What Abstract Painting is All About

Perhaps you've seen a lot of paintings already and out of the paintings you've seen, you appreciate only a few of them. You see, there are different painting styles and techniques used by painters. One of these styles is abstract painting. When you say abstract painting, not many appreciate it probably because of its different style and not so ordinary appearance. But despite the oddness of such painting style, you should not judge it at first sight. Instead, you should try to understand why it was painted.

Abstract painting started hundreds of years ago. There are famous abstract paintings housed in museums. Private collectors who love abstract painting also have some of them. Abstract paintings are good investments as well as collection items. You'll never know how much a certain painting would cost in the future and with the great awareness and appreciation of people nowadays for abstract painting, even you can't tell a paintings value. Some of the famous abstract painters were Picasso, Van Gogh, and Modigliani. Because of these artist's beautiful works, abstract painting became even more famous.

Do you know what abstract painting is? This type of painting can be defined in various ways. Unlike traditional paintings, abstract painting doesn't portray reality. Before, painting was all about depicting a realistic or photographic expression of something or someone. However, abstract paintings are a lot different. The painting itself does not illustrate real objects. The shapes and colors shown in abstract paintings are non-objective and non-representing. The painting may refer to a person or to any other individual, anything, or even nothing. If you can't understand the meaning of a particular painting, you can ask the experts or even the painter about its meaning. Natural art lovers on the other hand, don't need explanations because if they love abstract paintings, they will understand clearly the significance of the painting.

Try to look at an abstract painting. You will see bright, vivid, and bold colors. Aside from the colors, you will also note that the painting has biometric shapes. For art lovers, this is a beautiful and strange piece.

Way back in 1940, Abstract Expressionism is a movement pushed through by the artists. The artists and painters supported abstract painting and they wanted the freedom of expression through the paintings they made. This made abstract painting more popular. The movement began in a particular school in New York and the movement was also called Action Painting. Among the American schools that joined the movement declared their independence from the artworks of European style. After this, abstract painting was pushed forward.

In order to understand and appreciate abstract painting, you must know its humble beginnings. Even if abstract painting is quite odd, you should still learn to love it because its part of history and it is still a painting which expresses the thoughts and feelings of painters. You can get paintings like this in art galleries online and local art shops. Some are quite expensive but there are also cheap ones. You can get replicas of the original classic abstract paintings made by the famous painters by purchasing them in certain companies that commission this kind of painting style.

Try to conduct a research about abstract painting. You can find many resources online so that you will understand more about this painting style. A painting is not always a representation of a specific object or person and that is exactly what abstract painting is all about.

The Cave Paintings of Trois Freres

Helpless romantics dream of traveling to France for a number of reasons. The country is quite well-known for its romantic places and atmosphere. But did you know that there's more to see in France aside from the lovely romantic places? Yes, that's true and one is the cave paintings of Trois Freres.

Not all individuals appreciate paintings. Oftentimes, it depends on the person's taste and interests. If you're interested in cave paintings, you can also find some of them in France. Trois Freres shows fascinating images about the people of prehistoric times. Visiting the cave is like exploring the world many years ago. You can learn a lot from the paintings, but only if you appreciate them.

Though people lived primitively thousands of years ago, they seem to know quite a lot. They knew about the different patterns and seasons of life. The seasonal variations and their food supplies are the determining factors between living or dying. The cave paintings in France show this great knowledge about the ancestors of the French people.

Translated in English, Trois Freres means Three Brothers. The paintings on the cave show indistinct images of animals and certain figures which experts believe to be a shaman. Trois Freres attracted international attention because of the depictions in the cave. The paintings are found in the far corners of the cave and so you have to go deeper to be able to get a good glimpse of such a work of art.

The paintings have a graphical nature and was skillfully drawn. You can easily make out the figures to be beasts and cattle surrounding a high figure that reaches the cave roof. This central figure is about 70 cm or 2 1/2 ft tall and appears to be half human and half animal. The figure has deer antlers and wears a mask with an eye of an owl. Below the mask is a beard and the hands are hidden within bear paws or lion paws. The back of the figure can be compared to that of a certain animal and somehow it appears that the figure is wearing an animal skin of some sort. The figure has an erect penis covered by a fox tail.

Experts called the figure 'Animal Master' and if you want to see the picture of the cave painting, you can go to France or you can search the net and simply type the words 'Trois Freres'. Find a link that will show you the painting itself. You can use any of the popular search engines in order to get a glimpse of the cave painting.

If you try to conduct a research on the net, you can read many speculations and comments about the cave painting. The painting is like the sketchpad of the prehistoric people. Animals or beasts were drawn on top of one another. Experts believed that the paintings are more than 14,000 years old or even longer.

Today, painters and other artists treat art as a process. It is the expression, recording, and reflection of the divine or inner nature of the artist. But did the primitive artists view art in the same way? Perhaps there's more to their drawings that what modern experts and artists can understand.

You can find other cave paintings in Asia and in Europe. To better understand the paintings, just allow your imagination to take over.

Abstract Art as Therapy

Abstract art is not just a mixture of colourful meaningless patterns and arbitrary shapes.

There is, I believe, a definate therapeutic value to be found in most of the enigmatic marks made by the very different styles available today. What appears to be the most important decision to make is a very careful consideration of the specific audience in conjunction with the choosing of the appropriate artwork. This is not something to be taken lightly or quickly. This can cover anybody within the wide spectrum of individual audiences: a busy boardroom environment or a single office or room where quick thinking, fast reactions, and serious decision making is required; or a worker who returns from a hard days work simply wanting to be visually massaged by an easily observed enigma; or even the space inwhich the desperate and mostly misunderstood person who is gradually loosing their tentative hold on the sense of reality. There is a tremendous variety of possibilities.

Here are some suggested associations from one artists point of view:

Colour plays an obvious healing and therapeutic role to be found in a carefully selected crafted piece, and so colour-field work, which is growing in popularity, first conceived by artists like Mark Rothko and Ellsworth Kelly with their vast areas of empty colour space, might add a general feeling of peace and quiet to an otherwise noisy and hectic environment. With there being very few variations within such a large image a gentle sense of immersion into abstract stillness can slow down any fretful or irratic thinking, and even assist with the adrenal challenge of a creative.

Indefinate shapes or patterns by the likes of Jackson Pollock, Peter Lanyon, and Howard Hodgkin (again, similar works inspired by these very different abstract styles can be seen in many exhibitions, shops and galleries), show a very positive association, and may perhaps persuade a mind filled with illogical thoughts to pause, simply take in the apparent spontenaiety, and then take a different direction. Hodgkin style works in particular can be seen as puzzle like canvases inwhich the observer has no real point of reference so is free to "start" anywhere upon the picture. And because there are very few defined areas sometimes the observer inevitably finds themself either regarding the piece with little emotion, and therefore can freely make a comment - positive or not.

Let us not deny, however, the fact that many an image that has the potential to provoke a negative response can also be of great value to the observer who might actually benefit from seeing such a challenging picture that bears such a bad association. Better there on the wall than here inside the head. In this case the classic associations of red for blood and danger, black for death and sin, brown for decay and illness, along with dramatic lines and movements found in a painting are equally valuable stimulii if revealed within the appropriate environment. This comes back to my point made at the beginning - when choosing a picture, very careful consideration must be taken in order to find that one work of art which speaks directly to the very deepest parts of the observer.

Drawing the Human Figure - Tips for Beginners

Figure drawing is challenging. The act of rendering the human form accurately on paper can be intimidating and frustrating if you try to tackle everything all at once. It is for this reason that you should take things one-step at a time and most importantly, practice! The following article will provide you with some of the basics for understanding how to approach your next figure drawing project.

The very first thing you will need obviously is your drawing supplies. Drawing does not have to be a very expensive art form. You can get started with a pencil and paper if you so desire, but there are certain supplies that will produce better results. It is quite difficult to recommend the perfect materials as every artist is different and therefore will have different preferences. Only time and experience will tell you what materials work best for your particular style. Your choice of materials will also depend on the chosen subject matter.

The best advice would be to get a variety of different pencils and papers and simply experiment. You will eventually come to like certain materials over others. Get your self a pad of newsprint paper. Newsprint paper is fairly inexpensive and excellent for practice drawings, although you should not expect these drawing to last very long. They will more than likely yellow over time. For your permanent drawings, a good quality paper is recommended. Strathmore is a good brand to look into. You may want to start with a medium textured paper as it has enough "tooth" to hold a fair amount of medium, but smooth enough to allow for detailed work. You will also need a good size drawing board that is smooth and flat for your drawing surface.

Before you even lift a pencil, you should have a basic understanding of human anatomy. When you study anatomy, you will learn more about the construction of the human body and its proportions. You will also have a basic understanding of the muscles and tendons and how they direct and control the body. There is no need to get carried away and memorize every muscle, bone, and tendon in the human body; just a fundamental understanding should suffice.

Getting the proportions correct in your figure drawing is one of the biggest challenges you will face as a beginner. It is for this reason that a unit of measurement was established using the models head. This is the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin. 7 � to 8 heads is the standard measurement that has been developed for the height of an erect figure. This measurement can vary depending on the subject so you may have to make adjustments to your figure drawing. You should realize that the measurement of 7 � heads corresponds to the figure when it is standing erect. If the pose of your figure changes, adjustments will obviously have to be made.

Artists will often use a pencil to take the head measurement. Stand a reasonable distance from your subject. Grab your pencil from the bottom as if you were holding a hammer and extend your arm out fully in front of you toward the subject. Try and keep your head as still as possible. Make certain that you are standing in the same spot each time you take measurements. Now closing one eye match the tip of the pencil with the top of the subjects head. Place your thumb on the pencil and slide it down until it matches with the bottom of the subjects chin. You now have taken the "head" measurement of your subject, which will now serve as a reference for measuring the rest of your subject.

When deciding on the type of pose for your figure drawing make sure you choose one that looks natural. Your model will be holding his or her pose for a long period of time and should be comfortable and relaxed. Give your model adequate time to move around and get settled. The more relaxed and natural the pose, the more believable the final drawing or painting will be. If your model looks uncomfortable or awkward, your painting or drawing will reflect that as well.

There are number of different lighting situations that you can create for your figure drawing or painting. Will you be working indoors or outdoors? If indoors, will you be working in a room that has natural sunlight or will you be using artificial light? What direction will the light source come from? Will there be multiple light sources? If you are a beginner, you may want to create a lighting effect that strikes your model from only one direction and illuminates your figure only partially, thereby creating more shadow. This will make for a much easier figure drawing. As you gain more experience, you can then move on to more complex lighting effects.

When you begin your drawing, you should not be overly concerned with getting every detail correct in your figure or other objects that make up your drawing. Many beginners fall into this trap and ultimately wind up with a drawing that is out of proportion or that just looks wrong. Study your subject, squint your eyes and try to locate the basic shapes that make up your subject.

Figure drawing and painting is a vast subject and this article only touches on some of the basics. You should definitely take classes or workshops and practice your figure drawing with live models. Purchase a few good books on figure drawing and anatomy. Join discussion groups and ask questions. Most importantly though, keep practicing and never give up.

Caricatures Being Made

I Love Watching Caricatures Being Made

Word Count: 401

Summary: I am not the most artistic person that has ever happened. In fact, my friends and family often laugh at me for how little I know about all things art. I cannot paint a picture to save my life, and any photographs I take usually end up off of center and unusable for anything. There is, however, one part of art that I cannot get enough of: caricatures. I absolutely love them. I cannot create them myself, yet I still never tire of watching them be made by other people.

I will...

Keywords: caricatures

Article Body: I am not the most artistic person that has ever happened. In fact, my friends and family often laugh at me for how little I know about all things art. I cannot paint a picture to save my life, and any photographs I take usually end up off of center and unusable for anything. There is, however, one part of art that I cannot get enough of: caricatures. I absolutely love them. I cannot create them myself, yet I still never tire of watching them be made by other people.

I will never forget the day that I fell in love with seeing caricatures being made that truly reflected people. I was at a theme park with my family for vacation. I couldn' have been more than ten years old. I was loving everything about the theme park, but when we walked upon a station where artists were creating caricatures I was mezmorized. I could hardly believe the way the artists were making true yet silly representations of the people that sat before them.

I was so intrigued with the process of caricatures that I convinced my mother to let me stay a little while and just watch. Looking back, I am quite shocked that she let a ten year old stay by herself in the park, but she did. And I loved that hour of watching. My eyes moved back and forth from the face of the subject being painted to the face of the artist to the hand of the artist doing the work.

I have continued to be intrigued with caricatures of all kinds. In fact, I have started a growing collection of caricatures. These represent attempts at creating likenesses of myself, my family, some of my closest friends, and a variety of other people that I admire. The caricatures are wide in variety yet they are of the same essence. I have many of them framed in my office and they make for the most interesting conversation starters.

If you're looking for a new thing to collect or for a new hobby to pick up, then consider caricatures. I have taken two classes aimed specifically to help people learn to do proper caricatures. I am still a long way from considering myself an artist, but my skills have greatly improved. So consider the uniqueness and beauty of caricatures and incorporate them into your life however you can.

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How to Paint an Abstract Image

Perhaps the title would be better as the question I have so often heard: "How can I produce an abstract image?"

I intend to lead you into those dark secret places filled with wonderful tantilizing enigmas, where we will find all the passionate inspiration and the great variety of techniques required for you to be able to produce an astounding work of art .

So ... how do you do it?

I need to ask you a slightly different question in order for us to move forward upon this slippery creative path.

Why?

Why do you want to produce an abstract?

... here is a list of answers which I would like you to read and then decide which, if any, loosely fit your reason for wanting to do it:

1. No reason ... I just want to. 2. It looks so easy ... and it would be nice for something to go with the decor. 3. In order to make money ... lots of it! 4. I feel compelled to ... like I really need to. 5. I have visions; dreams; day dreams; thoughts; I hear voices; I am being told to by an inner something ... and these need to be brought into the material world. 6. Therapy ... this is an opportunity for venting my aggression; bolstering my lack of self confidence; visualising my inner turmoil. 7. I want to express myself ... in a strictly personal way.

This is by no means a complete list ... you may well have completely different reasons, but this is a start.

So ... which one did you tick?

Lets have a look at them in a bit more detail:

1. This is the answer of the anarchist. A very valid reason for wanting to work abstractly ... you already have within you an angry boiling cauldron, and the potential to produce truly opposing and dramatically random works. However, this requires brut strength of will, and the blinding power of obstinancy for it to work for you.

2. One of the most common misconceptions. It is NOT easy to produce an abstract work ... it IS easy to produce a mess! This will only lead to frustration, depression, and bitterness ...then you will be an a far better position to produce something like a true abstract work.

3. There are literally millions of people producing the most amazing pieces ... and none of them are rich, famous ... even earning any money at all. I stand by my belief that what I paint is not about money - it can never be. Try again.

4. An interesting answer ... the driven series worker attitude. Dangerous yet compelling. You are destined to succeed ... but success will have no meaning or interest for you and will not help you. Yet the compulsion will take you deep into darkness (not scarey darkness but mysterious darkness) where you will find more questions.

5. The surrealist. Abstraction will not be too difficult for you ... as long as you relax a little. Do not allow the explicitness of sights blind you to the potential, and more appropriate imagery, of the arbitrary joining of coincidences.

6. Here is the answer for the purist abstract producer. Inner tensions, inexplicable fears, and blinding mental flashes all contribute to a truly innovative palette.

7. The fearless explorer ... well, that is what you will expect of yourself, but you had better tread carefully. Are you prepared to hear people telling you how much they hate your work ... so much so that they want to destroy it? ... even then are you still willing to carry on?

How do you feel? Still want to carry on and produce that masterpiece? Yes? Then here is some practical work until the next article.

Get a sketchbook, ensure you make at least one mark of some kind on one page every day. Go to galleries (online ones aswell), take your sketchbook to make any observationss or scribbles. If you are a little hesitant about mark making then here is a very useful exercise:

Get an A4 sheet of paper and a pencil; find a watch, clock or timer that measures seconds, Set the timer for 15 seconds, place the paper and pencil on a table, making sure the table is clear of any objects other than the paper, pencil, and timer ... have a chair ready to sit on at the table.

Reach out for a nearby object that you can place upon the table ... it can be anything from a mobile phone to a magazine ... and, without thinking simply place it onto the table - sit down, start the timer ... and look at the object for five seconds (DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRAW IT). Consider shape, texture, space, highlights, lowlights, tone, tints - pay special attention to the outline of the object. Once five seconds is up start drawing ... you have ten seconds to to try to capture what you have just been looking at.

Lets face it ... you are not going to produce a masterpiece! So do not even try. I want you to simply capture the dynamics of what you see ... no more.

Repeat that six times. Each time try to slow down and draw a purposeful line - no hesitant scratches. Why draw twenty little marks when you can draw one big one.

Ideas for Halloween Face Painting

Halloween is fun both for adults and young kids. If you've enjoyed painting pumpkins with your family and friends, you will surely enjoy face painting during this special occasion. You can scare the wits out of young kids and even adults if you paint scary faces once they knock on your door and ask the same old line � 'trick or treat'.

Here are some excellent ideas for Halloween face painting.

Pumpkin � you can paint a pumpkin on both sides of your cheeks. The pumpkin should be bright orange in color. The nose, mouth, and eyes can be painted in black. The outline and ridges of pumpkin design should be light grey.

If you want, you can make your whole face look like a pumpkin. The base should be orange and for the cheekbones, you have to apply a darker shade of orange. Make a triangle shape over your eyes and paint it black. For your lips and nose, you must paint it black as well.

Skull � the skull design should occupy the whole face. The base should be white and after you've painted the white paint, you can paint a bright red color for the lips. Make an outline of fangs on both sides of your mouth in light grey. The fill should be white and the tip should be painted in red so that it will look like blood. Use smoky grey for the eye lids and exaggerate your eye brows with sweeping strokes in black color.

Bat � make a bat design over your whole face. Just like the skull design, use white color as base. Above your nose and your forehead, paint the face of the bat in black and light grey for the eyeballs. The body of the bat should be painted over your nose ending at the nostril's base. Use different shades of black for the body. The wings cover your eyes and your mid-cheek. You can paint some definitions by using light grey on the wings. Over your lips, paint exaggerated curls upward to the corners. Use your imagination and you can create a realistic bat design.

These are just four great ideas that you can use. if you want, you can obtain other painting ideas online. There are many helpful websites you can visit to get some great ideas for Halloween face painting. Visit the different sites and if you're diligent with your search, you can find pictures of the designs. With a picture to refer to, it will be a lot easier to paint because you already have a clear idea of what the design will look like. Find a design that you like so that it will be easier to paint.

You can even paint your own face if you like, but this will a bit difficult. Get the whole family involved and paint each other's face. But before anything else, you have to buy face paints, paint brushes, and other painting materials that you will need. You can purchase them in paint stores or in craft stores.

Celebrate Halloween with your family and friends. Give life to this special occasion by doing some face painting. Just remember to wash the paint off your face before you go to sleep to avoid any irritations. Have fun this Halloween season by painting your face in different designs.

Cartoons and Caricatures

There are a lot of reasons that most kids love Saturdays. Kids love Saturdays because it means they do not have to get up early and go to school. Kids love Saturdays because they usually get to relax or play with friends. Kids love Saturdays because it means they got to stay up late on Friday night. But as a kid I loved Saturdays for a totally different reason: Saturday morning cartoons.

One of the highlights of my childhood was watching Saturday morning cartoons. My siblings and I looked forward to it all week long. We made it through five long days of school, homework, going to bed early, and eating healthy breakfast foods in order to get to the next Saturday. And though the wait for Saturday felt like forever, eventually it always came. And with it came our special Saturday routine. Although Saturday is the perfect day to sleep in, we usually got up just as early as we would for school, and we did not even need alarm clocks! Whoever woke up first would run to wake up all the others and together we would go quickly to the family room and turn on the television and flip to our favorite channel: the one with the best Saturday morning cartoons.

Oh, we loved our cartoons. We kept track of what was happening in all our favorite cartoons and we waiting with anticipation for the next episode. We were glued to the television with eyes so huge we did not miss a thing. We would laugh outloud, talk to our favorite cartoon characters outloud, and get mad at the television outloud anytime the cartoons did not go like we thought they should. We were so into our favorite cartoons that only one thing could pull us away from the tube. Dad's pancakes.

Dad's special, Saturday-only pancakes were amazing. We could eat as many as we wanted and we could put anything in them we wanted: blueberries, chocolate chips or even M&M's. We looked forward to our Dad's pancakes almost as much as we looked forward to watching our favorite cartoons. Our parents even started letting us eat our pancakes in front of the television so we would not have to miss a cartoon! What a deal! Saturday was the only day the good cartoons were on, it was the only day that Dad made his signature, unhealthy pancakes, and it was definitely the only day we could eat in front of the television in the family room.

So while I liked not having to go to school on Saturdays and I liked being able to play with friends and stay up later, the real reason I loved Saturdays was not even my Dad's great pancakes. The real reason, the biggest reason that I grew up loving Saturdays was simple: Saturday morning cartoons.

Maybe that's too why I'm having so much fun now drawing caricatures and cartoons myself.

Painting Abstract Art

I want to go into a little more detail of the different ways you can approach the enigmatic task of producing an abstract. In this article we will look at the Anarchist and the Abstractist.

If you have an anarchistic attitude within you then abstract art is for you. You will never run out of ideas - in fact even if you had NO ideas then your temperament alone would find a most fundermental mood swing or dark (and maybe on more rarer occasions - light) moment to enrap you within its aggressive drama and painful colours. Wild movement mixed with vigorous aggression.

Anarchists tend to be wildly demonstrative in their approach to ... everything! They have the potential to be able to utilize almost anything at hand that might provide them with contradictory ideas and totally original materials.

However, there is a big "down" side to what might be seen as the almost perfect abstract artist. An Anarchistic attitude tends to come from a tremendous sense of lacking in many areas. So things like confidence can be a very fearful barrier to the power of a creative flow. Therefore I believe that by working on some of the practical ideas written below obstacles like shyness and fear can slowly be weakened until finally the real artist begins to rise out from the depths of darkness or light in an increasingly "louder" manner.

The Abstractist is in many ways similar to the Anarchist. The difference here is that the Abstractist mind has a colder capability of "seeing" completely non-representative imaginings. And although both the Abstractist and the Anarchist generally produce work from deep within. The Anarchist cultivates a more physical "anti" approach, whereas the Abstractist appears to have the knack of actually visualizing dots, lines, and shapes when looking at every day objects.

OK lets practice. Get yourself a large piece of paper - any paper ... even newspaper will do. You will need plenty of Red, Blue, and Yellow. Acrylics or cheap powder paints will be fine. A one fairly thin paint brush, and one fairly thick. With the first attempt do not "think" of anything other then lines. Place the paints in easy reach for you to work quickly. Ready? Thin brush first - dip it deep into any colour then quickly bring the brush into contact with the paper - do not stop moving. Move in any direction. Paint faster. Paint one continual line. As soon as the brush starts to run dry dip it into paint - any of the colours. Keep doing this until you have filled the paper with a mass of scribbles. Try this about five or six times - not caring what is produced (you can throw it away - no one needs to see it ... or you might want to frame it!).

Now repeat the above practical only this time try using what is sometimes called "short stroke" - which is precisely that. Rather than one continual line, produce lots of short lines - you decide on the length. But make sure you are still acting as though it is one continual line - you are just lifting the brush at the appropriate time. Repeat this a few times.

Next decide which you felt more at home with. Produce another image in that way only this time look for shapes. When you see one, load your brush and paint the outline of the shape - very quickly. Finally get the thick brush and load it with a colour and roughly fill in the shape. Carry on mark making - even if it runs over any painted shapes.

Finally try again with line and shapes, and this time adding something else - you decide. If you really cannot think of anything try choosing any of the following: Screwing up the whole paper, then unfolding it and carrying on painting; rip or cut holes into the paper - and carry on painting; spatter (a well used favourite) paint onto the paper; find rice, spagetti, sand, earth, dust ... anything - pour it or sprinkle it - then carry on painting ... the list is endless.

Of course you might not be at home with this ... too messy you might say. Then, perhaps you might be a Surrealist - or maybe a Visionary...

Drawing Tips for Beginners

When you are producing flower landscape oil paintings, keep in mind the short canvas blend life of oil paints. If you are producing an oil painting of a flower landscape and you need to make a change that isn't immediately effective, the best thing to do is wipe it off with your paint rag and start over. This will work for the first 24 hours after your painting, as oil paintings take this long to dry. In fact, it's important not to make too thick a first coat or you'll never get your oil paints to dry.

One important piece of oil painting advice is to clean your paint brushes each time you change colors. You do this by first wiping as much paint off the brush with a rag as you possibly can and then inserting the brush into the paint thinner. Not only will this get more oil paints off your brush, but will extend the life of your thinner as well. Swish your paint brush around in the container of paint thinner, then dry it with your clean paint rag.

When the first layer of your flower landscape oil painting creation is finished, wait 48 hours before you start on your second paint application or you're going to end up smearing the work you already did. In the meantime don't leave your oil painting somewhere hot or humid. Make sure that its location will protect it from getting accidently scraped, smooshed, smeared, or touched at all.

Should you have a lot of paint left on the palette and you want to use it when you start your flower landscape oil paintings again, scrape the paint together with your knife. Next put a small amount of paint thinner on a cleam paint rage and use it to clean the rest of your paint palette. Plastic wrap is great for covering the paint that is leftover. Make sure you wrap it tightly though.

It's important as well, that until you start again with your flower landscape oil paintings, that you replace the lid on the container of paint thinner and set it aside, no matter how cloudy it looks. The paint thinner will settle and the pigment that is part of the paint will drop to the bottom of the container.

Clean thinner will settle at the top. The next time you go back to your flower landscape oil paintings you'll only need to pour that top layer of clean paint thinner into a new and clean thinner container, and wipe the pigment off the bottom. You then pour the good paint thinner back into its original thinner container and you're ready to start your flower landscape oil painting project once again.