Homemade art supplies using household ingredients

. While it is important to have store-bought, quality art supplies at times, having recipes for homemade versions using household ingredients is great because the supplies are inexpensive !

Fingerpaint - In a small saucepan, mix together 1/4 cup cornflour and 2 cups of water. Add food coloring to get to desired color. Boil until mixture thickens, then allow to cool. Pour into lidded containers to store.

Watercolor paint - Simply mix together 3 tablespoons corn starch, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons corn syrup, 3 tablespoons baking soda, and 3 tablespoons white vinegar. Pour into separate containers with lids for use & storage. Mix in a few drops of food coloring into each container to make different colors.

Puffy paint - In a bowl, mix together equal parts of flour, salt, and water. Mix in tempera paint for color. Pour into squeeze bottle for use and storage. {Note: I haven’t made this yet, so I am assuming the tempera paint is supposed to be the powdered kind. Please comment if you know.}

Playdough – Combine 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and a cup of boiling water until you get a playdough consistency. Store in a ziplock bag when not in use. You can add a few drops of food coloring for color, or a packet of Kool-aid for color and scent!

Flubber - In one bowl, stir together 3/4 cup warm water, 1 cup of glue, and food coloring to get the color you want. In a second bowl, stir together 1/2 cup water and 2 teaspoons of Borax (find by the laundry soap in the store). Pour the first mix into the second bowl and you have flubber! Just reach in and pull out the chunk of flubber (pour out the extra liquid).

Bath crayons - Grate a bar of soap until you have about 1 cup. Mix with 1 cup of hot water until the gratings are melted and you have a stiff dough. Mix in a few drops of food coloring for color. Press the dough into molds (you can use candy or soap molds from a craft store) and allow to harden.

Lick & stick stickers – Pour 2 tablespoons of cold water into a bowl and sprinkle 1 packet of plain gelatin over it. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of boiling water until gelatin is dissolved. Add 1/2 tablespoon corn syrup and a few drops of flavored extract for taste. Apply a thin layer of this solution to the back of whatever you want to make into a “sticker”. Let it completely dry, and there you have it – your child can simply lick and stick when ready!

Bubble mix - Mix together 6 cups of water, 2 cups of liquid dishwashing soap, and 3/4 cup corn syrup or liquid gycerine. Allow to sit for a couple of hours before using to blow bubbles!

Sidewalk chalk - In a bowl, mix together 1/3 cup quick-setting plaster of paris, 1 tablespoon of powdered paint for color, and 3 tablespoons water. Quickly spoon mixture into soap or candy molds (from a craft store), or into cookie cutters set on wax paper. Tap to remove air bubbles. Allow to dry for 45 minutes, then carefully remove from mold or cookie cutters.

Chalkboard paint - Paint a chalkboard on your wall, a kids’ tabletop, anywhere you want to be able to write with chalk! Mix 2 tablespoons of tile grout for every 1 cup of paint. Apply at least 2 coats of paint to your surface, and when it dries smooth it with 150-grit sandpaper. Before using any chalkboard, its best to turn a piece of chalk sideways and color the entire surface once, then wipe off with a damp cloth. This “conditions” your new chalkboard.

found this article here --- http://www.hsclassroom.net/2011/01/10-recipes-for-homemade-art-supplies/

Art and Artist Quotes

"If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint."
~ Edward Hopper

"Have no fear of perfection, you'll never reach it."
~ Salvador Dali

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."
~ Edgar Degas

"Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish."
~ Michelangelo

"Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment."
~ Claude Monet

"I don't say everything, but I paint everything."
~ Pablo Picasso

"I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else."
~ Pablo Picasso

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."
~ Pablo Picasso

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
~ Pablo Picasso

Color Scheme Designer -- love it !!

Try this -- it is fun to play with the colors and find what you may be looking for in colors for any type of artistic challenge !!
http://colorschemedesigner.com/

Spray Painting --cool to watch !!

Painting on Hardboard or Wood

What are the advantages of painting on hardboard and how do you prepare it?

by  Marion Boddy-Evans, About.com Guide

Canvas is perceived by many people to be the best support for painting, but hardboard (wood) should not be shunned and in fact some would argue that it’s a superior support as it’s rigid, not flexible like canvas. Many of the paintings that have survived the best from previous centuries are painted on wood panels.

What is hardboard?
Hardboard is the term used for a board or panel made from a hardwood such as oak, cedar, birch, walnut, or mahogany. Softwoods such as pine are not suitable for painting on because they contain excess resins and tend to crack.

What’s the difference between hardboard, Masonite, MDF, and plywood?
These terms tend to be used interchangeably when people mean a board or wood panel rather than canvas. Masonite, which is often used as a painting support, is a trademarked brand name of a particular type board made (in very basic terms) from wood fibers and glue (resin) that is molded into flat boards. High-grade or furniture plywood makes a good painting support. Extremely smooth plywood is made from birch, mahogany, and poplar. Another painting surface to consider is a hollow core door, which makes a relatively light panel. Laminated board have a mica film on its surface to give it resistance and strength; check which side sands better and use this side to paint on.

What are the advantages of painting on hardboard?
Hardboard or wood can be relatively inexpensive. The surface is more rigid so there tends to be is less cracking in the painting. And if you are doing work smaller than approx. 18x24" (45x60cm) the weight is not much of a problem.

What are the disadvantages of painting on hardboard?
If a board isn't primed correctly, there's a risk that acid or oils may leach in from the board, yellowing the painting. Acrylic gesso is regarded as an effective barrier against this. Larger pieces can weigh quite a bit and will bend or bow inward so should be reinforced with a frame or bracing struts.

Where do I get hardboard and what formats does it come in?
Most places that sell wood sell hardboard. It generally comes in 1/8" and 1/4" thicknesses, in tempered and untempered versions. Tempered hardboard may have been manufactured with oil to keep it from warping when wet, so it can leach oil through the gesso; you need to check the board for an oil residue and seal it (with primer or acrylic medium) before using it. Untempered hardboard is looser and more fibrous and makes a good surface for painting because of its absorbency.

How do you prepare a piece of hardboard for painting?
Hardboard is easy to cut to the size you want using a saw (particularly an electric circular saw(see 10 Panels from One Board). The lumber yard you buy it from will likely offer a cutting service too. There's usually a smooth side and one with a weave-like finish which is very coarse; you can paint on either side, it's a matter of personal preference. The shiny side should be lightly sanded, otherwise the primer may not adhere.

How many layers of gesso or primer should you use?
It’s generally recommended you give it three coats of gesso and lightly sanding between each coat. Fine sanding between coats can produce a surface like paper or as smooth as glass. But some artists use more layers to build up a completely smooth painting surface, while others don’t sand in between layers to create rough painting surface or create areas of texture that relate to the subject of the painting. Priming the back and sides will help seal it from moisture in the air. One other benefit of three coats of gesso is that paint, even when it looks opaque, is affected by what is underneath, so if you’ve three coats of white underneath, your colours will be that much brighter and it’s an excellent way to achieve ‘light’ in your paintings. (Find out more about different types of sandpaper.)

Using hardboard to create a canvas board
If you like the feel or look of canvas, you can make a canvas board by gluing canvas or linen to Masonite using an archival-quality glue, acrylic medium, or gesso. To create the impression of a deep, ‘galley-wrap’ canvas, you screw the board to a ‘frame’ at the back before beginning and leave excess canvas around the edges it could be wrapped around, making a deeper edge dimension.

Tip for Dealing with Warped Board
This tip on dealing with a board that's warped comes from Brian Rice: I started a painting on a 16" x 20" hardboard. On bigger sizes I had been cradling to avoid warping. This was my first painting in this smaller size in a while, so I thought there was no need to cradle. Anyway, I gessoed only on the one smooth side three times and proceeded to paint my painting. Well, the panel warped slightly bowing outward from the center on the painted smooth side. I thought painting the back unpainted side would even make the bow worst, but when I painted the back with three coats of white acrylic house paint just to protect it (I sometimes use oil-based polyurethane for this), the water-based paint fixed the warp, straightening the board out perfectly."

found this article here ---

http://painting.about.com/od/paintingforbeginners/a/hardboard.htm