Creating Wooden Arts, Find Your Creative Niche

Using wood as an art medium is nothing new. The availability, variety, and beauty have always attracted many woodworking artists and craftsmen of every kind. The ability to cut, shape and manipulate it in various ways, revealing its awesome color and grain patterns is very appealing to wood artists, designers, art collectors and home owners alike.

The wide appeal and variety of wooden arts are evident everywhere. You see wood incorporated in design and decoration applied in various ways (making bold statements not only in structural design and interior design, but also used as an accompanying complementary function in décor). There is always a place for the beauty of wood and its warm soothing effect on our everyday lives.

For the Designer, Craftsmen or Artist incorporating and creating wooden art is a matter of taste and skill. Creating wooden arts have limitless possibilities. The types of tools available today are unmatched in availability, quality and specific purpose. With so many tools and information available, shaping and creating unique works of wood art has never been so popular. Along with that, there has been a tremendous increase in the variety of wood that is available to the serious craftsmen and hobbyist alike.

Finding your niche in this popular medium will take some analysis and development of skills in your desired direction. Determining tools and supplies needed, experimentation in design and technique, testing the marketplace and pricing will all come in to play. Last, but not least, is persistence and determination. This will be needed to hone and develop your skills. With that you will certainly develop your unique style and impact this growing art form.

Tips To Get Started

1. Build on the skills you already have (if you paint use paint in some way in your design)
2. Find ideas in books, magazines and the internet (find other art done in another material and recreate it, incorporating wood)
3. Use found material and develop ideas with them.
4. Start small and go from there (Ex: bookmarks, to wall art)

There are many resources available for the Wooden Arts Craftsman. Flood your mind with creativity, use books, the library, magazines and the internet for fuel. Carry a small notebook and record ideas and information as it hits you.

Author Info:

There has never been a better time to expand and develop your creative and artistic skills to include the beauty and flexibility of wood. Visit http://www.LearnFineCrafts.com now and get the techniques, resources and new ideas to make Wooden Arts your passion.

Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing - Composition

Composition refers to the manner in which your subjects are positioned relative to each other on the page. More formally, it is the arrangement of forms and spaces within the format of the page.

* Balance The main characteristic of a good composition is that it creates a feeling of balance in the viewer's mind. This balance should be present on at least two levels:

First, there is the balance of position. This means that the forms and spaces out of which the portrait is made up should be balanced relative to the vertical and the horizontal going through the center of the page.

Second, there should also be a balance with respect to value. The darks and lights should balance each other out in an overall sense. In other words, having too much black on one side or a complete lack of it is not the recommended course to take.

* Experiment Having said that, do not be afraid to experiment with the distribution of forms, spaces, and values. Sometimes an unexpected deviation from the perfect balance gives excitement and interest to a drawing.

Follow your artistic sensibility. With practice, this sensibility can be developed and soon you will acquire a natural sense for good composition and how and where to surprise the viewer.

* Shapes When considering the composition of your drawing you should think in terms of four major shapes: the triangle, the circle, the rectangle, and the square. Any of those shapes can be the point of interest of your portrait.

All other shapes should be arranged in support of that point of interest. Essentially, this means that the viewer should be led or guided towards the intended focal point of the drawing.

* Focal Point One common compositional mistake occurs when the subject matter outside of the focal point is arranged in such a manner that the viewer is led in a direction away from the center of interest. In other words, the viewer is discouraged from looking at the area the artist thought was the most interesting.

In this regard we should remember that in the West, the viewer's eye tends to enter a drawing or a painting from the left (just as we do when we read from left to right). Therefore, a good composition often has an entry point on the left of the drawing and from there leads the viewer's eye to the focal point.

* Detail The focal point should also be the area where you add the most detail to your portrait drawing. Areas deemed less important can be less developed and left to be finished by the viewer's imagination.

Don't forget, a portrait drawing should not be a copy of the photograph. Ideally, the personality of both the subject and the artist should be reflected in the end product.

* Check Balance Another way of assessing whether or not you have a good composition is to cover up one shape or another and see if it improves the balance or not. A good composition is such that if you remove one shape, the whole drawing is clearly thrown out of balance. If you feel that by removing a certain part of your drawing the balance improves, by all means, leave that part out.

Much more can be said about composition. Entire volumes have been written about compositional rules and processes. However, developing the idea of balance on the levels of position and value will give you a very good start.

Author Info:

Remi Engels, Ph.D., is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter. Samples of Remi's pencil portraits and other articles can be found at Remi's Pencil Portraits.

Finding the Style of Art That is Right For You

One of the most wonderful things about art is that there are literally hundreds of different styles and forms that one can study and enjoy. Unfortunately, this same diversity that attracts many people to art and artists can also be intimidating to the newer explorer of artistic expression. If you've made the decision that you want to get involved in some kind of art appreciation, but you can't decide what kind of artwork to concentrate on, there are plenty of resources available to help you narrow down your options.

Before we get into different methods of exploring the many types of art available to new students, we should stress that there really isn't any reason why you should have to chose a single form of artwork over any other. In fact, many artists and fans of art concentrate on more than one subject (for example, classical painting as well as sculpting) and are still able to learn to enjoy the subjects just as thoroughly.

Many different types of art can overlap, such as literature and poetry, and there's nothing at all wrong with choosing two or more kinds of art to focus on in your studies. There are few true artists who really limit themselves to a single discipline, and as with most creative people, you may find that studying one art form will gradually lead you into the aspects of another similar topic, too.

If you're having a difficult time identifying the main types of artwork in the first place, one of the best resources available to you might be your local community college or university. Regardless of your age or education intentions, you can always take a class or two on basic art appreciation to learn more about the topic. Remember: the only students in intro-level college classes aren't just those who are seeking their undergraduate degrees. Art lovers of all ages have signed up for college classes and discovered a whole new world of artistic possibility and expression, and you can do so every bit as easily. And often, those classes don't cost as much as you think they will.

If enrolling for an art class at a local college is not in your tastes, however, you can just as easily research different art forms at your local library or museum. When looking for a book on art, try to stay clear of books that concentrate on a single style, and instead choose books that cover a broad range of artwork.

And the same goes for museums, too; make sure you don't only visit just one wing of the museum or have a look at one single style of art displays. By staying inquisitive, having a desire to learn as much as possible about all artwork, and matching what you learn to your particular interests, you should be able to quickly define what type of art best suits your talents and abilities. When it comes to art, there's really something for everyone!

Author Info:

You can find lots of great online art contests to enter on our free forum. And be sure to check out our network site for free samples and free stuff.