Final paper

Vinyl lettering

Guest Speakers

Tommorow, guest speaker Kaitlin Hooper, former TSU grad, owner of http://www.marykaitlinartistry.com/

Friday, our current artist in residence Layla Luna

Notes from last Friday, Grad School

https://www.gyst-ink.com/art-resources-art-school

7 ips for applying to grad school

Ask the Art Professor

Graphic Design MFA - is this right for me?

top film schools

More tips

GYST Artist Statements

How to write one that doesn't suck

How to write one

Why they mostly suck

Format Magazine

Artist Statement (due to me a week before show is hung)

(this post taken from pacificgraphicdesign)

“Why do I have to write an artist statement? It’s stupid. If I wanted to write to express myself I would have been a writer. The whole idea of my art is to say things visually. Why can’t people just look at my art and take away whatever experiences they will?”

Think about what you wrote in answer to the essay questions concerning “What is Art”, What is Design”, etc. These can help you form your Artist statement.

Some examples:

• Artist Statement Examples 
• Why Write and Artist Statement?

Be honest with yourself. Before you write a word, take some time to just think about you and your art. You need to understand what it is that you are trying to achieve, before you attempt to explain it to anyone else.

• Ask yourself what you’re doing. What does your art express? What makes your art unique?
• Ask yourself why you’re doing it. What motivates you to create art? What emotions or ideas are you trying to convey? What does your art mean to you?
• Ask yourself how you’re doing it. What do you draw inspiration from? What tools and materials do you use?

Consider your influences. Think about the things that influence you, whether it’s art, music, literature, history, politics or the environment. Think about how these influences have made an impression on you and how they manifest themselves in your work. Try to be as specific as possible.

Make a mind-map. Mind-mapping is a good way to free your thinking. It will also help you to trace the relationship between different ideas.

• Jot down a key idea that informs your work in the center of a blank page. Then spend 15 minutes writing down any words, phrases, feelings, techniques etc. related to that idea.
• Free writing is another technique that can help get the creative juices going. Spend 5-10 minutes writing whatever pops into your head when you think about your art. You’ll be amazed at what you come up with.

Determine what you want people to understand. Think about what you want people to take away from your art. What message or emotion are you trying to convey?

Another Approach:

Make a statement about why you do what you do. The first section of your artist’s statement should begin with a discussion of why you make art. Try to make it as personal as possible. Talk about what your goals are and what you hope to achieve through your art.

Describe your decision-making techniques. In the second section of you statement, tell the reader about your decision-making process. How do you select a theme? How do you choose what materials to use? What techniques to utilize? Keep it simple and tell the truth.

Talk about your current work. In the third section, provide some insight into your current work. How does it relate to your previous work? What life experiences informed it? What are you exploring, attempting or challenging through this work?

Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. Your artist statement is an introduction to your work, not an in-depth analysis of it. Your artist’s statement should be one to two paragraphs and no longer than a page.

• Your statement should answer the most commonly asked questions about your art, not overwhelm readers with irrelevant facts and minute details.
• Brevity and efficiency of language are key. A good statement will leave your readers wanting more.

Use simple language. An effective artist’s statement reaches out and welcomes people to your art, no matter how little or how much they know about art to begin with; it never excludes. It should make your work more accessible, not obscure it with convoluted language filled with artsy jargon. 

• Write in simple, straightforward, everyday language.
• Make “I” statements rather than “you” statements. Talk about what your art does for you, not what it’s supposed to do for the viewers.

III. One More

Let it rest. Your artist’s statement is a piece of very personal writing. Once you’ve finished writing, let it rest overnight before your reread it. Taking some time will help you take a step back and give you the detachment necessary to polish the writing without violating your sense of integrity and safety.

Seek feedback. Before you go public with your statement, get feedback. Show your art and statement to friends, friends’ friends, and maybe even a stranger or two.

• Make sure your readers get it, that they understand what you want them to understand. When they don’t, or you have to explain yourself, do a rewrite and eliminate the confusion.
• Keep in mind that you alone are the authority for what is true about your work, but feedback on clarity, tone and technical matters such as spelling and punctuation never hurts.

Revise as needed. Many times, a little rearranging is all that’s necessary to make your statement a clean, clear read. If you need help, find someone who writes or edits and have them fix the problem.

Use your statement. Make the most of your artist statement and use it to promote your work to gallery owners, museum curators, photo editors, publications and the general public.

Save all your notes and drafts. Save all the notes and drafts that you’ve made. You’ll want to revise and update your artist’s statement from time to time to reflect changes in your work. Having your original notes and drafts at your disposal will help you to immerse yourself in your past thought processes and will give you a sense of creative continuity.

Web site guide

Web page is due with your other class materials at the end of the year, must be listed on your resume

Free(ish) Blog Sites that can double as Portfolio Sites (you must use a domain name with it)

Wordpress.com (managing) (themes) (portfolio)
Tumblr examples, more
Blogger (example
Google Web Pages
Wordpress.org (set up) -must host the site (themes) (mistakes)

http://wiredcanvas.com/2015/08/websites-artists-how-make-artist-website-using-wordpress

Artists blogs that double as portfolio pages
Difference Between Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org
Routing a domain name through Wordpress.com
Routing a domain name through Blogger
Routing a domain name through Google Sites
Setting up a static front page in Blogger
Routing a domain name through Tumblr

Template and Theme  sites
http://btemplates.com/tag/art/
http://www.mybloggerthemes.com/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-free-tumblr-themes-create-portfolio/
https://theme.wordpress.com/themes/subjects/portfolio/


examples - tumblr julia maria
blooger claudio valdez

Getting a Domain Name (10-40 dollars)

Bluehost - recommended for free domain with hosting purchase and easy wordpress install
Godaddy
Namecheap
Iwantmyname
Register

Pay Portfolio Sites

http://www.beautifullife.info/web-design/top-10-best-website-builders-creating-online-portfolio/

Squarespace (examples)
Format
Otherpeoplespixels (examples)
Carbonmade (examples)
Moonfruit
Artspan
Adobe Portfolio
Photoshelter
Foliolink
Portfoliobox
Wix (examples) (more)
Crevado
others...

Web services/online communities (have limited free options)

Behance
Dropr
Coroflot
Deviantart - must use the portfolio option
Weebly

others...

Professional Organizations (not free, but gets a lot of traffic)

AIGA Portfolios (design)
Photographic Society of America

DIY
Adobe Muse or Dreamweaver
Creating web galleries in adobe Lightroom

How to make an artist website
Creative Capital recommendations

For class you must have a website with your own domain name that is a portfolio site.  Meaning it only shows your best work and your contact information and statement.  It should be professional enough to show an employer.  Then you are encouraged to put up your work on other social media sites.

Your site should have (and only have)
Images of your best work
An Artist Bio
Artist Statement
Upcoming Exhibitions or News items
Contact Information
links to other social media sites/blogs (optional)

Bring your resume friday

We will have a resume share/show off time.  It should be intriguing. 

Cover letter advice

https://www.gyst-ink.com/cover-letters

Resumes and Cover Letters

Papyrus

Buying guide

Paper - (if using Tarleton printer, must sign up a week before show)

Types

BandH Photo
Amazon 

Epson Lustre Paper, glossy but not too much, good paper at good value
Red River Paper - the Nice stuff, all kinds
Epson Cold Press - nice matte paper with textured surface
Epson Hot Press - Nice matte paper without texture

other brands
Red River Paper - local company, quick shipping, more variety of brands of paper
Ilford
Canson Infinity


French Paper co.  Graphic Design Paper

Graphic Design - the art of choosing the right paper

Mounting - Gatorboard

Art Supply.com
Dick Blick

Mounting adhesive

3m 568 adhesive to mount prints on any surface
Art Peel - similar to wallpaper


Dry Mounting Tissue

B and H photo

Speciality Printing

Fort Worth Photo Lab
Courpralux Dallas

Framing

Aaron Brothers - online custom frames
Micheals
Frame Destination - Dallas
House of Frames - south fort worth

Everything

Jerrys Art O Rama

Annotated Bibliography due 11/1

Annotated bibliography with 10 different sources (published interviews or articles or books, may use a specific book chapters if they are written by different authors)

Each annotation should be one paragraph and should offer a detailed summary of the article, who it was written by and what they do, and how it is important to your research.

tips

•Cite quality research sources

•Please do not attempt to do this in one day, do a little every day.  It will make it more enjoyable and more productive. 

•The point is you should come off like an expert (or at least a well-informed fan) of your chosen area of research.

First year out

Questionaire due 9/25

PERSONAL

What is the theme of your work that will be in the senior show?

What descriptive words would you project communicate (10 or more descriptive terms).

Of all the media you could choose, why did you pick the one you work with? What do you love about it? How does the process fit along with you personally?

How will you utilize time to make the work before the show? 

What are the main challenges to making your show a success? Any equipment, financial,  or practical concerns?

Where would you like to make your work after you graduate?

Describe the type of audience you would like your work to appeal to?

RESEARCH

What are some of the topics that you are interested in writing about for your research paper?  

How would this research benefit your exhibition/portfolio?

INSPIRATION

Who are two working artists/designers that you admire?

How did you find out about them?

What makes their work successful to you?

Where do they show their work and/or what level are they at with their career?

Who do they follow, or what inspires them? What professional affiliations do they have? 

If you could ask one of them any questions about their career, what would you ask them?

What is their contact info? 

Find 3 Blogs/Online communities related to your career.  List them and follow them.  

List 10 other inspirations, of any kind.  

Gallery Schedule

James Calaluca Nov 4-6 review on Wed. the 6th
Sarah Darby/Haley Ivey Nov 7-11 review on Thu. the 7th
Madison Morrow/Julie Steen Nov 12-14 review on thu. the 14th
Mckenzie Tucker Nov 15-19 review on Tues. the 19th
Jakoby Boyd/Eric Farnan Nov 20-22 review on Wed. the 20th
Rebecca Ross Nov 25-29 review on Tue. the 26th
Amanda Yowell Dec 2-6 review on Mon. the 2nd

Dan Adame/Kelsey Brown - Film night Dec. 2nd at 5:30

Presentation Schedule

Wed 9/4

James
Kelsey
Madison


Fri 9/6

Julie
Jakoby
Sarah

Wed 9/11

Mckenzie
Eric
Dan


Fri 9/13

Rebecca
Haley
Amanda

Week 1 Presentation

Syllabus Fall 19

Resumes

Writing an Effective Artist Statement

More tips

GYST Artist Statements

How to write one that doesn't suck

How to write one

Why they mostly suck

Format Magazine

Artist Statement (due to me a week before show is hung)

(this post taken from pacificgraphicdesign)

“Why do I have to write an artist statement? It’s stupid. If I wanted to write to express myself I would have been a writer. The whole idea of my art is to say things visually. Why can’t people just look at my art and take away whatever experiences they will?”

Think about what you wrote in answer to the essay questions concerning “What is Art”, What is Design”, etc. These can help you form your Artist statement.

Some examples:

• Artist Statement Examples 
• Why Write and Artist Statement?

Be honest with yourself. Before you write a word, take some time to just think about you and your art. You need to understand what it is that you are trying to achieve, before you attempt to explain it to anyone else.

• Ask yourself what you’re doing. What does your art express? What makes your art unique?
• Ask yourself why you’re doing it. What motivates you to create art? What emotions or ideas are you trying to convey? What does your art mean to you?
• Ask yourself how you’re doing it. What do you draw inspiration from? What tools and materials do you use?

Consider your influences. Think about the things that influence you, whether it’s art, music, literature, history, politics or the environment. Think about how these influences have made an impression on you and how they manifest themselves in your work. Try to be as specific as possible.

Make a mind-map. Mind-mapping is a good way to free your thinking. It will also help you to trace the relationship between different ideas.

• Jot down a key idea that informs your work in the center of a blank page. Then spend 15 minutes writing down any words, phrases, feelings, techniques etc. related to that idea.
• Free writing is another technique that can help get the creative juices going. Spend 5-10 minutes writing whatever pops into your head when you think about your art. You’ll be amazed at what you come up with.

Determine what you want people to understand. Think about what you want people to take away from your art. What message or emotion are you trying to convey?

Another Approach:

Make a statement about why you do what you do. The first section of your artist’s statement should begin with a discussion of why you make art. Try to make it as personal as possible. Talk about what your goals are and what you hope to achieve through your art.

Describe your decision-making techniques. In the second section of you statement, tell the reader about your decision-making process. How do you select a theme? How do you choose what materials to use? What techniques to utilize? Keep it simple and tell the truth.

Talk about your current work. In the third section, provide some insight into your current work. How does it relate to your previous work? What life experiences informed it? What are you exploring, attempting or challenging through this work?

Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. Your artist statement is an introduction to your work, not an in-depth analysis of it. Your artist’s statement should be one to two paragraphs and no longer than a page.

• Your statement should answer the most commonly asked questions about your art, not overwhelm readers with irrelevant facts and minute details.
• Brevity and efficiency of language are key. A good statement will leave your readers wanting more.

Use simple language. An effective artist’s statement reaches out and welcomes people to your art, no matter how little or how much they know about art to begin with; it never excludes. It should make your work more accessible, not obscure it with convoluted language filled with artsy jargon. [2]

• Write in simple, straightforward, everyday language.
• Make “I” statements rather than “you” statements. Talk about what your art does for you, not what it’s supposed to do for the viewers.

III. One More

Let it rest. Your artist’s statement is a piece of very personal writing. Once you’ve finished writing, let it rest overnight before your reread it. Taking some time will help you take a step back and give you the detachment necessary to polish the writing without violating your sense of integrity and safety.

Seek feedback. Before you go public with your statement, get feedback. Show your art and statement to friends, friends’ friends, and maybe even a stranger or two.

• Make sure your readers get it, that they understand what you want them to understand. When they don’t, or you have to explain yourself, do a rewrite and eliminate the confusion.
• Keep in mind that you alone are the authority for what is true about your work, but feedback on clarity, tone and technical matters such as spelling and punctuation never hurts.

Revise as needed. Many times, a little rearranging is all that’s necessary to make your statement a clean, clear read. If you need help, find someone who writes or edits and have them fix the problem.

Use your statement. Make the most of your artist statement and use it to promote your work to gallery owners, museum curators, photo editors, publications and the general public.

Save all your notes and drafts. Save all the notes and drafts that you’ve made. You’ll want to revise and update your artist’s statement from time to time to reflect changes in your work. Having your original notes and drafts at your disposal will help you to immerse yourself in your past thought processes and will give you a sense of creative continuity.

Web site guide

You are required to turn in a hard copy portfolio and have a website.  Your hard copy disc can be a collection of high quality JPEGs or a PDF document and your website can be made any number of ways...

Free(ish) Blog Sites that can double as Portfolio Sites (you must use a domain name with it)

Wordpress.com (managing) (themes) (portfolio)
Tumblr examples, more
Blogger (example
Google Web Pages
Wordpress.org (set up) -must host the site (themes) (mistakes)

http://wiredcanvas.com/2015/08/websites-artists-how-make-artist-website-using-wordpress

Artists blogs that double as portfolio pages
Difference Between Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org
Routing a domain name through Wordpress.com
Routing a domain name through Blogger
Routing a domain name through Google Sites
Setting up a static front page in Blogger
Routing a domain name through Tumblr

Template and Theme  sites
http://btemplates.com/tag/art/
http://www.mybloggerthemes.com/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-free-tumblr-themes-create-portfolio/
https://theme.wordpress.com/themes/subjects/portfolio/


examples - tumblr julia maria
blooger claudio valdez

Getting a Domain Name (10-40 dollars)

Bluehost - recommended for free domain with hosting purchase and easy wordpress install
Godaddy
Namecheap
Iwantmyname
Register

Pay Portfolio Sites

http://www.beautifullife.info/web-design/top-10-best-website-builders-creating-online-portfolio/

Squarespace (examples)
Format
Otherpeoplespixels (examples)
Carbonmade (examples)
Moonfruit
Artspan
Adobe Portfolio
Photoshelter
Foliolink
Portfoliobox
Wix (examples) (more)
Crevado
others...

Web services/online communities (have limited free options)

Behance
Dropr
Coroflot
Deviantart - must use the portfolio option
Weebly

others...

Professional Organizations (not free, but gets a lot of traffic)

AIGA Portfolios (design)
Photographic Society of America

DIY
Adobe Muse or Dreamweaver
Creating web galleries in adobe Lightroom

How to make an artist website
Creative Capital recommendations

For class you must have a website with your own domain name that is a portfolio site.  Meaning it only shows your best work and your contact information and statement.  It should be professional enough to show an employer.  Then you are encouraged to put up your work on other social media sites.

Your site should have (and only have)
Images of your best work
An Artist Bio
Artist Statement
Upcoming Exhibitions or News items
Contact Information
links to other social media sites/blogs (optional)

Buying Guide

Paper - (if using Tarleton printer, must sign up a week before show)

Types

BandH Photo
Amazon 

Epson Lustre Paper, glossy but not too much, good paper at good value
Red River Paper - the Nice stuff, all kinds
Epson Cold Press - nice matte paper with textured surface
Epson Hot Press - Nice matte paper without texture

other brands
Red River Paper - local company, quick shipping, more variety of brands of paper
Ilford
Canson Infinity


French Paper co.  Graphic Design Paper

Graphic Design - the art of choosing the right paper

Mounting - Gatorboard

Art Supply.com
Dick Blick

Mounting adhesive

3m 568 adhesive to mount prints on any surface
Art Peel - similar to wallpaper


Dry Mounting Tissue

B and H photo

Speciality Printing

Fort Worth Photo Lab
Courpralux Dallas

Framing

Aaron Brothers - online custom frames
Micheals
Frame Destination - Dallas
House of Frames - south fort worth

Everything

Jerrys Art O Rama

Annotated Bibliography due Monday April 1

Questionaire due 2/20

PERSONAL

What is the theme of your work that will be in the senior show?

What descriptive words would you project communicate (10 or more descriptive terms).

Of all the media you could choose, why did you pick the one you work with? What do you love about it? How does the process fit along with you personally?

How will you utilize time to make the work before the show? 

What are the main challenges to making your show a success? Any equipment, financial,  or practical concerns?

Where would you like to make your work after you graduate?

Describe the type of audience you would like your work to appeal to?

RESEARCH

What are some of the topics that you are interested in writing about for your research paper?  

How would this research benefit your exhibition/portfolio?

INSPIRATION

Who are two working artists/designers that you admire?

How did you find out about them?

What makes their work successful to you?

Where do they show their work and/or what level are they at with their career?

Who do they follow, or what inspires them? What professional affiliations do they have? 

If you could ask one of them any questions about their career, what would you ask them?

What is their contact info? 

Find 3 Blogs/Online communities related to your career.  List them and follow them.  

List 10 other inspirations, of any kind.  

Schedule for presentations

Schedule for presentations

Please make sure your presentations are ready to be loaded quickly and easily via powerpoint or whatever you decide to use.  You may bring in actual artworks as well. 

1/23 Sarah, Amanda
1/25 Dan, Jessica
1/28 Haley, Rebekah
1/30 Beverly, Stephane
2/1 Leticia, Andrew
2/4 Joshua, Katie
2/6 Raigan

Class Syllabus Spring 2019