Articles
The first articles below are for artists followed by several for writers. As soon as I remember how to put up an on-page link to them, I will so you won't have to scroll down. In the meantime, writers, look WAY down.
artist stuff!
Professional artist, Anne Olwin, brings you some of her best art lessons, tricks of the trade and tips.
Fantastic Palette Tip
Tips for Colorblind
Shadow Shapes
The Artists' Eye
Resources and Reference Sites
Professional Associations
Other Art Articles List
This is me in my messy paint shirt explaining composition to a class.
Articles
The Color of Your Light Source -- Anne shows the difference your light source can have on your subject matter.
Regaining Our Bearings--A Challenge for Art Judges. This article, originally appearing in 2005, looks at the sorry state of art judging and calls for a change.
Fantastic Palette Tip
Here is a solution for all of those paints in the tubes that don’t fit on your regular palette. Instead of wondering what you have in that box full of paint tubes, you can see and use what you have!
I squeeze a generous amount into bead cups that can be purchased at Michaels or elsewhere. The bead cups come screwed together 6 in a stack with a lid. (If I want to slip a stack into my pocket for a plein aire adventure or take a few on a flight, I just screw the selection together with a lid.)
The bead cups fit neatly in a Masterson Palette from which I’ve clipped the pokey-down parts on the lid. Since I prefer to work with dry paint instead of fighting the sticky gum arabic, I allow the cups to dry out before use.
I’ve made a cheat sheet of the paints on my normal watercolor paper with info about manufacturer, transparency and name and the same info is taped onto the side of each cup. [Special note: that strip of color along the bottom of the cheat sheet demonstrates the coverage quality of titanium white compared with permanent white gouache.]
It’s easy now to choose that special color for the client whose color choice differs from my usual palette or to pull out a cup of my own choice and add it in temporarily.
Many of my students have begun to use this approach or Daniel Smith’s possum palette cups to keep their colors in view.
January 18, 2008
Tips for Colorblind Artists (and all artists):
I had a colorblind student some years back who was helped by the following suggestions:
1. Limit your palette. (Instead of many colors, I had him use a smaller number of mostly transparents.)
2. Understand the working qualities of your pigments... Mixing too many opaques creates a muddy painting.
3. Always place colors in the same place on your palette and keep your palette facing the same direction. (This is a great tip for everyone as it increases working speed!)
4. Study color theory and know what happens when you mix complementary colors as opposed to working with pure colors. (The same set of colors can create a clear, sparkling, happy end product, a greyed-down, sophisticated look, or mud.
5. Ask someone with good communication skills to describe what they are seeing in the color of your end product.
January 17, 2008
Shadow Shapes
Shadow shapes identify forms, for round forms and help bring life into a painting. They are crucial.
This simple watercolor horse study was a demo piece in a workshop this fall to show shadow shapes.
Use shadow shapes to your advantage. With a few lights and darks, it's possible to capture the physical expressions of an animal or person.
I've intensified the darks here to create the illusion of a bright low sunlight. This provides greater drama. Notice how dark I've made the shadow on the legs and face of the horse. The darkness actually sends the visual signal that the planes on the face have changed.
A wash on the background identifies the rump and the muzzle and hooves get lost in the grass.
A bit of negative painting for shadow shapes causes the grass to pop.
The Artists' Eye
A student asked me to explain the "artists' eye" recently in a workshop. While many things like an understanding of color, weight of line, and light contribute to that "eye", composition defines it.
A thorough understanding of composition serves as one of foundational mental processes behind that elusive "eye" artists seem to possess, yet students neglect it like the proverbial red-headed step child.
You can find a basic explanation of the four types of compositon in the Quick Reference Guide: Create Exciting Art. Study Fibonacci numbers and the Divine Proportion for an in-depth understanding of the core of great design.
November 24, 2007/Updated January 17, 2008
Resources and Reference Sites
http://www.morguefile.com
Chocked full of copyright free photos, this site has a large number of photos for use in the classroom.
http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php
This amazing collection of photos is a helpful resource when you need to know how an animal's foot bends, the color of an ibis's bill, or how light washes through the interior of a cathedral. Note: These photos are NOT copyright-free. They are for reference only.
http://www.phototakeout.com
"Free digital stock photographs and reference pictures for business or public use on your website or any printed material. You may use the images from this site for free but you must have a link back to our site mentioning phototakeout.com as source and if used in printed version a mention of phototakeout.com as source is required."
http://painting.about.com/od/artistreferencephotos/ig/Reference-Photos-Flowers-/index_g.htm
So, if you're wanting some flower reference photographs, try this site. It is part of a much larger photo reference library at http://painting.about.com/od/artistreferencephotos/Reference_Photographs_for_Artists.htm
Professional Associations for Artists
American Society of Portrait Painters
Plein Air Painters of America I love their abbreviated name! ... Makes me laugh.
writer stuff !
Professional writer, artist, and educator Anne Olwin, brings you some of her best tips and insights:
Best Tips
The Indispensable Trio
Seven Suggestions for Busting Writer's Block
Best Tips
by Anne Olwin
In 2003, I went to a national writers' conference and then on to a national booksellers convention. Both were invaluable experiences and opened doors that would have remained sealed shut otherwise.
A little-known fact: most book manuscripts go into a slush pile and receive automatic rejections unless personal contact is made with a publisher who requests a query at a writers conference.
Decide you will accept 100 rejections before you quit.
Write, write, write. Market, market, market.
Forget being a prima dona. Accept the edits of your editor without comment. Blow off steam around your friends and smile graciously at the editor.
It's easier to sell articles to magazines.
There is an old saying: Write what you know. I like the way Robin Roberts' mother put it better: "Make your mess your message."
The Indispensable Trio
My idea notebook is indispensable and has gotten mention both here and on a writer’s group to which I belong.
This is a photo of it and its companions. These three small moleskins go with me everywhere. Their titles are: Ideas and Inspiration; Plans, Goals and Actions; and Sketchbook.
I’ve written the title and my name on each in calligraphy using acrylic ink and a dip pen.
Posted by Anne Olwin
February 2, 2008
Seven Suggestions for Busting Writer’s Block
Whether you want to write professionally, write for fun, or have a writing assignment, you will undoubtedly encounter writer’s block.
Follow these suggestions to break through the block.
1. People watch for half an hour to an hour and make notes. Get your senses involved. Listen to the conversations. Watch how they walk, sit, talk, interact. Think about their perfumes or colognes or lack thereof. Pay attention to their clothing and mannerisms. Consider how you might use them in your short story, novel, play, article or report.
2. Write an alternate ending to a book you have read or movie you have seen.
3. Listen to snippets of conversations wherever you are: the line at the bank or grocery, in the mall, etc. Extrapolate how the conversation might continue or evolve into actions.
4. Rewrite something you wrote in the past.
5. Keep your own Dave Berry file of odd or unusual reports, incidents, news stories, words, situations and names.
6. Ask “What if?” and “Why?” Key the questions to your subject.
7. Get some physical exercise and a healthy snack, then plant your behind firmly in the chair and get to work.
Posted by Anne Olwin
February 2008