Wildlife Art » artwork

What Makes Art Valuable?

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:29:47 +0000

I read an amazing article by Grayson Perry entitled “How art appreciates – it’s a class act”.

In a nutshell he reckoned that art finds its true monetary value from what the experts say. But I can see something more from what he says.

If a piece of art is to be labeled as having any “value” at all it is what is said about it that establishes it as a work worthy of an individuals attention.

In other words … if you see a picture and it relates to you in some way (this can be either positively or negatively) – then you should say so … and write it down.

So once one remark has been made then others will follow … plus other people will look at the work and make their own minds up about it, and they will also read about what you have said … and they will include your critique in their weighing up of the image.

I am not necessarily talking only about financial worth, no, here is a far greater opportunity which is all inclusive, wonderfully mutual, and offers the chance for anyone – and everyone … to add to the worthiness of any piece of art – and eventually to the whole of society. What YOU have to say about a particular artwork is very important … even vital not only to the work, or the artist, or that particular type of work, or to your locality, or to your region, or to your country … but to the World! (I am referring here to the butterfly wing beat theory … if you don’t know about it then you must look it up … it really puts value onto the individual within a world context … fantastic – but I believe it’s true).

Let’s look at this in a bit more detail, first from the artist’s point of view …

If, when you exhibit your art, you value what people have to say about your work (and I don’t mean if you want everyone to love everything you do otherwise you will sulk and withdraw into yourself), and are happy for observers to voice their opinion about it – make sure you have a visitors book easily available for any remarks to be made (remember … even someone who only wants to deface the book is actually saying something about themselves – and their society … and your work might be evoking a challenge to them so much that their only response can be a defensive one such as vandalism – therefore even this has a value in itself – and strangely actually places a value upon your work). These can have a use later on in publicity, and in some cases can be seen as endorsements for your style of work.

If you have a website then a well placed, easy to understand and use, guest-book or visitors book, or comments page are very useful reference points for you and your work. If visitors refer to a particular image then their critique might be worthy of adding to the page that the picture is on. That way other observers can get to read observations coming from different points of view. Of course, if a visitor does not want to be influenced – then they can just simply ignore anything that is written. However, others may well find such additional information from the “man-in-the-street” helpful to them as they try to assimilate what they see. What is written will be of far greater value to them – and to you the artist in may other areas too. And if you are trying to sell your work then a timely encouraging comment from a third party might persuade an otherwise hesitant buyer into making that sort after commitment.

Now from the visitors point of view …

It is a truly wonderful thing to be “touched” by a piece of art in a gallery. When ever I have found myself slowly being drawn into a painting I immediately want to verbalize what I am receiving – I might want to shout or laugh loudly … but more likely I would want to put down in writing a description of what I am seeing, what I am feeling, and what kind of inspiration I might begin to cultivate … and what intention I might want to start getting in motion (which is why I always carry a notepad around with me).

So I would encourage, even exhort, the viewer not to just take a back step and move on to another picture. But rather I want them to commit their thoughts, frustrations, emotions, decisions, resolutions … anything which has come directly from looking at a piece of art, commit these to paper – find the visitors book and, if necessary, fill it with your reactions to the work. By doing this the visitor is rightly placing themselves into the “experts” chair. So any thoughts and points of view are worthy of note. If you have a view on a piece of work then it should be heard.

It is the same – or should be – when visiting a website. In fact it can be easier to make an anonymous comment on the internet. A lot of sites give you the opportunity to make a comment without having to give your name, email address – or any information other than the words you want to type. So if you are that sort of person then don’t be afraid but try to get into the habit of writing down your views. You might actually WANT to reveal who you are or put down your area of expertise … be it the university professor or the “public highway hygiene technician” … because what you say matters … whoever you are.

What will happen here is that as comments are made and attached to a work others will read them and, having viewed the piece themselves, they will make their own point of view whether for or against other comments … and the work will gain its own merit from what is said.

So while the top artists are busy vying for that hallowed multi-millionaire-and-totally-famous-artists kind of place – the rest of us can get on and work, and receive a much more valuable encouragement … that of the humble, if not down-to-earth, endorsements from our fellow human beings.

Don’t be afraid … be truthful … tell it like it is … and watch what happens.

By: Tim Seaward

Affordable Paintings: Art Prints Buying Guide

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:02:27 +0000

The fastest way to bring beauty and style to a
room is to put up prints of beautiful paintings. Here’s what you
should consider:

Painting Prints Price Range:

Expect
to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $50-$500 for an unframed
print–anything less than $50 is likely a poster. You should
expect to pay a similar amount to have the print framed–note that many
prints are designed to be exhibited without frames.

Before
art prints were sold online, the only way to get them was through
galleries or museum shops, which had to charge a large markup.
Nowadays, art prints rarely cost more than a few hundred dollars, and
it is possible to find good-quality prints for under $100. Still,
those lower prices generally come on prints that have been put on
sale. Expect to pay more for perennial favorites like Van Gogh’s
“Starry Night”.

Selection

There
is at least one print of every painting or photograph on display in a
museum anywhere. Thanks to the internet, you can find the right
art print among the tens of thousands in existence and have it sent to
you, regardless of where the original is located. Since websites
will let you browse thumbnail images of the artwork, it’s easy to find
a particular piece even if all you know about it is the name of the
artist or even just the time period in which it was created.

Painting Print Media

Prints are available in a variety of print stocks.

Prints vs. Original Paintings

If
all you’re interested in is a picture to decorate your wall, rather
than in collecting, prints are a better value than original
paintings. Here’s why:

* Expense.
Creating an original work of art generally takes weeks. If you
had to employ someone for several weeks or several months, how much do
you think it would cost at even a modest salary? That’s why
original artwork generally costs at least thousands of dollars.
In order to have a real chance of your work of art having investment
value, you need to buy the work of an artist who is moving up in the
art market.

* Questionable
investment value. Original artwork only has investment value if
the price goes up eventually. Very often, the price does
not. In short, if you’re interested in investing, buy
stocks–it’s a safer bet. Only buy art because *you* value it.

* Knowledge.
You need to be very knowledgeable about what you are doing. Make
no mistake: there’s plenty of fraud in this business. There is
also plenty of wishful thinking on the part of art dealers when it
comes to a work’s long-term market prospects

Ready
to make your home more beautiful with prints of great paintings?
You’re already in the right place: the internet has numerous websites
offering an unbelievable array of art prints. Start looking now.

By: Joel Walsh

Fantasy Art Warrior Women Needed! Artists – Do People Post Your Work Without Giving You Recognition?

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:59:10 +0000

Fine art paintings reproduction, poetry, things you write, pieces of your soul get stolen, so bring out the fantasy art warrior women and.. and… do what?

Yes, it definitely happens, people snatch what you write, paint, sculpt or whatever and post it on their own site without giving you credit… ’sometimes’. I have seen some of my artwork, articles and poems especially, used w/o my link or name.

Ewwe! YES that makes me so stinking mad.

Yet, more often I have seen things I have written or artwork posted on sites that ‘DO’ give me credit. People contact me directly and ask me for permission as well. I would not blame it on article writing though, thieves can find you anywhere online, if you are active at all. It can happen wherever you post, be it on your blog or profile on MySpace or Facebook … anywhere, its the nature of the beast, the beast being the internet.

You can do one of four of things, or actually you can do the top three. I guess it depends on your energy level and just how mad you are because you can also do number four:

1)

Scream profanity and jump up and down and tell everyone you know.

2)

Contact the thief directly, tell ‘em they need to give you credit for your poem or article or fine art paintings reproduction or whatever.

3)

Report the stinkin’ thief, call out the troops! Bring in fantasy art warrior women or the dragon!

4)

Ignore it and move on.

I choose the latter, unless I find a site that is excessive. I expect to see my work posted on unknown sites, because they found me on an ezine, Much more often, than not, they not only post my name and url, but even my information from my posted resource box. It is all what makes that wheel turn that finally leads to me, or you.

As an artist, or anyone for that matter, trying to stand out is tough, as you know. Article writing is the one tool that I rely on, that aids in causing my shining star to say I am here.

When I check my stats for my main website, the numbers are ’substantially’ greater when I write and post on ezines, than when not. I see the difference about a month after I post 5-15 in any given thirty day span. My goal it to do more. It is best to get on a roll with article writing and create a steady flow of them.

The number of reads you get also depends on the keywords you use within your article. You don’t want to write something that no one will read do you? Good keywords, remember that!

Another advantage of writing articles for an artist, is publicity you never dreamed of. I have been approached by several different interest groups needing images for their particular event or cause. Oft times however, these have been non profit groups, yet they have been causes I have felt proud to help. It’s all adverting. Other contacts result in authors wanting illustrators.

The thing is, if you are not out there on the internet for fear of having something stolen from you? ‘You are not out there!’

I get url clicks from my articles. Other things can happen for you because of article writing and posting your artwork online. Contacts made with you that you never imagined. Try it and see.

Can people steal from you? Yup. Does bad stuff happen in life? Yup. But more often than not, good stuff happens, the sun comes out and the sky is blue and you won’t need your fantasy art warrior women, unless they are on canvas,paper or you are sculpting or writing about them.

By: Kathy Ostman-Magnusen

Subjective Art

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:22:38 +0000

The question is, is Art affordable? I guess the answer to this question can vary depending from whom you ask? The affordability of Art is only relative to the pocketbook of the person who appreciates Art. 1 million dollars for an artwork could be affordable for a person who can buy it with ease, and $200 for an artwork can not be affordable for a person who needs that money to put food on the table for his or her family.

For this reason Art can not be looked at as an affordable or unaffordable commodity, Art is really a subjective commodity that accumulates value relative to it’s desirability. It’s price is formed in the eyes of the beholder. The one who can buy Art does not think whether he can afford it or not, he buys it because he likes it, because he has to have it.

If you notice, most people who buy Art, live in abundance. Once the affordability of something comes to mind, that means you are thinking in terms of lack, not in terms of abundance. The people who buy Art usually live in abundance, and continue to live in abundance. They get what they want and do not worry about whether they can afford it or not. They buy it because it is pleasing to them, and having it makes life more pleasing and enjoyable to them, thus the universe gives them more pleasing and enjoyable objects to appreciate and surround themselves with, another words, more abundance.

So Art is really subjective and it’s possession is a state of mind. Art is an essential dynamic or urge that makes life more abundant in beauty and love, and provides harmony to the environment.

By: Mike Samii

Unique Wall Art Pieces

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:09:48 +0000

People always complain that they want a unique hanging wall art. What they do not know is that they can find one in their homes. They might not notice it at first but with a little imagination, they can pull it off. Using some of your home materials, you can create a truly interesting and unique wall art for your home. It can be anything. You can try out dried ingredients like tomatoes, rice and the likes. They can just mount it in a cardboard or whatever hard material you have. Afterward, you can have it framed and then hang it on the wall.

You can also collate some of the family pictures you have and make a somewhat mosaic out of it. You can make it having a scrapbook effect and then hang it on the wall afterwards. This is something very different because not everyone makes a picture having a scrapbook effect. Surely, you will have fun looking at is as you enjoyed making the image itself. Be creative and just let your creative juices flow.

Another hanging wall art you might want to consider making your very own artwork. For example, you can use some beads and ribbons and then place it in a picture that you want to personalize. You can use glue so that the materials would not go anywhere when you paste them in place. There is no right or wrong move here since you are the artisan of this project. Just try to ensure that the one you are making is clean and is not looking like a mess. People will admire you for your effort once they see this.

Vintage or antique pieces are also wonderful items that you can hang on your wall. Sometimes, even though they do not seem to have value, others are able to think of where to use them. They do not want to throw these things away because they are old and some have fun jazzing up such pieces. Creative people do not discard items because they know it will be handy when the time comes. They just want to keep everything until such time they feel that the piece is ready for use.

Thinking and making unique hanging wall art is something not everyone is good. If you know you have that gift of making interesting pieces of art, you can sell them to others. They will be happy once the things are already in their hands. People just get so ecstatic when their pieces arrive and cannot wait to use them or hang them on the walls. Finally seeing what they want most in their abode is a feeling no words can explain. They are so happy that they cannot take their eyes of this prized possession because they know that they have waited so long for it and it finally came home to them. Wall art items are not necessarily expensive ones. You just know where to look for them or how to make them to make it truly unique.

By: Alyssa Davis