If you're a fan of our fine art magazines and books (and I know you're already a fan of The Artist's Magazine), you're going to want to hear about a new deal we just put together. The North Light VIP (Very Important Painter) program gives you access to free content and gifts, as well as regular savings on all the art-inspiring books, magazines and digital materials you might need to support your passion. Here's how it works:

With a $49.99 one-year membership, you get:

• a one-year subscription to The Artist's Magazine OR any North Light art book
  
• three months of unlimited access to all the online art workshops at ArtistsNetwork.TV
• and 10% off every purchase you make at the North Light Shop.

If you're a frequent buyer of art books (and if you're planning on getting gifts for your artist friends this year) you're going to save a lot of cash. Click here to see the complete program details.

That's Kelly, Maureen and Jen hard at work preparing tomorrow's seminar, Entering Art Competitions: Enhance Your Chance of Success. If you're experiencing some deja vu, yes, we have actually offered this seminar before. It was such a hit that we had to bring it back! These ladies will discuss:
You can listen live and ask questions tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 3) at 1 p.m. EST. Click here to register!

One of the most beautiful aspects of using graphite is the range of values you can achieve within a single drawing. Dangerous darks, ethereal lights and every value in between—obtained just by varying the pressure on the pencil or graphite stick. This range of values has attracted artists for centuries and keeps pencils in the hands of modern artists. As wonderful as a traditional pencil is, sometimes I like to use graphite that comes in a water-soluble version. This week's drawing was done using a water-soluble graphite pencil.

The drawing of the figure has a loose, quick feel to it—and it should because I completed it in about 10 minutes. The process was pretty simple: draw, shade and brush water over the parts I wanted to have a looser feeling. The washes make the drawing more interesting and provide a contemporary approach to the medium. It has a feeling similar to watercolor, but the graphite washes provide a different sensibility and surface quality. I love how the graphite can become fluid; I was even able to pick up enough liquid graphite with the brush to splatter some across the paper to add texture and another value to the paper. The value ranges are subtle, which adds some moodiness to the drawing that compliments the relaxed pose of the figure. This is a great way to experiment with graphite and stretch your drawing muscles.

Check out these great books to learn more about drawing:

• Charles Reid's Watercolor Secrets DVD
• The Figure
• Down by the Sea with Brush and Pen

If you have an opportunity to sketch the child, you can record details, impressions and characteristics that a camera would miss. There is a big difference between a photo and a living, breathing child! What sort of personality does she have? Shy? Bold? Impish? Artistic? These qualities will be more obvious as you sketch and interact and will add to your work.

One of my students brought his baby to class one day, and I took the opportunity to demonstrate drawing from life to my students. The baby hadn’t learned to crawl yet and was quite content to sit on a blanket gazing about, talking baby talk. I tried to capture his easy-going, happy personality in these quick sketches. A photograph could not have conveyed his disposition as well as these sketches based on life observation.

To learn more about drawing and painting children, check out Victoria's book Vibrant Children's Portraits: Painting Beautiful Hair and Skin Tones With Oils, available in January 2010.

Drawing figures is a lot of fun because the human body can has an infinite number of poses. Even better is taking an ordinary pose and placing it on an interesting surface. This type of drawing forces my brain to find visual solutions while creating interesting compositions. The ground automatically energizes the drawing because the space has been broken up for me. What a great shortcut!

I created this surface using a 9x12 sheet of red drawing paper and a piece of paper from an old book. The printed paper has a lot of cotton in it, so it’s very soft and takes adhesives well. When placing the collage together, I made sure the proportions were irregular—this is key to making the composition work. If the composition is broken into perfect halves or thirds, the space will be divided too evenly. Sometimes symmetry is great, but I find irregularity much more interesting. When placing the figure, I anticipated how it would impact the overall composition. I was careful to place the figure so the proportions interacted with the collage at irregular intervals.

This composition has only four values, and three of them are in large masses, which gives the composition a more graphic feeling. The large blocks or red, taupe and off-white divide the space and create the setting for the figure. The black adds the detail needed to balance out the large masses of value and defines the figure and the space. There’s a lot of contrast in this drawing, and the drawing is well executed and works as a focal point. In this case the figure almost becomes secondary to the composition, but I think that’s OK, because the rest of the composition holds the viewer’s attention. I also like the contrast between the rectilinear shapes of the collage and the windows balancing the softer lines of the figure.

Learn more:

• Nita Leland's paper collage techniques
• Collage Unleashed
• Collage Discovery Workshop

I like to play with color in my drawings. There are a lot of great artists who capture realistic skin tone to create amazingly accurate drawings. This takes a lot skill and practice, which is certainly worth striving for. However, I prefer to be more experimental with my figure drawing and choose a subjective color palette. This gives me the latitude to select the hues and values I want to convey the mood I'm looking for.

When drawing the figure, I like to start with the basic shapes, defining the outline of the model. I make corrections as I go along until I get the shapes just right. I want to capture the posture of the pose, so that the mood and gesture of the model is reflected in my drawing. To me, that's more important than capturing the proportions perfectly. Once I've achieved the shapes I want, I add color.

The lines of the drawing capture the figure and mood of the pose while setting the groundwork for the entire composition. Blue becomes a natural shadow color; the value is darker, which adds depth and rounds out the form. Using the light yellow-green adds warmth to the skin, while providing contrast to the blue. Contrast is a great way to add interest to any drawing or painting, so I always try to add some strong contrast my work. The red hair provides a great final pop to top off the image. One other thing to notice is how the same colors are used in different places throughout the figure. This helps move the eye around the drawing and keeps any one color from garnering too much attention. The red behind the arm balances with the red in the hair; the blue in the hair, neck and arm brings the eye from top to bottom, then back up. The one thing I'd like to fix is the balance between the eyes; one is darker than the other. Next time I'll need to be more precise in my line making.

Learn more:

• Brilliant Color
• Creative Colored Pencil
• Nita Leland's Color Scheme Selector

Like any other discipline, art has its own language. In order to speak intelligently about art and in order to evaluate your own and other artists' works, you need to know specific terms and their applications. This seminar will reveal how artists, instructors, and critics discuss art while critiquing a wide variety of work from both amateur and professional artists.

Join us tomorrow for Improve Your Work Through Expert Advice: Learning the Language of Art with Jamie Markle and Maureen Bloomfield. The online seminar is at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

Click here to learn more and register!

Ahhh, autumn! For many people, that means back to school, and for me it's no different, even though I've been working for 20 years. As the publisher of The Artist’s Magazine and North Light Books, I know a lot about art. Actually, I've been painting for years, and I decided to exercise my eyes and hands by taking part in a local figure-drawing group. The first session was Sept. 12, and I’ve decided to share my thoughts about drawing and making art and some of the conversations that come up during the critiques in our blog.

Although this was the first group session, I've been drawing with some of these people for years. We were lucky to have a veteran model with us, so I was able to quickly get into a strong rhythm. We drew for about an hour with quick, two- to five-minute poses, then another hour with 15-minute poses. I draw pretty fast, so this approach works well for me.

It's always good to know your objectives before starting any work of art. I have some very simple goals for my drawings:

1. Exercise my eye-hand coordination.
2. Engage with the model to capture him on paper.
3. Practice my compositional skills.
4. Record what I see in a quick, simplistic manner.

I'm not too worried about accuracy; these are really just experiments and a chance to draw.

Notice the figures in my finished drawing (top) are of the same pose from different perspectives. I like this approach because it challenges me to incorporate the figures without making them repetitive. By including two figures, the composition becomes more complex and establishes a dialogue between them. I went back into the drawing the next day to create the setting, which connects the figures and makes the drawing less of a study and more of a finished work. This drawing was created on paper taken from an old book doomed to the recycling bin. The printed words added texture to the paper and were a challenge to integrate into the work. I liked the way the text interacted with the figures and decided I didn’t want to use traditional shading or modeling to create forms. Instead I opted to leave the figures unshaded and focused on using color and value to create contrast within the piece. I think it was successful overall and a good start to the fall drawing season.

The drawing sessions will be going on for three months, and I’ll be posting here every Friday. If you have questions or comments, post them below. You can also friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Looking to improve your sales? Get into more galleries? Get more press mentions? Make a name for yourself as an artist?

I'm going to be giving an online seminar at 1 p.m. Eastern today (Tuesday, Sept. 22) called "Self-Promotion Strategies for Artists: How to toot your own horn, online and in person." There's still time to sign up! We'll be talking about promotion ideas and tactics designed to get you excited about building up your art career. Hope you can join me!

Click here to learn more and register for "Self-Promotion Strategies for Artists"

From Camille Przewodek, in the August 1998 issue of The Artist's Magazine:

No matter how dark a color is, if it's in direct sunlight, it always stays in the light value range. Because of this—and in spite of the face that it defies logic—the shadowed part of a white object will appear to be darker than the sunlit plane of a black object.

Learn more:

• Painting Outdoor Shadows in Pastel
• Splash 7: Celebration of Light
• Painting Light with Colored Pencil

Book by its Cover (a fantastic art book blog) recently got lawyer Amy Everhart to answer a bunch of copyright questions. Some of the quandaries:

• What are the best ways to protect ourselves from being plagiarized when using the internet?
• What legal protections are given to an artist whose non-copyrighted images were stolen?
• Can an artist legally demand her images be removed from a website, even if it’s not being used for monetary gain?
• What are the steps you should take to confront someone who has been selling copies of your drawings online?
• When using photos for reference to create pieces of art or illustration, is there a percentage that has to be different from the original photo?
• How does infringement come into play in the realm of collage?
• What is the line between homage and infringement?
• At what point does an image become public domain?

Great questions and great answers. Click through to read the responses! If that's not enough, The Artist's Magazine's got a big stash of art law questions and answers, too.

It's essential for artists to cultivate an online presence—how else will galleries, editors and buyers find you? Here's a little taste of the helpful advice from our next online seminar, Create an Online Presence: How to Use Websites, Blogs and Social Networking to Enhance Your Art Career. If you're a blogging beginner, heed these rules:

• Post at least once a week—but several times a week is even better
• Let readers get to know you
• But don't get too personal
• Use lots of pictures!
• Always spell-check
• Add other art blogs to your blogroll
• Post comments on the other blogs you read

In addition to online access to the recording of the session, everyone who registers for this seminar will receive a free copy of The Complete Guide To Selling Your Art Online.

I'm going to be presenting the seminar live today at 1 p.m. EST. Click here to register. Hope you can make it!

An online workshop—also called a "webinar"—is a lot like a live workshop or seminar, only it takes place over the Internet. That means you can "attend" the workshop from the comfort of home. All you need a computer and a broadband Internet connection—no special computer skills required. (If you can't make the live session, you can purchase a recording of the webinar afterward!)

The Artist's Magazine is hosting a webinar tomorrow (Tuesday, June 23) at 1 p.m. Eastern time: "Entering Art Competitions: Enhance Your Chance of Success."

Making intelligent choices about choosing which art shows and competitions to enter will go a long way in ensuring successful results. Maureen Bloomfield, editor of The Artist’s Magazine, and Anne Hevener, editor of The Pastel Journal, will offer expert advice on how to make the most of the art competitions you enter. In this seminar you'll learn:

• How to read the rules and abide by them
• What the choice of jurors can tell you about a show
• How to choose works to make a strong, quick impression
• How the jurying process works
• What makes jurors see red
• How to act at the opening or during an interview, once you get in a show or win a contest

Click here to learn more and register today!

Occasionally, we get questions from artists wondering what digital camera is best to photograph artwork with. Over at pica + pixel, Ana posted a layman's guide to buying a digital camera that I think will be useful for any non-photographer trying to find the right camera.

Here's a quick rundown of her tips:

1. Photography is both a craft and a tool.
2. Start small—physically and/or financially.
   
3. Stick with the big brands.
   
4. Fight the urge to think bigger.
   
5. Do your homework. 
6. Hold it in your hand.
   
7. Buy from reliable sources. 
8. Learn how to use it.

Read the full descriptions on pica + pixel.

Want the whole world to know about your latest project or prize-winning piece? We just put up an article to help you maximize your exposure: Write a Press Release in 16 Easy Steps.

Michael Chesley Johnson takes the pain out of writing an eye-catching, concise press release with these tips. I couldn't agree more with some of them—like #4, "Give a precise location." You wouldn't believe how many press releases I get here at The Artist's Magazine that neglect to say what city and state the event is happening in.

The 11th tip is also important—keep it short! You've only got a few seconds to catch the interest of the editor or writer. No. 15 is a good one—make sure you're sending the release to the right person. Don't send a news release about your pastel workshop to a magazine or blog that only writes about digital art. And sending a release about an event happening in two weeks won't be of any use to a magazine that comes out quarterly.

Have any of you had particular success or spectacular blunders relating to press releases? Post a comment about it!

If you're trying to promote yourself as an artist, you gotta have a website. Or if you don't have a website, set up a blog you regularly update. But if you can't commit to posting frequently and HTML makes you dizzy, there is another option: the photo-sharing site Flickr.

The site is great for casual photographers—uploading party pics or snapshots of family members has never been easier—but it also can work as a networking tool for artists and other creative types.

As long as you have digital images and internet access you can make use of Flickr. You create a username and homepage for yourself on your site (your "photostream") that displays your most recent pictures. (Or not—you can make pictures you want to keep to yourself private, or share them only with users you allow.)

Having a photostream is a great way to show your latest work, or even your works in progress. Some artists like to share pictures of their palettes, or of their studios.

When you upload a picture, Flickr automatically resizes it, and you can add "tags" to it—words to describe the image and its content. For example, the artist has tagged this painting with terms such as "daily painting," "acrylic," "dinosaur" and "wood." You can also add your photos to groups, which is great way to get more traffic on your photostream.

I also like using Flickr as an image host—by linking to the resized image in my photostream, I don't have to worry about having the actual files on the computer I'm using to post images on my blogs. (Including this one!) You can also think of it as an external hard drive—when you upload images, you're creating a backup file. Very good in case of computer meltdown!

A basic account on Flickr is free, or you can pay $24.95 a year for a pro account that ups your storage limits and removes ads from the website. I've had a pro account for about three years now, and it's been well worth it.

Wise advice from Robert Bruce, including:

18. If you wouldn’t do it without an audience, don’t do it all.

Click here to see all 27 truisms.

Via Drawn

Portland, Oregon, always treats me well. It's developed a reputation for being a hipster haven—the rental market has been totally saturated because of all the refugee Californians and creative Midwesterners flocking to the city. (Moving to Portland might just beat out going to grad school as the preferred adulthood escape route for my generation.)

One of my favorite areas to explore is the Alberta Arts District, which stretches out over 15-20 blocks of NE Alberta Street. Amid the plentiful clothing boutiques and taquerías are a lot of great galleries and stores that feature a lot of local work. Here are a few of my faves:

REDBIRD STUDIO

I visited Redbird Studio last year and loved it immediately. This year, I happened to stop by on the studio’s second birthday, which meant free cupcakes!

Owners Paul Evans and Melissa Rau make a lot of the stuff for sale in the shop, which includes lots of stationery and cards, handmade accessories and screenprinted T-shirts and baby things.

I really loved the large-scale portraits by Kevin Noonan of political figures that were on display in the back of the store, which is a whole other gallery called Haiku. Melissa told me Kevin intentionally puts very affordable prices on his paintings. They were so low I seriously considered buying one and toting it home on the plane with me.

And if you’re in the neighborhood, right next door are HiiH Gallery, which sells beautiful handmade paper lanterns, and Guardino Gallery, which displays contemporary art and crafts.

Redbird Studio, 2927 NE Alberta St., 503/593-0833

TOGETHER GALLERY

Together Gallery popped up since my last trip to Portland. I arrived just in time to see "The Color of Nature," an exhibit featuring work from local artists Seth Neefus, Amy Ruppel, and Jill Bliss. Together also has a healthy offering of zines and small press publications, which I’m a big fan of.

Together Gallery, 2314 NE Alberta St., 503/288-8879

OFFICE PDX

Anybody who loves industrial-strength work supplies has a one-way ticket to heaven at OFFICE. The décor and the goods are heavy on the Americana, with a hearty dose of Japanese utility.

I got to check out Jill Bliss and Brittany Kate Powell's kooky "Califoregon" collection while I was there. And, like I always do, I spent too much money on letterpressed cards.

OFFICE PDX, 2204 NE Alberta St., 888/355-7467

I know a lot of you blog readers are Web-savvy types, but if you're thinking of building a website to promote your work, check out this excerpt from our March 2008 article "Top of the Web." We outline seven things you need to think about before you start uploading.

For example:

Take a field trip. Spend some time online and make notes about what sites you like and what sites you don't. Make sure to note what it is you like about each site. Do you like the color palette of a particular site? The way the navigation is structured on another? Does it annoy you how long it takes a certain site to load? All this information will help your Web designer create a design you love.

Click here to read the article!