Tools of the trade

Hi everyone, I thought from time to time I would post some of the tools I use to assist me in painting, tools of the trade so to speak. The first is one I use all of the time, it could possibly be free if you happen to have one around the house. One of my teachers put me on to this, it's a picture frame mat. In the first photo you can see how I cut the mat at the corners so you have one long side and one short side on each piece. The second photo I show you sizing it to match the shape of your canvas. The third photo shows me looking through it at my still life set up to determine how it will look on my canvas as far as composition goes. You can use this outside to narrow down your view and pick a suitable landscape for your canvas. The last photo shows how I use it most, I crop photos with it. Again adjust it to the shape of your canvas and move it around on your photo to crop and get the best composition. Also I'm sure you can see my messy studio in the background. I am planning to have a "cleaning out the studio sale" soon. So check back for that, I'll have original art at very reasonable prices. I hope the mat idea is new for some of you and I'll follow it up with a few others. Barb