Easels should help make the life of the pet portrait artist much easier, providing secure support for their canvas, at just the right height and angle. All the same, there are a few of varieties to go for, each one designed to meet the particular needs of the artist whether they’re in a studio or outside.
The most versatile is the sketching easel. (more…)
Since the early Renaissance, artists creating portraits in oil (or any other subject for that matter) have traditionally started with a layer of size to seal the raw canvas or board prior to the gesso ground. It’s function is to protect the canvas from the chemicals in the paint that may make it rot. Today, if you use an acrylic primer, size is not always required, but it’s remains a good way of protecting the canvas and if you make your own gesso is an essential part of the preparation. (more…)
A significant part of any painting, whether a pet portrait or abstract picture, is the relationship in colour and tone. Tone is the level of light and shade in the picture, it exists independently of colour and can be calculated on a scale which goes from white through greys to black. The awareness of colour is created by the eye’s response to light in different wavelengths; pure colour exists only as light, and as far as painters are concerned, all colours are also modified by tonal value. (more…)
