Brilliant minds at work!

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step

ROCK ON

~Minoli~

The milk carton that changes color before expiring  April 1, 2010 by mariamazariegos  What a great idea designer Ko Yang has had with this milk carton that changes color telling us how fresh the milk is. The carton begins being white in color, and as the expiry date moves closer, it begins changing color to tell us we should drink the milk before it’s too late.  A brilliant way to help us consume our food without wasting any, something to which other ideators have already given some thought. Underwater diving without getting wet  February 24, 2010 by mariamazariegos  Sometimes ideas allow us to imagine fantastic things, and this concept is like that. Its name is Beriscope and it allows us to dive without getting in the water.  Who knows if designer Jaewon Choi’s dislike for cold water made him come up with this idea, but the fact is Beriscope saves us from experiencing those small inconveniences related to underwater diving or snorkeling. It also brings the marvels of the seabed to people who would otherwise have no access to them, be they elderly people, small children, or disabled people who cannot dive.  It has a camera at the end of a long cable that is thrown into the water as if fishing, once the camera is inside the water, all that is left is to enjoy all that is hidden in the bottom of the sea.  A cellphone that runs on Coca-Cola. Incredible!  February 15, 2010 by mariamazariegos  Designer Daizi Zheng brings us an interesting concept: a Nokia phone that runs on Coca-Cola. Yes, you read right. It may sound incredible, but it seems this eco-friendly cellphone model really works.  The designer has called it Nokia‘green’phone and it works generating electricity through carbohydrates such as the sugar contained in this and other similar drinks. It does not pollute because the end-product of the process is water and oxygen. And to top it all off, Daizi herself assures us that this completely biodegradable battery can last up to 3 and 4 times the normal life of lithium batteries.  We’ll just have to find out.  A new, thief-proof chair  January 27, 2010 by mariamazariegos  We’ve already mentioned, on other occasions, a couple of similar ideas that have sprung up in our Community:  Chairs for restaurants and other establishments that can hold a purse, bags, or any other personal belonging, keeping it away from bag-snatchers that are ready to take advantage of any distraction.  This new chair’s name is Stop Thief Chair and is marketed by Danish furniture manufacturer Dan-Form since September. They can be purchased through their official website, in 12 different colors, for 38£.  The idea is really just a slight variation made to the seat, that allows us to place any bag or purse under our legs, but I would definitely love to see them at the cafés I go to.  Take a seat wherever you like with this portable seat  January 15, 2010 by mariamazariegos  What a great idea it would be to always have a seat at hand to sit down and rest, something light and easy to carry. That’s just what Dolmen is, this clever seat made of cardboard, which -as always- comes from Japan .  It weighs only 360 grams and folds so that it can be carried in a purse or briefcase. Whenever you feel like sitting down and taking a breather, all you need to do is unfold it. For the time being, we can unfortunately only buy it in Japan , for the equivalent of approximately 7.50€, in 4 different colors.  Until it’s available elsewhere, we’ll just have to sit down and wait.  Shave anywhere, whenever you like  January 20, 2010 by mariamazariegos  Small, light and simple. This is the perfect razor concept for today’s hectic, dynamic life. With this razor you can finally shave anywhere you like.  Its name is Carzor and is designed by Kuo Chia Hung. It is a portable razor, the size of a credit card, making it perfect for carrying in a wallet. It comes with two spare blades and, best of all, it includes a small mirror, so that you can shave at any time. It also includes a small filament that gives off scents such as mint, lemon, sandal, ocean or orange to avoid irritation and give some aroma.  The suitcase that becomes a scooter. Forget running around the airport.  December 25, 2009 by mariamazariegos  Do you travel frequently and hate having to run down never-ending corridors and terminals? Well, the people at Samsonite have joined forces with Micro Mobility to design this brilliant suitcase called Samsonite X Micro Mobility Trolley Scooter.  It is a suitcase that transforms into an useful and amusing scooter. It takes advantage of the suitcase’s two wheels, and the handgrip becomes a handlebar.  This is the end of having to run to catch your flight. The 25-dollar incubator  December 8, 2009 by mariamazariegos A group of scientists at Embrace have created a baby incubator that costs only 25$ and is specifically intended for use in developing countries, where close to 20 million low birth rate and premature babies are born every year.  A traditional incubator we might find in any hospital costs over 20,000$, which is far too expensive for a developing economy. Embrace has the appearance of a sleeping bag and is activated with boiling water, it requires no electricity and is covered with a special material that regulates temperature. It can work for approximately four hours, after which it must be reheated. It can even be sterilized and reused.  You will find all the information in the official website. The brilliant idea of the 3-D plug  November 24, 2009 by mariamazariegos Now this is real genius! Stop for a moment and count how many power strips you have at home. They’re always in the way, are not at all aesthetic, and more often than not, they don’t have enough space for plugs because adaptors are too big for them.  This original and, above all, functional design known as Rozektus 3D is the solution to all these problems. Rozektus’ 3D design transforms one plug into five, each on one of the Rozektus’ faces so that none of the plugs is in the way of others. The concept for this cube-shaped socket was developed by Russian art collective Lebedev Studio.  And, best of all, if you only need one socket, it can simply be pushed inside the wall and out of the way.  >From what I’ve managed to find out, it is now available around Europe . Genius!  Stop smoking with the E-cigarette  November 9, 2009 by rociobravo  The electronic cigarette is driven by modern micro-electronic technology, and is not flammable. It consists of a small rechargeable battery and one only safe and replaceable cartridge containing water, propylene, glycol, nicotine, and tobacco aroma. None of these ingredients are considered cancer-causing agents.  When inhaling the cigarette, the air flux is detected by a sensor and a microprocessor activates an atomizer which, in turn, injects minute doses of the liquid compound into the air inhaled, producing a kind of vapor that simulates the effect of a real cigarette.  The electronic cigarette is an alternative to traditional cigarettes. Smokers will be able to smoke anywhere, in a way that is more advanced and will not disturb other non-smokers. A fine discovery made by vanguard evaporation micro-technology, that works with a simple rechargeable battery.  A good idea to help people with limited mobility  November 2, 2009 by mariamaza  What you see in this photograph is called Slip Grips. It was designed by Stanton Burns, student of Auburn University (U.S.), and helps people with mobility problems in their everyday activities.  Slip Grips allows these persons to carry out simple actions such as write, hold tools and many more movements that can sometimes become an obstacle. This idea will help them become a little more independent.  Although it has not yet been marketed, we will surely see it in stores in very little time.  Pin anything down without ruining it: Magnetic Push Pins  August 24, 2009 by mariamaza  They’re called Magnetic Push Pins and I think they’re a brilliant idea that will save many of us from having to push holes into all those important documents or photos we hang from cork boards and somehow need to keep within view.  This invention is based on the simple concept of placing a magnet on a thumbtack. This allows you to pin it anywhere you like, using the magnet to hold whatever you pin, without ruining it.  Pajamas that can tell if your baby has a fever  July 23, 2009 by mariamaza  This idea will make life easier for all parents who, sometimes, simply don’t understand why their baby is crying, as well as help employees at hospitals and kindergartens at their jobs.  These baby’s pajamas called Babyglow, designed by Chris Ebejer, show us if our baby has a fever, by changing color when our child’s temperature is higher than 37ºC. Parents will instantly realize what is wrong with their baby, and remedy the situation before it worsens.  It comes in various colors, but turns white if the child’s body temperature becomes higher than normal. The good news is that it is not just a good idea, but is already being sold in the United Kingdom for 20 Euros.  Bergmönch, a bike in your rucksack  April 29, 2009 by javiermartin  When talking about the idea we are going to present you, maybe we should talk about a bike transforming into a rucksack.  In the last years it is very common to come across with novel and original bike designs, and even with contests trying to find the definite bike. All these designs use to share one common point: what is looked for is an urban bike.  It is true that bike are the most sustainable transport system known (unless you consider walking to be a transport system); for this reasons, bikes are more than necessary, and all ideas helping to alleviate the problems a bikers encounters in the big city are welcome, like how to park one´s vehicle.

Fossilized Pregnant Plesiosaur: 78-Million-Year-Old Fossils of Adult and Its Embryo Provide First Evidence of Live Birth

Scientists have determined that a unique specimen now displayed in NHM's Dinosaur Hall is the fossil of an embryonic marine reptile contained within the fossil of its mother. (Credit: Image courtesy of Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)

Science Daily  — A paper to be published on August 12, 2011 in the the journalScience reveals that Dr. F. Robin O'Keefe of Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. and Dr. Luis Chiappe, Director of the Natural History Museum's Dinosaur Institute, have determined that a unique specimen now displayed in NHM's Dinosaur Hall is the fossil of an embryonic marine reptile contained within the fossil of its mother.

Although live birth (or viviparity) has been documented in several other groups of Mesozoic aquatic reptiles, no previous evidence of it has been found in the important order of plesiosaurs. Drs. O'Keefe and Chiappe have also determined that plesiosaurs were unique among aquatic reptiles in giving birth to a single, large offspring, and that they may have lived in social groups and engaged in parental care.

The 78-million-year-old, 15.4-foot-long adult specimen is a Polycotylus latippinus, one of the giant, carnivorous, four-flippered reptiles known as plesiosaurs that lived during the Mesozoic Era. The embryonic skeleton contained within shows much of the developing body, including ribs, 20 vertebrae, shoulders, hips, and paddle bones. The research by Dr. O'Keefe and Dr. Chiappe establishes that these dual fossils are the first evidence that plesiosaurs gave birth to live young, rather than hatching their offspring from eggs on land.

"Scientists have long known that the bodies of plesiosaurs were not well suited to climbing onto land and laying eggs in a nest," Dr. O'Keefe stated. "So the lack of evidence of live birth in plesiosaurs has been puzzling. This fossil documents live birth in plesiosaurs for the first time, and so finally resolves this mystery. Also, the embryo is very large in comparison to the mother, much larger than one would expect in comparison with other reptiles. Many of the animals alive today that give birth to large, single young are social and have maternal care. We speculate that plesiosaurs may have exhibited similar behaviors, making their social lives more similar to those of modern dolphins than other reptiles."

Plesiosaurs have no known living relatives, but were common in the world's oceans during the Age of Dinosaurs. They were among the top predators in the Western Interior Seaway, the vast, tropical body of water that split North America during the Cretaceous when waters from the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico flooded onto the continent and met.

The remarkable NHM specimen was discovered in 1987 by Charles Bonner on the Bonner Ranch in Logan County, Kansas. Virtually complete except for parts of the adult's neck and skull, the "mother" specimen and her baby were given extensive conservation by NHM and then mounted for display by Phil Fraley Productions (Patterson, NJ) with the supervision of Drs. O'Keefe and Chiappe. The specimen is currently on display in the Dinosaur Hall, the new 14,000-square-foot exhibition at NHM featuring more than 300 fossils and 20 complete mounts of dinosaurs and sea creatures.

"Like many other specimens on display and in our collection, this extremely important specimen is among the significant fossils that can be admired and studied only here in Los Angeles," Dr. Chiappe stated. "We're very proud that at NHM, these irreplaceable materials are accessible not only to research scientists but to the public, giving people the opportunity to connect the quest for knowledge with the wonder of seeing the remains of these ancient and mysterious animals."

The Ripened Fruit

“As a desire tree, whatever you want you can have from the Vedas. Veda means knowledge; it is so complete that whether you want to enjoy in this material world or you want to enjoy spiritual life, both kinds of knowledge are there. If you follow the Vedic principles, then you will be happy.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness The Topmost Yoga System, Ch 8 ) The Vedas should not be misunderstood to be a scriptural tradition following blind allegiance to a particular spiritual personality without any variety or intricacy in teaching. Rather, the Vedas represent complete knowledge, with their many departments likened to branches on a tree. On this tree so many different pieces of information can be plucked, each of which is intended to deliver benefits and happiness to those who follow the prescriptions contained within. Though there are many fruits on this tree, there is one that is the most ripe, that provides the greatest taste. Since this fruit has been already touched by the parrot Shukadeva Goswami, its nectar tastes that much better. This fruit is none other than the Shrimad Bhagavatam, and anyone who is fortunate enough to regularly hear from it, to understand its finer points from someone who appreciates the work for what it is, the crown jewel of Vedic literature, will find the highest taste in life. Why different branches of Vedic knowledge and their different purposes exist shouldn’t be that difficult to understand. In virtually any field of endeavor there is regulation, a system of maintenance that, when followed, leads to a pleasurable condition. The interested parties may not particularly like the restrictions imposed on them, but they are willing to abide by them to enjoy the happiness that will come later on. For instance, going to school during youth, taking instruction during the daytime from teachers and then going home to finish homework are experiences that children don’t necessarily enjoy. Following this system, however, allows children to mature into educated adults capable of using their knowledge to earn a living. With the Vedas, which are the ancient scriptures of India, there are so many different departments of knowledge, branches on the tree which further different purposes. For those who are somewhat religious, the benefits of the human form of life can be grouped into four general categories: dharma, artha, kama and moksha. Dharma is the beginning; it is religiosity, following the rules and regulations of spiritual life. Dharma can be something as simple as getting up every morning and praying or something as complicated as observing fasting days and attending religious functions on a regular basis. The ability to abide by a dharma, or prescribed set of law codes, is what sets the human being apart from other species. Though dharma is really an essential characteristic - and hence the rules and regulations of spiritual life aim to maintain or rekindle that defining feature of the spirit soul, the essence of life - the purpose for adherence to religiosity may not be known in the beginning stages. In conditioned life, where temporary bodies are accepted based on the laws of karma, the initial impulse is to satisfy the demands of the senses. Therefore even something as unrelated to sense gratification as dharma is initially adopted with that view in mind. “Let me be a little religious, for I don’t want to be punished with hellish conditions in the future.” After dharma comes artha, or economic development. The majority of the world’s governments and newsmakers remain primarily concerned with economics and the plight of the financially distressed. Without adequate food, clothing and shelter, the living entity divorced of God consciousness cannot have any type of enjoyable life. Therefore, after following religious law codes, the hope is to have life’s necessities met to a satisfactory level. In this regard the Vedas provide much knowledge, especially for how to increase food production or the output of business transactions as a whole. The dharma, or abiding principles, for members of the mercantile class, the vaishyas, is nicely provided. The basic principle is that for production to be high, it must be encouraged. The government is allowed to tax, but not to a point that further production is inhibited. The analogy most often cited is the behavior of a cow. If you tie a cow up and force it to produce milk, it will not have much of an output. On the other hand, if you treat the cow well and allow it to freely graze in the field, it will produce heaps and heaps of milk, more than even its calf can handle. After there is sufficient economic development, the desire shifts towards enjoying the fruits of labor, or kama. The senses need constant satisfaction, so rather than take to the animalistic way of life which seeks sense gratification first, if kama is prioritized after adherence to dharma and artha, the human being feels satisfied enough. The whole aim of procuring wealth and opulence is to enjoy the senses in the end. Having a large bank balance, a palatial mansion and a fancy car is only useful if these items can be enjoyed. Otherwise, what is the point to working so hard? Finally, after a life full of dharma, artha and kama, the individual spirit soul wants to make sure that they never have to repeat the cycle again. This is where moksha, or release, comes in. Through renunciation following an authorized system of Vedic instruction, the influence of the senses can be mitigated to the point where the desires of the mind shift towards the spiritual realm. If consciousness is focused on the Absolute Truth, or Brahman, which is pure spirit and beyond the dualities found in material existence, the next birth will not be in the material realm. Whatever we think of at the time of death is the state we achieve in the next life. After a lifetime spent enjoying sense gratification earned through economic development and safeguarded through adherence to religious principles, it is advisable to shift the consciousness to pure spirit so that there will be no chance of repeating the cycle of birth and death again. Within each of these areas there is much variety, and there are corresponding religious principles and recommendations aimed at achieving perfection. Even the famous Kamasutra, which elaborates on how to attain the highest sense pleasures, emanates from the Vedas, showing just how intricate and flawless Vedic wisdom is. For achieving material profit one is advised to worship different demigods, who are elevated living beings authorized to distribute rewards to their worshipers. It is for this reason that the Vedic tradition is known to have many gods, ordevas. If you want to do well in your studies, you worship Goddess Sarasvati. If you want loads of money and an unending supply of opulence, you worship Lakshmi Devi. If you want obstacles removed from your path towards sense gratification or achieving rewards, you worship Lord Ganesha, the beloved son of Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati. Each of these different branches and their procedures allows for a specific taste to be enjoyed by the worshiper. Each branch has its own fruit, but in the absence of a relationship to the Supreme Lord, the person from whom the tree of Vedic wisdom emanates, the resulting tastes aren’t much to write home about. With the many branches come many scriptures as well. There are eighteen major Puranas compiled byVyasadeva, and each is tailored towards meeting specific interests. But only the Bhagavata Purana, or the Shrimad Bhagavatam, is considered the most ripened fruit, the tastiest reward growing on this wonderful tree. Moreover, this fruit has been touched by the sweetest parrot in the world, whose contact has only enhanced the glory of the fruit. Why is the Bhagavatam so unique? Unlike other branches of Vedic knowledge, bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, has nothing to do with the material world. Bhakti is divine love, and when it is practiced as a form of yoga, its intention is to keep the living entity in constant contact with Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is fully featured with the attributes of beauty, wealth, strength, fame, knowledge, renunciation and wisdom. Dharma, artha, kama and moksha are reserved for those who have yet to understand Bhagavan or who have not fully realized the benefit of connecting with Him on a regular basis. To understand more about Bhagavan through the mood of bhakti, one must know what He looks like, what His features are, where He lives and most importantly, how to address Him. These issues are covered in the Bhagavatam, which comes to us in the form of a discourse between a spiritual master and a king who is on the verge of death. Vyasadeva’s son, Shukadeva Goswami, the parrot-like sage, is the speaker of the Bhagavatam, and Maharaja Parikshit is the listener. The king was cursed to die in a very short period of time, so rather than just focus on Brahman, he approached Shukadeva Goswami to understand what the highest taste in life was and whose association would be the most beneficial. Shukadeva replied by describing the details of Shri Hari, the Supreme Lord, and His different features. To set the table, the Bhagavatam covers the origin of creation and how Lord Brahma emerged from the stem of the lotus like navel of Lord Vishnu, who is Bhagavan Himself. Yet as further information is revealed, the listener comes to know that Lord Krishna, Shyamasundara, the beautiful blackish youth with two hands, is the original form of the Lord, and that Vishnu is His direct expansion. From Vishnu come many incarnations who appear on this planet and others throughout the course of time. The primary incarnations and their activities are then described, for anyone who hears about God and His pastimes tastes the nectar that only springs from Divine association. Only in bhakti is this taste available, as contact with material nature and even Brahman is unable to meet the emotional needs of the soul. After all the notable incarnations have been described, Shukadeva Goswami reveals the true gem of the Bhagavatam: details of the life and pastimes of Lord Shri Krishna. This information is tucked safely away in the tenth canto, acting as a reward for those who have been patient enough to hear the first nine. Indeed, without properly understanding Krishna’s position as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the origin of spirit and matter, and the best friend of the living entities, the sweet nectar emerging from the ripened fruit of the tenth canto will not bring a pleasurable taste. Just as pure milk can be spoiled when touched by a serpent’s lips, if the intimate details of Krishna’s life and pastimes found in the Bhagavatam are heard from a serpent-like fellow, one who is averse to divine love and envious of Bhagavan’s supreme position, the sweet fruit will be bitter to the listener. The four rewards of life are very difficult to achieve one after another, for they don’t always go together. Too much adherence to religious principles can take away opportunities for economic development and sense gratification. If moksha is sought out too early, the other aspects will be ignored. Indeed, this is at the root of the trepidation felt by parents when their young children take to studying the Vedas. For parents in the Vedic tradition, one of their greatest fears is that their children will take to the renounced order of life, sannyasa, without experiencing material life at all. Taking in too much of the cutting logic and argument found in the Vedas at an early age can be detrimental towards one’s material ambitions. But bhakti is not like this at all. It is not meant to be practiced before or after anything else. Even a child can learn to love Krishna without reservation. It is revealed in the Bhagavatam that the holy name is the best way to connect with God in a mood of pure love, where there is no interruption in service and no motivation to find an end position. By regularly chanting the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, the consciousness can be slowly transfixed into a divine trance that leaves the mind fully relishing the taste of Krishna’s association. Just as Krishna is worshipable, so are His names. Just as the holy name is worthy of honor, so is the book which describes the name and its benefits. In this respect the Bhagavatam is as good as Krishna, so anyone who is fortunate enough to hear from it on a regular basis will enjoy the most ripened fruit coming from the tree of Vedic wisdom. Once this nectar is tasted, all other forms of knowledge and endeavor will never cut it. Nothing short of seeing Krishna’s smiling face and hearing His pastimes, activities and devotees glorified will make the soul happy.

How to Make Better Oil Paintings: Tips & Techniques for Correctly Mixing Color

There’s nothing more frustrating when painting then not being able to mix the right color. When I first started oil painting, it didn’t matter that I could see EXACTLY what color I needed, because everything I mixed up still turned into mud.

In the end, it just took a little more understanding of how color works. In this tutorial I’m going to pass along that knowledge.

The eight colors you see above are all that I use when painting. (You might also be interested in my full list of oil painting supplies for beginning painters.) The top red is Cadmium Red, and the one below it is Permanent Alizarin Crimson. The two blues are harder to distinguish over the computer, but the top one is Ultramarine Blue and the other is Phthalo Blue. My yellows are Cadmium Yellow Light, and Cadmium Yellow (which is practically orange).

Titanium White and Ivory Black also are on my palette, but I use them sparingly. There’s no green, or any other intermediate colors, because I can mix every color I need with those eight colors of paint. At the end of this tutorial, you’ll probably be much more confident that you can do the same, so feel free to bookmark this page if you’d like to use it as a reference later.

Before we get too far in, you’ll need to start thinking about color differently—that every color actually has another color in it too.

Sound weird? Well look at it this way: Some yellows are more “orange” than others, which means they have more red in them. Some blues have enough yellow in them to make them green. And so on.

There’s no perfect blue, or perfect red, because every color you see leans one way or the other around the color wheel. So when you mix blue paint with yellow paint to make green, you’re also bringing together two other colors into the mix—and that’s exactly what causes all the problems.

With the paints I use, I have four different ways to make green. I can mix Phthalo Blue (the top blue in this next image) with either Cadmium Yellow Light, or Cadmium Yellow; and I can also mix Ultramarine Blue with either yellow.

As you can see, the most vivid green possible is with Phthalo Blue and Cad Yellow Light. Why? Because both colors already lean towards green in the color wheel!

If I use Ultramarine to make green, then I’m adding a little red to the mix, since it looks a little more purple/violet (and therefore learns toward red). Because red is directlyopposite of green on the wheel, I’m essentially neutralizing the green as I mix it, making it more brown than it needs to be.

If I go one step further, and mix Ultramarine with Cadmium Yellow (my “orange” yellow) then I’m adding even more red to the mix which is great if I want brown, but not good if I’m looking for green!

The truth is, neutralizing colors is easy: you just add a bit of whatever color is opposite on the wheel. But getting bright, pure color takes knowing which paint colors won’t automatically dull down another color.

So how about making orange? Again, I’ve got four options.

The same rules apply here as they did for mixing green: if you want the most vivid orange, mix a yellow that leans towards red with a red that leans toward yellow.

Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red make a brilliant orange-red that’s fantastic to paint with, and Cadmium Yellow Light and Cadmium Red come up with a great color too. Actually, they make just a slightly more vivid orange than Cadmium Yellow is right out of the tube.

Mixing Permanent Alizarin Crimson with either of the yellows works OK, but the touch of blue it has in it will always make your resulting orange a bit more neutral.

What Permanent Alizarin Crimson really is good for is making a purple or violet color, since it’s already a bluish/red paint.

Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine (leftmost blue) give me the best result; and really no other combination compares.

Look at what happens when I use Ultramarine with Cadmium Red! You’d think it would work somewhat, but there’s so much yellow in Cadmium Red that it completely dulls down the blue and all I’m left with is a brownish maroon color.

And try as I might, all I can get with the Phthalo (by keeping a tight reign on the Cadmium Red) is a dark gray blue.

By now I hope you won’t be surprised that there are hidden colors lurking in yourblack and white paint as well.

Ivory black is really a dark, neutral blue, which shows up a little bit when you mix it with white. The white I use, Titanium White, is great because it really doesn’t have that much other color in it.

At the beginning of this article I mentioned that I use black and white sparingly. The reason for this is that they’re completely neutral colors, and using them will always take away the vividness of your other paint.

More than that, black and white don’t necessarily act like a lot of people think they should.

For example, if you mix black with yellow you’ll quickly find out that you don’t just get a darker yellow. Ivory Black actually turns yellow into a kind of muddy green.

And oddly enough, the two best tips I can offer new painters is to work with a clean, organized palette and ALWAYS clean your brush before mixing a different color.

I don’t mean you have to completely clean your paint brushes with turpentine in between every brush stroke, but having a newspaper handy to quickly squeeze most of the paint out of the bristles isn’t that hard.

You can also dip your brush into oil painting medium made with linseed stand oil and turpentine if you want to get more paint out. Make it a habit to keep your brushes clean while painting, and I guarantee your paintings will greatly improve.

Finally, just be deliberate when mixing colors—take your time if just starting out. Your hard work will pay off if you follow these guidelines and before you know it, matching the colors you see in life will soon become second nature.

A Brief History of Japanese Art Prints (also known as Ukiyo-e)

Japanese art prints, or Ukiyo-e (which literally means “pictures of the floating world”)have become an increasingly popular art form in the Western world. Their upward, floating imagery sprang from the Buddhist ideology that joy is transient and that only detachment from desire will bring true enlightenment.

History & Development of Japanese Prints

Japanese printmaking originated in the Edo region of Japan (now Tokyo) during a time when Japanese political and military power was in the hands of the shoguns. Japan, during that period, was isolated from the rest of the world under the policy of Sakoku, which translates into “secluded or closed country.”

In 1853, an American commander named Perry came to Japan to negotiate with the Japanese government on behalf of the USA. At the time of Perry’s arrival, Ukiyo-e was a popular contemporary art form, and many prints were on sale on the streets of Edo.

Ukiyo-e subject matter included portraits of kabuki actors, theatre scenes, lovers, famed courtesans, and landscape scenes from Japan’s history and lore. It’s no surprise that Western visitors eagerly carried Ukiyo-e prints back to their homeland, thus exposing Japan’s exotic art to the rest of the world.

To create a Ukiyo-e art print, an image was carved in reverse onto woodblocks, covered in ink, and then pressed onto paper.

At first, all prints were produced in black and white. Artists Okomura Masanobu and Suzuki Harunobu were among the first to produce color woodblock prints by using one block for each color, a very complex process.

There had to be a key-block made for the outlines and one block for each color. In addition, the number of impressions that can be produced from one block is quite limited, so many blocks had to be made for a large run of prints.

Producing Japanese art prints involved many people aside from the artist, including designers, individuals who planned the mold, others who cut the mold, and those who pressed the molds onto the paper.

Offshoots of Ukiyo-e Prints

The production of these particular Japanese art prints faded out around 1912, but two new schools of print-making emerged to take its place. They are called Sosaku Hanga and Shin Hanga.

The Sosaku Hanga school believes that the artist must be central to all phases of the printing process, while the Shin Hanga movement is more traditional and believes that the publisher is most central, hence the design, blocking, and printing can be given to different artists.

Collecting Ukiyo-e Art Prints

When collecting this exotic artwork, one must be familiar with a few Japanese terms.

Japanese art prints which are described as atozuri means that they were late printings, but were done with the original woodblocks. Prints that are shozuri are early printings, and a print said to be fukkoku is a reproduction.

Until the second half of the 20th century, the Japanese print-making process did not involve artists signing and numbering each print. Instead, the prints were marked with a stamp that identified the artist, the publisher, and the carver.

But after becoming exposed to the exotic culture of Japan, a craze for everything Japanese swept through Europe in the late 1860’s and Japanese art prints were being shipped to Europe in record numbers. Soon, the demand for woodblock prints could not be met with originals and Japanese publishing houses began producing copies of the more famous prints.

Some prints have stamps or markings in their margins, identifying them as copies; however, others are more difficult to discern. Usually the quality of the paper and the condition of the colors are the primary indicators in detecting a copy.

For the the average collector who is unable to read Japanese characters, it’s often best to consult an expert before purchasing an original Japanese art print.

Donovan Gauvreau is an art historian and art therapy speaker. You can read more of his articles at www.AaronArtPrints.org.

Romanticism: The “Emotional” Art Movement of the 18th and 19th Century

What was Romanticism? Well, although the name may sound a bit lovey-dovey, as an art (and literary) movement Romanticism really had nothing to do with love or romance.

It DID have everything to do with emotion, however—Romanticism came about in the middle of the 18th century as a reaction to classical thoughts and ideas. Classicism was orderly, logical, and step-by-step, while Romanticism took a different approach by emphasizing emotion and imagination.

For example, in the same way that a “romantic” might long for “happily ever after” or believe strongly enough in a cause to fight (and perhaps even die) for it; Romanticism in art appealed to people on a deeper and different level than artwork had in the past.

Romanticism also had to do with a renewed look at nature and mankind’s relationship with it, making landscape paintings in particular much more important and popular as a result. The Haywain by John Constable, shown above, is a great example of that.

Constable’s paintings were so detailed, rich, and expressive that it’s almost like the landscape itself was exalted, even deified. Just look at the scale involved—the figure is tiny, and therefore relatively unimportant, while the world around him is glorious and beckoning with myriad sites and sounds to explore.

Other Romantic painters used emotion in their work to rally political awareness, likeEugene Delecroix did in his painting entitled Liberty Leading the People.

It was a fairly gruesome painting for that time, and although based on the French Revolution of 1830, it was obviously highly “romanticized” by Delacroix with bodies piled high and a symbolically bare-breasted woman (denoting liberty, or freedom) carrying the national flag through the burning city.

Another famous Romantic painter was Joseph Turner, a man whose landscapes and seascapes are often seen as a precursor to Impressionism in the later 19th century.

Just look—you can barely make out the steamboat in Steamer in a Snowstorm (or even what the scene is at first) but once you know, the amazing power and fury of a winter storm at sea can clearly be felt through this painting.

And in the end, Turner’s painting is probably one of the best examples of Romanticism I can give—it clearly shows a deliberate move away from the perfection of classicism, towards the individual expression of modernism.