Why paint portraits on velvet?

Question

What are the features and benefits of the velvet? Why is it a good medium to paint on?

Answer 1

To the contrary to what you have been told by the other answers apart from Joyfulpaints, there were many uses for painting on velvet.
The birthplace of black velvet paintings can be traced to ancient Kashmir, which is considered to be the fabric's original homeland.
These and other paintings were religious in nature, portraying the iconic artwork of the Caucasus region by Russian Orthodox priests.
Some of these early works still hang in the Vatican.

In history in the middle ages, -Painting banners(flags),church panels as well as other decorative uses can be found below..
http://middleages.ca/Parma/steyned/STEYNED.html
Cennini, in the book "Il Libro dell'Arte" devotes a section to cloth painting, for linen or silk, and covering the special problems of velvet, dark cloth, and gilding on wool.
A similar applique method is suggested for velvet, the alternative being sizing it and beating the pile flat with a bristle brush.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=+velvet+&fulltext=Search
Marco Polo brought velvet paintings to Europe from Kashmir in the 14th century, but the genre was reborn in the hands of a Sacramento, Calif., sign painter named Edgar Leeteg, who migrated to Tahiti in 1930.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet
Painting on velvet (paint is applied either by brush or air gun, or frequently a combination of the two) results in a unique luminosity when done well, and skin tones highlight this quality best. Pigtails, arched backs, and coy faces are the order of the day in this study of divergent styles.
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=35664&category=22127
Contemporary artists like Portland’s Pander Bros. have taken to the medium.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=33796
Well there is some historical value to such paintings.
For example this was used in the underground railroad to dipict scenes and the lives of the slaves.It was also a medium that was used for portraits of some of the worlds most famous portraits musicians.
Below are some sites and links to uses and the historical context .
Museum of Velvet Paintings
http://velveteria.com/news.htm
Caren Anderson have dipped into their collection of over 1,000 hilarious and garish canvases to create a shrine to this oft-snubbed medium.
http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ques&fr2=sfp&p=What+are+the+benefits+of+painting+on+velvet%3F&meta=vc%3D

A more durable and easier medium to paint on would be linen cloth, silk etc. as has been descibed in the histoical web pages that i have given the links to.
However YOU can paint on velvet if you wish.
Here are free instuctions links for you below;
http://www.ask.com/web?q=how+to+paint+on+velvet%3F&qsrc=1&o=0&l=dir
It has an interesting history, more than one would expect. Hope this helped.
Cheers!

Answer 2

Bruce Lee

Answer 3

Technically speaking, velvet is not really a good fabric to paint on if permanence is important. It's too porous to be a stable painting ground. But - if you really want to paint on velvet, use acrylics and not oils. Myself, I think it would feel like painting on carpet...

and I can't that image out of my head, you know the little kids with the big sad eyes... *shudder*

Try instead painting on a canvas or board that's covered with black gesso - you'll get the same visual effect but on a stable support. Remember you'll need all your paint colours to be Opaque or they won't cover the black.

Answer 4

Portraits on velvet? Tacky very tacky. Any artist worth his salt wouldn't even go there.

Answer 5

The benefits are that people who like dogs playing poker or chubby Elvis in a white sequins jumpsuit will buy it.

Answer 6

Yeah, Baby!