Cartoons are fun. Well almost. If you are like me you certainly love to watch cartoon figures. But drawing cartoons is another story particularly if you are not aware of the basics. If the thought of creating beautiful cartoon characters gives you high, read on, here you will find some tips that you can readily use to improve your skills and reduce the time taken to create beautiful cartoon characters. There are certain things that are same for every style of drawing, be it realistic drawing or cartoony, now we will go quickly through the basics before getting specific to cartoony style.

Select your tools wisely. Clean your hands before starting your drawing. The paper you use for your work should be of good quality. Low grade, off colored paper will make your drawing look pale. Your first sketch should be made with light lines and for finalizing you should use deep-colored and prominent lines-so choose your pencils carefully.

Many times beginners find drawing a smooth line difficult. Remember drawing smooth lines will be easier if you do not support your hand on your wrist like we are used to do while writing. Doodling and drawing some circular shapes just before you start will also help you to draw smoothly.

Learn to draw facial features and hand carefully. Hands are more difficult. Experts often judge a person’s drawing ability from how well he can draw human hands. So practice drawing hands with care.

Study about basic forms and proportions of human body. Learn about basics of human anatomy and various ratios of human figures. As a cartoon creator you will have certain liberties, you do not need to bind yourself with strict body proportions rules. You can draw four fingered hand that makes your work a bit easier. But one challenge you will face while drawing cartoons -cartoon characters needs to be more expressive and certainly you have to create this expressiveness with some lines drawn with your pencil.

Tags : Cartoon, Cartoon Characters, Drawing

Portrait or portrait painting is a popular art form. It is basically a type of handmade painting made by looking at a photograph. However every artist cannot make a painting from photographs. There are special artists knows as portrait artists, who are adept at drawing such portraits.

The portrait artists are specialized artists who are experts at creating the portrait paintings. Whether you want, photo portraits or live portraits, these artists can create them, for you. These artists create these portraits by incorporating elements that provide them with a real world look that is truly unique. This is because these artists study every detail of the subject closely. They work very hard to give the portraits a perfect look.

The most important trick to get the best portraits for your self is to select the right portrait artists. The portrait artists you choose should be very meticulous about details. Also the artists should have a considerable experience. This is because the more portraits they have drawn, the fewer mistakes they will commit and the better they will make the portrait. Apart from selecting the right portrait artists, it is important that you select the right photograph. After all, the quality of the portraits is fully dependent on the quality of the photographs that you want to be converted into portraits. There are certain qualities that a photograph must have in order to get a portrait made from it.

The photographs that you should select for creating portrait paintings should be bright enough. Also they should have been taken in proper lighting conditions. Always keep this fact in mind that the photographs taken in natural light are much better than the ones that are taken with the help of a loud flash. These types of pictures usually have much more clarity. The clear pictures help the artists to judge the right colors and use the perfect brush strokes that will help to give the portraits a real world look.

Finding the portrait artists is a very easy thing these days. Here are some ways that can help you. If you have seen a portrait in a friend’s or relatives’ home, you can ask him or her about the artists. This type of reference is always helpful as this way you always have the results in front of your eyes. Another way is to look for artists from any of the portrait schools. There is a lot of information on these schools available on the internet. These schools have many young artists who can make your portraits in a fast and inexpensive way.

Tags : Portrait Artists, Portrait Paintings, Portraits

Basically there are only two types of paint to use inside your home; water based latex paints and oil based paints. The difference is pretty simple actually. For the most part you’ll want to use an oil-based paint for the doors, the trim, and high traffic areas – and the water based latex for the walls. Oil based paints are usually a bit more difficult to use than water based paint. This is because oil based paints are thicker, therefore requires different types of rollers and brushes. As well, when you use oil based paints, it’s best to paint in well-ventilated areas because it has a much stronger odor. The nice thing about oil-based paint is that it’s available at any paint store and can be easily tinted to almost any color.

If you’re using oil-based paint, it’s essential to remember that you’ll usually need to prime the area first. This is because they have a tendency to peel if the area is not primed correctly. This also happens if your base coat is already oil based. You have to clean the area before you prime it. You can buy primer at any paint or home improvement store. It can either be applied like spray paint, or brushed on. When you’re painting a very dark color, or if the color you’re using is dark, then you may want to consider getting the primer tinted first.

Oil based paint often will bubble during the painting process. Be sure that you don’t shake this paint, but rather stir it. It’s also best if you try to use just one coat when using oil based. This type of paint takes longer to dry than latex paint does, so keep that in mind. Make sure you allow enough ventilation to speed up the process. It’s vital to remember that oil based paint, is considered toxic and hazardous waste. Caution should be used when disposing of it.

There are many projects that are best suited for oil paint. For instance trim such as window trim, crown molding, bead board, or trim around doors is best done with oil paint. The reason is that this type of paint is much more durable and can take more wear and tear than latex can. As an added benefit, it’s much easier to clean than latex.

As well, if you’re painting a door you’ll want to consider using oil. Again, being that it’s easier to clean, things like smudges, fingerprints, and dirt in general will be much easier to clean off. You may also find that some exterior projects can use oil paint such as trim around windows and doors. Other things such as metal take well to oil, but be sure never to use it on iron or fresh masonry without properly preparing and priming. For the most part, oil based paints are effective for much of your home, and though a little more tedious to apply makes life afterwards much easier

Tags : Brushes, Oil Paniting, Paint