After something a little different from your art? If your looking to create a center piece to complete an interior, why not consider a multi panel image? Triptychs are the most popular, but not your only option.
So what is a triptych or multi panel image? Well, triptychs are 3 canvas prints with one image covering all 3. When aliened correctly they will form 1 perfect image. Multi panel images are the same, but spread over a variety of panels. We sell basic 2 panel images (Diptych), 3 panel (triptych), quad panel, 5 panel, 6 panel and even 9 panel! The artwork is re-designed specifically for multi panel prints. We overlap the artwork, so when the prints are wrapped to the frame, you'll be left with a seamless image. Then all you need to do is hang them with a 1"-2" gap between each print and you'll have your own stunning piece of wall art.
Able to cover a large are with minimal cost, multi panel canvas art is not only effective, but also stunning to look at. We don't believe in sticking with the norm either, so as well as seeing some standard triptych prints (all three panels are the same size and orientation) you'll also find some prints using different sized panels to form one image. Hanging these specially configured prints is easy & painless when you go for 3M's ingenious "Command Strip" No holes needed in your wall, just stick your art up to the hooks. When you want to change your art or the position, just pull the strips off, leaving not as much as a mark on your wall. Check out our informative article on how to hang your canvas for more, and no, we do not have shares in 3M as many people have implied.. ;)
Seen one of our images you really like but want it as a multi panel print? No problem, give our studio a call and speak to one of our in house designers. Likewise, if your commissioning us to produce a pop art or custom canvas, we can cut and splice your image to make it into a multi panel image.
I spoke with Andy Harper, from WHoArtNow, producers of bespoke modern art for some tips and advice:-
What would you advise someone to do if they were looking to promote and sell their art?
Well first thing to do is get a website to showcase your art, a CV of what you can do. I get 20 emails a week from artists and designers who are looking to do business and it amazes me some of them don't have a web page of sorts. If there's a website, I'll always have a look, you never know what you might be missing out on!
Does it matter if its not a website but a portfolio site?
No it doesn't have to be your own website. I'm an active member on DeviantART and FlickR so even if we don't do business, you might find me becoming your friend so I can keep track of your art. I might be a businessman, but my love is still for the art.
Can anyone sell their artwork?
In theory yes, I do think you need to get some feedback off people before you start approaching companies. Plus, look at your work from the point of view of business, is it commercial enough? I see a lot of very good art, but only about 5% of it would be commercially viable enough for our site. Be positive about your work, but accept criticism well. The companies you'd be looking at contacting are busy places, and sometimes emails can slip through the cracks, so follow up with them by phone. Don't over do it though, leave it a week first.
Any other tips?
Yeah, agencies can be brilliant. I worked for Saatchi and Saatchi in London a few years ago and remember seeing these massive files of people's art. They'd be sent in on the hope of getting work, and if they liked your style, they'd keep a record of you. When they got new contracts they'd flick through the files to see if anyone fitted certain criteria and then they'd give them a call.
Conclusion
Art is everywhere these days. Art which once would have been refereed to as non-commercial is now becoming over commercial. Working in the art industry is great, finding new and unheard of artists gives me such a buzz. I love the strange and bizarre art, something which will blow my mind is always good. The thing is, without all the people out there creating this art, marketing this art, I would never find any of it.
Treat your art and your talent as your product. In this world of the Internet, everything is a business, so treat it like one. Never take rejection personally. Have faith, and some confidence. Be patient. The more you put into your art and marketing your art, the more you will get out of it. Most importantly though, love you art, and have fun with your art.
As well as our ever growing canvas art section, we recently launched our new metal and perspex art range to great success and we've been busy spraying ever since. We do however keep getting questions about the best way to hang these hand crafted pieces of art on the wall. To make things as easy as possible for you to hang your new artwork, we've pre-drilled the metal and the perspex with 4 holes, 1 for each corner. Each hole is drilled exactly 1" from either edge. Using these holes, we supply 4 'stand off bolts' to mount the art to the wall.
So what do you need to do? Well, as well as the stand off bolts, you also get 4 screws and 4 raw plugs. You need to drill four holes in the wall, attach the mount bolt base using the screw. Line up the four holes and screw in the end cap. For the metal art (62cm x 55cm) the internal measurements (central point of each hole) measures 58cm x 50.5cm. This is what it should be, but we recommend that you always measure each other the lengths yourself.
The stand off bolts we supply are satin silver 20mm bolts. They have a perfect 20mm gap to the wall so that you have the choice to mount a light source behind the art to really draw attention to it. If you like the look of the metal and perspex art, but not sure of the current artwork? Why not contact us with any ideas you might have? You can also leave us a note over at our Facebook page! We're working hard on new artwork which we should have up over the summer.
Here at the WHoArtNow studios we are constantly coming up with new ideas and products for your home and office spaces. At the moment we're doing some product testing on some interesting new forms of artwork just for you. Adding to our new range of framed prints, we're looking into adding a full range of Vinyl wall stickers, as well as metal and perspex stencil art.
So what exactly is a vinyl wall sticker? Well the name gives it away really, it's a sticker for your wall made from vinyl. The vinyl can be a single block colour, or printed on before being cut. You apply them to walls, windows, tiles, pretty much anything really.
The vinyl we're looking at using is of the highest quality. We will use two types of vinyl. For the block single colour stickers, we will use a 7 yr pre coloured vinyl. The 7 yr is how long the vinyl is guaranteed for if use outside. If you use it inside this should be much much higher as no UV will affect colour. For the printed stickers, we will be using a 4 yr matt vinyl. Again this figure is quoted for external use. Internal use should be much higher (10-15yrs) as we will be using the same UV resistant inks that we use to guarantee our canvas prints for 75yrs!
So what sort of art are we working on? All sorts, if you take a look through our ranges of canvas art, you'll see we have an eclectic taste in art. Initially we started with just stencil art styles, before looking into some pop art and cult styles. Floral will play a part, as well as an up and coming kids range.
Some people will be looking at these stickers wondering how hard they are to put up. Although they look complex, they are not as hard as you think. The vinyl stickers will be shipped with 'application paper' already in place, and we'll provide a 'squeegee' to apply it. We'll go into more detail about applying the stickers in a video when the range is launched, but fear not, as from our experimenting, we've found it relatively easy, and well worth it for the finished art.
We're still searching through supplies for the best vinyl at the best price to keep the price as low as we can. At the moment, WHoArtNow is finishing off the range which we hope to launch within the next 4 - 8 weeks. If you like the look and want more information or news, subscribe to our Art Blog and we'll keep you updated. Also feel free to check out our Wall Sticker brochure.
We have been busy beavering away over the last few months working on lots of exciting new ranges of art. We've got the Wall Stickers, as well as the much anticipated range by international artist, BOYD.
So the Metal art has landed after over a year of developing. Part of the successful Plastic Art range that we started this time last year, we are following on with iconic images hand stencilled on high quality stainless steel. The high quality steel is rust proof, and with a coating of clear lacquer, we're able to offer these pieces of hand made art as external art work as well as internal. Mounting the metal on the wall, we are using stand-off bolts to set it 20-40mm off the wall. This means that it has a rock-solid mounting & gives it a slick, contemporary look.
Making a great addition to any interior, we also believe these pieces would look amazing in a garden or courtyard. These exclusive designs are hand-produced, sealed with lacquer and finished with the usual WHoArtNow seal of approval.
To kick the range off, we are launching a range of 12 images, from the Daft Punk, Slash and Darth Vadar you see here, we'll also be adding Scarface, Oasis and R2D2. More will be coming, and as you may have noticed, most of these are unique pieces of art exclusively for out new Metal Art range. If you have any suggestions for some metal art, why not leave us a suggestion in the comments? There going to be available in 1 size, 62cm by 55cm (24.5" x 21.5") but we hope to offer a selection of sizes for various budgets shortly. The starting price for the 62x55 is going to be £99 (with £11.95 P&P) and that will become our "medium" size.
Sadly these photos don't do the metal art justice. The brushed stainless steel finish looks amazing in the flesh. The black contrasts really well with the soft, yet reflective metal to create a truly stunning piece of modern art.
There is also the possibility of custom "photo2metal" becoming available later in the year depending on demand.
Also watch out for some "exclusive" Metal Art from our resident Stencil Artist Frazier Boyd who's done such a good job on our canvas prints that we're getting him to do more!
Are you on Facebook? If so, why not become out fan? Once you've done that, you can enter our competition to win one of these exclusive pieces of Metal art. All you need to do is answer one simple question. We've opened this competition up to everyone in the world! As long as people outside of Mainland UK understand that a small charge will need to be made to enter. (Roughly £6 Europe and £15 for USA) Good luck!
Last month, The Queen made a stop off in our home town of Leicester to tour some of our newest buildings. Six years since she last paid visit to the country, her Royal Highness came a visit some of Leicesters latest creations - the Highcross Shopping Centre, The Curve theatre and a new Leicester University building. Arriving by her royal carriage in Leicester's London Road, the visit took her past our HQ a few minutes up the road.
At WHoArtNow however, we were most interested in her stop, and official opening of the Leicester Grammar School Complex just outside the city Centre.
Back in the summer of 2008, the headmaster of LGScontacted us with a brief. In moving from their city centre location to a new purpose built site meant they would be losing a lot of their history. We were commissioned to photograph some of the older historic parts of LGS, and produce some Canvas Art to hang in the reception.
As you can see from the image (right) the finished product looked fantastic hanging over the gap. The head master and all of the staff were very happy with the quality of the art work. Sadly though, we could not get a comment from the Queen or Prince Phillip!
Here at WHoArtNow we are always designing now artwork to add to our catalogue. Now were into 2009 we've launched framed art.
Taking some of our most popular images, we print them on Hahnemuhle textured 320gsm Acid Free Archive Museum paper which is one of the highest quality paper available. Many regard this as the best printing paper you can buy today.
To launch this range, we've chosen 3 frames that best suit our current style. The Gold Leaf Fame (see right) is the over the top frame. It's bold and ornate and works perfectly with out 2009 Interior Trend Prediction Timeless Curve. These frames are made from Fir-Wood with a Red-wood face and a MDF backing.
Next up is the Matt Black frame. This is the generic black faced MDF backed frame. It might be popular but that's only because of just how many different styles of artwork work in this frame.
The black frame is a solid 2" wide all the way round, Images come with a range of border sizes depending on the base colours of the images. The Manga image (left) is a dark image so has a small white border.
The Matt Black Frame works well in Timeless Curve, but can also work with Let's Play depending on your choice of colours. It's worth noting that the black frame does not work with all colours, browns clash.
Last but by no means least is the Solid Oak Frame. This 2" wide solid oak frame has no MDF backing, it's the real deal. Each frame is unique because of differences in grain, and of course knots!
This classic frame works well with organic images, especially photographs. Designing an interior around our 2009 Interior Trend Homemade? Well this is the frame for you as you can see by the sunflower photo (right)
All frames use real glass to help keep your image from UV fade and to help with keeping it looking clean.
At present, we have a small selection of our artwork in the Framed Art Prints section, this will grow over time. If you like an image off the website, but you don't see it in the framed section, give us a call and we'd be happy to print and frame any image. We are also accepting custom image commissions for framed art.
Continuing the article on selling your art, comes the third part in this series. Outlining briefly some of the v2.0 websites that as an artist, you can utilise to get your art out there to achieve notoriety, and even earn you some dollar.
DeviantART is one of the biggest websites on the Internet, they've been going for a little over 8 years and as you maybe able to tell from their name, They specialise in art. Early on in 2008 they rocketed past the 50 Million deviation mark!(currently (October 2008) stand at a little over 66 Million) They regularly receive more than 20 Million Unique visitors each month and have over 7 million registered members. They often appear in Alexa top 100 websites for traffic and more importantly, reach between 0.5% and 1% of ALL Internet users! With traffic like that you can't afford to NOT have an account, after all, its free!
DeviantART also features a Print Shop where you can buy and sell art from the other users. Its a great feature of the site because it gives you an idea of how popular your art may become. The basic print shop account is free with a premium service on offer for a small fee. You do however get a wide range of media to sell on. Canvas prints, glossy photos and matte prints are all available and you can sell your art on any or all of them.
A premium Print account cost $30 (£15) for a year which may seem a lot, but you can make a lot more money. After base costs, you then take 50% of what's left for yourself.
Below is an example of the difference between a standard account and a premium print account.
You can't deny there is a huge difference in the amount you earn. There are other advantages to using the premium account, larger upload image for larger files, 3 months DeviantART subscription and the option to buy your own artwork at base costs make it an even better deal. Be cautious though, don't jump straight in with a premium account, start off with the standard account, make some friends, get some fans and watchers and when you get some sales invest in the premium account.
The Saatchi gallery is one of the largest websites in the world (October 22nd 13:22 pm GMT – last 24 hours – 72,648,783 – Alexa ranked number 232) Even though its a .co.uk site, its open to all and its also free and very simple to use. There's no way of making money off the site, but its a great place to have an on-line portfolio especially with those kind of traffic figures. There's some very well known artists on there, as well as a large following of students who are trying to get some constructive criticism on their projects.
This is another well known art and photography site. Originally designed to share photos around the world. Like the Saatchi Gallery, you can't sell through Flickr, but you can use it as a portfolio site or as an addition to a DeviantART account or your own web page or blog.
There are some great features including a slide show box you can mount on your own sight or blog. This allows the user to interact and scroll through your images easily, without taking up to much room. Flickr, like DeviantART gets on average 20 Million unique views a month so there's plenty of people out there to find your art, appreciate it and hopefully buy it!
One of the most well known websites in the world. You can of course sell anything (within reason) on Ebay, its simple to set up and you may already have an account so selling could be really easy! There are of course drawbacks with Ebay.
Its not an art based site, this means that searching 'ART' in Ebay, you end up with over 400,000 individual auctions and obviously your art will get lost in there! You can attract people with more defined and specific key words, but that's a lot of art (and after spending 3 minutes looking, I do use that term "Art" loosely!) There's nothing against selling on Ebay, but if you plan to take this route, set up a portfolio site first, get some fans and find out if anyone would be interested in buying your work. If you get a strong "yes" from your fans, post the auction and let them know about it. If you have people who already know your work looking, the price could go up more than you thought.
This site is great if you already have a lot of one off canvas art work that you want to sell.Use the money from any sale to invest in your own site or more materials and supplies for any future products. You need to treat your art as a business and more often than not, most of the money in a new business goes straight back into the company to help it grow.
So we've got another range for 2009, squeezed in at the end of 2008. This one is set to be hot for 2009,Oriental Sweetnessis all about Eastern Inspired Art, Oriental themed decor & artwork. The full range of Oriental Art can seen here and also check out our Interior Design Trend that we produced earlier this year.
"Oriental Sweetness" is exactly what is says it is, Asian & Oriental influences, delicately combined to form a killer Eastern inspired Interior. Vintage floral Japanese textiles are key here, forming striking, yet subtle clean & simple shapes. The colour palette for Oriental Sweetness is all about strong vibrant colours like burgundy, deep reds and moody purples (see the striking Black Leaf Rose, left) which you can contrast with brighter tones for accents colours. Base colours can be made up from deep earthy colours. Remember, Bold is beautiful. As your colour base, we recommend off-whites to give a majority cover and some clean contrasting lines.
Oriental and Japanese floral designs have always been orientated around very minimal block colours and flat earthy tones to give a bold, simplistic image. In fact, Oriental art with it's minimal approach could be compared to Pop art, but centuries earlier. Simple shapes are the key focal point to a design, no detail is necessary with this simple yet very elegant & understated style. Stand out canvas art will also add a level of personal input. But think carefully about what you want.
Don't be shy here - accessorise with some really bold primary colours & try sourcing some interesting oriental side pieces. You might also consider some subtle metallic's. Chrome light switches and plug sockets highlight the subtle tones of whites and blacks. There are no limits to what you can do! If you want Oriental Decors, we recommend Recreated home furnishings made from Vintage Japanese Floral Textiles. You could also try certain Auction Sites for Oriental room accessories. For the ultimate, and if you fancy splashing out, we would recommend some reclaimed teak Chinese furniture. Vintage reclaimed Chinese furniture is big at the minute, watch it's emergence in 2009, we recon it's going to get bigger.
So, onto the art now.. Traditional Japanese colours are prevalent here. You are looking at stark primary colours - bold blues and brash reds - contrasted with earthy and textured backgrounds - Check the "Trad Japanese" Print (left) and Japanese Blossom (above) for the more authentic Oriental art.For more soft and delicate Oriental art, check the Oriental Sweetness beautiful brushed strokes and pastel tones, you might also want to check Eastern Stamens (right) for some classic floral art with vibrant almost citrus colours, with an Eastern twist.
Over the last 4 years at WHoArtNow we've really pushed Japanese Art in particular, seeing a niche market, but for 2009 we believe its only going to get more popular. Watch this space for more, 2009 is only around the corner now.. Feel free to subscribe to this news blog and as usual, hit us up if you would like any bespoke artwork or you have any briefs for us to work to.
As a bit of a pre-launch to my new range with WHoArtNow (it is coming soon, just fine tuning everything) I thought I'd tell you about some of my work, being exhibited in the public domain.
I've got a some exhibitions cracking off at the in London next weekend, 4th, 5th and 6th December. The Venue is the Shoreditch Town Hall, the exhibition is by the East End Arts crew, and called One Ton Show. The work will be based around the theme of 'London Lyrics'.
I've Also got a Solo Exhibition up at Alley in Nottingham. It's a quality, intimate venue, & I've got some framed prints, in the gold Stately frames, and a selection of BOYD originals too, all produced on canvas. The concept behind the artwork is to try and replicate and re-create what I've been doing on the streets lately and putting it on canvas, so it's all about working into loads of multiple layers of texture, and scratching back into them to create a rough, worn and weathered style..
If you fancy popped down, Alley is a great little Vegan Cafe Bar in Nottingham. Check it out, as the Exhibition is drawing to a close now, been up since October.. So if you want to check it, get down to Cannon Court, LongRow West, Nottingham/// 01159551013 for more info.
Peace out, and I'll be in touch soon, with a new range of exclusive framed prints and canvas art.
Being an on-line E-tailer specialising in canvas art, we are regularly contacted by artists and designers interested in selling their art and images. Some are interested in selling one off pictures,whilst others are interested in selling the image rights of their art for re-production purposes. Depending on a deal you can make with an on-line E-tailer, this second option is often the most lucrative.
When approaching a company, act professional. Either email or call them to enquire weather they accept outside artwork. If you intend on emailing them, introduce yourself including a short bio about you and your art. Most say you should add in any training you have in art, but personally I don't look for training, some of the best artists I've met have none or little, there just naturally gifted or hard working! Always include a link to your on-line portfolio or website so the company can see your artwork, if they respond you can at least hope for some compliments or constructive criticism. Under no circumstances must you mention money in the original contact and if your art may be offensive in any way (e.g. nudes or political motivated art) mention this in the email before the link to your site. Some companies won't sell certain so as to not offend potential customers.
So what kind of deal might you expect to get? It all depends on the company involved, and the profit margins on the products and images. Some will offer to buy images out right for a fixed fee (e.g. £20 or $40) and they are then free to sell your image as many times as they can. You will of course not get paid until the first image has sold. The other option is percentage or fixed rate per canvas sold. For example, if you get a deal where you get £10 ($20) for the image up front, then a small amount per image sold you stand to make a lot more money. Some companies will offer a bonus payment or increased percentage if your art sells a set number of images. For example, sell 10 and get another £10 ($20). This is only an example and should not be taken as gospel, if a company decides to sell your artwork they'll come up with the payment and you'll need to agree with it. Don't set your sites too high as a beginner, if the company is selling canvas prints for £100 ($200) don't expect to be taking a massive percentage of this, they have a lot of overheads and there doing as much as they can to sell your work.
Selling on-line through an E-tailer has its advantages. Help improve your chances of selling your images by marketing your images on the E-tailers site. Through your own site, forums, communities, social book marking sites and even emails you can increase traffic and hopefully sales of your images. This will mean you receive more money, and so does the company selling your artwork. This then might result in an increase in the cut you receive from each sale. Work hard at marketing your artwork and you'll see more money coming in.The E-tailer should also be marketing their whole site and with new artists comes new ways for them to market their site. With both parties marketing the images you should both see a nice return.
Like real world galleries, have a look through the sites you intend on approaching before you approach them to see if they sell similar styles to your own or have a wide range of art without your 'niche' currently available.
Driving on-line traffic to your Art
Marketing websites is big business at the moment but its not as hard as you may think. Its all about getting the maximum possible viewers for the smallest outlay. After setting up an on-line portfolio you want to start doing some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to promote yourself. This will give Google (the largest search engine on the Internet) a better chance to see you, and see how relevant your images is to specific searches. The more relevant it thinks you are, the higher you will be placed in the search results.
The best places to start are social bookmarking
sites (Digg, Mixx and Stumble Upon all have an Image Upload) and you can always Stumble on your own site. Getting on these sites has a 2 fold effect, firstly it can help get some traffic to your site and secondly it helps you get some of the crucial back-links to your URL. Another great tip for anyone with images Is to make sure they are correctly tagged up (Alt tags - height and width description tag) This helps Google know what the
image is and helps you get a higher placing on Google images which is a potential gold mine.
If you have a unique style of process to your artwork, write some articles on it. The best thing about art is its much easier to create a fully interactive web 2.0 web site. This again helps with your SEO as Google is open to giving higher ranks in its search engine to sites which give a user interaction. Make some videos of you painting in your style and upload them to You-Tube. Add images, lots and lots (of correctly Alt tagged) images. Search around for some open source interactive flash add-on's so you can let your views get into your site, hopefully come back and most importantly, buy your work!
We've got another new canvas art range for you, fresh from the predominately right sided brains of our resident Artists. This time it's all about classic video games & the amazing CGI invention, the pixel. The range will develop as usual with new Art and designs being added "as and when", but to kick it all off, we've focused on some of the more iconic pixilated hero's that have graced the screens of our arcade machines, TVs and monitors. If you remember the original Atari games consoles, the old skool Namco Arcade machines & the first wave of Nintendo machines to come out of Japan in the late 80's, then this range could be for you. The range has got 80's nostalgia written all over it, after all, these were the icons for a generation. The first wave of kids that would find enjoyment in sitting in front of a screen of hours, playing away contentedly, decades before the Internet was invented and we are now all at it!
The range of canvas designs is not strictly 80's by any stretch, it is moving into the early 1990's with Art like the heavily pixilated"Tetris" design. A Bold spectrum of block colours stretched over a extra long canvas, ideal for injecting a bit of colour into a contemporary room, the length would be well suited to sitting above a sofa in any living space.
In terms of classic video games, the range wouldn't be complete without the original and the best: PacManhimeself. People always seem to forget that it wasn't just Pac-Man, the other pixilated monsters that he did battle with were just as iconic. Which is why we have not just focused on him, and designed ranges on them all - check the "Pac-Man Family" for example. Simplistic, stripped down, and minimal, it seems to make a bigger statement than most designs. Less is more after all. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous, the "Pac-Man Quad" is another option, especially if you like the idea of spreading the art across a few canvases. My personal favourite of the Pac-Man range is this original design which has been produced for us called "Pinky Pac-Man" It's even more minimal, but the simple pink / blue colours just seem to do it for me..
Namco Arcade is a bit of pixataied block colour again, based on a graphic actually taken off an old Namco Arcade machine, Circa 1988. It's been re-drawn and re-designed, and produced on this square box canvas. To round it off and take us into the 1990's, the range wouldn't be complete without the the Nintendo creation, Mario. This was one of the most successful video game characters ever made, with games still been made today. We have honoured his creation with a serious of carefully sculpted block pixilated designs which do his little pixilated figure justice. There are a few of these designs, we are feeling the Mario Quad, if you are bold enough to split him over a series of four canvases, this could be the one you've been looking for.
So, that's it for now, as I promosied, more designs will follow, probably in 2009 now. If you can't wait until then, and you have to tell us that you need an iconic video game characture on canvas, just let us know, and we'll try and make your wish come true. We're not Jimmy Saville & we are not Father Christmas, but we can knock up a design or two - now that's something that you can believe in(!) You can subscribe to this news blog to stay on top of the art that we are putting out, as usual, get in touch if you need any bespoke work doing.
Following the success of the bespoke range of art for the 2008 range Invidia, we have decided to do more range designs tailor made for our Interior Trends predictions.
Timeless is essentially a move on from the hugely successful Invidia 08. You always see it - in fashion and interiors, wherever there are seasons with very successfully trends, you can guarantee that next season will sport a 'move on' from last years top dog. Where Invidia was defined by it's Opulence and OTT nature, the Black on Black with hints of gold and metallics has been replaced by a more subtle Black on white with subtle highlight colours. Over the top Gold stately frames & mirrors have moved on to more discerning chromes, silvers & metallics. Timeless focuses on Baroque style motifs, which are similar to the simple Invidia Vintage Wallpaper designs, but can now be much more complex and focus on detail. The black and white makes a simple, bold statement, and is possibly more commercial in nature than its black on black predecessor.
Black and White is fantastic to work with, there are so many options open to you. I wouldn't say that you can't get it wrong, but Monochrome is somewhat easier to work with in the interior context. Colour-wise, it's not just black and whites here, you want to be looking at some very deep shades of blues or purples for subtle infused colour. Darker shades of grey, like dark slate greys also work well. In terms of accessories and highlights, you should be looking at some metallics. Chrome light switches, even candle stick holders ( Invidia 08 Style) and plug sockets act to highlight the subdued tones of black and whites. Remember, unlike Invidia, you are looking at silvers, not Golds.
To quote us as verbatim, "Timelessis the ultimate contrast both visually & metaphorically. A bold, brash & often bizarre clash of Baroque elegance & contemporary whites and blacks, Timeless is the ultimate bold statement. The intense combination of heavily contrasting colour works well in big rooms with high roofs & plenty of light -preferably natural sunlight to set off the natural wood flooring. "
"Timeless" will give you the chance to mix the weird and wonderful Kitsch & clash it with the ultra modern. (Think 20's Vintage wallpapers with Plasma screens) And why the hell not after all? The more modern and technologically advanced we get, the more eclectic I like to go. After all, you can't have everything modern in a room, or your living area will start to look like the control room on the Starship Enterprise. Mix and match is the way forward, be bold and daring, trust your instincts. You could get down the local car boot, get on the Internet on auction sites, or even better - go along to a local auction house where you will be presented the opportunity to walk away with some real, classic vintage accessories for your abode.
Then, you can mix and match some carefully selected and bespoke, canvas art. On the art route, you could opt for bold art to work with the contrasting background, or even art that actually is the background... Think sections of wallpaper, enlarged and printed on canvas.. The sky is the limit here. That's about it, if you want more, you can check the full articles on Timeless '09 or have a nosey at our new Timeless bespoke art range. As usual, hit us up if you are interested in any bespoke work, and feel free to subscribe here for loads more news from WHoArtNow.
A new selection of Abstract Art is up on the site, and there is plenty of it too. This is the culmination of six months or so of designs that we have decided to launch all at once. The new art we are putting out is pushing forward our interpretations of this new wave of art which is emerging in this increasingly digital age that we now live in. Plasma Screens, Cordless speakers, a miniature computer in your pocket. It's all getting a bit futuristic in the world these days, so we are trying to following suit with our art.
Quadrigeminal Yarn is based on vintage Japanese textiles, it is a digital, almost neon depiction of an ancient piece of hand woven artwork. Predominantly cerise in colour, I love the Aqua blue corner with hints of subtle oranges and yellows, it makes for an interesting abstract creation.
There are some interesting canvas configurations too, Novel Nonagon is only the second ever Nine piece canvas art which sits along with the original Warhol influenced flowers we did in 2006. It is as described, a bit of a "bizarre abstract selection of shapes with deep, moody colours." The colours are deep and somber, almost like Playdoe.... I like the tiny hints of green, and the navy contrasting with the pink backgrounds.
On the topic of new configurations, you've got to check the Incandescent canvas set, it's the first layout we've ever done, and I must say I am already a fan. The small one measures a total of 36"x36" and is made up of 1 @ 24" x 24", 1 @ 10"x10", 2 @ 24"x 10". A cheeky little digital rendition of an Art Version of "Bright Like Neon Lights", it will brighten up any abode, looking for that whole digital look that is becoming increasingly popular. There is also the brand new Cascading sets -"Cascading Zest" Limes, citrus, zesty colours make up the digital design, which is another first for WHoArtNow. Watch this space people, more to come down the line.
Other art highlights for me are "indistinct & illuminated", on a similar setup to the popular Glooming Hue canvases - one tall thin along a rectangular canvas. It is rich, bold, dripping with opulence. It has a gold, yellow tones, with a hint of green - all on a black backdrop - powerful stuff indeed. The "Ribbon" sets are interesting too - Check the 3 part Trichotomic Ribbon set, if vibrant streams of colours are your thing, these series of designs might be worth a look. There is a nice blue version called Aqua Ribbons too.
So that is about it for the now, I won't go into too much detail, but if you are interested, there a 40 or 50 new designs on the site, so don't be shy - check them out. More art to follow soon as usual, just watch this space..
We are proud to present a brand new Manga Art Range that we have launched, all canvas art & prints are exclusive to WHoArtNow.
Manga, in case you didn't know, are hugely iconic cartoons & comics (They are known askomikku コミック), in Japanese and conforming to the defining & unique style that developed in Japan at the end of the 20th century. If you look back far enough, you can find Manga that date from just after World War II, but have a long & complex history in earlier Japanese Art.
Manga, literally translated, means "whimsical pictures". The word came into usage in the late 18th century with the publication of works like the SantōKyōden's picturebook "Shiji no yukikai" (1798) & the hugely celebrated Hokusai manga. There a a various different theories about the origination of Manga comics, one of which is that when the US occupied Japan (1945–1952), Manga Art was influenced by U.S. cultural aspect, including U.S. comics brought to Japan by the US Army and by images & themes taken from U.S. television, cartoons & culture, like Disney for example.
The other other school of thought is that Manga is a direct continuity of Japanese cultural & traditions, which has been developing for thousands of years.
Which ever way of thinking is right, and who knows, it might be both, we at WHoArtNow don't really mind. It is great art and we love it - we love all things Japanese and Kitsch in fact. Manga is huge in Japan, enjoyed by people of all ages. It has a certain iconic status in the West too, the USA in particular. Manga are typically printed in black-and-white, although some full-color Manga exist. Our take on Manga Arthas a bit of a twist on Modern Art, where we have re-drawn and re-created some sections of our favourite comic strips. Colours are bold, vibrant, and even garish in places. It's that whole Japanese, Full-on colour palette. Think Fluorescent Japanese washing power boxes on acid, and you're about half way there. There's no messing about with subtle colours or black and whites, it's Fluorescent Yellows, cerise pinks, on Black backgrounds like the Cerise design, and if you like it even brighter, check the FluroHentaidesign.
Having said that, there is a more subtly coloured piece of art we slipped in, and it's one of my favourites too. Komikkutu mixes two deep green tones to form the background with a chocolate brown / latte foreground. This wouldn't look out of place in most walls, it's subtly is the key here to a half way commercial piece of art.
As you may have noticed, a few of the designs are a little rude.! This is a certain type of Manga, aimed at adults, & called seijin ("adult," 成人) manga. These designs were able to come into fruition with a relaxation of censorship in Japan after the 90s, where a wide variety of explicitly drawn sexual themes appeared in manga, intended for male readership. And we at WHoArtNow decided to take advantage of this lack of censorship and design some ourselvess! jūhachi kin is just one of these designs. In Japan, sexually explicit material is often called "jūhachi kin" (18禁; prohibited for sale to persons under 18). So please do not try to make a purchase if you are under 18!
So that it for now, more bits of Manga art will be added as and when. As usual what this space by subscribing to this News blog if you want to keep informed on what Art we are putting out, and don't forget to check the new Manga Art range!
For many years the only way to successfully sell your artwork was in art galleries, however with the rise in the Internet there are now numerous ways to sell your art. Deciding which of these techniques should be the first thing you do. You can of course do both, however your more likely to see faster sales on-line as many art galleries book their shows a year in advance and its hard to get an show if your unknown. There are many different ways to sell your artwork on-line. There are many sites set up for you to sell your artwork, you could set your own site up or you could sell your canvas on one of the auction sites.
Before you start this process, ask yourself the type of person you want to buy your artwork. Are you after an art connoisseur (usually a lot of money for a 1 off piece of art) or are you more interested in selling to the average person (less money, but you might sell a lot of the same image and make more money) ? If you want to sell the one off art to the connoisseur, look to a real world art gallery for that. If your more interested in selling as many copies of your art to the average person, look to get on-line.
You need to realise however, that selling on-line is not as easy as putting your art up and leaving it that and it will take some time to get your first sale. If you don't mind working hard at it, the rewards will be worth it.
A vital piece of information that you should live by is watermark your work. This will limit the chances of someone stealing your artwork, publishing it on another site and claiming the credit for themselves. Worse still, some will steal your art to make money off it themselves. DeviantART allows you add a Creative Commons License which adds a DeviantART watermark with your DeviantART URL. This is a simple yet effective way to watermark, yet why not make your own? image.
Art Galleries
Go to your nearest city or town and you'll see the amount of art galleries there are about. Art Galleries are the holy grail to an artist. Being able to watch people admire your work and give you instant feedback is amazing. Sadly only a small number of artists these days manage to exhibit in an Art Gallery.
So how do you go about getting exhibited in a gallery? Start with some research, find local galleries that work with your style and topic. It doesn't matter how amazing your art is, if your trying to sell stencil canvas art to a gallery that specialises in sculptures, your going to get a no straight away.
Its a good idea to go into the gallery before contacting them.Have a general chat with a member of staff about some of the art, get a feel for the gallery and staff. You need to be able to trust the gallery, and get on with them. If you get an appointment, be well prepared and dress smart. Always take a sample of your
work. If you produce large Canvas Prints, make some digital re-productions, as long as they are good quality and high resolution copies kept neat and tidy in a portfolio. Aim for a minimum of A2.
If you get an exhibition and some or all of your artwork sells, the gallery will take their commission. This varies from gallery to gallery, but I've organised and visited galleries and exhibitions in galleries taking as little as 20% going all the way up to 60%. this might seem like a lot, but small inner city galleries have huge overheads and can often only fit small numbers of images on the walls. Remember, there a business, not a charity so they are trying to make money.
The rest of this little 'How To' will follow, in three more parts so watch this space or feel free to subscribe - you can now even have email subscribtion to our News.
We've just released a new and improved search feature for the site. Using Google's world class search engine technology, you can now search for our art through a variety of avenues. You can search for canvas art by colour, for size, shape or style. It doesn't have to be art either, you could search for articles & text based goodness, like our news, tips and frequently asked questions.
So you can now start getting smart on your quest for your perfect piece of art. If you searched for art by colour & style for example you could come up with some interesting results. Try combining, for example "chocolate floral" for an interesting result. You could be very specific, say with "New York Skyline". In fact, all of google'sadvanced search operators exist, as if you were using their search engine. If you still can't find what you are looking for, then you could request a print from us.
Give the searching a bash if you like, feel free to give us some feedback too if you like. It's only early days, so much improvements will be greatly appreciated.
As usual, feel free to hit us up if want to chat to us about anything, or give us a bell. You can even subscribe to these posts too... Have a good day!
We've been writing Interior Trends now for some time now & judging from the number of emails we get from people all over the world asking about our trends, they seem to be creating a bit of a stir. So following the success of the 2008 trends we wrote last year, we wrote the 2009 interior forecasts earlier this year & we have now decided to publish them on WHoArtNow.co.uk . After all, it would be rude not to share them with the world!
We aim to write around four trends a year, and keep it simple. Interior design trends are no way near as complex, future thinking and fickle as fashion design trends, so simplicity is almost paramount. To our surprise, we actually found that there is very little written on interior design. As fashion design is very seasonal, and current styles advocate this generation of "throw away" fashion, interior design is quite the opposite - it aims to stand the test of time. After all, you don't really want to be re-decorating your walls every year or season do you?
The initial concept of writing trends stemmed from our designers trying to design art for next years trends. Finding little or no information other than Dulux, C4 and a handful few other sites, we decided to write our own. The trends are based on what few sources we do have, and written to tie in any of our designs that might suit. As well as fitting existing designs into future trends, the big advantage for us is that we are able to create new artwork and designs to fit into these trends, as we did for the massive 2008 "Invidia" trend, that has to be found in almost every inner city bar and restaurant in one form or another that had a re-fit in the year or so. Following on from this, we will be launching a new trend in to tie in with one of the big trends of 2009 - "Interior Sweetness" Trend - think Japanese Florals, Art from the Asian & Orient, silk textile inspired prints... If you can't wait for the new range, get stuck into our Floral Art section for a pretty comprehensive selection of Japaneses Floral Prints. We've been producing Japaneseflorals for years now, it's great when the interior design trends finally catch up with the art that we really believe in that we have been pushing for years.
So watch this space, trends for 2010 will be following, around the start of 2009. Feel free to subscribe to our News pages for up to date News and Info from WHoArtNow. Interior designers: Feel free to contact us for bespoke artwork. We work very closely with interior designers and design firms & Taylor design to fit projects.. Contact us for more.
You've found the perfect piece of canvas art, it has turned up and now of course you want to hang it up and show it off. So what are the options for hanging your Canvas Art? There are many different ways and techniques to hang it, and it is ultimately down to you how you do it. In this short article we will explore the different methods open to you.
1.Wire method. You need to Attach two small screws horizontally on the back of the canvas frame. The wire needs to sit on the top half of the frame. The wire also needs to have some tension in (use long nose pliers to achieve this) so that the screws can hold the weightof the canvas. Then you need to slide the canvas down on at least one screw sticking out from the wall. This is a great way to hang a canvas, especially if there is one screw on the wall or there is no space to add more screws
2. Mirror Plates. These are small brass plates which you can get very cheaply from most hardware stores & there are 2 main methods of using them. The first hides the mirror plates on the inside of the frame. You then screw two screws into the wall the same distance apart as the mirror plates & hook the plates to the screws you have on the wall. The second method to use mirror plates is on the outside of the canvas. If Fix the mirror plates to opposing sides of the canvas and screw them into wall, you have one of the most secure way of fixing your canvas to the wall. This is also the generic way that museums use for displaying art.
The last method is Command Strips. This is something we have been exploring for providing on our website as an accessory. We've been testing the ingenuitiveCommand Strip from 3M for a while s now and have to admit to being very impressed. It is perfect for people who rent as you don't need to screw into the wall, and the glue strip peels off leaving no marks at all! Admittedly they are the most expensive way of hanging a canvas, but at £5.99 for 6 with the value pack, you can't really go wrong. We have been testing them all over our studio & would recommend the value pack (see photo, left) You will get enough to hang a couple of canvases, and even have a few left over to hang your coats!
We have just written this as an article to sit in with the help section on our site. You can read the full article if you like..
If you like, feel free to subscribe to our News Blog, for all news related to art, design, canvases and all sorts of other interesting news.
We've got a load more updates for you on the WHoArtNow website front, as of August 2008. If you hadn't already noticed, we've updated the left side navigation bar, so there are a few more features, and given it a bit of a spring clean. You've now got three more sections: Murals, Ranges and the News Blog, to sit along side the categories for our canvas art.
Murals is exactly what is says it is, and hand painted Murals to be precise. This is what we have been offering since we set up the section a couple of months ago, following the addition of a couple of Old Skool veteran painters to the WHoArtNow team: Nick and Steve. It's not just murals either, it is in essence, anything hand painted. Everything from theatrical backdrops, to chalk boards, to war re-enactment backgrounds, to hand-painted canvases to hand painted canvases, these guys can do it all, and with 30 years of experience under their belt, it is a job that you can guarantee will be done to a high standard. No job too small, no budget to high(!) there is very little that we actually won't do, so if you are seriously looking for some hand painted artwork, get in touch and we'll get a custom quote for you.
Ranges is another new addition to the WHoArtNow family, and we are loving it too! Along similar lines of the category sections that we have on the left side of the site, Ranges is essentially a themed section, where you can browse for art by our art which is been cherry picked by us. We have focused on some of the emerging trends, and styles that are apparent at this moment in time. From Interior Trends ranges like Invidia 08, to Cityscape's, and Graffiti canvases, ranges have been put together to give you a bit more scope into discovering some hidden away gems that you might not have found. We are going to focus more and more on ranges in the future, and try and bring you some new favours before they become too commercial and mainstream. On the colours front, we already have Sepia and Monochrome, well you can expect a whole host more to come, every colour in the rainbow. For Interior Designer, expect to see some ranges to tie into forthcoming interior trends predictions. Ranges will become an invaluable tool for designers & home lovers alike, so watch this space for more.//
So that's about it. News Pages is pretty self explanatory, as it is what you are reading now! We will keep y'all informed of our movements and updates, many more to come on the website and art front. Don't forget to subscribe if you are interested, feel free to drop us a line if you are interested in anything that we do or would like some more info.
The peace and quiet of the London Royal Academy was smashed at the weekend when a visitor to the exhibition lost her balance knocking a 9ft ceramic sculpture to the floor smashing it into hundreds of pieces.
The sculpture entitled 'Christina' by Costa Rican Artist Tatiana Echeverri Fernande which was valued at over £6000 was totally destroyed at the Summer '08 exhibition curated by famous (if slightly controversial) British artist Tracy Emin.
The Royal Academy confirmed the incident and said they were awaiting discussions with their insurance company before deciding the best coarse of action.
Tracy Emin was not available for comment as she prepares an exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. The artist Tatiana Echeverri Fernande did not wish to comment on what had happened to her sculpture.
We have made a few tweaks to the site, as part of the start to the WHoArtNow V2 site. As well as giving a bit of a face-lift to the top navigation sections, we have now created a brand new "Help and Utilities" section and started added some content to this section & the "About Us" section. The main aim is to give you guys a bit more information about what we offer, and to answer some of the common questions that you might have.
Over the years we have had a fair few questions that we have answered, and now we have now decided to publish them to the world. "What's the best way to hang a canvas?", "How do I clean my canvas?" to "How big is that in cm's" These popular questions are all answered, along with some other tips, like choosing a canvas for a gift, and how to pick a canvas. The later is quite a good, meaty read, broken down into different sections like Style and Subject, Colour, Size and Shape etc. We've also brought a few sections more into the limelight: FAQ's, Terms and conditions and so on. Not because we want to dissuade you from picking up the phone and having a chat with us, as we positively encourage that, but purely and simply because we are a transparent company, and we want you all to see everything that there is to see.
So check it out, feel free to let us know what you think of it too. As well as some tasty treats of art the banners to tease you, (oh yeah, click through the banners to see the actual art) there is actually some really engaging content, which we plan to stay on top of and update regularly. So things are looking good for the future of WHoArtNow, stay in touch and keep on top of our news with by subscribing to it.
We are well into July now, and deep in the middle of this fluctuating seasonal summer of 2008, & we have a cheeky art update that might brighten up your day! We have just finished furnishing the site with load of brand new street inspired designs and prints which we are very happy with. Featuring a mixed of street art, from abstract macro cross sections of graffiti, to some hand produced pieces that have been put together in-house by some of our outstanding new artists.
The abstract selection of macro photographs, are all based on paying homage to the fantastic lines and shapes that make the art of graffiti something impressive to behold. We've really tried to capture the vibrancy & impact of what you get on the streets and translate it to something that can hang on your wall, without it looking too offensive.
The aptly named "Pollock Graff" is almost Jackson Pollock if he had taken to the streets with his brush and a few spray cans.. It is a real piece of graffiti, overlayed and built up over time to produce a really tidy piece of abstract modern art.
The "My name is..." is a good example of this urban linear art, taking just a small section of the colourful graffiti, and presenting it as an abstract piece of art. This kind of art will not suit every home, and is a bit more of a daring purchase. I wouldn't be looking at mixing with cream walls and leather sofas, these graffiti prints are going to sit well in an eclectic environment. We are not just talking urban flats & loft conversions, but any abode that dares to be different. This kind of modern art, call it urban, abstract, contemporary, it is all becoming very popular, certainly for us, as it is becoming fueled by a new generation of people that want something different & unique & are not happy with nipping to Ikea for a piece of generic, of the shelf art.
Moving on to the hand produced stencil art and what can I say? This selection is absolutely fantastic, the quality has exceeded our expectations. Originally produced for an exhibition at the D&G offices in London (which is still on), the artists in question here are Pegs, and Vic Mason.
Stand out designs here are "Panda Style" by Pegs, a very green piece of art. It has been produced from various layers of stencils, which have had his trademark surface scratching technique applied. Another stand out print from him is "Gee-raff" as simple, yet effective simple one colour stencil design over pastel tones which forms a subtle, light background.
The "Mexican Boston" by Vic Mason has a hand painted background, with sprayed and rolled top end, and represents a beautiful little Boston terrier dog. The fusion of browns, mustard's and burnt oranges will sit well on most walls, and the abstract nature of the print makes it pleasing on the eye. Reggie Jaxx pays homage to the Bull Terrier, king of dogs. This print has delicate pastel tones on top a linear floral pattern, and a combination of sprayed and rolled paint over the top.
If you want to see some more of these new pieces, we have been prototyping & showcasing a selection of them for the last couple of months at an exhibiton in London. The venue is: The D&G offices, which is The Media Village, based just North of Oxford Street. [131-151 Gt Titchfield Street, W1W 5BB.]
So that is it for now, stay tuned, we will have more updates. As usual, you can check all our canvas art from WHoArtNow, as well as subscribing to this feed for regular updates to our world of art!
We have a brand spanking new selection of floral designs, and photographic prints which are now live and up on the site.
There is a beautiful selection of commission produced art, which are all brushed / painted on canvas, and produced as prints, followed by a number of subtle photographs of Flowers, some quite abstract in their composition.
"Coffee Rush" & "Pastel Pods" have been created for an obvious reason in mind. The browns, light tones and latte hints, mixed with other light pastel tones and bold mustard yellows are going to sit well in houses with those brown sofas, and earthy colours on the walls. "Concrete Devotion" is another of the brush painted prints, and is maybe a little more daring. Fitting in well with red accessories in a room, this is going to make a subtle statement.
The other prints all fall into the broad category of Macro Photography, all subtle close ups of flowers or leaves. "Vivid Marigolds" is very striking, the raspberry and peachy tones are going to brighten up any room, whereas "Feather Detail" is for the more minimal wall. A subtle, delicate piece of natural photography in black and white, which picks out the leafy veins on a feather.
Keep watching this space more art updates to come, in the form of new Street / Stencil Art coming up next.. Then we've got the long awaited BOYD section following. Plenty of great new art, all good!
Its hard to be unique and creative these days, yet American artist Joshua Allen Harris has managed to be so unique he's been making world wide news with his breath taking garbage bag balloon art.
The idea started by creating small dogs out of used white plastic bags. The bags were then tired to subway grates in New York so that when a subway train goes by, air rises through the vents and the dog stands up.
Taking things to a new level, Harris has now moved onto bigger and better animals, now using the larger 'black bag'. Harris has managed to create giraffes, bulls and even the Loch Ness Monster!
I love this type of street art, yet i find myself preferring to call it 'Street Sculpture'.
Oriental Sweetness: After Woolmark has launched its new interior colour trends for 2009/10 at the start of the New Year, it looks like Japanese Inspired themes are going to be prevalent. It is still early days as far as interior predictions for 2009, but we are going to look into one of the trends that is looking hot for next year, Oriental Sweetness & produce a dedicated range of canvas art prints to compliment it. It's all about the East: Asian & Oriental influences are key here. Look to vintage floral Japanese textiles for inspiration, simple and minimal shapes with striking colours. The colour palettes for the 09 season features strong tones of red, purple and burgundy, contrasted with brighter shades or neutral tones in unlikely combinations. The base for all the colour palettes can be made up from Neutrals, white, brown and bark.
Japanese, Oriental florals are inherently simple in their form, one of the aspects that I love is the minimal block colour approach, it is like pop art, but pioneered hundreds of years early. If you look at Japanese & indeed a lot Asian art, it closely resembles what graphic design has now become in a CAD based world. Blocks of colour that would have been intricately painted with a watercolour brush is only now becoming a popular graphic design technique, thanks to Adobe Illustrator.
Simple, vector based shapes are the key focal point to a design, little or no tone is apparent or necessary.
To quote us from the inital 2009 trends forecast we did, "The use of floral images and light colours simplify things and help keep its grace. Look no further than our floral canvas art section, where Japanese & oriental florals have featured prominently for the last 4 years." And we mean it, we've been all over Japanese florals for years now, what better a time for it to come through than now, when we have tonnes of original artwork!
We are well and truly on the ball with this trend, already loving a Japanese inspired floral design makes it easy for us, as the passion for what we do is there.. So, we've currently designed a selection of brand new floral canvas art, you can see some of them featured on this news blog. The rest can be found on our floral art pages, check them out, feel free to hit us up if you need custom art producing.
We have a new selection of Organic Canvas art prints fresh on the site. This is an update on the Organic section, featuring loads of beautifully photographed shots of nature.
So, black and white is a key theme for 2008, so there is plenty here to choose from. "Bare Trees" is one of my personal favourites, it is quite unlike anything on whole of the WHoArtNow site. It's blurry, out of focused trees and branches make it quite abstract in nature, and I just love the whole half and half feel with it, the bottom part being entirely black. Cracking stuff, in the right enviorment, the right space, it would look lethal.
The black and white theme continues, the "Lone Pine" photograph has something about it, a fantastic composition with bold piney leaves is maybe what does it for me. There is quite a few tree and forest related canvas prints here too, "The Dead Forest" is one and "A Old English Garden" is on a similar tip. If abstract is your thing, the "Tree Limbs" print has got some interest. "Pebbles" finally is a good old fashioned greyscale photograph, with a bit of focal interest. Soft & smooth pebbles on a beach bring some shaded texture to this design, and it's a bit of a move on from classic photos like Peaceful & Balanced.
Now if colour is more your thing, there are a few cheeky prints to inject some vibrancy & add a bit more of a focal point into your chosen room. "Tangerine View" is a powerful photograph, the deep Mandarin colours from the sunset sets off some amazing colours in the corn field & gives the print an abstract, artist quality. You could try mixing this print in with subtle hints of orange in a room. Scattering orange cushions on a deep red leather sofa for example...
Sitting next to it is "Raspberry View"which is unsurprisingly a "fruity" coloured canvas. Any hints of this raspberry colour in a room would complement the predominant colours in this canvas. "Crimson Corner" is again, very colour orientated print. Minimal and abstract, it's subtlety and artist composition is something that would accentuate the right wall.
WHoArtNow are proud to introduce our new hand painted mural service, and with our 2 veteran painters Steve and Nick joining the team things are going to get big. As more and more large advertising and mural work now goes to the wide format print industry, Steve and Nick have valuable talent in a dying industry.
With over 60 years combined commercial painting including film sets, theatrical sets, festival hoardings, shop fronts, pub signs and building site shields to their name. Their most recent project, the 80ft giant painting the smaller Mexican air stream trailer and the Monster Bar all got their summer debut at this years Download festival and will be seen at this weekends Glastonbury and next weekends Silverstone F1 race. The level of quality and dedication to the job are second to none and there are advantages to using hand painted murals over wide format printing. Each 8ft x 4ft board is treated to 3-4 coats of undercoat, and finished off with 3-4 coats of heavy duty varnish to make them not only waterproof, but far stronger and more durable than the more modern solvent printed posters. The other major advantage is not having to use CYMK colours. The main problem with CYMK colours is there are some shades that are impossible to print. Fluorescent colours can't be reproduced, yet with hand painting, anything goes! All Steve and Nick's work is on a commission basis and prices start from £155.
If you would like more information about commissioning Steve and Nick, please contact WHoArtNowcontact pagesor more information. Please beware though, we are seriously busy with work, (at June 2008) so there is currently a bit of a waiting list for all hand painted large jobs. If you are interested, we would advise you contact us soon rather than later.
New Art updates [June 2008] We have some more brand new Urban art for all you lovely people! As we've already produced very successfully, a lot of digital Urban designs, we have decided to expand the whole urban range, and complement the existing designs with some subtle, striking photography.
This time, we've gone for a plenty of black and white "Monochromes" which are right on trend for 08. So expect to see a load of cityscape's and skylines, a fair few elongated canvases too. The highlights are the "Long Dark Tunnel" print, an abstract, almost radial blur of a Tunnel, in black and white. "A long Highway Exposure" Canvas print see a move on to the successful motion blurs of city roads, like the massively popular "Denver Haze"
There are a few delicate and subtle sunsets too. "San Fran Sunset" is a view from 52nd floor, a greyscale photo with a minimal sunset at the top. The "Old Clipper" ship photo is very interesting. Almost inverted in colour, it's striking black and white abstract imagery would look stunning on most walls.
Then we've got some classic British black and white imagery. The old West Pier on Brighton beach, which was lost to a massive fire in 2003. We've got a couple of canvas prints - The first is a classic black and white photograph of Brighton in a rough storm. The other Brighton Pier print has a more tranquil feel, and depicts a view over the beach with a peachy sunset in the background.
Some of the other imagery of note is the "City Fog" Black & White Canvas, a definitive New York residential scene with the hot air rising. The "Stair Street-Provence" has a less urban feel, more of a French rural setting. The "Cafe Tables" vibe with an abstract look with a similar, cosmopolitan feel. These prints are black and white too, and looking to be classed in brand new section, which focuses on " Monochrome", or black and white imagery. Coming soon to WHoArtNow!!
So, that's it for the Urban artwork updates for now. For the full range of prints, please feel free to visit the Urban pages, where you will find all these beautiful new designs! Watch this space, loads more art on the way. Expect to find more prints and artwork in the Organic Section, Some NY Graffiti art macro photos, and a few cheeky textured floral prints.
We've just passed the half way point of 2008 and its time to start planning ahead. And for 2009 it looks like nature and the environment are going to play a key part.
Timeless Curves: Timeless curve is a hybrid mix with some strange yet beautiful ideas. Baroque abstract motifs or artwork work well with whites and blacks. Going elegant and high tech may seem like a strange mix, yet with the slightly kitsch furniture and bold canvas art it can work, if you have the guts. Check out our retro section for a good selection of enlarged, vintage wallpapers & motifs, batik paisleys and all thing timeless and nostalgic.
Oriental Sweetness: Oriental sweetness take flat or two tone colours with the soft delicate nature of the orient to create some stunning effects. The use of floral images and light colours simplify things and help keep its grace. Look no further than our floral art section, where Japanese & oriental florals have featured prominently for the last 4 years.
Lets Play: Bold colours and classic folk design work well, add in some contemporary geometric shapes and your there. Can work well in studies/home offices to help keep you creative and relaxed. You can really add personality and humour with Let's Play and is meant to help stir the child in you.
Handmade: Handmade is an in depth look at everything beautiful about nature. The rustic look works well with soft browns and off whites. Unique textiles to give a more unique touch and smell. Recycled goods are fantastic, and artwork can range from simple photos, all the way to the slightly abstract.
So that's it for the now, we will go into each trend in more detail later on in the year, and try and bring you appropriate art to fit into each trend. Watch this space, feel free to subscribe to this feed for updates when they happen.
Is your living rooms missing that something special? Or your office lacking a certain 'Wow' factor? If your thinking of getting a canvas for any location, this article should give you some ideas about what to buy so you get exactly what you want.
(Great use of textiles and canvas to add colour)
As with any interior accessories, getting the right piece of art to represent your personality is key, but you should also remember the effect and personality of the space you wish to create. Get it right and you'll have a stunning focal point for any room. Get it wrong and you might up ruining all the other hard work gone into the space.
This article will focus on the 3 key areas to look at when choosing your canvas.
Style and Subject
Size and shape
Colour
Style and subject:
Style and subject aren't as easy to pick as you might think. Yes there's a big argument to just pick something you like or are interested in. However, you need to think about the feel of the space. For example, a kitchen would suit more organic and floral images, and maybe not a canvas of a MK1 Escort.
(Fantastic use of height on this custom 2.5m high canvas)
Does the space already have a theme your working too? If so, stick to it, if you've gone with stripes, retro pattens in bright colours would compliment if at right angles.
If your a fan of entertaining guests, your living room would work well with a focal point piece, and the more interesting the better. We have hundreds of interesting and bold canvas designs on our site, however, for a talking point, why not consider a photo to canvas. A focal point canvas where your the artist, gives you a little more to talk about!
Size and Shape:
Next to consider is the size and shape of your canvas. As you'd assume, canvas's come in all shapes and sizes, and even sizes not usually advertised on our site. Sizes available at WHoArtNow:- 10", 16", 24", 32", 36", 48", 60" and 72" (please note, we can only print up to 36" wide)(Rectangular canvas work well in long rooms)
So with a minimum of 10"x10" going all the way up to 72"x36" (6ft x 3ft!) there's a large amount of options to choose from. Its not however a good idea to just get the biggest you can afford, buy the most suitable for the space.
As a rule, I prefer bigger, however, something too big can make a room feel cramped and something to small can look lost and out of place. Its not a good idea to hang a canvas too close to the ceiling, doors or windows, try leaving a gap of 16" - 24" as a boarder around the outside, and try not to hang in alcoves or on narrow walls (unless you plan on a tall, narrow canvas). You may also want to hang the canvas at eye level (the middle of the canvas at approximately 5ft6 of the ground to be at the average eye height) however with large pieces that may not be possible.
Got a very large wall but don't want to spend a fortune? We offer a selection of Due-pic, Tri-pic and quad-pic pieces to cover a larger area for less money. Or how about a canvas in Andy Warhol style pop art for each of your family members all hung at the same level with the same gap,interesting and personal.
The shape of the canvas has a lot to do with personal taste, and if your not sure, a square canvas will be safe for most rooms. However, if you have a long thin room, pick a long thin canvas (ie 60"x16") and hang on the long wall, or a smaller (ie 36"x36") square canvas for the short wall (to help square off the room)
Hanging a canvas above a fireplace is an easy way to transform a room, and as a general rule, picking a canvas in the same proportions works best. For example, if the wall above your fireplace is 3m wide and 1.5m high, going for the same (2:1) ratio will fit, for this a 72"x36" will look simply stunning.
Colour:
When deciding on a colour scheme for a space, don't just pick the first colour you can think of, think about the use of the room, the people who will be using the space, and get some sample paints. All colours have their own energy and personality, so getting the colour right is the key to a successful space. The list of colours below works for the colour you decorate the space, and also works for the colours on any canvas you may be looking at.Try and resist the temptation to paint your favourite colour if it feels wrong for that room, and don't be afraid to ask someone you know for some advice. They may think of something perfect you hadn't considered.
(Perfect use of colour in this office space)
Red: one of the warm seductive colours and works well in a room your passionate in. Ideal for dinning rooms and kitchens, although works well with red as a main colour with something more subtle as a majority colour. Don't be fooled into thinking red will work in your bedroom however,the colour red is notorious for bringing on nightmares so avoid.
Orange: is great for bright rooms such as kitchens. The warm and bold colour helps stimulate the appetite so works best in areas for food preparation and consumption.Its also great for stimulating the mind and helping to focus, so offices and study's should also be considered.
Yellow: like orange is great for kitchens because of the same reasons, and its also good for small crapped downstairs toilets. The bright and bold colour is best as a full on Big Bird yellow rather than a pale yellow as a mood lifter.
Green: is a good natural colour, and a good nature colour.The vibrant colour helps promote well being and healthy lifestyles. It feels warm and helps sooth.Works well in any relaxing room, bedrooms, living spaces and conservatories.
Blue: is the calm and clean colour. Its refreshing and peaceful, but at the same time comes across as a very cold colour. Works well in areas you'd want to be clean, such as the bathroom, but can also work well in the bedroom because you can awaken feeling refreshed and ready to go. Also consider mixing with striking bright white.
Purple: and violet and the glamour colours. Modern and bold purple has seen a massive rise in popularity in the last decade or so. Helping to get you creative, this rich and slightly feminine colour works wonders in rooms to be cosy in, bedrooms, living room or library/studies are perfect for modern living, but can also work with the more rustic residence.
Pink: being the most feminine colour, but men should note, its a luxurious and very romantic colour. Helping to heighten affection and romance can be mixed with the tranquil calming side. ideal for bedrooms, and expressing your feminine side. If your a little scared of the message it will give off men, try mixing with purples or reds to break it up.
White: is the purest of colours (even though its not technically a colour) and works with any colour, Using off whites to compliment colours can help expand the mood, but stop a colour from over powering a room. Works well anywhere, and especially small rooms (to help make them feel larger) and bathrooms for the clean finish.
Black: is one of the 'in' colours for 2008. 80's black on black style conveyed a sleek and modern feel. Done correct, black can be a timeless classic and feels strong. bold and authoritative. Consider this in your hallways and dining room and match with gold bronze accessories.
Brown: is the earth colour. Warm and homely browns calm you down so work well in relaxing rooms such as the bedroom or living room. Consider a feature wall in a chocolate brown, with he remaining walls in a softer brown, caramel for example.
As well as the full colours, there are 2 types on canvas you can get not mentioned above.
Sepia and Black and White: are the ultimate for subtle art, the lack of colour doesn't grab you as much as something bold, but more often than not, the colour drained aged look sepia can make a picture more about the image than the colour. Works well with urban images in living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms. Also works really well in B&W with some small bold colours like red and yellow.
Multicoloured and Pop Art: is the modern look. Bold and bright contrasting colours (ie Andy Warhols' yellow and pink Marilyn Monroe) Retro colours are 'in' at the moment, and so are urban photos with flashes of bright and bold colour. Bright colours show a level of confidence in the owner and are a great conversation starter.
(Sleek black and vibrant pink work well on this cult classic)
The great thing about all this though, is its all down to your personal choice, yes there are some guidelines you can work to, if you like something and feel confident with it, go for it! Experiment with colours, textiles and furniture. If your not happy with a room, how do you expect to relax in it?
We are just putting the finishing touches to a selection of new canvas art for the site. There will be 85 new pieces of art in total, in a range of categories. Expect to see new Retro, Stencil Street Art, Urban, Organic & Iconic Cult prints in the next couple of weeks. There will be a new selection of ranges too, and not forgetting the long awaited BOYD Street Art range, so watch this space.
So for the new Cult Art selection, we have a new square canvas of Al Pacino, in the Godfather. In classic black and white, on a contemporary red background. On a similar bold and modern background, comes a new Marilyn Monroe, as featured in our Magazine advert for Town and Country Living. Also, a much requested version of the "The Stig", the infamous legend and cult hero, on a deep blue background. You can find this on a limited long and thin box canvas. We've also got a couple of re-works of our classics - a four Piece Hendrix "Quad" and grey scale black and white re-colours of the massive Pulp Fiction canvas. We've also got a brand new two part Coldplay canvas set, in the classic black and white colours.
So, that's it for the Cult art updates for now, if you fancy receiving live updates, feel free to subscribe to the rss feed. It's also an invaluable tool for interior designers or any one in the wholesale and resale industry to keep check of what we are putting out.
After the massive success of this years Cans Festival, the official video has been posted so you can have a look at the exhibition being constructed.
As you can see in the video, a lot of hard work was put in by a lot of people. Work I think you'll agree paid off, especially when you see the size of those cues! Proving street art, and specifically Stencil art is becoming the current must have art on your walls. Check out our ever expanding selection of stencil art over at WHoArtNow and some specials by Frazier Boyd.
New Art from Frazier BOYD: This piece is called "Glory of Creation". It is a loose tribute to the amazing female race! Good stuff coming through, the distinctive style of BOYD's street art is is developing now.. Expect to see this and many more in the new launch of the exclusive Frazier BOYD street art section, which should be arriving very Soon! // Peace
As I walked around our city center yesterday, I couldn't help but notice how much street art is appearing on our streets. There is a great mix of wheat pasting and stickering, some fantastic spray work, and some slightly more immature stencils, but whatever the form of art, there is more of it. And local councils are taking note.
There is an alternative however, British artist Paul 'Moose' Curtis is the pioneer of Reverse Graffiti (also known as grime writing,clean taggin or dust tagging) is a simple yet very effective solution.'Go Gently' was a piece Moose carried out in the grime and dirt of a Leeds tunnel. The stencil is applied to the wall and the reverse is cleaned using either a brush and soapy water (and some elbow grease) or for speed, a pressure washer. The resulting images appear as normal stencil or spray graffiti, yet it leaves no permanent marks.
There may seem like there is no down side to reverse graffiti, yet there is. Leeds City Council still class Moose's art as vandalism and as such, in 2004 he was hit with an ASBO (Anti Social Behaviour Order) with some confusion. The problem they have, is all Moose is doing, is selective cleaning, he's not permanently marking anything.
how likely are you to see some reverse graffiti? Well its not as uncommon as you think because a number of advertisers have realised there is market for this type of street advertising. A while back i remember walking through the center of a town and saw a piece of reverse graffiti on the pavement. It was so subtle I wouldn't be surprised if only 10% of people saw it. Its just such a shame it was an advert for male body spray. This nature inspired stencil in central San Fransisco was completed at night with high powered pressure washers. The mural was a great commission for Moose as it had backing from the local Mayor and Police. Watch the video to see how this amazing artwork was created.
As fans of all things street art, WHoArtNow are currently looking into the possibilities of one off reverse graffiti Canvas Art. We are currently experimenting with removing inks and paints off canvas and metal to create the art. Expect to see updates on here and over at Frazier Boyd's site.
On Friday (6th June 2008), Christies of London hosted the 20th Century Art Auction with a special few paintings hidden within the catalogue.
LS Lowry, the 'matchstick men' painter was featured, including 'An Old Church' (1943) which was estimated as £1m but sadly didn't sell. (See picture right)
Also failing to sell at the auction was Lowrys' 1938 painting 'Manchester City vs Sheffield United' (see picture below). The painting did however sell after the auction to a private collector for an unknown price.
The biggest seller of the day however was 'A Cricket Match' which went for its top of the estimate at £770,000. I also mentioned in my previous blog about this auction that the canvas 'Seascape' was estimated at £250,000 which looked like a better deal than a house. Well it sold for £313,000, still worth the money, and guaranteed to increase in value.
Christies 20th Century Art collection sold for a total of £11.5 million pounds a Christies spokeswoman said in a post auction press release.
Exhibiting art in the centre of a city can be very hard, or very illegal. Taking a different approach to urban exhibits is the Container Art: Beauty Inside Project. "An urban, itinerant and adaptive art exhibit" travels the world compiling art and ideas to showcase in 22ft containers.
Mixing contemporary styles and concepts in each container around the chosen city. One of the projects key goals is interaction with one and other.
The latest project, "Ecosystems" in Genova, Italy started well on May 29th and will stay until June 8th 2008 and features Art, Nature and Spirituality from around the globe. Sculptures, installations, paintings, canvas art, you name it, there in these containers.
Events: -Mechanical Art from Kaohsiung (exhibition of recycled metal sculptures from Kaohsiung) -Beauty Inside. Yoga among metal sculptures and presentation (taking the form of a guided meditation) -Writer's Delight (Writers' performance on two containers) -Parole SpalancatesuiTetti ( Let the poets speak out.) -Au revoirles Artiste (when all is said and done, one last toast to celebrate artists and poets)
With Haifa and Venice on the coming soon list, this urban arts project looks set for a while longer, and hopefully will be announcing more dates and exhibitions soon.
For all you budding digital photographers out there, Enjoy Warwickshire have launched a competition to find the best photos of Warwickshire & we are giving away a canvas to one of the winners. The competition is split into 4 categories, People and events,Landscapes and countryside,Landmarks and tourism attractions and Junior/Young persons category.
If you are thinking of entering, there are some great prizes available, and if your the lucky winner of the Junior/Young persons category, your photo will be hand stretched into your own piece of Canvas Art.
The closing date for the competition id September the 30th, and if you'd like more info, head over to the Enjoy Warwickshire website.
We've got a few peices of work currently on at a London Exhibition. It's a great oppertunity to Showcase some of our latest stencil art work, and push the whole Street Art Phenominan. There are prints on canvas, and a number of framed prints too. From JaxxStar, we have "Boston Blue", Pegs features "Tiggerrrr" & not to mention, Mr Frazier BOYD Esq with the "White Zebras" (See the flyer on Right)
The Media Village is the Venue - based just North of Oxford Street, and hosting this Graphic Art and Illustration exhibition. Located in the same building as the D&G London offices, the security is a bit tight, however if you ask nicely I'm sure you won't have a problem. The exhibition was a great success on opening day and will hopefully be up for the next 3 months if your interested in popping down, the address is 131-151 Gt Titchfield Street, W1W 5BB.
With the recent success of joining the WHoArtNow team, the subversive stencil artist Frazier Boyd has finally launched his website www.frazierboyd.co.uk. Boyd is constantly working on new ideas and approaches to stencil art and as such is producing images both on and off the street all the time. With his news RSS feed, you can be the first to see whats current in his world, or subscribe to his Flickr Photostream to check his uploads as they occur.
If your a fan of his work and would like any of his images on Canvas, head over to WHoArtNow or if your in the market for something a little more unique, (See the Commissioned Rossi Canvas print above) , contact us to for a commission piece.
As a fan of street art I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with in the future. Its a great time for street art, and WHoArtNow are proud to be a part of it.
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After something a little different from your art? If your looking to create a center piece to complete an interior, why not consider a multi panel image? Triptychs are the most popular, but not your only option.
hey will form 1 perfect image. Multi panel images are the same, but spread over a variety of panels. We sell basic 2 panel images (Diptych), 3 panel (triptych), quad panel, 5 panel, 6 panel and even 9 panel! The artwork is re-designed specifically for multi panel prints. We overlap the artwork, so when the prints are wrapped to the frame, you'll be left with a seamless image. Then all you need to do is hang them with a 1"-2" gap between each print and you'll have your own stunning piece of wall art.
