Art Owl Studio Paint Brush Set With Carrying Pouch Nice Artist Gift

The one thing that is essential to all art painters is brushes. With that said you can see why the Art Owl Studio paint brush set with carrying pouch would make a nice artist gift.

It has 36 brushes of different varieties that can be used with watercolors, oils and acrylics. That makes this kit very versatile. It even comes with a free roll-up pouch and a PDF guide on how to take care of the brushes.

I mostly paint in oils, but I do a watered down acrylic under-painting first. I would love to have a kit like this with the quality it has and the variety.

The video below will give you a better feel of what's inside this kit.

My Comic Book Character Art - Martian Manhunter

I have mentioned in some posts that besides my surreal artwork, I also do comic book character art. In this post I will show you a video of me doing one of those pieces.

I will be painting Martian Manhunter, from DC Comics. This was a commissioned piece. One of a few I did for this one guy.

Check out the video.



Hope you like seeing how I did this painting. I will post more of these kinds of videos in the future.

Artist Mannequin A Gift For An Artistic Person

An artist mannequin is a good gift for an artistic person because it is a good model for figuring out poses.

This one is 12 inches and made with hardwood. Anyone into drawing or painting the human body, but doesn't have a human model readily availabe can use this to work out different poses.

I have one of these, but I don't use it to workout poses. I have actually used it as an object in a couple of my paintings. One of which you can see below. Below that I have added a video of an animation done with one these just for fun. It just shows another use for one of these guys.

Essential Art Supplies Gift Set For Young Artists

Kids just love to draw, paint and create. This Essential Art Supplies Gift Set for young artists gives them everything they need to be as creative as they want to be.

This thing is full of stuff a child can use to explore their creative side. There's colored pencils, oil pastels, washable markers, high quality paper, a color illustration booklet and more.

I was a young creator back in the days when kids where just given a number two pencil, a box of crayons and a piece of paper. This goes well beyond that and allows a child the opportunity to open up their creative mind.

Works By Some Of My Favorite Artists

For this post I wanted to show a few works by some of my favorite artists. These are the people who inspire me and make me want to be better.

Joel Rea
First off we have Joel Rea. He is my newest discovery. I discovered him about two years ago and I just love his work. It is photo-realistic and is surrealistic, which is the style all my favorites do and also mostly what I do.

Rea uses himself in most of the paintings he does and generally multiple versions of him doing different things in a piece. In his version of "The Last Supper" (pictured below) he is all of the people you see, except the woman of course, which is his wife.
http://www.joelrea.com.au/paintings/

M.C. Escher
Next is M.C. Escher, the master of optical illusional art as I call it. With a lot of his illustrations you don't know if you're coming or going, if you're up or down, if it's birds or fish.

I like the way he fools the eye into thinking you're seeing one thing, but then it turns into something else.

One of the works I like best of his is the "Bond Of Union", which is below. I love the way the ribbons of the heads intertwine at the top end up actually connecting.
http://www.mcescher.com/

Rene Magritte
Below is the painting that I like best from Rene Magritte. It is also the one that put him on the map for me. It is called "Time Transfixed".

I love the realism and the simplicity of the piece. As a matter of fact, that's what I like about most of Magritte's work, simplicity. Even though most are very detailed, the composition is generally simplistic.
http://www.renemagritte.org/

Roland Heyder
I have been following Roland Heyder for awhile now. The painting below is what put him on my radar. I forget exactly where I saw it, but I followed it back to Heyder's site and I check it every week to see if there's anything new.

What I like about the painting, which is titled "The Knot", is how the material clings to the woman's body giving it the look of wetness. And there's those dark, fluffy, ominous looking clouds that I absolutely love.

Where as I like the simplicity of Magritte's work, I love the detail and complexity of Heyder's.
http://www.heyland7.de/english.htm

Salvador Dali
I have mentioned in other posts that Salvador Dali is my all time favorite art creator. After all he is the guy that made me turn from wanting to be a comic book illustrator to wanting to be a surreal artist.

It is hard for me to pick one piece of artwork of his that I like best, but the one below is definitley among them. It is titled "Crucifixion". I love everything about this painting. The realism of the clothing on the woman in the foreground, which I assume is suppose to be Mary, which is modeled by Dali's wife Gala. I love the intensity of the hands and the feet. I love mood of the whole piece and I love his version of the cross.

All in all, a fantastic piece of art.
http://www.dali-gallery.com/galleries/paintings.html

There are other art creators that I like. Some are even comic book illustrators. But these are the ones that have the most influence on what I do.

Black 12x9 Graphic Drawing Tablet A Sweet Artist Gift

This is something I want right now. This black 12" x 9" graphic drawing tablet is a sweet artist gift.

What makes this so nice is the size along with the prize. There are other products out there that are smaller, but cost way more. This is a size that gives you plenty of room to work with.

I have had smaller graphics tablets and to me they are a pain to work with. I plan to get this one some time this week and I will come back here with an update. I'm looking forward to getting this and hoping it works out.

Here's a video to give you a feel of how this thing works.

LightTracer Light Box A Very Useful Artist Gift

I can tell you from first hand experience that the LightTracer light box by Artograph is a very useful gift to give to an artist.

First of all it has a nice roomy work area at 10" x 12" that gives you lots of space to do your tracing. Secondly, the light is good and bright and lets you see the image you want to trace clearly.

As I said earlier I have first hand experience with this product because I have had one for about eight years. The amazing part to me is that it still works as good now as it did when I first bought it. I have found it invaluable on certain projects that I worked on and was glad I had it. It saved me loads of time. I love it.

I'm thinking about doing some animation and I know this will be a big help with that.

You can get a closer look at this product in the video below.

Salvador Dali Melting Clock Pendant A Surreal Gift For Artists

I have mentioned several times that this guy is my all time favorite art creator. So it probably comes as no surprise that I would think that this Salvador Dali melting clock pendant would make a great surreal gift for artists.

This can be given to a man or a woman. It comes in a box that has one of Dali's quotes on it. "I am not strange. I am just not normal.", is the quote on the box.

This piece of jewelry is inspired by one of his most famous painting "The Persistence of Memory", which first introduced the idea of melting or soft clocks as they are sometimes called. Just about everyone in or out of the art world is familiar with this painting even if they don't know it by name or even know the man who created it. But who doesn't know this guy?

Being Supportive As A Gift For Your Artistic Friend

Being supportive of your artistic friend is a gift you can give them that doesn't cost a dime.

Doing art can be a lonely, unrewarding endeavor. A lot of people look at it as something one does as a hobby not as a profession. Unless of course the artist is actually making a good living from it. But lets face it that's not the majority of folks that consider themselves artists.

In fact most of us struggle to make ends meet from month to month or even sell some artwork on a regular bases. Yet we carry on believing that someday people will discover how wonderful our art is and will want it in their homes, museums or galleries.

For most of us doing art is a passion. Something we must do, not just a passing fancy. It's in our very blood. The last thing that we who create art want to hear is, go out and get a real job. This is real to us.

So the next time you're with that creative person in your life let them know that you believe in what they are doing and that you believe that one day they will achieve what they are striving for. Give them the gift of support.

Financial Help For Your Artist Friend

Sometimes we who do art for our income can fall into a hole financially. Sometimes we find ourselves in a crisis and in need of monetary assistance. Well, in this post I am going to lead you to some financial help for your artist friend.

There are institutions out there that are willing to give monetary aid specifically to folks who do art. They give this aid in the form of grants, emergency relief and funding. Below is a small list of these institutions and the kind of assistance give.

You can make sure your artistic acquaintance is aware of them. That would make a really nice gift.

The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation has two programs. One that's a support grant that's given to individuals annually and another that is an emergency grant to assist in case of a crisis.

GoFundMe is a crowdfunding platform where creatives can go and get their projects funded by ordinary people.

Kickstarter is  a well known crowdfunding platform where art creators can get the money they need for their prjects.

The Harpo Foundation is dedicated to supporting creatives by offering grants and fellowships.

This is just a few of the organizations that you can point your art creator to that can give them a hand with their finances.

Art Box Set A Sweet Gift For The Artist Who Loves Sketching

Whether beginner or professional this art box would make a sweet gift for the artist who loves sketching and drawing.

This thing is filled with a variety of tools that allow for exploring the drawing experience. Among the included tools are a mannequin, a drawing pad, a sharpener and a sanding block just to mention a few.

I don't do much experimenting with drawing. My main tool for that is a pencil. I'm more of a painter so this might not be something that would excite me. But I know some people who would love to get this as present for their Birthday or for Christmas. Perhaps your creative is one of those.

The video below gives you a little peek inside so you can see just what you are giving.

Silver Plated Palette Bracelet Nice Novelty Gift For Artists

Those of us who create art like little things that show off the fact that we are creators. Things like t-shirts that tell what we do, or socks that showcases a piece from our favorite art creator. This silver plated palette bracelet is a nice novelty gift for artists for just that very reason.

It showcases a palette with colors and a paint brush. This makes anyone who sees it think that the wearer most be an art creator. It's a nice accessory to go along with the t-shirt and socks. LOL

I'm not one for jewelry, but I do like things that let other folks know that I am a creative person.

Artograph Art Projector A Very Useful Gift For Artists

I have the Artograph Prism art projector and I think it is a very useful gift you can get for artists. It's more expensives than the other gift suggestions you'll find on this blog, but for what it does it is well worth the price.

This shaves hours off the time it would take to create a piece of art. It lets you enlarge and reduce photos or sketches so you can trace them onto another surface such as a canvas so you don't have to spend hours trying to get the size right or griding everything off.

It does require two 250-watts incandescent bulbs, but this is what gives you bright shape images that's easy to trace.

I mentionted that I have one of these myself and I absolutely love it. It has made my life so much easier when I do large paintings that require the use of several photos. I just put them on the machine, adjust them to the sizes I need and trace away. It's a quicker way of getting the images drawn on the canvas and get to painting.

Check out the video below for a more detailed description.

A Lesson In Using Color For Painting

When you enter an artist's art space you my notice that they have many different colors of paint. Here is a lesson in using color for painting.

The reality is you only need three of them and white. The three you need are magenta, cyan and yellow.

With these three you can mix any other one that you want. You need green, mix cyan, which is a more pure blue and yellow. You need purple, mix magenta, a more pure red and cyan. For black mix all three in equal amounts and there you have it. You can also mix all three in differing amounts to get brown.

We are told that red, blue and yellow are the primary colors and that these will give you all the others. But generally, red as we know it has a bit of yellow in it and when mixed with blue will not give you a pure purple. Also the blues that we usually see has either a bit of red or a touch of yellow in them and won't give you a pure mixed color either.

Artists usually get the already mixed hues because they think it's easier than mixing it themselves. But you will still have to add to that in order to blend with the artwork.

I use a limited palette of red blue and yellow because it's hard for me to find magenta and cyan in oils, which is what I use. However since really pure hues are hardly ever found in real life. I find it easy to mix what I need.

Black MC Escher Reflecting Sphere T-Shirt For Artist And Art Lovers

This black MC Escher "Reflecting Sphere" t-shirt is for artist and art lovers alike.

The illustrations of this master turns the world as we know it upside down and inside out with staircases that are sideways, upside down as well as right side up. A flying flock of of ducks that comes together to give the illusion of a school of fish, or is that the other way around. It could be either. it is illusions like those that makes his works so well liked.

This tee features one of his most famous works. It is actually a self-portrait of him holding a reflective orb with his reflection being shown of him holding the orb. The tee itself is 100% cotton.

I actually have a poster of one of his works that was given to me from a friend. It's not this piece. The one I have is called "Bond Of Union". I also have a book of his works that I bought.

There is more information on this illustrator and this creation specifically in the video below.

Black Mixed Media Sketchbook A Gift Artists Will Love

This black mixed media sketchbook is definitley a gift artists will love. First of all it looks good and second it's loaded with useful features.

From observing this it seems very high quality with the leather look cover. The paper inside is heavy duty, recycled paper with some grit to it, which keeps smudging to a minimum and that's very important when doing pencil drawings. A pen is also included and get this, there's a Full-Money-Back, Lifetime Guarantee.

I have a bunch of tablets that I use for drawing and sketching, but none as nice as this one. I'm not saying that a person is going to draw any better when using this thing, but they are sure going to enjoy it better. They will also feel good showing off those sketches in this thing.

One Of My Michael Jackson Paintings

From time to time I think I will post some artwork of mine here. It gives me a chance to showcase what I do. In an earlier post I posted an Avatar piece I painted. In that post I also explained the process I go through.

In this post I want to showcase one of my Michael Jackson paintings. Check out the video below.



In this piece MJ is waving good-bye to his fans, friends and family. Something he didn't get to do before he died. This is actually the second piece I did of him. I may post the first one another time.

I had been a fan of MJ since the "Jackson 5" days, so his passing was as big a shock to me as it was to the world. This artwork as well as the other one I did was my tribute to the "King of Pop".

This piece is available as prints here.

Fire 7" Tablet Great Gift For Artists

There are three reasons I think the Fire 7" tablet would make a great gift for artists. That is reputation, quality and price. And with the right app it can be a very reliable sketchpad that never runs out of paper.

This is a product that has not only built a reputation for high performance on it's own, it's also backed by the reputation of Amazon. The entertainment value along is enough to make your artisitic aquaintance go ga ga, but add a drawing app and they will go stone crazy.

With 8 GB of storage already on-board, there's plenty of room to create and store a bunch of drawings and sketches. But add to that the fact that you can get up to 128 GB of more storage with an microSD card and you get the WOW factor. It's also fast and gives you up to 7 hours of battery power.

The reason I bought my tablet (it's not this one, it's a Nextbook. This one is much better), was to use it for sketching ideas and to ink pencil drawings without having to buy one those expensive ones made just to do that. Like a Wacom. I use a free drawing app called "Sketchbook". You can get a version of it for this by clicking here. It is a free download. You could load it on this for your friend or let them know where they can get it.

"Steal Like an Artist" A Helpful Guide For Art Creators

"Steal Like an Artist - 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative" is a helpful guide for art creators written by Austin Kleon.

If you read my last post that name might sound familiar. He is the same author who wrote "Show Your Work!", which I posted about. This book is a New York Times bestseller that tells how to get ideas from what is already out there and revamp it into something of your own.

I know I get inspiration from other artwork that I see. I will sometimes see a small part of something in a painting that inspires me and I will take that small part and build a whole painting of my own around it. I think any artistic person would find this book to be very insightful.

Below is a TV interview with Austin Kleon, the author himself.

"Show Your Work" A Book For Artists Wanting To Be Recognized

For artists wanting to be recognized (lets face it that's all of us), "Show Your Work! - 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered" would be a fantastic gift to give them.

It is a struggle trying to get your art out there and be come well-known. This publication gives tips on what to do to get yourself out there and how to get folks invovled in what you do. It was written by Austin Kleon, a New York Times bestselling author of another publication I will be showcasing on this blog. Being in the art field himself, Kleon knows our hunger and our struggles.

I may have to get a copy of this myself. From what I read about it, it would be very helpful with me getting ahead with my career. You might what to do your friend a favor and get this for them as well.

Below is a nice little video review of this book. Check it out.