Here is an attempt at one of his paintings: Sargent’s Jacques Barenton. The original is 22.5 * 18 inches, in oils and not quite as rosy cheeked!

I enjoyed creating this piece with its bold painterly marks and am very pleased with the end result which, I’m sure you’ll agree, is pretty charming (until you see the original which is a perfect delight!)

John Singer Sargent The Artist

John Singer Sargent was born in Florence, Italy to American parents on the 12th of January 1856. His parents had moved to Europe after the death of his older sister at the age of two. They remained outside America for the rest of their lives, based in Paris but travelling frequently to other European countries.

This itinerant lifestyle meant John didn’t receive a formal education, they were never in one place long enough. Instead John’s father taught his son as best he could alongside the churches and museums which were an excellent source of scholarship. He was a very accomplished man, playing the piano to a very high standard and was fluent in French, German and Italian.

Both parents had some artistic skill and his mother stoked his creative talents by giving him sketchbooks and encouraging him to draw. Sargent received his first formal art training in Rome in 1868. Then, between 1870 and 1873, he occasionally attended the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence. In 1874 he entered the atelier of Emile Auguste Carolus-Duran, a Parisian portraitist, whilst also attending drawing classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. His first exhibition at the Paris Salon, a portrait of his friend Fanny Watts, was in 1877. He was just 21.

Sargent’s fame grew rapidly and he received many portrait commissions. His works, including the 1884 portrait of Madame X, were often exhibited at the Salon. The rather negative reception this piece received encouraged him to leave Paris and move to England where he spent the rest of his life (frequent international trips not withstanding).

Sargent created many hundreds of paintings in his lifetime as well as numerous sketches and charcoal drawings. Whilst he is considered the most successful portrait artist of the Edwardian era he also, in his latter years, focused on murals, en plein-air painting and watercolours.

John Singer Sargent died on April 14th 1925.

Famous Paintings

Here are some of his works:

The Daughters Of Edward Darley Boit
This 1882 painting is currently held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Set in Boit’s Paris apartment it is thought to have been influenced by Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas.

The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale
This painting of a scene from the beaches of Brittany was created in 1878. It too is held in Boston.

A Morning Walk
Painted in 1888 and currently held in a private collection.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
This charming painting of two little girls lighting paper lanterns was Sargent’s first big success at London’s Royal Academy. Painted in 1885 it is held at Tate Britain.

Portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife
In total he painted three portraits of the great Scottish novelist. This 1885 portrait is currently held at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas.

Portrait of Jacques Barenton
This 1883 portrait of a Parisian boy is held in a private collection. The painting shows young Jacques dressed in a sailor suit with a ribbon in his hair.

The post After Sargent appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.

The main painting was created using acrylics on watercolour paper. This blog post follows the painting steps.

My main reference was the famous painting, below, of King Henry, after Hans Holbein the Younger, in which the king is seen with a pair of gloves in his right hand and a small sword hanging from his waist belt. His attire is opulent, his stance that of one secure in his manliness and virility.

Painting King Henry the 8th

I started with a very rough pencil sketch transferred onto a 9×12 inch sheet of Arches Cold Press watercolour paper as seen in the image below. The style was to be somewhat of a caricature, a large head, with sightly exaggerated facial features, on a miniature body.

I hadn’t wanted to copy the Holbein pose completely, I don’t actually like its full face frontal view, it makes the face look flat. A three-quarter view gives more depth and can be much more interesting. So I went looking for a few more references for Henry’s face.

The next stage was just to get some colour on the paper, make a basic underpainting. I used a mix of phthalo blue and alizarin crimson to get a nice range of deep purples, reds and lighter blues.

Then onto the first few layers of colour. You can see below how I’ve laid in the base for the skin, tunic, cloak and the accessories.

The painting is going to be completed over a number of sessions so I use my homemade stay wet palette to keep the paint soft and workable. Colours laid out are white, crimson, cadmium yellow, phthalo blue, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and yellow ochre.

I continue adding more details, more modelling of the cloak and tunic, the golden embroidery on the cloak and hat, and I also begin on his medallion. Unfortunately I didn’t take a shot of the brush I was using but yes, it was quite a small one!

At this stage it’s clear I’m going to have to do something about his head and face. I want a rounder head and the eyes are currently too close together.

In the second image above I’ve widened the eye spacing and increased the size of his head but I feel the head needs to be bigger still, I want to give more of an impression of the portly man that he was.

So I make his head even rounder and add more fat to his face. I also make his facial hair more red. Like his daughter Elizabeth the First, Henry was a red head. And the reddish tinge really does fit the colour scheme better.

This is as far as I take it with the traditional painting. The painting is scanned and imported into the digital editing program Krita where I tidy up some details, finish off the background and include the text and information for the infographic.

Henry 8th Infographic

The post King Henry VIII Historical Infographic appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.

At Tina Lewis Art our wall art features original art work by artist Tina Lewis. Her creations include colourful still lifes, floral arrangements, landscapes and other themes, you are guaranteed to find something that’s a perfect fit for your room. We offer posters on high quality art print, framed prints, gallery stretched canvas metal prints and acrylic prints are available. These art substrates and more are discussed below.

Poster Prints

When we talk of posters at Tina Lewis Art, we actually mean stunning museum-quality art prints made using archival inks on thick, acid-free paper. If you want to decorate your space with minimal fuss and cost then a poster print is what you’re looking for.

Posters have been around for ages, often advertising products and events and featuring both artwork and typography. They’ve always been a standard form of decoration in student’s dorms, offices and bedrooms. These poster art prints can be used the same way, their high level colour reproduction will satisfy the needs of young and old alike.

Features of poster prints:
– Easy to hang
– Simple, cheap shipping
– Light to handle
– Low cost compared to other art print types

Framed Prints

Framed prints take the poster prints a step further with a picture frame around the art. Ours feature the same quality thick paper, archival inks, a light weight acrylic sheet for the glazing and a simple black frame which give a polished look in most settings.

If you are going to frame the print yourself you can choose to include matting around the picture. Select a frame to go with your overall décor: frames can be simple or very ornate, thick or thin, and any choice of colour.

Frames give your artwork and room a certain level of sophistication which you can boost by arranging a number of prints on a wall to give a pleasing gallery effect.

Features of framed prints:
– Popular and traditional print type
– Frames provide an elegant sophistication
– Can choose frames to compliment room decor
– Reasonably easy to hang

Canvas Prints

Artwork on textured canvas works perfectly in many settings and are another popular art print type. The canvas fabric is printed with high quality archival inks and hand stretched over wooden frames. Canvas is a very traditional art substrate – it has been used as a painting surface since the 16th century so by choosing a print on canvas you’re continuing a very old tradition!

The canvas prints can be hung as they are or you may prefer to buy a picture frame to put around your art piece. Either way it will give you a classically stylish piece of art with which to decorate your living space.

Features of Canvas Prints:
– Has a wonderful fabric texture
– Light in weight
– Very portable
– No glare or reflections

Metal Prints – Metallic Art Print Substrates

If you’re hoping for a modern sleek feel to your room décor then metal prints might be the way to go to achieve that.

With metal prints the art is printed on a metal (usually aluminium) surface. You can choose your print to have either a glossy or a matte finish. The prints have a slim profile which, along with the colour brilliance that is achieved when using metal, creates a stunning effect.

Features of metal prints:
– Striking visual impact
– Highly durable
– Resistant to damage from scratches and fading
– Choice of matte or glossy finish

Acrylic Prints

Acrylics are another good choice for anyone aiming for a contemporary style to their living space. Certainly a very different and modern substrate, they have only been around since the last century. Acrylic prints come with the artwork either printed directly on the acrylic or printed on high quality art paper which is bonded to the acrylic. Ours use the former method but both give excellent results.

Bright and vivid, acrylic prints will give you an eye-catching decorative piece. These prints produce really vibrant colours. In addition light refracting through the acrylic sheet helps to give the artwork the effect of having greater depth.

Features of acrylic prints:
– Vibrant colours, your art will pop
– Sleek, modern and fairly lightweight
– Resistant to temperature changes and effects of UV light
– Shatter proof

Wood Prints – Wooden Art Print Substrates

Wood prints can give a lovely rustic feel to your living space. The natural grain of the wood, which comes through on the print, gives a unique finish to each print and makes for a special product that will enhance any room.

Bear in mind that for most printing processes, ‘pure whites’ are usually provided by the white of the substrate. So any pure white areas in the artwork will appear as the wood’s brown colour.

Features of wood prints:
– Striking rustic effect
– Unique wood grain on each piece
– Provides a natural feel to the art work

Tapestries

Wall tapestries come in all sizes and shapes but provide quite a different style effect to your home compared to some of the other print substrates. Tapestries have been used for centuries to provide a warm ambience and artistic decoration to rooms. Traditionally these wall hangings are made by weaving coloured threads on a loom but many modern tapestries have the art printed on previously woven fabric.

Tapestries come in various sizes, the larger ones can create an eye catching effect on a wall and add a degree of opulence to a room.

Features of tapestries:
– Easy to hang
– Can give a nice bohemian feel to a room
– Tapestries are available in variety of shapes and colours

The post Art Print Types – Choosing Your Wall Art Substrate appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.

This is the last post in the Halloween drawing series. Last time we looked at how to draw a Halloween Bat, in this blog post I’ll be taking you through an easy guide on how to draw a skull – an easy step by step to drawing a Halloween skull.

Is there anything more frightening than to discover the bones of a person passed? In the crypt of a haunted house or worse, performing a creepy dance in an abandoned graveyard! It’s hardly surprising that skeletons are such a feature of Halloween, glistening white bones topped by a grinning skull whose eye sockets are filled with dark malevolence.

Let’s begin with the skull!

We’ll start with a shape that looks a bit like the paddle of a table tennis bat.

The shape is a circle for the most part but the bottom section (about a fifth of the way down) is made up of a little 3 sided box which is joined to the circle by angled lines.

The circle represents the top of the skull, the box is the upper jaw. And the angled lines that join the box to the circle are the cheekbones.

Quick Links:

Start with the skull
The finished skull
More skulls
Colour the skull

Draw the skull’s lower jaw

Draw a line to connect the cheekbones, this will be the lower jaw.

Start from one cheekbone and draw three sides of a slightly curved rectangle to the other cheekbone.

A space for the teeth

Next draw, between the lower jaw and bottom of the upper jaw, a small box that will form the outer boundaries of the skull’s teeth.

Finish the teeth

Keeping it simple we’ll draw 4 lines within the teeth box.

One line going across the box serves to separate the top and bottom teeth; the three short lines going downwards, from the top to the bottom of the box, create the individual teeth.

Complete the jaw

Draw two more lines, from the cheekbones to the bottom edge of the teeth to complete the skull’s jaw area.

Orbits for the eyes

The orbits are the sockets in the skull which the eyes are located in. Here I’ve drawn them with three straight edges and a curved upper edge, experiment with different shapes.

A nasal aperture for the nose

Draw two shapes that look like segments of a pie. Start below the eye orbits and end around the cheekbones.

A skull for Halloween

How to draw a skull: A few other skull designs

Here are a few more skull designs, have a go at these, play around with the different shapes and see what else you can come up with.

Colour your Halloween skull

You can leave your skull as a line drawing but there’s lots of fun to be had colouring it in. Use traditional mediums like pencils and paints, digital tools like Photoshop or a mix of the two.

Skulls also feature heavily in El Día de Muertos, the Mexican ‘Day of the Dead’ festival. This is a mix of traditional South American beliefs and the European ones brought across by the Spanish. The festival takes place on November 2nd. Be inspired by the elaborately decorated sugar skulls that are made during this celebration.

The post How to Draw a Skull for Halloween appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.

Carrying on with the Halloween drawing theme, last time I showed you how to draw a Halloween Pumpkin, in this blog post we’ll take a look at how to draw a bat in a few easy steps.

By the end you’ll be confident enough to draw a variety of cartoon bats!

Why do bats have this association with Halloween and all things spooky? Perhaps its the existence of blood sucking vampire bats or because they can look very creepy or the fact that they are nocturnal so mainly come out at night.

Whatever the reason we’re glad these companions to Count Dracula exist to create a frisson of fear as they float, silhouetted by the moon, behind a witch’s broomstick.

Let’s start with the ears

Start with two slightly curved lines for each line, they look like two sides of a triangle. These are the bat’s ears. Leave some space in between them for the top of the head.

Quick Links:

Draw the bat’s wings
Another bat style
More bats
Colour the bat

Connect the bat’s ears

Now draw another slightly curved line connecting the ears, this is the top of the head.

Next draw the outer side of the bat’s face by extending the ears downwards.

Drawing bat wings

Now let’s draw the top of the bat’s wings. This is simply done with two curved lines on each side.

Starting from the bottom point of the face, the first curved line moves outwards and ends above the bat’s head. Begin the second curved line where the first one ends, it moves downwards and further out from the head.

The bottom side of the wings is a series of three arching curves that start at the end of the second curve we drew above and end at a point underneath the head.

Two eyes

Give your bat two eyes, they can be any shape you want, circular, triangular or piercing slits!

One finished bat

And here’s our finished bat. Colour it in if you like, black for the body with contrasting yellow or red eyes would look good and suitably creepy!

Draw a slightly different looking bat

You can experiment with the shapes of the different elements that make up the bat.

Here the bat’s ears look rather leaf like:

Connect the ears as we did previously:

The upper wings are more curved on this bat and don’t extend upwards:

But the bottom of the wings is very similar to what we had before:

Add a pair of interesting eyes:

And here’s another Halloween bat!

A few other bat styles

Here are a few more bat styles, have a go yourself and see what you can come up with.

Colour your bat

Colour in your bat with whatever tools you have to hand – traditional pencils and paints, digital colouring or a mix of the two. Try out different colours and textures, you don’t have to keep to a standard look.

The post How to draw a Bat for Halloween appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.

Would you like to learn how to draw a Halloween pumpkin?

Halloween is only a few months away and it’s never too early to start planning so I’m going to write a few ‘how to draw’ posts that have a Halloween theme.

The tradition of carving pumpkins at Halloween is thought to have been started by the ancient Celts who would carve turnips to create a Jack-o-Lantern. A burning ember would be placed inside them and the lanterns left in windows to ward off evil spirits during the Samhain festival which was held at the end of October. Irish settlers to the New World carried on this tradition, replacing the turnips with pumpkins.

Let’s Draw a Pumpkin First

Draw the pumpkin with a pencil.

You’ll need to rub out construction lines here and there so try and use a fairly light touch.

Quick Links:
Finished Pumpkin
Draw a Pumpkin Face
Halloween Teeth
Add some colour

Start by drawing a slightly flattened circle. This represents the main outline of the pumpkin.

Draw the Pumpkin’s Lobes

Next draw a few curved lines for the lobes of the pumpkins. Don’t start exactly at the top, leave some space for the pumpkin’s stalk and the lobes on the other side.

Curves on the Top and Bottom

Join the lobe lines to each other with small curves as shown. Draw a few of these small curved at the top of the main shape – these are the lobes at the back of the pumpkin.

Don’t forget to rub out any unwanted lines.

Draw the Stalk

Next draw two curved lines for the stalk. You can have it facing to the left or right, your choice!

Connect the two stalk lines with a small oval shape. This is the upper facing edge of the pumpkin’s stalk.

Again remove any unwanted lines, this time it is the bit of one of the lobes that seems to go through the stalk.

One Finished Pumpkin

And here’s the finished pumpkin.

Draw the Halloween Pumpkin Face

Halloween pumpkins are usually carved with triangular eyes and nose and a grinning smile. I’ll be keeping to that tradition.

Draw to triangles next to each other for the eyes and another one in the middle of these and slightly below them for the nose.

Then add two curved lines below the nose for the pumpkin’s mouth.

Rub out any lobe lines that go through the face.

Pumpkins have quite a lot of flesh and you should be able to see that in the eyes, nose and mouth. Add a few extra lines to these to show the flesh and add depth to your drawing.

Give the Pumpkin Some Teeth – Draw a Scary Pumpkin!

You could leave the pumpkin there (with a toothless grin!) or add a couple of scary fangs to its mouth.

Simply draw two triangles on the upper mouth curve. Remember to rub out the excess line sections of the mouth.

A Halloween Pumpkin

Now you know how to draw a Halloween Pumpkin why don’t you have some fun and try out different facial features?

Complete the Halloween Pumpkin with some Colour

Colour in the pumpkin with whatever tools you have to hand. Have fun with colours and textures.

The post How to Draw a Halloween Pumpkin appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.

I honestly can’t say exactly when I stopped seeing so many snails, out of sight is definitely out of mind, but my recent sighting of a single solitary snail in the front garden made me realise how few there had been of late.

It was a fine looking snail, large with a nicely formed shell. Where had it come from I wondered and where were all its friends? To try and answer these questions I decided to do some reading about snails and see if I could find out what could be causing the reduction in their numbers.

Garden Snail Facts

The cornu aspersum or common garden snail is pretty much the most recognisable land snail. Whilst some people eat them most see them as a garden pest albeit a very interesting one for children with their ability to hide inside their shell and their retractable tentacles.

These slow moving molluscs have a soft slimy body that they are able to pull completely into their shell, they do this when they are being threatened and also when inactive.

The snail’s shell varies from light to dark brown with brownish yellow to cream stripes. The edging on the shell’s opening is white or cream in colour. There are 4 to 5 spiral coils on the shell.

Unlike some sea snails the garden snail doesn’t have an operculum. This is like a trap door that covers the opening of the shell when the soft body is fully inside, it gives some level of security against predators. Instead the garden snail creates a thin sheet of dried mucus, called an epiphragm, which serves a similar function to the operculum and also helps the snail retain moisture.

Another interesting thing I’ve learned is the direction of the coil on their shells. Mostly the coils are to the right (clockwise), only in very rare cases are they to the left (anti-clockwise). The more common right-handed shells are called dextral while the left-handed ones are known as sinistral shells. If you ever come across a sinistral shell make sure to grab it!

The garden snail has two pairs of tentacles on its head. The larger upper pair is light sensitive and then there is a smaller pair below these that are touch and smell sensitive. Both sets of tentacles can be extended and also retracted into the snail’s head.

Underneath the tentacles lies the snail’s mouth which has a structure called a radula. This has many tiny teeth formed of chitin which the snail uses to scrape or cut its food.

The snail has a muscular ‘foot’ which it uses to move along the ground, it releases a slimy mucus which helps to reduce the friction between the foot and the ground.

A Snail’s Life

The garden snail is actually native to the Mediterranean region but it can now be found far and wide in most continents of the world. It’s been taken around either on purpose or accidentally amongst other plants and goods that were being transported.

Snails are hermaphrodites, which is to say each snail produces both male and female gametes. They are able to self fertilise though most reproduction is sexual i.e. one snail will fertilise the eggs of another snail. About two weeks after fertilisation the snail lays a batch of eggs. The eggs hatch in about two weeks and the newly born snails reach maturation in one or two years.

The snail is nocturnal, carrying out most of its activities at night. While it will occasionally eat rotting vegetable or animal matter, the garden snail feeds mainly on plants. It is this devouring of plants that mean it is despised as a pest by many gardeners.

Snails will hibernate over winter and also if the conditions are hot and dry. The snail lies dormant and its metabolic rate reduces.

Snails as Pets

Yes, I did mean to write pets and not pests!

Garden snails make an easy to care for friend for kids who’ll enjoy observing how the creatures move into and out of their shells, their tentacles and the peristaltic movement of their feet.

Snails move really slowly, about .03 miles per hour at best, so there won’t be much risk of them getting lost or any need to give chase around the house. They can live for over five years if kept under the right conditions so plenty of time to enjoy them.

Okay, But Where are the Snails?

No, not in my garden but it seems other people are still suffering their presence so perhaps there hasn’t been some mollusc doomsday event. It could just be that they don’t find my garden attractive any more, I haven’t got any hostas or other large leafed plants so maybe it’s just down to canny planting on my part!

But then I also saw this blog post. It’s from the US and from about a year and a half ago, a number of people there reported a reduction in snail numbers. Rats, other local wildlife and dry/hot weather seem to have got most of the blame. We had a really hot summer three years ago, maybe that had an effect but sadly I have no real idea where they’ve gone.

Snails are known to have a great homing instinct, maybe my recent guest is the first of many on their way back to my garden.

The post Where are the Snails? appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.

Acrylics are such a versatile medium. You can use them spread thickly as you might with oils, thinned down with water to create a look that’s similar to watercolour or you can mix them up with other mediums like I’ve done in the picture book style illustration below. Here I’ve combined acrylics with coloured pencils to create a painting that has plenty of texture and depth of colour.

Follow this step by step article to learn exactly how I’ve achieved this and you can even download the rabbit ears cap colouring page and have a go yourself.

A stock photograph of a cute boy in a rabbit ears cap caught my eye as I went in search of inspiration for a painting. He had a bag on his back and was looking into the distance as if preparing to start on a journey into the unknown.

I started with a pencil sketch which I then transferred onto a sheet of watercolour paper. I had stretched the paper the night before as I knew I was going to be painting very wet in places. The wetness would have caused the paper to buckle and it’s always nicer to paint on flat paper.

Next I made a light underpainting layer using washes of quinacridone purple to bring out the darks and shaded areas of the figure.

Rather than laying the paint down thickly I decided to use normal heavy bodied acrylics watered down to create a thin wash that’s applied in multiple layers. All you need to thin the paint is water, make sure each layer dries before applying another and build up gradually to the desired colour.

Remember that acrylics dry to an unworkable state, you can’t lift off or soften the edges like you can with watercolours. They also dry quickly so watch out for hard edges forming where you don’t want them. A bit of tissue paper can be useful here, just dab the edge carefully before it dries completely to help soften it.

Don’t be afraid to knock back areas you’ve painted too deeply with a little opaque titanium white.

After a few layers are down I start bringing in the coloured pencils mostly to refine the edges and details but also to add some interesting marks and texture in places.

I continue in this way alternating between washes of acrylic and patches of coloured pencil, at some point I mark out the details of the background and foreground and then colour them in using the same technique.

Eventually it is complete, the end result is pleasing and I’m especially happy with the paint granulation you can see in the background hills and sky.

Acrylic colours used in this piece were from the Winsor & Newton professional series: alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, phthalo blue, phthalo turquoise, burnt sienna, burnt umber, yellow ochre, titanium white and quinacridone purple.

If you’d like to try painting with acrylics and coloured pencils on another drawing we’ve got a selection of free colouring sheets for you to choose from.

The post Painting with Acrylics and Coloured Pencils appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.

Why have wall art in the living room?

When it comes to decorating your home the living room is one space that takes a large share of your creative energy. This isn’t surprising as it’s likely to be the room most on public display, it’s where you receive visitors, entertain guests and spend a lot of your leisure time. Most people want a living room that makes a definite statement and reflects their personality.

Once you’ve sorted out the furniture and soft furnishings you’ll be left with a room nicely furnished to your taste, and acres of blank walls! Now, whilst there’s certainly some beauty in a blank wall you can only stare at one for a few seconds before your eyes start roaming around, hungry for an object with a bit more visual interest.

This is where the wall art comes in.

Well chosen wall art will complete the décor of your living room, it can tie all the elements of the design together and help give the room a finished look.

Of course wall art can cover everything from sculptures, items from nature, and experimental 3d pieces but I’m only going to focus on paintings and art prints. They are far more accessible and anyway, I would wouldn’t I?!

So how do you go about choosing wall art for your living room?

Shopping for wall art can be fun but also very daunting, you’ll need to take colour, space, style and a host of other factors into consideration. Read on to learn about these and perhaps get some inspiration for your next decorating project from the accompanying photographs.

Colour Scheme

Should you go for bold colours or neutral when choosing wall art?

The main colour in your living room, which might even be that of the walls themselves, will set the scene for the colours of other items, if you’ve gone for a strong stand-out colour then take care not to choose artwork that would clash with it.

In contrast, a neutral scheme gives you plenty of leeway when it comes to the colour of items in the room, this is why it’s more popular than having strong colours on your walls. If you’ve got a neutral room then pretty much anything goes as far as artwork colour is concerned. Pair the colours in the prints and paintings with the flashes of colour you find in your soft furnishings.

Art Style

Do you have strong ideas about what style of art you want hanging on your walls? Lucky you because there are so many to choose from – modern pop, traditional landscape, still-life, portraits and more!

The daunting task of choosing can be made a lot easier if you focus on a theme, subject or particular era. For instance you could focus on prints of works from some of the Great Impressionist Masters.

If you don’t really like old traditional art then have a look at more modern creations. Abstract and minimalist styles are a very popular choice for interior decor. Try looking for art pieces that evoke the textures, shapes or patterns found in the rest of the room.

Print Substrate

These days art can be printed on a number of different wall art substrates (art print types). They are all attractive in their own way and will each have a particular effect on the feel of your space.

For that traditional look you can get stretched canvas prints or glazed and framed prints. But if you prefer a more modern feel then you can opt for metal or even acrylic art prints. The acrylics (and some of the metal prints) have a glossy finish that can really bring out the colours of a piece and act as an interesting comment point for your living room.

Some outlets also offer art prints on wood which can give a pleasing rustic feel to the art piece. And for something a bit different or to cover up a wall maybe you’d like to try art print tapestries.

Size and Placement

So you’ve chosen the art and are now contemplating your walls. Where to hang the art prints, what’s the most effective way to arrange them?

There are various rules that you might have heard about in the past:

• have the centre of the art piece at (average) eye level – about 57 inches above the ground. Treat a collection of prints as one unit for this
• if you’re hanging a print over a piece of furniture try not to choose one that’s wider than the furniture
• don’t clutter up the artwork by filling up all the available space, give people’s eyes a moment to rest!

But remember, these rules are not set in stone and it is often best to simply follow your instincts and go with whatever feels right for you.

If you’ve got an especially large wall you might want to try making a feature of your favourite art piece. Often in this situation, the bigger the print the better. Alternatively you could try making a feature of a group of smaller art prints – arrange a number of them randomly, or in a grid pattern. If they are to be framed you might try contrasting frames or different matting styles.

A gallery wall provides a great opportunity for you to add your personality to the room. Use the space for paintings that inspire you, family portraits and other artwork that is special to you.

If your room is blessed with unique architectural features then you might want to place your art work in such a way that eyes are drawn to them. So, high up on the wall if the cornices are worth a mention, leaning a large print against a striking wall or overlapping paintings near a quirky detail.

Finally, if your living space has any interesting spots: feature windows, alcoves, the small nooks and crannies that you often find in old character houses, then use these to best effect and hang a favourite work of art that will make that corner of your living room even more special.

Wall Art for Living Rooms: a few more images

I hope you now have a better idea of how to go about choosing wall art for your living room, to finish off here are a few more living room images for you.

The post Wall Art for Living Rooms appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.

There’s such a huge variety of supports for artists to paint on, the two most common categories being a rigid surface such as a wooden panel or a canvas made from woven fibres. Of the canvas supports the choice tends to be between linen canvas and cotton canvas. Cotton being much cheaper is the one most artists use.

Linen is made from the fibre of the flax plant, the process of making the fabric is complex and labour intensive which accounts for its high price. It is also harder to stretch than a cotton canvas. Despite these negatives the resulting cloth is generally thought to be superior to cotton canvas for painting because:

a) it keeps its natural oils so the canvas doesn’t become brittle with time.
b) the warp and weft threads which make up the linen weigh the same so there is less expansion and contraction due to moisture.
b) it is very strong and durable and will last far longer than a cotton support.

Robin on Unprimed Fine Weave Linen

Unstretched Linen Canvas

The first I tried was some very fine unprimed linen, I painted on a little scrap of it. I wanted to keep the natural colour of the cloth on the unpainted areas so used clear gesso to prime.

It was pretty hard going as the canvas was neither stretched or pinned to a board (my fault!). The gesso was very rough and toothy which didn’t help matters either.

At this stage I wasn’t at all sold on the linen but kept an open mind until I had tried it stretched.

Lizard on Unprimed Fine Weave Linen

Stretched Linen Canvas

Another trial of the fine linen canvas, a lizard painting. This time I stapled the linen canvas to some cardboard and had a much more successful time of it.

Primed Fine Weave Linen

Unstretched Primed Canvas

These two very small cuts of universal primed fine weave linen were very nice to paint on. And yes, very fine and smooth (without getting slippery).

Painting on linen fabric that has already been primed is, of course, easier than having to prime the canvas yourself but you lose that natural colour – I’ve never seen any sold with clear gesso priming, only white.

Primed Medium Weave Linen

If you’re going to use cotton or linen canvas for painting you’ll also need to choose between the different grades of smoothness – fine weave, medium weave, coarse weave etc. The more details you aim to have in the painting the smoother you’ll want the canvas to be.

I also had a half metre of primed medium weave linen. Even though it isn’t as smooth as the fine weave I enjoyed painting this bowling shoe just as much as the blue forget-me-not flowers and ladybird. It’s cheaper than the fine weave so if a project demanded linen then this is probably what I’d get.

Frog Painting on Polyester Canvas

This final piece wasn’t on linen but it wasn’t on canvas either so I decided to include it here for interest.

In my search for a surface to replace the Winsor & Newton Winton Canvas Paper I used to love so much, I came across a seller of polyester canvas. The surface has the same regular pattern as the Winton but it was unprimed. I had to give it a few good coatings of gesso.

The result was a delightful surface to paint on, it wasn’t expensive and if not for having to gesso it I’d have ordered some more.

BTW that’s a red-eyed tree frog. I find frogs a lot of fun to draw and paint, maybe because it’s hard to make them look wrong. If you want to have a go but that looks like too much work then you could start by trying to draw a cartoon frog!

The post Painting on Linen and Polyester appeared first on Tina Lewis Art.