Lisa which is still one of the most famous oil painting portrait in the world. Over the next few centuries, oil painting portraits became more popular in the European countries due to the creation of some of the most famous and unique portraits by masters such as Rembrandt in Holland and Gainsborough in Britain.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, American artists also completed some of the different fine works of art out of which a few of their fine arts are presently housed in the National Portrait Museum located in Washington D.C.

The fascination with oil portrait paintings kept on increasing its interest in people’s mind while photography brought a different and unique element of realism to imagery. Due to the great popularity of oil portraits, it became one of the status symbol that could be afforded by the very rich ones. As color photography became a lot more sophisticated, paper reprints of the famous works of art around the world were available in the markets. Inspite of the availability of reprints of famous art works; it could not take the place of the oil painting portraits from people’s hearts and homes.

Today, it is possible by one to trace the history of oil painting portraits and take peek into those beautiful works of art that would picture out an individual, a story showing in a group of people or an animal. It has led to a lucrative oil painting business in the United States due to the availability of ready skilled artists. Therefore, in the past few years, oil painting portraits have become much more affordable and are popularly used to gift someone during a special occasion. One can choose to have themselves painted or even their family members, friends or pets in a particular style or size that they would want the oil portrait to look like. The artist can also use a photograph to produce a similarity in oil and canvas or paint a particular subject over different number of settings. The completion of a portrait would take several days to even weeks as the artist requires to paint the portrait in complete layers.

Personalized products and services are become the increasing trends in the whole world. In order to gift their spouses with creative and significant paintings on occasions like Anniversary or Valentine’s Day, more and more people are in need of help from professional artists. A meaningful and thoughtful present can be created by Custom-made artwork. Professionally painted oil portrait is one such trendiest example.

One should begin by finding a portrait artist who is enthusiastic and eager to work remotely by using photographs as reference for painting.  The portrait artist does the painting and then dispatches a snap of that painting to the respective client to review it. The canvas is shipped directly by the artist to their residence when the client is totally pleased and satisfied with the painter’s work. Now the owner of the canvas can get it framed by their own choice of framer.

Multiple photos are used as a reference by a few artists. This situation happens when the person who wants to make a portrait does not have the accurate postures in a single photograph and thus, combines them with several photo snaps to get the right posture.

Portrait painting being a hand-made piece requires up to 5 weeks for the entire process to be completed. So people should get a portrait artist as early as possible so that the portrait can be gifted on time to their family members or their loved ones. Oil paintings never fade their color as photographs lose their color in due course of time. This property of oil painting helps it to last for generations. Thus, it’s a valuable gift for couples as it symbolizes a long-lasting commitment.

People can look online for portrait artists. There are few artists living in their area who prefer working in a studio. But in such cases the portrait would be very expensive and would not be a perfect gift as the surprise would be lost. On the other hand, there are some portrait artists who usually work remotely with the help of photographs. People get an outstanding result for the money they have invested while working with an artist from abroad. This can be explained by the following example: Linden Alley guides a group of portrait artists in Asia.  So this guarantees top quality portrait and excellent customer service to the client. Accordingly, Linden Alley gives the client access to extremely talented artists from lower cost living countries as compared to the Western world. These are the points that one would require to know before one’s next anniversary, birthday, Valentine’s Day, or any thanks-giving occasion. Custom-made artwork is one of the heart touching gifts for anyone in the world.

Oil paintings are the works produced that mainly came into existence from the past centuries and ages. The art history helps in placing these ancient art works in their respective superior settings. One who would be learning to practice western art would need to have knowledge on different styles of oil painting production, baroque, the traditional and meaningful techniques of oil paintings .One would also need to acquire an intense knowledge on the detailed work that an oil painting could represent its complex interaction of consideration, support, its civilization and different other issues.

Art critics sympathize regarding present art, that it should contain all the important essentials of an oil painting along with contemporary issues.

Oil painting originates back from the old ages when man learned to survive in this world along with the knowledge in communicating and expressing his thoughts through paintings. Man therefore began acquiring deep knowledge in paint. Oil painting mainly originated from Southern Europe as man mixed up the extracted fats of animals with the mud and stain that formed a mixture similar to oil paints.

These paints were then spread over the walls of the caves with symbols of prehistoric animals and their culture that was one of the earliest creations of mankind using natural oil paints. The use of oil paints as the medium of painting developed much more in the 15th century. Linseed oil and oil extracted from different nuts when mixed with different colors produce amazing oil paint colors. This new technique of producing oil paint colors was found by the well known Belgian painter named Jan Van Eyck. Although there is some evidence that could prove that a few English artists of the 13th century made use of oils, but the remains of Van Eyck mark his name in history as the founder of oil painting techniques.

Nowadays, modern artists from all around the world prefer mainly oil painting color as it provides different options of variety and methods, its strong depth of color and its durability that makes a landscape oil painting last for many years. It is one of the easiest mediums as the paint could be easily placed on the canvas and in case of an error you could easily clean off the canvas with the help of a cloth dipped in turpentine. The flexibility that oil paint provides helps in completing the painting through the customary painting techniques of joining it together and glazing, impasto and scrambling around the huge surfaces and providing a complete fine painting.  As a result, the concept of oil painting is gaining a lot of popularity theses days.

Oil paintings came into existence from the beginning of the Roman age. Gradually, it became more popular with the advent of the 15th century, where it was combined with different mediums that made it similar to the present oil paints that we use nowadays. Hence, it has been brought into use for a long time.
Usually, beginner painters consider it as one of their most difficult medium.  It is well considered that a beginner has to strive through many factors, including the smell of turps, messiness of cleaning the paint brushes, to make a proper decision from the several colour choices available, purchasing an expensive canvas and an easel for its grip. In addition to the above point, a beginner also requires to wait for the canvas to dry as the beginner does not know where to store the wet canvas. Due to all these reasons they usually settle on watercolours. Thus, from a professional’s point of view it is believed that watercolours are the most complicated and brutal of all the painting mediums for the beginners.
There are many benefits of oil painting but the beginner has only a few of them – If the beginner  finds out anything that has gone wrong during his painting then he can just wipe that portion off and repaint it, as most of the colours being  quite opaque helps cover the canvas more rapidly. This enables in completing the painting more quickly. Blending is much easier as the paint remains wet for sometime on the canvas.
Therefore, as we are aware of the advantages of using oil paint let us check whether the process of  landscape oil painting can be simplified in order to boost some beginners by giving them a trial.
Well it would be a great pleasure for the beginners to be familiar with a few colours like Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red, Medium Cadmium Yellow, Medium Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna and Lamp Black to start your painting. It is preferred to use the Lamp Black colour cautiously in paint mixes along with Umber and Sienna that can also be used in relation to wildlife paintings.
It is recommended to use Alkyd Oil paints as they dry faster usually by the next day which helps in creating oil paintings that can be stored easily. Thus, wet paintings are not surrounded against things in the form of dust particles. Solvents are the most effective cleaning tools to wash your paint brushes at the end of a painting session. For example: Bob Ross Low Odor thinners are an excellent choice. In order to reduce the thickness of the paint one should mix 50% of Linseed oil and 50% of Thinners, once again the aroma has to be kept low. Oil painting brushes are more economical than the decent quality of watercolour brushes. Thus, it is a good option to start painting with oils.
Now at this moment the beginner only needs to discover something to paint on to – since while practicing this could be cost efficient as paper or a canvas board are available at a very reasonable price.  Therefore, in reality there could be no explanations why a beginner should not start up with oil paints. Hence, oil painting is one of the best medium for beginner level painters.

Art Versus Commerce

Both New York Soho, Greenwich Village, the French Barbizon, Lun Nathan East, Bolin Mi Sar, and Yuan Ming Yuan artist village, Shang Yuan art village, 798 art district at Beiing China are facing the problem between art and commerce. As the largest artists village, Song Zhuang are also in the same predicament. Some famous SongZhuang artists such as Guangyi Wang, Lijun Fang, Minjun Yue and Shaobin Yang are selling paintings over millions of dollars totally in the international market recently. Commerce becomes another symbol of SongZhuang.

There are two aureoles at Song Zhuang.

The Largest Art Center of China

As is know to all, famous painters Lijun Fang, Wei Liu, Yin Wang, Minjun Yue and critic Xianting Li come to SongZhuang first at 1994, then over 2,000 artists settled here in the following ten years. “The main reason to live here is that the houses are larger than other village and suit for art making”, Yang said, who is an artist of this village. “The largest attraction is the absolutely freedom. You can enjoy the sunshine, the nature and the joy of art here!” said by Defeng Zhang, a sculpturer. Songzhuang gains a super development since 2005, more and more sculpturers, writers and photographers join in the village.

The continuation of Chinese contemporary art

The “Star exhibition” hold at the west of China National Art Gallery in 1979 is regarded as the beginning of Chinese contemporary art. Although the trendy vigorous of “85 movement”, low tide of “89 Modern Art Exhibition”, Chinese contemporary art have been more an more popular. SongZhuang played an important role during the art movement. “Most of SongZhuang artists participate in the history of the whole Chinese contemporary”, As Wei Yang said, “From 90s of last century until now, artists from Yuan Ming Yuan artist village are the main force of contemporary art. After the disappearance of Yuan Ming Yuan artist village, the core artists moved to SongZhuang art district, where is the continuation of Yuan Ming Yuan”. Lots of artists have deeply friendship for the same experience. So he considers this is the main difference between Song Zhuang and 798 art center at Beijing.

As is said by Wei Yang, Most of the chinese new art styles (movement) derives from songzhuang artists, such as Lijun Fang, Minjun Yue, Shaobin Yang, who are the core artists of “Playing” realism. Time Magazine paid much more attentions about sonzhuang artists and used Lijun Fang’s yawning portrait as the magazine cover. It said, “This is not only a yawn, but a rave to liberate China!”

For more about SongZhuang art, Please have a look of the famous original oil paintings from SongZhuang.

Songzhuang, located at Tongzhou, southeast Beijing, was an unknown village as other millions of villages in China about 15 years ago. But 15 years later, It becomes a famous art center and be honored as the largest chinese art village. What is the story of SongZhuang?

Songzhuang is at the north Tongzhou, 13 Km far from CBD, the outskirts of Beijing. The total area is no more than hundred square kilometres. The most important year is 1994, when lots of painters moved to this village. Nobody knows who is the first artist come to SongZhuang. But we know there are over 1200 artists come and live here from 1994 to 2006. Such as Huang Yong yu, who is the most famous painter of China. Li fangjun, Yue minjun, Yang shaobin and so on, the new stars of china contemporary artists.

SongZhuang artist village becomes popular world wide at 2005, when lots of oil paintings are sold abroad at over $500 million. Especially one of Yue minjun’s painting was bid at $900,000.

If you consider SOHO New York as an art history after world war two, Songzhuang should be the future of China art at 21st century.