Painting Your Brick and Mortar Fireplace - An Excellent Idea to Improve Aesthetics

If you have a brick and mortar fireplace in your house, then you should pay special attention to its painting. This is because choosing the right color for the fireplace can convert your ordinary looking leaving room into a majestic and regal room. Most of us make the mistake of choosing the same color as that of the room. Instead, we should check out contrasting colors.

You should also consider leaving the brick fireplace unpainted. However, one of the biggest disadvantages of such an approach is that the fireplace starts looking dirty and shabby very quickly.

Damaged breaks start coming off and the entire structure looks as if it may fall at any moment. On the other hand, a well painted fireplace always looks better. You can opt for ash color for the fireplace so that it looks as if it has been built using ash colored bricks.

This will help you retain the original cement color of the fireplace without any scope for your house to look shabby. The next time when you paint your house, make sure you log on to the World Wide Web for painting tips. Choosing the right contrasting color will not be very expensive.

This is because the standard fireplace fitted into the wall does not occupy lot of space. If you find it too expensive, you always have the option of doing it at yourself. In any case, do not treat it like any other part of your house. Instead, make it a point to give special attention at all times.

Portrait Painting - The Zenith of Excellence in Painting

Portrait - The concept
A portrait is an artwork (painting, sculpture, photograph) focusing on the face or expression of a person, a group of people, or an animal. It involves a subject, an artist, and an audience.

The Types
Explaining its subject's personality, appearance, and even moods, portraits have the following types:
o Two-dimensional portrait painting
o Self-Portrait - Artist covering self
o Portrait photography
o Three dimensional portrait sculptures

The History
The earliest of portraits were those of the funerals of the Fayum district, Egypt. Soon, Greek inspired Roman sculpturing started gaining ground. By the 4th century, the real portrayal took up the swing. The Moche Civilization (100-800) of Peru was one of the oldest to indulge in portraiture. The paintings capturing kings from the early medieval period (5th-10th centuries) often did not portray their actual appearance. The historical, political, and societal context in which the ruler wanted himself to be viewed was the image portrayed, rather than the reality. Late Medieval (1300-1499) portraits are also quite 'visually' remarkable because of their composite emblematic content. The arrangement of the subject, the background images, and objects in the picture, all hinted deep connotation.

The Artists & the Artworks
The world's oldest (27,000 years) known portrait was found in 2006 in Vilhonneur grotto near Angoulême, France. The later artists were:
o Andrea del Sarto (1486 - 1531) - This Italian painter, known for intense character portrayals in his works, would play with colors, light, and shade to evoke the complicated informality and the expected expressions. His famous artworks are 'Portrait of the Artist's Wife' (Lucrezia di Baccio del Fede, the artist's wife, 1513-14), 'Madonna of the Harpies' (1517), and 'the Portrait of a Young Man' (1517).
o Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) - Rembrandt van Rijn was a Dutch painter known for his heretical use of lighting, upsetting eroticism, murky backdrops, and illumination for a three-dimensional look. 'A Bearded man in a Cap' (Late 1650s), 'An elderly Man as Saint Paul' (1659), and 'Self Portrait Open-Mouthed' (1630) are some of the key works of the artist.
o Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) - One of the best-known and controversial portraits in the Western world is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa (1503-06), the painting of an anonymous woman. One of the most celebrated portrait artists, Leonardo was an ultimate genius. A painter, engineer, sculptor, architect, draughtsman, anatomist, astronomer, physicist, observer of life, and a great thinker, this mastermind successfully brought science and art together. 'The Last Supper' (1495-98), 'Portrait of Ginevra de Benci' (1474), and 'The Virgin of the Rocks' (1482-86) were some of his most famous works.

Painting Business - More Tips For Your Paint Job Estimating

What two things are needed to make an estimate? Answer: Time X Dollars.

Time is the job of the estimator; whereas, Dollars are your hourly rate. We get the time for a job from the historical records that we build up. The hourly rate is calculated from your overhead. Notice to all painters in caps, your hourly rate has nothing at all to do with the "going rate", whatever that is perceived to be at any given moment.

Oh yeah, paint. Paint on none of my jobs ever comes to more than 12 to 15%. So why does the homeowner get all excited about maybe saving a penny, if they buy the paint? Probably because painters want the client to think paint is a big part of the estimate. If the customer saves 10% it would be a lot; but, 10% of 12% is not much, and it can lead to headaches if you run out of paint. That's why I talk customers out of buying the paint. The first part of the process is to measure surface, and for estimating use the paint manufacturer's coverage rate with some tweaking should work for the estimate.

One thing is certain, I am glad that I liked geometry in high school. Knowing basic geometry makes the job of estimating paint jobs very easy. Square footage is length x width. Gables might look tricky but they are not at all. Draw a line down the middle of the gable and you have two right triangles (meaning) if you join them they make a rectangle. Rectangles are L X W. How do you know the height of a gable if it is too high to measure? If it is a clapboard house, we can count the clapboards, and add them up after measuring one board.

In two of our biggest items, wallpaper stripping and removing old paint on a house, we used to only do as Time and Material, we only estimate by giving a firm number. We have found that T&M is dangerous for several reasons. Although the client believes that T&M is safe, I have been in too many situations where the client was not prepared even after telling our shop rate and possible materials. And we ended up getting stuck with a client refusing to pay; because, they just weren't ready for "that big" of an amount. We rely and update our historical figures on this type of work. A firm quote will either get you the job or not; but, it won't let you finish the work and then have to negotiate for your pay.

Unit estimating or counting units is probably the fastest and most accurate method for determining an estimate. What this method does is to assign a value to a "unit". Most systems using this method will count doors, windows, cabinets, and shelving units all at the same value. If you choose the right dollar figure you are safe and fast.

There are hundreds of ways to estimate a job. We have tried a lot of them. They mostly all work, some faster than others. The fastest is the WAG method, we don't subscribe to this method, otherwise known as the Wild *** Guess Method.

Face Painting Business Tip 1 - The First Impression, You Only Get One Chance to Make It

What is it that separates a Premium Face Painting Business from the average Face Painter?

Please forgive me - I started out as a volunteer mother Kindergarten Fete Face Painter! I think that it's often us very same mother's that then go on to create, develop and establish our artistic abilities, our passions - and end up having highly regarded and successful businesses.

The following are merely my own suggestions - this is what I find works very well Nevertheless, based on my own research and feedback; it is also part of what keeps a high profile business going.

Setting up a Face Painting Business can be initially expensive, but compromising on some of these basics may end up costing your business more money in the long run. I will be writing a series of seven tips that will serve you well.

Milana's 1st tip - The First Impression - make it a good one!

• Greet the client/contact person by name with a smile. Even if it is a gig you may have done many times before, the client is still the person who pays you, and you should always aim to make sure they know you have arrived.

• Be punctual. Allow for parking, traffic, set up, etc. It is always better to be earlier rather than later. You may think that the client hasn't noticed you slipped into a large event 10 minutes late, but believe me, they do.

• Presentation - invest in 1 good quality costume or outfit that speaks "professional" all over it. From top to toe. Keep your costume maintained and clean. We always have uniformed costumes for 2 or more performers at the same event. If you can't do this, then try and colour coordinate multiple performers using t shirts and caps. It looks great!

• Set up your table to match the theme or event. A brightly coloured coordinated table cover to the ground looks professional and neat. It is also a great way to store any of your extra gear away nice and tidy.

• Paints, cloths, sponges, brushes, etc should be clean and presented neatly and professionally on your table in your set up. (I know this is rarely the case at the end of a booking

ï• Value your face painting craft. When people see that you take pride in your face painting, it sets you apart from other Face Painters. I speak to everyone with utmost courtesy and respect. I am a huge "smiler", and people notice! However, I do not allow people to belittle or speak rudely to me on my jobs. I expect people to treat me with the same courtesy I show them. I never paint an unwilling child. I explain courteously, that as a professional face painter I want children to love the experience, not be frightened by it. I offer a hand or arm painting to gently ease them into it.

• No smoking - this may seem like a basic one, but if you are a smoker - remember that while you may think you have covered all of the "smoking smells"; non-smokers can really smell it. Try and limit the smoking to before and after the face painting event, not during. Even if you are taking a designated break, it can make the difference to a client re-hiring you again. I have personally spoken to clients who have asked to only send non smoking performers/artists to an event.

• Cover tattoos. Once again, this may be basic, but uncovered tattoos can detract to the professional impression you are trying to achieve. Paint over them, or cover with an armband. (A nice sparkly headband is great for covering armband tattoos.) Remember, while there is nothing wrong with tattoos, your corporate client might not like it, and in the end you want to keep him/her happy.

• Before and after any face painting job is equally as important as the actual event. Higher profile clients like to deal with professional people. Keep your paperwork up to date. Send out booking confirmations straight away upon your bookings being made. Contact clients 1 or 2 days before the event to confirm. If you say you will phone a client back, make sure you do. Be CLEAR with your choice of payment options. Expect prompt payment. Remember you will get what you expect. Make a follow up call to thank the client for the business and ask for any feedback. This is especially good to ensure quality control if you have performers working for you in several locations. Be courteous and professional in all business correspondence - email, personally, or via phone.

Face Painting Ideas Kids Love

You're going to need some good face painting ideas if you want the kids to have the best possible time.  Don't worry, though.  It isn't hard to come up with winning ideas that will work even for those who are just learning how to face paint.  Let's look at some great ways to come up with easy face painting designs.

If you have a knack for coming up with your own drawings and have a little bit of time, you can generate a great set of face painting designs that will be the hit of any party.  Just think about what the kids you'll be seeing are really into.  Take a moment to consider popular television shows, toys and books, for instance.  These will undoubtedly spur your imagination. 

You don't need to be a great artist to pull this off, either.  I saw a face painter scoring big points with kids at one event by doing Harry Potter-inspired paintings.  No, she wasn't carefully free-handing wizards and monsters.  Instead, she was doing simple, fun related designs like magic wands and wizard caps.  They were easy to paint and the kids loved them.

Another great idea is to think about sports teams the kids follow and the mascots that represent their schools.  If you can do a fast football helmet featuring the logo of the most popular local team, you can rest assured that you'll be a hit with the kids.  If you can do a passable rendition of a school mascot, it will probably be one of the event's most popular designs.

Not everyone has the skills or time to come up with their own face painting ideas, though.  That's okay.  Face painting is supposed to be fun, not a struggle.  You can pick up hundreds of great face painting ideas from watching others or by returning to the very resources you used to learn the basic face painting.  Most of the better instructional guides for beginning face painters include dozens of simple and effective designs that you can use very effectively.

The Best Car Spray Painting Techniques and the Use of Spray Guns

When you are spray painting, don't be timid. You can bet you are going to get some runs and if you don't wet the panel adequately then its going to show like a dry look with a lot of pitting pattern. If the run happens to be during the clear coat application you can usually repair that once it cures. You will be able to sand out the run and recoat the panel. Don't fall into the trap of cover-up. Meaning you load on more material to try to cover up the mistake. It just does not work.

If you follow the instructions, at least your application problems won't be as a result of not enough flash time. What happens in this case is as the application is curing the solvents in the material evaporate. If you add another coat before this has fully taken place then the material is going to flow. Do yourself a favor and always add for a little extra curing time. You can save yourself a lot of work and headaches by doing this. If the car isn't exposed to, even drying time such as what happens in cross flow spray booths then the colder side tends to run.

Finally, you get the perfect application and then a fly comes along and lands in your material. Don't panic. Use a pair of tweezers carefully to remove it. Hopefully there will just be a slight imperfection that you will able to sand then polish. Worst comes to worst you will end up respraying the panel.

Some common questions when it comes to spray painting techniques are as follows.

Is the wide pattern technique the best?
If you are using the clear materials, you can use the wide patter, but pay attention to what you are doing. You could end up with some really obvious bad patterns. The perfect spray pattern has to be perfectly even from top to bottom. The other thing you need to consider and will have to contend with is the over spray that occurs when the gun is wide open.

I have a HVLP spray gun Can I use any technique I want?
You cannot use a regular technique with this spray gun because its give out 10 psi at the cap as opposed to the 50psi in the conventional guns. This means the distance will not be as great with the HVLP gun that means you must be closer to the paint surface. For the convention guns, the standard distance is 8inches whereas with the HVLP it should be between two to four inches.

Will I be able to get as much speed with the HVLP?
Standard guns efficiency for transfer is about 25-30% whereas with the HVLP it's about 65%. So needless to say, the gun excels in this department. You have to remember though that the closer you are spraying to the target surface the faster your stroke. As you extend your distance, you can reduce your stroke. With the HVLP, your target distance is 2-4 inches.