Selecting Artist or Student Quality Materials for Your Handmade Birthday Cards

This is a very common question for artists. All of the types of paint are available in an artist and a student quality (for the beginner or amateur artist). Artist quality uses natural pigment and student quality is synthetic. In many cases, the colours will appear exactly the same and will perform in the same way. However, there are a number of differences to bear in mind when touching up your birthday cards. Pigments – Many pigments are expensive and so for the student ranges, alternatives, which can give a similar color, will be available and used on many birthday cards. You can see this when you compare tubes of ‘Cadmium Yellow’ and ‘Cadmium Yellow Hue’. Any tube labeled with the word ‘hue’ will be using a cheaper pigment, which will give a similar effect.

Brushes broadly break down into two types; soft brushes (such as nylon and sable) and hard bristles (such as hog). A general rule of thumb is for water colours, you would use a soft brush and for oils, you would use a hard brush. For acrylics you can use either. There are many exceptions to this rule – if you want to create a specific effect on your birthday cards, then you can use the brush you find does that perfectly for you. Shape is another important aspect of a brush. Round brushes carry a lot of paint and can be used to create detail and broad areas of colour. Flat brushes are excellent for laying down flat, even areas or washes. There are unusual shapes such as the long ‘rigger’ brush, which is used for fine detail, branches and similar work and the ‘fan’ brush, which is excellent for blending colours and creating cloud effects onto your hand finished birthday cards. Brushes are available in a range of qualities similar to those found in paint ranges.

A top-of-the-range artist’s brush will have a longer life and carry more colour than the one designed for student use. It is always important to check whether the brush you want to use will be affected by the painting medium and consequently affect the quality of your birthday cards. Whichever materials are used by artists, whether it be student or professional types there can be amazing things produced, particularly for special birthdays, which can be given to special individuals and loved ones. Hand finished art is especially perfect for the most special occasions, although that doesn’t mean it can’t be used for other occasions which may not seem as special as the others. Keep painting and keep improving the materials and tools that you are working with, as it stands you in good stead for the future in having the ability to create impressive pieces of art work. One company which offers impressive birthday cards is Cardly.co.uk. You can choose from hundreds of designs and all of them are of artist quality. So head on down and make your decision. This is the other option to making your own handmade birthday cards.

Mark Adams - About Author:
Mark is an experienced writer, while at the same time having a strong knowledge within the arts and crafts industry. He currently spends most of his time writing about handmade birthday cards for an online web store called www.cardly.co.uk.

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