| African paintings bring color and style to the home. The | | | | It is unfortunately not so common for paintings to hold |
| art forms are varied and range from photographic | | | | a date however, the reason being that many buyers |
| realism through to the very abstract. African art is still | | | | prefer to think they are always getting the "latest" |
| less well known outside Africa and the works continue | | | | pieces, and a painting with a date might risk the |
| to create great conversation. | | | | perception that the artist failed to sell the item for |
| Some painters like Kenyan Joseph Muchini create | | | | many years! - I know it sounds strange, but that is the |
| detailed portraits as well as abstracts which is a rare | | | | way it is. |
| combined capability. Abstracts are typically both easier | | | | Check the website's credibility. Look for other sites that |
| and faster to create and so are the more common. | | | | link to the website. Look at the quality of the site |
| As for material, the use of Acrylics and oil is more | | | | design. Look at the content (for example does it have |
| frequent than watercolors. Oil paint is by far the | | | | hundreds of nasty ads?) advertizy sites exist for the |
| preferred medium today and it lasts much longer. | | | | wrong reasons and are always painful to use. Be |
| It is often best to buy art online because of the wide | | | | wary of sites asking for credit card details instead of |
| selection and quick price comparison. When purchasing | | | | sending you to a safe site like Paypal for payment. |
| art online it is important to observe the following: | | | | Obviously keep your eyes open for that single most |
| If you are looking for an investment bare in mind that | | | | important thing: "Uniqueness". This is much harder to |
| signatures and dates will assist collectors in the future | | | | define, but thorough research in critical, look on other |
| and therefore increase any future antique value for | | | | sites for similar items and prices before you buy. Look |
| pieces. Some top east african artists are: Shine Tani, | | | | at other works by the same artist to get a feel for the |
| Kamuyu Martin, Ash Uman, Alex Mbugua, Zachariah | | | | style(s). Search for any exhibitions that hosted the |
| Mbutha, Lucki Mutebi, Giko (Hosea Muchugu), Peter | | | | works of an individual. |
| Githire, and Eliod Babu. | | | | |