Art Educate Yourself (Step 4)

Today’s Image

In the Studio

I guess I was intrigued enough by the first post-card size canvas painting from the last blog that I did another, this one of southwestern pottery. I used Liquitex Basics Red Oxide for the base, Winsor & Newton Galeria Pale Terracotta for the mid-section, and Liquitex Basics Raw Sienna for the top. The decoration was painted with a mixture of Winsor & Newton Finity Davy’s Gray, Grumbacher Payne’s Gray and Winsor & Newton Galeria Titanium White. I also used the titanium white for highlights and background, and Davy’s Gray for the shadow. It’s Today’s Image.

Not sure what I’ll start on next, but I'll let you know. I have one more post-card size canvas.

Art Educate Yourself

Well, I finally got to Step 4 in the series on 4 Steps to Renew Your Interest in Art. Here are the four steps:

• Step 1-Make Your Art a Priority


• Step 2 - Invest in a Few Art Supplies


• Step 3 - Explore Art


• Step 4 - Art Educate Yourself

It took me four blogs to cover Step 3-Explore Art. In hindsight, maybe I should have divided up the steps better, but what the heck, we're finally here at Step 4.

Nothing happens without some initial effort as I mentioned in Step 1. And sometimes it takes even more than overcoming inertia to meet your goals. That’s what I think Step 4 is about—expending some extra effort for your interest in art by getting yourself a little education on the subject.

Now wait, I don’t mean going back to university and enrolling in a fine arts degree necessarily, although if that’s your goal, great. What I’m talking about is looking for places that can impart: basic art information, tried-and-true exercises, new ideas, new techniques, intellectual stimuli—all of the above and more.

I’m no art educator, and won’t pretend to be, but here a few of the places I’ve run into since I began to renew my interest in art in my leisure time. This is not to recommend that you look into all of these. We all have different learning styles, not to mention different personalities and traits (to put it mildly), that may or may not lend themselves to any of these. Following are suggestions in no particular order on how you may be able to take your art to the next level.

• Online tutorials – many websites have links to professional artists who provide excellent training. And have you seen some of the art lessons on You Tube where someone paints a picture in five minutes or so?
  
• Art Supply Stores – I noticed all the art supply stores in my area have an area in the store where people post signs and cards, etc., many that provide art lessons . One vendor even provides space for art lessons in the back of their store—the easels are all set up, and you can see the paintings in progress. Some museums may also have areas for postings.
  
• Private Art Lessons-as mentioned above, look for cards or bulletins in art supply stores or you may know an artist who does this either for a living or ‘on the side.’
  
• Local Art Groups-I haven’t mentioned this in the previous steps, but there is probably at least one local art group in your area. I’m talking about an ad hoc group of interested individuals who have gotten together to promote their art in their area. There’s probably an online Google Group even if they don’t hold physical meetings . Several of the members probably give art lessons. In my area I have already run across no less than four of these groups.
  
• Local Art Schools (Art Institutes) -you may be fortunate enough to live in an area that has a thriving art school. You can find one in your area at this find-an-art-school site. If you are, you should definitely look into it. It may be affiliated with your local art museum or independent. You will find a high degree of interest in art and art education that will make you want to enroll.
  
• Community Colleges-depending on the size of your area, most have at least one art course, and many have a complete two-year art curriculum. Many also provide continuing education non-degree courses of interest in art.
  
• Universities-For the very motivated, there’s always returning to university to get a full-blown degree in any number of artistic subjects that will give you ‘credentials.’
  

So, that’s it! I hope you Renew Your Interest in Art and find your next step in your art journey.

Cheers!