The image in the mind of the artist is hard to transfer onto canvas. Creating the perfect picture requires patience, cleanliness, and proper planning. Some art pieces take a long time to complete, making for a large margin of error for less experienced artists. Here are a few tips and tricks to help the process go a little smoother for creators of all levels.

Paint Clouds Using a Sponge

The finished product looked really nice on canvas. The porous texture of the sponge allowed for the background colors to seep through the 'clouds.' I was able to get a little more creative and use the sponge to create different patterns, which worked well with my more abstract style of painting. The sponge creates patterns and depth capable of being used in any art style whether it be realism or modernistic. I will definitely continue to use this trick in my paintings.

Rating 9/10

The clouds didn't turn out as nicely as I hoped, but the sponge works in multiple different ways.

Paint Stars with Splatter Technique

This hack did achieve the "galaxy-full-of-stars" effect, but it was a bit of a hassle. The paint splattered everywhere, on my desk, curtains, and walls, which wasn't fun to clean up. It was also difficult to measure the amount of paint needed to create a certain sized star. I would suggest setting up an art studio or putting some papers around the canvas to prevent the paint from getting on everything.

Rating: 4/10

The paint got everywhere and it was a lot to clean up.

Dark to Light

This hack really helped organize the painting. Sometimes it's really hard to find where to start, especially when there's so many parts of the painting that need more detail. It was really easy to blend the colors together and create shadows and highlights in the picture. I will continue to use this trick when I paint faces.

Rating: 10/10

This took little effort and blended very nicely.