Styles of Painting
By Marion Boddy-Evans, About.com Guide to Painting
Find out more about various styles and types of painting, including decorative painting, stenciling, fabric painting, face painting and more. Don't worry if you've never picked up a paintbrush before or feel you're not artistic, you're in the right place to start learning and discover just how creative you can be.
Decorative Painting
Start your journey on the exciting path of decorative painting with this collection of helpful tips, essential techniques, and step-by-step demonstrations.
- Decorative Painting Photo Album
- How to Load a Flat Brush with a Single Color
- How to Load a Flat Brush with Two Colors
- How to Paint Basic Highlights and Shadows
- How to Prepare Slippery Surfaces for Decorative Painting
- How To Price Your Decorative Painting Work
- How to Paint a Wall Mural
- How To Start Saw Blade Painting
- How to Paint a Woodgrain Effect
- All About Painting Gourds
Stenciling
Learn how to stencil, cut your own stencils, and more.
- Free Printable Stencils
- How to Use Floor Stencils
- American Colonial / Heritage Paint Colors for Stencilling
Fabric & Silk Painting
Transform a piece of plain fabric into an item of beauty, whether it's a wall hanging, floor cloth, throw for a sofa, t-shirt, or a table cloth.
- 10 Tips for Getting Started with Fabric Paints
- Fabric Painting Supplies: What You Need to Start
- How to Fabric Stamp
- Fabric Painting with Fabric Markers
- Fabric Painting with Inktense Pencils
- Turn Your Acrylics Into Fabric Paint
- Use Fabric Paint to Change the Color of a Fabric Print
- Is There a Medium for Acrylic Paints that Makes it Suitable for Silk Painting?
- Best Fabric Painting Books
Glass & Ceramic Painting
Find out more about painting on glass and ceramics, including how to prepare the surface so the paint won't peel off later.
- How to Prepare Slippery Surfaces for Decorative Painting
- Faux Stained Glass Project: Cardinal & Magnolia
- Paint a Faux Stained Glass Christmas Ornament
Face & Body Painting
Whether you're painting children's faces at a party or someone's whole body, here you'll find information on the techniques involved, materials used, and step-by-step instructions.
- 10 Tips for Face Painting
- Top 10 Safety Tips for Face Painting
- Face Painting Designs: Basic Clown Face
- Face Painting Designs: Basic Butterfly
- Face Painting Designs: Basic Ghost
- Printable Practice Faces for Face Painting
- Photo Gallery of Face Painting Designs
- Photo Gallery of Halloween Face Painting Designs
- Video: Skull Face Painting Design
- Video: Tiger Face Painting Design
- Face Painting Stencils
Painting Cards
In the consumer age we live in, a handmade card is something very special and personal. There are various approaches or techniques for painting cards, some of which don't take much time at all.
- Ways to Paint Your Own Christmas Cards
- Easy Technique for Painting Cards: Wax Resist and Watercolor
- Painting Cards Demo: Pear Diamonds (& Printable Template)
- Makes Cards with Monotype Prints
- How to Make Your Own Paper for Your Cards
Art Journaling
Express your thoughts, dreams, and desires in both pictures and words by creating an art journal.
- What is an Art Journal
- What You Need to Start Creating an Art Journal
- How Art Journaling Differs From Scrapbooking
- Printable Art Journal Pages
- Best Painting Sketchbooks
Fine Art or Easel Painting
The painting techniques of artists using oils, acrylics, and watercolors on canvas or paper get differentiated from other styles of painting as "Fine Art Painting" or "Easel Painting". But fundamentally it's what you're painting on and the type of paint you're using that differs. There's a lot of cross-over with other styles and what you learn to do in one style of painting can be used in another.
- Art Styles: From Realistic to Abstract
- 15 Questions Beginners Often Ask
- Pros and Cons of Different Types of "Fine Art" Paint
- 7 Ways to Create a Painting
- How to Read the Information on the Label on a Tube of Paint
- Step-by-Step Painting Demos and Tutorials
Expressive or Painterly Style
In an expressive or painterly style you're not trying to create painting with a smooth, glossy finish like a photograph, but something that celebrates the materials used to create it: paint and brush.
