Acrylic painting techniques

Acrylic painting techniques are different styles of manipulating and working with polymer-based acrylic paints. Acrylics differ from oil paints in that they have shorter drying times (as little as 10 minutes) and are soluble in water. These types of paint eliminate the need for turpentine and gesso, and can be applied directly onto canvas. Aside from painting with concentrated color paints, acrylics can also be watered down to a consistency that can be poured or used for glazing.

Preventing paint from drying out.

Acrylics are often preferred because they dry faster on canvas than oil paints due to their polymer base. Unfortunately, this also affects the time acrylics stay moist. A trick to keep paints from drying out is to spray a light mist of water over them occasionally. Moisture-retaining palettes also increase acrylic paint drying time, and can be substituted with a shallow container, a sheet of grease proof paper, and piece of wet watercolor paper.

Creating fluid paints

Fluid paints can be used like watercolors, or for glazing and washes. To create a more fluid texture, water is added to the paint. The ratio of paint to water depends on how thick the glaze is expected to be. An opaque glaze or paint consists of more paint than water, and will give a more solid color. A translucent glaze or paint will be the opposite, consisting of slightly more water than the opaque version, and will have a smoother texture. Translucent glazes show more of the colors underneath the paint compared to opaque glazes. Artist Keri Ippolito advises that the paint should be watered no more than 50 percent or the paint will not stick to the canvas. After mixing the paints, allow time for the air bubbles to rise to the surface. This will be crucial in many techniques, especially in pouring paints.

Painting glazes

Acrylic paint glazes are often used to create more depth in an image. These types of paints are light enough when brushed onto canvas to show the layers underneath. This technique is commonly used to create more realistic images. Light colored glazes also have softening effects when painted over dark or bright images. It can be difficult to get the right liquid consistency for glazes. Golden Acrylic Glazes simplify the mixing process by arriving ready-to-use in the bottle. Created to give the artist more time to work with the paints without having to worry about the paint to water ratio, this brand of glaze is commonly used in place of mixing acrylic glazes by hand. It is best to wait for each layer to dry thoroughly before apply another coat. This will prevent the paint from smearing or leaving unwanted smudge marks. After the application of several layers, rubbing alcohol can be brushed or sprayed on to reveal colors from earlier layers.

Pouring paints

Pour painting is an innovative way to use acrylic paints to create an art piece. Instead of using tools like brushes or knives to create a piece of art, fluid paints can be poured directly onto the surface and the canvas tilted to move the paint around. Pouring paints allow for the colors to blend naturally as they come in contact with each other. This technique can be done either one color at a time, or with multiple paints to maximize color blending. Pour painting can also be done with oil paints, but because those paints take a longer time to dry, the piece would have to be done over an extended period of time, or with wet paints.[

MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE (Oil Painting)

Most artists today use commercial materials but some prefer to make their own paints in the traditional way. Oil paint consists of pigment ground in oil that dries on exposure to air. The pigments, or colored powders, must be lightproof, insoluble, and chemically inert. The oil is usually linseed but may be poppy or walnut. Sometimes varnish is added to the mixture, which is then ground. The stiff, creamy paste that results is packaged in flexible tubes. The painting surface consists of a support, either a wood or composition panel, or more frequently, linen, cotton, or jute canvas stretched on a frame or glued to a board. The support is covered with a ground, a thin coating of gesso or other gypsum and glue, or size. The ground makes the support less absorbant and provides an even painting surface that is neither too rough nor too smooth. The ground may be white but is often given a toning coat of gray, tan, or pink. Traditionally, oil painting proceeds in stages. First the design may be sketched on the ground in pencil, charcoal, or paint diluted with turpentine. Then broad areas of color are filled in with thin paint. They are successively refined and corrected in thicker paint to which oil and varnish are added. The paint is usually applied with brushes made from stiff hog bristle, although softer brushes of badger or sable hair may be used. Paint may also be applied with a flexible, wide-bladed painting or palette knife, or the fingers. The process may require only a few sessions or extend over months or even years. Once the painting has dried, at least a year after completion it is varnished to protect it from dirt and to enrich the color. Because all varnishes eventually darken, the varnish used should be removable and eventually replaced.

History of Oil Painting

Oil painting was traditionally thought to have been invented by the Flemish painter Jan van Eyck in the early 15th century, but it is now known to have existed earlier. Van Eyck explored the medium within the linear conventions of tempera, making a detailed drawing on a gesso-covered panel and then building up layers of transparent oil glazes. The technique was popularized in Italy by the Sicilian painter Antonello da Messina and was fully exploited by Renaissance painters. The Venetians took the further step of painting on canvas, which provided a much larger surface and could be rolled up for shipping. They developed a freer style based on a rough monochrome underpainting in tempera with added oil glazes. Dutch painters such as Rembrandt and Frans Hals and the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez experimented with impasto. Academic painters of the 18th and 19th centuries did under-painting in black and gray oil, then repainted in color. The range of colors was limited, however, and many have faded. All work was done in the studio. In the 19th century, developments in chemistry produced new and brilliant pigments. The invention of collapsible tin tubes, replacing the old bladders, meant that artists could work outdoors directly from nature. Chemical additives to keep paint fresh made possible greater use of impasto. Underpainting virtually disappeared. French impressionists applied masses of small dots of bright color directly to the canvas. With the development of nonobjective painting in the 20th century, painters experimented with new techniques. They built up texture with sand, ashes, or plaster, stained canvases, and worked with commercial house paints and spray paints. They combined paint with photography and printed materials in collage. The versatility of oil paint has made it one of the most expressive media of the 20th-century artist; nevertheless, since the 1960s many artists have found acrylic paints better suited to their needs

Oil Painting

Oil Painting, art of applying oil-based colors to a surface to create a picture or other design. Oil painting developed in Europe in the late Middle Ages. It quickly found wide acceptance because—in contrast to older wax- and water-based media, such as encaustic painting, fresco, tempera painting, and watercolor—it is easier to work with and permits a greater variety of effects. Oil paint dries relatively slowly with little change in color. Tones are therefore easy to match, blend, or grade, and corrections are easy to make. The painter is not limited to linear brushstrokes but may apply paint in glazes, washes, blobs, trickles, spray, or impasto (thick application of pigment). Without being restricted to a prearranged design, the painter can freely change and improvise. Rich effects can be obtained with color and chiaroscuro (shading).

Modern Art, painting, sculpture

Modern Art, painting, sculpture, and other forms of 20th-century art. Although scholars disagree as to precisely when the modern period began, they mostly use the term modern art to refer to art of the 20th century in Europe and the Americas, as well as in other regions under Western influence. The modern period has been a particularly innovative one. Among the 20th century’s most important contributions to the history of art are the invention of abstraction (art that does not imitate the appearance of things), the introduction of a wide range of new artistic techniques and materials, and even the redefinition of the boundaries of art itself.

Modern art

Modern art comprises a remarkable diversity of styles, movements, and techniques. The wide range of styles encompasses the sharply realistic painting of a Midwestern farm couple by Grant Wood, entitled American Gothic (1930, Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois), and the abstract rhythms of poured paint in Black and White (1948, private collection), by Jackson Pollock. Yet even if we could easily divide modern art into representational works, like American Gothic, and abstract works, like Black and White, we would still find astonishing variety within these two categories. Just as the precisely painted American Gothic is representational, Willem de Kooning’s Marilyn Monroe (1954, private collection) might also be considered representational, although its broad brushstrokes merely suggest the rudiments of a human body and facial features. Abstraction, too, reveals a number of different approaches, from the dynamic rhythms of Pollock’s Black and White to the right-angled geometry of Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue (1937-1942, Tate Gallery, London) by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, whose lines and rectangles suggest the mechanical precision of the machine-made. Other artists preferred an aesthetic of disorder, as did German artist Kurt Schwitters, who mixed old newspapers, stamps, and other discarded objects to create Picture with Light Center

20th-century art

Thus 20th-century art displays more than stylistic diversity. It is in the modern period that artists have made paintings not only of traditional materials such as oil on canvas, but of any material available to them. This innovation led to developments that were even more radical, such as conceptual art and performance art—movements that expanded the definition of art to include not just physical objects but ideas and actions as well.

Baroque Art and Architecture

The style dominating the art and architecture of Europe and certain European colonies in the Americas throughout the 1600s, and in some places, until 1750. A number of its characteristics continue in the art and architecture of the first half of the 18th century, although this period is generally termed rococo and corresponds roughly with King Louis XV of France. Manifestations of baroque art appear in virtually every country in Europe, with other important centers in the Spanish and Portuguese settlements in the Americas and in other outposts. The term baroque also defines periods in literature and music.

What is Art?

Art, the product of creative human activity in which materials are shaped or selected to convey an idea, emotion, or visually interesting form. The word art can refer to the visual arts, including painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, decorative arts, crafts, and other visual works that combine materials or forms. We also use the word art in a more general sense to encompass other forms of creative activity, such as dance and music, or even to describe skill in almost any activity, such as “the art of bread making” or “the art of travel.” In this article art refers to the visual arts.

Ancient Carvings Reveal Pharaoh's Dark Age

New Clues Discovery News Video April 21, 2009 -- Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed carvings at four ancient temples in the Sinai peninsula which they hope will shed fresh light on one of the most obscure periods of Pharaonic history. Rare inscriptions on the temples' walls relate to the Hyksos -- Asiatic peoples who invaded Egypt during the 12th dynasty (1991-1802 BC) and ruled for more than a century from their Nile Delta capital, Avaris. "There is a carving of King Ramses I standing before the god Set, who was worshipped by the Hyksos. This is the first of its kind," archaeologist Mohammed Abdel Maksud, who heads the mission, said on Tuesday. The Hyksos, whose name means "foreign rulers" in ancient Greek, were so hated that when Egyptians eventually returned to power, they destroyed all Hyksos monuments and records. source: Discovery news

Abstract Expressionism

Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the art world, a role formerly filled by Paris. Alfred Barr (U.S.A)was the first to use this term in 1929 in relation to works by Wassily Kandinsky

Visual Arts

Visual arts of the United States refers to the history of painting and visual art in the United States. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, artists primarily painted landscapes and portraits in a realistic style. A parallel development taking shape in rural America was the American craft movement, which began as a reaction to the industrial revolution. Developments in modern art in Europe came to America from exhibitions in New York City such as the Armory Show in 1913. Previously American Artists had based the majority of their work on Western Painting and European Arts. After World War II, New York replaced Paris as the center of the art world. Since then many American Movements have shaped Modern and Post Modern art. Art in the United States today covers a huge range of styles.

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Commercial Photography

Advertising photography is designed to sell products or services by capturing a viewer’s attention. It can be found in magazines, newspapers, and catalogs. The photographs may stand alone, or they may be combined with words to sell a product or illustrate a concept. Typically, an art director or advertising agency determines the content of the picture and hires a photographer to create the image. The image may be a still life of a company’s product, or the photograph may try to elicit an emotion the advertiser wishes to associate with a product. Male and female models are often used to create moods, especially in fashion photography. The photographer visually translates the idea into the final image using a variety of tools and techniques. He or she charges a daily rate for taking photographs, plus expenses, including the cost of hiring freelance assistants, stylists, and makeup artists when necessary. Some of the technical elements a photographer must skillfully control include sharpness, exposure, lighting, composition, and color reproduction.

Marketing Research Program

Business In the business world, psychology is applied in the workplace and in the marketplace. Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology focuses on human behavior in the workplace and other organizations. I-O psychologists conduct research, teach in business schools or universities, and work in private industry. Many I-O psychologists study the factors that influence worker motivation, satisfaction, and productivity. Others study the personal traits and situations that foster great leadership. Still others focus on the processes of personnel selection, training, and evaluation. Studies have shown, for example, that face-to-face interviews sometimes result in poor hiring decisions and may be biased by the applicant’s gender, race, and physical attractiveness. Studies have also shown that certain standardized tests can help to predict on-the-job performance. See Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Research Program Marketing research is a pivotal part of the marketing process. By referring to studies of prospective buyers’ needs, wants, and tastes, providers of goods and services can tailor their marketing programs. The results of marketing studies suggest to sellers not only what they should sell or provide but also where to offer particular goods and services, how to advertise them, and how to set prices.

Marketing Campaign

Marketing Campaign, strategy adopted by a business organization to promote a product or range of products over a period of time. Some products are supported by a long-term marketing campaign. Others, such as new products just launched, are supported by an intensive marketing campaign. Large firms may use an advertising agency to coordinate the campaign, which generally makes use of a variety of marketing techniques.

Consumers Protection

Consumers need sufficient information in order to choose wisely among the competing products and services available. The marketplace, however, contains a great many different and complex products, and advertising is usually not informative enough for consumer purposes. Therefore, consumers often lack the information required to compare the quality of various products and services, to determine their true cost, or to be assured of their suitability or safety. Many consumer problems are caused by incorrect or fraudulent information. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) bears the primary responsibility for making sure that advertising and labeling are not false or misleading..

Value of Advertising Image of a Product

By adding meaning to a product, advertising also adds value. For example, when Philip Morris Companies Inc. purchased Kraft Foods, Inc. in 1988 for nearly $13 billion, Philip Morris paid 600 percent more than Kraft’s factories and inventory were worth. Over 80 percent of the purchase price was for the current and future value of the Kraft brand, a value that was created in large part by advertising. Advertising plays such an important role in promoting products and adding value to brands that most companies spend considerable sums on their advertising and hire specialized firms, known as advertising agencies, to develop their advertising campaigns.

Works of Arts

Art history is the study of works of art in their historical context. Styles change through time and artists introduce new materials, techniques, subject matter, and purposes for art. Art historians study such changes and use them to determine the chronological periods and approximate dates of art works. A work of art can reflect the historical period or context in which it was made by representing society’s assumptions about people, by depicting customs or rituals, or by showing us what was thought beautiful, ornamental, or fashionable. In addition to these aspects of art, art historians study the lives of artists, including their training and practices. Art historians answer fundamental questions about art objects, such as: Who made the work? When was it made? How was it made? What was its purpose? What did it mean? Information about famous artists and their works exists from the time of the ancient Romans. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder, for example, includes notes on important Greek sculptors in his Natural History, written in the 1st century ad. In the 16th century Italian writer and painter Giorgio Vasari wrote his Lives of the Artists, which consisted of biographies of Italian artists from the 14th through the 16th century. Vasari provided a historical framework for his biographies, in which Italian art developed from Byzantine patterns toward greater naturalism and then to greater liveliness. But he rarely tied this development to broader cultural phenomena. This step was taken in the 18th century by German archaeologist and art historian Johann Winckelmann. In The History of Ancient Art (1764), Winckelmann tried to explain the serenity and noble grandeur of Greek art by looking at many aspects of Greek life, from the weather to the political situation, and especially at the development of democracy in Athens. He described Greek art vividly for an audience who had seen little of it. Winckelmann began a tradition within art history of explaining changes in style by looking to other political, historical, or cultural trends. Later art historians have carried out the meticulous work of identifying and dating works of art by means of careful visual comparisons and the study of historical documents. This type of work, called connoisseurship, still is a basic part of the study of art. Art historians are often faced with deciphering unfamiliar symbols in works of art. Any object in a painting can serve as a symbol. In paintings of the Madonna and Child, for example, a goldfinch, which builds its nest in thorns, can refer to Christ’s suffering and the crown of thorns he was forced to wear. Iconography is the study and explanation of the meaning of symbols in art and the meaning of the painting or sculpture as a whole. Iconographic studies always involve some degree of interpretation; that is, art historians determine not only what a symbol means but also speculate on why an artist used it and what it might suggest about an artist’s ideas, a patron’s wishes, or a society’s customs. From the 1970s on, several new methods of interpretation have become popular. Social historians use methods derived from the theories of German political philosopher Karl Marx to look for indications of class distinctions and social conflict in art. Feminist methods of interpretation are concerned with what images convey about women, either as artists or as the subjects of art works. Semiotics and deconstruction are methods that focus on how images function as signs that transmit different meanings at different times, or on how internal structures or contradictions reveal meaning. by: Bernadine Barnes

The Enjoyment of Art

When people ask, “What is art?” or state that something “is not art,” they usually are not seeking a philosophical definition but are instead expressing an opinion that a painting is not realistic enough, that it is offensive, or that it does not use traditional materials. Defining art too narrowly, or in a way that only affirms what we already believe, deprives us of many delightful and thought-provoking experiences. An awareness of all the things that art can be should encourage us to enjoy many different types of art, or at least to wonder why we value one type above another. The art museum is a natural place to start learning more about the visual arts, but many people find it difficult to sustain interest when faced with so many objects by so many artists they have never heard of. Next time you are in an art museum look first at the other people. Count how many are looking carefully at the art; then look at how many simply read labels, walk away, or do other things without looking at the art itself. Most of us share a tendency to look for works by artists we already know something about, especially those we know about through their odd or interesting lives. This is one way to appreciate art, but it is not the only way. Try looking for only one specific thing: kinds of paint strokes or particularly energetic brushstrokes, the use of a particular color, or sculptures that are constructed of many parts or from different materials. Or you might seek out more conventional groupings, such as portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. Make judgments, but get specific. Go into a room at a museum and decide which painting shows the most interesting use of light and dark. Which painting is most colorful? Which artist is the best at capturing emotions? With a painting, try to imagine the steps the artist took to paint the work. Does the canvas or wood backing show through? Did the artist paint quickly or slowly? How do the paints sit on top of each other? Look at the way shapes are repeated or ordered. If you had no idea what the painting was about—and with some modern art, you really might not—would you still feel something simply by looking at the colors or brushwork? If you are looking at a sculpture, think about how it might have been seen in its original position, perhaps in a church or on the front of a building. Can you walk all the way around the sculpture? Is it more interesting from a particular point of view? Is it on a pedestal, and if it is, does its added height make you feel smaller or more distant from the subject? As with painting, you might think about how the artist made the piece. Is it wood, stone, or metal, or something else entirely? With architecture, try to become aware of the shape and size of the spaces around you. Notice how doors and windows are spaced. Sometimes they frame special views, sometimes they create pleasing patterns when seen from the outside, sometimes they are framed or made of special materials for interesting visual effect. With decorative arts and craft objects, consider their use and whether the changes that the artist has made to the basic form add to or detract from their function. How would it feel to hold the teacup, sit on the chair, or wear the clothing on exhibit? Museums often display decorative arts in rooms that replicate historic rooms. If this is the case, can you sense a pattern of how the people of that time might have felt about ornament, wealth, or simplicity? How might you think differently about these objects if they were displayed on pedestals? As with the decorative arts, museums often display arts of non-Western cultures in an evocative setting, to demonstrate not just their form but also their function. Here, too, you might ask what the display itself is telling you. Would you respond differently to these objects if they were displayed like the masterpieces of Western art? New media—video, film, digital arts—can sometimes be difficult to appreciate as art because we so commonly see these same forms in advertising and entertainment. As viewers, we may find them intriguing or amusing but still wonder if they are art. Some artists who work in these media try to set their work apart from commercial uses, while others consciously use commercial imagery and techniques. Rather than decide on a verdict (art or nonart), consider works like these as a starting point for a dialogue. What do these pieces say about images in our lives, or about the distinctions and values we give to certain art forms? Similarly, many works made today are deliberately provocative. Conceptual art sometimes seems to mock everything we value about art, from beauty and craftsmanship to the precious and timeless nature of art. Many works take stabs at cultural traditions that we value enormously, including religion, patriotism, and morality. It is not necessary to agree with every artist, to like every work of art, or to visit every gallery or museum. But it is important to think and talk about the art before passing judgment.

Advertising in many form

Political Advertising

As in any well-formulated advertising campaign, political candidates use the media to increase their exposure to the public. In the modern campaign, extensive use of radio and television have supplanted direct appearances on the campaign trail. The most commonly used broadcast technique is the television spot advertisement. Spot ads, which may last from 15 to 60 seconds, emphasize issues and personal qualities that appear important in the poll data. These ads attempt to establish candidate name identification, create a favorable image of the candidate and a negative image of the opponent, link the candidate with desirable groups in the community, and communicate the candidate's stands on selected issues. Spot ads often make use of “sound bites,” short, punchy statements from the candidate designed for voters to remember. Spot ads also may have a negative slant, seeking mainly to criticize the opponent. Well-known examples of successful negative ads include the 1988 “Willie Horton” ad of George Bush, accusing Bush's opponent, Michael Dukakis, of coddling criminals, and the 1964 ad of Lyndon Johnson that suggested his opponent, Barry Goldwater, would lead the United States into nuclear war. Candidates sometimes use staggering numbers of spot ads in the course of a campaign. During a single week in the 1996 Republican Party primary season, for example, candidate Steve Forbes televised 526 commercials in Iowa and 639 in New Hampshire.

Advertising photography Designed to sell products or services by capturing a viewer’s attention. It can be found in magazines, newspapers, and catalogs. The photographs may stand alone, or they may be combined with words to sell a product or illustrate a concept. Typically, an art director or advertising agency determines the content of the picture and hires a photographer to create the image. The image may be a still life of a company’s product, or the photograph may try to elicit an emotion the advertiser wishes to associate with a product. Male and female models are often used to create moods, especially in fashion photography. The photographer visually translates the idea into the final image using a variety of tools and techniques. He or she charges a daily rate for taking photographs, plus expenses, including the cost of hiring freelance assistants, stylists, and makeup artists when necessary. Some of the technical elements a photographer must skillfully control include sharpness, exposure, lighting, composition, and color reproduction.

Advertising Production Art directors and copywriters create the concepts behind the ads, but they do not literally make the advertising. Making the ads is the job of the production department. In print advertising, the art director works with the print production manager to hire a photographer or illustrator and then supervises the work. Once the photograph has been taken or the illustration completed, the image is scanned into a computer and placed in the proper position. The art director also selects typefaces for the headline and body copy and then, using the computer, correctly positions the headline and body copy. Once all the elements are in place, the computer file is sent to the newspaper or magazine in which the ad will run. The publication then prints the ad directly from the computer file.

Direct Advertising Direct Advertising, presenting information about a product or business directly to consumers. This includes catalog sales and other solicitation for mail or telephone orders, distributing information about local businesses through the mail, and other direct presentation or delivery of advertising to potential customers.

Cooperative Advertising Cooperative advertising is an arrangement between manufacturers and retailers in which manufacturers offer credits to their retail customers for advertising. The credits, or advertising allowances, are based on the amount of product the retailer purchases. For example, if the retailer purchases $100,000 worth of a product from a manufacturer, the manufacturer’s cooperative advertising program may allot a 1 percent credit, or $1,000, toward the cost of purchasing an ad that will feature the product. In addition, some manufacturers will match the amount that the retailer spends, sharing the cost of the ad. In the United States antitrust laws enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ensure that these ad allowances are offered on equal and proportionate terms so that large retailers are not unduly favored over small retailers. Cooperative advertising is a form of local advertising because it directs consumers to local retail outlets.

Trade Advertising Advertising can be divided into two broad categories—consumer advertising and trade advertising. Consumer advertising is directed at the public. Trade advertising is directed at wholesalers or distributors who resell to the public. This article focuses on consumer advertising, the form of advertising that is familiar to most people.

Public Service Advertising Most advertising is designed to promote the sale of a particular product or service. Some advertisements, however, are intended to promote an idea or influence behavior, such as encouraging people not to use illegal drugs or smoke cigarettes. These ads are often called public service ads (PSAs). Some ads promote an institution, such as the Red Cross or the United States Army, and are known as institutional advertising. Their purpose is to encourage people to volunteer or donate money or services or simply to improve the image of the institution doing the advertising. Advertising is also used to promote political parties and candidates for political office. Political advertising has become a key component of electoral campaigns in many countries.

Outdoors Advertising Outdoor advertising amounted to 0.8 percent, or $1.7 billion, of total ad spending in the United States in 1999. Outdoor advertising is an effective way to reach a highly mobile audience that spends a lot of time on the road—for example, in commuting to and from work or as part of their job. It offers the lowest cost per exposure of any major advertising medium, and it produces a major impact, because it is big, colorful, and hard to ignore. The messages on outdoor boards have to be very brief. So outdoor advertising primarily serves as a reminder medium and one that can trigger an impulse buy.

Institutional Advertising Institutional advertising seeks to create a favorable impression of a business or institution without trying to sell a specific product. This type of advertising is designed solely to build prestige and public respect. For nonprofit institutions, such advertising helps support the institution’s activities—for example, by encouraging blood donations or cash contributions for the work of an organization like the Red Cross. A for-profit business has other reasons for improving its reputation rather than trying to sell a particular product. In some cases a large company may sell a diversity of products. As a result, there is more value and greater efficiency in building a brand image for the company itself. If consumers learn to have a high regard for the company, then they are more likely to have a favorable opinion of all of the company’s diverse products.

Informational Advertising Informational advertising seeks to promote an idea or influence behavior. Sometimes known as public service advertising, it may try to discourage young people from using illicit drugs or tobacco, or it may encourage people to adopt safer, healthier lifestyles.

Cigarette Advertising Television has received much criticism due to the significant amount of advertising used during regular programming, especially with regard to addictive substances such as cigarettes and alcohol. Special interest groups along with the Federal Communications Commission (the federal broadcasting agency) have attempted to regulate such advertising. Today, cigarette commercials can no longer be aired on television, although printed materials, such as newspapers and magazines, continue to advertise them. This 1956 magazine ad typifies the attempts by cigarette manufacturers to glamorize smoking.

Psychedelic Art and the digital age

" COMPUTER ADS "

Computer art has allowed for an even greater and more profuse expression of psychedelic vision. Fractal generating software gives an accurate depiction of psychedelic hallucinatory patterns, but even more importantly 2D and 3D graphics software allow for unparalleled freedom of image manipulation. Much of the graphics software seems to permit a direct translation of the psychedelic vision. The "digital revolution" was indeed heralded early on as the "New LSD" by none other than Timothy Leary.

The Rave movement of the 1990s was a psychedelic renaissance fueled by the advent of newly available digital technologies. The rave movement developed a new graphic art style partially influenced by 1960s psychedelic poster art, but also strongly influenced by graffiti art, and by 1970s advertising art, yet clearly defined by what digital art and computer graphics software and home computers had to offer at the time of creation. Land of Psychedelic Illuminations (©Brian Exton): example of fractal influence Concurrent to the rave movement, and in key respects integral to it, are the development of new mind altering drugs, most notably, MDMA (Ecstasy). Ecstasy, like LSD, has had a tangible influence on culture and aesthetics, particularly the aesthetics of Rave Culture. But MDMA is (arguably) not a real psychedelic, but is described by psychologists as an "empathogen".

Development of new psychedelics such as "2CB" and related compounds (developed primarily by chemist Alexander Shulgin) are truly psychedelic, and these novel psychedelics are fertile ground for artistic exploration since many of the new psychedelics possess their own unique properties that will affect the artist's vision accordingly.

Perhaps the future of psychedelic art will be defined by those artists who have practiced it most purely. That is to say by those artists who have sought to record the visions derived from the psychedelic drug experience into works of art. Even as fashions have changed, and art and culture movements have come and gone certain artists have steadfastly devoted themselves to psychedelia.

Well known examples are Amanda Sage, Alex Grey and Robert Venosa. These artists have developed unique and distinct styles that while containing elements that are obviously "psychedelic", are clearly artistic expression that transcend simple categorization. While it is not necessary to use psychedelics to arrive at such a stage of artistic development, serious psychedelic artists are demonstrating that there is tangible technique to obtaining visions, and that technique is the creative use of psychedelic drugs.

By the late 1960s, the commercial potential of psychedelic art had become hard to ignore. General Electric, for instance, promoted clocks with designs by New York artist Peter Max. A caption explains that each of Max's clocks "transposes time into multi-fantasy colors."

Psychedelic art in corporate advertising

1. In this and many other corporate advertisements of the late 1960s featuring psychedelic themes, the psychedelic product was often kept at arm's length from the corporate image: while advertisements may have reflected the swirls and colors of an LSD trip, the black-and-white company logo maintained a healthy visual distance. Several companies, however, more explicitly associated themselves with psychedelica: CBS, Neiman Marcus, and NBC all featured thoroughly psychedelic advertisements between 1968 and 1969.

2. In 1968, Campbell's soup ran a poster promotion that promised to "Turn your wall souper-delic!"

3. The early years of the 1970s saw advertisers using psychedelic art to sell a limitless array of consumer goods. Hair products, cars, cigarettes, and even pantyhose became colorful acts of pseudo-rebellion.

4. The Chelsea National Bank commissioned a psychedelic landscape by Peter Max, and neon green, pink, and blue monkeys inhabited advertisements for a zoo.

5. A fantasy land of colorful, swirling, psychedelic bubbles provided the perfect backdrop for a Clearasil ad.

6. As Brian Wells explains, "The psychedelic movement has, through the work of artists, designers, and writers, achieved an astonishing degree of cultural diffusion… but, though a great deal of diffusion has taken place, so, too, has a great deal of dilution and distortion."

7. Even the term "psychedelic" itself underwent a semantic shift, and soon came to mean "anything in youth culture which is colorful, or unusual, or fashionable."

8. Puns using the concept of "tripping" abounded: as an advertisement for London Britches declared, their product was "great on trips!"

9. By the mid-1970s, the psychedelic art movement had been largely co-opted by mainstream commercial forces, incorporated into the very system of capitalism that the hippies had struggled so hard to change.

Psychedelic Art

Psychedelic art is art inspired by the psychedelic experience induced by drugs such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. The word "psychedelic" (coined by British psychologist Humphrey Osmond) means "mind manifesting". By that definition all artistic efforts to depict the inner world of the psyche may be considered "psychedelic". However, in common parlance "Psychedelic Art" refers above all to the art movement of the 1960s counterculture. Psychedelic visual arts were a counterpart to psychedelic rock music. Concert posters, album covers, lightshows, murals, comic books, underground newspapers and more reflected not only the kaleidoscopically swirling patterns of LSD hallucinations, but also revolutionary political, social and spiritual sentiments inspired by insights derived from these psychedelic states of consciousness. Life Magazine issue documenting psychedelic poster art phenomenon.

"Cover features art"

by Rick Griffin, Wes Wilson, Warren Dayton, Victor Moscoso, etc.

September, 1967

" Santana's Abraxas (album) cover "

by Mati Klarwein

Art of Forgeries

Art Forgery, the intent to deceive, usually for financial gain, by proffering an art object as representing something other than what it is. Art forgery has many subdivisions such as the deliberate imitation offered as an original;

• genuine old object that has been altered by partial repainting or reworking to give it greater value.
• early copies not initially intended to deceive but later passed off as originals.
• the pastiche made up of original parts that do not go together.
• workshop artifacts attributed to the master.

History of forgeries

NOTABLE FORGERS Throughout history art forgeries have been made whenever creative works have been considered valuable for a collection. The Romans copied Greek original sculptures, and many of the copies have at some time or other been considered originals. Today these copies are in museums, valued for what they are. Coins have been counterfeited since they were first minted by King Gyges of Lydia (died about 648 bc). Sometimes molds were made of originals and copies produced by castings. At other times original dies were used to strike an unauthorized issue. Various Byzantine emperors debased their coinage with base alloys—a form of deception—and coins were even produced in base metals and gilded to be passed off as solid gold. Jean de France, Duc de Berry, an art patron and coin collector, had modern copies made of old Dutch and French coins to fill in gaps in his collection. The Italian artists Giovanni Cavino and Pirro Ligorio were master coin counterfeiters of the 16th century. Even the great Michelangelo forged an “antique” marble cupid for his patron, Lorenzo de Medici. In the 18th century a forger produced a marble head of Julius Caesar that had been purchased by London's British Museum in 1818 as being authentic. Perhaps the most prolific production of art forgeries has occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries during periods of avid collecting, when profits for a successful deception have been enormous. The Louvre Museum in Paris bought its gold Tiara of Saïtaphernes for 200,000 gold francs and declared it a genuine work of the 3rd century bc, although it had been made in 1880 by the goldsmith Israel Ruchomovsky of Odesa, Russia. He was commissioned to execute a number of works in the antique manner by unscrupulous dealers, who then sold the objects as antiquities. The Italian artist Giovanni Bastianini, in the third quarter of the 19th century, executed in good faith a number of fine sculptures in the manner of Donatello, Verrocchio, Mino de Fiesole, and other Italian old masters, which were subsequently sold as genuine to—among others—the Louvre and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Perhaps the most famous master forger of all time was Alceo Dossena, who successfully produced sculptures of such high quality that they were accepted as genuine by many art critics, museum directors, and famous collectors. Apparently Dossena, a master artist, did not know he was defrauding a third party, as he merely supplied work in various styles—archaic, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, Gothic, and Renaissance. When he discovered that a Madonna and Child he had sold for 50,000 lire was in turn sold for 3 million lire, he stepped forward and proclaimed that the works were modern. Of almost equal notoriety is the story of Hans van Meegeren; he painted a number of fake Vermeers and Pieter de Hoochs that were accepted as genuine by eminent art critics and sold to important collectors and museums for fabulous sums. When he was accused of collaborating with the enemy in having sold, through an intermediary, Vermeer's The Woman Taken in Adultery to Hermann Göring during World War II, he was able to prove the “Vermeer” was by his own hand; van Meegeren was sent to prison for one year. In recent years skillful forgeries of paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and other modern masters have appeared. Often these are declared fake by art historians, frequently after a technical examination.

Forgeries

DETECTING FORGERIES By use of special illumination such as ultraviolet black light infrared photography, and X-ray radiographs, inconsistencies and changes in paintings may be detected. Instrumental analyses may reveal anachronisms in a work of art, and techniques such as carbon-14 dating, thermoluminescence dating, and dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) are all helpful in detecting forgeries in works of art. The dates when many pigments were introduced into the artist's palette are known; thus, if the 18th-century pigments Prussian blue and zinc white appear in a painting purported to be of an earlier date, then the work is obviously a forgery. Paint extending over an old crackle pattern may be evidence of repainting. Signatures are often changed by a forger; frequently, the binocular microscope is used to detect the alteration. Radiographs will reveal changes made by the original artist as well as those made on an old object by a forger. Pottery from archaeological sites is often “restored” from pieces that do not belong together by filing down edges of similar pieces from a second object. These, and fills of plaster or other materials, may show up in the X-ray. The best detector of a false work of art however, is the trained human eye. For example, a banker who is thoroughly familiar with printed currency can detect counterfeit money just by casual scrutiny, just as a fraudulent signature on a check is glaringly obvious when compared with a true signature. The detection of forgeries should be carried out jointly by art historians, art conservators, and scientists who have specialized in analysis of art and archaeological materials.

Works of Art

ART on Paper The conservation of works of art containing paper:

• watercolors
• drawings
• prints
• photographs
• posters
• documents
• books
• constructions
• collages
• sculpture

Presents special problems. Paper is fibrous material containing cellulose felted together in thin sheets. The cellulose can come from flax, cotton, jute, hemp, the inner bark of mulberry or other trees, and pulverized wood. The greater the amount of pure alpha cellulose present, the more permanent is the paper. Wood-pulp papers such as newsprint contain many impurities, which cause them to turn brown and become brittle and acidic. The paper conservator must analyze the types of fibers in a particular paper as well as diagnose the deterioration problems and treat them. Treatment may include :

• deacidification
• washing
• bleaching
• lining
• laminating
• matting
• removing old restoration
• providing proper storage or exhibition conditions.

Two-Dimensional Form

Graphic Arts, pictorial arts in two-dimensional form; in its most general application, graphic arts encompasses such forms as drawing, painting, prints, and photography. Specifically, the term is restricted to prints and, by extension, to artworks created for reproduction by a printing process. The term also includes the design and production of publications and commercial art.

• Advertising books
• Computer Graphics
• Drawing
• Illustration
• Lithography

History of Photography 20th Century

• Commercial Functions
• Posters
• Printing
• Printing Techniques
• Prints and Printmaking
• Xerography.

Sale Promotion

A point-of-sale display (POS) is a specialized form of sales promotion that is found near, on, or next to a checkout counter (the "point of sale"). They are intended to draw the customers' attention to products, which may be new products, or on special offer, and are also used to promote special events, e.g. seasonal or holiday-time sales. POS displays can include:

• shelf edging
• dummy packs
• display packs
• display stands
• mobiles, posters
• banners

Usually, in smaller retail outlets, POS displays are supplied by the manufacturer of the products, and also sited and restocked and maintained by one of their regular salesperson. This, however, is less common in large supermarkets as they can control the activities of their suppliers due to their large purchasing power, and prefer to use their own material designed to be consistent with their corporate theming and store layout.

Common items that may appear in POS displays year-round are:

• batteries
• soft drinks
• candy
• chewing gum
• magazines
• comics,
• tobacco
• writable CDs and DVDs.

These displays are also useful in outlets with limited floor space, as there tends to be much wasted space around counters. The displays are normally covered with branding for the product they are trying to sell, and are made out of cardboard or foamboard, and/or a covering over a plastic or Perspex/Plexiglass stand, all intended to be easily replaceable and disposable.

This allows designers to make full use of color and printing to make the display visually appealing. Some displays are fixed or non-disposable; these may include lighting to make the display more visible and may also contain a cooler, e.g. for drinks or ice cream. Some are no more than a metal basket, with no design on the outside, simply showing a price; these types of display are easier to refill.