Whether we paint pet portraits, family portraits, landscapes, or house portraits, we all like to think our pictures will stand the test of time. Using a high quality linen, that is properly prepared with several layers of gesso on both sides and stretched over kiln-dried hardwood stretchers, they can last more than a lifetime . However, with the best will in the world, it doesn’t matter how well you prepare your canvas, it will always be vulnerable to damage through inadvertent pressure on the surface causing dents or even tears in the canvas. Read more »

As with all artists, pet portrait painters like to economise when they get the chance and never like missing the chance to save money if they can help it. Watercolour, in tubes or pans, is relatively expensive for the artist to buy. You’ll be pleased to know that it’s perfectly possible to save money by making your own relatively easily. Read more »

The oils used by pet portrait artists and others are called drying oils. These are oils based on vegetable matter that, when combined with oxygen, produce a solid film which is resistant to the atmosphere and many solvents. Oils dry out really slowly and although the paint film is touch dry inside a few days, it may well take a few years for the paint to get completely dry. Read more »

Painters’ pigments are true pigments, that is to say unlike dyes, they possess body. They come as a fine dry powder, and should be free from impurities. Artists’ paints use pigments derived from many sources, traditionally this used to be naturally occurring stone, earths, metals but over time many have been replaced by man-made materials which provide a more permanent and stable pigment. Read more »

Considering the actual condition of the US economy and the forever increasing surge in gold prices , it is no wonder people are rooting out their used gold, silver and platinum jewelry and are getting rid of them to cash 4 gold companies because they need to make some more cash to pay down some extra bills in order to make ends meet.

If you are in the same situation you will need to methodically do your research before selling your precious metals to just any gold brokers because there are an ever increasing amount of scam gold brokers in the jewelry buying industry who won’t hesitate to prey on your desperate situation and pay you next to nothing for your precious jewelry.

Although this way of doing business isn’t illegal, it is in any case, totally wrong and I want to make it known to those of you who may be thinking of selling your used jewelry to be sure to refrain from dealing with businesses that are acting as middle men and to do business only with refineries or cash 4 gold businesses that utilize their in-house refineries

You must realize, cash4gold businesses are simply acting as brokers between you and a precious metal refinery and because of that they will pay you approximately 30% of the market price for your gold, silver or platinum and instantly sell it back to a gold refiner themselves thereby obtaining the lions share and in turn you receive a few measly dollars. Read more »

More and more people are choosing not to go abroad for their holidays this year, but are instead choosing to stay at home and avoid the cost and stress of travelling. The credit crunch has hit a lot of people hard and many are finding that they are short of money to spend on luxuries like holidays. The recession combined with the current strength of the euro against the pound, means it’s not surprising that the number of UK holidaymakers booking their holidays at traditionally popular European destinations like Spain and Portugal has plummeted. Read more »

Pet portraits in oil can be varnished to offer a protective layer that preserves the picture from the atmosphere, it is also used to create a consistent finish whether gloss or matt. Over time a varnish will itself be attacked, collecting dust and dirt, sometimes cracking and eventually discolouring. Hence, any varnish has to be easily removed and replaced with a fresh coat. Read more »

Even with an ostensibly simple picture such as a pet portrait, a good composition is crucial for the finished painting to work. As with any aspect of the painting process, the way it is approached is what singles out the great painters. Often, good composition is the result of a natural process: when the painter creates a picture that is pleasing to the eye is is most probably down to the fact that the artist has ended up with a composition that conforms to traditional rules. Read more »

When painting a picture artists, including pet portrait painters, will take on various techniques to produce the visual effects needed on the canvas. Many of these techniques have been used by artists for centuries and have particular terms to describe them. Below is a brief list describing these terms and the principles upon which they’re based. Read more »

Learning to Teach in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience (Learning to Teach Subjects in the Secondary School)
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Customer Review: Its ok
This book is recommended by the Bristol PGCE. The book is ok, with some useful information - but it is quite dull. I did find it useful when writing all the essays for the PGCE course.
Customer Review: Learning to teach in the secondary school
Book recommended by Cambridge PGCE reading list. Some valuable information but I always find that the subject specific books in this range are of far more use

Belly [1999]
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Customer Review: Watchable…I guess
OK, if you’re intereseted in New York rap. Nas, DMX and a insane appearance by Method Man as an off-his head Ghetto assasin. Don’t expect great cinema though. Dircted by the same Hype Williams who did those cheesy shiny-suit videos in the mid-nineties, the film itself is a bit of a mess, with nothing to say that Boyz’n'the Hood didn’t say almost a decade earlier. While that film meant something, Belly is nothing but a slice of gun porn, played out to a Hip Hop soundtrack…I think Hype Williams needs to stick to his music videos.
Customer Review: Belly
A true HipHop cult classic with a Scarface flavour, up there with Friday and Menace II society.

Selected Poems of Thomas Gray, Charles Churchill and William Cowper (Penguin Classics)
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Turner’s Holland
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William Turner: Libellus de Re Herbaria 1538 The Names of Herbes 1548 Facsimiles