David L’s online art college

How to be Original

There are many theories about creativity, many think that it can be learned, others think that it is something born in us that is progressively killed by an educational establishment that strives for conformity and obedience. Part of being a great artist is being disobedient and idiosyncratic. Two good examples at either side of the spectrum are Caroline Shotton and Damien Hirst. Vincent Van Moo by Shotton uses a similar set of creative skills to Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility of More

You are Going to Thank me for This

More important than legal paternity testing for the working artist is having a home that speaks to the quality of your creativity and your ’eye’. This can be particularly difficult when you are both poor and a live or conceptual artist. If you are not classically trained, interior design can be a total nightmare, yet people will judge the quality of your work, if your home is not cool enough. So here is the tip of the day: make your More

Art in advertising

OK, working in advertising probably wasn’t what you had in mind when you first though of becoming an artist. No doubt you had dreams of openings in fancy galleries, while the rich and beautiful sipped champagne and praised your genius. You probably had your first exhibition at Tate Modern all planned out – and had already mentally spent the hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of pounds that your work would command at auction. Not that it’s about the money, More

Self Sufficiency

One of the most important things for any emerging or mid career artist is to be as self sufficient as possible. If you are reading this before going to art college, it means that you need to learn about marketing, promotion, desk top publishing, graphic design, lighting, building, and carpentry.
As a working artist you could be doing anything from producing your own exhibitions to designing DVD packaging and you need to be prepared. One of the most important things More

Multiples

One of the most difficult things for an emerging artist to do is support themselves ethically while producing art. If you were lucky enough to have trained on human resource software, then you can probably easily freelance. If not, you need to come up with another strategy.

One interesting thing to think about is producing multiples. Multiples are what they say, identical objects, produced in a limited edition, signed by the artist More

The art of limited edition sculpture

I am not sure of the reason why, but it is a common human trait to want to collect. Some people go overboard and might be defined as hoarders, but for the majority, collecting one or two different types of items is just a lot of fun. Others that might be called serious collectors, collect to satisfy some sort of inner need. How else can you explain a grown man with a million baseball cards?

One of the things that More

The Wire is Art on Television

Television has taken a long time to really assert itself as a medium worth attention from even the very most fickle of critics and people involved with the arts who usually just look down on it. But of course, there’s no reason to think that television should be considered any less of an art form than any other medium. Just as film and now video-games were quickly able to become art-forms, television has taken a longer road but it is More

Going To Art School: Answer These Questions

Each year thousands of students in high school and many others elsewhere consider and make the necessary plans to go to art school. Before you go there are and get yourself involved in Manchester airport parking, some important questions that you should be answering for yourself. Here are a few of the more significant ones.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"/> More

The Documentary Photographer Is Always A ‘Super Tourist’ In The World Of Others

I would like to explore the concept: The documentary photographer is always a ‘super tourist’ in the world of others. This statement is premised on the understanding that within the medium of documentary photography, a photographer and the image he is capturing is composed of dual and opposite positions, an inside and outside.
The word ‘tourist’ defines an outsider visiting a foreign place away from home, usually traveling for pleasure. Therefore in this statement, a ‘tourist’ identifies the photographer’s role More

Get Ready Graduating Art Students: This Last Year Will Be A Fast Ride

Important things to do before you graduate as a BA (Hons) Fine Arts Degree student will surely be overwhelming, but if you plan ahead you will be able to jump start on opportunities that maybe presented during the end of term Degree Art Show.
Most importantly beside the completion of your final artwork, building a website representing your very best works requires planning. The website will be your business card and makes it easily to refer interested curators or important More