Visual Arts Journal

Choosing the Best Art Program to Meet Your Needs
This is the first installment in a series of reviews on self-study art training courses. I’ll be reviewing programs designed for a wide range of skill levels and pursuits, from beginner to advanced and recreational to professional. All of the programs I will be reviewing are offered via PDF, or DVD and some offer online member-only communities to supplement the original content and learning experience. (continue reading…)

An Industry Standard
A quality magazine that is considered a “must have” for many photographers. The content highlights two or three really cool Photoshop tutorials and an article or two. Filling out the rest of the pages are a dozen or so regular columns, a handful of photo equipment reviews, Lightroom content and a nice spread on the current featured photographer. Also present, a lot of glossy looking advertising, which as a photographer, I do selectively glance at. (continue reading…)

Radical solutions for exploiting the worlds most versatile medium

Authored by: Patti Brady ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-013-4 List Price: US $29.95

This book is widely recognized as a popular book judging by the user responses online and through the recommendation of other artists. I got my first look at the book during a product lecture for golden artist colors, and was very inspired. (continue reading…)

SilverShotz is pricy and hard to find, but it’s drop dead gorgeous. The magazine mainly profiles the artists, or rather their portfolios, by displaying numerous very large images of their work. Text is very light but who needs it. If this doesn’t provide inspiration, I don’t know what will.  They have a one page directory in the back and no other advertising. They also have a one page book review but no other columns or content, just the big name profiles and portfolios. (continue reading…)

I found this magazine on the newsstand about a month ago and really liked it. My review is based on both the first (January 2009) and second issues of this quarterly magazine. I initially thought it was the other popular magazine, but was surprised to see that APC has some sort of association with this magazine rather than the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). (continue reading…)

Authored by Jane R. Hofstetter   ISBN: 1-58180-479-2  List Price: US 28.99

This is one of the best books I’ve ever seen on composition and planning. It is very easy to read and her text and examples make the principles very easy to understand. It covers Pattern, Passage, Focal Areas, Color, Design, The Golden Mean and Emotional Depth. (continue reading…)