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 Wednesday, November 11, 2009 Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Forget Bed, Bath and Beyond: Register for Art
 Why register for toasters, towels and Tupperware when you can celebrate your wedding with an original piece of art? The nAscent gallery of New York has just created a registry service that allows couples to register for works of art showcased by the company. Friends and family of the lucky couple can either purchase the work outright or may make a contribution toward the purchase of the work, such as the above piece, Sugarcane Fields by artist Fernando Ferreira de Araujo. If you’re more of a bookworm, Splash 10 or Strokes of Genius 2 are coffee table books filled with art that’s sure to impress your soon-to-be in-laws with your excellent taste. —Kelly Messerly
Editor, North Light Books
Cool Web sites | North Light Books
10/13/2009 1:49:12 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Art lust: Squam Art Workshops
I'm fighting off a cold and can barely string together a sentence at the moment, but I had to share this: Squam Art Workshops, a four-day art retreat in the-middle-of-nowhere New Hampshire. The next one is next weekend. If only...
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
9/9/2009 3:23:26 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Artists inspired by authors
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
8/12/2009 1:14:04 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
Random awesomeness
 So much good stuff on the Internet lately, I tell ya. And by the way, here at The Artist's Magazine HQ we're getting onto the Twitter bandwagon (twandwagon?). Follow us: @artistsnetwork and @artistsmagazine.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Projects | Random Thoughts
7/30/2009 10:20:59 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Tales from the psych ward
 Darryl Cunningham draws cartoons based on his time working in a psychiatric ward. I guess it's contradictory to call works of such serious subject matter "comics," but what can you do? The stories are absolutely fascinating, and he just found a publisher, so we'll soon be able to read more of them. Click here to read the Psychiatric Tales and see his other cartoons.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
7/8/2009 3:07:55 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The art of Up
 In his blog, Lou Romano talks about the art production of the new Pixar movie Up:
Similar to the work from The Incredibles, (production paintings,
color/lighting design and artistic direction) this was done to help
inspire the look of the film.
Every show is a major collaboration requiring the talents of many.
The artists who helped define the look of UP included: Bryn Imagire
(Shading Art Director) Daniel Lopez Munoz, Albert Lozano (Character
Designers) Greg Dykstra (Character Design Sculptor) Don Shank, Nat
McLaughlin, Noah Klocek, Daniel Arriaga (Environmental Designers) and
Paul Conrad (Graphic Designer).
Despite many challenges, these artists were always focused on what was really important...the art.
The images are totally gorgeous. Here are the blog posts: The Art of Up and Up Color Script
And here are some articles we did about another Pixar artist, Bill Cone, last year:
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Videos
6/24/2009 9:18:18 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Renegade Brooklyn craft show in pictures
I'm no stranger to the indie craft show circuit, but last weekend I made my first attempt at a monster show: Renegade Brooklyn. More than 300 crafters put up their tent stakes in Williamsburg's McCarren Park this year. I shared a booth with my friend Jessica, who crafts under the name of Miss Chief.
You don't even want to know how much time I spent crafting journals and notecards before this show. Let's just say, my living room is only now starting to look like a place to relax instead of a crafty sweatshop.
 Going around the park was a little overwhelming, but I saw some really cool stuff, such as these art prints by Virginia Kraljevic.
There was even a gypsy band!
 Selling at Renegade was a crazy experience, and honestly, I don't know if I'll attempt it again. (If nothing else, it was good to test out some of the advice I give in my own book.) But I highly suggest checking out all the artists who showed their work there! Click here for the whole list.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News | Random Thoughts
6/16/2009 4:24:35 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, June 04, 2009 Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Guess the medium
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Videos
5/27/2009 1:37:22 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, May 15, 2009
Creative portraits
  Thanks to It's Nice That, I came across the work of Mr. Ian Wright, a playful illustrator/artist with a penchant for what I like to think of as large-scale, tactile pointillism. The 72x72 Mao image at right is made of Chinese silk-covered 1-inch buttons stuck into foamcore. The ripped paper portrait of hip hop artist T.I. (above) is for his album "Paper Trail." Clever, eh?
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
5/15/2009 10:13:49 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Peter Fiore's landscape a day
 Peter Fiore is putting up a landscape study every morning on his blog, Landscape a Day. (You might've seen him in the September 2008 issue of The Artist's Magazine.) So far it seems the paintings have been selling out! He's also been selling prints for $25—a very good moneymaking idea. I'm sure it keeps people coming back every day to see the latest offering!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
5/12/2009 10:55:49 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, May 08, 2009
Fantastic Renaissance resource
 I am absolutely stunned by the Circa 1440 Flickr photostream. It's this collection of images from the early Renaissance that include a staggering variety of oriental carpets. The photos (called The Carpet Index) seem to be curated by Lauren Arnold, an independent art historian. Go have a look—I bet you'll end up looking at these pictures for hours! At right: The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein (1533, oil, 81x82)Learn more:
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
5/8/2009 1:33:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, April 24, 2009
My kind of tea party
 Zach over at Portland Studios is experimenting with tea painting. After early attempts were too washed out, he bought an economy pack at Dollar General and made "The Tea of the Hundred Bags." I think the art turned out lovely! (Reminds me of the coffee painters from a while back...)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
4/24/2009 9:32:06 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Digital camera buying guide
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: - Photography is both a craft and a tool.
- Start small—physically and/or financially.
- Stick with the big brands.
- Fight the urge to think bigger.
- Do your homework.
- Hold it in your hand.
- Buy from reliable sources.
- Learn how to use it.
Read the full descriptions on pica + pixel.
Advice | By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Photography
4/7/2009 12:18:05 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Crayon rings
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
3/25/2009 4:02:31 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
MoMA's new website
Lotsa cool stuff to be had on the Museum of Modern Art's redesigned website! As Unbeige points out, the navigation bar stays static on the bottom of the page, allowing a lot more space for images, videos and interactive features. There's more than I can even digest at this hour of the morning, but I know I do like this:
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Videos
3/10/2009 9:20:18 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, March 03, 2009 Friday, February 27, 2009
High-tech sketching
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
2/27/2009 2:52:08 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A typographic pick-me-up
After a long weekend, I'm feeling a little sluggish today. Keetra Dean Dixon's type art makes me feel cheery, especially this piece:  I've been thinking of you for a while (54x12x6, layered wax) I can't believe it's wax! Doesn't it look like a geode? Found via HOW.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
2/17/2009 4:04:36 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Art for sale on Etsy
Are you familiar with the crafty superstore Etsy? If not, ho boy, are you in for a treat. Artists (from knitters to collagists to painters to haberdasherers) post their handmade items for sale on Etsy for a small listing fee and get access to a pool of almost 2 million registered users. I've been a seller on Etsy for more than two years, and I'm constantly exploring the wares people put up. You can search by material, tag or description, or browse by color or location. And it's not only handmade stuff for sale—there are separate categories for vintage items and supplies. Like WoodWorkDesigns, which sells custom panels for artists. I've been searching for painters and mixed-media artists, and here are some of my favorite finds: - pepperminte (stylized watercolor portraits)
- kelcan (abstract oil landscapes)
- rplowman (collages—I interviewed him for the June issue of The Artist's Magazine!)
- jezze (gorgeous prints—I interviewed her for my book!)
I could browse through Etsy all day. (Glad I can count it as working!)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
2/10/2009 4:09:11 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, February 09, 2009
New, curated watercolor blog
 Chris Beck, an artist familiar to many of us here in the office, has a new(ish) blog where she posts work from a different artist every week. BRUSH-PAPER-WATER is a growing collection of stunning work by watercolorists of all temperaments. (The image at right is a detail of one of Beck's paintings—cutest profile icon ever!)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
2/9/2009 9:31:15 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009 Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Zoom in with 2GB inauguration photo
Feel like you didn't have the best view for the inauguration? (First choice La-Z-Boy doesn't count.) Photographer David Bergman took a 2 GB photo of the inauguration using new Gigapan technology, which stitches together hundreds of photos to make a high-resolution, zoomable image. This is the whole photo, made up of 220 images and
24,658x59,783 pixels:  Double click or use the buttons to zoom in, where you can see President Obama giving a speech:  Zoom in even further, and you can see Bush and Cheney's reactions  You can see really well into the crowd, even in the distance. What's that on the horizon? Rooftop security?  Yep! Crazy, huh? 
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Photography
1/27/2009 12:43:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, January 12, 2009
Daily paintings from Detroit
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
1/12/2009 11:29:58 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, January 05, 2009
Awesome blog: VisuaLingual
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
1/5/2009 4:51:24 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Great Asian art gifts for under $25
Looking for last-minute holiday gifts? The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store is always a good go-to shop. This year I found quite a few gorgeous Asian art items, and it just so happened that all of the pieces were less than $25! So I put together this guide—you can order any of the below items by searching by item number at the store website.
A. Hiroshige Cherry Blossom Christmas Ornament: The design adapts a delicate cherry blossom in the foreground of a color woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858). Lovely but short-lived, cherry blossoms are a recurring motif in Japanese art that symbolize the passing of time. Produced in cooperation with the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Silver plate, with hand-applied enamel. Diameter 3 3/4 in. Includes a silver cord for hanging. Item #10-073617: $17.50 each.
B. Flowers and Grasses of the Four Seasons Holiday Cards: The colorful floral design decorating these elegant holiday cards is reproduced from a detail from a pair of early 19th-century six-panel painted screens by Japanese artist Nakamura Hochu. Produced in cooperation with The British Museum, London. 15 accordion-style cards, 15 white envelopes per box. Item #11-068186: $8.98.
C. Fruits and Flowers Bridge Set: The card game of bridge can be traced back to the 19th century, when the earliest known bridge rule book was found. A richly colored fruits and flowers motif is depicted on the playing cards and score pad, which together form a handsome gift set. Produced in cooperation with The Art Institute of Chicago. Double deck of bridge cards and score pad with instructions. Item #11-021854: $19.95.
D. Flowers of Asia Notecards: The notecards are a celebration of chrysanthemums, peonies, poppies, lotuses, and irises delicately rendered by Chinese and Japanese masters, and shown in fine detail. The images are reproduced from works in the Museum's collection by artists such as Kitagawa Sosetsu, Ogata Korin, Utagawa Hiroshige, Suzuki Kiitsu, Utamaro Kitagawa, and Qian Weicheng. 3 each of 12 images, 36 cards per box. Boxed with 38 envelopes. Item #11-067386: $21.95.
E. Japanese Robes Notecards: Details of birds, flowers, and trees decorate these notecards, which feature reproductions of lavishly embroidered Japanese silk robes from the Edo period (1615–1868) that are now in the Museum's collection. 4 each of 5 images, 20 cards per box. Includes 21 envelopes in a keepsake box. Item #11-068350: $14.95.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
12/16/2008 11:21:15 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, December 01, 2008
Need reading material?
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
12/1/2008 5:02:23 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, November 24, 2008
Beautiful papercut calendar
Nikki McClure's calendars are famous for her powerful images made with very simple materials. Each image is a papercut made from a single piece of paper. The 2009 wall calendar is $16 and can be ordered from BuyOlympia.com. (You'll be able to read more about her in the April 2009 Artist's Life section of The Artist's Magazine!) 
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
11/24/2008 4:44:56 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
For animal lovers
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
11/11/2008 5:17:53 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Urban sketching
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
11/5/2008 4:34:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, October 31, 2008
DIY Polaroids
Already mourning the death of Polaroid instant film? You can make your own vintage-looking shots with Poladroid, a free software program. After installation, all you have to do is drag-and-drop your photos and wait for the mini-Polaroid to pop out. (The pictures show up as a muddy brown for a minute or two before the picture comes through—cute feature!) The final products show up in your Pictures folder as JPGs. Right now, the software's only available for Macs, but a Windows version is coming soon. You can see a bunch of other people's Poladroids on Flickr. Here's one I did, with the original picture:  And the Poladroid version: 
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Free Stuff | Photography
10/31/2008 4:38:43 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, October 17, 2008
Quick Link: Artist a Day
Get art delivered to you daily at Artist A Day. Every morning, the website highlights an artist's work and includes biographical information and links. You can get it delivered any way you like: Sign up for the RSS feed, iGoogle gadget or Facebook application. You can even nominate yourself.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
10/17/2008 4:38:14 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
Go Figure!
If you think you don't have time for the drawing-a-day regimen, check out Kyle T. Webster's blog, www.TheDailyFigure.com. Webster says that his "figurative doodles" are "meant to inspire people to loosen up and appreciate the beauty that is possible with a few well chosen strokes of a brush or pen." 'Nuf said—I'm off to grab a pen.    left to right: Thursday (August 21, 2008) The Weight of Wednesday (September 17, 2008) Friday Fun (August 29, 2008)
By Holly Davis | Cool Web sites
9/25/2008 5:09:09 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, September 19, 2008
Looks Punny
 Shoe Horns (ball point pen) by Donald Stewart Donald Stewart, trained surgeon who gave up the medical profession
because he preferred art over scalpels for helping people feel better, dropped
us a line at The Artist's Magazine the other day to let us know about his interview with his local Fox affiliate. Do watch it—it'll only take a few minutes and you'll come away smiling and—feeling better.
That's what happened to me, anyway. Stewart creates what he calls composite
drawings—renderings of objects made up of other objects. Some works, like
Shoe Horns (above), are single visual puns, and some pile one
visual pun on top of another so thickly that Stewart provides a list of
"ingredients," for those who want to be sure they don't miss anything.
I was so intrigued, I did a some deep investigating (at least 10 minutes worth) and discovered that The Artist's Magazine ran a piece on Stewart in our column, The Artist's Life,
back in January 1988. Sorry, that issue isn't available for sale
anymore, but all you longtime loyal subscribers can look it up. (You knew there was a reason you kept those old issues!)
If your old issues don't go back that far (or even if they do) you can see more of Stewart's art on his website at www.dsart.com.
By Holly Davis | Cool Web sites | Notable Artists | Videos
9/19/2008 4:06:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Don't Fall Prey to Internet Frauds!
 We've all heard those terrible stories about artists being scammed out of
hundreds, even thousands, of dollars—and sometimes losing their artwork as well. The website www.artscams.com gives you tips for protecting yourself
and descriptions of the latest Internet frauds. Be smart; be informed—don't be a victim.
Advice | By Chris McHugh | Cool Web sites | Tips
9/10/2008 3:40:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Salt Evaporation Ponds?
Isn't this amazing? These vivid colors and interesting patterns are the result of harvesting salt in evaporation ponds. The different colors occur because micro-organisms' hues change with the degree of salinity of the water. Read the entire article here on www.colourlovers.com. It may take a minute for the article to download, but it will be worth the read and the gorgeous photos. All the images are collected from Google Earth by landsmiths. 
By Chris McHugh | Cool Web sites | News
9/2/2008 2:43:37 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, August 01, 2008 Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Color Inspiration from the Masters
Here’s a great blog article from COLOURLovers.com, a fantastic site for professionals who work with color—and those of us who crave color like chocolate. In this article, one contributor has taken famous paintings and illustrates for us the color palettes that inspired the masters who painted them. You'll see The Water Lily Pond by Monet, Marilyn Monroe by Warhol, Persistence of Memory by Dali, just to mention a few. See the article here.
By Chris McHugh | Cool Web sites | Notable Artists
7/30/2008 9:28:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Save Your Junk Mail!
Those flyers, print ads, greeting cards and postcards are valuable art materials! At least they are in the hands of S.A. Schimmel Gold, who cuts them into bits and pieces for her mosaic portraits. Why use paper? As she puts it, “ink colors are far more diverse than glass or tile.”   Metallic Venus (18x24) and detail, by S.A. Schimmel Gold Turning Leaf by S.A. Schimmel GoldTo be wowed by more of Schimmel Gold’s work, visit her website at http://schimmelart.com/index.htm. Most of Schimmel Gold’s portraits have a decidedly contemporary glam about them, yet the basic method of assembling tiny pieces of color to create a picture dates back 4000 years. To see mosaics of every age and style (plus learn just about everything there is to know about the art) take a cyberspace stroll through www.thejoyofshards.co.uk. Thinking about mosaics sent me on a nostalgic journey recalling other mosaics I’ve encountered (including the candy dish my sister made in early school years). Suddenly I remembered the mosaic on the outside front wall of the church I attended through much of my childhood. The church is on Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Have any of you ever seen the mosaic? Let me know—or tell me about another mosaic that’s special to you.
By Holly Davis | Cool Web sites | Notable Artists
7/29/2008 3:17:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, July 25, 2008
Eye-Opener
I’ve been intrigued by optical illusions since I was a kid. Here’s a striking painting by Victor Vasarely titled Vega-Nor, 1969 (oil on canvas). The exhibition “Op Art Revisited: Selections from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery” will be showcased at the Albright-Knox in Buffalo, New York, July 18 through January 25, 2009.  By the way, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery has a truly fantastic collection of modern and contemporary art. Click here to read a history of Op art by Associate Curator Holly E. Hughes. To enjoy a fun visual feast, check out Michael Bach’s website featuring 78 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena.
By Chris McHugh | Cool Web sites
7/25/2008 10:28:59 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, July 17, 2008
Shape and Space
If you’ve ever driven a companion (or yourself) crazy by pacing back and forth and all around to get the best camera or easel angle for a landscape, you’ll appreciate this exercise I found about shape and space. Here’s the idea: Imagine traveling in a large circle and taking four photographs along the way. After developing the photos, you get them out of order. Could you put them back in sequence on the basis of the spatial relationship of the structures you had passed? Okay, now that you have the idea, check out “I Took a Trip on a Train” and see how you do. (Go to http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/geometry/space/train/index.html.)
By Holly Davis | Cool Web sites
7/17/2008 11:59:45 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, July 10, 2008
Name that painting
Think you know your artists and their paintings? Artists Network forum member Terry (user name tstone) came up with this link to a great interactive Web game that tests your ability to match artists with their paintings. The game takes a minute or two to load, so be patient. Once you’re in, the game moves as quickly (or slowly) as you want. What’s more, it’s addictive. One of about 150 paintings appears on your monitor, and you choose which of the 75 or so listed artists created the work. If you get the correct artist, you get to choose the correct painting title. Then on to the next painting. This beats solitaire any day. Try it and let me know what you think.
By Holly Davis | Cool Web sites | Downloads
7/10/2008 3:20:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
So long for now...
 Hey everyone! I just got word I'm going to be filling in as the production assistant for The Artist's Magazine's video workshop site, ArtistsNetwork.TV. I'm way excited to get my hands on this project, but, unfortunately, it means that I'll have to say goodbye to this blog for a while. But don't go away! The folks on the fine art team here will keep this blog alive in my absence. (And if they don't, I've got a pica stick to prod them with.) Au revoir!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News | Videos
6/24/2008 9:30:21 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, June 20, 2008
The latest art links
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
6/20/2008 3:10:00 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, June 16, 2008
Face Your Pockets
 Via It's Nice That, a fun photo project in which people scanned the contents of their pockets—and their faces: Face Your Pockets
Above is Nadia Camila Barrera's stuff, including ChapStick, strawberry candy, cellphone, electronic sudoku, Colombian pesos, purple bracelet,
USB, colored
pencils, dental floss and a dotted wallet.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
6/16/2008 4:01:07 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, June 13, 2008
All about Flickr
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.
Advice | By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Free Stuff | Tips
6/13/2008 3:17:31 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, June 12, 2008
Keep up with art law news
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
6/12/2008 4:34:53 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Friday, May 30, 2008
Beautiful sketchbooks
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
5/30/2008 2:07:37 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
The name game
As I take part in judging our Annual Competition, something that often snags my attention is the title of the artwork. This might be a good thing—such as a title that adds meaning to a piece—or a bad thing, such as a really awful pun. When I was in art classes in high school and college, coming up with titles was my favorite thing to do. I usually opted for intentionally vague, overly pretentious kinds of names. But another thing I loved to do was take a phrase and run it through the Internet Anagram Server. This great tool finds all the possible combinations for the words you enter. You can limit the output (such as limiting the results to only two words, or to words of at least three letters) by using the advanced search, which I highly recommend. For a letterpress class I took in college, we had an assignment to play with the letters of our names. I used the search to come up with some great anagrams of my name, including: • Brocade Hugs • Badgers, Ouch! • Bodega Crush • Obscured Hag I went with Bodega Crush for the assignment. To me, it invokes this feeling of being young and infatuated at a corner store in the Upper East Side, sipping a lime agua fresca. I think you could use the anagram search even to come up with prompts for painting or writing. For example, entering The Artist's Magazine into the search comes up with Amaranth Zeitgeist and
Metastasizing Earth. What great words! So, blog readers, I'm really curious—how do you title your works? Maybe you have certain rituals, or maybe you absolutely hate doing it! Post a comment and let me know.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
5/28/2008 10:16:51 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, May 22, 2008 Thursday, May 15, 2008
ArtistsNetwork.tv is live!
 We just launched ArtistsNetwork.tv, a site chockablock with instructional videos from leading contemporary artists, such as recent Artist's Magazine contributors M. Katherine Hurley and Costa Vavagiakis.
Members can view videos 24/7 from any computer with a high-speed internet connection—no software downloads required. You can buy access to a single workshop video, or if you want an all-access pass, you can subscribe to all ArtistsNetwork.tv video workshops for
six months. You can preview the videos for free before you buy, so check out the site today!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News | Tips | Videos
5/15/2008 11:06:19 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A Sisyphean sketching project
Jason Polan wants to draw every person in New York. In his words: If you would like to increase the chances of a portrait of YOU
appearing on this blog please email me (art@jasonpolan.com) a street
corner or other public place that you will be standing at for a
duration of two minutes (I will be on the corner of 14th street and 8th
avenue on the North-east corner of the street from 2:42-2:44pm this
Thursday wearing a bright yellow jacket and navy rubber boots, for
example). Please give me more than a 24 hour warning and please make it
a scenario that is not too difficult for you to accomplish (the corner
outside of the store you work at during lunch time, or in front of a
museum you were going to go to on a Saturday) because I may
unfortunately miss you and do not want you to have to invest more than
2 minutes of your time in case I cannot make it. You may or may not see
me drawing you during this time. If I do draw you, you will see
yourself (or rather, a drawing that hopefully somewhat resembles you)
on this blog that evening.
When the project is completed we will all have a get together.
Awesome! Somebody better order sandwiches for 8 million ASAP. Via Emdashes
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Projects
5/13/2008 11:21:44 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, May 08, 2008 Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Be our friend!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News | Random Thoughts
5/7/2008 2:49:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Art (maybe) good enough to eat
Art News Blog pointed us in the direction of Pizza Hut's art competition. Never thought I'd say those things in the same sentence. At the site, Pizzaboxidea.com, artists can upload their pizza box image, and each month one is picked to win $1,000. The winning designs won't necessarily be printed up, but there is already a Flickr group dedicated to the images. (The whole concept reminds me quite a bit of MyStarbucksIdea.com. Who needs consultants when the general public is more than willing to give you ideas for free?)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
4/29/2008 2:20:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, April 28, 2008
Should art museum admission be free?
This article in London's Sunday Times begs that question, making the argument that scrapping the ticket system lowers the museum's standards of quality. Apparently, free admission isn't enough to get the people in the doors—the Imperial War Museum has put Halle Berry's bikini from "Die Another Day" on display. The article reminded me of an infographic I saw recently in GOOD magazine. " Who Pays For Museum Tickets?" compares the cost of admission for the 20 biggest US museums with each museum's cost per visitor. It's very interesting to look at how the museums compare. The largest museum, the Getty, has free admission—and the cost to the museum per visitor is a whopping $177.92. Knowing that makes me consider donating! Click here to see the graphic.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
4/28/2008 2:28:45 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Awesomely weird art supplies
Hey all! Sorry about being a lame blogger lately! (It's funny how when you return from a vacation, everything seems normal and then BAM! you're hit with a ton of things to do.) So to make it up to you, I share this link: American Science & Surplus, the weirdest, wackiest mail order catalog you'll ever receive. I don't know where or how they obtain all the weird things they sell, but I highly recommend them. (Reading the descriptions of the products is half the fun.) I ordered a bunch of stuff from them for making Christmas presents last year—I gave coworkers sets of organic loose tea in glass test tubes! They have art supplies, too. Need a pencil torch for etching things? Dental tools for your pottery? A brush holder for your brushes? Fabric dye for batiking? Geodes just for the heck of it? You are totally set. If you live in the Chicago or Milwaukee area, you can go to one of their stores in person. And if you do, you must report back and tell me about it!
Advice | By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
4/23/2008 11:13:10 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
Online image editing options
For the July issue of The Artist's Magazine, I edited a feature on the best software for artists, including everything from inventory trackers to model manipulators. As far as image editing goes, the gold standard is Photoshop. (If you haven't used the full-blown version, you've likely come across its less expensive sibling, Photoshop Elements.)
Now, a free version of the software is available online, with 2 GB of storage thrown in. Adobe Photoshop Express offers many of the features included with Elements, such as cropping, color correction and some fun filter and distortion options. (Be aware, though, that agreeing to the terms of service gives other users the rights to display, print and distribute your shared images. If you don't want your pictures to go public, don't opt to share them through the site.)
Photo sharing site Flickr also recently rolled out photo editing abilities in partnership with Picnik. All Flickr users can access the basic editing options, and becoming a premium member unlocks more features. Both Picnik and Photoshop Express have some integrated functionality with other websites, like Facebook and Picasa.
Both Photoshop Express and Flickr are good options for artists who don't want to put down a big chunk of change for a program they'll use only to resize or crop their pictures.
(And speaking of pictures, I'll be uploading photos from my trip soon—promise!)
Via Craftzine.com blog
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Tips
4/10/2008 3:05:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Now online: Ask the Experts archive!
The latest exciting addition to our new website is the archive of Ask the Experts questions from The Artist's Magazine and Watercolor Artist! We're continually adding more content to this Q-and-A category, where you can find information like this: Q. I normally paint on stretched canvas or
gesso-primed Masonite panels. I've noticed a growing number of artists
in my area are gluing canvas to Masonite and I'd like to try this
myself. What type of glue would you recommend for this process?
A. If you’re going to glue canvas—either preprimed
or primed after attachment—to a panel, I'd recommend using a panel of
Luan plywood, birch plywood or Masonite. All of these create very
sturdy, durable supports.
Read the whole answer here. ( And you can click here to see all Ask the Experts questions with their categories showing to browse according to your interests.) If you've got a burning question, log in to the Ask the Experts forum and post it there, or send us an e-mail, or write to us at The Artist's Magazine, "Ask the Experts," 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236. (Unfortunately, we can't respond to all letters personally.)
Advice | By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Tips
3/25/2008 9:56:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, March 20, 2008 Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Quick link: Color Chart
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Exhibits
3/18/2008 10:09:57 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Art with an expiration date
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
3/12/2008 2:53:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
What's new on our website
 We're trying something new here at The Artist's Magazine with the April issue. If you're a reader, you know we include lots of valuable Web links in each article. Unfortunately, our magazines are not yet so high-tech that you can browse the Web on them. But we've come up with the next best thing— a page with all the issue's external links. You get one-click access to everything you read about in the pages of TAM. Also new on our website is the March artist of the month (whose work is at right). Ester Curini was a finalist in last year's competition. Click here to read all about her.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
3/11/2008 12:43:50 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, March 10, 2008
Quick link: Pencil drawing
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
3/10/2008 4:38:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, February 25, 2008
Color explosion
Pica+Pixel reminds us of the Sony Bravia ad, which remains impressive. If you've never seen it before, make sure to check it out! If you have seen it, I'd be surprised if you can resist watching it again! Everybody loves exploding paint.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Videos
2/25/2008 4:11:19 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, February 22, 2008
Thinking of building a website?
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!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News | Advice | Tips
2/22/2008 10:47:48 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, February 20, 2008 Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Quick links
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
2/12/2008 12:36:26 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, February 11, 2008
Update your bookmarks!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
2/11/2008 10:42:45 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008
We're live!
The all-new ArtistsNetwork.com is live! I spent countless hours helping get this relaunch ready, so you can imagine my relief to finally see it come to fruition.
If you need a leg up in navigating the site, check out the handy how-to I wrote. I think you'll find the new home of The Artist's Magazine, The Pastel Journal and Watercolor Artist worlds better than the old site. I don't have anything else to add aside from hip-hip-hooray! Oh, and your old bookmark to this blog will redirect you to the new site, but it doesn't hurt to add the new address! It's http://artistsblog.artistsnetwork.com/.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
2/6/2008 4:59:33 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Spray it, don't say it 2
In the January issue of The Artist's Magazine, The Artist's Life section included a roundup of graffiti books and a review of Graffiti TV. If you can't get enough of the stylized lettering and clandestine art, check out Catch Me If You Can, a glossy magazine packed to the brim with panoramic photos of bus-sized pieces—plus a pull-out poster! The magazine's editor, Kenneth D. Ashley, saw the "Spray it, don't say it" article in his wife's copy of The Artist's Magazine and sent me a copy because, he says, "I feel that many do not realize the beauty that can come from graffiti." There's a lot of beautiful, bizarre, edgy and intuitive work in here. [An aside—I wondered what kinds of businesses would advertise in a magazine about graffiti, a pastime that generally infuriates business owners. I now know the answer: places that sell markers and paint!]
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
2/5/2008 1:21:06 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, February 04, 2008
A huge sneak peek
There's a good reason why I've not been posting much lately. It's not because I'm getting the cold that everyone in the office has or because of magazine deadlines or anything like that. The real cause of my slacking is that The Artist's Magazine is getting a new website!
We've been in the thick of a redesign for the last few weeks, and we are now making the new site public to a very select audience (like you, dear blog readers).
Want to see the new home of The Artist's Magazine, The Pastel Journal and Watercolor Artist, like, right now? Here's what you should do. Click here to visit the new site and poke around, and then click here to take a survey and tell us what you think!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
2/4/2008 10:14:25 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, January 31, 2008
Papercuts
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
1/31/2008 11:48:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
What did you buy today?
 I've been a fan of Kate Bingaman-Burt's for quite a while (since before she added the -Burt!). Back when I was in college, I interviewed her for a zine I did on consumerism (its second issue is still unrealized) and she keeps popping up on my radar. Bingaman-Burt's site, Obsessive Consumption, has changed multiple times since my college days, and it's still interesting to dig around in.
I especially love her blog, where she draws and posts her daily purchases. Earlier projects included taking pictures of all purchases, drawing receipts and drawing credit card bills. (You can also buy the design professor's drawings compiled in zine form at her Etsy store.)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Notable Artists
1/29/2008 5:09:20 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, January 24, 2008 Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Having a bad day?
Keri Smith's Artist's Survival Kit is the sure remedy for all that ails you artistically. You can download and print out five PDFs that offer suggestions for how to get over your hump. A priorities checklist offers some perspective, and a handy little quarter-page form prompts you to list reasons you love being an artist—and then seal it in an envelope and save it for an existential emergency.
Via CRAFT zine
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Downloads
1/22/2008 3:00:53 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, January 21, 2008
Blogroll: updated!
I did a little housekeeping this afternoon and updated my blogroll—that little menu off on the bottom left that lists related and recommended blogs. I cleaned out the sites that aren't updated frequently and added some that I read every day. This will be an ongoing project, so feel free to recommend more good art blogs!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
1/21/2008 1:50:22 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, January 17, 2008
Tips for bloggers
Maria Schneider, the editor of Writer's Digest has come up with 20 guidelines for good blogging. My favorite is No. 11: "Realize that blogging is an endurance sport." Too true. Y'all wouldn't believe how many power bars I go through in a week...
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
1/17/2008 1:28:55 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Quick links
At the moment, stuff's getting a little crazy here at the Casa de Artist's Magazine. I'll be able to give you more details soon, but for now I'll have to act all mysterious and leave you with these links:
• Seeing things: A personal essay about experiencing museums from the Smithsonian.
• Making a Mark: Katherine Tyrrell on the elements of design—a great resource.
• You're Not My Father: A video piece that repeatedly recreates a scene from the TV show Full House (via AFC)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Videos
1/16/2008 9:23:41 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, January 11, 2008
Northern Italian sketchbook
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
1/11/2008 3:44:21 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
Poor man's stained glass
More from the Department of Art Made from Unusual Objects:
Mark Khaisman uses layers brown package tape on Plexiglas to create haunting figures inspired by "the classics," like the one at right, Space of Suspense #5 (packaging tape on clear plastic, 24x24). I e-mailed him to find out how in the world he got the notion to use package tape as a medium. He wrote back: "For years I have been painting glass on the light easel, seeing painting as a process of shading light. I invented my tape technique merely as a more effective way of patching light. This is poor man’s stained glass, but tape suddenly makes it more alive. It wasn't a medium for art until I decided it was; then it was."
Via Coudal.com
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
1/10/2008 3:03:43 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, January 07, 2008
The joys of small editions
 I'm really excited—this morning I interviewed Jen Bekman, a New York City gallery owner and the mastermind behind 20x200, a project that is bringing art to the people, man.
Like the popular Tiny Showcase, 20x200 creates very limited and very affordable runs of high-quality photos and fine art prints. The price structure is what distinguishes 20x200: Each piece comes in an edition of 200 small prints for $20 each, 20 medium-size prints for $200 each, and 2 really big prints for $2,000 each.
I love it because Jen's bringing art (and exposing emerging artists) to the common Web surfer. The work is gorgeous, and some of the prints totally sell out. (And fine artists are encouraged to submit their work for consideration!)
Keep your eyes peeled for the May issue of The Artist's Magazine to read the whole article! Above, Many Mountains by Ky Anderson.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Projects
1/7/2008 2:02:05 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Top 101 artists' blogs
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
1/2/2008 4:19:02 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, December 14, 2007
Love Vermeer?
EssentialVermeer.com has just about everything you ever wanted to know about Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). Timelines, biographies, his genealogy, lists of books and resources, a full gallery of his work... the amount of information on this site is astounding.
Some links you might find especially interesting:
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Notable Artists
12/14/2007 11:27:03 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Museum of Bad Art
We may have linked to it before, but it bears repeating: Art so bad it's good. Not for the faint of heart.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Exhibits
12/12/2007 3:59:22 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, December 10, 2007
I love utilitarian notebooks
Just got these puppies in last week: Field Notes, a collaboration between Draplin Design Co. and Coudal Partners, two heavyweights in the graphic design arena. A pack of three runs you $9.95 plus shipping.
These notebooks have been getting major props in the blogosphere for a while. If you search the photo site Flickr for "field notes" you come across some pretty cool stuff. Like a design teacher who had students in his class fill the notebooks up with whatever they wanted, and he then posted the results on Flickr.
I've been a fan of Draplin's for a long time because of the hard-workin', salt-of-the-earth kind of personality injected into pet projects like this. Who wouldn't love a sketchbook that lists practical applications for itself? Such as:
05. Shoddy Sketches
11. Big Ideas/Insights
12. Small Ideas/Notions
17. Escape Routes
25. Gambling Debts
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
12/10/2007 5:40:32 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, December 06, 2007
Make an erasable lamp
From A Little Hut, a little project:
Step one: Buy a cheap lamp with a large, smooth base
Step two: Paint it with chalk paint and let it dry
Step three: Draw on it with chalk
Step four: Erase and repeat step three.
Step five: Bask in its light and your awesomeness.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Projects
12/6/2007 6:29:17 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Drawings good enough to eat
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
12/5/2007 10:10:14 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Looking for Artist's Sketchbook back issues?
Here at The Artist's Magazine, we get e-mails every week asking about Artist's Sketchbook, which we put out from 2001 to 2006. There are only a few issues of the magazine still available for sale in our back issues store, so I've felt pretty unhelpful for people who've been wanting more of a magazine that was a big inspiration for a lot of artists!
Well, I will fret no longer! Our Artist's Sketchbook 2005 & 2006 Annual CD is on sale now, containing all nine issues from those two years. It's got more than 100 articles, with ready-to-use art-making prompts and exercises, plus artists' success stories, sketchbook showcases and much more.
Just like our 2006 and 2007 annual CDs, this puppy is fully searchable and utterly portable. The Artist's Sketchbook 2005 & 2006 CD will be in stock Dec. 17, and if you pre-order by Dec. 13, you'll still get free shipping in time for Christmas.
In fact, all our CD products will ship for free in time for Christmas if you order by Dec. 13. And have a look at our sweet swag at Cafe Press, like new shirts, mugs and even magnets! (Check Cafe Press' shipping details to see all the options and deadlines.)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
12/4/2007 1:52:27 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, November 30, 2007
Thousands pledge to go handmade
Have you seen this?
Pledge Handmade:
I pledge to buy handmade this year, and request that others do the same for me.
More than 8,000 people have signed the petition of sorts on the Buy Handmade website, and I'm one of them! Visit the site for a good description of what's becoming known as craftivism—hacking mass consumer culture and taking industry back to the individual.
Do you think it'd be possible to make every gift you give this year? (Or buy gifts from people who are making them themselves?) I admit there are already some things that I've store-bought for people, but I generally make probably two-thirds of the gifts I give anyway.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
11/30/2007 10:55:53 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, November 29, 2007 Friday, November 16, 2007
Nine months of museum sketches
From Oct. 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, Elizabeth Perry visited Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art and Carnegie Museum of Natural History every day the institutions were open. She drew something about each visit in a small sketchbook and posted them at www.museumdrawing.com, where you can see each drawing from her nine months of museum visits.
Some of the drawings are of pieces of art or artifacts from the museums; others are of ordinary objects like coat check tags. (A favorite of mine is of the dinosaur that stands watch outside the museums.)
This collection of sketches is a great reminder of the fact that good composition can make a simple drawing into a striking image.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
11/16/2007 2:15:16 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, November 15, 2007
British Museum collection gets searchable
A recent piece in The Guardian describes the vast archives made Web-searchable by London's British Museum in the last month.
When I visited the search page today, 262,565 objects from the collection were online, and 98,745 had images with their listings. The total collection of "flat art" is composed of 1.7 million pieces. (You can see detailed descriptions of what has been catalogued so far here.) Descriptions, facts and key words are fully searchable, and new images are being added at a rate of about 2,000 a week. This is an incredible resource for students and scholars: James Fenton points out in The Guardian that many pieces in the collection have never been published anywhere else in any form.
Try out a search by clicking here, and let me know what you find!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
11/15/2007 2:16:26 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Build your own frames!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Projects
11/13/2007 4:33:44 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, November 06, 2007 Friday, November 02, 2007 Thursday, November 01, 2007
Sketchbook blog roundup!
Happy November, everybody! It's hard to believe there are only two months left in 2007. Anybody got any resolutions they're scrambling to finish? I resolved to read 50 books this year—so far I'm up to 36. There's still time! 
Anyway, today I've got some great links for you: sketchbook blogs from great illustrators/artists! Some of these are updated more frequently than others, but all of them are inspiring to look at.
• German designer Kathrin Jebsen-Marwedel puts up sketchbook scans on her Flickr page. She uses a mix of marker, paint, stamps and collage to document day-to-day kinds of things in her Moleskines.
• Wil Freeborn also puts up scans of his Moleskines at www.ghostschool.co.uk. I love his style and use of minimal color.
• Danny Gregory (who drew the picture above) updates his "overgrown blog" with sketches and other observations. (A directory of all posts relating to journaling is here.) He wrote a book called Everyday Matters about his recent entry into art: His wife was nearly killed in a train accident, and drawing became his way of understanding the world. (There's also a very active Everyday Matters pool on Flickr.)
Man, I wish I had my sketchbook here right now!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
11/1/2007 2:20:08 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The cure for "one of those days"
Instant remedy for what ails you: a free, big ol' desktop picture of Bob Ross. Click here to get it.
(Via HOW)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Downloads | Random Thoughts
10/30/2007 1:36:53 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, October 15, 2007
If da Vinci had been a ticket-taker...
More from the Department of Art Made from Unusual Objects:
Employees at a department store in Osaka used 320,000 black and white train tickets as "pixels" to depict the Mona Lisa for an in-store display. In addition to the da Vinci homage, reproductions of the Birth of Venus and Renoir's Dance at the Moulin de la Galette are on display.
Via Pink Tentacle.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Random Thoughts
10/15/2007 11:11:11 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, October 08, 2007
The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies
If you've ever worked in the graphic arts, you'll get a kick out of The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies. Browse through the images of bygone tools, and be thankful that the computer has curtailed the need for French curves and rubber cement.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
10/8/2007 4:44:20 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Minnesota artists have a bean to grind
Don't dump out that leftover coffee— Andrew Saur and Angel Sarkela-Saur believe it's good 'til the last drop.
The duo started painting with joe a few years ago, inspired by the venue of their first art show, a Duluth, Minnesota, coffee shop. They've since created a robust portfolio, using an extra-strong brew as a watercolor.
Click here to watch a silent-movie-style dramatization of the origins of their technique.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
9/25/2007 3:18:15 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, September 21, 2007
Build your own sketchbook
 While going through my favorite blogs this week, I came across a link to this artist's description of her sketching arsenal.
Martha of Trumpetvine Travels has developed specific tastes in art materials, from a specific fountain pen to a style of sketchbook. She rebinds her Moleskine notebooks to replace the paper that comes in them with watercolor paper.
(You can also have a look at a step-by-step demonstration of how she sketches, with details on what paints she uses.)
I've never been a painter, but I do like to doodle and write lots of notes. For that, I built my own sketchbook, which you can see at right. Inside is a mix of lots of random sheets of paper. They are bound in a Coptic style, very similar to the way Martha does hers. Check out her detailed instructions on rebinding to give it a try yourself!
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | Projects
9/21/2007 3:55:19 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, August 31, 2007
Art for a feline cause
Earlier this year, more than 60 cats and kittens were found—many starved and injured—weeks after a man was evicted from his Cincinnati house. A Web site, ForclosureCats.org, was set up to find the felines "forever" homes.
Now the rescue effort is going in an artistic direction. Local and national illustrators, animators and artists have taken up the cause by painting portraits of the animals. This Web site is the virtual gallery for the project. (I'm an especially big fan of this portrait. Meredith Smith, like the other artists, chose to not hide the cats' injuries, like little Tortellini’s damaged eye.)
Prints and originals will soon be for sale, with all proceeds going to the forclosure cat rescue groups. (And how cool is this—people who adopt a cat will receive a print of its portrait.) A show is in the works, and I know I'll be there.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites | News
8/31/2007 3:22:44 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Give Me Your Art Blog Suggestions!
Every morning when I come into work, the first thing I do is log into Google's blog feed service, Reader, to see what's new on my favorite sites. It's super simple to set up, especially if you already use Gmail. You can add any Web site that has an RSS feed to your Reader account and see instantly when a new post is added. And when you ignore it for the weekend you come back to 100+ messages Monday morning. Surprise! Seriously, it sounds like a lot, but Reader makes sorting through the sites so manageable. If a post doesn't grab you, just scroll down to the next in the list. If you want to save something for later, you can add a star, or e-mail it to a friend.
These are some of the streams I subscribe to:
Art News Blog
CRAFT Magazine
The Smithsonian's Eye Level
The New York Times' Art and Design section
Do you have any more suggestions for great art-related blogs to read religiously?
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
8/22/2007 3:06:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, August 16, 2007
Daily Painting Revisited
Last fall, The Artist's Magazine included a piece on Duane Keiser's painting-a-day blog. He aims to create a small-scale work every day and puts them up on eBay, where they fetch quite a few pretty pennies. (If you missed it, you can read the whole story in the September 2006 issue, for sale here.)
Other artists got inspired. The Daily Painters Art Gallery, founded last September by Micah Condon, now showcases more than 120 artists.
They must maintain a painting blog, updated at least a few times a week with new pieces, for a few months before applying. After they're accepted, their work appears on the site in the daily update with information on the artist and how to buy the piece. Most days there are upwards of 50 new paintings for sale, almost all smaller than a square foot.
It seems like a great exercise in technique and discipline. Have you tried daily painting? Do you think you could keep it up?
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
8/16/2007 10:42:53 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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