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Printing photos on canvas is not only a means of preserving your photograph for many years, thanks to the natural longevity of canvas, but doing so also creates unique, personal art. Unique, because it is from yours or another’s photo – photos that no one else will have unless you share it. Personal, because it is from yours or another’s photo – photos that mean something special. And it is art because the source photo is an expression of the photographer.

I think sometimes people only look at canvas prints from photos as a means for doing family portraits. And that is a really good thing! But many forget all their other photos, those wonderful scenes captured as they viewed it – with all its wonder. There is a great line in a movie from years back spoken by a character who had become a photographer. She said she looked through the viewfinder and would look around until a question or a curiosity arose like “how” or “why” or “when” – then she would snap the picture. This method applies to any potential photo, be it of people, nature, structures, whatever. I have seen incredible photos of flowers and insects and other tiny life that has been caught by a zoomed in lens, bringing a totally different perspective to the subject and giving it a world of its own. One of my favorites is the intricate spider web glistening in the sun, wet from dew. Nature is only one “genre” that has unlimited subjects for canvas art to grace your walls.

So, take your camera for a walk! If you don’t have nature areas to trek through where you live then just walk around the neighborhood…the park…even your town or city streets. Look for the large “money shots” then look within those shots…zoom in and see what is there, panning as you go for different angles, different perspectives. I think sometimes we lack confidence and focus too much on what we have read or maybe learned in the classroom. Try not to fixate on what you “think” good photography is (other than to have your digital camera set properly!), rather, step out of the classroom…step out of the proverbial box. If you are looking at a beautiful stream, look closer. Zoom in. Perhaps you espy an errant wild flower growing crookedly from under a small rock…maybe stones in the water that are only visible when you get right over top of them. Do you see any frogs, lizards or bugs? This is their world, their home…look for their experience. Don’t forget odd shaped rocks…twisted trees or branches…the lonely toadstool…wild flowers up close and personal.

If you are photographing in a town or city, you have just as much – if not more – to investigate. Wherever you are, zoom in…view from standing…sitting…look behind, look down, look up…find different viewing positions – all of which gives you different perspectives of your subject. Explore!

Whether you are a famous painter or an aspiring artist, you must never compromise on the quality of the art materials you use.

Quality materials are essential regardless of your artistic ability as it does not matter if you create paintings for a living or you are just a hobbyist because how good your supplies are will directly impact on the art you make.

Shopping for art materials on the internet can be confusing as it is often difficult to ascertain how good the supplies actually are because there is sometimes a big difference in price between similar products.

It can be common to discover one tube of paint that costs five pounds while the same amount of a competing brand may be priced at double that, so what is it that makes it cost so much more and how will this affect your art?

One example why a paint product may be more expensive than a rival brand is that it might contain high quality ingredients that will result in the artist producing a better standard of painting.

Oil paint that contains just poor quality oil will be much cheaper compared to a product which has superior oil, more pigment and better preservers as the expensive paint will produce a more aesthetically pleasing finish.

Acrylic and pastel paints follow the same rule of thumb as oil paints so, as with most things in life, the more you can afford to spend then the better the art you will be able to create.

In terms of paint brushes, you will find that synthetic brushes are nearly always cheaper than brushes made from real animal hair although you may prefer to use the former if you object to operating with animal art materials.

Cheap art materials can be hard to find and if you do discover a discount, you must be wary as there are some products you should never buy such as plastic brushes which can seriously hinder how you paint.