Well, hello, it's the June edition of Artists Network News!

From John Loughlin, in the May 1985 issue of The Artist's Magazine:

Changing your painting format can quickly get you out of a compositional rut. I find that I keep my ideas fresh if I break away from the standard canvas sizes because they lead to traditional compositional solutions. When I go into the field to paint or sketch, I carry a number of offbeat sizes—14x7, 10x17 and squares like 14x14.

Learn more:

• A Painter's Guide To Design And Composition by Margot Schulzke
• Simple Secret To Better Painting by Greg Albert

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.

Hi, all! I'm finally recovered from my trip to New York. I've so much stuff to show you, I'll have to spread it out over the rest of the week. Including:

• a report on the Renegade Craft Fair
• a great artist from Franklin Bowles Galleries
• and a general report on New York City

In the meantime, I wanted to share this: a killer sale at 20x200, which I wrote about last year! I wanted to go to the Jen Bekman gallery in person while I was in Soho, but it happened to be closed the day I was in that part of town. But when I got back to Cincinnati, I was overjoyed to see a big sale at 20x200: everything's 20 percent off all their editions of fine art and photo prints through tomorrow night! I snagged this beaut last week, and it arrived today. How gorgeous is this?

Secret Language 3 (9x12, mixed media and collage on wood) by Valerie Roybal

I can't wait to get it up on my wall!

From John Bickford, in the August 1993 issue of The Artist's Magazine:

Drawing what "isn't there" is often the best way to draw what is there more accurately. The voids, or empty spaces, around your subject can be the key to drawings that look like what you see. The next time you draw something, pay special attention to these "negative spaces"—the spaces not filled by the "positive" forms of the object you're drawing.

Learn more:

• The Artist's Magazine November 2006 issue
• All books, magazines and DVDs on drawing

Dreams That You Dream Really Do Come True by Joshua Franco

Santa Fe often grabs the spotlight in the national press as a major art center behind New York City and Los Angeles. And when collectors come to New Mexico, that's where they head to feather their nests back home. Friends of mine who live in Albuquerque always grouse that their fair city is unfairly overlooked by the visiting art crowds. Indeed, when it comes to a thriving art scene, the Duke City has plenty going on. (Though it could use a new nickname.)

A few days ago, an intriguing show opened at Albuquerque's South Broadway Cultural Center. "Days of Future Past, Surrealistic Paintings + Installations" features works by Los Fantasticos, a group of artists who have come together to display their takes on imagination and reality. From haunting portraits to humorous narratives, their paintings offer up a world where magical realism meets pop surrealism. Flying dogs, cartoon characters and Day of the Dead skulls coalesce to create some highly original and fantastico visions.

Organized by Santiago Perez, the band of visual brothers also includes Joshua Franco, Chris Perez and Brandon Maldonado. I think we'll be hearing a lot more about Los Fantasticos in the future. The show runs through July 27.

From Arthur Barbour in the June 1985 issue of The Artist's Magazine:

To make a graded watercolor wash, turn the paper so that the part you want darker is at the top. then dampen the paper with a sponge and clean water. Start with a loaded brush of color and stroke rapidly across the top of the paper, moving down with even strokes across the width of the paper. When the brush is nearly depleted, recharge it with paint and start again at the top, stroking across and down until the desired depth of value is reached.

Learn more:

• All watercolor articles on ArtistsNetwork.com
• Watercolor Essentials book with DVD
• Watercolor in Motion book with DVD

Why can't every day start off with a Surrealist joke? I am laughing my butt off:



Concept via Rene Magritte, twist via Super Mario Bros., T-shirt via Threadless.

I'm going to New York City next weekend to sell at Renegade Brooklyn, one of the nation's biggest indie craft shows! But, of course, I want to see as much art in the city as I can while I'm there. My list is already getting horribly long:

• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• MoMA (and the MoMA store!)
• Cooper-Hewitt
• New York Public Library (the building with the lions)
• Brooklyn Museum

Got any other suggestions? It can be exhibits, galleries, stores, whatever!

We're so excited: Maira Kalman is going to be in The Artist's Magazine. (You might remember I blogged about her New York Times column "...And the Pursuit of Happiness" back in March.) She's a seriously funny lady, as you can see in this video:



Look for Maira in the October issue!

From Tim Iverson, in the June 1993 issue of The Artist's Magazine:

Once your portrait training is finished and you're ready to paint portraits for a living, you'll need to assemble a range of sample works. These should include children, adults, a person in a business suit and perhaps a clergyman or a person in academic robes. Paint real people and not movie stars or athletes.

Learn more:

• See all Portrait articles on ArtistsNetwork.com
• Drawing a Portrait from Life DVD
• Expressive Portraits: Creative Methods for Painting People by Jean Pederson

Jorge Colombo created the art for this cover of The New Yorker.



I'm not going to say how he made it just yet.

Can you guess?

Ready for it?

He made it with his iPhone and a $4.99 application (see also "High-tech sketching"). Pretty amazing. Watch the video below to see how the image developed as he drew:

You can see more of Colombo's iPhone sketches at 20x200.

The Maiden Heist, a comedy due out in the fall, stars Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman and William Macy. But also look for a portrait by Southern California-based artist Jeremy Lipking to play a lead role in the film. Lipking (who was in the November 2008 issue of The Artist's Magazine) was commissioned to paint The Lonely Maiden after the producer enlisted the help of Film Art LA, an agency that puts the movie world in contact with fine artists. The film's plot centers around a trio of museum guards who steal works from a fictional Boston art museum.

Also, My Sister’s Keeper, a movie based on the novel by Jodi Picoult, opens nationwide on June 26. The film features Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin, but you may see paintings by Southern California painters John Brosio and Greg Carter in cameo roles. Tirage Fine Art, a Pasadena, CA, gallery that regularly rents out works by its artists to set designers for television and film productions, reports that Brosio's dramatic tornado paintings are popping up in the trailers—a sign that they may not wind up on the cutting-room floor.

The gallery adds that it has rented out Elio Camacho's seascape Pacific View to the set of a new comedy starring Meryl Streep and Steve Martin. No title or release date yet. You can read more about Camacho in Southwest Art’s Artist to Watch column in our upcoming July issue.

From Carole Katchen, in the September 1987 issue of The Artist's Magazine:

To keep your pastels clean and neat, place them in a container on a layer of rice. This will prevent them from rolling off your work surface and breaking on the floor, and also from acquiring a film of gray dust.

Learn more:

• Carole Katchen in the February 2007 issue of The Pastel Journal
• Painting With Pastels: Easy Techniques to Master the Medium by Maggie Price
• Pastel Painting Techniques by Guy Roddon

The New York Times has a great package on artists dealing with the recession, plus a slideshow, videos and photos. One artist sums it up very succinctly:

“Nobody wants me to do anything, so I’m just doing what I want,” she said.

We've got our own discussion going on the forum. You can add your two cents here: How has the recession affected your artwork?