Archive for the ‘Landscape Art’ Category
The Claus Factor for Landscape Painters
Robert Genn, Canadian landscape painter, in his twice weekly newsletter reminds us that Santa urges his followers to go forth and be generous. “An artist gives,” said Veronica Roth. “He gives visually, through courses, with free advice, through generosity of spirit and through a need to share.”
It’s not surprising that most charity fund raisers are near the Santa Season. We love to donate – a fine way to help a children’s hospital, a dance center, a small village in Africa, or further research toward a cure for cancer.
Of course, there are little gifts we give on our own. A gift that is personally crafted by the giver is most likely to be a treasure by the receiver. It seems that Santa’s up-north workshop, once hands-on and all abuzz with creative elves has now been transmogrified into a Chinese factory – all the more reason to get out your brushes. “It is when you give of yourself,” said Kahlil Gibran, “that you truly give.”
Facebook Fan Pages for the Landscape Painter
Every landscape painter should have a fan page to drive traffic to his/her website and blog. The books I ordered last week regarding how to do this have not had time to arrive, but sometime this week I’m looking forward to getting my fan page up and running. At any rate, in the article by Lori McNee in the January issue of The Artist’s Magazine, she lists more fan page tips.
First, choose a page name that reflects your brand. Note that once you have 100 connections you won’t be able to change your fan page name so make the initial decision a good one. Secondly, to gain more fans and followers, add a Facebook widget to your blog. By adding a fan box or “like” button to your blog, you’ll encourage visitors to join your page. Third, you should always post your blog links to your fan page wall. You can choose to use a blogging network such as NetworkedBlogs or Blogged to automatically integrate a feed to your latest posts. Fourth, post Facebook profile updates at least 4 times a week but no more than 5 times a day with the postings preferably spaced apart. You might start to get complaints if you flood your followers’ feeds with too many updates.
Holiday Greetings
The holidays are here. There is only a little time left to do the last minute preparation – to share gifts and thoughts with those who are dear to us.
I want to thank all of you for reading and subscribing to my blog – for being passionate about creating and willing to put yourself “out there” for the world to see and judge – for your great desire to become better, not just as an artist but as a person – to trust yourself enough to go deep and find the artist that resides within your soul. It is you that makes the world a brighter place to live, and I thank you. Wishing you a happy Holiday Season and best wishes for the New Year.
Resources for This Landscape Painter
As you all know, being popular with Google and the other search engines is a good thing. The more popular you are, the higher the ranking is that Google gives you and your business could jump from page 150 to page 2 on any appropriate search.
There are many ways to become popular with Google – use keywords strategically in your web site, have lots of links and have a fan page on Facebook are only a few. Recently I have been reading about how to set up a fan page on Facebook and with a few books, downloads and perhaps friends, I’m hoping to accomplish this. Then perhaps Google will reward this landscape painter with a higher ranking. So today I’m ordering Facebook for Dummies, ED 4 (For Dummies, 2011) by Leah Pearlman and Carolyn Abram and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook (Alpha, 2010) by Joe Kraynak and Mikal E. Belicove.
Tracking Cash Flow for the Oil Painter
In the December 2011 issue of the Professional Artist, Robert Reed, PH.D., wrote an article entitled, Planning Your Art Business Part 3: Tracking Cash Flow. Oil painters as well as others could use it. Two versions are built on Microsoft Excel (an earlier and a later version) and a third version for the Mac is built on Numbers. All are downloadable and free from www.yourartisyourbusiness.com.
In the magazine article, Dr. Reed discussed three of the worksheets available: The Income Worksheet, The Expenses Worksheet, and the Depreciation Worksheet. After I downloaded my copy, I found other worksheets are also available. The discussion seemed pretty straight forward so I’m looking forward to keeping better track of my income and expenses – and it’s just in time for the new year!
Art Walk Night
The third Thursday of the month is Art Walk night in Bonita Springs, FL. Tonight was the night and I decided to attend. Besides, my Abstract Art teacher has a studio there and I wanted to see where she works.
The Promenade in Bonita Springs is an uptown area that is part of a mall. Part of the mall is still open but many shops have been closed, mostly because of the economy of the times, and are being used by artists to display their works and use as a studio. What a wonderful use for those unused spaces.
During my walk, I saw beautiful paintings, some in acrylic, some in oils. There was also stunning fabric art like no other I had ever seen, by a lady whose mother and grandmother were also fabric artists. A lady who formerly did fashion design had absolutely beautiful jewelry. She also made the most delightful wall art from found objects like dresser handles and other antiques. Someone else had created large mobiles out of plastic of some kind – very colorful and amazing. I finally found my teacher’s studio and the art she had to display and had a wonderful time walking through the Promenade for December Art Walk.
My Abstract Art Class #4
Last week, the lesson in my Abstract Art class was about symbols. We thought of a bunch of symbols, some of which were heart, $, #, hand, star, @, !, yin yang, cross, +, =, fish, x o. An artist could make one or more paintings with each of these in mind.
Teacher then showed us photos which she had collected with some of these symbols in mind. Most of us used one of her photos as inspiration to make our own painting. This is the painting I made from one of her photos because my son was in a band for several years and that photo reminded me of him. I might even send it out to him as a gift!
My Abstract Art Class #3
Last week’s lesson in my Abstract Art class was creating a purely abstract painting. The teacher gave us each a large sheet of paper with 4 rectangles on it (assuming our canvases were rectangular). We were to put our left hand (if we were right handed) on two of the horizontal lines of a rectangle to mark where the rectangle was and close our eyes. With the other hand we made whatever kind of marks we desired. We repeated this exercise for each of the other 3 rectangles.
We then chose the design we wanted for our painting and drew it on the canvas. We could alter the design, if needed, to make the design more pleasing, and colored in the various shapes whatever colors we chose. Mine looked pretty good, no matter which side was up (we check each painting in this way) – but I may have to do something about “Snoopy”!
That Pile of Unfinished Plein Air Paintings
Last week Robert Genn, Canadian plein air painter, talked about the pile of unfinished paintings that sometimes accumulate for various reasons. His suggestion was to divide them into three groups – possible, borderline and impossible. Relegate the last group out of sight, possibly later to be reprimed canvases. Then do what is important first.
His readers made some interesting suggestions. One suggested working on them in order of preference. An art teacher had a bunch of drawings and paintings on paper that she used as collage in later works. Another mentioned that Titian would turn his unfinished paintings to the wall and re-evaluate them at a later time. Sometimes you need a little time away from the painting to truly know what it needs.
How to Critique Yourself – for the Plein Air Painter (2)
My first essay about critique for the plein air painter was last week. Robert Genn continued, saying he felt that a checklist is valuable and that you need to write and follow your own list. His list includes a series of varying questions: Meaningful subject? Strong patterns? Middle tones? Interlocking gradations? Echoing shapes? Flowing design? Alluring counterpoint? Lost and found? Focal point? Big and small? Overall simplicity? Complex shapes? Visual depth? Interesting shapes? Aerial perspective? Sophisticated color? Natural believability? What could be?
His readers questioned him about a few of the above and he continued. “Alluring counterpoint” is where there is a small amount of jumpy detail or “grace notes” that give a secondary area of interest without destroying the power of the whole. I often try for at least one area of AC. “Interlocking gradations” are smaller gradations or blends laid side by side or juxtaposed. They give added, often abstract, interest and mystery to otherwise ordinary subjects. General gradations are gradations or blends in a large area such as sky, water or the general base of an abstract, etc. Interposed with “flats” these general gradations go a long way toward strengthening compositions (also helping areas to “sit up” or “lie down”) and holding the eye. “Interesting surfaces” means texture, shine (final varnish) and evidence of the human hand at work. In my case I like an even, “handmade” look, not too artificially rough, not too slickly smooth. Inconsequential though these concerns might seem, they all contribute to a work’s visual “stickyness.” In the pursuit of making your own work unique, I should emphasize that while your list may have parts of other artists’ lists, your list needs to be your own list.
If you want to see what other readers mentioned as their lists, go to http://clicks.robertgenn.com/critique-self.php