Beginners Oil Painting Info - Oil Painting Supports

A ground or support is any kind of surface you can paint on. The choice of ground is in quite important because it determines in part how your painting will be perceived by the viewer.

Your support must satisfy a minimum of conditions. It must accept the paint well (i.e., the paint must stick in one stroke) without absorbing too much of the pigment.

The least expensive oil painting ground is treated paper. It is very useful for practice and even for doing certain commercial work. You can also buy canvas pads. These pads usually contain 10 sheets of medium tooth 5-oz cotton canvas that has been triple-primed with acrylic gesso. The tooth of paper or canvas is the degree of roughness or smoothness of the canvas.

Next in line are the popular canvas boards or panels which are sheets of cardboard covered with inex-pensive white painted cloth. These panels are very popularity because they are inexpensive, easy to store, and easy to carry outdoors. They are however not permanent, i.e., they will deteriorate over time.

Good results can also be obtained from un-tempered Masonite or 3-ply chipboard prepared with three coats of gesso on the front and one coat on the back to prevent warping.

You can also use so-called museum board which is on the order of good-quality mat board. This board is quit absorbent but is inexpensive to practice on.

The ultimate ground for oil painting is canvas stretched over a wooden frame. It has wonderful elasticity and resilience, and history has shown that it has very good permanence. Canvas is of course more expensive but when you’re ready this will be your ground of choice and you’ll never want to go back to anything else.

You can buy commercially pre-stretched canvas. In fact, there are plenty of brands, sizes, weights, and qualities to choose from. Only experience will teach you which type of canvas is best suited to your style and subject matter.

Canvas cloth is either cotton or linen. The finest canvas and most expensive is made of linen, which stretches better and has a better tooth. Cotton can be a bit difficult to prime.

Look for cloth with an even weave. The canvas tex-ture can be tightly woven and smooth to fairly coarse with an open weave. That means the tooth of the canvas can be fine or coarse and anything in-between.

If you paint a lot, even commercially pre-stretched canvas can become expensive. If so, you can buy rolls of primed or unprimed (raw) canvas. Then with stretcher bars you can create a support of a certain size. If you bought unprimed canvas, you still have to prime the canvas with an oil-based primer.

To save money you may be tempted to work on small canvases. This is not recommended. Unless you are an experienced artist, working on a small ground can easily result in tight, overly controlled paintings.

Read also about how to draw with pencil and tattoo tips.

Preparing for the Long Haul

Traveling with children is no holiday (think howling and more packing to do). It would be a convenience to have nannies along but nannies on-the-go are expensive; you end up exhausting your bank account, using your checkbook wallet or credit card at every turn. The best way to go is to take a deep breath and load up with patience, patience, and more patience and you’ll be able to carry on and have fun.

Travel with children[/spin in tow can be a rewarding experience for you and your children. It is just a matter of tedious planning and using all available resources for child safe travel and entertaining holidays.

You do not have to empty your wallets of scrce dollars for the escapade but for their protection[/spin, get those protective widgets[/spin if these are not provided by planes, boats, trains, and buses. Before anything else, have an extra hour for everything - an hour early at the airport, pier, bus, or tube.

Yes, travel with children kids doubles your work from day one to the trip back home but it will be worth the fun and the adventure they are going to have.

Before the trip, prep the kids - what they must look forward to during the plane or boat ride, and how they should conduct themselves during the trip. To keep unruflled during the stretch, here is what you can do:

* Do all the packing days before the travel to keep your stress levels down
* On the big day, give them a light by sustaining breakfast
* Dress them up in comfortable togs from head to toe.
* Give the older kids designer wallets stuffed with their allowance for their airport shopping
* Give them the plane’s or bus window seats to entertain them during the trip.
* Stack up on nutritioussnacks and some sweet treats,
* Bring along coloring books and attention getting toys or puzzles for each child

Other Fast Tips

Off season travel is ideal for family trips - you can bargain for discounted. A vacation home gives privacy and more space for the entire family. Those wallets won’t get too much punishment. Here is a plus; there won’t be long queues at the rides if are heading to Disney World. Sounds promising?

Thinking of a vacation to Mexico but want to go somewhere different off the beaten path? Here are some ideas for a vacation in mexico that will take you beyond Cancun or Puerto Vallarta.

Isla Mujeres, located only eight miles across the bay from Cancun, is a tiny island only five miles long and about a half mile wide. Translated, Isla Mujeres means the “Island of Women”. No, it is not a hidden commune filled with females but it is a charming and tranquil fishing village. It has shops, restaurants and about a dozen or so small hotels where you can rest your head.

With a downtown area consisting of only four or five blocks, this makes Isla Mujeres everything that the big tourist areas in Mexico are not. Surrounded by white sand beaches on all sides, snorkeling and scuba diving are popular in the crystal clear turquoise waters. Kayaks, snorkeling gear, and other water toys can be rented on the beach and fishing, sailing and even swimming with dolphins is available here. Isla Mujeres has something for every one of all ages and is a great place to explore the natural wonders of Mexico.

Another great vacation in mexico that is often overlooked is Cabo San Lucas. Its location at the southern tip of the Baja peninsula, gives it an ideal climate of about 78 degrees year round. Once a tranquil fishing village, Cabo has evolved into a wonderful spot for vacationers but remains small and charming. Small however does not mean boring, there are many things to do in Cabo.

Deserted beaches, on both the Pacific coast and along the shoreline of the Sea of Cortez, make Cabo San Lucas an awesome beach vacation. If you enjoy water sports, boating, marlin fishing, horseback riding and golf, you will enjoy Cabo. Golf has become very popular in the area and there are five championship golf courses already here and more on the way.

Cabo San Lucas is a perfect mexico vacation spots spot for those looking for something different. It can be quiet and relaxing for a romantic getaway or it can be a place where you will keep going till you drop with the whole family.

Another one of Mexico’s jewels is Tulum. You will find Tulum about an hours drive south of Playa Del Carmen on the Mayan Coast. Tulum is best known for its Mayan ruins. Small but impressive, the ruins are perched high on top of limestone cliffs that offer a breathtaking view below of the sparkling Caribbean and a romantic coastline.

The little town of Tulum is slowly expanding and there are several very good local restaurants and a few on the beach in the smattering of hotels in the area. Accommodations range from five star boutique hotels to rustic cabanas.

Tulum offers the perfect mixture of tranquility, relaxation and seclusion but still gives you the option of exciting nearby attractions. Day trips in the area are always a good choice and the Eco-tourism experiences are limitless.

It is a much slower paced vacation and a combination of 3-4 days in Playa Del Carmen and 2-3 days in Tulum is a great way to combine the best of both worlds in these treasured spots.