Fine Art Prints

Until few years back, beautiful artworks were found in the living room of the rich and influential people only. They were too expensive to be afforded by common men. Thanks to technology, art is now found in many homes across the world in form of fine art prints, sculptures, canvas prints and alike.In simple terms, Canvas prints consist of digital images printed on the canvas. The canvas material used for fine art prints is the same as that used by artists for creating unique art pieces. Canvas prints possess the same painting-like quality to let you have your photographs, images or modern art prints look like a work of art. Be it the texture or colour scheme, it definitely looks as authentic and appealing as a regular artwork. You can either get your favourite photos on canvas or choose from a wide range of pictures with themes such as mythology, romance, nature, wildlife, landscape and alike and get them transferred to canvas. Prints on canvas are affordable and much within the budget of the average income group. Unlike other means of printing, pictures on canvas offer great durability. This is because fine art prints on canvas are coated with protective varnish that helps prevent any sort of damage. This ensures a longer life for the canvas art prints. You can use fine art prints on canvas to add sophistication to your home or gift them to your loved ones on various occasions.There are various online companies that provide high quality canvas pictures. They use latest machines to give you canvas pictures as per your needs. They also have a wide range of canvas material to work with. You can tell them the way you want your canvas pictures to look. Based on your preference, you can get pictures on canvas in a really attractive form. If you are looking for the best online resource to get modern art canvas prints, Get Canvas is a pretty good option.Get Canvas offers an exclusive and unique range of beautiful canvas art prints by professional artists and photographers. Each art print is available in a range of sizes to suit your walls. They have a team of creative professionals who use HP Designjet Z2100 Photo Printers to reproduce digital images accurately and consistently with magnificent colour for museum quality prints. Further, pigment inks are used which help colour resist fading for as long as 200 years.

Photo-Etching – Is it Cheating Or Valid Art?

Many purists may state that using photography to create an intaglio image is cheating; but is it?There is a strong argument to support such a claim, in the sense that it is the camera that creates the image – without any manual intervention or creative input to the actual digital image on the cameras’ display!Using a photo-resist ground to expose the photographic ‘shot’ onto a copper plate is a popular method for image transfer. There is little doubt that using such procedures is a very useful time-saving system for the intaglio artist.The question that clearly needs to be answered with great clarity and conviction, is whether or not there are implications regarding the artistic integrity of the process – and of the artists who use it?I believe that the photographic system in artwork is a valid and integral part of visual art that cannot be ignored – and indeed it is simply another means for artistic creativity. Quite clearly, there is much scope for unscrupulous practice because of the very nature of the modern digital age and the ability to violate copyright works.However, if we put aside any such argument, there is no doubt about the creative potential of photography and its usage as a true art-form. With the abundance of superb digital cameras however, it may be argued that anyone can take a reasonable portrait or landscape – without having any real knowledge of photography, lighting or composition.To create photographic works of art, for the most part, implies having a very creative ability, an excellent and detailed knowledge of photography, lighting and composition and dedication in execution and delivery of the end product.With these points in mind, I believe that there is no moral ‘high ground’ for snubbing such works and indeed, where intaglio printing is concerned – the artistic process goes beyond photography because the artist/printer has to convey the essential artistic elements of the original image, to a copper plate, expose the polymer-resist, develop and then etch the plate – before he/she can then ink up and print just one individual work of art.Is not such creative dedication more than deserving of some artistic merit?

African American Art and its Effects on the African American Community

The African American art world has had a profound, yet sometimes an overlooked effect on the American community throughout history.African American artists have chronicled the struggles and the achievements of African Americans throughout the past several hundred years. The University of Southern California states “Less attention has probably been paid to African American artists than to their counterparts in literature and music, yet their contributions have also been significant in the development of American culture.” Many African American artists have documented their American experience through their painting, writing, architecture and many other forms of art. Paul R. Williams was one such artist. An architect that was born in 1894, he became one of the foremost architects in Southern California. He created a staggering amount of projects in his 60 year career. Williams designed over 2000 residences and many commercial buildings both in Southern California and elsewhere. Many of Williams’s projects were very high profile projects. The famous Shrine Auditorium, the Hollywood YMCA and the Los Angeles County Court House are three designs that have propelled this architect to the realm of the elite. Williams’s effect on American architecture has lived on since his death in 1980. Among Williams other projects are the United Nations building in Paris, the MCA building in Beverly Hills, CA and the Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills Ca. All of these buildings are worth a visit to see Williams style.Many African American artists have used African themes in their art. One such artist is Claude Clark. Born in 1945, Clark has been in the African American art scene for over 50 years. His place in art history was cemented with his leadership in the 60s during the civil rights struggles. Clark studied art under the direction of Dr. Albert C Barnes between the years of 1939 and 1944. Dr. Barnes was a well known collector of art. Barnes founded the Barnes school of Art through his foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania. It was during this time with Barnes that Claude Clark honed his painting skills and became interested in African Art. Clark also enjoyed painting around themes of the struggles for African Americans in the Deep South and also enjoyed painting Caribbean subjects. In later years, Claude Clark taught as Associate Professor of Art Talladega College in the 1940′s and 50′s. Claude Clark enjoyed a long career and died in 2001.Many believe the most prominent African American painter in US history was Jacob Lawrence. Lawrence’s work was primarily based in US history and documented the themes of slavery and racial oppression. Lawrence was one of the first African American painters to gain national prominence. His paintings have kept him in the public eye for the better half of 60 years. Lawrence gained popularity as a very young age. In his 20s, Lawrence gained national attention for his exhibition titled “The Migration of the Negro”. This was a series of 60 paintings that was sold to the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Phillips Collection in Washington DC. Lawrence was an integral part of the great Harlem Renaissance. He studied at the Harlem Art Workshop where he met many like minded artists that shaped his work for years to come. It was during these years that he met the painter Gwendolyn Knight who became his wife for the next 59 years. The most famous work from Lawrence was titled The Migration Series. The series begins and ends with the images of the railroad station. The work shows the South and represent the migration North and the massive number of African Americans making this journey. The project shows the despair of working in the agriculture of the South and the hardships endured. The paintings show the poverty and the motivation that gave African Americans the need to move north. When the paintings depict the North, they show the exploitation of African Americans in dangerous industries and tough living conditions. The hope for a better life is the motivation that kept them going but the struggles are the same as in the South with just a different location and different surroundings. All of these artists are only a few of the many African Americans that had a profound effect on the art world in American in the last century. Their art lives on to tell the stories of the African American experience.