Friday, September 19, 2008

Choosing A Makeup Artist

Getting ready for a big event can be daunting, especially if you will be photographed and the centre of attention. You know you want to hire a makeup artist to help you get ready. The process of finding a makeup artist you trust can be daunting, especially if you will be attending a big event where you will be the guest of honour, such as your wedding. How can you be sure to find a makeup artist whose service you will be happy with?

A reputable company. If possible, contact a makeup artist through a company that has a great reputation. Find out how the company does their hiring. Do they typically hire people right out of school, or do they prefer to hire artists with more experience? If the event is high profile, you will need a company who specializes in creating makeup looks that will look great when photographed or on captured on film. Ask around to find the company with the best credentials and highest rate of success.

Do a test run. Hire the makeup artist before the event a few weeks prior to do a test run. Wear the same outfit you will be wearing. If you like the look, you can hire them again to do the same thing on your big day. Explain to the artist that if the test run goes well, you will hire them for the event. Do this well ahead of time. If things don’t work out, you’ll want plenty of time to find another makeup artist.

Do a background check. Once you’ve selected a makeup artist, ask them some information about their background. Where did they go to school? What experience do they have? Ask for references so you can talk to some clients. Try to find clients of theirs on your own, too. If you ask for references, you will probably get in touch with people who will focus in the positive. You want to know any negative information, if it exists.

Once you find an artist you are comfortable with and who meets all your criteria, book them right away! Chances are, if they are as good as you suspect, their schedule should be pretty full.

You Must Be An Artist

We are, all of us, meant to create. We are creat-ures, thus it is evident in the world around us that as a spider spins a web, a bird builds a nest, humans are possessed of a spiritual and biological mandate to spin and build a world of beauty and function. The human distinction is the ability to make symbols. Symbolism is the art of investing the world around us with meaning by expressing the invisible or intangible through visible or sensuous representation. This is the simplest, the least unsettling definition of art and creativity. From this definition, we have come to believe and to thoroughly accept without question that art belongs to those who paint the paintings, write the words, and mold the clay, into those representations of the intangible and the invisible. Art has therefore been divided into those who do and those who don’t.

The reinstatement of art into every one of our lives, both in our ability to receive and to recreate it, is to return to living with meaning. Creativity is, like evolution, like all growth and change, an irrepressible force in nature. Thus far, only humans have attempted to turn away from this call, and a case can be made that it is this turning away that is the cause of so much of our pain, suffering, and longing. This suffering, however, is the result of confusion and misdirection, not hapless circumstance.

Art, like science, philosophy, and civility, is our best defense against the insupportable weight of all that we don’t know. If we could disperse the weight among us citizen artists, come up with a more inclusive outlook, we could lighten the formidable load of ignorance. In the broadest sense, art is a response in whatever form it takes--an expression of the love and beauty and terror as it is given to us through the visible bounty of Nature—that pulls us further out of the mire. Creativity is anything that fosters that indwelling spirit, any creation or activity that advances the progression of the unimpedable energy of growth that is life. The replication of that love and beauty, the balm that soothes the terror, or the release provided by the recognition of that terror, is our task, is the way of art and creativity, a whole-some response to existence.

Whether you are a fireman, a pathologist, a babysitter, or a banker, you must be an artist. Must be means, first of all, the recognition of this as your identity, as in, “Oh, you must be an artist...” Secondly, must be makes it imperative. You must respond to the dignity evolving out of creaturehood toward a greater man, toward God, and remain fearless as well as awe-struck by the vast implications. In the meeting of this challenge, you will be recognized by a light in the eye of those you encounter, as extraordinary.

Finding The Artist With In

Clever come backs quick wit able to turn out articles to galore write the grate American novel with ease. Produce interesting and intriguing art at the drop of a hat. Poetry flattering its way in to songs of love and sorrow. All dependent on that allusive product of the imagination manifesting it’s self in our harts and minds driving us to create. Right up until we are dependent on it to complete our master peace. Then it leaves us hanging blocked from the vision we so feverishly seek.

Clever come backs quick wit able to turn out articles to galore write the grate American novel with ease. Produce interesting and intriguing art at the drop of a hat. Poetry flattering its way in to songs of love and sorrow. All dependent on that allusive product of the imagination manifesting it’s self in our harts and minds driving us to create. Right up until we are dependent on it to complete our master peace. Then it leaves us hanging blocked from the vision we so feverishly seek.

Want to know the secret to finding the creativity hiding within you waiting to leap forth and declare your genus to the world? Your not alone my friend I share you desires and would like to shear what truth I’ve found that work for me. You have to relies things worth having just don’t come easily if they did then they wouldn’t be as desirable as you and I would like our artistic efforts to be.

First start doing, sitting around thinking or talking about it will only go so far. Not that thinking things out isn’t important it is vary important part even. As you will soon learn there will be plenty of time for reading about and talking about these things. Just not until you know witch parts are going to need thinking and talking about. To quote an old saying I got from my granddad wisdom comes from experience and experience creates wisdom. Trying and failing is learning gaining that experience that will qualify you one fine day to be the expert in your chosen field. And it’s your expertise that will be what makes or breaks your art.

This is of cores assuming you have taken the time to learn the technical aspects of the art you intend to perform. Writers need to have the writing skills required to make them self’s clearly understood. Keep in mind the subject here is creativity and how to fined it with in your self. By performing your art you will be giving your self questions about your failures. Questions whose answers are the creativity that we seek.

Starting to get confused try this creativity comes from with in you its called inspiration. Inspiration is inspired by external influence. External influences come from doing usually something else after you’ve given up in what you believe is total frustration with what seems to be a completely impossible task. And then out of the clear blue will come the answer to the solution of your quandary. Inspiration!

I usually have more then one project going at any one time. The human brain is a wonderfully confusing critter. It never really gives up a part of it will completely review your entire day wile you sleep. Ever heard the saying let me sleep on it? Many famous inventers have confessed to keeping cots in their labs for the express purposes of napping in some inspiration. Many leaning techniques advocate giving your mind time to review during rest.

The Four Pillars For Artist Success

Everyone feels that the artist life is glamorous and easy, but that’s the furthest from the truth. The number of artists making their living from their art is small and those who do have a sustainable business work very hard splitting their lives between creativity and business.

If you want to create an “art business” the four pillars of success are: vision; challenge; perseverance and motivation. Developing actions surrounding the four pillars will give you a giant leap from “Starving Artist” to “Successful Artist”.

Vision
As artists we have over developed right hemispheres of our brain so creativity is not in short supply. The interesting thing is that we don’t use that creativity as it pertains to our business. Having a vision for your business will enable you to begin a different type of portfolio, a business portfolio.

Take the time to be specific about how you want your art to serve in your life. If your art is your bread and butter then you must treat it that way, with respect and lots of elbow grease. If your art is an avocation, then what do you want to accomplish and by when.

It’s important to develop the road map to success or you’ll wander aimlessly, you’ll become discouraged and you’ll put out the fire better known as your dream. Set an intention and once you’ve set the intention build upon that intention. Each action you take should support your vision, shoring up the first pillar of success.

Challenge
If the business of art were easy then every artist would be successful. When we challenge ourselves creatively we are looking for new ways to express ourselves. The same is true in our business, the challenge is to show potential buyers that you wear more than one hat and you do it with conviction.

One of the key challenges for artists is not confidence in their work, but in how they present their work to the world. Artists are notorious for engaging in conversations from a one down position. We feel as if there is a caste system and we struggle to be taken seriously as an entrepreneur. Standing in the role of entrepreneur takes practice. It takes support from others and encouragement from peers. When you take yourself seriously as an “artrepreneur” others will follow suit.

Perseverance
I’ve heard it said that it takes three years to become an overnight sensation. I believe that to be true and I see it as I attend gallery openings, poetry readings and other venues of artistic expression. Those who have separated themselves from the pack have one thing in common, perseverance.

The successful artist has to be focused and find renewable sources of energy to keep moving forward on the journey. The primary factor that hinders perseverance is isolation. When artists have a support system they are more inclined to stay the course toward their vision. They are able to unload the emotional detours that arise from not getting selected for a show or not getting a call back for an audition. We gain strength by the cheerleading squad we’ve assembled in our lives. Create a success team to help you navigate your unchartered waters and you’ll be amazed at the results.

Motivation
You would think creating beautiful work would be enough motivation, but that is the external motivating factor. How do you keep the internal flames that propel you forward burning bright? Reward yourself! We all love rewards and by creating our own incentive program keeps us in the game.

Having mile markers along the way that show your success in measurable outcomes is essential for maintaining motivation. Ever wonder why nonprofit organizations or religious institutions create a huge thermometer during their fundraising drives? It’s to show the public the progression of their mission. As they get closer to the top it draws others who want to be a part of putting the organization over the top. Create your own gauge and make it visible so it stays in your consciousness. When you hit the top of the gauge be sure and shout it from the rooftops because you’ve shown that motivation yields results and that is evident by your success, both personal and professional.

A Review Of Artist Supplies

If you are an artist, you would realize that it is very important to find the right artist supplies for the project you intend to work on. If you do not have the proper tools, the artwork that you envision be in danger. So, when it comes to finding the right materials, how should you handle it?

There are several ways actually, beginning with what appears to be the most obvious. You can go to any artist supplies store in your area to find just about anything you may need for a project, but what happens if you live in a rural area, or if the artist supplies available in your area do not offer specifically what you are looking for you? Well then there's only one way to go, and that is the World Wide Web. The Internet is a great source for different artist supplies.

You should be able to find just about any kind of supplies you could possibly ever need online and some at incredibly affordable prices. It gives you an opportunity to shop at outlet companies that may not be located in your area as well. Basically, it is a good way to save time and money. Of course is just as any other of your purchases be sure that the merchant you are dealing with is reputable.

When looking into artist supplies companies online, remember to make sure their website offers complete contact information along with other company information. There are unfortunately, some fly-by-night operations lurking on the Internet. If you have any doubts, or are unsure of a particular web site then be sure that you check with the Better Business Bureau online to make sure they are on the up and up too.

By taking the time to do this you can ensure a good business relationship when it comes to purchasing the artist supplies that you need, without the hassle of having to lose money or products with companies before you find one that will treat you right. After all the World Wide Web is basically a faceless entity and it is easy for dishonest people to take advantage of others.

That is why it is vital that you exercise caution and diligence before making your purchases. You certainly do not want to pay for artist supplies that you will never receive, and you do not want to pay for items that are shipped, but are not the right supplies or even close to the art supplies that you ordered. You can certainly save yourself plenty of headaches by being on the lookout for suspicious signs.

Artists are said to be much like athletes. Whenever an athlete finds the right piece of equipment they will be loyal to that for a long time. Artist supplies are no different. If the materials are good quality and give the desired results an artist will want to use the same brands over and over again, which is really no different than any other entity that any consumer finds themselves needing.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

About The Artists Of Brücke

Ever heard of a political art group? Artists who use art, particularly painting, to influence or to move people to action? I have read of those in our history class before---it was quite boring then. I used to think of it as an exaggeration of a hero’s life. Until I read one of my favorite music artist’s biography. His father was a leader of Chicano artists, the “Los Four”. It’s a sort of a mural movement. But this is beside the point. My objective for writing this article is to bring more light into “die brücke”, a group of German expressionist artists, which marked the beginning of modern art in Germany.

Since the early part of twentieth century German Expressionism was very popular and it influenced most of the movements to oppose Impressionists.

Die Brücke, German words meaning “the bridge”, was founded in Dresden by architectural students lead by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 1905. Erich Heckel, Fritz Bleyl, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff gathered regularly in Kirchner’s studio. They were later joined by Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein.

The group was called “brücke” because the members have common interests and ideology. The bridge also symbolizes link, since one of their objective is to link to the future and to use art to change the society. Through art, they linked German history with their own cultural past. They despised academic traditions and strict constraints of the leading academies, realism and impressionism.

Although, most of the members of the Brücke were not trained artists, they were able to express their feelings and imaginations through harsh and orgiastic colors, particularly the black and white contrasts, distorted shapes and lines, exaggerated forms, and anti-illusionistic perspective. The subjects of their artwork include urban cabarets and dancehalls, mostly in the nudes.

Why Pick-Up Artists Can’t Seduce ALL The Women

I’ve been writing articles such as this for quite some time now, and the research I’ve done on what attracts men and women to each other has been going on a lot longer than that.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned to truly be entertained by, it’s some of these guys who proclaim themselves to be “great pick up artists”. Many have learned how to make a living at this, and can purportedly teach any man how to be “good with women”. And some of them have the track record to back it up.

I’ve seen several who claim to have slept with tens of thousands of women. You and I both know there’s a market for that kind of “expertise”, and LOTS of guys are willing to pay to tap into that kind of magical “way with women”.

And I believe they deserve exactly what they want. I cannot argue that.

What’s more, I don’t doubt these guys. I’m sure they are telling the truth. But I am also absolutely positive that there’s much more to success with women than “seduction”.

Why? Two reasons, mainly.

First, I’m no genius, but I’ve figured out something over the years that seems to apply here. If I singularly focus on ONE THING to the point of saturation, it soon loses its value to me. It’s just not all that fun anymore. I just don’t want to make a full time lifestyle out of keeping up with the expectation of having sex with two different women every day. I think that would, well, lose its shine after a couple of years (?) or so. To me, something that becomes a full time job just isn’t any fun anymore after a while. Besides…good grief…how much “sexual variety” does it take before the “novelty” wears off?

And that goes double if I go and make a JOB out of it, teaching other guys how to have nonstop sex. Then it’s just flat-out WORK after a short while. And I think this applies even to sex. If I slept with a different woman—no, make that two—every day for thirty years straight, I’d be around the 20,000 number that one guy I’ve read about claims to “achieved” (or is that “scored”?). And I’d be ready for a “vacation”.

Second, I…um…might at some point become interested in BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP WITH A GREAT WOMAN. This, at least where I come from, typically involves spending more than half a day (max) with her. It also probably involves SEEING HER AGAIN SOME TIME.

Now, I fully understand that several of these “world class pickup artists” in the so-called “seduction community” have actually relocated to South America, Eastern Europe or other places where the women are apparently more “sexually open” than they are here in the good ol’ U-S-of-A.

Well, again. That’s fine for them. But on top of the other reasons I’ve given for not joining them, add to the list that I LIKE IT HERE. And I like the women here.