The first step is to prepare the furniture through sanding and base coating the wood with a good primer. The example I’m going to use is the step stool I created for a small child which I call “Night Frog”. I decided that this stool should be very colorful and suitable for a boy or girl. I sanded and primed the legs of the stool, but since I planned to stain the top of the stool black, I only sanded the top. Once this initial preparation was finished, I selected the colors for the stool, stained the top black and painted each leg a bright color-lime green, yellow, orange and fuchsia with black accents.

The next step is to select the stencil that works with the colors you’re using and adds the right amount of design or whimsy to your piece of furniture. Stencils come in multiple layers or sometimes in just one layer. If the stencil you’re using is more than one layer, make sure you mark the surface of the wood with the registration marks you find in the corners of the stencil. Each layer has a matching mark and once the marks are lined up, you are assured that each stencil layer is placed correctly. In my example, I selected a red-eyed jungle frog sitting on a leaf. Then I added stars around the frog because the background was black-hence a night frog. But you’re not ready to stencil the frog on the stool until you see what it will look like once you have all the colors together.

The last step of preparation is to paint a piece of cardboard or watercolor paper with the same color as your background. Once that dries, place the stencil on the prepared paper and tape it with painters tape so that it doesn’t move. Don’t forget to match up the registration marks if you’re using a stencil with multiple layers. Select the colors for each part of the stencil and begin. Most instructions will tell you to use a stencil brush in the size that fits what you’re doing but I prefer to use a sponge. I take a piece of sponge about 4″x 4″ and pull the four corners together and secure with a large safety pin. The result is a rounded piece of sponge that fits nicely in your hand. This works well for large areas of color. For smaller areas I use small sponge daubers to apply small amounts of color or to add shading. Just like using a stencil brush, you want only a small amount of paint on the sponge. Once you have dipped your sponge into the paint, wipe it on the sides of the container and dab the sponge on a paper plate or paper towel a couple of times. You don’t want the sponge wet. It will appear dry but still leave color wherever you dab it.

The next step is to apply the color with the sponge. This is a step that needs to be done a few times until you’re comfortable with your technique. I can’t tell you the right way to apply the paint-you’ll find that out for yourself as you do it. That is the main reason you need to do this on a prepared board before starting on your furniture or on a wall. As you dab or pounce the sponge, you’ll develop your own technique.

Once you’ve finished the stencil with the colors you’ve selected, you can see how all the colors go together and how they look on the background color. If you aren’t satisfied with the results, you’ll want to do it again with different colors. Once you are happy with the colors and satisfied with your technique, you’re ready to stencil your own unique piece of decorative hand painted furniture.

Thank you for visiting The Artful Stencil! Here you will find original, designer stencils, free “how-to” instructions, and tips, crafts and decorating ideas. Make yourself comfortable and browse through their growing collection of craft and wall stencils or build your own custom stencils. They offer over 20 categories of stencil designs to choose from.

Watercolor has perhaps also enjoyed the widest universal appeal throughout the ages, both as a popular art form and as an art medium. Watercolor paints have always been relatively available in inexpensive forms which are easy to store and carry and easy to mix and clean up, being water soluble. Watercolor paints also offer a huge range of colors which appealed to both professional and amateur painters.Watercolor has deep historic roots. Ancient Egyptian manuscript illumination and Chinese and Japanese brush painting were made using water-based dyes. Ancient Asian calligraphy and primative tribal body painting both used watercolor paints. Michaelangelo’s Cistine Chapel is in fact a watercolor, using water-based pigments mixed with wet plaster.

Considered the most ‘democratic’ of artforms during medieval times and up until the 20th Century, a watercolor was the most likely original piece of art to be found in most homes, even the humblest. Printing and photography which now allows reproduction of all painting forms have changed that in modern times.Easier to Look at Than to Paint:Watercolor techniques have a reputation of being difficult to master and demanding to use. Since watercolor is a dynamic form of painting, the colors must be applied quickly and uniformly in order to capture the artist’s intended effect. Although the composition of a watercolor requires the basic techniques of drawing or painting in any media, there are many techniques that are unique to watercolor. Maintaining a high quality of value differences and color clarity are typically the most difficult properties to achieve and maintain.

Watercolors are basically pigments (powdered colors or dyes) combined with some form of glue, generally gum arabic, mixed with water. Various other additives are used as preservatives or to add specific effects, but always retaining a water base, allowing a very wide range of color hues by diluting or concentrating the pigment.The quality and durability of today’s watercolors is the best it has ever been, and the colors that can be created by mixing these pigments are practically unlimited.

Preparing the Canvas

If the canvas material is unprimed the first step would be to prime the canvas on which you’ll be applying your paint. This involves wedging to ensure the canvas is tension is appropriate and then applying gesso in even strokes with a broad brush to achieve a suitable painting surface. After the primer has dried, it can be smoothed a final time with sandpaper if required. The canvas is now ready to work on with oil or acrylic paints.

Painting the Canvas

There are many different approaches to creating an abstract oil painting on canvas. But what’s clear is that you don’t proceed to colour the canvas based on a vague idea in your mind. According to many artists a random oil painting involves multiple stages beginning with the foundational step where the basic idea of the painting is revealed using outlines made by charcoal. This is to establish the primary and secondary objects to be depicted in the painting and their positions in the background.

Charcoal to the Final Rendition

So you begin with charcoal, create a vague sketch, rub it off so as to remove the lines but still be able to see the idea. Then, use the brush and oil paint to re-draw those outlines to establish values. Then add color randomly, painting the darker areas first and then painting or leaving the lighter areas (areas which you wish to depict as being brightened by light) of the intended painting. The colours applied at this stage are subtle and random to establish tonality.

This is a typical technique to paint pictures that don’t depict minute, analytical details. But even without details you can create a pleasing painting and following this technique which is suitable for beginners. Painting in stages is systematic and provides a larger window for professionalism in an easier manner.

Formerly known as Lin Fengmin, was born in Mei County, Guangdong Province, who became enjoyed with painting in his childhood.

Had been to France for a work-study program in 19-year-old, and took a further education of Western painting in the Beattie School of Fine Arts, and later transferred to the National Higher School of Fine Arts in Paris to take up a advanced studies.

After returnning homeland in 1925 he took up the post as the Chancellor and Peking Professor of the Yuanpei College of Arts in 1927.

Invited by Cai Yuanpei Mr. Lin went to Hangzhou city and creat the National Art Academy(Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts later) in 1927 and acted as the president.

After the liberation Mr Lin was acted as the office of Shanghai Chinese Painting Institute Artist. Lin Fengmian was settled in Hong Kong since 70s, in 1979 he held a individual painting exhibition in Paris, which achieved a great success.

Always lay your oil paints out on your palette in the same order so that, with time, you’ll be able to pick up a bit of a colour instinctively. The proportion of oil (medium) should be increased for each subsequent layer in an oil painting because the lower layers absorb oil from the layers on top of them. If the upper layers dry faster than the lower ones, they can crack. Avoid using Ivory Black for an under-painting or sketching as it dries much slower than other oil paints.