Friday, December 05, 2008
Art Books for Cheap!
In compiling the list of art supply sales, I remembered that there's a huge sale of art books at ClearanceBooks.com, a store from the owners of The Artist's Magazine.

And if you're in the Cincinnati area, you can browse thousands of books under $10 in person at our Warehouse Sale. It runs until January 4 at the location below:

Governor’s Plaza Center
9131 Fields Ertel Road (exit #19 off I-71)
Cincinnati, OH 45249

9 am-9 pm Monday through Saturday
10 am-7 pm on Sundays


By Grace Dobush | News
12/5/2008 9:54:17 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [1] 
Save on Art Supplies
I've been noticing there are a lot of great sales right now, with the holiday season coming and retailers trying to beat the recession. Below are some notable discounts. If you know of any other good ones, post them in the comments!


By Grace Dobush | News
12/5/2008 9:45:48 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [2] 
 Tuesday, December 02, 2008
What I made over Thanksgiving vacation


These little coptic-bound blank books are the fruits of my Make Something Day. The inner pages are simply Canson drawing paper; the covers are screen-printed Japanese paper over bookbinder's board. It's all sewn together with linen thread.

I learned a few different bookbinding techniques in the class I took in college, but coptic is the one I like most. The placement of the stitching is totally up to you, and it allows the book to lay flat when it's open, perfect for sketchbooks.

What did you make?


By Grace Dobush | Projects
12/2/2008 10:30:13 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [2] 
 Monday, December 01, 2008
Need reading material?
This list of 100 must-see art blogs includes quite a few of my own bookmarked favorites. (And yours truly is on the list, too, so you know it's good. ;) )

Some of my faves:
29. A Plein Air Painter’s Blog
48. PostSecret
98. Drawn!
PS: Tomorrow I'll post the beautiful fruits of my Friday off. I discovered over the weekend that I didn't invent Make Something Day; these folks might have.


By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
12/1/2008 5:02:23 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Friday is Make Something Day!
The Friday after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday in the US—one of the biggest shopping days of the year, with stores opening at ungodly hours offering very limited sales that inspire hysteria in consumers. Adbusters a few years ago came up with a counteractivity called Buy Nothing Day, encouraging people to abstain from the consumerism for 24 hours.

I've got another idea: We shoulod make Nov. 28—the day after Thanksgiving—Make Something Day!

Why spend hours circling the mall looking for a parking spot when you could be indulging your creative side and doing something productive? Get a start on your holiday presents! Finish that painting that's been gathering dust for months! Try out a new technique! Teach someone how to paint! Let your kids or grandkids show you how to paint their way!

Let your imagination go wild, and take pictures of what you come up with! I'd love to see what you do, so post a link to your blog or your photos in the comments, and feel free to use the logo or this button for your own site:




By Grace Dobush | Projects | Random Thoughts
11/26/2008 12:43:03 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [1] 
 Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Give yourself a hand, win a gift card


Looking for something to do before all the relatives arrive? Go old-school and make a turkey hand; you could win an iTunes gift card!
To get us in the thanksgiving spirit here at Rule29, we’ve already started drawing our hand turkeys and hanging them on the fridge. But we need more hand turkeys to completely cover the fridge, and we’re asking for your help. Download the template below, use creative magic to draw a sweet hand turkey, and then scan and email them back to us at mail@rule29.com, we’ll post all of the entries below, and one lucky hand turkey will win a $25 iTunes gift card as our way to show our thanks to you. Please have your Turkeys back to us by close of business Nov. 25th or early the 26th.
Via HOW

By Grace Dobush | Free Stuff | Projects
11/25/2008 11:14:01 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 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)  #  Comments [0] 
 Friday, November 21, 2008
How to get your press release noticed



We get hundreds of press releases and gallery opening notices every week at The Artist's Magazine, and most of them get recycled or deleted. A lot of them just aren't pertinent, or they're happening too soon in the future for us to do anything with them (see some tips that I mentioned earlier about creating great press releases). And sometimes, the press release doesn't look that great—like if it's just a black-and-white photocopy that doesn't include any images of the art. Or, even worse, if there are tiny black-and-white reproductions of the art that don't tell me anything.

But some mailings grab my attention fast—ones that include good color photos, that are simple and to-the-point or, my personal favorite, ones that have a handmade touch. Some of these mailings end up tacked to my wall long after the event has passed. Like the ones above from the Tilton Gallery in New York. I've never been to the Tilton Gallery, but I am totally collecting their gallery show promos (shown above). Each mailer is a simple, thick white card with a one- or two-color letterpress design.

Another came just last week, a promo for the 1000 Journals Project at the San Francisco MOMA you can see at right. On the front is an image from one of the artists, along with a screenprinted logo and stitching along the bottom. It's so precious I couldn't bear to toss it!

Below you can see a closeup of the back, which shows with a check which artist the image on the front side is by, and a closeup of the embossed SFMOMA logo. Awesome!




Advice | By Grace Dobush | Random Thoughts | Tips
11/21/2008 4:55:34 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Thursday, November 20, 2008
Trees on canvas
Myoung Ho Lee separates his subject—trees—from the surrounding landscape by suspending a canvas behind them. The resulting photographs are really striking. See the Morning News and Lens Culture to read more.

At right, Tree #2 by Myoung Ho Lee (archival ink-jet print on paper, 125x100cm, 2006)

PS: It's probably obvious by now, but I'm back at the helm of the blog! I helped the new guy over at ArtistsNetwork.TV transition into the job, and things are rolling along well there! (In fact, a little birdie told me that they filmed some new videos yesterday...)

I've also been working on a new series for The Artist's Magazine that's starting in the March 2009 issue called Mediapedia. They're four-page, in-depth, brand-free guides to art media that you can clip and save for in-studio reference. The first one is on acrylics, so watch for that issue when it comes out in February!

By Grace Dobush | Photography
11/20/2008 11:16:25 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [3] 
 Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Free Seattle art show
If you're in the Pacific Northwest, check this out! The Women Painters of Washington have partnered with the city of Seattle's Restore our Waters Initiative to create an art show focusing on the importance of healthy urban waterways.

Thirty artists are showing their work in Waters Alive! and donating a protion of their commissions to ecology-focused nonprofits. Waters Alive! runs through Jan. 30 at the Columbia Center, 701 Fifth Ave., Seattle, WA 98104.

By Grace Dobush | Free Stuff | Shows and Events
11/18/2008 12:51:44 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Monday, November 17, 2008
Studio tour with New Yorker cartoonist

Like one-liners and knick-knacks? In the video above, The New Yorker cartoonist Mick Stevens gives a tour of his home studio in Florida. You can read more about the magazine's cartoonists on its blog.

And I'm reminded of that episode of Seinfeld where the gang tries to determine the meaning of a New Yorker cartoon.

Elaine: Come on, we're two intelligent people here. We can figure this out. Now we got a dog and a cat in an office.

Jerry: It looks like my accountant's office but there's no pets working there.

Elaine: The cat is saying, "I've enjoyed reading your e-mail."

George: Maybe it's got something to do with that 42 in the corner.

Elaine: It's a page number.

George: Well, I can't crack this one.

Elaine: Aahh! this has got to be a mistake.

The Washington Post did a story on the magazine's enigmatic cartoons in 2006; you can read it here.

By Grace Dobush | Random Thoughts | Videos
11/17/2008 1:09:33 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Wednesday, November 12, 2008
CD giveaway winners!
Remember the survey/CD giveaway we did? These are the 10 randomly selected winners!
  • Bart Healy, Collingswood NJ
  • Don Bronson, Clearfield UT
  • Tracy Leuth, Bettendorf IA
  • Linda Freund, Simi Valley CA
  • Marilyn Doerter, Elida OH
  • Kurt Jacobson, Anchorage AK
  • Loisanne Kelle, Tucson AZ
  • April Lopez, Kennewick WA
  • Susan Genge, Crawford CO
  • Crysteelaurie Abrams
(If you are Crysteelaurie Abrams, check your e-mail! I have a CD with your name on it...)


By Grace Dobush | News
11/12/2008 10:05:16 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Tuesday, November 11, 2008
For animal lovers
I'll see your painting a day and raise you painting a dog a day! Kimberly Kelly Santini has completed more than 500 pet paintings since she started the project and has raised more than $3,000 for animal welfare this year. Learn more here.


By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
11/11/2008 5:17:53 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [1] 
 Friday, November 07, 2008
Major Warhol show in Columbus

I hope to be able to visit this awesome show, but if I can't make it, the video tour above will just have to suffice. (Not sure if the Velvet Underground soundtrack is included in the admission fee.) Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms "sheds new light on the celebrated pop artist and focuses on the ideas at the heart of his work: embracing consumer culture, exploring sexual identity, challenging social conventions, and erasing distinctions between high and low culture."

The exhibit runs through February 15, 2009, at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. Tickets cost $8 for adults, or $5 for visitors ages 13-17 or older than 65. Free to Wexner Center and Warhol Club members, college students with ID, visitors younger than 12, and free to all visitors every Thursday evening and first Sunday of each month.


By Grace Dobush | Notable Artists | Shows and Events | Videos
11/7/2008 2:48:23 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [2] 
 Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Urban sketching

Drawing of a San Francisco polling place by Samantha Zaza

This is a really rad new blog. Urban Sketchers includes artists from around the world who draw the people and places where they live and travel to. The blog's an offshoot of a Flickr group started by Seattle journalist and illustrator Gabi Campanario, who has his own blog, Seattle Sketcher. You can see a list of all the correspondents here, and join the Flickr group Urban Sketchers here.


By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
11/5/2008 4:34:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [2] 
 Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Remember to vote!

Cool poster via HOW.


By Grace Dobush | News | Random Thoughts
11/4/2008 10:34:17 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 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)  #  Comments [0] 
Israeli Photographer Dovrat Amsily-Barak

0002.jpgEveryday at The Artist's Magazine we receive a cascade of mail. Readers compliment and sometimes complain; artists send queries or postcards announcing shows; publishers send review copies of books; societies and galleries send catalogues, etc. The other day, however, I received a disc of images and an accompanying artist's statement that were extraordinary.

Dovrat Amsily-Barak describes her work as "staged photographs of scenes that are déja vu fantasies." Actually a mother, she portrays one in her photographs; the settings evoke the austerity of institutions like clinics, orphanages, and convents; the light is precise and penetrating, reminiscent of Vermeer’s and Chardin’s.

The light is natural light, what Dovrat Amsily-Barak describes as "of the universe only." She says, "I am shedding light on the figure as an individual and illuminating the sacredness of its 0011.jpgdoings."


Photographs by Amsily-Barak;
used by permission


By Maureen Bloomfield | Notable Artists | Photography
10/31/2008 4:13:25 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Thursday, October 30, 2008
Picasso, larger than life



Who's that hanging out on Cooper Union's Foundation Building in New York's East Village? Why, it's a gigantic Picasso portrait of Stalin!

The banner is part of a free exhibition by Norwegian artist Lene Berg, "Stalin by Picasso or Portrait of Woman with Moustache," which explores the personal, political, artistic and media implications of Picasso's simple drawing of Stalin.

The portrait was commissioned for a French Communist newspaper, Les Lettres Francaises, to memorialize Stalin's death on the front page of the newspaper. Picasso's drawing was considered unflattering and led to his expulsion from the party.

"Stalin by Picasso or Portrait of Woman with Moustache" runs through December 6.

Photos above and below by Bryan Zimmerman.
 

By Grace Dobush | Notable Artists | Shows and Events
10/30/2008 9:34:16 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Make art from Starbucks trash

Wired
is having a contest: Create things out of all the stuff you get at Starbucks—stirrers, sugar packets, napkins, cups, chairs that aren't bolted down, anything.

The example to go by is the Star Wars fighter ship (at right) that a Wired contributor created out of coffee boxes, 50 cups and 216 stirrers.

Build your dream, take pictures, upload the instructions to the Create Wiki page, and your work could be featured in an online slideshow.


By Grace Dobush | Projects
10/29/2008 1:13:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [1] 
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