Journey Art Supplies Blog
Tips, Tricks, Thoughts, and inspiration from across the art spectrum.
Spring is Just a Bean Away!
Well, the calendar says it’s Spring again, and after such a cold and snowy winter, I’m raring to get outside. The winter’s end, however, has been hard to predict according to mountain folklore. In the High Country, many have been “counting beans” that were collected last August to predict when to expect the last snow.
Spring is Just a Bean Away!
Well, the calendar says it’s Spring again, and after such a cold and snowy winter, I’m raring to get outside. The winter’s end, however, has been hard to predict according...
Cheap Joe's is in the House!
Cheap Joe’s is in the house, the Jones House, that is! The Cheap Joe Gallery Show at the Jones House in Boone, NC, is open from November 26- December 23. “Cheap” Joe Miller himself was invited by the Jones House Staff to host his own one man show. Obviously, not his first, however, a very notable show, none the less.
Cheap Joe's is in the House!
Cheap Joe’s is in the house, the Jones House, that is! The Cheap Joe Gallery Show at the Jones House in Boone, NC, is open from November 26- December 23. ...
What's That \Quin\" Color?"
On the phones, we might hear that question a time or two a day. “What’s that quin color?” “How do you say that?” “What are they good for?” We all smile, knowing we had the same questions and trouble pronouncing it the first time we heard it, too. However…
What's That \Quin\" Color?"
On the phones, we might hear that question a time or two a day. “What’s that quin color?” “How do you say that?” “What are they good for?” We all...
When I Get A Round Tuit!
Fall is a wonderful season where the weather as well as the temperature is very unpredictable and exciting. The leaves are bursting with color, every moment is different. The slightest change in the temperature can make the reds brighter or the yellows more golden.
When I Get A Round Tuit!
Fall is a wonderful season where the weather as well as the temperature is very unpredictable and exciting. The leaves are bursting with color, every moment is different. The slightest...
Springtime = Workshop Season at Cheap Joe's Art...
<p>Shhhhhh…Be vewy, vewy, quiet…. I’m hunting wookshops!… Heh, heh, heh,..’cause it’s workshop season here at Cheap Joe’s and boy, do we have a star line up. Top names in water media and other mediums are visiting from all around the country as Joe has invited some of his painting buddies to come and share their techniques and secrets to successful painting</p>
Springtime = Workshop Season at Cheap Joe's Art...
<p>Shhhhhh…Be vewy, vewy, quiet…. I’m hunting wookshops!… Heh, heh, heh,..’cause it’s workshop season here at Cheap Joe’s and boy, do we have a star line up. Top names in water...
Grisaille: French for Value Study
Value studies seem to be the one necessary evil, in creating a painting, that no one really wants to take time for. Why is that? Even though they are great accomplishments, they’re really not the kind of thing we brag to our painting friends about. But what if we told our friends that we did a grisaille of our painting, how impressed would they be then.
Grisaille: French for Value Study
Value studies seem to be the one necessary evil, in creating a painting, that no one really wants to take time for. Why is that? Even though they are great...
S'no Day Like a Snow Day
With winter weather persistently holding on, some days can be more difficult than others to travel back and forth to work. Just last week, we had so much snow paired with high winds, that not one but two days out of the week I ended up stranded in 4-5 feet snow drifts in the middle of the road. This is the time of the year that you want to be the best of friends with your neighbors, especially the ones with tractors! With just a phone call, some minutes later, I was rescued from the volumes of the fluffy white stuff so deep iI couldn’t open my door! With a wave of his hand and a snicker, my neighbor put me on my way, and to Cheap Joe’s and beyond I went! Some days, however, I’m not so lucky, and I may unfortunately incur a snow day. A snow day can definitely have its advantages though, besides staying home in your pajamas all day, it can also be the perfect opportunity to watch dvds, scan through books, practice new techniques and have uninterrupted time to explore your creative side. I could watch daytime tv or check out the latest Netflix, but what I’m really interested in is watching painting DVDs. I just love the opportunity to learn something new. When reviewing new DVDs, I always keep a sketch pad and pencil close by to take good notes of the highlights of the lesson. I make detailed sketches and comments throughout the viewing. This exercise makes the information easier to recall when I plan my painting. I will usually go through the entire DVD and then prepare my painting area and watch it again pausing as I go so Ii can practice as the artist is demonstrating. This is very instrumental in learning difficult techniques or using new materials. There are many wonderful artists producing DVDs and books today. We are very fortunate to have these learning materials available to enhance and expand our knowledge of art and painting. Watching DVDs is a great way to get inspired to paint. Inspiration can come along in a lot of ways. It can fall out of the sky or appear out of the blue. Even my daily commute to work can be a wonderful source of inspiration. Each day brings new views, new subjects, and incredible opportunities to paint. What would seem like a monotonous drive to most, often affords me the chance to capture pictures of wonderful views that only come along once in a long while. In the winter the weather changes so dramatically sometimes it creates natural phenomena such as frozen fog. One morning not long ago, I was driving through Valle Crucis, on my way to work, and across the field to my right, I could see cows eating their morning breakfast. Not too exciting, I know, but just beyond them was a line of trees covered in frozen fog. The morning air was at just the right temperature to actually freeze the droplets of moisture suspended in the early mist that blanketed the valley. wow, what a wonderful sight. It was lucky for me that I had left a few minutes early to run an errand in town, I had just enough time to park my truck on the side of the road and capture the frosty splendor with my camera. The errand had to be delayed, but hey, opportunities like this don’t come along every day. So you have to strike when the iron is hot! You never know when you might have your next great idea for a painting. Looking around as you go about everyday chores will sometimes reveal little gems that create wonderful works of art. I would imagine that sometimes the great masters found their inspirations for their great paintings purely by accident, by wandering around or possibly while traveling to town just to get a loaf of bread. Whether its a snow day or any day, finding the time to paint is important in developing your art. And taking the time to look around may cause you to stumble on your next great discovery! Happy Snow Day!
S'no Day Like a Snow Day
With winter weather persistently holding on, some days can be more difficult than others to travel back and forth to work. Just last week, we had so much snow paired...
Tools of the Trade: Zoomfinder
Artists are always looking for easy ways to solve common problems when it comes to creating art. Tools of the trade are clever gadgets that are constantly being developed to ease the design chores and allow artists to get down to the business of painting. We use light boxes to transfer patterns more quickly and projectors to enlarge photos, even computers are becoming more and more popular as design aids for artists. Anything to make these time consuming and laborious necessities just a little bit less so. One very popular composition design tool is the Zoomfinder. This handy little invention will help you isolate your view and even create a grid to aid in transferring your design to the paper. Made of durable plastic, the Zoomfinder has an adjustable rectangle and square that allows you to choose the appropriate format for your painting. Place it over the picture you want to paint and slide the inner sheet in and out until you find the desired composition. If you are cropping a picture larger than the opening, move the Zoomfinder closer to your eye. This will allow it to cover a larger area. This is also necessary when composing a landscape on location. The Zoomfinder can be used for landscape as well as portrait formats. The ratio of the rectangle opening is 3:4, with the width being up to 3″ in increments of 1/2″ and the length of 4″. The 3″ x 4″ opening will also make a great template for thumbnail sketches, which will enable you to try out several views before deciding on the best one. The square will open up to 3 inches and also can be used to create a grid for sketch transferring. Creating a pleasing composition is a very important aspect of design. It is the first step in developing a successful painting. The Zoomfinder is a great time-saving tool that will help you to bring your ideas down to the paper. It will enable you to visualize your… This is only one of many wonderful tools of the trade that make painting much more productive and enjoyable!
Tools of the Trade: Zoomfinder
Artists are always looking for easy ways to solve common problems when it comes to creating art. Tools of the trade are clever gadgets that are constantly being developed to...
What's in a Name? What's in a Number?
When it comes to buying paint, how do you choose? There are several brands to consider, hundreds of color names, and new colors being introduced every year. With so many things to think about when selecting colors to fill your palette with, how do you decide which paints to use?, and what’s in a name? Beginners will mainly rely on the experience and knowledge of their teachers and also books and dvds. The selection of basic colors becomes a matter of opinion. The opinion of another artist. Chances are those same teachers have relied on their mentors as well. This is actually a very personal choice and it is ultimately up to the artists themselves to know what they are painting with. Some artist will choose paints according to the name or shade. This can be very misleading as some names have nothing to do with the pigments they are made from. Manufacturers can name the paint color anything they wish. It is basically a marketing tool to enhance sales. Paint companies know they can seduce you with their individualized color names, like mars violet, terra rosa, and venetian red. You may have a simular color made with the same pigment in your collection already. It all comes down to pigment numbers. Companies who make paints must include certain information on the label. ASTM standards require that the manufacturers list accurately all the paint pigments on the packaging. They must provide the common name of the pigment as well as the color index generic name. The chemical common name is more scientific like quinacridone or thioindigoid but not nearly as much fun to say as Red Hot Momma or Passionate Purple, however, these names do not give away much information as to what is in the tube, either. It is far easier to rely on the pigment number such as PR101 to know what you are getting. This refers to P for Pigment, R for Red, and 101 for the one hundreth and one entry in the list of red pigments, which only denotes the order as to when the pigment was recorded. This is the pigment index name for Iron Oxide also known as synthetic iron oxide and also calcinated synthetic red iron oxide. Iron Oxide, alias PR101, is known by many names. It is called Terra Rosa, Transparent Red Iron Oxide by M. Graham, and also Venetian Red, Burnt Sienna, Caput Mortum Violet, and Indian Red by Winsor & Newton. American Journey has two versions, Indian Red which is semi opaque and also Transparent Oxide Red, which is of course transparent. So, how can one pigment number represent so many different names as well as colors? The variety in color range and transparency is derived by several aspects of manufacturing such as pigment size, metal additives as well as hydration. The pigment partical size can change the color and can also be refined by milling the pigment. Extremely small pigment particals will dry close together giving more opacity to the paint. Pigments may also be burnt or roasted to alter the color for more variety in shades. Pigments are not exclusively used for art materials, in fact, artist’s paint manufacturers have access to these pigments because they are mined and made available for other industrial uses like cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, automotive and industrial paints and construction. Pigment PR101 is, in fact, used to color red bricks for construction. It is important to know how many pigments are in a particular color. With all the variety of shades desired by artists, single pigments can only produce so many colors. Paint companies will mix two or three pigments to make a wonderful new color. A common rule of thumb is to limit the number of pigments used in a color to three, whether it is mixed in your palette or mixed at the manufacturer’s facility. Using more than three pigments can produce a muddy color which loses its individual brightness. Most watercolorists will activate two to three colors on their palette, charge their brush with the desired colors and allow them to mix on the paper. This blends the colors without mixing them completely as you would on the palette. It allows each individual color to be represented on the painting alone as well as blended. It happens, on occasion, that a color name is used by two different pigments, such as Burnt Sienna from Winsor Newton (PR101) and from American Journey (PBr7). They are, as you can tell, very different colors. It is not wise to choose by name only, and swatches from catalogs can only be as accurate as the inks that print them. Digital swatches of color can also be deceptive when shopping online due to the differences in monitors and color settings on individual computers. The samples provided here are watercolor, however, this system applies to all colored mediums including oils, acrylics, watercolor and pastels. No matter what medium you are using, referring to pigment numbers may be the best way to know what you are buying other than trying every single color out there. It would be, of course, very difficult to afford to try every color from every paint company available, however, one of the best advantages to belonging to an art painting group would be the opportunity to see or try some new paints from your fellow painting buddies. Try organizing a color swap event and bring in all the colors you have in your collection painted on a sample board. Then if you want to trade with another artist, swap small wet samples to try at home. This gives you the opportunity to see and sample several colors without spending a fortune. You can collect these samples in a small spectrum palette such as the Extra Color Palette For Cheap Joe’s Piggyback Palette. It is small, portable and very inexpensive. Be sure to label the samples and make good notes about the characteristics of the pigments. Now, when you purchase a new color, you can buy the largest size you can afford as this will save you money in the end. Color swaps are wonderful social events where you can enjoy fellowship and share ideas with other artists in your area. Have a Happy Color Swap Day!
What's in a Name? What's in a Number?
When it comes to buying paint, how do you choose? There are several brands to consider, hundreds of color names, and new colors being introduced every year. With so many...
Oil and Water Don't Mix... Or Do They?
These days, more and more artists seem to be looking for an alternative to traditional oil paints. They love the long lasting properties of oil paints with their clear and vibrant pigments that are easily blended, however, the smell and mess of harmful solvents are not readily embraced.
Oil and Water Don't Mix... Or Do They?
These days, more and more artists seem to be looking for an alternative to traditional oil paints. They love the long lasting properties of oil paints with their clear and...
Young at Art
I guess I have been interested in art, in general, for as long as I can remember. At age 4, when asked what I wanted to be, I would say an artist. My parents encourage art in my life by providing me with art supplies. There’s just something about new paper and new colored pencils or paint that really gets you excited about creating
Young at Art
I guess I have been interested in art, in general, for as long as I can remember. At age 4, when asked what I wanted to be, I would say...
A Handmade Holiday Greeting
One of the earliest memories of my childhood was making cards. My mom saved practically every greeting card I made over the years. It is wonderful looking back and remembering how much she appreciated the simple artwork and the love it represented. One of the most common and oldest traditions of Christmas is the exchanging of holiday greetings.
A Handmade Holiday Greeting
One of the earliest memories of my childhood was making cards. My mom saved practically every greeting card I made over the years. It is wonderful looking back and remembering...
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