2009 November | Learn to... Art!

Archive for November, 2009

How to Write a Wicked Artist Statement

Nov 17, 2009 Promotion and Exhibition

Artist Statement. Do those words send you into convulsions of dread and fear? Writing a statement can be one of the most un-fun parts of being an artist. Why? Because what does writing, verbally expressing ideas, and explaining oneself have to do with creating and being an artist? The act of writing a statement can feel like it goes against your very nature!

For the creative, right-brained, emotional, expressive, open minded artist, the act of sitting down and writing a formal statement of intent can seem extraordinarily intimidating, not to mention terribly structured and confined.

Unfortunately, an artist statement is an absolute necessity for getting your work into art galleries. The better your statement, the better your chances! Fortunately, there are strategies you can use to write a great artist statement with a minimum amount of stress!

First of all, what is an artist statement?

If you’ve never applied for a show before, you might be kind of fuzzy on the term. Your artist statement is your explanation to the world about your art. It can be as direct and literal, or as open-ended as you want, but it should provide the viewer with some extra insight into your work. A statement should give people answers, or else provide them with questions to ask themselves as they look at your pieces.

It’s difficult to define the statement because it can be very different from one artist to the next. The bottom line is that your statement should be something you’re comfortable with sharing that also compliments/explains/clarifies your work.

How do you write an artist statement?

The best approach I’ve found is to ask yourself questions. The answers may or may not become a part of your final statement, but it’s a good way to start brainstorming. Here are some questions you might ask yourself:

What am I interested in?
What do I want to communicate?
What is the subject and/or content of your work? In other words, what is it about?
What kinds of things inform your work? This can include other artwork, politics or society, and your own experiences.
What materials do you use and why?
What is your process and how does it affect the way you work?
How do you want your audience to view your work? Do you want them to react in a certain way?

Your statement should be specific to the body of work that you’re submitting to a gallery. Yes, that means you have to write a new one for every exhibit, but the good news is that the first one is the hardest. After that, you should be able to tweak and adjust to make it relevant to your new work.

Remember that the purpose of your statement is to provide the gallery with extra information about your work. The goal is to clarify or expand or explain. They want to know where you’re coming from and why you do what you do. So make sure you give it to them!

Common sense rules!

As always, grammar is very important! No one wants to wade through spelling mistakes and poorly formed sentences.
Think of the gallery owner who is reading your statement and a hundred others. You want to make it easy on them by breaking your text into paragraphs, typing with a font size that isn’t too small, and using a font that is clear and easy to read.
An artist statement should be as long as it needs to be, but as a guideline, anywhere between a paragraph and a page works. I generally would not go over a page.

Whether you love or hate the writing side of the art business, an artist statement should be in every single exhibition proposal you send out.

This post seemed to grow and grow as I wrote it, so I’ve split it into two parts. More tips on writing artist statements are coming soon!

Tags: artist statement, exhibitions, promotion

How to Shade with Hatching and Cross-hatching

Nov 15, 2009 Drawing

Hatching is a fun way to let loose and shade your drawings in a different way. Hatches are small parallel lines that can be used to create depth and volume. Done well, hatching can produce a likeness as realistic as smooth shading, but it is much more expressive and can communicate emotions and atmosphere.

You don’t need anything special for hatching. It can be done with pencil; it can also be done with pen, charcoal, coloured pencils, pastels… you get the point. Basically anything that makes a mark will work!

Cross-hatching is another technique using hatch marks. This is when you use the same short, parallel lines, but you’re adding another layer of perpendicular lines on top. You end up with a series of crosses. Both techniques can be used to produce some very cool results!

How do you create value? For lighter values, make your marks less dense. For darker values, make your marks more layered and closer together. You can also try using pens of different sizes or pencils of different hardnesses to help with your values.

As with any shading, the key is getting a gradual transition.

Hatching can be done with parallel lines going in any direction: vertical, horizontal, or diagonal (as in the example). Hatching and cross-hatching can also be done using curved lines. This is more difficult, but it can be a great way to help describe the contours of a round shape.

Let’s try some hatching, using the sphere as our example again. I’m using pen, but you can try out any media you like!

Start by putting a few hatch marks around the highlight, without going inside the highlight. Make these marks far apart, as this is your lightest value.

Fill in the rest of the mid-tone area and the reflection, making your marks gradually closer together as you approach the shadow.

Fill in your shadow now, making your marks closest together in the middle of the shape. Make sure you have a smooth transition between the shadow and the mid-tones.

To do this in cross-hatching, simply add the perpendicular marks! Go ahead and try something a little more complicated! It’s not all that different from your normal shading.

A few tips to remember… If you have a large area of flat shadow, resist the urge to colour it in. It might be quicker, but it won’t have the same texture as the rest of your drawing. The same goes for any lines. Draw lines with a series of tiny hatch marks to make it consistent with the whole piece.

Tags: drawing tips, hatching, ink, shading

What’s an Exhibition Proposal?

Nov 13, 2009 Promotion and Exhibition

Continuing my series about getting your art into galleries, today let’s look at the exhibition proposal. If you’ve never done one, you may be wondering what it is. If you have some experience with this, hopefully I can provide you with some tips that will make your next proposal even more successful!

So, what is a proposal? It’s the entire package of information all about you and your work that you send to a gallery. It’s your resume, essentially, the purpose of which is to convince curators that your work needs to be in their gallery.

Your standard proposal should consist of six things: a cover letter, an artist statement, a CV, an exhibition proposal, an image list, and images of your work.

It’s important to read the submission guidelines and see what each gallery wants in a proposal. Some specify exactly what information they want from you, and some even specify how they want it bound. Some galleries also require that you fill out an application form. Whatever it is, follow it exactly! Remember, this is like a job interview and if you show them that you can’t follow instructions, it’s just another excuse to throw your proposal out!

If galleries don’t specify what they want in a proposal, it’s always a good idea to include the following:

Cover Letter: This is your introduction, your chance to catch the curator’s attention.

Artist Statement: This is an explanation of your interests, motivations, and reasons behind your art.

CV: Short for Curriculum Vitae, this is like an actual artist resume that covers all of your professional experience.

Exhibition Proposal: I call the entire package the proposal, but this document addresses the specific show that you are submitting to the gallery.

Images of Your Work and Image List: These should represent the best of your work.

I will be covering each of these elements in more detail throughout the next weeks. If you want to stay up to date, subscribe with your email address.

You may also include additional items in your proposal like press releases and catalogues from previous shows. It can be useful to provide curators with information on your work that has been written by someone else.

Remember, though, to read submission guides very carefully! Some galleries won’t accept media clippings.

When putting together your proposal, professionalism is key! You want your information to be laid out in a way that is clear and easy to read. Each page should follow the same format as the others. Check carefully for spelling mistakes and make sure your presentation is nice. I usually put my proposal into a clear folder, unless the gallery specifies that they want it unbound.

That being said, a little bit of creativity can go a long way; you are an artist after all! If you can think of a creative twist that you can put on your proposal that reflects you and your work, and doesn’t get in the way of your message, go right ahead! Anything that will catch the curator’s attention is a good thing!

One other thing I almost always include is a title page. This is a very simple page that has my name and a print of my work. I submit digital images, so this is a good way to provide the gallery with an example of my work that doesn’t need to be plugged into a computer to be viewed.

What’s more important, the statement or the art?

Well, I’ve read guidelines from some galleries that say they won’t look at your images until they’ve read your written material… I’ve also seen some galleries who judge your work before reading your other information. Either way, you want to make sure that both are of the best quality!

Stay tuned for more detailed information on how to put together your statement, CV, etc. Also, don’t forget to check out my article on how to choose the right gallery for your art.

Tags: exhibitions, galleries

How to Choose the Right Gallery for Your Art

Nov 10, 2009 Promotion and Exhibition

Getting your art into a gallery isn’t only a matter of producing great work. It’s also about finding the right fit. Finding the right gallery is like buying a new pair of pants: you have to know which type is going to look good on you, and once you’ve chosen the type, you need to try some on!

Shop Around!

The words “Art Gallery” should be fairly straight forward, but it can actually mean quite different things to different people. The reason is that there are different kinds of art galleries. There are the big, government funded kinds that act as museums and show art from throughout history. There’s the kind that show the work of well-established artists. Then there’s the kind that shows art from emerging artists.

These art galleries also have different goals. Some seek to provide art education to the public while others seek to sell art and make money.

You will have the best results if you submit to a gallery that fits your work. How do you know? That’s where the research comes in!

Gallery websites are a great resource for finding out information about their programming. Most galleries have a “mandate” which outlines their goals and interests. Often, they will indicate whether they support established, mid-career, or emerging artists. If the gallery is a commercial one, focused on selling art, their website will often feature individual works with either a price or a way to inquire about purchasing.

Try to match yourself with a gallery that has similar goals as you do. If you want to sell your work, look for a commercial gallery. If your art is contemporary and experimental, consider submitting to an artist-run centre.

Try It On!

The best way to find the right gallery is to actually check them out! If you can, visit as many galleries as you can. You will get a feel for the atmosphere of the place, and most importantly, you will get an idea of the kind of work they display.

You want to find a gallery where your art would look like it belonged. Some galleries have an unspoken (or spoken) tendency to show more abstracts, or more photography, etc. If you do traditional landscape paintings, you will have a hard time getting into a gallery that primarily exhibits video work.

Sometimes, it’s not possible to visit all the galleries that you’re interested in. This is where the internet comes into play! Check out the websites to see if they list their exhibitions. A lot of galleries will post their current and past exhibits, usually with at least one photo. If there’s no photos, google the artist to get a visual of their work. Again, look for galleries that your work might fit into.

Make a Purchase!

When you’ve found a gallery, do something about it! Put together your best proposal and submit it. Your job is to now convince the gallery that your work belongs there, whether it’s a commercial or a fine art gallery, whether it’s for emerging or mid-career artists.

Better yet, find several galleries you’re interested in and send out a couple proposals!

Don’t get discouraged if you get the dreaded rejection letter. It’s one of those necessary evils of the art world. I have received many more rejection letters than I have acceptance letters.

Remember, if you don’t submit, you won’t get anywhere! The risk of rejection is absolutely worth it!

Tags: art, exhibitions, galleries

All About Drawing Realistic Portraits in Pencil

Nov 8, 2009 Drawing

I recently finished my series of pencil portrait lessons and thought I’d put them all in one easy-to-access place for you! Here are 17 helpful articles that cover everything from drawing the individual facial features to shading your drawings. Everything you need to learn how to draw realistic portraits is here!

The lessons take two different forms: a how to lesson that features drawing hints and strategies, and a tutorial that takes you through each process step-by-step.

How Tos

How to Draw Portraits

Tutorials