A sketchbook is one of the best tools any artist can have in order to consistently improve the quality of the art. You can have a larger sketchbook for home use and use a smaller sketchbook to keep with you all the time. I keep a sketchbook in my bag to take with me to and from work and I draw on the train and that provides me with an addtional hour of sketching time per day. This helps when you are juggling a family life and a full time (non-art) career. This helps improve every aspect of your artwork including painting. Painting is just drawing with a paint brush so if you improve your drawing then everything will improve.
If you keep a sketchbook in your car you can sketch while you are stuck in traffic, waiting outside for friends or family, etc. You should take every possible change you get to sketch and I promise you'll see significant improvements in your work.
You don't have to sketch large scenes. You just want to find something nearby, no matter how small or large, and do a quick sketch of it. You can create really loose or really detailed drawings as time allows.
You can arrange to work on particular areas of you work that you need to improve on. For instance you can agree to get proportions correct during one session and then agree to work on getting your shading rendered correctly in the next.
Keep some small items with you or in your car to draw so you don't have to rely on the existing surroundings to provide subjects and this also allows you to continue sketching at another time on the same object. Some simple items you probably already have around the house or are easy to get to take with you are: toys, small statues, pens, plastic figures, leaves, rocks, sticks, keychains and just about anything else with light and shadow and bits of details.
I sometimes sketch faces and objects from newspapers that I tear out and put inside my sketchbooks or draw people or items such as shoes people are wearing on the train. My point is that there is always something to sketch so keep your sketchbook handy and start drawing.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art sketching session
While scouring the internet and Googling the work "sketch" I stumbled upon this strange dare I say "arts" event." On every second Sunday of the month Great Scott's nightclub offers up "Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School Burlesque Life Drawing Session" that is not your average art school life drawing class.
In there own words, "Dr. Sketchy is the life drawing session you dreamed of in your dirty little art school head. Hot models with crazy costumes, sometimes genderbending antics, poses that keep your interest for hours, nice folks around you, beer, and it's cheap. The models talk and keep you entertained, there's good music, you could win prizes for good and bad art! You don't have to be a good artist, or someone who draws everyday. Dr. Sketchy is a great place to start back, or to try to pick up a new creative outlet.
We start with short poses to get you warmed up and then move on to longer and longer poses, but that's about where the traditional life drawing session stops..."
Here are the details if you are so inclined:
Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School Burlesque Life Drawing Session
Please bring your ID - this is an 18+ event
Great Scotts (Nightclub)
Second Sunday of every month
2.30-5.30pm
Cost $8 at the door. Tips for the model are welcome.
1222 Commonwealth Ave Allston (at corner of Harvard)
In there own words, "Dr. Sketchy is the life drawing session you dreamed of in your dirty little art school head. Hot models with crazy costumes, sometimes genderbending antics, poses that keep your interest for hours, nice folks around you, beer, and it's cheap. The models talk and keep you entertained, there's good music, you could win prizes for good and bad art! You don't have to be a good artist, or someone who draws everyday. Dr. Sketchy is a great place to start back, or to try to pick up a new creative outlet.
We start with short poses to get you warmed up and then move on to longer and longer poses, but that's about where the traditional life drawing session stops..."
Here are the details if you are so inclined:
Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School Burlesque Life Drawing Session
Please bring your ID - this is an 18+ event
Great Scotts (Nightclub)
Second Sunday of every month
2.30-5.30pm
Cost $8 at the door. Tips for the model are welcome.
1222 Commonwealth Ave Allston (at corner of Harvard)
Friday, October 2, 2009
Malden Sketch Group
Yesterday I found a sketch group close to my home in a neighboring town and joined them in their Thursday night portrait sketch night. They also have figure drawing on Monday nights with nude life models as well. The times for both sessions are 7pm to 9:30pm.
There was about 10 artists their painting portraits and a few sketching as well. I was a little bit nervous at first, as most people I believe are, when I first walked in but those feelings were quickly put to rest. I was welcomed by Ginger Greenblatt and soon there after by a few other artist in the room. This was a great group of artists who are more than willing to give you advice and friendly suggestions about your work.
I would like to especially thank Marian Dioguardi who gave me lots of great advice and tips. You can Marian Dioguari's work at www.mariondioguardi.com.
I would have to say that I learned quite a lot in my first meeting.
For more information about this group please visit Ginger Greenblatt's site:
http://www.artginger.com/malden.htm
There was about 10 artists their painting portraits and a few sketching as well. I was a little bit nervous at first, as most people I believe are, when I first walked in but those feelings were quickly put to rest. I was welcomed by Ginger Greenblatt and soon there after by a few other artist in the room. This was a great group of artists who are more than willing to give you advice and friendly suggestions about your work.
I would like to especially thank Marian Dioguardi who gave me lots of great advice and tips. You can Marian Dioguari's work at www.mariondioguardi.com.
I would have to say that I learned quite a lot in my first meeting.
For more information about this group please visit Ginger Greenblatt's site:
http://www.artginger.com/malden.htm
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Copying the Barque Plates has drastically improved by drawing
I have been utilizing my commuting time on the train to improve my drawing skills by drawing one image per day from the Charles Barque Drawing Course text book. You are expected to spend a minimum of 14 hours or so on each drawing by meticulously copying the plates exactly as they are in the book but I've been trying to copy one plate per trip which equals to about an hour to and from work. Even copying the plates during my commute has drastically improved my drawing skills so I would highly recommend you make this part of your regimen. If you have more time then by all means work on one plate for the entire week.
I couldn't get a loan large enough to purchase the book so I borrowed it from the library. C'mon you know, it's that large building in your town with all the books in it. When I read a good review on a book I usually start with the library - it saves me lots of money, especially when this particular book costs $100 or more on Amazon on most days.
If you're not familiar with the Charles Barque Drawing Course book then you should immediately do a Google Search and look it up now if you're serious about improving your sketching and drawing skills. The full title of the book which weighs the same as a small anchor is "Charles Bargue and Jean-Leon Gerome: Drawing Course" by Gerald M. Ackerman and contains tons of full page plates of images of casts of body parts, statues, figures in various poses and angles.
The text also includes lots of information on the drawing process as well and is the staple text for a lot of drawing courses.
Good luck
I couldn't get a loan large enough to purchase the book so I borrowed it from the library. C'mon you know, it's that large building in your town with all the books in it. When I read a good review on a book I usually start with the library - it saves me lots of money, especially when this particular book costs $100 or more on Amazon on most days.
If you're not familiar with the Charles Barque Drawing Course book then you should immediately do a Google Search and look it up now if you're serious about improving your sketching and drawing skills. The full title of the book which weighs the same as a small anchor is "Charles Bargue and Jean-Leon Gerome: Drawing Course" by Gerald M. Ackerman and contains tons of full page plates of images of casts of body parts, statues, figures in various poses and angles.
The text also includes lots of information on the drawing process as well and is the staple text for a lot of drawing courses.
Good luck
Boston Arts (Ahts) Festival
I went to the Boston Arts Festival on September 11th and although the weather was quite windy I did manage meet just about every painter that was there and a few other mixed media artists as well. The Festival was held at Christopher Columbus Park on the water front and there was some great artwork being displayed.
My goal was to meet artists and introduce myself and let them know what I do and where I am with my art and everyone I met was fantastic and very helpful. I received lots of tips for continuing my pursuit of art, learned about local art associates and how to go about getting into art associations and societies and I was also able to put personalities with the artwork that I've been admiring online. Some artists were new me but most I had seen online prior to stopping at the festival.
In particular I would like to thank the following artist who took the time to chat with me and assist me with my many questions:
Claudia Kaufman provided me with lots information about the different art associations and how to join, how she handles her art business and giclee information. She is also a member of the North Shore Arts Association and the Marblehead Arts Association
Narda Boughton was a very pleasant person and gave me lots of great advice and encouragement. She does some great work and is great person to talk art with.
Jennifer Lewis does some really cool illustrations and at the time was working on a deadline for a book entitled "A Murder of Crows: A Children's Primer" so although I didn't get a chance speak with her at the festival she has been quite nice and quick to respond to my emails. I hope to visit her place during the Fort Point Open Studios on October 17th and it runs through Oct 19th. She will also be having an opening at the Gulu Gulu Cafe in October but visit her site for the dates.
Andrew Carr stopped to talk with me for awhile and to show me his etchings and he also teaches as well and I might take him up on that because his class times work well for me and he has done some great portraits.
Please check out these other artist's web sites, they make some pretty cool art that would make excellent gifts:
Theresita hand paints ceramic pieces of art that you have to see to believe. We had a great talk about her painting and she has to be a fantastic person and friend because she has the patience to hand paint these meticulous ceramic pieces. Theresita will create custom pieces based on the colors that you give her so call her for truly original gifts and presents that will be remembered.
Joe Bagley and his wife Jen were very nice and I chatted with them for awhile. They are really good people and I wish them all the best. They're a really cute couple. Visit his Blog and you'll see what I mean. Joe is another person that simply has to be a great person and friend with all the patience he needs to create these incredibly meticulous and beautiful paper cutting works of art. If you need a gift then please give Joe a call and he'll work with you to create something that everyone will remember.
April Clay was another fabulous artist I met as well at the festival. She is a mixed media artist who makes these really cool works of art. She creates 3D mixed media images in which she used a plastic resin and carefully encloses mementos she collects throughout her journeys inside the clear resin and affixes it to her art. Very cool so check out her web site. I'm sure if you brought your own mementos she would work with you to create a custom piece of artwork that is personalized.
That's it for now. I plan on trying to attend a lot more festivals and open studios from now and I'll report them back here on my blog.
My goal was to meet artists and introduce myself and let them know what I do and where I am with my art and everyone I met was fantastic and very helpful. I received lots of tips for continuing my pursuit of art, learned about local art associates and how to go about getting into art associations and societies and I was also able to put personalities with the artwork that I've been admiring online. Some artists were new me but most I had seen online prior to stopping at the festival.
In particular I would like to thank the following artist who took the time to chat with me and assist me with my many questions:
Claudia Kaufman provided me with lots information about the different art associations and how to join, how she handles her art business and giclee information. She is also a member of the North Shore Arts Association and the Marblehead Arts Association
Narda Boughton was a very pleasant person and gave me lots of great advice and encouragement. She does some great work and is great person to talk art with.
Jennifer Lewis does some really cool illustrations and at the time was working on a deadline for a book entitled "A Murder of Crows: A Children's Primer" so although I didn't get a chance speak with her at the festival she has been quite nice and quick to respond to my emails. I hope to visit her place during the Fort Point Open Studios on October 17th and it runs through Oct 19th. She will also be having an opening at the Gulu Gulu Cafe in October but visit her site for the dates.
Andrew Carr stopped to talk with me for awhile and to show me his etchings and he also teaches as well and I might take him up on that because his class times work well for me and he has done some great portraits.
Please check out these other artist's web sites, they make some pretty cool art that would make excellent gifts:
Theresita hand paints ceramic pieces of art that you have to see to believe. We had a great talk about her painting and she has to be a fantastic person and friend because she has the patience to hand paint these meticulous ceramic pieces. Theresita will create custom pieces based on the colors that you give her so call her for truly original gifts and presents that will be remembered.
Joe Bagley and his wife Jen were very nice and I chatted with them for awhile. They are really good people and I wish them all the best. They're a really cute couple. Visit his Blog and you'll see what I mean. Joe is another person that simply has to be a great person and friend with all the patience he needs to create these incredibly meticulous and beautiful paper cutting works of art. If you need a gift then please give Joe a call and he'll work with you to create something that everyone will remember.
April Clay was another fabulous artist I met as well at the festival. She is a mixed media artist who makes these really cool works of art. She creates 3D mixed media images in which she used a plastic resin and carefully encloses mementos she collects throughout her journeys inside the clear resin and affixes it to her art. Very cool so check out her web site. I'm sure if you brought your own mementos she would work with you to create a custom piece of artwork that is personalized.
That's it for now. I plan on trying to attend a lot more festivals and open studios from now and I'll report them back here on my blog.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Art mentor
After some searching and interviewing I have found an energetic and incredibly vocal-to say the least-teacher to help guide me, inspire me and perhaps push me in my art development and his name is Shogun Curtis. Shogun (not his given name) is his school's nickname and I was told that everyone at the school has to come up with an appropriate nickname once begun involved which I thought was pretty funny.
Shogun Curtis and his wife "Emp" (yes, her nickname as well) who started the Humble School of Arts and Music located in Brookline, Massachusetts agreed to mentor and guide me in my endeavor to become a better artist. You can visit their website at: www.humbleschool.com.
Although I my financial limitations at this time will prevent me from following through with his guidance I would like to thank him and his lovely wife "Emp" for their consideration into the school and for their time. I would like to thank them for recommending I read "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. BTW - that will be your first assignment is to read this book.
I would love to study with Shogun if my situation allows but until then I wish them all the luck with their school. I definitely think he has a lot to offer any artist whether they are just starting out of if they're very proficient. Shogun has a school of thought that an artist's best tool is his mind and that even if you cut off an artist's hands and feet that he can still paint with his head which made great sense to me.
Shogun Curtis and his wife "Emp" (yes, her nickname as well) who started the Humble School of Arts and Music located in Brookline, Massachusetts agreed to mentor and guide me in my endeavor to become a better artist. You can visit their website at: www.humbleschool.com.
Although I my financial limitations at this time will prevent me from following through with his guidance I would like to thank him and his lovely wife "Emp" for their consideration into the school and for their time. I would like to thank them for recommending I read "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. BTW - that will be your first assignment is to read this book.
I would love to study with Shogun if my situation allows but until then I wish them all the luck with their school. I definitely think he has a lot to offer any artist whether they are just starting out of if they're very proficient. Shogun has a school of thought that an artist's best tool is his mind and that even if you cut off an artist's hands and feet that he can still paint with his head which made great sense to me.
Honored my commitment to myself to paint
Today I followed through on my commitment to myself to paint daily by waking up at 4:30 am and I painted until 6:30 am. I scared the hell out of my wife who came home from the gym and thought a pipe had burst because the lights were on in the basement.
I really have to get the basement converted over soon because setting up an easel in the middle of dirty and clean laundry, old paint buckets and leaning lumber is not very inspirational. I posted our elliptical machine for sale on Craigslist yesterday so hopefully we can sell that and gain some room back. This will also make converting the basement into a family room/art studio a little easier.
I'm going to post before and after photos of room on this blog as well as the progress I'm making. Hopefully this project will inspire other artists and would-be artists to do the same by creating a working space of their own to create art in. We have an extremely small house and extra space is non-existent. We have two children and live in a 650 sq foot house just to give you an idea of how small we're talking. Purchasing a 10' x 16' shed has also been discussed for a possible studio as well and I haven't ruled that out yet either. I suppose if I can generate the $4,000 to buy the shed using sales from my artwork then that might solve the space issue, but until then I have to stick with plan A.
I really have to get the basement converted over soon because setting up an easel in the middle of dirty and clean laundry, old paint buckets and leaning lumber is not very inspirational. I posted our elliptical machine for sale on Craigslist yesterday so hopefully we can sell that and gain some room back. This will also make converting the basement into a family room/art studio a little easier.
I'm going to post before and after photos of room on this blog as well as the progress I'm making. Hopefully this project will inspire other artists and would-be artists to do the same by creating a working space of their own to create art in. We have an extremely small house and extra space is non-existent. We have two children and live in a 650 sq foot house just to give you an idea of how small we're talking. Purchasing a 10' x 16' shed has also been discussed for a possible studio as well and I haven't ruled that out yet either. I suppose if I can generate the $4,000 to buy the shed using sales from my artwork then that might solve the space issue, but until then I have to stick with plan A.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Let's Get This Started
This post is mainly to test the Mail2Blogger functionality. I'm working on my main web page and my goal is to have something signifigant uploaded this week and then tweak my pages as I go.
Take One Step...
This is the beginning of my online presence. I've secured a domain name: rickmecerdesigns which I've successfully uploaded a simple modified template to,. Please visit: http://www.rickmercerdesigns.com when you get a moment. It's not much as of this writing but it's my goal to get a some new HTML/CSS pages uploaded soon.
Registering the domain was pretty simple through Godaddy.com and it was only $7.95 per year and I registered it for 3 years so I'm off to a pretty good start.
I hope this blog and my website see the same success of some of my fellow artists out there. I'm sure if I can keep my artwork coming, my posts interesting and the content useful then I'll be able to enjoy the same readership others have enjoyed.
Registering the domain was pretty simple through Godaddy.com and it was only $7.95 per year and I registered it for 3 years so I'm off to a pretty good start.
I hope this blog and my website see the same success of some of my fellow artists out there. I'm sure if I can keep my artwork coming, my posts interesting and the content useful then I'll be able to enjoy the same readership others have enjoyed.
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