You used pencil crayons as a kid now use them to become a professional artist! (for beginning artists)

Yes, you really can become a professional artist by using ordinary pencil crayons we used as children!   How do I know?  I googled the question or something similar. 

This is what I told my Facebook friends .....

 

" I am discovering making art on a budget. You know those pencil crayons we used as a kid? If you watch Youtube videos you can be shown how to use the pencils to overlay levels like a professional. Who knew? Amazing! Choose a short video - say less than 10 minutes because I find myself falling asleep!. Start your path to becoming an art by watching artists creating their art and describing the technique on Youtube. Videos? ... much better than books ... Why? Because in books you will probably just look at the pictures! ... and not fully understand what is being taught! Try a Google search like : Youtube & pencil crayon & "drawing a portrait" or whatever else you want to learn.

The Youtube video I watched described the layering process of the different colors on the paper which is used in different mediums like oils and acrylic paints.

So if the high cost of becoming an artist deters you or you think you can't learn because you tried reading an art book and failed try again! ..... youtube videos and pencil crayons are very effective. But if you have a different medium use those ...oils, acrylics ...whatever you can get your hands on similar techniques are used .... .. and googling questions like I did just now "can you layer colors in oil painting? " The answer is "yes" but links to other techniques in oil painting pop up. .... but you can find cheaper alternatives too. Like pencil crayons and paper you bought super cheap from the thrift store ( thrift store if you are in Canada or the United States) ..

Here is the video I watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJElspfupQg

The video shows how to "push" the pencil crayon colors on the paer , how to "blend" the colors, how to lighten the colors using an eraser and how to lighten the color by overlaying with white. Watch the video and pull out your crayons. I believe after watching the video your skill level has been raised enough that you want to go and become a professional artist ... or at the very least want to sell your art and dream of having your work being displayed in a local art gallery around your town! You will definitely see an improvement in your art already. Imagine how your art work can progress if you watch more perhaps many more videos and practice the techniques. It is thoughyt by some that 10,000 hours will allow a person to become a master - in our case a master artist

From a Google search I copied this:

"

.10,000 Hours of Practice. In the book Outliers , author Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field.  "

Welding - could it be a technique in your Blue Ocean Strategies as an Artist

Welding - Consider Adding It as a Skill as an Artist

Last summer I took a five weekend course in artisan welding.  The instructor had us welding in the first class before the first hour was over!  Amazing!   In my class were two jewelry makers and an artist that cast bronze heads .  The welding we learned was oxy-acetylene welding and MIG welding.  Once you learn your welding you do not even need to have your own equipment.  In Vancouver I was told there is a studio on Powell Street where you can rent welding time.  Maybe there is a place like this near you or maybe you can use your friends equipment.  We learned MIG welding and the MIG welding does precision welds.

Summary

You do not need to be a professional welder to use welding in your art.  The skill comes quickly.  I also utilized a book on blacksmithing to get ideas on bending metal.  The oxy-acetylene welding can be used to heat metal in a way similar to a forge for larger pieces of metal - but it is more expensive than using a forge.  This sculpture shown was made out of many thin metal stips about 1 and 1/ inch by say 5 inches long.

Tips: the instructor will tell you to get cotton clothes and not synthetic clothes.  With oxy-acetlene you can see trough the goggles but in the MIG welding you cannot see anything until you torch up.  But I think for a few hundred dollars you can buy a welding helmet that runs on microcircuitry.  It detects in a small fraction of a second that the torch is lit and the lens darkens.  So no struggling in the dark.  If you choose to pursue welding you can have a lot of fun.   In MIG Welding you can drip molten metal wire onto your sculpture so you can add 3D lettering for example.

Reference

Blue Ocean strategies:  Learn how to make your art business different from the rest .http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/book/

Welding sculpture from first attempt

Entrepeneurial Ideas for Artists - Ideas from two MOOC courses and the book "One Simple Idea"

Entrepreneurial Ideas For Artists - Ideas from two MOOC courses and  "One Simple Idea" ( a book by Stephen Key)

ideas reviewed by "Surfer" Chris Garrah

  Creativity and Business Ideas For Artists - Free Courses and A Library Book That Could Help You

 

If you are an artist you definitely want to tap into your creative spirit.   In the MOOC course  Learning How to Learn   ( I took the free version of the course) the professors relate how Thomas Edison would hold ball bearings in his hand and when he was half asleep the ball bearings would drop from his hand .  In that state he would be able to jot down ideas that occurred to him.  Salvador Dali used a similar method. (also described in the course)

Businesses , successful ones - paint  a visual representation of a business - perfect for an artist with nine blocks (perfect for coloring different colors.!)  In the  free MOOC course I studied  Innovation for Entrepreneurs the professors describe a business model canvas ( artists like canvas!).   Really the course outlines all nine factors .  One factor - revenue streams - will be of interest to starving artists or those who want to add streams.  The course stresses that the business canvas is a living canvas so that once you become familiar with the canvas as it represents YOUR business model you can change it as new ideas come to you - or you think of your business in new ways.  But to really find new ways to make you different from all other artists study the video Blue Ocean Strategies - ways to make you completely different from other artists or other businesses!  Remember you can be completely unique!

So the above two courses are great courses for artists  The third idea I want to introduce are ideas from the book ."A Simple Idea" authored by Stephen Key



.  I highly recommend artists to skim through the chapters to get an idea about licensing.  In this book Stephen Key outlines all the steps needed to look at the marketplace , come up with a simple idea and sell the idea to businesses.  Why would you be interested as an artist?  Well the idea that resonated for me that might appeal to some artists is that he licensed an indoor basketball net with a backboard. Stephen Key licensed the idea of putting Michael Jordan's image on it. Yeah!.  So creative ways to put art or an image on something , a great technique.  This book by Stephen Key stresses balance in your life - so you should nott  put all your energy into selling your ideas to businesses at the expense of creating art.   If you ever watch the show Dragon's Den they talk about licensing.  But they don't describe the process of licensing.  But this book describes the process ... so here is something you will not see on Dragon's Den  - something that in theory can tirn YOU into a Dragon.  Licensing is a low cost alternative to a full patent.   The book  outlines an optimum time to  file a provisional patent for a few hundred dollars and then license it.  This can be another tool in the artist's toolbox.

Wrapping It all Up

Well fellow artists,  I pointed you in the direction of tuning up your business acumen and your creativity.  So if you want to fine tune your business model or the creativity of your art check out the book and courses .  And of course if you are not pursuing your art at all and you want to check out a solution for procrastination in Learning How to Learn - a course from Coursera.org.  I recommend taking  the free version of the course only because I like free things! Sharpening creativity, creating art without procrastinating and sharpening your art business by using a living changing business model canvas.  These are the key ideas here.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) One Simple Idea  - Turn Your Dreams into a Licensing Goldmine While Letting Others Do the Work - a book by  author Stephen Key.
Look at author Stephen Key's profile on Twitter

2) Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects     A MOOC course from Coursera.org with Dr. Barbara Oakley & Dr. Terrence Stejnowski

 3).  Innovation for Entrepreneurs: From Idea to Marketplace ............A MOOC course also from Coursera.org

Review of a How to be an Entrepeneur Book "Driven" by Robert Herjavec reviewed by "Surfer Chris" Garrah

Review of "Driven - How to Succeed in Business and In Life" a book by Robert Herjavec

 

The Book - Why You Need to Read The Book If You Are Thinking Of Starting A Business

Robert Herjavec describes his life story starting with his arrival in Canada in an immigrant family and the financial struggles of the family.

I found the book to be instructional as an entrepreneurial book.  Robert Herjavec describes in more detail than many books the specific steps that he took to rise to a very successful businessman.  You really need to read the book to develop your own insights into the steps he took.

Key points in his success include  how he is able to get by with limited sleep and still function normally.  In the reference portion of this article I supply a book title as a reference that might contain more information on the ability for some people to sleep less.  In the book Mr. Herjavec emphasizes that an entrepeneur should have the ability to deal with crises as they arise and for new business owners many can arise.

 I was impressed with Mr Herjavec developing his own sales pitches that worked for him in the difficult area of collections early in his career.  Mr Herjavec's superior sales techniques and his self described ability to foresee years into the future products that will be in demand are other parts of his success. His superior sales ability allows Mr. Herjavec to recruit employees that excel in their fields.  The detail in the book is concrete with 50 principles outlined in 50 chapters.   Some books are merely motivational books but I think of this book as much more because it is an insider book of an entrepreneur that keys in on 50 areas that will help you as an entrepreneur.  Buy the book if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur or at the very least ... read it!  Mr. Herjavic gives many examples of how he worked very hard to be successful.  And how his beginnings in sales and customer-oriented jobs help him to read people and tailor pitches to those people.

As an aside there is no indication that Mr Herjavic procrastinates.  He is on top of things and does not shy away from difficult tasks such as the need to fire things.

I recommend the course "Learning How To Learn" which is offered by Coursera which will help you master procrastination and avoid putting off difficult tasks if you tend to procrastinate.  ( I was guilty of this before I recently took the course - changed my life!  You can take a free version of this Coursera course if you want.  This course offers a specific, effective technique on how to avoid procrastination.  It also explains in video form why people procrastinate.  Also in video form Dr. Barbara Oakley (in the Coursera course)  explains that you should "eat the frogs" in the morning - meaning handle difficult things in the morning.  Along with Mr. Herjavec's broad-based instructions on how to succeed as an entrepreneur , the Coursera course and your ability to thrive on limited sleep you might have a distinctive advantage over your sleep-headed competitors.

REFERENCES

Genetic Basis of Sleep and Sleep Disorders
authors Shaw P,Taft M, Thorpy M

"Learning How to Learn"  a course at Coursera.org with Professors Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowki

Driven - How to Succeed in Business and In Life - written by Robert Herjavec -co star of Dragons' Den