Siddhārtha's Garden - Terrarium Sculpture Tutorial (Updated 06-27-16)

One of the area of art that has always fascinated me has been artistic terrariums. I use a lot of moss in my sculpture work but I've only attempted to use live plants once a year ago. Unfortunately the piece was huge and involved a lot of work that at the time would have been difficult to achieve. But I still have the hanging plant that I purchased for the project. His name is Charlie and he hangs in the studio to this day.

So I've decided to experiment with this area on a much reduced scale. Since this is both experiment and tutorial, I'll trust you to understand if things change as I proceed with the design.

Getting To Know the Artists Mind - Question of the Week (06-27-16)

Answer today's "artists mind" question and become eligible to win a free interview and promotional package through Immortal Artist! Please answer in the Disqus box below.

How is your art tied to your belief structure?

HEY WORLD I'M AN ARTIST AND I'M HERE! Getting Noticed in Today's Art Market

As artists, we do a lot of complaining about the lack of opportunities for us to show our work and be acknowledged in our field. Believe me, I was one of them and still am to a certain extent.

I live in the third biggest arts city in the United States. Logically you would think this means that there are tons of opportunities for unknown artists to get seen. Sadly exactly the opposite applies. I speak to a lot of artists who say the same things about how insular the arts community is here. If you don't know someone who knows someone then your an unknown locked out from interacting with the inner sanctum of the accomplished art world.

Artists Using Craigslist

I think that Craigslist is one of the most under used internet tools an artist can come in contact with. Most people think that Craigslist is on its way out. Its considered outdated and a bit mundane. But it is still the widest used and read classified tool out there. Artists especially are missing the boat by not using this tool to its fullest capacity. 

Tell me what other free tool is available right now on the internet that puts you directly in touch for no cost with your local art community? There are a few other sites and some miscellaneous facebook pages. You could use hashtags for your local community but a whole lot of other people are posting there also. Craigslist is reliable for two things. It has several artists and art categories and it targets locally.

So what would I use it for? 

The Art of the Mind

A dear friend of mine had a birthday recently. We were concerned for her because her cat who she was deeply attached to was dying from cancer and this would probably be his last few weeks on earth. A melancholy birthday to say the least.

I wanted to create something special for her and I announced my intentions to my partner to create a sculpture of the cat. The day before the birthday came and I still had not started it and my partner in his subtle way said "were you still going to do that sculpture". In other words, your almost out of time dumb ass, get on the ball.

Artists Avoiding Click Bait Habits

Most who use the internet these days knows what "click bait" is. It is the title of a story where the title lures you in to a pretty crappy article. For example "I Couldn't Take My Eyes of These Great Photos". This also works with photos that have absolutely nothing to do with the story its attached to.

Artists have their own unique click bate words that they use to attract viewers to their work. Some of those include "I'm the next Picasso" and "this is the best thing I've ever created".  But the worst is "this is totally unlike anything else"

The LGBT Emerging Artists Conservatory - Spring 2018 Internships

Interns work in studio once a week for 2-4 hours. The internship lasts approximately 4 months. Interns work directly on studio projects, shows and events and learns hands on how an independent artist studio functions and grows its business.

Studies include work in painting, sculpting, photography and body art. 

There is no cost to apply or participate but there is also no monetary compensation for being an intern. The objective is not to teach you technique and mentor you in becoming a functioning and successful artist in your future. 

Artist interviews can be obtained by sending examples of your work and a brief bio of your art background to: GCSARTNO@AOL.COM

We will contact you via email to set up your interview. You may also use the email above for questions or comments. 

Please note that we are only able to take two interns per season, so don't delay in setting up your interview!

The Map Man - Digital Art Tutorial

PLEASE CLICK ANY PHOTO IN THIS TUTORIAL TO ENLARGE

When I set out to make this piece it was purely experimental. I'd been working on a recent body painting image. The image above isn't anything special. In fact the pose was not a pose at all but a staging photo taken at the very begin of a shoot of 500+ photos. I'd pulled the image out because I had thought I might use his left hand in another piece I was working on and began some minor digital variations to the origin. 

Artist Experiments in Pop Up Galleries (Updated 06-14-16)

The concept of the Pop Up Gallery has been sweeping the world by storm. Rather than let the galleries display the art, entrepreneurs are waging a battle against gallery only art by creating these innovative momentary art galleries in abandoned buildings, street corners, fields and anyplace else they can find a place to put them.

Artists must be proactive these days and find new and unusual ways to show their work. Its a battle to get seen and everyplace that humans can go becomes the battlefield of beauty.

Nameless Faces - An Artist Mourns for Orlando

When word reached me last night about the shooting in Orlando, all I heard was "there's been a shooting at a gay club. It sounds bad." I quietly clicked off my news screen on my computer.. Something in me knew it was worse than bad, and I refused to look at anything about it until the following morning. 

It was worse. Far worse. 

I got my start in clubs just like that. New Orleans has no lack of gay clubs and I'd spent my first years when I moved here photographing within them. It's how I established my reputation, snapping images of drag performers and patrons both. So when I read about last night's massacre I instantly saw myself and felt it deep down inside. 

Tips for Creating an Artists Coloring Book (Updated 06-08-16)

I am intrigued by the recent fascination in the United States with adult coloring books. You walk into a craft or art store now and you see dozens of these for sale.

In the past few years I've suggested to several of my artistic colleagues that this may be the route to go with some of their black and white pen drawings. But I'd never considered rendering some of my own work into pages that could be colored...until now.

I've decided to create a 2016 limited edition coloring book of my work. I have a rendering technique that I've used for creating black and white prints that I considered using for a graphic novel at some point in the future. With a little refinement of the technique I believe I could create quite an interesting coloring book.

Here is an example piece rendered.

Image of the Day - The Ice Spirits Sculpture

Ice spirits is one of the more unusual sculptures I've put together. It is a concept sculpture I am calling a "capped sculpture". Capping means that I've encased the sculpture between two tiles. This allows a more three dimensional feel to the piece and allows the piece to be displayed in any position. There is no front or back. Its all in the viewers perspective. The center piece was made from a very fragile dried juniper wood, frozen with an epoxy to keep its pattern but stop the decay of the wood. 

This is considered a prototype for other capped pieces I will create in a series. A complete photo shoot will be done soon showing the piece at all its various angles. 

There is a  tutorial for this sculpture which can be found at the following link, that outlines how it was created and the steps of the process. 

Ice Spirits Sculpture - Experimenting With Fragile Art Materials

Ice Spirits Sculpture - Experimenting With Fragile Art & Capping

A few months ago I wrote an article on a new technique using appliance epoxy on very fragile pieces of driftwood, allowing the natural pattern in the rot of the wood to remain but strengthening it enough to use in art. Since then I've not had time to experiment further with this technique. One reason was that I had not found any wood fragile enough to experiment on, until now. 

This is not driftwood (the medium I usually work with). This is a piece of what I think was a Juniper tree. It was found in a pile of very old wood shards in a cemetery in New Orleans. So it is a very unique and aged piece of wood.

Image of the Day - The Assurian Bible Sculpture

The Assurian Bible is a new sculpture for the artists Revenant Legendarium series. When completed it will be used first as part of an upcoming photo shoot for Revenant and then as a free standing piece of art. 

This is not a real book. It is made from a paving stone which gives it its unique texture and simulates leather. It is still only 50% complete. This is a great example of the concept of seeing the art through the object. I could see the potential in the stone that it was meant to be a book sculpture and will probably make more in the future. 

The Book of Man - A Fine Art Coloring Book of the Male Form

Here is a sneak peak at The Book of Man, a fine art coloring book of the male form taken from the original art of Visual Artist Grey Cross. 

Grey Cross is known internationally for his art work of the male body and his intimate portraits of men. 

The book will be available through Amazon later in the summer. Watch for previews and how to order special prints in this series prior to the books release.