Although I try very hard not to leave my calligraphy nibs lying around with stuff caked all over them, it happens. Practices for keeping metal nibs clean, range from wiping them off with spit to buying commercially available cleaners. Brushes and pens can get expensive so keeping them clean will extend their performance and save money. I found this "recipe" in a calligraphy guild newsletter, sorry I don't know which one and it works so well I had to share it. This cleaning solution is ideal for cleaning metal pen nibs that are caked with lacquer based permanent ink, waterproof ink, gouache, masking fluid and pretty much anything else. It will also work on fountain pen nibs (not gold plated ones), technical pens and nylon brushes. It will dry out natural bristle brushes so don't try.
This recipe makes a lot so you may want to halve it. In a jar with a lid, mix, 3-1/4 cups water, 1 cup ammonia, 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol and 1 tsp. dish washing liquid.

All dish liquids are not created equal, Dawn and Sunlight work better, really.

Drop nibs, pen parts etc. that need cleaning into the jar, close the lid and swish it around gently. Let the contents soak for an hour and swish it again. You will see the junk collecting in the bottom of the jar. If the crud is really bad you can leave it overnight but not much longer or things will start to rust. I pour the contents out through a small strainer so the nibs don't go down the drain. Catch the used cleaner in a cup or something, you can use it again. Rinse well. Then each one is scrubbed with an old toothbrush. I can't say this enough, dry thoroughly.

Nylon brushes can be soaked, being careful to let only the bristles contact the solution. You can "hang" brushes over the mouth of a jar if it's tall enough.

Give the brushes a good swish and soak for an hour then rinse really well, shape and dry.

If anyone has any other make-at-home recipes

for cleaners, let me know.

Mostly sold in tubes, gouache (rhymes with squash) is an opaque form of watercolor known for its brilliance and even matte finish. With the addition of more water it can be used like watercolor for transparent effects or with less water for more opaque applications.
There are many manufacturers of gouache, Winsor&Newton being the most popular, Schmincke, Holbein, Talens, all of which are of good grade. Student grade gouache is available too but I have found them not well suited for calligraphy.

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Gouache is powdered pigment with Gum Arabic as the binder. Unlike watercolor, gouache has fewer fugitive colors making it more suitable for broadsides. Gouache can be used with a wide variety of tools and on a range of different surfaces

There are dozens of straight-from-the-tube colors and more colors can be mixed. I usually work with a palette of Holbein Pearl Gold, W&N Ivory Black and Permanent White as a base adding Ultramarine, Permanent Green Deep and Spectrum Violet, for no other reason than I like them, then add or mix other colors as needed. I keep this palette covered with Plexiglas when not in use to keep out the dust but not so tightly that I end up with mold. If it dries out completely that’s OK as gouache can be reconstituted quickly. If I am working on a job that requires a sizeable amount of one custom color I mix it in a Dappen Dish. They are just the right size for dipping and have a small surface area to slow drying. I remember as a child my dentist mixing up filling material in a Dappen Dish. If gouache dries out and needs to be reconstituted over and over, the Gum Arabic binder will dissipate and the gouache will become powdery. Add a drop of Gum Arabic into the dish and that will bring back its smooth flowing properties.

Mixing the right consistency for writing is key. There is no formula only “feel”. Too thick, like heavy cream won’t flow and too thin like milk will run, so you are aiming for something like Half and Half. Temperature and humidity will affect the consistency so stir it up occasionally and add water one drop at a time when needed. If it gets too thin, go have lunch and let it dry up a little. Because gouache is heavily pigmented and has Gum Arabic as a binder, there is no need for a reservoir on your nib. The right consistency will cling to the nib and flow off at the right rate. You can dip into gouache but a word of caution, every time you wipe the underside of the nib on the edge of the dish, a residue is left that will build up and transfer back onto the underside of the nib later, and cause problems. Many calligraphers load the color on top of the pen with a brush and I find that works best. In either case and with all writing fluids, the gouache is drying as you are writing, drying on the brush, on the pen and on the edge of the dish. Super thin layers build up on the nib and must be wiped off periodically to keep a clean edge. The mixing brush can use a swish of water every now and then too. Different colors can be loaded on the nib at random resulting in a variegated or transitional colors.

I use gouache for its opacity, versatility and matte finish. It’s really good for writing on top of color like paste paper or watercolor without disturbing the under color. When using gouache in books or other forms where surfaces touch, transfer can happen. To avoid this add a drop or two of Glair to the paint to make it dry hard and stay put. See my blog How To Make Glair.

Many of the products and tools mentioned are available through Paper & Ink Art Essentials.

If you have questions please leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Drawings are like currency in the memory bank. Flipping through my sketchbook, I was transported back to Italy, to a Tuscan hillside village called Radda in Chianti.

I’d already drawn a picture of the valley that smelled good from our balcony, so I grabbed my pad and pencils one sunny afternoon and walked with my wife down the cobblestone via looking for something to sketch. Drawing helps me see like writing helps me think. Elizabeth veered off to scope out a leather shop, so I found a shady bench in front of a house across from a fountain and church steps, and started doodling. Before long, two kids, a boy of four or five and his little sister, came out of nowhere and hopped up on the bench with me. They leaned one each on my shoulders to watch me draw. I paused...turned my head to the boy on my right...and then to the girl on my left..."Whassup?" I asked. Not much, apparently. "Buongiorno" I tried again.

The boy starts chattering at me in Italian so I say "Whoa - hang on there, Pinocchio.” They laugh. “Oh, you like that - Thumbelina?” I add, kind of smart-alecky. Nothing. So the boy points at my sketch and says something like “belvedere” or "bananarama." I don’t know.

"Well, you obviously don't know much about three-point perspective, do you?" I scoff. He gives me this quizzical puppy-dog look, you know, like "Huh?" He points at the building and then at my drawing and starts in with the "bandiera, la bandiera" stuff again. Just then the children’s mother steps out of an archway with a watering can, sprinkles some flowers and says "flag." She disappears.

"Oh, right - the flag. I knew that" says I to the boy. There’s an Italian flag hanging off of the building next to the church and so I line it into the drawing, filling it with red and green. I could have done better but the kid rattled me. I’m not used to people looking over my shoulder, yet someone did it each time I pulled out a pencil in Venice, Florence, and Spoleto. The flag was the last thing I drew before another woman, the grandma this time, came out of the big wooden door next to the bench. I think she told the kids not to bother me (but she might have been telling me to scram, I don’t know). I indicated that they were no problem. Frankly, I was entertained. The woman spoke slightly better English than I did Italian and sparked up a conversation. Turns out she was an artist too and invited me into her home to see her paintings. I jumped at the chance to see behind one of the magnificent doors that lined the street, and followed her into the medieval apartment.

Despite the blinding light of a courtyard, it was dark inside. Dark and cluttered - and meravigliosa! The place was filled with statues and artifacts and cool junk. Her studio was hung with drawings and paintings - portraits, landscapes, and even a picture of the very scene that I’d been sketching outside. After all, it was her bench and her view. Her style was rustic but expressive. We communicated just fine in the language of art, thank you.

The younger mom came in from the courtyard and listened briefly before saying something that got the kids all geeked up again – "gelato” I think. They started dancing towards the door all “arrivederci” and stuff, so I followed them out but not before saying plenty of grazies to “Nonna.” I told her that of all the museums and galleries I’d seen in Italy, hers was my favorite. Still is. I think she got it.

We all hit the street just as Elizabeth was walking by with her new handbag. She was surprised to see me bounding out of the door like the man of the house with my secret Italian family, but ‘splainin’ that one was a piece of cake. Bidding the madre e bambini a happy divertimento, Elizabeth and I headed back to the inn.

Now, I know most pictures have deeper meanings or stories behind them but this half-baked sketch reminds me of that colorful, cultural episode. So excuse me if I think it’s a masterpiece.

]]> http://artid.com/members/art_aesthetics/blog/post/1496 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A few months ago I wrote about the propagation of what I have often called The Drawing Myth and its role in the spreading of misinformation concerning the accessibility of drawing as a learnable skill. This is a fascinating topic for me and one which I find myself returning to with each new semester of teaching kids art. The beginning of this school year was no different, and in fact, I found myself just this week delivering my Drawing Myth speech to a collection of eager new faces. My mind is often prone to wander while my mouth is delivering familiar words, and I’m often just as prone to allow it; I’m curious to see where it might go. On this particular journey, my mind followed an illogical path of reasoning to an unexpected and enlightening conclusion. I decided to remove the brain filter and allow myself to think out loud in front of my students, a risky move that can, and often has, led to disastrous results. This time, however, it brought me to an epiphany of surprising intrigue that I find myself still trying to fully grasp.

I’ve always given my Drawing Myth speech to students on the third or fourth day of class, which is safely within the confines of the “honeymoon” grace period. It usually takes teenagers approximately one full week to shed their introverted cocoons and emerge into the class environment displaying the full spectrum of their colorful personalities. While this does not guarantee that my philosophical dialogue will fall upon the ears of a rapt and captive audience, it does increase the likelihood that they will at least be quiet for its duration.

My introduction of the drawing myth has always proceeded my explanation of the two halves of the brain, which includes a list of their specific traits and cognitive responsibilities. My goal is to illustrate the significant role the brain plays in either inhibiting or allowing a student to truly begin to improve their drawing. Much of the information I share comes straight from the text of Betty Edwards’ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, which, in my humble opinion, is the definitive source for teaching beginning drawers. And while it is not my intent to simply recite Edwards’ work, there are a few key points I must mention in order to better explain the revelation that occurred to me.

First, and foremost, are the completely contrary personalities exhibited by the two halves of our brain. The left side of our brain is the verbal, analytical, logical, digital (i.e. numerical) and temporal side of the mind. Much of what we do while we are awake and walking around falls under the jurisdiction of the left brain. The left brain is task-oriented, efficient, and a bit of a megalomaniacal control freak. What’s more, it is the opinion of the left brain that anything not included on its list of responsibilities is an unnecessary waste of time. The left brain is so convinced of its superiority, that it will often resort to cognitive sabotage to ensure that it remains in control of all sensory output.

Contrast this to the exceedingly gentle and passive personality of the right side of our brain. Often referred to as the creative side, the right brain excels at skills that are nonverbal, intuitive, spatial, and holistic. The right brain is exceptional in divergent thinking and seeing the whole for the sum of its parts. The right brain is already a great drawer, it is expressive, compassionate, and okay with the fact that the left brain is usually in charge. However, when allowed to drive, it will quickly assert its influence, which often results in loosing all track of time and having a great deal of fun.

We all have these personalities bouncing around inside of our heads and we are often unaware of exactly how much influence they have on both our personality and behavior. I have become quite fond of showing several of the Mac/PC commercials to my students because I believe as a metaphor they perfectly personify the right and left brain. The humor of the ads help ease the tension of what can be a fairly heady (pardon the pun) topic, but I also think it helps solidify our understanding if we can imagine our brains has having predictable personalities. After all, we are very nearly cognitive slaves to the synaptic will of our own gray matter, and the more we understand it, the more likely that we can be the ones in control.

I frequently tell my students their hand has little to do with them learning to draw. The key ingredients are their eyes, and more importantly, their brains. Since we spend most of our time perceiving the world through the eyes of our dominant left brain, tasks like drawing are understandably difficult and frustrating, because the left brain is no good at them. The right brain, however, is well versed in the necessary skills that make drawing something which not only comes easily, but is enjoyable as well. The real key is being able to make a cognitive switch from the left brain into the right. I tell my students that I understand all of this brain stuff sounds like a bunch of tree-hugging, new-age, crystal-loving nonsense, but it’s the honest truth. The difference between an “artist” and the average person is that the artist knows how to make the necessary cognitive switch to engage creative thinking.

And that’s when I was struck by a two-ton block of obvious. That is the source of the drawing myth. That is the key. Artists know, if even only on a subconscious level, how to make the switch to the right brain. And once we are functioning under the control of the right brain, tasks like drawing become much easier. And to the average person, who is largely unaware of all this business about our two conflicting brains, it appears that the artist must have simply been born with this unique ability to draw. It suddenly becomes easy to understand how this perception can so easily continue to perpetuate itself. The artists go about their work, deftly switching into the right brain and making their craft seem effortless. All the while the general population, to whom drawing is quite difficult, goes on unaware of the fact that their own creative abilities are being held hostage by their dominant left brain.

I will admit that saying it out loud, and now typing it, makes me feel like some crackpot conspiracy theorist. But this relationship between ability, and the perception of it, seems so transparent and obvious to me now. I sincerely hope I’ve explained it in a way that makes it clear, especially since I’ve not yet reached the bottom of the rabbit hole.

I’ve followed this line of reasoning to an even greater depth and discovered what is, at least to me, another fascinating parallel between our brains and our behavior. We know that each of us houses this complex dynamic of contradictory thinking inside our heads. And while it is true that everyone has varying degrees of dominance between the two halves, for a vast majority of our population, the left brain exercises a commanding influence. We must admit as well that to some extent that influence inspires who we are and how we behave, both individually and as a species. So if we compare the responsibilities and preferences of the left brain to our societal priorities and norms, some interesting similarities emerge.

Of specific importance to me is the perception of the arts, both in education and society in general. While we do certainly have advocates outside our immediate subject area who help champion our cause, I don’t think I’m understating it to say that the arts receive minimal support at best. More often than not the arts are categorically placed on the edge of societies perception and forced to operate in the peripheral of the public eye. In addition, we continue to see art moved lower and lower on the list of subjects our children should learn, if not removed from the list entirely.

This type of thinking has always frustrated me profoundly because it seemed to condescendingly simplify and negate something I’m incredibly passionate about. But now I find myself looking at this flawed attitude with new eyes. It might be that those with a less than supportive attitude towards the arts simply don’t know any better. And I guess I always knew that, but now I think I understand why they don’t know any better. What’s more, I think I have an idea of what needs to be done to try and resolve such rampant neglect of one of the most unique and soulful aspects of being a human. But the task is so large and overwhelming, where does one begin. I guess I’ll start with 1st period tomorrow.

~Michael Mize

Glair is a by product of egg use as an art material. Glair is added to gouache to make it adhere to the paper and not transfer off onto a facing page or other document. Some Gouache (rhymes with squash) pigments can be very soft when dry. Erasing around it can be a problem and the pigment can transfer off where you don't want it to. The addition of glair, "hardens" the pigment when dry and prevents it from migrating.
It's simple and quick (10-15 mins) to make and you don't need very much.

Using a hand mixer beat one or two egg whites into a meringue that will hold peaks. Two egg whites will yield a couple of tablespoons.

Transfer the lot to a clean plate. Let the plate stand, tipping it up slightly on one side. You will soon see "tears" forming. Let the tears collect in a puddle on the low side of the plate.(3-5 minutes)

Use a new or very clean eye dropper to transfer the tears into a dark bottle. You can find these bottles in some art supply stores, kitchen stores and herbal suppliers.

One or two drops of glair in a small well of gouache is sufficient. Too much will just make it thick. I have successfully stored glair in a dark bottle in the refrigerator for months. It may not last that long if it's picked up bacteria from the plate, dropper or your hands.

Check it every time before you use it. If it smells bad... it is. If you have any questions about making or using glair, leave me a comment.

I went to the Louvre some time ago, that fancy art museum in Paris. The details are sketchy now but I remember my wife Elizabeth and I walked along Les Tuileries past a giant Ferris wheel and a gold statue of Joan of Arc. Not to be all touristy, we went past the big glass pyramid at the Louvre and in the side street entrance.

I was on a mission to see just one painting: Jacque Louis David's “Oath of the Horatii.” I'd seen it in a picture book and even did a sketch, but aside from that painting I didn't care about anything else except avoiding crowds. I didn't need to see Venus or Victory or Liberty - and certainly not the Mona Lisa. No maps, no guides, no headphones. And no Mona. That would be typical. I’d hate to be typical. I don’t run with the pack. I’m a contrarian.

Elizabeth had her own agenda that started with the gift shop so I took off to find David's Oath. Sure, I saw some famous artworks on the way: Gericault’s “Raft of the Medusa” that desperate shipwreck of a painting, and Ingres’ “Odalisque” - she with the serpentine spine. I saw pictures of revolutionaries and aristocrats aplenty as I searched the galleries until, bam! There it was, the “Oath of the Horatii” – that big old Neo-classic masterpiece: a picture painted in 1784 after a story told in 0 AD about an event in 660 BC. It was big and manly, potent and heroic, a fraternity of brothers ready to fight the enemy. That was a favorite theme in Revolutionary France, and with their penchant for antiquated morals, this Roman scenario fit the bill. The painting shows Horatius handing out swords to his three sons who were all jacked up on a “let’s go get ‘em” trip against a clan from Alba while their women whined about the coming rumble. Me, I’m just thinking, like, “Careful, boys - or somebody's gonna lose a finger.” So, yeah it’s a pretty awesome painting. Mission accomplished.

I was backpedaling away from that heavy scene when I stumbled blindly into another gallery where I was caught off guard – taken by surprise. I suddenly sensed a force field, a magnetic presence in the room. I turned and there she was, holding court over her subjects: presiding from her elevated position over a flock of adoring fans, onlookers all agog, buzzing like bees, snapping pictures and clicking devices as if she was giving a press conference. Calm and confident, she knew how to make a statement, how to win a popularity contest. All eyes were on her. Mona Lisa.

In spite of myself I was drawn by her countenance to the outer fringe and flux of her followers. She was radiant, well-modeled in form with hot and hazy contours - sfumato I guess they call it. Smoke got in my eyes. Then our eyes locked and she followed me as I inched through the crowd. She smiled at me. I wasn’t sure at first, but yeah – it was definitely aimed at me. Her beauty was way more than skin deep. It reached down to the very soul – mine. My heart raced. She tried acting all coy and demure and stuff, but we were having a moment. I nodded and she winked. She was beguiling and I was smitten. I drew closer and closer and finally confronted her and right then and there, with her back against the wall, we consummated our impulsive affair. We sublimated. That’s right - we had an aesthetic interlude, Mona and me, in front of a crowd of onlookers and security guards. What was I thinking? We parted just as suddenly as we had met.

I caught up with Elizabeth. She’d been browsing, people watching, checking out her own cast of bronze and marble stud muffins. The next thing I know, we’re in a café dining on chateaubriand. I was feeling guilty and pondered the wisdom of telling her about my secret rendezvous with a woman not nearly as beautiful as she is. But how to tell her? "Hey honey, guess who I bumped into" or “You’ll never guess what happened in the Louvre.” What a putz I’d been - a typical tourist seduced by paint on a poplar panel! Now I’ll have to admit it to my wife, ‘fess up to the whole psychic affair. It’ll be a hoot. But then, it's not like Mona was going to be blabbing anything to her husband Francesco. What to do.

"Garcon" I said, “Bring us a bottle of La Gioconda – I mean Gigondas!”
.

We currently have 85 live listings in the ArtId eBay Store and our hits seem to be growing. As administrators of the store, we've got this nifty tool where we can see what keyword searches brought people to our eBay store listings, so I thought I'd write to let artists see exactly how people found us on eBay in the past week. Here are a few of the art searches that brought traffic to our store:

- human skull paintings
- decorative obi

- acrylic painting of guitar

- raggedy ann and andy paintings

- rectangle abstract painting

- abstract painting lime

- abstract painting ny skyline

- belted galloway painting

- watercolor of lilies

- painting row boats in oils

Notice how nearly every one of these searches contains the word "painting" followed by a description of either color or content or both. This should give artists a clue into the mind of their potential clients. People know what they are looking for and they are trying to find the quickest, most succint way of saying it in their searches. As artists trying to market art online, you need to make sure you've captured these same elements in your eBay listing titles.

Also, these keyword searches were not only made directly on eBay, but off eBay as well. The eBay title gets "googled" and ranked in the search engines, so putting your art on eBay also might give you more marketing exposure to the general art buying public.

Read Writing a Proper eBay Title for your Art to learn more about writing great eBay titles.

You may also want to read the Interview with Duane Keiser by Maria Williams-Russell, which discusses one man's art marketing strategy involving eBay and the Internet.

Become a member of ArtId and sell your art on eBay!(shamesless plug)

I'll admit it - I love my competition reality TV shows, especially the ones where people have to demonstrate some skill and creative talent to win. I especially love Last Comic Standing because comics are often not funny when they're hanging around the house - the first season they were downright curmudgeons and I loved them for it because once they hit the stage they transformed into hilarious likeable beings. Genius! I also am addicted to Project Runway where the competition is difficult and the designers have to really "work it" to avoid elimination. Sometimes I daydream about what kind of garment I would have made if I had been on the show... So, when I found out that Bravo TV has just agreed to take on an art reality show, I was very pleased.

The show is called American Artist and is the brain child of Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex in the City". It will feature artists as contestants who will be given a new art challenge each week that tests their overall artistic talent through media, skill and creativity. The artworks from each challenge will then be judged by a panel of fellow artists, gallerists, collectors, curators and critics. American Artist's grand-prize winner will receive a gallery show, a cash prize and a sponsored nation-wide museum tour according to Jim Hibbard's Live Feed of the Hollywood Reporter. Not too shabby.

For those of you who snub this kind of TV, I understand. I'm sure it is completely produced to tug at our heartstrings and make us love to hate. However, I do think shows like these have some merit beyond entertainment. For one thing, I think it is a step in the right direction when our society begins to root for the emerging artist. Artists face so much adversity as it is, especially when they just start out, that to have TV shows honor their talents is positive for our culture as a whole. Also, these shows do a good job at communicating an artist's passion and tireless committment to their art regardless of fame and fortune, turning the emerging artist into a role model for viewers. Lastly, through these shows the average viewer is given the chance to learn something about art outside of a museum or gallery. Art becomes personal and watchers gain an appreciation for the process and the final product that they may have not had before. Of course everything depends on how the show is produced. Done poorly, it could be a total bust, but if it's done well, I bet TV audiences everywhere will embrace American Artist.

What will that mean for art sales? They say that ballroom dancing classes had through the roof sign-ups after Dancing with the Stars!

I'm coming back around to where I started, which was with Cezanne...and more generally with late 19th century European painting. I find more to excite me in that period than in any other.

As I think about the Impressionists, and the generations that followed, I definitely learn something about myself and what satisfies my artistic soul. I like structure. I am more excited by Degas and Manet, the two artists who had an "academic" training, than I am by most of Monet, and I like Monet better than Renoir. I can feel the lightness and joy of Renoir's work, its wonderful softness, but ultimately it leaves me wanting more.

In Degas' work, the feeling of carelessness in framing belies the artfulness behind it. Degas great genius was to develop an entirely new kind of framing (new at least in European art of the period) built on asymetry and arbitrary cutting off of the scene at its edges. The effect is of candid photography as opposed to composed photography, with its incompleteness and strange intrudion of neighboring elements. The "Absinthe Drinker" is an excellent example: the woman is in fact centered within the uprights of the frame, but this results in her companion being shoved rudely against the side, while on her right is emptiness, with tables running aggressively into the foreground. It seems dramatically imbalanced, yet holds the frame beautifully.

We can see the same thing in two earlier works, not yet affected by the color of his younger impressionist contemporaries. The "Cotton Exchange" begins the radical compositional experimentation of the "Absinthe Drinker"; it is remarkably informal in its organization. There seems to be no real subject, just the collage of life and movement in a space where everyone is doing their own thing. This was unheard of in painting before Degas. In "Carriage at the Races" the experimentation is definitely being carried further. At the exact center is a woman displaying her baby, clearly the "subject", while everything around her seems to fall accidentally in place. The horse and carriage on the right is "balanced" by near emptiness on the left, yet all held in place by the psychological focus on the center.

Degas is perhaps best know for his ballet dancers, explored in a hundred moments, from rest to rehearsal to performance. In these work he develops his compositional innovation in dozens of variations. In these works he seems to combine his strong semse of structure and framing with the insubstantiality and color of his impressionist comrades.

I'm gong to end with a work which is similarly experimental, but in which another element seems to emerge: a "psychological negation" created when the compositional elements seem to negate the human meaning of the figures. In "The Milliners" we see what is presumably two women arranging hats in the display window of a Milliner's shop. The hats - which are after all the intended center of interest for the shop - compete with the human figures to the point where they become "also rans", devoid of any psychological focus. This is probably an influence from Manet...my next subject!

Writing a proper eBay title for artwork is an art in itself. Here are some tips to help artists write a proper eBay title for their art.


1) An eBay Title is really a description - Forget what the name of the piece is! An eBay title is more like a sentence you would use to specifically describe to someone what it is you are selling.

2)They won't buy it if they can't find it! - It's the laws of the Internet at play here. People search for things online using words. If your words don't match their words, they never find you.

2)Be the buyer! - What words would you use to find art like the one you are selling?

3) Be specific! - It may seem laborious, but the more specific you are in title the better. Like, don't forget to mention that it's a painting, or a sculpture, or a photograph. Use the colors, the medium, and the imagery as part of your title too.

4) No commas or dashes! - The system just can't deal with punctuation.

Here are some examples of good titles from our ArtId eBay Store.

Good luck! And open up you sales potential by adding your art to the ArtId eBay Store. No listing fees!

There is a tangible energy in an art room; a palatable excitement that at times I have to force myself to slow down and savor. You can sense it when the students are really enthused about an assignment and they’re eagerly immersing themselves in their work. I float around the room encouraging creativity, nudging inspiration, and playfully joking with the kids. Amidst the flurry of noise and activity there are days I must simply stop and smile as I take a moment to remind myself that teaching kids art was my dream, and I'm living it.

I’ve known I wanted to be a high school art teacher ever since I, myself, was a high school art student. Under the tutelage of some exemplary instructors I heard my future vocation beckoning me. It took me seven years to slowly drudge my way through my collegiate career and eventually earn my degree. During four of those years I worked full time as a ad designer for the local newspaper, essentially earning a second degree in graphic design, a skill that continues to serve me well today. Throughout those long years of designing newspaper ads by day and studying art education pedagogy by night, I dreamed about the time when I’d finally stand in front of a class. I imagined what I would say and do, the projects I’d introduce and the lessons I’d try to convey. I envisioned the rhythm and tempo of the class dynamic, how the students would respond to me and how we all would relate as a group.

It was much to my surprise then, and my amusement now, that I realized a majority of my daydreaming was the result of misdirected naiveté. I have since come to discover that the process of teaching kids art is not a tranquil and serene interaction between placidly intrigued students and their eager instructor. Or at least my particular brand of art education is not. I’m sure there are classes in which the atmosphere is very calm and peaceful, but I’d be willing to gamble that the artwork being produced in such an environment is likely a bit dull and predictable. I don’t say that to be arrogant, but to try and draw a parallel between the energy and the output of the class.

Teenagers are, by their very nature, full of explosive energy and emotion. Unfortunately our current public school format requires students to spend most of their day subduing and stifling their natural inclinations and enthusiasms. This is equivalent to placing your thumb over an open bottle of soda and then walking around all day shaking it; at some point there must be a release. I like to think that’s where my class comes in. My preferred flavor of art instruction is a room of mild insanity that is only barely contained. It is a space that is pulsing with so much energy and life that it is positively contagious. And as a result, participation becomes inherently desirable to the students instead of merely being a product of mandatory obligation.

Now I’ll be the first to admit, this can be an extremely difficulty dynamic to achieve with a room full of teenagers, especially at 8:00am. And I won’t pretend that it this something I manage to accomplish with every class, every day. But I can say, with great sense of determination, it is what I strive for in all my classes. It is the gift I very much want to share with each of my students: a room full of energy and freedom, and an assortment of media with which to experience it.

It is my opinion that the classroom environment plays an absolutely crucial role in the overall quality of effective art education, especially at the high school level. And it is my thinking that on a good day, to an inexperienced, casual observer, a high school art room should appear to be in the throes of mutiny. Students should be out of their seats, moving about, talking, laughing, and engaging with each other. The room should be completely cluttered with artistic debris and music should be playing in the background just below an unacceptable level. Some students are working in pairs, others are sitting on the counters or on the floor in the corner. There should be very little semblance to traditional classroom order.

This does not imply that there is not a well established regime of classroom management that dictates behavior and procedure, but that is largely reserved for the first and last moments of the period. It is those precious moments in between in which students must be afforded an abnormal amount of freedom if authentic artistic expression is truly to be expected.

I’m always confronted with a sort of professional paradox this time of year. I spend the summer immersing myself in my family and enjoying a nearly indescribable contentment in the blessing that they are to me. I love them immensely. But I also really love my job, and every year in late July I start getting those twinges of excitement creeping back into the corners of my mind. I become emotionally entangled in an intrinsic struggle between not wanting to give up the luxury of spending so much time with my family, and the eagerness to get back in the classroom and try some new ideas out. I simultaneously try and savor every last day with my family while longing for the bustling energy of school and the challenge of encountering a new batch of kids. This year is no different. In fact, while I sit finishing these thoughts, my mind is both planning the details of one final camping trip, as well as new classroom strategies which will hopefully ensure that desirable level of controlled chaos.

~Michael Mize

Colors can affect physical reactions: the color red can speed the heart, and yellow may increase metabolism, but these are just common effects of any novel stimuli. Still, every color does have its tendencies just like every person has a disposition. Talk show hosts have green waiting rooms for their guests to relax. Pink holding tanks have a calming effect on belligerent prisoners - at least short term, but before long those inmates will be ready to riot when the novelty wears off.

From intimate to clinical, soothing to provocative, the psychological effects of color are subjective and personal. They are also associative: a red light means stop and green means go, or sometimes port and starboard. In Hugo Sandoval’s painting they represent “Hidden Planets.” And colors are metaphoric. To have "the blues" means to be depressed and "seeing red" means to be enraged (but incidentally, bulls don't see red - they see a guy in fancy pants taunting them with a flag). Color is a pleasurable sensation with a limited downside. Color is never painful unless it triggers some higher thought process - a memory or association but, certain color phobias notwithstanding, that's why rose-colored glasses were invented.

Color is to an artist as the chromatic scale to a musician. Certain colors can seem either harmonious or "out of tune" with each other. In music, the lower the mathematic ratio is between two tone frequencies, the better it sounds to our ears. Colors behave in similar ways. Musically speaking, major and minor chords create happy and sad moods. Ditto with certain color combinations: vivid, complimentary colors are lively as a blue sky full of hot-air balloons while muted achromatic hues are as soulful as a smoky lounge full of jazz musicians – or perhaps Craig Henderson’s “Beauty.”

Colors have been characterized in many different ways by every culture throughout history, but sticking with the musical motif I'll cite the lyrics Jimi (Purple Haze) Hendrix. In his song Axis Bold as Love he personifies his emotions thusly (abridged):


"Anger, he towers in shiny metallic purple armor...Queen Jealousy's fiery green gown snares at the grassy ground...blue are the life-giving waters taken for granted...happy turquoise armies lay opposite...red is confident, flashing trophies of war and ribbons of

euphoria...orange is young and full of daring but very unsteady...yellow in this case is not so mellow but frightened like me..."

A school of artists known as Color Field painters (akin to abstract expressionists) includes Mark Rothko and Helen Frankenthaler. They try to elicit purely emotional reactions through the tonal interplay of diffuse colors on their large canvas surfaces. And Henri Matisse painted striking but surprisingly naturalistic looking portraits using vibrant reds, blues and greens in lieu of flesh tones. Lidia Simeonova uses a similar effect in her work “Carnival” (above). Landscape painters traditionally use earth-tones that are "rich" and "fertile," but Wolf Kahn's pastel forests are luminescent frissons of foliage. They are joyful. So is Mary Exline’s piece, “Snowshoe, WVA.”

Painters (artists) intimately control colors in their work while interior designers can control the entire visual field of an enclosed space. Well-lighted walls make a room appear larger and more inviting. Dark rich muted colors with warm wood tones provide an exotic atmosphere in which to brood, reflect, and sip espresso. Starbuck's decorators have got that ambiance down pat. Most retailers use light and color to attract and influence customers. A new upscale supermarket in my town has an interior clad in equal measures of silver metallic, terra cotta tile, and light wood tones. The color-corrected track-lighting shimmers from all surfaces with a healthy pink glow that makes me hope the food I'm buying still looks as good when I get it home.

Color also factors into the industrial arts as well as marketing. The purchase of a laptop or cell phone may hinge on its color. Trademark colors are also a way to "brand" the retailer's identity in our hearts and minds. When you see a red and white target, a green block, or a blue oval, chances are you associate it with some corporation – Target stores, H&R Block, or Ford.

Color is like humor - it's subjective. Tell a joke and some people will laugh, others not. Likewise, people are differently affected by a given color or scheme. Color is a property. It has no form or content. If colors were words, they'd be adjectives: words that suggest a mood like "black" humor or "white" lies. Of course, paint companies give their colors lofty names like Fragrant Cloud or Earth Glaze, names that are ambiguous but more appealing than, say, Stink Bomb or Mold Spore.

As for clothing fashions, all I can say is that for every pair of pink and purple hounds-tooth knickers or tam-o-sham, there is someone with a personality to suit - probably a golfer. Myself, I don’t wear gray or beige clothing. I look old enough already. But not to end on a down note, I will cite some colorful lyrics of yet another musical legend from “the sixties” namely Donovan.

Colour in sky Prussian blue
Scarlet fleece changes hue

Crimson ball sinks from view

Wear your love like heaven…

Colour sky Havana lake
Colour sky rose carmethene

Alizarian crimson

Wear your love like heaven…

(Footnote: Thanks to the artists whose work I’ve sampled from their ArtId galleries for this article. Donovan photo by Karl Ferris.)

Gary Peterson - Intellectual Handyman

Dear Artists,

The ArtId eBay Store has opened! Now Silver and Gold members are free to upload art from their ArtId's into the ArtId eBay Store and sell their art.

We believe that the ArtId eBay Store presents a unique and powerful opportunity for our artist members. Members can quickly and easily upload art for sale on eBay for free while the staff at ArtId does all the marketing and management.

The ArtId eBay Store also acts as a catalyst for more online traffic for participating artists. Each piece of artwork that is available for sale on eBay has a link back to the artist's ArtId. This value alone is worth the five minutes it takes to upload an artwork. If someone on eBay likes a piece and then finds more of what they like in that artist's ArtId galleery and then buys something or even signs the guestbook, or subscribes to the artist's gallery feed, a client/lead has been formed.

However, before uploading any art to the ArtId eBay Store, please read ArtId eBay Store FAQ's so that you fully understand the process and the rules. eBay works differently than ArtId does, so we have to follow some guidelines in order to ensure the store develops a good reputation among art buyers.

Also, artists will have to learn some strategies, in terms of titling art for eBay, to get the most views possible on eBay. Please visit the ArtId eBay Store and see how the eBay listings have been titled. Also, read 5 Tips for Describing Your Art by Mary Lawler, which also pertains to eBay.

The ArtId eBay Store is a unique and important feature to an ArtId membership. We hope you use it responsibly and reap the benefits of selling art on eBay!

Never underestimate the power of "word of mouth." I've been the happy recipient of this phenomenon recently, with sales of prints and original work from my Artid account. Friends of friends of friends (you get the picture) learned of Artid and through natural curiosity began cruising the site. When one person decided to purchase a piece (a giclee print of "Memories of Havana"), a relative of hers became intrigued with the idea of this clearinghouse, so to speak. She viewed a lot of art work (not just mine) and ended up purchasing one of my original paper quilts. In the past, other acquaintances and some people unknown to me have bought pieces that they learned of through my online studio.

I'm sure there is some normal skepticism about actual opportunities to sell artwork when viewed online. I make no mistake in attributing my recent sales to this Artid site. You always hear people say "I'll look you up", but in my case, they really did. We all reap the benefits of increased visibility.

So I encourage everyone to keep their studios updated, refresh any images that seem tired, review prices to make sure you're comfortable with what's listed, and don't hesitate for a minute to hand out those handy business cards that the staff of Artid so generously provided.

By the time Bets and I arrived at the cafe, Zander had been waiting a while. To our surprise, we discovered that the restaurant staff had a bet on whether Zander was actually meeting someone for lunch since he had inadvertently arrived the day before! (We love it when our members are this exhuberant about meeting us.) I’m not sure which of the café staff won the bet, but they were all pleasantly surprised when he was finally enjoying lunch with three lovely women!

Conversation over lunch was very animated and revolved around Zander's and Carla’s experiences in the art world and how they were utilizing and experimenting with various channels for growth. As we chatted, everyone at the table had a chance to glance through Zander’s sketchbook which he brought with him. Flipping through an artist's sketchbook really gives you a sense of the beginnings of the creative process.

This is Carla Santia, in house art consultant from ArtId with Zander Lassen:

After the table was cleared, we then had the pleasure of Carla showing us a large body of very diverse work, as she had come to lunch completely prepared with portfolio in tow! Her stories regarding the creative origins of each piece were as enlightening as the work itself. I’m not sure if our table was more enthralled with this preview of art or if the patrons seated at surrounding tables were more captivated.

Betsy Davison, managing partner and President of ArtId with Carla Mele:

It was a most enjoyable afternoon and having made personal connections with two of our members was a delight! Don’t be surprised if any of the staff at ArtId contacts you in their travels no matter where they may roam. We love not only reaching out and getting to know our membership on line, but we treasure meeting them in person!