A GREAT Question

One of my favorite blogs is Making A Mark by artist and writer Katherine Tyrrell.

Katherine asks GREAT questions and sets up polls on her blog. Today's question which caught my eye is "How long do you spend looking at a painting you like?"

When I see a painting that I like, I will immediately walk up close and study it. I look at colors, lines, shapes, forms, light, shadow, how the artist applied the medium, and I also think about my art work. After close scrutiny, I step back again to enjoy the whole piece. This might take five minutes or more. Sometimes I even return to the painting or piece before leaving the gallery or show.

How about you?

How long do you spend looking at a painting you like?

How long do people spend looking at art these days?

According to Katherine's poll (lower right hand side of her blog post) at this time, 1-2 minutes is in the lead........

Sunday Sketches

If you have noticed the addition of a sketch by Sophia on the lower right corner of this blog, it is a "button" link to a group of artists who sketch and post their sketches on the Blue Chair Diary blog. Of course, the event occurs on Sundays.

I came across this group from a blogger friend, Deanna, who contacted me and suggested I join. Discipline is good; the act of committing to doing a drawing once a week will be a good challenge. Besides, it will be fun to get to know others who are sketchers.

You can come along, too. View the submission each Sunday either by using the "button" here or subscribing to Sophia's blog.

I will miss this Sunday. It is my grandson's first birthday and you know where I will be :)

This began as a sketch and then became a watercolor painting:

Ask Me About My Grandson
Joanne Osband
watercolor

Another Great Idea

A new blog to follow.....

Sketchers from around the world will be sharing their art on postcards.

The project has grown out of the Sketchercise group which was founded by Katherine Tyrrell.
Sketchercise is a group of people who enjoy sketching from life, have already developed the sketching habit, and have found ways of exercising with a sketchbook.

The idea of A Postcard From My Walk is that once a month an artist will mail a sketch done on one of their outings to one of the group of Sketchercise members who are participating in the project. That way they get to see the real sketch rather than just the image on the Internet.

The blog will record a monthly postal exchange of sketches on postcards between the 14 members of Sketchercise over the course of one year.

What a fun idea. Since I love to travel, I look forward to seeing the sketches from around the world.

Here is one of my sketches when I was traveling in Greece.

Kastraki Joanne Osband
watercolor & ink
September 2010

Blogs of Note

So much to learn!

Being relatively new to blogging, I just learned that there is a category in the blogger community that designates "Blogs of Note". When I found this I gravitated to the blog entitled Animal Art Adventures because of my love for animals.

Laura Hardie is a pet portrait artist who resides in Edinburgh. She especially loves drawing dogs in colored pencil or graphite. You must check out her website, too.

I will need to do more research about the criteria for which blogs are selected for this designation. Meanwhile, I will look at more "Blogs of Note".

By the way, as far as noteworthy items..........

Do you know the winter time substitution for a sun spot for a cat?

A heat vent

Much More To Learn

Joanne Osband
Fine Arts & Crafts Show
Olympia, Washington
I learned about Alyson Stanfield's book, "I'd Rather Be In The Studio," at the last artist workshop I attended.

Needless to say, it is pack with valuable information which I am slowly digesting. I was browsing through her blogs when I came across a post which educated me about creating a professional page also known as a "fan page" on Facebook.

Why?

Alyson lists five reasons:

1. There are over 500,000,000 users on Facebook.
2. A fan page is public; You do NOT have to be a member of Facebook to view a fan page.
3. You can have unlimited fans;
4. Facebook fan pages are indexed by Google and appear near the top of search engine results.
5. They are free!

Read her blog post to learn more.

I am in the process of creating albums of paintings on my "fan page". Although still in the creation phase, you are probably anxious to see what the page looks like. When you visit, at the top of the page you will see a "thumbs up" with the word "like." You can help me by clicking on "like" and adding your name. Thank you!

Check it out.........Joanne Osband Art Studio

Giving

On her blog, Making a Mark, Katherine Tyrrell each year posts art awards which showcase outstanding artists. Although she chooses from the artists who have been nominated for various categories, she invites us to vote for the Making A Mark Award for the best artwork on a blog in 2010.

Tonight while reading her blog, I came across a fabulous artist, Deborah Secor, who embodies the giving spirit by sharing her book and expertise with the world. Her book, Landscape Painting In Pastels can be read and studied in full on the internet. She says, "The blog format allows me to give it away freely to all." WOW! Thank you, Deborah.

I am enthralled by her pastel paintings and cannot take my eyes off of them. I immediately fixated on chapter sixteen - water and reflections. I fell in love with Granite Tranquility and you will see why. After I finish writing this blog, I am going back for more!

I feel as if Katherine has introduced me to some incredible artists to help jump start the new year with loads of inspiration.
Thank you, Katherine.