Canvas Painting 101

Canvas Painting 101

People have been expressing themselves through painting for thousands of years.  
Even the cavemen showed great hunts or other events with paints made from berries and plants. There just seems to be an innate need to show others our thoughts, feelings, and ideas through pictures. The phrase “ A picture is worth a thousand words” is so very true.
With colors and design you can express every emotion you feel. Whether it is a woman in a garden waiting for her lover or an old barn set in a field of wild flowers, the subject bring memories and feelings to the fore front of the viewer's mind. All of this being accomplished on a blank canvas with paint.
There are some basics the beginning artist should know. Although you may have been sketching and drawing for years, the first time you pick up a brush it will seem foreign to you. This is fine. You will become very familiar with each of the brushes and the strokes they can make. They will soon be as comfortable in your hand as the charcoal pencil you use on the sketch pad.
Paints can add style and creativity to an art piece. A single tear drop on the face can take on a totally new dimension by adding color. Paints allow you to do this with ease. The types of paint you use will also allow you to be more creative.
Many artists use the oil paints for extend projects. The oils do not dry as quickly and can be rejuvenated with a little turpentine or mineral spirits. This allows the artist to continue the project another day. The brushes you use with an oil painting must be cleaned extremely well. If you allow them to sit in the cleaning solution they can loose their shape. This means you may not be able to use certain brushes to achieve a particular brush stroke.
When the artist uses acrylic paints, the dry time is extremely fast. Many times, a project which is being done in half an hour or so will be done with acrylic paints because of the ease of use. Clean up with soap and water is a quick task. The brushes wash up quickly and cleanly. Allowing them to dry either on a flat surface or standing with bristles up will keep their original shape.
The best thing to do when first beginning canvas painting is to experiment. Try using oils. Become familiar with acrylics. You will eventually choose which medium you prefer to work with. By playing with each, you can determine how the paints mix, get a feel for how they flow onto the canvas, and become familiar with blending. These are all important for the novice artist to consider.
Another factor is the type of canvas you will want to use. There are stretch canvases, rolled canvas, canvas boards, and canvas mats. Each one can be used for different styles, artwork, and even paints. Which one you use will be determined by which one you feel more comfortable painting upon.
The information can become overwhelming when you start painting on canvas. Getting to know the terminology will help clear some things up a little bit. Here are some terms we will be using in this book.

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E-Book Contents:

 

Chapter 1 – Painting 101 ...................................................................... 3
Chapter 2 – Understanding Paints ....................................................... 6
Chapter 3 – Choosing Your Brushes .................................................... 7
Chapter 4 – Color Your World .............................................................. 8
Chapter 5 – Light Sources in Painting .................................................. 9
Chapter 6 – What type of painter are you? ......................................... 10
Chapter 7 – Choosing A Subject ........................................................ 11
Chapter 8 – Setting Up Your Studio ................................................... 12
Chapter 9 – Art Supply Resources ..................................................... 13
Chapter 10 – Clean Up Time .............................................................. 14
Chapter 11 – Free Art Lessons .......................................................... 15
Chapter 12 – Take Care of Your Creation .......................................... 16
Chapter 13 – Pay Attention to Detail .................................................. 17
Chapter 14 – Enjoy Your Subject ....................................................... 18
Chapter 15 – Frequently Asked Questions ......................................... 20
Chapter 16 – Art Schools ................................................................... 22
Chapter 17 – Museums of Fine Art .................................................... 23
Chapter 18 – One Final Word ............................................................ 24

A Guide To Becoming Vegetarian

A Guide to Becoming a Vegetarian 

Introduction

If you’ve eaten meat your whole life, switching to a vegetarian diet might be something that could be difficult to switch to.  You might also wonder why you should even consider switching.  Many people figure that they have been eating this way their whole, life so why switch now? 

There are many reasons that you might decide to switch to a vegetarian diet.  First of all, check yourself out in the mirror.  The majority of Americans are not a healthy weight and this can be the number one reason for them to switch.  Also, as yourself a few questions:

• Are you a healthy weight?
• Do you feel good most of the time?
• Do you wake up energized? Or tired and sluggish?
• How is your overall health?
• Is your blood pressure in a healthy range?
• Are your cholesterol and blood sugar levels normal?

If you find that “no” is the answer to most of these questions then you should consider what you are eating on a daily basis.  If you find that you feel worse after eating, you may be wondering if food is supposed to make you feel this way.

The answer is no.  Your food should nourish and feed your body.  It should leave you feeling refreshed and energized.  The body is a machine and it needs good fuel.  The fact of the matter is that most people are overweight and obese.  This is because we eat too much meat and too much fat.  Problems such as high blood sugar, Type II diabetes, high cholesterol and other health related problems are caused by our diet.  All of these problems can be prevented by changing your diet.  This eBook will show you how to do that and the difference that eating vegetarian can do for you in a short period of time.  

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Complete E-Book Contents:

  

Table of Contents

Goin’ All Veggies..................................................................................................... 1

A Guide to Becoming a Vegetarian............................................................. 1

Table of Contents................................................................................................. 2

Introduction............................................................................................................. 4

Chapter 1...................................................................................................................... 7

You are What You Eat............................................................................................... 7

You Really are What You Eat....................................................................................... 8

What Did Our Ancestors Eat?..................................................................................... 9

Why Did Humans Start Eating Meat?........................................................................ 10

The Tradition of Eating Meat..................................................................................... 11

Chapter 2.................................................................................................................... 12

Vegetarianism & Animal Welfare......................................................................... 12

PETA......................................................................................................................... 12

Animals & Growth Hormones................................................................................... 13

Chapter 3.................................................................................................................... 17

Vegetarianism & The Health Effects................................................................... 17

Heart Disease............................................................................................................ 17

Cancer....................................................................................................................... 18

Improved Digestion.................................................................................................... 20

Weight........................................................................................................................ 20

Kidneys...................................................................................................................... 21

Osteoporosis.............................................................................................................. 22

Detoxification............................................................................................................. 23

Chapter 4.................................................................................................................... 25

Making the Switch.................................................................................................... 25

Stuff You Need to Start Cooking Vegetarian Style...................................................... 27

Fruits & Vegetables............................................................................................... 27

Sauces & Oils..................................................................................................... 28

Seasonings......................................................................................................... 28

Herbs & Spices.................................................................................................. 28

Noodles & Rice................................................................................................. 29

Nuts & Seeds..................................................................................................... 29

Legumes............................................................................................................. 29

Other.................................................................................................................. 29

Breakfast & Brunch................................................................................................... 30

Apple Cinnamon Granola.................................................................................. 30

Ingredients............................................................................................................. 30

Simple Crepes.................................................................................................... 31

Ingredients............................................................................................................. 31

Vegetable Omelet.............................................................................................. 32

Ingredients............................................................................................................. 32

Smoothies................................................................................................................... 33

Breakfast Smoothies.......................................................................................... 33

Ingredients............................................................................................................. 33

Banana and Yogurt Smoothie........................................................................... 33

Ingredients............................................................................................................. 34

Mango Smoothie................................................................................................ 34

Ingredients............................................................................................................. 34

Pear Smoothie.................................................................................................... 34

Ingredients............................................................................................................. 34

Appetizers & Side Dishes........................................................................................... 35

Special Tomato Bruschetta................................................................................ 35

Ingredients............................................................................................................. 35

Spring Rolls....................................................................................................... 36

Ingredients for Spring Rolls.................................................................................. 37

Ingredients for Salad............................................................................................. 37

Ingredients for Dressing........................................................................................ 38

Main Courses............................................................................................................. 39

Pita Pizza........................................................................................................... 39

Ingredients............................................................................................................. 39

Chinese Noodles with Assorted Vegetables..................................................... 40

Ingredients for Sauce............................................................................................. 40

Noodles.................................................................................................................. 41

Vegetable Stir-Fry................................................................................................. 41

Go Green; Saves Money

Examples Of How Going Green Saves You Money

There are many examples of how going green saves you money. Kermit the Frog was wrong - it IS easy being green, and it saves you money at the same time. As the planet faces a period of warming where our actions are believed to be the prime cause, it makes sense to seek out examples of how going green saves you money and act on them.

That cell phone charger that stays plugged in, the DVD player that waits for the occasional playing, and the TV that sits on standby all night, these are prime examples of how going green saves you money - if you unplug them, that is. For even if the items are not working, they are consuming energy!

Another of the prime examples of how going green saves you money is switching from bottled water to filtered tap water. The average family spends some $1,400 a year on bottled water. And the worst part is that 95% of the plastic bottles are not recycled! For less than $100 you could get a high quality staged water filter to make your tap water perfect.

Examples of how going green saves you money are everywhere. Do you drive as fast as the law allows? You shouldn't. Car engines perform most efficiently at around 55 miles an hour. If you combine that with gentle driving on properly inflated tires, you will save money and help the planet too.

You could always use a bicycle to travel around town. Or you could simply walk for those short trips. You won't be pouring hydrocarbons into the atmosphere, warming the planet, you will save money, and you will get some good exercise at the same time. Walking and cycling when you can are excellent examples of how going green saves you money.

Some 65 million newspapers are printed every day in the US. Some 70% of them will not be recycled. What a waste of trees! You can do your bit to help, and read whatever news you want to read at the same time simply by going online. Very few newspapers don't have an online presence these days, so save some money and read from the web pages.

Do you want more example of how going green saves you money? They are all around you. Just look and you certainly will find them.

Go Green; Tips

How To Go Green And Save Too In 7 Simple Tips

At a time when the world faces increasing global warming, as more and more harmful greenhouse gases pour out into the atmosphere, more and more people are wondering how to go green and make it cost effective too. The good news is that it's very easy to do. In fact, done properly it's hard not to save money while helping the planet recover. So, here's how to go green (and save money) in 7 simple tips.

1. Lower your winter heating by at least one degree. If you can stand two or three degrees lower, then all the better. You will use less energy and still feel comfortable. Then in summer, let the air conditioning cool the house a little less. That's a great start in how to go green.

2. Set your washing machine to wash clothes in cold water. Modern cleaning powders don't need hot water, and heating the water is what consumes most of the energy that the washing machine uses.

3. Don't use the dryer to dry your clothes! That's not how to go green. It uses far too much energy and it's expensive too. Hang your clothes out to dry. The air is great at drying clothes - your grandmother could have told you that.

4. Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs use 10% of the energy that a standard bulb needs and they last 10 times longer. So, change your light bulbs. And if you want to know how to go green in a bigger way with lights, check out the new LED bulbs. They can be twice as efficient as the CFL bulbs.

5. Use less water. Check all faucets for leaks and fix any you find. Take shorter showers, don't bath, and consider getting a new toilet cistern that will use less than two gallons of water per flush. Standard cistern use some three and a half gallons. Using less water uses less energy and saves you money!

6. Walk rather than drive for very short trips. Use a bicycle for moderate trips, and only use the car if you really have to. Gasoline is expensive and it pollutes the atmosphere. Save on burning it and you will save on your money too, as well as help the environment.

7. When you have to drive, keep your speed down to around 55 miles per hour if possible. Your car's engine will be running at its most efficient at that speed burning the minimum amount of gas. Practice driving smoothly as well. Don't accelerate fast from a standing start, and don't brake hard. This is how to go green with your car, though using public transport, walking and cycling is even better.

Film Making; Becoming A Film Maker

Film Making

 Learn Basics to Becoming a Film Maker

Start With a Good Story

To begin with, in a nutshell, filmmaking is broken down into three parts.  Pre-production, Production, and Post-production.  Distribution is the last part, way down on the timeline and doesn’t come into play until everything is in the can.  However, if you are ever going to get to distribution you will need to spend a great deal of time in the Pre-production phase.  There are times when you don’t have that luxury, especially if you are shooting on the fly, but more often than not a film can take years to make.  This can keep it in the Pre-production process much longer. 

If I was to write about filmmaking, and I am (wink), I guess I would have to start with the script, story, or concept.  Screenwriting is usually split into three different styles. They are: narrative (linear), non-linear, and documentary.  Narrative stories follow a timeline taking the story from beginning and moving chronologically to the end.

 Non-linear is the opposite of chronological.   An example of a non-linear is the movie “Momento” or “Pulp Fiction”. These directors chopped up time and used time sequencing to throw the viewer off balance.   While non-linear has gained popularity, it seems that the narrative film is the more enduring style.   It is much more difficult for folks to figure out what is going on in the non-linear format, that may be one of the reasons it is used. 

The third format would simply be, documentary. This is a real-time reality presentation letting the facts present themselves with little or no direction or editing.  Documentary is different from Narrative in that the director works to keep from manipulating the production as little as possible.  Narrative film is all about the director manipulating a scene to illicit certain reactions from the viewer, therein lies the difference between the two.

Depending on the story you are telling, you will choose the best format to use.  While the narrative and linear may have traditional scripting, you may have to refer to an interview script in the documentary format.  This may simply be a list of questions to be asked, usually by an off camera interviewer, allowing the subject/talent to drive the dialog. 

Many times there is no real dialog to script except for the questions an interviewer will ask.  Much of documentary film is done by showing up and filming things as they are happening with some narration to explain to the viewer what they are watching.

There was a type of documentary films referred to Cinema Veritέ.  This means “cinema truth” in French and of course was made popular by the French in the 1950’s.  This was done as an effort to remove artifice from film to allow a more truthful depiction of a story. 

In Veritέ the camera is to be merely set up and turned on. Additionally there is to be as little editing as possible.  The theory being that even the act of editing a film is

manipulating the true representation of what is really (truthfully) happening.  Hey, these guys would have loved Reality TV, but at the time (1950’s) Veritέ was considered cutting edge. 

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E-Book Contains:

~ Steps To Start Film Making

~  Steps For Screenplay

~  Tips For Copyright

~ Tips For Location

~ Equipment List

~ Various Camera Shots, Lighting

~ Editing And Promoting

~ Many Other Tidbits 

The Awakening; What Can It Do To You

What Spiritual Awakening Can Do For You

Aside from the self-transformation you get from having a spiritual awakening, there are a number of benefits that you can get out of the same experience. Soul awakening and self-development leads to a balanced life. Eventually, the same balanced life will lead you to a happy and fulfilled life. But don’t get me wrong, the ending is great but even the process can quite a rewarding experience. What spiritual awakening can do for you is more than just the physical benefits. You might not see it now but when you reached that state of spiritual enlightenment, you’ll be glad that you’ve gone through the whole thing.

In reaching spiritual awakening you need meditation. And meditation itself has lots of benefits. Meditation can relieve stress for one thing which is highly ideal especially in the busy lives we have today. Working in the city and a highly stressful environment can bring a toll to the mind and body. Having daily meditation time can help relieve the stress and can in the long run make you healthier and your life longer. It will lead you to finding your true self and determining your real potential.

The effects of meditation might not be felt immediately. Some might even feel a little stress from the exercise but eventually when you do this on a more or less regular basis you will start to feel the effects kick in. It might take some time before you feel a certain level of calmness and peace but it will come. You will start to feel happier with yourself and with your surroundings. You will start finding the best out of a situation and not feeling depressed or angry all the time. You will become more patient and you can connect with other people more now. And not only that but you will find that you have a better understanding of who you are, a better understanding of your own consciousness. You will find that not only did your physical body improved, become healthier but your overall emotional and spiritual state have grown to some extent.

There are different meditation techniques. In fact, there are numerous schools of thought that provide different styles and approaches in finding your true self. Some would insist on having a mantra, a word that you have to repeat in order to calm your mind to begin the meditation process. There are some who would find having someone guide him or her through the meditation process as the most effective way to reach a calm state of mind. They seem to find it difficult to do it by themselves. The goal in meditation is to get to that place where you are totally relaxed, where nothing, including your mind interferes. It is a level of consciousness where you don’t have unnecessary thoughts, or no thoughts for that matter play a role. Imagine yourself in a pitch black room. Even if you don’t see anything you are aware that you exist. That is very similar to what we plan to do during a meditation process. You look into yourself and become aware of what or who you are without thinking. It is a higher level of awareness that we’re looking for.

Okay, I do hope I am not complicating things nor making things ambiguous. But the truth is spiritual awakening cannot be described by simple words or in my case series of paragraphs. It is more than just words, it is more than just an experience. The important thing is that what spiritual awakening can do to you is more than you can hope for.

Transformation; The Awakening

Personal Transformation:  Spiritual Awakening

Spiritual awakening and enlightenment seems to be part of religious practices.  Spiritual awakening is a religious experience where the person who is enlightened had contact with the divine and supernatural.  It has been part of different traditions and practices, encompassing different religions.

Enlightenment is subjective since it fits on the individual’s perception and understanding divinity and religion.  It is also something which other people who do not share the same views may find different and sometimes frightening.  Even though, different religions have different understanding of the divine and supreme being, awakening experiences seem to have commonalities, as well as their differences. 

Different religions and traditions share that spiritual awakening and other religious experiences includes the person to detach from the world and unite with God or gods and goddesses.  The person would have deeper connection to the world after the awakening.  They would also attain innate knowledge and understanding of the world and other people.

Spiritual awakenings are not only experienced through religious activities and methods.  It can also be experienced through peak experiences, life and death experiences and situations, psychic openings and past life experience.  Those who have awakened would say that they would experience physical, mental, emotional and spiritual changes and difficulties.  But the awakening, even with its turmoil and difficulty, has bee called blissful by some people.

It is a personal transformation and the awakened can experience different changes on their actions, habits and way of life. 

William James in The Varieties of Religious Experience, states that a spiritual awakening brings certainty and insight to truth which is unfathomable by usual sensory and intellectual means.  The experience can change the outer behaviour, attitude, character and outlook of the person who have experienced the awakening.

For example, people who have a spiritual awakening would experience sudden waves of emotions.  Food intolerances and allergies develop after the religious experience. Some traditions say that because the human mind and body is opening to the divine and the spiritual, it gets more sensitive.  Getting more sensitive means that your body can have lower tolerance level to some things compared to how it was before the religious journey and completion. 

The senses are in a high and can be extra-sensitive.  Enlightened people would  see auras around living things and some glittery particles.  The colours would appear more vivid and even see shapes and brilliant colors with eyes closed. Hearing is also sharper than before.  But some would testify that they would experience a decrease in hearing since they would hear different kind of sounds and have difficulty identifying the different sounds. 

Smell, taste and touch are also enhanced.  Which is why, some would be sensitive with food and smell.  Rashes can happen on the skin that can happen in the same time with healing moments or completion of some memories or anything that could have happened in the past.

There would also be moments when the awakened person would feel a sudden rush of power.  Some people would say that they would experience hotness running from their head to toe, while there are others who would say the feeling was cold. 

Just to stress on the point, the transformation that a person undergoes upon a spiritual awakening depends on the how they see and understand divinity and religion.  Not all of these personal transformations could happen to everybody who has experienced enlightenment. In some religion, some of these transformations are not acceptable while other traditions and religions would foresee these transformation essential.