My first Award - Appreciation for bloggers

I have received my first award!
It comes from Meda, a fellow Romanian artist and good friend. She creates beautiful wedding invitations, cards, gifts and more, all handmade. You can see all these wonderful works at Handmade by Meda.

Thank you very much for the award, Meda.

"The PREMIO DARDOS AWARD" acknowledges the value of every blogger shows in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literacy and personal values everyday.
The Rules Are:
1. Accept the Award, post it on your blog along with the name of the person that gave it to you and their blog link.
2. Past the Award to 15 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact them to let them know that they have been chosen for this award.

I am passing on this prize to fellow artists who please our senses with their wonderful creations and unlimited imagination and even help us by sharing wonderful tutorials.

This way I want to thank them, to congratulate them and show my appreciation for their great work, for what they’ve done lately, for all of us.
After all, blogging is about collaboration and together going further than we can by ourselves.

Here it goes:

Ralph Serpe from Art instruction blog
Leah Piken Kolidas from Creative every day
Tammy from Daisy Yellow
Bchira Arfaoui from Bchira Arfaoui Fine Art
Collage Diva
Tamara Campbell from Tamarak's table
Ninacolors
Celeste Vaught from Celeste Vaught Art
Linda Blondheim from Landscapes of the South

I hope this award doesn't offend anyone from the list above, but if it does, please just ignore it.
So much for today. There will be others too as soon as I discover them.

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Wet palette for acrylics - homemade, cheap solutions

The greatest quality of acrylics is also the biggest problem: they dry too fast!
Let's see how we can keep acrylic paint moist and workable!

Moisture-retaining palette.

All you need is:
- a plastic box with a fitted lid or plate of any kind or size (ice-cream box),
- paper towel and
- greaseproof paper (baking paper).

Step 1. Cut two sheets of paper towel and one sheet of greaseproof paper at the size of the box.
Step 2. Place the paper towel at the bottom of the box and soak it. Drain off the excess water.
Step 3. On top of this, layer a slightly larger piece of greaseproof paper and gently press all over, so that it makes contact with the paper-towel layers beneath it.
You are done, voilà your wet palette!

How much the drying time can be extended depends on the temperature and the humidity. The paint stays wet for days, as long as the paper tower is wet. If you want to take a break, just place the lid on it or wrap it in plastic.
Be aware that in extended period of time the paint does gradually become watery.
Don't put it in the fridge because the colder it gets, the more brittle acrylics become.
If you need just a few colors you can use a smaller box for a palette. In the picture you can see an empty ice cream box. I use it very often especially if I am painting on the go.

Such empty candy boxes can be used for mixing color. In this case, if you need much color, you have to use a retarder. Wrap the box in a plastic if you take a break.

Happy painting!

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Painting tips for beginners-How to keep acrylics soft

A crylic paints can be used in several ways: They can be used diluted with water, instead of watercolors because acrylics can resemble watercolors - yet they dry dark not light like watercolors. A great advantage is that acrylics are water-resistant when dry and can be overpainted without disturbing previous colors. Acrylics can also be used straight from the tube, as an alternative to oil paint because acrylics dry much faster than oil paints. Like oils, acrylics allow you to create a considerable variety of surface or textural effects, retain the impression of the brush or knife. The appearance, hardness, flexibility, texture, and other characteristics of the paint surface can be modified by using acrylic mediums. The greatest quality of acrylics is also the biggest problem: they dry too fast! Let's see how can we keep acrylic paint moist and workable? You can keep the paints on your palette from drying out by using several techniques:

1. The easiest is to keep a spray bottle handy and spray a mist of water over the paint and dampen the canvas or paper while painting. 2. If you need to blend your colors you can add a few drops of acrylic retarding agents to lengthen the drying time of acrylics. This way you can improve the flow of your acrylic paint too. It is recommended to limit its use to the upper layers of detail, rather than underpainting. Extending the drying time too much has no logic; it would be the same disadvantage as with oil paints. 3. Using a special "stay wet" palette from the market or you can make your own moisture-retaining palettes with the exact size you want and with no costs, keeping your acrylic paints soft for days. In my next post I want to share with you how to make a cheap moisture-retaining palette. Happy painting till than!

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