Post 437: Organize Your Art, Art Group, Art Business Emails and Tips

Tips to Organize Your Art, Art Group, Art Business Emails

The only way to avoid an Inbox nightmare is to organize your email inbox. Everyone needs to do this including artists. If you are in an art group, another reason for organization as they mix with your personal and other art emails too. Here are some tips and tricks to help organizing that email.

Inbox Organizing

And here we thought being an artist was just painting all day...

 

Photo by Mikaela Wiedenhoff on Unsplash 

Sure, artists use every email service out there including Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, etc., but many of them use some of the same features (with different names) to help organize, label, flag, tag, archive, create a Rule, and to filter your inbox. You need to find what will work best to manage your emails in a way that makes sense for you.

There are much easier ways to keep all of your email accounts - personal, business, and art group emails separated, yet within the same inbox - which is not all that difficult to do. Google Search or YouTube the topic and follow the directions or ask your computer savvy 14 year old (kidding but you know its true).

Here are samples: Add an Email Account to Outlook or for Gmail: Merge Multiple Gmail Accounts Into One Inbox: A Step-by-Step Guide

Decide how you need to separate your emails by: Personal, Work, Clients, Bills, Art Suppliers, Art Group(s), etc. These could be the folders, labels or categories and way the emails will be coming in and landing.

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Tip: Look for more recently dated articles on "How To" information. An article posted 3-4 years ago could be outdated for the email service you currently have and as you know, things on the internet are always being updated and settings steps can move around.

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Outlook

A few notes about using Outlook:

Microsoft Outlook integrates with Office - so Word, Excel, Powerpoint, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams may be on the radar if you have Outlook.

Outlook uses Folders and Subfolders. There are many options like sorting alphabetically, priority, etc.

Automating where emails land is set up with creating a Rule, then running that rule. So instead of all emails coming in and landing in a generic Inbox, you can direct emails from specific entities or people to the properly labeled Folder.

Hence, mostly all of my PWAS member or group emails land in my PWAS Folder.

7 Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks for Better Email Management

Gmail

Gmail is free for personal use although premium plans for business are available. The productivity tools include Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Meet.

Gmail uses Labels

Tabs: Primary +

How to Organize Your Gmail Inbox in 15 Minutes (17 Tips + Examples)

Art Email Tips

• Combine email accounts (learn how) when possible. 
• Although I will say that one thing I do, because I need to use my personal and art business in Outlook AND I have this PWAS account in Gmail, I keep those separated on my computer. My computer monitor is large enough to accommodate a Google browser for Outlook (always on the left) and a Mozilla browser for Gmail (on the right). For me, this helps to keep the two worlds separated when they need to be as well as separate social email accounts, with different logins so that my worlds do not collide.
  
• Always check your Spam or Junk Emails to ensure important emails are not lost. Move the email from that folder to the correct one to help prevent losing them. Create a rule if needed.
  
• When replying to your art group especially, stick to the subject of the original email. If you are introducing a NEW topic, create a different email thread with that subject line. When someone is searching for an email or topic, a search for that subject line helps to filter to better results. For example: if a person sends out an email for your art group on Grants, all the responses to that email should be about Grants. The same for Calls for Art or any other topic.
• Reply and Reply All - this is the bane of many an art group member, too many emails. In email etiquette, ONLY use the Reply All IF, I mean IF the response is extremely important to every single person ON that email. The pet peeve for everyone is an email congratulating an artist for an award, acknowledgement etc. and someone does a Reply All with "Congratulations!" Sure, nice comment but congratulate the artist directly. In other words, use Reply All sparingly!
• CC Email (Carbon Copy): whomever you input into this TO field receives a copy of the email and can see that they are included. Its best use is to expand the conversation if the CC'd person can add valuable input to the thread. They don't necessarily need to respond if they can't add value, but its important that they are aware of the subject.
  
• BCC Email (Blind Carbon Copy): whomever is input in BCC receives a copy of the email but cannot see who else received the email (protecting privacy), nor receive replies to the email thread.
  
• Go to the Source! Direct your emails to the right groups or person. The PWAS Website has ALL of the important emails to direct your question, expression or suggestion. See About > Board and Contacts in the menu navigation of the PWAS website. https://princewilliamartsociety.com
  
• Clean out the Inbox. If you have emails from the beginning of time, I mean YEARS ago and they aren't important any more, delete them.
• Unsubscribe to anything if they are so piled up you will never read them. https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/board
• Periodically check if your email structure is working for you as you intended. Do you need to filter more? Adjust your categories as needed.
  
• DO set up an email signature. Create a professional Email Sig with your full name, website link(s), I believe its just good procedure. Occasionally, I will get an email from someone with initials or a first name only - usually its straightforward who it came from (the email address may be the clue), but if you have several Sams in your group, Sam who?  
• Too many emails? Can or does your art group have a Facebook group that could be set at private so only the art group members can join and chat? Many emails end up being discussions with an email thread that goes on forever. Much easier in a FB group. PWAS has just such a group. Current PWAS Members only. You'll need to be on Facebook though!
  

For the techie artists, do you have any other suggestions about email? How about a link to a video you have found that helped? Drop a comment below!

For Further Reading:

How to Organize Your Emails: 11 Management Tools

How to Organize Emails and Manage Your Inbox

Organize Your Inbox in Outlook for Windows 

How to Organize Yahoo Mail Inbox Quickly in 2024

Outlook vs Gmail in 2023: Which is Better for You?

And I have NEVER used a Mac, but several of our artist members do. Most everything is only a YouTube video away. 

 

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash 

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Author: Donna Liguria
Artistry Spin Blogmaster and an artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Esty site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

Post 433: What Are You Wearing?

What Are You Wearing?

At the award shows there is always someone asking on the red carpet runway of all the actors and actresses, "Who are you wearing?" I'm asking here, "what are you wearing...when you paint"?

Creating Something Beautiful is Messy Business

Everyone and their mother-in-law has a video of them painting away and perhaps its for video purposes, in clothes that I would be cringing in - in case I ruined them while I paint. Paint smudges just seems inevitable doesn't it? I am forever flicking paint or dropping a paint brush, or running my sleeve in paint without realizing it, then spreading paint all over my shirt. I even have paint on my favorite slippers. (heavy sigh)

Then there are a few videos of the chick in the very pretty flowery-flowy dresses, throwing buckets of paint at the canvas up on the wall or on the floor and splattering paint from wall to wall in her studio. Or taking her bouquet of roses and dipping the whole batch in paint and swooshing them across the canvas, dripping paint across floor and her once pretty dress. Then wallowing on the floor thrashing in paint. I can't even imagine her clothes budget. 

 

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Thrift Stores

Sure, I sometimes wear old T-shirts and jeans or leggings as Art Wear. But for me, I like haunting various thrift stores wherever I go for great finds - and I even look for Art Wear. If I can spend a $1 on a big man's shirt to wear over my own clothes or a couple of bucks on a comfy shirt with nice pockets - those are some nice finds for me. Found a decent smock one time too. Just have to get the goods home and into the laundry first.

Aprons just don't seem to have enough protection - maybe more so if you are a standing painter compared to a sitting painter? Not sure.

The newest acquisitions for my Art Wear Collection from a thrift store in Richmond, VA are a couple of Nurses Smocks with big beautiful pockets at $5 each. Can't wait to get paint all over those on the red carpet.

What do you wear while you paint? Do you have a favorite "paint shirt", or overalls, or do you wear an apron? Do you wear a smock? There is NO way an oil or acrylic painter, a charcoal or pastel or ink artist doesn't make some sort of mess! So what do you wear to TRY to offset the potential mess?

 

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Author: Donna Liguria
Artistry Spin Blogmaster and an artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Esty site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

Post 413: Have Art, How Do You Travel?

Have Art, How Do You Travel?

I go to as many art shows in the area as I can and the question is always how am I protecting my art to get there? I have watched other artists to see what I can learn from them and perhaps find a great idea to help getting my art from point A to show B, then home again (if it doesn't sell). Hopefully on wheels. Definitely safely and without any damage to my priceless (to me) artwork.

Taking in the Sights

The longer I go to various art shows, the more I see. Occasionally my eyebrows go up in wonder. Even better is when I can go, "gee, why didn't I think of that?!"

 

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash 

I've seen artwork that looks like its fresh off the easel, in pristine condition although it was painted years earlier and I have seen artwork that looks like its been through hell and back. Or maybe they just threw it in the back of car and raced home on two wheels. Not sure. And the price tag was still more than I would have thought after such abuse!

I've seen dusty framed artwork with dirty nicked-up frames and fingerprints or YUK, who knows what on the glass / plexiglass.

I've seen canvases with scraped up edges, frayed corners, etc. and it made me wonder if it was dragged across the floor somewhere? (My eyebrows are getting a workout.)

I've seen people come to an art show with their artwork in a cardboard box, nothing separating the canvases, just shoved in - no front to front, just shoved in. No blanket, no cushion. Just raw canvas or framed artwork faces rubbing noses against each other. Yikes!... 

    I don't know about you but in the heat, canvases can get tacky so some protection between paintings is a must in my book.

I have seen people just stack up the artwork and carry it away, and I've visibly cringed. Maybe that was the car that went out of the lot on two wheels...

    And stacking artwork with the wire and hardware on top of the front of another painting face can leave dents. Ouch!...

I've seen great artwork look really bad because of how badly the work was stored. I've even seen moldy matting, can you believe that? (My eyebrows fell off that time.) Some of that could be from how it is stored, and you can read more on that here. Storing Your Artwork

 

Photo by Beth Macdonald on Unsplash 

I am surprised occasionally when I see how, shall I say, nonchalantly some artists treat their art. And then I've been impressed when I see artwork delivered to a show or gallery with the artist having to "unwrap" the packaging, which could include a box, plastic (shrinkwrap), bubblewrap, cardboard corner protectors and the like. Kudos to these guys! - These folks are rocking the 'fine art protection rules', give these folks an awesome big gold star in my book! (Insert applause here.)

Transporting Ideas

In my mind, if an artist went to all the time and effort to do a painting, to take a photo, to make a sketch, wouldn't you think they would also take the steps to preserve their work? That would include not only in how it is stored, but how it is transported AND put out for display. They all affect each other. By the way, Display is here.

Artwork must be protected from dings, scratches, scrapes, and dents. Protection also means sunlight, temperature, and humidity. All of that can and will happen if you don't take the steps needed to prevent damage, warping and more, as best you can, especially if you want to get the amount you are asking for on that label.

We all are looking for ways to safely and easily transport our art. Here are some tips and ideas to get you going.

• Buy Archival Acid Free Clear Bags in various sizes. Not only are they great for storing, but they work well for transporting. You can find various options in sizes even for gallery wrapped canvases up to certain sizes. These work great for standing your art up vertically face to face to prevent the wiring and hardware from denting the paintings.
  
• Inexpensive fleece blankets are an option you can find in a lot of stores like Walmart, CVS and they like make decent cushioning.
  
• Remember if using bubblewrap - put the bubbles facing OUT. Bubbles facing in can make an imprint on your painting surface, and realize that the plastic is not acid-free for long term storage, so keep that in mind.
  
• Rolling suit cases - wrap those small artworks and see how many you can fit!
  
• Wagons, utility carts - find the size you need for what you have to roll around.
  
• Recycle types of shopping bags, even IKEA big bags.
  
• One of our former PWAS members used for his artworks that were photographs on wooden canvas blocks, he reused Amazon bubble envelops. Much of his artwork would fit in those and it was a great idea in recycling.
  
• Large sheets of felt sewed into various sized "pillow cases". All you need is to sew up potentially 2-3 of the sides and leave the fourth side open. I purchased inexpensive felt sheets from Walmart a few years ago and these make great covers. Cut the felt into the sizes you need and let your Singer at it. You could write FRONT and BACK on the felt and insert the artwork that way. If 2 are in the bag, put cardboard between them. Then when traveling with your artwork, put the fronts together so that the frame and wiring are on the outside. Note: cardboard is not acid-free either.)
  
• At your local fabric store, price a few yards of thick flannel and cut out the sizes you need and use a hot glue gun to make "sacks" out of them.
• If you have old quilts, you can make them into packing sleeves and sew on canvas straps. Break out those sewing machines folks. Wait! Someone could sell these things to artists. Nice idea for a side business. (Remind me to erase this paragraph before I publish this.)
  
• I have saved the boxes when I order frames and store paintings in those and use a large sheet of archival paper to protect the front from the cardboard.
  
• Towels, blankets, actual pillow cases - give some cushion and protection. Make sleeves out of those towels and blankets too!
  

Some of these ideas take a little more time when you are setting up to go to a show and set up your display. At the end of the show, maybe a few more minutes are added when you are breaking down the art and reloading to go home. Sure its been a long day, but at least your artwork may be better protected when wrapped up as you peel out of the parking lot. We'll talk about the car on 2 wheels escape debate at another time...

I know there are artists out there with brilliant ideas on protecting their artwork while traveling it about. I realize folks need to do what they can afford to do. And we know artists are a creative bunch, so let's see what kind of ideas you have too. C'mon, tell me something good, what ideas do you have?

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Esty site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

Post 406: Art Tips 15 - Computers

Art Tips, Tricks, and More...15

You never know when you might hear an art tip about something that is just the suggestion that will solve an issue for you or help you and your work in some way. This is an ongoing series of tips and I would LOVE to have your suggestions as well!

 

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

Art Tips, Advice, Suggestions for the NON Computer Savvy

For this art tip session, let's look at some of the basic skills and uses that an artist must have some knowledge of when it comes to the dastardly internet and any machine that's connect to it. 

Although many artists do fine without the computer, perhaps those of a certain age, or because of some job positions a person held, these folks may not have been born with a laptop handed to them. Nonetheless, there are skills, knowledge and truly "must haves" that will help in your artistic goals if you take the time to learn them. Occasionally you even realize how you ever functioned without them.

1. Email. How we stay connected to anyone on the planet that might like your art. I'd dare to say, if nothing else, an artist must have an email account. Yet, I hear it all the time, the complaint of so many emails. But then again, if your art group is sending you emails about important things, reminders or questions -that could also be time sensitive- most would want to know BEFORE the due date, wouldn't you? 

    a. Microsoft Outlook Email - Organize your email to separate personal, art group, art info, etc. into folders and view when you have time, if at all. Up to you.
    b. Manage Inquiries about your art

    c. Send Newsletters to your email list

    d. Network with other artists, art groups

    e. Submitting for a Call to Art or other art shows, exhibits.

    f. Email Etiquette:  AVOID Reply ALL emails, unless it is of the utmost importance to EVERYONE getting the email. A simple response in an email of "Thanks" or "Congratulations" is not imperative to the entire 'Reply All' email list. Direct conversations in emails to those who it directly relates to.

    g. Email Spam - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There are art scammers out there. The the email sounds weird, don't take ANY steps until you are absolutely certain to whom you are dealing with and make sure payments clear BEFORE your artwork is sent or before any work is put into the inquiry. 
2. Social Media. Manage the Social Media site(s) you are on - especially as you promote who you are, what you do, where you are doing what you do, how you do it, when you are doing it, AND where they can BUY it.
    a. Keywords - if your post is about you and your art, be sure and get the keywords "YOUR NAME" and "ART" in the post at a minimum. The internet is about finding things and you use certain words to find those things. So if someone was looking for you or something related to what you do, USE the right words.
    b. Hashtags - are like keywords except that you put # in front of the phrase and run the words together. #art #acrylicpainting #oilpainting #princewilliamartsociety

    c. Emoticons - no smiley faces for the artist! Use these: 🖼🖌🎨📷 or if you are showing a beach painting you did, add any of the beachy themed emoticons. People click on those too.

    d. Join Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, X (Twitter), YouTube - start with one or two and learn your way around. Just remember, if you are using it as your art business entity, treat it as such.

    e. Different platforms have similar features like Following, Commenting, Liking and Sharing - which DOES mean caring. If you've heard of internet "influencers" these guys are the ones with TONS of 1. Followers, 2. Commentors, 3. Likes, and... 4. Shared content. Hence the importance of helping out your art group, favorite artist friends, etc with taking part in being social. The more of each of these 4 you have, the more it is seen - that's a basic rule here. Click Baby, click.

    f. Social Media Etiquette

    g. 5:3:2 Engagement Rule/Brand Building: for every 10 posts on your social media...

• Curation: 5 content posts from OTHER sources relevant to your audience.
  
• Creation: 3 content posts from what YOU created relevant to your audience.
• Humanization: 2 out of the is the fun content that humanizes our brand. (If you paint cats, NOW is the time for the funny cat videos).

3. Blog. Manage Your Blog that you share your latest creations on, your art events, thoughts, images, progress, etc. Some of this stuff would not necessarily be ON your website, but it should be linked to your website.

    a. Blogger - Artistry Spin uses this platform, free from Google's Blogger

    b. WordPress

    c. How to Start a Blog in 2023 (Not affiliated with this, for info purposes only)
4. Artist Website. Build, manage and/or update your own website. If you are serious about your art, your own website is pretty much necessary. There are some free and low cost options, but as in all things, you get what you pay for.

    a. The internet revolves around fresh content. Stale websites must be updated so get something on your calendar to do periodically.

5. Calendar. Manage your event calendar and to do lists. Even better, sync your devices so you stay up to the minute. From your PC or laptop, to your tablet and smart (butt) phone - sync up the important stuff. There is only one you and I'm sure you want to know when you volunteer or have an event to be at and surely they aren't scheduled at the same time.

    a. Schedule commissions and/or projects

    b. Art shows, events, appearances

6. Design Your Own Marketing Materials, Advertisements, Press Releases 

    a. Many artists plan out their next artwork design.

7. Software and Apps. Use art helpful software like PhotoShop, digital art programs

    a. Photo editing and resizing photographs - some knowledge in photo editing basic skills are quite necessary. Think about those Call for Art requirements.

8. Finances. Manage all of your art business Finances

    a. Point of Sale for your personal sales at your art shows: reports, inventory

    b. Invoicing your Clients

    c. Make deposits, banking management.

    d. Pay your light bill so you can see to paint.

9. Your Art Inventory. Manage your Artist Inventory for everything you have created. Excel is great for this, but there are online apps for it too.

    a. Keep track of what you submitted where and when.

    b. Track any awards, recognition and reviews of note. 

    c. Know what's sold, when it was created, where your art is now.

    d. Keep an Inventory

    e. Save your best inventory images and SAVE TIME! Save your artwork as LASTNAME_FirstInitial- Title of Your Artwork and Save those in a "JURY" file that is ready to go out when you submit your art to art shows. When the art show/gallery is getting the emails in from multiple artists, the image labeled properly positively identifies which file is which, which of your artworks submitted is titled which.

10. Research what I can't get to in person

    a. Add to Favorites, Bookmarks
11. Learning new skills

    a. Yeah, the YouTube rabbit hole. You just wanted a refresher on that one skill and 5 hours later... Managing your computer time to be productive is important too.
12. Shopping for art supplies

    a. Oh no, I'm out of XYZ! Amazon will deliver it tomorrow!!

13. Security. Learn to take regular backups of your computer critical info especially the art info you need to have. In case of total computer failure, you have to have your reference photos, your painting images, art business info stored in more than one location. Play smart. 

    a. Or use external storage.

14. Good old Copy and Paste saves so much time when online.

15. Calls for Art - when you receive a call for art and that call asks for certain things, follow those instructions to the letter, including image formatting. The person receiving the submissions may be asking for pieces of information so that he or she can copy and paste the data received so that formatting is the same for everyone, in the same order.

    a. Every Call for Art is different, making the submission process directions VERY IMPORTANT!

16. Reading this Blog, Commenting, Following and Sharing Artistry Spin - put what you just learned to good use!

If you are not doing at least some of these computer skills on your own, artists will be paying someone to do it for them. It is not overwhelming. Just take things a step at a time and DO rely on our trusty friends, Google, Bing, or your favorite browser to look up what you do not know.

Again, I know not all artists were born with a smartphone attached to their ears. If you have suggestions to add to this list to help out the art group and your community of art friends, please share them.

Art Tips is a series of blog posts with around 12 tips per post. See the rest of the Art Tips Series on this page for more tidbits of advice: https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/p/art.html

Send me YOUR art tips too or drop them in the comments below. AND let me know if you find an art tip here that you LOVE!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, Donna's Etsy and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows and our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

Post 402: Art Tips 14 - Links

Art Tips, Tricks, and More...14

You never know when you might hear an art tip about something that is just the suggestion that will solve an issue for you or help you and your work in some way. This is an ongoing series of tips and I would LOVE to have your suggestions as well!

 

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

Art Tips, Advice, Suggestions

For this art tip session, let's go to the links...all of these are really good in my opinion:

1. Tips for Artists - Talk About Your Work
   
2. Backgrounds Are Important  
3. A Juror's Insight
   
4. Join an Artist Group and Take Your Art to the Next Level 
5. 8 Free Ways to Market and Promote Your Art Online
6. How an Artist Should Approach an Art Gallery 
7. How to Approach a Gallery Part 1
8. How to Approach a Gallery Part 2 
9. How to Approach a Gallery Part 3
10. Over 100 Artists Share the Best Advice They Ever Received 
11. The Art Gallery: Everything You Need to Know 
    
12. 4 Keys for a Successful Arts Organization 
13. 7 Main Characteristics Exhibited by Successful Nonprofit Organizations

The last 2 are some real food for thought - Number 12 and Lucky 13. Let me know what you think.

Art Tips is a series of blog posts with 12 tips per post. See the rest of the Art Tips Series on this page for more tidbits of advice: https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/p/art.html

Send me YOUR art tips too or drop them in the comments below. AND let me know if you find an art tip here that you LOVE!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, Donna's Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 52-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

Post 398: Art Tips 13

Art Tips, Tricks, and More...13

You never know when you might hear an art tip about something that is just the suggestion that will solve an issue for you or help you and your work in some way. This is an ongoing series of tips and I would LOVE to have your suggestions as well!

 

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

Art Tips, Advice, Suggestions

1. Be patient. I recently read that overnight success for an artist can take an average of 12 years. It's definitely a journey.
   
2. Focus on your artistic weaknesses.
3. If boredom sets in, do something different. 
4. Find your style.
5. Get the background in. Backgrounds play a supporting role of the piece.
   
6. Don't let your brushes get dusty. 
7. Expose yourself. No, keep your clothes on and get out of the studio. There is not a better way for an artist to sell art than becoming a KNOWN artist - in your own community. Let people get to know you and build relationships within your local art group, attending local art receptions, and more.
8. Learn from a rejection. 
9. Offer a range of sizes and price points.
10. Dress for success. Make a good impression on those you are showing your art to and always be courteous and friendly.
    
11. In your art career, try to not take things too personally, that is not a key to success. In every county, there are hundreds of artists trying to get into local galleries that show local artists. They can't show them all and it might not be their focus for a show.
12. Keep your studio organized, you'll save time and money! Knowing where everything is helps you see what (paint) colors need to be replaced. Group by manufacturer, by colors and have your most used items in easy reach.
    

Art Tips is a series of blog posts with 12 tips per post. See the rest of the Art Tips Series on this page for more tidbits of advice: https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/p/art.html

Send me YOUR art tips too or drop them in the comments below. AND let me know if you find an art tip here that you LOVE!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, Donna's Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 52-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

Post 392: Art Tips 12 Photography

Art Tips, Tricks, and More...12

You never know when you might hear an art tip about something that is just the suggestion that will solve an issue for you or help you and your work in some way. This is an ongoing series of tips and I would LOVE to have your suggestions as well!

 

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

Art Tips, Advice, Suggestions when Photographing Art Receptions, People, Art Shows

Photography tips from PWAS Member Otis Stanley, whom you will often see snapping photos. This tips are for photographing people

1. Find the light direction.

2. Avoid frontal portraits, angle the subject.

3. Be aware of the background. 

4. Take several frames of the subject.

5. Smile at subject to ease the atmosphere. 

6. Edit and crop each frame.

7. Be bold, get the capture (shot).

8. Be creative.

9. Break the established rules.

10. Get close, zoom out.

Bonus - have fun.

Art Tips is a series of blog posts with around 10-12 tips per post. See the rest of the Art Tips Series on this page for more tidbits of advice: https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/p/art.html

Send me YOUR art tips too or drop them in the comments below. AND let me know if you find an art tip here that you LOVE!

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Author: Otis Stanley

 

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 52-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment! 

Post: Art Tips 11 - Mobile Phone Photography

Art Tips, Tricks, and More...11

You never know when you might hear an art tip about something that is just the suggestion that will solve an issue for you or help you and your work in some way. This is an ongoing series of tips and I would LOVE to have your suggestions as well!

 

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

Art Tips, Advice, Suggestions

Mobile Phone Photography - from Tom Payne

Usually, in the PWAS Art Tips post we have 12 tips. This one has 16 because they are all part of a class PWAS Member Tom Payne held once.

If your intention is to take a quality photograph with a mobile phone or DSLR, consider the following tips: 

1. Keep the lens clean. 
2. Activate the grid in your phone app if possible. 
3. Hold the phone with both hands when you are shooting. Rotate the camera to a position that is comfortable to shoot from. Take note of where the lens is in relation to your fingers! 
4. Get close and fill the frame with your subject. When you think you’re close enough, take a picture and then…get closer and take more. 
5. Zooming in too far can reduce the quality and sharpness of the photo. 
6. Look around and find places and shapes in which to frame your subject. Create a frame within a frame. Shoot through things (plants, doorways, boat portholes) 
7. Rule of Thirds - where the lines intersect and the three vertical x horizontal areas 
8. Leading Lines should direct the viewers eye toward the main subject. 
9. Rule of Odds. Odd numbers of objects are more interesting. 
10. Look for symmetry. 
11. Use editing software. (like Snapseed) 
12. Choose an unusual vantage point and angles. Walk around the subject. High, low, turn the camera, consider vertical or horizontal, multiple angles 
13. Think of what everyone else is shooting and then do the opposite. 
14. Lighting! Find the light source and move yourself and/or your subject. Watch out for backlighting. Especially important when on the water. 
15. The Golden Hour - early morning or late afternoon 
16. Add or remove things things in the photo that enhance the main subject.

Art Tips is a series of blog posts with 12 tips per post. See the rest of the Art Tips Series on this page for more tidbits of advice: https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/p/art.html

Send me YOUR art tips too or drop them in the comments below. AND let me know if you find an art tip here that you LOVE!

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Author: Tom Payne

An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA.

 

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 52-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment! 

 

 

 

Post 386: Art Tips 10 - Printing

Art Tips, Tricks, and More...10

You never know when you might hear an art tip about something that is just the suggestion that will solve an issue for you or help you and your work in some way. This is an ongoing series of tips and I would LOVE to have your suggestions as well!

 

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

Art Tips, Advice, Suggestions on Printing your Art

This is a particularly large art tip post, as this is an important topic for all artists.

First, let's understand the ways to create your art prints. AND most importantly, you must ALWAYS have a great image of the art to begin with, and DO THE RESEARCH to understand what you are getting into. There are definitely costs to not only creating prints yourself or outsourcing the work. And there could also be costly mistakes.

Giclee Printing Business and/or Online - there are online printing shops that are highly reliable in creating great quality prints as well as your local print shops. Ask your fellow artists what their recommendations are - or - ask for samples before ordering. (Pronounced zhee-clay)

DropShipping - there are also companies that will handle the entire printing process for you including shipping and sometimes signing and numbering. Some artists like to handle the signing, numbering then the shipping themselves to personalize the experience for their customers, so see what works for your needs.

Giclee Printing Do-It-Yourself - some artists have professional (great quality) printers at home and create their own prints in sizes as dictated in the minimum to maximum sizes allowed by their printer.

Offset Lithographic Printing - "Offset printing, also called offset lithography, is a method of mass-production printing in which the images on metal plates are transferred (offset) to rubber blankets or rollers and then to the print media." - TechTarget.com

3 Printing Tips from PWAS Treasurer, Mark Murphy:

1. When selling prints of your art through PWAS, we ask that you only offer art quality prints.  This starts with a clear, high resolution image that appropriately reflects the colors and values of your original.  There are numerous websites with hints on how to do this on your own, but there are also local photographers whose output might warrant the expense for your best work.

 
2. The gold standard for printing images of your art is a "giclée print".  Giclée quality prints are typically produced using inkjet printers (giclée comes from the French word to spray) with high resolution (>300 dpi), colorfast pigment ink (preferred over dye ink), and archival paper (neutral or alkaline pH to prevent yellowing and brittleness).  The number of pigments used to produce the image is also important. Printers with six or more pigments can produce colors closer to the original art, twelve different pigments is typically the high end.  Most home and small office printers are incapable of producing the needed quality.  I've had good luck with Giclee Today but there are dozens of online sites providing this service.  While likely more expensive, I've heard that Old Town Editions provides professional results for the entire process. 

 
3. Be careful to properly size the paper and the image.  I recommend sticking to sizes that fit premade mats and frames.  Here is a reference table that I made for myself.  I set up documents in PhotoShop corresponding to all the standard paper sizes onto which I paste my images.  Each document has a layer that adds a consistent white border around the image, giving it a professional look.  I temporarily turn on a mat layer so that I can confirm that the image is properly sized and centered in the mat opening.

Frame Size	Mat Opening	Image Size	Paper Size
12" x 12"	7.5" x 7.5"	8" x 8"	10" x 10"
11" x 14"	7.5" x 9.5"	8" x 10"	10" x 12"
16" x 20"	10.5" x 13.5"	11" x 14"	12" x 16"
18" x 24"	11.5" x 17.5"	12" x 18"	14" x 20"
20" x 24"	15.5" x 19.5"	16" x 20"	18" x 22"
24" x 36"	19.5" x 29.5"	20" x 30"	22" x 32"

 

3+ Printing Tips from Donna Liguria, PWAS Blog Artistry Spin Admin

 

4. From Mark Murphy's recommendation, I've been using GicleeToday's Epson Premium WC paper and have had very good results. Allow about 2 weeks for order delivery - but closer to major holidays, order well in advance!

 

 

August 2023 GicleeToday Pricing for Epson Premium per Print (+ Shipping)

5. Prints must be packaged correctly for galleries and art shows. Not only for display regulations but for the protection of your own investment in your prints and the customer's in getting the print purchase home safely. The backing board should be the same size if not a bit larger than the print to prevent folding and bending damage. I order backboards, mat boards, occasionally chip boards, and archival clear bags from Amazon. Golden State Art Crystal Clear Acid-Free Sleeves and Backing Boards have been good options. Consider also Avery Self-Adhesive Labels, Self-inking Stamp (as a Template), Business Cards and Certificates of Authenticity. See Display

 
6. When you go to an art show or a gallery - look at their print stand display and get a ball-park idea of pricing and packaging ideas. Pretty packaging along with a great print says a lot.

7. See if the printing company you are researching will send sample papers for your prints. There may be a fee involved to cover shipping.

8. Giclee Help and Tutorials

9. 5 Pro Tips for Preparing Photos for Printing

10. Selling Prints - HUGE MISTAKES I Wish I Didn't Make! YouTube Video

11. Everything You Need to Know About Giclee Prints

12. How To Make Giclée Prints YouTube Video

Art Prints, too me, are the bread and butter for an artist. While many art admirers may enjoy your art, they may not be able to afford the original paintings, or perhaps the size of the work is more than they have room for. But they may love supporting your efforts by purchasing a much more affordable and standard sized art print. 

Art Prints are also a way of continued income for your artwork originals that have sold or been commissioned. YOU still own the copyright to the work. So make sure you get pictures (GREAT pictures!) of all your work.

For further reading:

Wildlifeartstore How to Make Prints of Your Art: A Complete Printing Guide (2023)

PrintSafari 10 Tips and Tricks of Printing for Artists

ArtinContext How to Make and Sell Prints of Your Art - Complete Guide 

FineArtTutorials How to Make Art Prints: The Ultimate Giclee Printing Guide

Art Tips is a series of blog posts with 12 tips per post. See the rest of the Art Tips Series on this page for more tidbits of advice: https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/p/art.html

Send me YOUR art tips too or drop them in the comments below. AND let me know if you find an art tip here that you LOVE!

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Author: Mark Murphy

An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA

 

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, Donna's Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

---

Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 52-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!