Visual Arts Journal

LA Printers Fair Saturday, October 1, 2011
If you are in the LA area you may want to catch the International Printing Museum’s Printers Fair from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. They have Live events all day and plenty of vendors. (continue reading…)

Conference Speakers Websites: A Gold Mine of Free Guidance
In case you missed the 2011 Freelancer’s Day Conference, it is not too late to get a wealth of free and paid advice from the speakers. Most of the speakers offered a variety of conference related perks, webinars/videos, blog posts, newsletters and books on their websites. While some items were for purchase, there was also an abundance of valuable free materials. Topics cover just about every imaginable area. (continue reading…)

Photographers, Musicians, Graphic Designers, Web Designers, Digital Animators, Programmers and anyone working with digital media or products
This is a site you are going to want to check out. Envato is more than a brand or a successful business model, it’s a mindset. In a few short years Envato has changed the way freelancers and product developers (referred to as authors on their site) develop skills, market their products and build a community (aka following). (continue reading…)

Kassan has Ventured into Digital
As you may have guessed David Jon Kassan on the short list of favorite artists here at VAJ Blog. So I welcome any opportunity to share what he has been creating. He is widely known for his pencil, charcoal, chalk and oil works but is less known for his new digital works. (continue reading…)

Recommended for All Creatives, Regardless of Industry

I have a great resource for you today. I’m recommending a blog that covers a very wide range of topics not only on design, but on creativity in general. The blog author has many years of experience in art, design, music and a fairly new (or perhaps very old — ) area of study called “Whole Systems Design”; boiled down more or less to — the big picture and how to get it to work.

He offers an approchable style of instruction and art directorship that few freelancers have an opportunity to experience on a continual basis. (continue reading…)

VAJ Blog Considers Marwencol a Must See
Marwencol’s creator Mark Hogancamp has successfully managed to manifest into the physical, something that once only he could experience. Breathing life into his figures and the township of Marwencol with such attention to detail and completeness that they are alive, albeit briefly, though his photography. The documentary (of the same name) was directed, produced and edited by Jeff Malmberg, and not only follows the dramas taking place in the pint-sized World War II-era town but also the very compelling personal story of the artist. At last check, this documentary had been awarded twenty-two national and international film awards. (continue reading…)

Replaces Neck Straps For Toting Still Cameras

Finally an intelligent way to carry cameras!! No more swinging cameras, neck aches or frayed nerves when getting in position for that perfect shot. Great for outdoor enthusiasts who want to keep the camera accessible yet safe and secure. (continue reading…)

Designed to Quickly Convert files to JPEG
I found this tip in Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography Vol.3 book. By the way, anything Scott Kelby authors is always recommended reading. This tip not only saves card space but potentially plenty of file conversion time. It effectively eliminates the need to shoot dual Raw and JPEGs when you need low resolution images. (continue reading…)

For all you videophiles, Tom Hanks (Actor/Director) posted this May 26th and I got a good laugh out of it.  He’s on the set of “Larry Crowne”.

If you want to view behind the scenes of a Major Production, then take a look at his Twitter page. http://twitter.com/tomhanks

VAJ is introducing a new blog topic (or discipline) to the visual arts posts, and will now be including Adobe Flash. Some of the topics will include techniques, workflow, resources, ActionScript, links to interviews with other Flash “Creatives”, etc.

The content will cover versions MX 2004 through CS4 as I know there are a lot of older versions still in use. Most of the content will be applicable to any version, at least in part. (continue reading…)

So What’s the Big Deal?
As a graphic designer, flash or prepress specialist, or anyone involved with digital media, it is common to inherit some one else’s project files. Perhaps you even file share with your co-workers or have purchased templates online. Waded through someone else’s image catalog lately? Wasting time can become a very big deal in a hurry. Find out how to ward-off future delays and save your sanity. Advice for several major file types and best practices in general. (continue reading…)

A New Tutorial Series
Do you have a damaged or blah photo but you don’t know how to fix it? Perhaps you haven’t been please with earlier attempts to Photoshop images? Well this series is for you. This series will include concepts, best practices and some specific how-to instructions for the beginner and intermediate Photoshop or Photoshop Elements user. If you are using other software, you can still make use of most of the content by adapting the instructions to suit your software.

In this post, I’ll be referring to both restoration and enhancement but in future posts the two topics will be addressed separately within the series, so check the Blog often for multiple posts. (continue reading…)