A very warm April greeting to all members of The Artists Web! This is the April edition of Artists Newsletter, your monthly source of information and news.

Finding Art Courses

For the artist who may have just rekindled their love of for art and is turning hobby to profession, or the professional artist looking to hone their craft in a particular area, finding art courses to suit you remains no easy task. The Artists Web is constantly looking for quality schools which our artists recommend from experience, but here, we’d like to instead focus on critical areas to research and feel comfortable with before making the (often expensive and most often lengthy) commitment.Main criteria to look for when deciding on which course to choose are:

• Price and location.
• Effective teacher/student relationship,
• Your goals match the proposed goals of the course
• Continuation- Taking the skills home

Price and Location

We advise not simply looking at the fee structure of the course provided, but also to look into greater detail as to what the value added services are. Many more expensive course fees may make the budding artist balk, but it is important to investigate further; what does the school offer in the way of materials / training / open days / exhibitions? Remember that a more expensive school may provide materials and tools which are of a higher quality and standard, translating to your creation being a longer-lasting and more attractive artwork. With relation to exhibiting, schools with gallery affiliations or an attached space of their own are often a good way for the burgeoning artist to gain valuable exhibition experience.Location is also another crucial factor. Of course proximity to your home is important as it is highly likely that you may be transporting canvases back and forth from your class to your home. Much more than that however, is the class spaces itself. After all, this is the place where your creative thinking should be able to shine. Comfort, warmth, and an open space with plenty of light to work in can only be assured after visiting the site; something we highly recommend doing before joining an art class.

Effective teacher / student relationship

Like any other process of self discovery, taking art classes is an important and personal journey, within which students need to be encouraged and strengthened to achieve their goals. The relationship between teacher and student in the field of art is very different from another skill whereby there may be a correct or incorrect answer. In fact, no matter the level of skill, artists in training need to confirm that their learning style suits the teaching style of the instructor.Some students learn most effectively when classes consist of very little dialogue between teacher and student, and the majority of time being attributed to working on their piece. Other less experienced artists may find too much unstructured time irritating, preferring instead to receive detailed instructions on technical processes. To combat these variables being a problem later in the class, we advise meeting your instructor personally and discussing your own goals prior to commencing. One option as well is to ask to sit in on a class of your appropriate level. Pre-exposure to the instructor’s teaching style will help you to decide whether or not you will be able to get the most effective results under this person.

Your goals matching the proposed goals of the course

Having a realistic goal or target before taking your course is a necessary step to take before joining an art course. Ask yourself, why are you taking the course? Is it that you hope to enter a tertiary institution and require a more professional portfolio of work before your apply? Are you interested in learning to pain in greater detail subjects like animals, plants and people? Is this just a hobby that a friend suggested you pick up for relaxation? After you have decided on your own specific goals (and we recommend doing a brainstorming session to attain what physically you would also like to take home after the course) it’s time to compare these goals with those of the courses you have chosen.Also look for the materials you are required to buy for the course: if you are hoping to improve your realistic representations of figures, you may find fieldtrips to the park for a still-life watercolor session and ‘getting to know gauche’ a little on the frustrating side. If you have a particular area of interest, make sure to ask the instructor about how much attention will be given to that area. In addition, if there is a piece that you would like to create, make to enquire about the final piece. These questions will satisfy not only your curiosity but also justify the money you are about to outlay.Another important thing to remember when choosing your art course is to find that perfect dynamic between the ‘personality’ of the course and your own. As budding Tokyo-based artist Belinda 43, describes, sometimes the best option is to find a school where your involvement levels are not all-consuming. She came to this conclusion after recently joining a school which involved activities she was not comfortable with, including presenting at Spoken Word nights, students taking turns to be live models for figure classes, and making extravagant costumes to wear for the end-of-year exhibition. ‘I felt that the classes and tuition really suited me, but I could not really opt in or out of the additional activities with ease,’ she states. ‘I don’t really take too well to dressing up or undressing in public.’You may want to keep your art at a limited time per week, without letting it impinge on your personal or work time. Remember to be clear with the instructor about what your goals are, as communication and research is key.

Continuation – The Importance of Skills Transfer

The right art course for each artist should be one which incorporates mediums they feel stimulated and interested in and be one that gives the artist the opportunity to utilize tools that may not be as easy to use at home- some examples are etching, sculpture and photography. Courses which incorporate complex or messy materials are great to be involved in, but the important thing to remember is that skills attained should be transferable to other mediums which can be done at home. Make sure to ascertain you are learning a process which can be applied to other mediums (such as shading, detailed drawing, cross hatching etc.).Well that just about covers it team! Make sure that you research your art course well and go with your gut feeling as to what is going to work best for you.

May 1st - New Site Launch Date

On May 1st 2008, The Artists Web will be launching the new site displaying some great new features. The site you know and love will remain, but here’s a preview of three of the improvements you are sure to love:

• General redesign of site to enhance buyers’ experience (and make artwork sell better). The Artists Web has been slightly redesigned to include various new features including Comments on Artwork, Selling Prints with ease, and increasing traffic through our ‘favorites’ option being added.
• Interviews Now our ‘Spotlight’ section will not only feature in the Artists News Section, but also on the main site area
• Buyer Process Improvement The buying process will now be much more streamlined, adding ease and convenience to the buying process.

For more information, check out:
http://www.theartistsweb.co.uk/new_features_for_artists

The Artists Web in Tokyo - Design Festa

April’s Website of the month, is for the Tokyo Design Festa.
http://www.designfesta.com/index.html

The Tokyo Design Festa is a freestyle International Art Event open to all artists, both professional and non-professional from all over the world to exhibit their creative talent. Design Festa is the biggest art event in Asia, with approximately 53,000 visitors and 7,000 exhibitors. This art event is held twice a year at Tokyo Big Sight, the biggest event hall in Japan.As part of the upcoming Tokyo Launch of The Artist’s Web, THE ARTISTS WEB will be taking part in the 27th annual Design Festa Art Festival.a

TAW has decided to set up camp at Design Festa as we know it is the ideal place for us to showcase the work of our passionate artists who are looking for a great opportunity to show their artwork to a very large audience from all over the world. As well as the numerous art fans and music lovers who attend this event, Design Festa receives a high level of exposure from the media including the BBC, APTN, CBS, AFP, and Canal+, to name a few.As well as demonstrating the new japanese version of the website, we will be promoting members on the site to visiting buyers at Design Festa. We’ll be printing up and distributing 1000 postcards of selected members work, each with the members name and website. (Members chosen will of course be asked for their consent before hand.)Please make sure to check out the site and see where your artwork will be hitting the Japanese market soon!We’d like to leave you with this quote and wish you here’s to April being a fruitful and enjoyable month!

“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.”

-Emile Zola

Thanks for reading and best regards,

The Artists Newsletter Team