Posted in art, Birthday, drawing, exhibition, Market, news, painting, photography, workshop

How to photograph your artwork

DIGITAL CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

  1. Hang your work on the wall. Find a neutral coloured wall (white or grey) and hang your work at the height where the middle of your piece will be parallel to where your camera is pointing – either on a tripod or sitting on a hard surface, such as a shelf or table.

2.     Light your work. If shooting indoors, make sure you shoot in a room with plenty of windows and natural light. Avoid direct sunlight on your artwork as this may create glare and affect the colours of your photograph.  You can light your work with lamps. For 2D works, all you need is two lights. (Preferably using Daylight bulbs). Place the lights halfway between the camera and your work on the wall at a 45-degree angle pointing towards the wall (this angle will help eliminate any glare you might get from the lights). If you are still experiencing glares from the lights – you can diffuse the lights with white sheets in front of them. See image for camera placement.

3.    Once your artwork is hung on the wall and lit with lamps, double check that the camera is set to where the lens lines up with the middle of the painting.  The artwork should take up the majority of the frame in your picture. The ISO and aperture of your camera are very important to get clear, crisp and bright images of your artwork. In this case, since we want very crisp images, we want a low ISO. Studio shots will generally be shot at ISO 100. The f-stop of the aperture of your camera adjusts how much light is let through the lens by making the opening bigger or smaller. The higher the number, the less light is being passed through. With a DSLR the ideal range for shooting artworks is between f-8 and f-11. Set your camera’s timer to four or five seconds so that pressing the shutter button doesn’t create a shake in your image.

#NOTE Look up specific instructions for your Camera or Smart Phone for step 3

4.     Take the picture!

WATCH THIS VIDEO!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQmt8y9V6wc&ab_channel=PaulRichmond
Photo editing app demonstrated in this video that you can download:  Snapseed

Posted in art, Birthday, drawing, exhibition, news, painting, photography

What is an Artist Statement?

An artist statement is piece of writing by you that helps the audience access or
understand your artistic work. It is written in the first person, while artist bios are written in the third person. Both represent you as an artist, even while you are not there. Both are not meant to come to you right away and it will take some time, revisions, and fine tuning to have a finished written product. They may include sources, ideas, and materials in your current practice.

HOW TO WRITE AN ARTIST STATEMENT WITH A SHORT BIO

Between 150-200 words (two paragraphs) is the best length for a statement that is going to be published. It is long enough to let a viewer learn more about you and your work, but not too long that they can’t follow your story and get distracted. 

The “Who”  Very briefly state a bit about yourself and your highlights and education as an artist.  Do not write a resume!  Readers will be bored if this is the main feature of your statement.  In fact I recommend putting it at the end!

The “How” Refers to how you created your works. Many visitors are interested in knowing about your artistic process. Describe your works; what colours do you use, do you make large marks or small marks, or do you use blending so there are no visible marks at all? If you’re a photographer, what kind of tools are integral to your process?

The “What” Are your paintings abstract? Portraits? Do you take photos of landscapes? What is your imagery? When people describe what you make, what do they say? Describe the content of your works in a general way to flow from how you work to what you make.

The “Why”   Why do you make what you make? What does your life say about your work and your work say about your life? What symbols do you use and why? Explain the influences behind the meanings of your works.

You don’t have to have the same amount of each type of information, but it is a good idea to have part of your statement devoted to each of these categories. However, if one category seems far more relevant to your work than the others, feel free to emphasize it in your statement. You can put as much or as little of each category as you like. If your works are about the medium then you can focus more on how you make your works and if it is more about the “why” and your inspiration, focus on that. Balance your content in any way you need.

Posted in art, drawing, Market, painting, photography, Rotary Club

Wild & Windy!

Some of our artists braved the windy weather at Sunrise Rotary’s Melbourne Cup weekend market.

Judy, our brave leader tackled the job of putting up the marquee which did stay up despite our early concerns !

The display looked great and once again was a good opportunity to get together and promote our group.

Thanks to all who helped on the day!

Swan Hill Sunrise Rotary Club meets weekly for breakfast. The club has a focus on community involvement and supporting mental health and youth issues.
Location : Murray Human Services building, Harrods Lane, Swan Hill
Contact : 0407 322 402rc-swan-hill-sunrise