Native American Art Market Show

It has already been a year since Mike Spears gave me the VIP treatment as he took me through the Native American Art Market, introducing me to anyone and everyone. He passed away a few months after that.

He founded the show many years ago so it was only fitting that, this year, a dedication to Mike was displayed at the entry way to the exhibit hall. I saw some really beautiful art and had some great discussion about the Native American culture.

It's a culture worth restoring. That was Mike's goal--help Native American children take pride in their heritage. I've been trying to do a portrait of Mike commemorating his efforts but have trouble getting my drawing to measure up to the man. Perhaps my fourth attempt will just have to do.

--KH

Portrait Tip #3

Alignment is key to a successful portrait.

When you draw a face that is tilted or at an angle other than straight on, it is easy to misalign the features. Why? Our brain wants to standardize the image we are viewing--eyes straight across, nose vertical, mouth horizontal, etc.

Plus, we seldom consciously put the face on a curved surface. Ask anyone to draw a face and it usually is straight on.

Heads are basically round, not flat. How that round shape is distorted is actually what gives us our visual identity. If you are struggling with a likeness, check your structure and see if something is misaligned. A quick way to see if you subconsciously made leveling adjustments is to hold the drawing up to a mirror. When you see the reversed image, misaligned parts really stand out. 

-KH

Busy Times

The last few days have been filled with a variety of art. It's been fun but keeps me away from logging onto the blog.

Saturday was a nice art show/wine and cheese gathering at a friend's house. Sunday, worked on some art production before the Bronco game. (Charger fans--would enjoy hearing your side of the story.) After the game, matted 3 submissions for the Walt Disney Hometown Toonfest. Monday, started going to life drawing sessions again.

Tomorrow, will be working on 6 portraits (OK, I have 6 portraits to do, probably won't get them all done.)

-KH

Everyone's An Artist: File Formats

Common desktop publishing/web file formats are: JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, EPS, PDF, BMP, DOC, PUB, ZIP. 

Of course, there are numerous others but these are used most often in a typical office environment. Here is a very basic overview of when to use each:

JPG--web graphics with continuous tones (i.e. photos), usually 72 dpi and in RGB color

PNG--a newer web graphic format for either photos or graphics with solid colors such as a logo, usually 72 dpi in RGB color

GIF--web graphics with solid colors and/or simple animation, usually 72 dpi in INDEXED colors

TIFF--used for print graphics, usually at 300 dpi in CMYK colors, many times used for layered files so elements can easily be edited

EPS--the usual format for what are called vector-based graphics built in Adobe Illustrator usually for print or sign applications, the term "vector" indicating mathmatical formulas build the art at whatever size and resolution the output machine uses

PDF--Portable Document Format developed by Adobe can be pretty much anything and is a pretty safe format for sending files to a printer

BMP--a PC-based art file not built for commercial printing, usually in RGB colors

DOC--a PC-based page layout file not built for commercial printing, would be better to save a Word document to PDF format if sending to a commercial printer

PUB--file from a PC-based program called Publisher, which many printers/designers won't have since they work on Macs, better to save as a PDF when sending to a commercial printer or graphic artist

ZIP--a compression format used to combine art and layout files into one, usually smaller file for sending over E-Mail or FTP

Everyone's An Artist is an effort to assist office personnel who have been thrown into the creative production world simply because they have a computer. For professional results, one should still hire a creative professional. My analogy: it's like throwing a hammer and nails at someone then expecting him/her to be a carpenter--sure, they can work the tools, but will the structure do what it needs to do? Hmmmm.

Sioux Falls Arts Festival

Spent quite a bit of time today walking downtown Sioux Falls looking at all the art booths and wondering why I have never taken part in an art show.

Sounds like a goal brewing...

My wife and my daughter both thought I should have a booth where I draw realistic portraits on the spot. Seems like a good idea. 

My style is pretty tight realism but to draw a portrait in 15 minutes or so would require a looser style. It would be a departure from the way I currently do portraits but it my be more expressive--which would be good for me.

Cast your vote for what type of art I should sell at an art booth by posting a comment.

In other words, what kind of art booth would you like to see at an arts festival that you think would be a cool edition to the standard stuff you usually see.

Hope to hear from you.

–KH