2-D Design Tips: Painting Online with Artpad

Painting online and drawing online became possible with the development of the online sketch pad. Most illustrators and artists involved in painting online use art and design software to create art. Children can have fun with software such as Artpad for kids. Artpad allows children to create paintings without their parents having to worry about the mess afterwards.

Some artists prefer working on a computer to create art. While many artists do 2-d design and paint on canvas, not every illustrator who does a landscape painting, for example, will paint on canvas. Quite a few will make a painting that started as an online drawing, on a digital canvas such as Artpad.

Other good software that you can use to draw online and paint online is available on drawing communities all across the web. This software helps artists to implement ideas they have for 2-d design. Kids who draw online can share their drawings with their friends in online galleries and get them to comment on their work.

With Artpad, budding painters can select their paint brush using their mouse, and select the color and size of the brush. Children can replay their painting when they are finished and even select a frame to go with their painting.


Painting online still demands that artists know the basic elements of 2-d design, such as balance and contrast. Without using these basic elements of design, any drawing or painting, whether done online, on canvas or on some other material, will not be pleasing to the eye. By using a digital canvas, children can practice implementing the elements of 2-d design in their work.

How to Use Artpad

Drawings created by using an online sketch pad can be saved for further use by taking a screen capture of the image. On a computer that uses MS Windows, this can be done by pressing the print screen button. The original art image can then be pasted into your favorite graphics program.

Goanimate Character Creator - Free 3D Character Creator

The Goanimate Character Creator is a free 3D character creator. If you are interested in animation or in making movies, you can use this software online to make movies of your own. It simplifies the process of making movies by allowing you to easily create characters that you can use in your animated film.

Goanimate makes it possible for you to create a fairly interesting short film in 30 minutes or less. If you want to make movies quickly, this is the right tool for you. Best of all, it is absolutely free for you to use.

Easy Free 3D Character Creator
Many creative people want to make their own movies but don’t know where to start. Goanimate is easy to use. You don’t have to spend a lot of time figuring out where to put what or how to use your computer to build a movie from scratch. You already have all the tools you need.

The producers of the software have developed a tutorial section that is short and to the point. You can get the basics on how to start and be working with film in less than five minutes.

Increase Interaction on Your Website
Many people nowadays like movies. In fact, video is one of the things that will receive a lot of emphasis in 2013. People who own online companies or have a website realize that the people who visit their site like to have the option of watching a video.

The video can explain more than the text on the site does or focus on a related issue.You can make videos for this purpose. It is one of the ways to make your website more engaging.

Get Traffic to Your Site From YouTube
YouTube gets a lot of visitors each day. In fact, the site gets over 3 billion visitors per day. This is one of the reasons why many people who write online or have websites have experienced success with using YouTube as a source of traffic. Press statistics released by YouTube show that they get 800 million unique visitors each month.

A viral video that you create with a free 3D character creator can be used to increase your traffic. If you sell a product online, you can also draw attention to it with a YouTube video.

Source: “Press Statistics”, http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics

Digital Finger Painting: IPhone Brushes App for Artwork Available in the Apple Store for Free

Digital finger painting with the Brushes iPhone app has become popular as more people get access to the tools that they need for this pastime. Talented individuals have used their iPhones and iPads to create artwork that is appealing and is readily shared by those who view the pieces. Sites such as Pinterest have made it a lot easier to display these mobile arts creations online.

Many individuals who do finger painting on iPad and iPhone also tweet their work on Twitter or share the images on their FaceBook page. The brushes iPhone app can be used to create virtually any type of scenery or image. If you are interested in these Apple Store downloads, you can get them for free.

I recently looked at some artwork that was done by Matthew Watkins on an iPad mini as part of a collaboration with #OrangeDog. The digital painting utilized linear perspective and other techniques that made me want to try the tools on the device out for myself. The digital artist was able to blend the colors that he used really well.

Since the Brushes iPhone app was released, people have been painting with it while they are at home, or even in the supermarket. It is software that makes Apple devices much more powerful, when it comes to digital media. The software application was developed by Taptrix Inc. It is available in the Apple Store for free and works on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

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Goanimate Character Creator

Disclaimer: I did not receive sponsorship or payment for writing this review. This article is based on my opinion.

Fayum Encaustic Technique Used with Egyptian Mummies

Fayum encaustic work on Egyptian mummies is treasured by historians because it is an example of panel painting. There are not many examples of panel painting left.

This kind of Egyptian artwork was done to represent deceased persons and was attached to their mummies. The Fayum illustrations were typically created by using either encaustic wax techniques or egg tempera.

Encaustic Wax Techniques

Fayum Encaustic: Procedure
The wax in this type of encaustic work was applied in layers and the painting would have to be reheated every time a new layer was applied. This was done to bond the older layer to the newer one. The artists would have to work quickly, since wax does not take long to cool.

Pigments were added to it before it was applied. This made the paintings very vivid. Usually, both the pigments and the wax had to be hot when this was done. These Egyptian paintings were very brightly colored. Rosettaartist has done many pieces of work using this technique.

Fayum Encaustic Process in Egyptian Art

Encaustic Paintings on Mummies Mainly Done for the Rich in Egyptian Society
Rich patrons seemed to have been the ones who commissioned most of the paintings. The people who could afford them were members of the military, clergy and civil service. The individuals who did not form a part of the wealthy upper class were less likely to spend their money on these costly works.

Islamic Artwork in Tales of Hamza- The Adventures of Amir Hamza Paintings (Hamzanama)

The Tales of Hamza or Hamzanama is an anthology- a collection of stories which chronicle the adventures of Hamza. Each one of the stories is accompanied by beautiful illustrations.

Hamza was related to the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad was his uncle and for this reason, the tales are appreciated by Muslims all across the world.

Islamic Artwork

The Tales of Hamza are frequently called Hamzanama. They focus on Hamza, who was a colorful character and led an interesting life. Written work holds a special position in Islam, and for this reason, great calligraphers in Islamic countries were and still are highly respected.

A talented team of writers and illustrators worked to create the paintings in the Tales of Hamza. All of them were at the top of their game and were regarded as the best in their profession.

Tales of Hamza

The artists had unique challenges to deal with. For example, in the Islamic faith certain images cannot be used in the Koran. Books such as the Tales of Hamza gave the artists a certain amount of freedom to express their talent, that could not be found elsewhere.

A lot of money was spent on the work. Apart from the salaries of the artists, money was also spent to get the best brushes and pigments for them to use to create the scenes in the text.

The Tales of Hamza has more than 300 stories. In all, there are 360 accounts in the collection. Illustrating the whole text took more than a decade. The artists finished their work after 15 years and used very detailed illustrations for each tale.

All of the illustrations were done using watercolors. The artists may have benefited more by not rushing any part of the work, since they were paid by the month, not by the painting.