Ballet Moves: Demi-Pliés
The first ballet exercise at the barre is the small knee bend, or demi-plié ("duh-MEE plee-AY"). This article shows you how to perform a demi-plié from first, second, fourth, and fifth positions. [more…]
Storyboarding Your Film
Before you create your film storyboards, you have to perform certain tasks and make certain decisions. First, begin by evaluating your screenplay and picturing it in terms of separate shots that can be [more…]
Auditioning for an Acting Role: What to Expect
When you're called in for an acting audition, the people present at the audition will include you, the casting director, and maybe a handful of other complete strangers. Some of these other people may [more…]
Creating Flesh Tones for Oil Painting
Because human flesh runs the color gamut from light to dark and pale to brilliant, re-creating flesh tones for your oil paintings can be one of the most difficult things to do. Many recipes for flesh tones [more…]
Fine-Tuning Your Acting Performance on Film
Acting in film and television can require a special set of acting skills. Film and television can show anything from two normal people eating a normal lunch to microscopic people swimming through someone's [more…]
Examining the Various Film Shots
The camera never blinks. That's what cuts (changing from one shot to another shot) are for. But to cut from one shot to another, you have to vary your shots by size and angle so that you don't end up with [more…]
Finding the Correct Ballet Stance
Most world-class ballet dancers, from the tender age of four or five, have been taught to hold themselves in a certain way, with a certain posture. They practice and practice their ballet posture until [more…]
Basic Guidelines of Choreography for Ballet
When you decide to choreograph your own ballet dances, you have complete freedom of expression for your choreography. And that's as it should be. But artists of all kinds have found that they flourish [more…]
Watercolor Painting Technique: Creating Texture with Salt and Plastic
One of the endearing qualities of watercolor paint is that you can use a number of deceptively easy tricks to create some unexpected textures in your watercolor paintings. Not knowing the secrets, your [more…]
Choosing Brushes for Oil Painting
The best brushes for beginning oil painters are probably china bristle brushes, which are made from natural pig hair. They're tough and durable enough to stand up to the oil paint and still clean up nicely [more…]
The Art of Scheduling a Film
Even if you have a definitive budget, scheduling your shoot schedule can be tricky. You need to break down all the elements of your film to determine how to distribute the money you have. These breakdowns [more…]
Creating Common Manga Characters
When you know how to draw a manga figure, you're ready to turn your attention to creating your own characters. A number of common archetypes appear often in manga. In this case, [more…]
Ten Ways to Improve Your Painting Skills
As you grow in your art, you may hit a plateau. You may need a kick-start for inspiration or wonder how to improve your art skills. The good news is that there are lots of ideas to push you to the next [more…]
The Basics of Oil Paints
Oil paint developed in the early 15th century in northern Europe. Until that time, artists primarily used tempera, an egg-yolk-based paint. Artists "discovered [more…]
Creating the Backstory for Your Screenplay
Most writers dream a little before they tackle writing their scripts. Actually, they dream a lot. Before you craft an environment, you want to know its history, its geographical location, and its condition [more…]
Exploring Glazing in Oil Paintings
One of the advantages of painting in oil is that you can work in layers of color. The big overall term for this technique is glazing, in which you can see two distinct colors at the same time. [more…]
Watercolor Painting Technique: Using Wax to Preserve White
Typically, you paint on white watercolor paper. And ideally, you save the white of the paper to serve as the white in the painting. That is, you paint around the white areas, leaving the white paper to [more…]
Constructing Your Manga Plot
Following are the basic stages that a manga-ka (a manga artist) uses to create an original plot. The basic stages are widely embraced by the manga-ka community today, and they originate from classical [more…]
Getting Acquainted with Producers and Directors
There's no business like show business. But show business, like any business, depends on people. And two of the most important types of people that you'll meet in the film and television business are [more…]
Picking Watercolor Paper: Weight and Texture
There are many characteristics of watercolor paper to consider when you're shopping for paper for your watercolor painting. Two important characteristics are [more…]
Finding a Screenplay for Your Film
Finding a screenplay is easy — but finding a good one is hard. But if you look carefully, you can find many talented, up-and-coming screenwriters who have good or maybe even great scripts just waiting [more…]
Picking Locations for Your Film
After you've locked down your script — meaning there are no more changes — comb through it and determine where you want to shoot your scenes. Some software programs, like [more…]
Finding the Right Practice Space for Ballet
The right place to practice ballet is a place where you feel comfortable. And in order to feel comfortable, you need two different things — space and privacy. [more…]
Tracing the Rise of Manga's Popularity
Although manga (pronounced MAHN-gah or MANG-ah) may seem like a fairly new art form, humorous and satirical illustrations trace back to 12th-century Japan. Although now understood to mean [more…]
Watercolor Painting Paper: Sheets, Blocks, or Pads
When you're buying paper for your watercolor creation, you don't want to skimp on paper quality. Cheap paper can't take the abuse required of watercolor. Good watercolor paper is made of 100 percent cotton [more…]
