The Secrets To Developing Your Own Style

1. Start with what you love
You don't just choose your style; your style is something that comes to you as you create art. The best way to go about developing your style is to start with what you love and go from there. If you've been creating art and you know what you love, simply go for that. If you're not too sure, simply create lots of art and experiment in lots of different ways. Being versatile in your art is a good way of helping you realise what particular type of art you love above all others. If you create lots of different types of art, you should sooner or later come across something that you find really appealing.

2. Create lots of art
What your love is the basis for developing your style. Once you've got this, you can go about exploring and developing your style. Work as much as you can and create as many pieces as you can. The more you create, the more your style will develop, evolve and grow. It's worth bearing in mind that it can take a long time for you to develop a unique style. Many artists spend years creating art in order to find their unique style - finding your style can be a long process and can therefore require a lot of your time and patience.

3. Think about what sets you apart from others
Pick an artist and look at their works to gain an idea of what their style is. What sets this artist apart from others? What's unique about this artist's style? Is there something common to all this artist's pieces? Ask yourself these questions to give yourself an idea of how artists make themselves stand out. Then ask yourself these questions about your own works: what sets you apart from others? What's unique about your style? Is there something common to your pieces?

4. Be prepared for your style to change
If you know what your style is and you're confident it makes you stand out from the crowd, great. What you have to be prepared for is for your style to change and evolve over time. Some artists are happy to find their style and work with it for the rest of their careers. For others, sticking to one way of creating isn't enough to satisfy their creative needs; they feel the need to always push their creativity and experiment with new styles. Even if you're happy to stick with one style, you should be prepared for change, as changes may eventually show themselves in your works.

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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14 Facts You Never Knew About Paint

1. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato is widely believed to have come up with the idea of mixing two colours of paint together to produce a third colour.

2. During the Roman times, the colour purple was associated with royalty and aristocracy. This was because the purple pigment was especially expensive at the time, so only the rich could afford it.

3. Another colour that was once very expensive is ultramarine, also known as deep blue. At one point in history, this particular colour was more expensive than gold!

4. The Aztecs believed that red pigment was more valuable than gold.

5. Different colours of paint are thought to have different effects on people: green is thought to alleviate stress, while red is thought to help depressed people feel active and motivated.

6. Isaac Newton developed the colour wheel, a diagram which shows the relationships between different colours, in 1706. There are different variations of the wheel, though most focus on the relationships between primary, secondary and tertiary colours.

7. The Mona Lisa is arguably the world's most famous painting. The subject, whose true identity is speculated about but still unknown, doesn't have eyebrows because women were considered more beautiful if they shaved their eyebrows.

8. The human eye is capable of distinguishing more variations of green than any other colour. It's for this reason that paint manufacturers usually have more shades of green available than any other colour.

9. The earliest known oil paintings date back to the 7th century A.D. The paintings in question are works by Buddhists found in caves in Afghanistan.

10. The most expensive painting ever sold was the Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) by Paul Gauguin. The painting was completed in 1892 but sold for around $300 million in February 2015!

11. The first known interior paintings date back some 40,000 years. These paintings were found in France and were made by prehistoric people who lived in caves.

12. The only painting Leonardo da Vinci sold in his lifetime was The Red Vineyard, which was sold for the equivalent of just over £1,000 in today's money.

13. People often compare paintings to photographs, but some artists actually practise a form of painting working from photographs. Photorealism is where artists create paintings that look exactly like photographs.

14. Vincent van Gogh's famous Starry Night painting was completed while he was staying in the French town of St. Remy. The painting is of the view Vincent had while looking out of his window. He was a patient at a psychiatric hospital at the time.

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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4 Ways To Get Paintings Done Faster

1. Work on several paintings at a time
It goes without saying that the more you have to do, the more you get done. When you have more than one project to finish, you find that you become more productive because there's more pressure on you to get the work done. If you're working on just one painting, you don't really feel as much pressure to get it done because there's nothing else vying for your attention and time. While you're waiting for one painting to dry, you can carry on working on another one. It's easy to have several paintings on the go at once, especially if you are using similar colours and techniques for more than one painting.

2. Make a plan and stick to it
It's very easy to get started on a painting and to come up with new ideas along the way. The only bad thing about coming up with ideas along the way and incorporating them into your painting is that this takes up extra time. If you come up with a fixed plan of what your painting's going to be like and run with that plan without letting yourself getting distracted by new ideas, you're going to get the painting finished a lot faster. Sure, this does mean compromising on creativity and spontaneity a bit, but if you want to get a painting done quickly, you have to be prepared to compromise on something. If you're more organised with your approach to painting and can get your ideas together before you start work, you should be able to finish your painting a lot sooner than usual.

3. Use a larger brush
Using a larger brush is a great way to save on time when working on a painting. Use a larger brush for areas of your painting where there isn't much in the way of finer details. Even if you just use a larger brush for creating washes and background layers, this can still save a lot of time if you're used to doing this with a smaller brush. Don't think that using a larger brush will compromise on the quality of your painting: you can still create a wonderful, immersive and beautiful painting regardless of the size of the brush you use. It's all about how you use the brush, not what size it is.

4. Get rid of distractions
Even though many painters like to get in the zone when working, all it takes is a phone going off for that concentration to be broken. When painting, make sure there's nothing around you that could distract you. By all means, have breaks every so often when you can go on your phone and do whatever you want to take your mind off painting. The trick to being more productive is separating your time into work and play. Distractions blend the two together and make it harder for you to focus and be productive. If you regularly get messages on your phone, turn it off for an hour or two. If you get distracted by what's on TV, turn it off. Place that book you can't stop reading in another room. Once you've got rid of distractions, you'll be able to work on your painting more productively and you should be able to get it finished sooner.

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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5 Practical Tips For Plein Air Painting

1. Don't take too much
Only bring what you know you're going to need. Keep your supplies light. You don't want to be weighed down by things you're not going to use. How many paintbrushes do you really need? Will you definitely need ten, or will you manage with one or two? What about colours? Do you have to bring every colour under the sun? Surely you won't use them all? Limit your palette and experiment with mixing colours on site - you never know what colours you might end up using.

2. Use a portable case
If you have a portable case, use it. If you don't have one, buy one. Having all your supplies in one case will make things a lot easier. Pochade boxes, which you can carry things in, can also act as easels. Many portable easels are lightweight and even have storage boxes built-in. You don't want to be carrying lots of supplies about. It's much easier having everything easily accessible in one place. Having a case will also encourage you to bring fewer supplies with you.

3. Avoid wearing sunglasses
Even if it's really sunny, you shouldn't wear sunglasses. The reason? Wearing sunglasses gives you an inaccurate impression of light. Sunglasses change colour balance, so what you paint won't necessarily be accurate in terms of colour. If you want an accurate and completely realistic painting, complete it without wearing sunglasses. If you want to shield your eyes from the sun while painting, wear a hat instead.

4. Take photos for future reference
Many artists like adding finishing touches to plein air paintings at home. To help with this, take your smartphone or camera with you when you paint outdoors. Photographs capture everything about a landscape, from the smallest to the largest details. Using photographs can help you add finishing touches without compromising on quality and accuracy. They can also help you while you work on your painting on-site.

5. Start small
If you're new to plein air painting, it's worth starting off small. Make your first few paintings on smaller canvases. This way, you get to practice and hone your skills. One of the main aspects of plein air painting is that light changes, so sometimes you might have to work with time against you. Once you've got used to changing light and have mastered the skill of making adjustments, then you should be able to complete larger paintings on-site without encountering problems.

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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11 Painting Terms Explained

Background - The background of a painting is the area that appears to be the furthest away from the viewer. This part of the painting isn't usually the focus of the painting and is there to add more substance to the work.

Binder - This refers to the part of paint that holds the pigment together and helps it stick to the support. The binder helps to add consistency and cohesion to paint.

Drier - A drier is added to slow-drying paints, mainly oils, in order to make them dry more quickly. Many artists use these as oils are particularly slow to dry.

Ground - A ground is a thin layer of paint which can be applied to a support to make it more ready to accept paint. Grounds can be any colour, though whites and creamy colours tend to be the most popular colours used in this way.

Medium - A medium is whatever substance you add to paint to change its properties. You can add substances to change paint's consistency, working properties, ability to mix with other paints, drying time and more. This term can also refer to the substances an artist uses for their painting.

Palette - The word 'palette' can mean two things. Firstly, it can mean the wooden or plastic board that an artist uses to keep paint on and mix it while working on a painting. Secondly, it can refer to the range of colours an artist uses for a painting.

Pigment - The pigment is what produces the colour of paint. Pigments are usually ground into a fine powder and mixed with a fluid, such as water or oil, to become paint.

Subject matter - The subject matter of a painting is simply whatever it depicts. It is the focus of the work and the part of the painting that usually has the most meaning and significance.

Support - The support is simply whatever the paint is applied to. Supports are usually canvases, though many artists choose to apply their paint to different surfaces, such as wood panels and paper.

Underpainting - Different from a ground, an underpainting is the first layer of an oil painting. It's used as a sort of base for the painting and is usually done in a single, dull colour.

Varnish - A varnish is a substance that is applied to a painting as the final layer once it's complete. The role of varnish is to protect it from dirt and dust.

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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4 Questions About Painting Supports Answered

What is a support?
A support is simply the surface you apply your paint to. Artists apply paint to pretty much any surface. Cave walls and animal skins were used as the very first supports. Wooden panels and plaster frescoes became popular for many centuries, before giving way to canvases made of cotton or linen. The supports that are the most commonly used today include polyester canvases, aluminium, wood panels, cotton canvases, linen canvases and acid-free papers. Other supports include PVC, glass, copper and gypsum.

What are the main types of support?
While there are loads of different supports, they can be grouped into two categories: rigid supports and flexible supports. Rigid supports are the easiest to paint on because they're hard, sturdy surfaces that can be trusted not to make it difficult to paint. Some examples of rigid supports include plywood, fibreboards, wood panels and metals. Flexible supports are easy to paint on, so long as they're stretched and held in place. Some examples of flexible supports include paper and canvases, which can be made from materials such as linen, flax and synthetic materials.

Which one should I choose for my painting?
Choosing a support is a difficult task, simply because there's so much choice available. One thing to consider is that different supports give different effects: for example, using a linen support, you'll be able to make out the weave; using a support like aluminium, for example, will give your painting's transparent colours a more metallic feel to them. Generally speaking, if you want to be able to easily transport your painting, you should consider a flexible support that can be rolled up. If you're doing a painting with many layers, a thicker and sturdier support would be ideal. Bear in mind that paintings that are done on flexible supports can be damaged by the bend and flexibility of the material as it starts to sag and strain over time, whereas paintings that are done on rigid supports won't have this problem.

Which is the best support for me?
The best support you can use is one that will suit your needs, though you may need to do a bit of research to find the right one. It's a good idea for you to decide what you want from a support; once you know what you want, it will be easier to sift through the many different options to make your search a bit easier.

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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How Long Should You Spend On A Painting?

Painting size
Generally speaking, the larger the painting, the more time it should take you to complete. It goes without saying that larger paintings require a lot more effort to complete because of the amount of painting that has to be done. Even though you can cut corners by using larger brushes in areas that don't have much detail, you should aim to spend more time on a larger painting than a smaller one.

Details
Intricate paintings with lots of fine details should have more time spent on them than paintings that don't have as much detail in them. When it comes to details, you want to spend time focusing on them so you get the must right. Spending time on the finer aspects of a painting can add a lot of quality and appeal to it. Add your own artistic touches to your work.

Time doesn't really matter
When it comes to judging paintings on their quality, people don't even consider how long it took for the painting to be completed. Painting time simply doesn't matter to most people; what matters is the final product. You may, for example, have two paintings that you think are equally good, one of which took a few weeks to complete, the other a few hours. Does it really matter if you spent a lot longer on one than the other? No - what matters is the finished piece and how satisfied you are with the result of your hard work.

Though it can to some
If you're a professional painter, it helps to be prolific. If you sell paintings for a living, you should aim to produce finished paintings regularly. The more paintings you have to sell, the more money you potentially stand to make. If you're in it for the money, it definitely helps to be prolific and not to spend too long producing paintings that you're going to sell. However, some very successful artists have been able to earn a living by selling paintings very rarely. Instead of being prolific, they're the opposite; they've managed to create a demand for their work by producing so little of their work.

Your satisfaction
What ultimately matters is how satisfied you are with your painting. It doesn't really matter how long you spend on a piece, just as long as you're happy with the end result. Some paintings should have more time spent on them than others, but there's no set rule. Every artist is different and every artist produces paintings in different amounts of time.

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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How Do You Tell When A Painting's Finished?

Have you run out of ideas?
One of the simplest ways to tell if your painting's finished is if you've run out of ideas. Paintings are visual displays of your creative talent and ideas. If you can't think of anything else to add to your painting, it's time to move on to another project, to put it simply. If you're stuck for ideas, the best thing to do is to accept that your work is complete. If you don't accept your work is complete, you could end up adding things to your work that aren't really necessary; in other words, you could be coming up with ideas that aren't so good and adding them to your work just for the sake of it. Once you've run out of ideas, don't be tempted to go back and add more to your work, instead just leave it as it is.

Are you bored with your painting?
Artists put a lot of passion and dedication into their works. Paintings can take a long time to complete and it's the artists' motivation that keeps them painting. However, it's perfectly possible to become bored with a painting, even if you started off being completely passionate about it. Sometimes as you get into completing a painting, the enthusiasm goes down. If you find yourself less enthusiastic about your painting - if you find yourself bored with it, let's say - then you should consider it finished, for now at least. Move on to something else - there's no point working on something if you're not passionate about it.

Does it look finished?
Try to see your painting from another person's perspective. Would they consider it finished? If you're unsure whether your work is complete or not, simply ask other people what they think. If they don't think it's complete, ask them what's missing from the painting. If, on the other hand, they do think it's complete, then as long as you're happy with it as it is, you've got a finished painting on your hands. Of course, deciding whether your painting's complete is ultimately up to you and you alone, though it can be helpful to get opinions from other people. When deciding on whether your painting looks finished, ask yourself these questions: does it have a clear subject matter? Are the shades and tones done effectively? Do the colours match the tone of the painting? Does everything tie in with the message I want viewers to pick up on?

Revisiting a painting
Remember there's no hard and fast rule that once you leave a painting, you can't go back to it. Loads of artists regularly put works to one side for a while and revisit them at a later stage. You may well consider a painting finished, only to revisit it a few months or so later to add some extra details you think would enhance its appeal.

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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