Let Creativity Flourish- Organize Your "Stuff"

Yesterday I saw a license plate that simply said, "UNLEASH."  If I want to unleash my creativity and have it  flourish as an artist, I have got to give it the room.  Lives can be very, very cluttered with all sorts of things that do not serve us.  If you simply keep what enhances your life right now, you could free up a lot of physical and emotional clutter.  Some quick tips can be found here: Zen Mind: How To Declutter.

As creative people, we often keep things around that we "might use" in a project.  This is great if these things are stored in a way that does not hinder our work in the meantime.  Otherwise this is just another barrier to being successful.  There are plenty of obstacles beyond our immediate control- we don't need to add to them by creating more barriers!  In a blog post I recently read, the guest author was talking about how to have less stuff by wanting less stuff.  He wasn't just saying "get rid of your stuff."  He was supplying an additional tool to facilitate the change.  Here is the link: How To Want Very Little. 

Perhaps you have determined that you really do need to keep most of your stuff, but it could be stored in a more manageable way.  For a more in depth and systematic way to organize, Organizing From the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern is one of the very best books on organizing.  I'll write some more specifics about the book in a later post.

Please contribute your thoughts and suggestions by clicking 'comments.'

Ten Steps to Photographing Artwork

Below is the method I use to photograph 2 dimensional work.  I start with an unframed piece.  Drawings or works on paper can be taped to a support.

1. Set up outside on a bright overcast day with no or few cast shadows
2. Arrange piece on a black background
3. Level the piece
4. Set up camera on tripod at center of piece at closest distance to fill the frame.
5. Turn off flash
6. Adjust camera settings according to built-in or separate light meter
7. Use highest mega pixel setting available  & adjust any special settings- know your camera's capabilities*
8. Level the camera
9. Take photo with timer or remote button release 
10. Crop/Adjust image size with computer program
    

For small pieces I use a French easel to secure the piece.   For the black background I use a black cotton sheet.  Some people use black velvet.  I use a small level on two sides of the stretched canvas to level it (top or side and front or back).   The camera is leveled the same way.  I have eyeballed or estimated the left and right side of the canvas to be same distance from the camera (or parallel to the camera).  For larger pieces this would be measured for accuracy.  If needed, I then use a program on a pc to adjust the image size and to center it.

* I wrote about some special settings here: Photographing Artwork 2.

Have I forgotten anything?  What would you add?
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"Be Mine," A Work in Progress 8

An Oil Painting In Stages

The piece I have been reworking is nearly complete.  
As most of the edges are fuzzy, they will be sharpened in a few key areas. 
There is some touch up, detail work, and shadows and few areas to bring forward.

Work in Progress 12/12/09:

"Be Mine"

Oil on Canvas

30x40"

Facial Detail of a Painting

This is the work in progress- taken after 12/1 painting session.

11/22/09:


11/13/09:



  Painting corrections 11/7/09:

Defining Additional Narrative Elements of Painting

10/16/09:

Defining Form and Palette

Underpainting Blocked In

Initial elements and layout, 10/15/12:

Please post your thoughts by clicking 'comments' below.

Photographing Artwork 2

Continuing from Tuesday:  by adjusting 3 settings of an HP R707 digital camera a piece of artwork went from being poorly photographed to professionally represented.  See the example here: Photographing Art.  The settings on this camera are saturation, sharpness and contrast  and are found by clicking menu, and scrolling down the screen.  There you find all three defaults set to medium.  By changing each one to high, indicated by a "+" sign, photography magic happened.  I suppose this could have been photoshopped, or something.  With this discovery on the camera, though,  I am just delighted to save time skipping this extra step.  did I just type, 'delighted?'  I don't use that word often, so this is a big deal discovery.  I also used an old tripod that I had for my heavy 35mm's.  It is so cool, I have to show it to you:

              Click Any Photo To Enlarge

It would be particularly useful for plein air painting because it is so compact.  It can't weigh much more than a pound and measures about 4x1x3" when folded up.  What is great about this mini tripod is two of the legs, which are the small metal rods, store inside the handle.  The third leg is adjustable in that it can be lengthened.  This third leg is also a clamp that can be attached to a tree limb, portable easel, bicycle, or a pole up to about 1-1/2 " thick.  The device that holds the camera has a ball socket joint that can be adjusted from straight up vertically to 45 degrees on the side horizontally.  Furthermore, this ball socket rotates 360 degrees on a horizontal plane.  I hope the photos show this tripod well.  Unfortunately, I have no idea who made it.  It has "Made in Germany" stamped on the side.  I know I obtained it at least 20 years ago and, amazingly, it fits the digital camera.  Once the camera is in place on the tripod, it can be set to go off automatically with the 10 second timer.

To Read Labels, Click Photo To Enlarge

Doing a search online, I found this exact tripod had sold on eBay for less than $5 on October 30th.  I also found a similar model in a store in Oregon, but it is no longer available.  So they can be found with some diligence.  There are many other models of mini or table top tripods.  What those are lacking, however, is the clamp feature which is really nice for those of you that like to paint out in the woods; oh, sorry, en plein air.    

More on photographing artwork will be posted next week. Saturday, I have a work in progress update for you.



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Photographing Artwork

An important part of art marketing is having quality images of one's artwork.  What I am learning as I delve deeper into the subject of self promotion, is that art experts overwhelmingingly agree that too many artists are submitting substandard photographs of their artwork.  There is no leeway on this point.  With so many artists' applications to weed through, the ones with poor photographs are quickly removed from consideration.  They are not considered good candidates for an exhibit on many levels.  We as artists are repeatedly and strongly urged to get this right.   The photos below are of a work in progress taken with an HP digital camera:

 

                                                                                                   

"Be Mine"

Oil on Canvas

30x40"
(work in progress)

These two photos were taken minutes apart with only an adjustment of 3 settings.

I began photographing my work before the digital age worked on my technique until excellent slides were produced.  Many of the do's and don'ts have not changed since then, though I was having difficulty producing representative photos of artwork with my current digital camera.  With a 35mm, I felt I had much more control over the settings.  Until recently I thought I may need to upgrade my digital camera, an HP 5.1 MP R707 with a 24x zoom.  As it turns out, I needed to adjust some settings I did not realize existed.    Thursday I will post the details of how the better likeness was obtained.

Please post your contributions by clicking 'comments' below.

Who You Really Are and Expanding Creativity

One of the things that can keep us each miserable the mind and the thoughts that it decides to think.  We can just continue to allow the mind free rein or we can choose make a shift.  So let's continue with clearing out the mind clutter and allowing creativity the room to grow.  Earlier we explored ways to quiet the mind: Unleashing Creativity.   Taking it further, if we let our minds tell us who we are, that can be very limiting.  In Reality, who we are is limitless!  Once this is truly realized creativity knows no limits.  I discovered another blogger who exquisitely expands on this topic.  I'm keeping it short so you can read her most excellent post here:  Who Are You?.   Thank-you, Alethia Hallador, for a great post!

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Newsflash: Check Out These Great Artist Resources!

I'd Rather be in the Studio! The Artist's No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion, Alyson B. Stanfield, © 2008

One of my favorite art marketing books just got better.  A perfect gift for your favorite artist now comes with 7 bonuses!  As you know, reading Stanfield's book, is how I started this blog.  For a limited time, when you order through the link below you will receive seven bonus resources.  Even if you don't decide to order, click this link: Stanfield‘s Holiday Resources and you will be able to access additional links to these resources' authors!  Alyson Stanfield does it again:  she wants you to be successful and gives you every opportunity to do just that- including sharing her resources' links!