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online newsletter example
Note: this is a sample issue of the online newsletter Newsletter. The actual newsletter is sent via email with active links to free patterns and projects on the website. It is not in graphic form as seen on the website. This is just a sample publication. This is a paid publication and past issues are not archived.
In This Issue:
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Try This: A look at Colored Pencils Book Review: Sark's latest! Music that Inspires: Ricardo Muti |
Artist Profile: Mary Engelbreit Creative Expression: Journaling Q & A: color theory |
a look at colored pencils
As a result of my recent readings about artist Mary Engelbreit, I became inspired to try out color pencils! One of the things I like best about this medium is it's portable nature. I've been doing a lot of business traveling recently and the pencils travel without risk of damaging the other items in my suitcase if they break!
Did you know that there is a Colored Pencil Society? You can visit their website at http://www.cpsa.org/ These are people serious about colored pencils! They were very helpful to me in my quest for knowledge about pencils.
The basics:
To get started, you will need
The Three Basic Types:
Pencils are graded according to how hard or soft they are. "H" pencils (H, 2H, 3H, etc.) are hard pencils--the higher the number, the harder the pencil. Hard pencils make light lines that can easily be erased and are also good for fine detail work. "B" pencils (B, 2B, 3B, etc.) are soft --the higher the number, the softer the pencil. An "HB" pencil is somewhere in between. (Hey, I'm not an expert here! That is what I was told!)
Tips:
I had the best effects when I laid the shadows in softly with shades of grey. Once the shading was in, I used the colored pencils directly on top of the grey. My best find was a blending pencil or "clear blend pen" that you use over the colored pencil to "melt" the colors together. This also helps to get rid of the pencil "lines". Be careful with this as you can make mud and you can lose your lightest highlights if you play with it too much.
Carol Duval has a neat article about using oil based pencils on wood!
Learning More:You can take courses on using Colored Pencils and there are several terrific books if you'd like to learn more. The Complete Colored Pencil Book is a good place to start! Published by North Light, it is written by Bernard Poulin and takes you through basic techniques (cross-hatching, tonal layering, burnishing, etc.) to the advanced skills of colored pencil drawing with step-by-step illustrations. Another good book is Creative Colored Pencil : The Step-By-Step Guide & Showcase by Vera Curnow, Basic Colored Pencil Techniques by Bet Borgeson, Color Drawing : A Marker/Colored-Pencil Approach for Architects, Landscape Architects, Interior and Graphic Designers, and Artists by Michael E. Doyle, The Colored Pencil Artist's Pocket Palette by Jane Strother and The Encyclopedia of Colored Pencil Techniques by Judy Martin.
mary engelbreit
Did you know that Mary Engelbreit has no formal art education? Mary's art grew out of her love from storybooks that her mother read to her from when she was a child. These books were filled with the illustrations of Johnny Gruelle and Jessie Wilcox Smith, among others. As a child she began copying the illustrations in these books, and eventually began doing her own illustrations. Her goal as a child was to grow up to be a book illustrator.
After high school she got a job at an art supply store and did freelance art work. One way she used to get her name know was to do "showings" of work by herself and other artists that she worked with. Eventually she got the courage to go to New York and present her work to publishers. They were "underwhelmed" and did not hire her but she got a great piece of advice - try greeting cards!
She was rather upset because one of the ways that she had been earning money since high school was to create greeting cards for local stores. After she came home to St. Louis she decided to give it a shot. In her book , Mary Engelbreit : The Art and the Artist, she says that she was so inexperienced at business that she actually sent original art to one publisher, without keeping copies!
After the birth of her first child, Evan, in 1980, she began to illustrate real life in her work. It was at this point that her work began to take off. Her first "licensing deal" was to sell three cards for $150.00! Eventually she started her own company, but later licensed her cards to Sunrise Publications so that she could concentrate on design rather than business. Hers is a family business. Her husband works with her to oversee the over 1,000 products they license.
Mary's business earned over $100 million in retail sails in 1997 ($14 million in greeting cards!) She now has a magazine, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. Who says all artists are starving artists??
Books by Mary Engelbreit:
Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion : The Mary Engelbreit Look and How to Get It
Mary Engelbreit Journals; Motifs
Mary Engelbreit's Autumn : Craft Book
Mary Engelbreit's Spring Craft Book
Mary Engelbreit's Summer Craft Book
Mary Engelbreit's Winter : Craft Book
Time for Tea! : With Mary Engelbreit (Home Companion Series)
The Wit and Whimsy of Mary Engelbreit
Count Your Blessings : Mary Engelbreit Writing Journal
You can read an interview with Mary here: http://www.maryengelbreit.com/convers.htm
Web Sites about Mary:
http://www.uexpress.com/ups/features/me/ (Archives of articles by ME)
http://www.maryengelbreit.com/
journaling
Journaling is one of the most effective methods I have ever seen for coping with stress and getting to know yourself. For me, Journaling is as basic as breathing. I literally suffer when I am not writing on a regular basis. However, journaling need not be done daily!
So how do you get started?
The first step is to decide where you want to journal. I personally cannot journal on my computer. I have tried but it does not inspire me. I generally buy a blank sketch book (3 x 6 inches or larger) and then decorate it myself. I have been given a few blank books that I have used as journals because the fabric or pattern inspired me.
These are a list of questions that may help you get started.
What does a journal look like? For some it is just writing. For me, it is more like a file of creative expression. I sketch, I paint, I paste things in. It is a rolling record of my life, feelings, fears and creativity. You need to find what works best for you. Maybe your journal will have no writing in it! There are no rules here. There are no grades or tests. Do it for you. Find your own way.
Want to read a bit
about journaling? Journaling
for Joy : Writing Your Way to Personal Growth and Freedom by Joyce Chapman,
All
About Me
Inspiring links:
Open Pages and Journal Window are lists of people who put their journals online!
The Bodacious Book of Succulence : Daring to Live Your Succulent Wild Life
I first discovered Sark in the Red Rose catalog. Amidst new age trinkets and tie-dyed dresses were these amazing cards and posters. Her "How to Be" series of posters were a delightful surprise. I wrote my very first fan letter to Sark and got the surprise of my life when she wrote back . . .sending me an "invite someone dangerous to tea" bumper sticker.
For me, it was delightful to see someone who was succeeding at art that didn't draw straight lines or color inside them!
In her latest book, you will read "I wish for this book to catapult you out of bed and smack into the center of one of your dreams, or lure you back to bed, where you will lie helplessly laughing at all your mistakes and frozen moments." That is all that is Sark. Her words and illustrations will inspire you, make you think, and smile, and laugh out loud. Reading Sark's books is like having the big sister of your dreams who tells you "YOU CAN DO IT" no matter what you do.
ricardo muti
The subject of this "Music That Inspires" is a very famous conductor. You may wonder why I am discussing a conductor rather than a performer or composer? It is my opinion that in classical music the first consideration in choosing music should be the conductor.
Sometimes people can think that classical music is all the same, and that "Bolero" by one orchestra or conductor is the same as another. NOT! That is like saying that "I will always love you" by Whitney Houston sounds the same as the recording by Dolly Parton!
I first became aware of Ricardo Muti when I heard his recording of Dvorak's Symphony No. 9. I had heard this music hundreds of times but when I heard his recording I did not recognize it. I began to look for other recordings by Maestro Muti and found that his music had a very crisp sound. I found a couple of books on conductors and learned that he likes to research the music before he works with it and tries to find the composer's original notes to learn how they wanted it to be performed.
He is currently Music Director of Teatro alla Scala (La Scalla) and continues to actively perform both at La Scalla and touring with the La Scalla orchestra. He also guest conducts around the world. You can purchase his music online through Music Boulevard. I recommend Bolero/Les Preludes/1812, Beethoven: Symphonies no 1 & 5 and Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto no 2, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
color theory
Q. Where to I start to learn color theory? I am color hopeless!
A. Color theory is not something that can be explained in a paragraph or two. I can give you some basic information as to terminology and then point you in the direction of some great resource books and courses.
Color is not a thing. It is a phenomenon of perception or aspect of vision. Technically, you might say it is a physical reaction of the eye and interpretive response of the brain to characteristics of light.
Stuff you should know about color:
That light is the source of color was first understood by Isaac Newton in 1666 when he passed a beam of sunlight through a glass prism. The result was a rainbow (hues of the visible spectrum). Others had seen this, but thought it was latent color that existed in the glass of the prism. Newton then passed his spectrum of color through a second prism that reconstituted the original light. His conclusion revolutionized "color theory". For the color is in the light, and the light as white is a mixture of all the colors of the visible spectrum. There is a very interesting article online about color wheels and the development of Newton's color theory by a professor at Robert Morris College.
Some Terminology:
Under the most commonly used color theory, colors are defined in terms of three major categories: primary, secondary and tertiary colors. The primary colors are: red, blue, yellow, the secondary colors are: violet, green, orange and the tertiary colors: red-violet, blue-violet, blue green, yellow green, yellow orange, and red orange.
Complementary Colors are those colors found opposite each other on the color wheel, providing high color contrast (red and green, blue and orange, yellow and violet, etc.)
Split-Complementary Colors found on either side of the complementary color. (For example, Orange is the complementary color for blue. Red orange and yellow orange are the split-complementary colors for blue.)
Triad Colors are equidistant on the color wheel, providing a balanced color scheme (red, blue, yellow or green, violet and orange, for example)
Analogous Colors are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. (For example, yellow, yellow green and green.)
Each individual colors is a hue. Red is a hue. Violet is a hue, etc.. You can change the saturation of a hue by adding black (shadow) or white (light). Value or saturation is the purity of hue. A saturated blue, for example, is composed only of pure blue color. Hues can become "desaturated" by the adding black (shadow) or white (light). Adding a light color or white makes the color more pale, creating a tint of the original hue. Adding black, creates a shade. The luminance of a color is the characteristic of lightness or darkness. A bright color seems to reflect more light than a dark one.
An excellent way to learn color is to create your own color wheel. Draw a circle and divide it into 12 slices. Place pure red, blue and yellow with three slices between each color. Next, mix the secondary hues (orange, green and violet). The goal is to create a color that has an equal amount of color so that orange is not more yellow than it is red, green is not more blue than it is yellow, etc. The trick to this is that you do not mix equal amounts of paint to do this. It will take more yellow than red to create pure orange, for example. Once you have mixed these colors so that they are true, you can mix the tertiary colors (red orange, yellow orange, yellow green, blue green, etc.)
Courses:
I wholeheartedly recommend Susie Wolfe's course on color theory. Susie teaches it at Decorative Painting and Stenciling shops, and at conventions.
Barb Watson has a book and video on color theory. She uses a star color wheel as a variation on standard color theory. Barb also teaches at conventions.
Books:
Making Color Sing (Jeanne Dobie)
Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green (Michael Wilcox)
Color Theory Made Easy : A New Approach to Color Theory and How to Apply It to Mixing Paints (Jim Ames)
Color Right from the Start : Progressive Lessons in Seeing and Understanding Color (Hilary Page)
In the next issue:
Profile of
Artist Georgia O'Keefe, A look at copyright law for artists,
a look at country music, try at painting on cement, and more!
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