This is the official Blog for the EBSQ Self-Representing Artists Community, where you'll find news, reviews, site announcements, and of course, a generous helping of art!
Congratulations to our Naturally Blue Flowers exhibit winners!
Forget-me-Nots by Patricia Lee Christensen
To be announced soon.
EBSQ artist Tabatha Rhodes is running a Kickstarter!
What is an artist without a portfolio to back them up? I am shifting my artistic path and I need your help to rebuild my portfolio.
Tabatha Rhodes is taking the plunge! She wants to build a career in art with pet portraits. Will you help her? The campaign is already 96% funded, but there are still 22 days left to take advantage of the great rewards she’s offering.
I’ve chosen the $10 Pledge for a Digital “PetHedz” Portrait of my cat Drusilla:
I can’t wait! Check out Tabatha’s Kickstarter today! http://kck.st/1Dn5RAI
EBSQ Artist Carolyn Schiffhouer has a solo show running now till May 31 at the Red Brick Gallery in Foxburg, Pa. If you’re in the area don’t miss out on her beautiful visions!
April 24 – May 31
Red Brick Gallery
17 Main St.
Foxburg, Pa
Hours:
Friday 2:00 – 6:00
Saturday 11:00 – 7:00
Sunday 12:00 – 4:00
Congratulations to our Chicken or Goat exhibit winners!
When I Grow up by Heather Sims
Carousel Goat by Carolyn Schiffhouer
23 Chickens
6 Goats
Congratulations to our What a Doll exhibit winners!
Lady of the Woods by Harlan & Beryl Moon by Patience
Beryl Moon by Patience & He Only Comes out at Night by Lindi Levison
Congratulations to our Winter Landscape exhibit winners!
Winter Cattails by Harlan & Sunset over Snowy Creek by CES
The Old Barn In Winter by Penny Stewart & Dust of Snow by Patience
A new year is nearly upon us and like me, I’m sure some of you have been thinking about your creative plans for 2015. I began thinking of my goals for next year a month ago: art shows to enter, direction for my art, conventions, kickstarter plans, continuing education, etc. Let us know in the comments one goal or plan you have for your creative career in 2015. I’ll start us off!
In 2015, I’m going to publish a collection of my sketches, a sketchbook. Here’s a look at the cover (in progress):
What do you have planned?
Congratulations to all our exhibit winners!
1. Art Seen: At first glance on the EBSQ homepage, I would not have guessed this imaginative piece was collage. Perch by Shawn Marie Hardy thought-provoking, seamless and beautiful. Check it out!
2. Learning Resources: Tip #125 – Unusual (Found) Drawing Tools – I want to make an Ent Pen!!
3. In the News: Art or porn? Discovery Green statues raise eyebrows, discussion – Just my opinion here, but nudity does not always equal porn.
4. Exhibits: Calling all EBSQ Artists – Do you create fan art? Or maybe you’ve been tempted to portray your favorite Doctor or Superhero? Don’t miss our Celebrating Fan Art Exhibit!
5. Self-Promotion: Artists learn promotion is selling yourself, not selling out
1. Art Seen: Rose Pixie by Sara Burrier is a magical way to end the week!
2. Head’s Up: Next month is the start of our annual Think Pink Exhibit at EBSQ. Artists submit artworks that are predominately Pink along with a fee for the exhibit. The fee goes into a donation pool for Breast Cancer education, support, and early detection. Read about last year’s exhibit and see the art – Think Pink 2013.
3. Learning Resources: Art Tip #120 from EBSQ Artist Cathy Johnson – Working on Toned Paper: Cathy has some wonderful tips on her site. I’ll be sharing more in the weeks to come.
4. In the News: An Infamous Art Forger on His Most Convincing Works
5. Exhibits: We are nearing the last week of September. Have you entered in one or both of our September Exhibits? Member’s Choice receives a monetary award!
1. Harvest on Hold by CES is this week’s featured art from the EBSQ home page! Every Friday I browse the new art and choose one for this blog post. If you want to be featured here, keep creating, keep sharing!
2. Business 101: Basic Business and Financial Practices for Artists – A must read!
3. 20 Things you can Use your Art For – This blog post from Kiri Østergaard Leonard is from a year ago, but it’s one of those articles that don’t have an expiration date.
4. Our September Online Exhibits are open for entries! Take a look at Celebrating Fan Art and FOTM: Sedums. What will you create?
5. Looking for figure drawing lessons online? Proko has everything from beginner to more advanced, gesture drawing to details of the eye:
If you woke up tomorrow, and your internet looked like this, what would you do? Imagine all your favorite websites taking forever to load, while you get annoying notifications from your ISP suggesting you switch to one of their approved “Fast Lane” sites.Think about what we would lose: all the weird, alternative, interesting, and enlightening stuff that makes the Internet so much cooler than mainstream Cable TV. What if the only news sites you could reliably connect to were the ones that had deals with companies like Comcast and Verizon?On September 10th, just a few days before the FCC’s comment deadline, public interest organizations are issuing an open, international call for websites and internet users to unite for an “Internet Slowdown” to show the world what the web would be like if Team Cable gets their way and trashes net neutrality. Net neutrality is hard to explain, so our hope is that this action will help SHOW the world what’s really at stake if we lose the open Internet.If you’ve got a website, blog or tumblr, get the code to join the #InternetSlowdown here: https://battleforthenet.com/sept10thEveryone else, here’s a quick list of things you can do to help spread the word about the slowdown: http://tumblr.fightforthefuture.org/post/96020972118/be-a-part-of-the-great-internet-slowdown Get creative! Don’t let us tell you what to do. See you on the net September 10th!
via Battle For The Net.
1. Pumpkin Everything by Torrie Smiley is a reminder that October is on the horizon, which means we’ll be seeing more pumpkins and delightful spooky creations!
2. Making money from art: How to build a thriving freelance business – The title says it all.
3. No Rules: A collaborative adventure in painting – Have you ever collaborated with another artist?
4. There are a few days remaining to vote in the August EBSQ Exhibits. Do it now! Also, entries are being accepted for the September Exhibits: Celebrating Fan Art and Flower of the Month: Sedums.
5. Artist Tips: Overcoming shyness and learning to speak to clients
1. This week’s Featured Friday Five artist is April Trice and her entrancing photograph, Undulation. Those blues… The water… Can I go there?
2. Dragon Con is next week in Atlanta, yours truly and fellow EBSQ artist Jasmine Becket-Griffith will be in the 2014 Art Show. If you’re attending don’t miss the Art Show!
3. How to Commission an Illustration – I think this should be recommending reading! Thank you to Mark Satchwill for sharing this with me.
4. We are nearing the deadline for the August Exhibits at EBSQ. Don’t miss out on the chance of winning prize money for Member’s Choice!
5. Making Purple: The Science of Art – Another short but excellent video from The National Gallery in London.
1. This week’s featured Friday Five artist is Luba Lubin and her Blue Green Abstraction. I can’t resist those blues!
2. Enjoy TED Talks? Check these out: 5 TED Talks to Kickstart your Creativity.
3. James Gurney has a new instructional watercolor video and he’s posted a list of the materials used, with links and notes — Watercolor in the Wild Materials.
4. Looking for a way to improve your figure drawing skills? Sketch Daily References let’s you pick what you want to draw and the time you want to spend on each and then creates a slideshow for you. You can select clothed figures, nude, specific body parts and even animals.
5. Are you an EBSQ Artist with an upcoming exhibition or other event you’d like to share? Get in touch with me to be included in the Friday Five: amanda[at]ebsqart[dot]com.
1. Today’s featured artist is Cyra R. Cancel and her wonderful piece, Violet Bellied Hummingbird in my Garden. Who doesn’t love catching a glimpse of a hummingbird in their garden?
2. Do you love participating in art swaps and challenges? Yes? Then you’ll want to take a look at Art Drop Day, where art and scavenger hunt come together.
3. Have you taken a look at the August EBSQ Art Exhibitions? This month we have Toolbox and Flower of the Month: Summer Veg.
4. Looking for some Art/Anatomy book recommendations? I found this list via a deviantART artist, Qing Han.
5. Summer is a time for conventions and big art shows. They are fun and often full of freebies and entertainment. But did you know you can also learn valuable skills? I’m leading a panel this summer at Dragon Con titled Basics of Digital Painting. My panel is one of many that will teach artists both traditional and digital skills. There’s even going to be a life model panel–bring your own sketchbook! Take a look at my blog post for more info – Conventions: Panels, Art, Books and Leather.
1. This week’s featured Friday Five artist is one of my favorites at EBSQ. Gretchen Del Rio’s Spirit Bear stands out on the EBSQ front page this morning.
2. Voting has begun in the July EBSQ Online Exhibits! Cast your vote now for EBSQ Ripped Off 2014, Flower of the Month: Dianthus, and Plein Air: Found Reflections. Voting ends Aug. 8th.
3. Words can inspire and words can kill your spirit. Surround yourself with positive people. – Need a pick-me-up? Read Will Terry’s blog post: Don’t Let Them Crap on your Art.
4. Too incredible not to share – Artist’s newsagent shop made entirely from felt looks sew real – in pictures.
5. How to Draw the Figure in Charcoal with Steve Huston – Free HD Tutorial from New Masters Academy
1. This week’s featured Friday artist is Natasha Wescoat and her magical siren painting, A Little Birdy Told Me.
2. The Art of Copying – a history, a business, and a tool. This is an excellent blog post from Dinotopia creator James Gurney.
3. This week I want to invite my fellow artists to take a look at a Kickstarter campaign – Pictures at an Exhibition. Even $1 will help, but if you can’t donate to the campaign can you share it with a few friends? This is a fusion of Art and Music:
Join us on an adventure as a young woman journeys through the art that inspired Mussorgsky’s classic Pictures at an Exhibition!
4. The deadline is approaching fast for three EBSQ Art Exhibits – Plein Air: Found Reflections, Flower of the Month: Dianthus, and the 14th Annual EBSQ Ripped Off Show.
5. Another great video from Will Terry – How to Get Past Artist Block:
1. This week’s featured art work is Heroin Harlequin by Jenny Berry. I invite you to explore Jenny Berry’s portfolio. It’s rich in texture and moods!
2. Free PDF Ebook: MAKING YOUR LIFE AS AN ARTIST – A GUIDE TO BUILDING A BALANCED, SUSTAINABLE ARTISTIC LIFE.
3. EBSQ Artists have you found your partner for the 14th Annual Ripped Off Exhibit?! Let us know who you are teaming up with on Facebook.
4. Have you seen the huge parrot sculpture gracing London? Well, take a look at this: Giant Art Picnic Engulfs Swiss Countryside
5. Watch and enjoy!
1. Summers are hot, humid and uncomfortable where I live. Mats Eriksson’s painting Summer Flowers reminds me of trying to stay cool, but also yearning for those summer hues.
2. Apply to an artist residency in the Rocky Mountains – Rocky Mountain National Park Artist in Residency Program.
3. 7 Tips for Creative Success from artist Anita Kunz – You’ll want to bookmark this one!
4. Using Shape and Value for Better Compositions – Excellent article from Dave Palumbo over at Muddy Colors.
5. It’s time for the 14th Annual EBSQ Ripped Off Show! Here’s a snippet from the exhibit prospectus:
If you haven’t done a Ripped show in the past, here’s how it works: you pair up with a fellow EBSQ Artist, and go through their portfolio and “rip off” their artwork. It can be one piece or a combination, or your interpretation of their work, ideas, medium, and technique. We invite you to check out past years’ exhibits to get an idea of the sort of things you can do. You MUST pair up with someone from EBSQ. Rip-Offs of non-EBSQ art, like redoing the Mona Lisa or ripping off Picasso, are NOT allowable for this show.
So, go ahead and pair up! If you’d like assistance looking for a partner, sign up in the EBSQ Forums or on our Facebook Page. Feel free to contact someone privately and see if they’d like to partner with you. The artist whose work is being ripped doesn’t have to rip off your work in return, but they do need to consent to their work being a springboard for your own.
Art & News from EBSQ 