Just reporting in on the results of the Art for All Canada conference yesterday.
I had a small group to start with and the numbers blossomed toward the end, though I suspect that was in preparation for the speaker following me: Ms. Nancy Campbell, a curator of the Inuit Art Collection at the AGO.
I took a brief survey and found that only a single member of my audience had ever heard of SketchUp prior to my presentation. My goal was to "share the love" and let other artists in on this fabulous FREE tool. I believe, I hope, that I managed to generate some interest. Certainly I was stopped a few times after the session and informed that it was enjoyable.
ASIDE: I stayed to listen to the presentation of the above mentioned Ms. Campbell who gave us an informative and interesting presentation on the manner in which the AGO selects artists to promote.
I screwed up my nerve and asked her a difficult question. I suggested that it could not possibly have escaped the curators at the AGO that over the last 25 years there has been a gathering storm of realist artists who are demanding equal recognition. The number of ateliers and academies which are attempting to build on the lost skills of 19th century is proliferating. I asked if the AGO had any plans to recognize this huge and hitherto ignored section of the art arena. I expressed dismay that the enormous rewards granted by the annual Sobey's Prize and RBC Prize for fine artists, completely disregards, and thus implies the irrelevance of, contemporary realists. Ms. Campbell indicated that she really really did not know because her work is concentrated on Inuit Art.
In support of my question, a member of the audience mentioned the work of the Art Renewal Center as a significant move forward. I suggested that that was the self-interest of a single benefactor and that he clearly has made no impact on the AGO. Ms. Campbell showing interest, asked for the name of the organization and wrote down the name of the website indicating she had not heard of them. I suggested that that, exactly, was the problem. ( privately I later asked her if she was familiar with Toronto's Academy of Realist Art, and she said that indeed she was. Happy about that.)
But I digress. Watch for the tutorials on SketchUp for Fine Artists in the coming days!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Speaking at "Art for All Canada"
Today I am inaugurating a new version of my blog. After an embarrassing hiatus of 4 years (I've been busy flying across Canada teaching SketchUp) I am picking it up again with a new bent. I will personally be focusing on my Fine Art work henceforth, but I would like to be able to share my secret weapon with the Fine Arts community. I have been using SketchUp for everything from planning the seating arrangement at a party, to reorganizing my furniture and foremost, to generate thumbnails for my planned art work.
In this spirit, I offered my services to, and I am thrilled to have been invited by, +Sheila Mitchell to speak at the 2103 Art For All Canada conference at 10AM Sunday, March 3. My topic is "Eliminate the Grunt Work in Planning Your Art: Use SketchUp™.
In the days following the conference, I intend to publish here, the material I am covering there. Ideally I will be covering one helpful hint per day. I am inviting all Fine Artists to add their two cents. If anyone would like to share some great way they have found for using SketchUp in preparing their art work, I would love to hear of it and include it on this blog. I especially invite my friend +Jim Leggit of Drawing Shortcuts and the many fine renderers, such as+Daniel Tal of SketchUp Artists to participate.
However, all matters regarding Fine Art are fair game, despite the title, and I am likely to go off on tangents that are of interest to me.
I should add, that, for the purposes of gaining self-discipline, I just recently completed an 8 month Art Fundamentals program at Seneca@York. It was a mind-blowing, shocking amount of work and I cheated profusely by making ample use of SketchUp. I am including below the very first assignment in my very first class: Colour Theory. This was to use my "Personal Colour" preferences and is executed in Acryla Gouache. The thumbnails are from SketchUp, the finished piece is 14" x 11".
In this spirit, I offered my services to, and I am thrilled to have been invited by, +Sheila Mitchell to speak at the 2103 Art For All Canada conference at 10AM Sunday, March 3. My topic is "Eliminate the Grunt Work in Planning Your Art: Use SketchUp™.
In the days following the conference, I intend to publish here, the material I am covering there. Ideally I will be covering one helpful hint per day. I am inviting all Fine Artists to add their two cents. If anyone would like to share some great way they have found for using SketchUp in preparing their art work, I would love to hear of it and include it on this blog. I especially invite my friend +Jim Leggit of Drawing Shortcuts and the many fine renderers, such as+Daniel Tal of SketchUp Artists to participate.
However, all matters regarding Fine Art are fair game, despite the title, and I am likely to go off on tangents that are of interest to me.
I should add, that, for the purposes of gaining self-discipline, I just recently completed an 8 month Art Fundamentals program at Seneca@York. It was a mind-blowing, shocking amount of work and I cheated profusely by making ample use of SketchUp. I am including below the very first assignment in my very first class: Colour Theory. This was to use my "Personal Colour" preferences and is executed in Acryla Gouache. The thumbnails are from SketchUp, the finished piece is 14" x 11".
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| SketchUp Thumbnails: Personal Colour |
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| Personal Color Acryla Gouache |
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