Collages on Canvas

Something that I've noticed recently is the growing popularity of people getting collages printed onto canvas. Rather then getting your digital all separately printed, picking out the ones you think work well together then trying to arrange them in a frame the simpler option is definitely canvas collage. With collages on canvas you can arrange the collage on photoshop, edit and sort out the images without the need to print, then simply send the collage image file in for printing and within a few days you have a ready to hang canvas collage. If you weren't familiar with photoshop or other image software or simply didn't have the time to go playing around with images then you could simply e-mail us on on the images with the style and size you would like and we will do all the work for you. To have a look at the styles and design cost fee just follow the link below:
http://www.usaoncanvas.com/include/canvas_photo_collages.php





The block style, example on the left, works great with merging images of a similar theme into the one print. The optional lines displays the images as seperate pieces preventing them from being lost amongst the crowd!













Another option is a blended collage which allows you to blend and overlay seperate images together creating one image rather then lots of images arranged together. This option works well when you want text incorporated into the image.

Collages on Canvas are definitely something to keep in mind. They make great gifts, come ready to hang and can be completed for you without you having to spend hours surrounded by images trying to figure out what to do with them!

Pinhole Photography

Pinhole Photography is basically photography without the use of a lens, it is a great way to experiment with photography. You can create pinhole photo's by making cameras out of tins and exposing directly onto photographic paper or if you lack the access to darkroom facilities you can use your SLR with the lens detached. For detailed information on how to create your own pinhole photographs follow the link below.
http://www.pinholephotography.org/links.htm

Below are some pinhole photographs that I really like.



Justin Quinnell - Pinhole photography taken from inside the mouth

Underwater Photography

All this summer heat has been making me crave a cooling swim in the sea. this in turn got me thinking about underwater photography so I started looking it up. I've always wanted to get underwater casing for my camera and seeing these images has convinced me that it would be a worth while investment. Not saying that I expect a lot from myself but the experimentation will be too fun to turn down!

When I was on-line I came across Dustin Humphrey and was blown away by his photographs. He manages to mix underwater still lifes with surfing to result in a surreal and enchanting effect.

Portrait Photography

I find something so fascinating about portrait photography, its as if through the these up close images you are getting to know the subject of the portrait without ever meeting them. Portrait photography has the ability to display the personality and even the mood of the subject. It can show the vulnerability of people as they are not able to hide from the camera lens.

One of my favorite portrait artists is Diane Arbus. Diane Arbus was an American photographer, known for her black and white square photographs, mainly portraits, of people on the outskirts of "normality". She was fascinated with the abnormal and would photograph anyone from a dwarf to a nudist, she would also go to Freak shows in search of her subject matter. Arbus believed that "there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them." She took portrait photography to a new level by exploring what society chose to ignore (examples below).





























Diane Arbus was before the digital age so she printed up all of her photographs in her darkroom, they weren't left in a file on a computer being forgotten. Although the digital age has been a blessing for photography, pushing it beyond what previously couldn't be dreamed of. I feel that it has also been a slight curse to photography, with all the mass production around us people have stopped treasuring photographs as they used to. This snap happy society documents every moment for the images just to become lost amongst the thousands on a hard-drive, I am the first to admit that I fall into this category.

We should start admiring the photo's we have. Go through your computer and re-discover the photographs you once loved. Get them printed and decorate your home with your own art. the popularity with printing on canvas is growing everyday, through this process you can turn your image files into a 3D piece ready to hang. For some ideas and to see how easy this process is visit our website on http://www.usaoncanvas.com/.

Silhouettes

With the sun out in full bloom in the summer, something that always catches my attention are shadows. They are so simple and ordinary yet can be so fascinating at times. Then the other day I noticed someones shadowed profile and i immediately began to think about Silhouettes and how something in its simplicity can be so dramatic.

Silhouettes have been used as an art form for centuries, originating in the 18th century and applied to portraits or other pictorial representations cut from thin black card. Jane Austen's Silhouette to the right. Silhouettes are still being used by modern day artists as a way for them to express themselves.


Sherrie Levine took mass-produced images, such as fashion models from magazines, and from them cut out silhouettes of the past presidents of the United States in order to challenge established ideas about originality and authorship. (image below on the left )

Kara Walker is another modern day artists who uses the original silhouette style of cutting the image out of black card to explore gender, race, sexuality and violence. Her cut-outs, which she attaches straight to the gallery walls at her exhibition, are so dramatic and powerful. She puts her audience in front of a black and whie wold displaying the harshness of racism. (image below on the right)


























With modern technology anyone can make a silhouette by taking a digital profile image and working with it a bit on photoshop:


You could create your own silhouettes in photoshop, get them printed up on canvas and have your own 18th century artwork decorating your home. To check out prices and some of our canvas options or simply to enquire about getting us to create a silhouette for you go to:
http://www.usaoncanvas.com/

Printmaking and It's Advances and Advantages

Printmaking is a process that allows an artist to easily produce and distribute their original work to the masses. It has changed and advanced greatly throughout the years. The processes have gotten easier to learn, faster to produce and far more accessible to the public.

In the beginning there were woodcuts and etchings created by the Old Masters such as Durer (woodcut on the right "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse") and Goya (Etching to the left "Los Caprichos").











This form of printing is a long process of preparation, in the case of the woodcut the process is loosely: designing your image, cutting into the wood, proofing the woodcut and lastly printing once you are satisfied with the finished product. You could spend days completing a compilcated print however once it is complete you can reproduce the work of art over and over. This reproduction of Art is an aspect that was not possible in the painting and sculpture world.







Throughout the years printing processes expanded and became easier and faster. Once the camera came into existence there was no stopping the growth and popularity of print. Now in the digital era the masses can become photographer/artists and there are almost no boundaries. Image can be distorted, blown -up, scaled down, merged with others and all within minutes! Not to mention how fast printers have become. You can even reproduce paintings by scanning and printing the image directly onto to canvas making it, in some cases, hard to tell which the original is.

Above is a reproduction of a painting achieved through Giclee on Canvas.

In my opinion Printmaking has introduced Art as a past-time to anyone who's interested as opposed to the elite.

Quick links:
Check out how you can create your own art, turning photographs into images on canvas, at http://www.canadaoncanvas.com/
Want to reproduce your own paintings or enlarge some old photograph's that require scanning? Visit http://www.canadaoncanvas.com/include/artwork_scanning.php

Wedding Photographers: Capturing Your Clients' Special Day on Canvas

A canvas print is a unique way to preserve the memories from a very special day in a couple's life.

When wedding photographers sell prints to their clients, it's now quite easy to offer them prints in a medium other than the usual photographic fine art print: Giclees on Canvas.

A stretched canvas print has a different kind of presence than a framed image. It creates an image that stands out from the wall and demands to be observed. With no need to frame and the Canvas's produced ready-to-hang, giclee on canvas is a easy way to turn images into works of Art.

Many of the orders we receive here at www.CanadaOnCanvas.com are of Wedding photographs. The orders differ immensely from large scale prints of the bride and groom, collages of moments throughout the day, group photographs of the bridal party to symbolic images celebrating their joyous day.

We also provide free shipping for orders over $99 to all of Canada and USA. To get an idea of our prices please follow the link to our canvas price calculator: http://www.canadaoncanvas.com/include/prices.php