Visual Arts Journal

Why Meditate
Many authors have recommended that artists incorporate some form of meditation as part of their creative process. Meditation has often been associated with an increase in creativity. It undoubtedly helps in terms of relieving stress and other physiological blocks, but it also holds some mystical way of unblocking creativity. Unfortunately some of us find it hard to quiet our minds and bodies. I came across a method that I not only found very easy to practice but felt immediate results. (continue reading…)

Buy the Best Possible Products Right From the Start
Several years ago I had decided to take up painting, something I had wanted to do since childhood. I bought some very inexpensive art supplies, figuring I could try it before committing too much. I promptly gave it up after a couple of tries because I hated to results. It wasn’t my assessment of my talent, it was the way the paint interacted with the paper and the weakness of the colors that I didn’t like. Having no one to ask, I just gave up the notion of painting for several years. All that lost time because I didn’t know enough about watercolor paper, the various textures and sizing or the difference between student grade and professional grade. (continue reading…)

The Shopping List A recommended list of supplies. Established professionals can cherry-pick through the list and the beginners can go crazy at the art supply store. Of course, you can also accumulate the supplies over time. For a list of online suppliers and outlets check the Link page. ☐ Hand Drafting or Layout Prior to illustration These tools are helpful for more technical styles of illustration, cartoon layout, storyboarding, template making, etc. (continue reading…)

The Recommended Tool For Finding Values
If you are looking for a tool to aid in seeing values then the preferred tool is the Gray Scale Value Finder shown above. This tool can be particularly helpful if you are following Jane Hofstetter’s methods or just trying to train your eye. (continue reading…)

Dream Tool for Math Avoiders
Proportional scales make quick work of determining exact measurements for increasing or decreasing the size of reproductions (copies) while maintaining the proportions of the original work. Whether you are matting and framing, setting the dimensions on a new digital file or cutting substraight (the supporting material such as paper, wood, canvas, etc.); using this tool reduces error and waste.

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A Little Advice Earned the Hard Way
Once you decide to use markers as an artistic medium, you’ll discover that there is a huge array of colored markers to choose from. Before you go out and sink a boat load of money into markers, let me offer a bit of clarification and advice.

The Difference Between Writing Markers and Artist/Layout Markers
There are two primary categories of pens, markers for writing and markers for art. The difference will determine not only (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…)

Tips That Payoff Big: Composition, Camera Settings, and more.

 Get a Plan: at least jot down some quick notes on paper. Very few people can successfully pull off the shoot-on-the-fly method. What makes sense to you at the moment may spell confusion for your audience or extra editing time for you. Writing it down also helps clarify concepts and point out potential problems.

 Shoot Your Age: unless you or your audience are twenty somethings, don’t shoot or edit, the rapid-fire sequence of images. For an example of this style watch the first 12 seconds of the first video here. Likewise, stay away form Snooze-pacing too. Consider what would be palatable to your audience. (continue reading…)

Earlier I posted about the different tools or methods of viewing values in 2D and 3D resources, one of which was the black mirror. Here are the instructions for making one of your own. (continue reading…)

Periodically it’s necessary to have a little help with seeing values. The color resource you are working from, whether it is a photograph, a 3D object, or a scene outdoors; may for several reasons be giving you problems when trying to clearly visualize its values. Colors tend to distract the eye, which is why these tools are so useful because they eliminate or reduce color. (continue reading…)

Little tidbits that I come across that are helpful. I’ll try to keep the posts together by updating this one post, so search quick tips to find it after Nov 30th. Please let me know how you like this feature.

 Inexpensive “Fixative”: for charcoal, dry pastels, and pencil: buy unscented hairspray in a spray can, not a pump. Check the spray pattern on scrap paper first to make sure it has a  (continue reading…)