5 Popular Excuses for NOT Nude Modeling for Artists

1. I cannot sit still that long.

2. I don't want to be naked in front of strangers.

3. It is immoral to be naked in front of stingers.

4. Fill in the blank: I am too_____ 

a) ugly

b) fat

c) old

d) skinny

e) insert your own negative adjective.

5. It would be embarrassing to model. 

6. What if anyone finds out that I posed naked for models???!!! What would people think of me?! 

Next post - 6+1 Reasons TO BE a Nude Model for Artists

Want to model for artists in a studio setting? 

If you know someone of 21+ years old, send them to The Children's Gallery and Art Center. Model over 50 are welcome. Contact Carlos Franco @ 786-210-7517 or 305-224-9386. They are paying $30 for two hours.  

Smiles!!!!

Angeline Marie of

Angeline Marie Fine Art

Facebook Page for Angeline Marie Fine Art

Curious about marketing for creatives and artists? Check out ArtBizCoach.com by clicking on this sentence!

Fridays In France: 9 Art Supplies on a Shrink-n-Grow List

As Paris, France gets closer in time (13 weeks at the time of this posting)...the packing list shrinks and grows. Should I take acrylic paint? Canvas? Large sheets of paper? What will I really use? At the end of the list is even a worse case scenario (thanks, Cynthia of Curious Excursion).

The list that stays constant are listed here. The ones with * are the same I used when limited to one motorcycle case for ten days. Andy and I had a LOT of fun on that adventure!!!

1. Tombow Markers

Juicy color, easily to transport, two tips: brush and marker.

Sample of how Tombow dual markers work
in my sketchbook. ©2011 Angeline Marie

2. Watercolor set*

Markers dry quickly in wind. Watercolor paint will help with color saturation.

3. 4B Pencils*

The most versatile pencil for all types of lines and values.

4. Sketchbooks*

Cynthia Morris of Original Impulse is providing a type of sketchbook that is new to me. The  Curious Excusion only lasts a week. I will be taking my favorite sizes: 8x11, 3x5 and 8x5 inches.

5. India Ink*

Feels like watery paint and gives a gorgeous range of values, from almost white to super deep black. Helps me "push values."

6. Brushes*

Very small brushes are going with me to Paris, France. Most art work will be under 11 x 14 inches.

7. Postcards

To send Paris, France to you!

8. Spray Bottles

Found these for a couple of dollars at a beauty supply store! The Tombow markers are water-based and spraying water on paint creates interesting effects.

9. Binder Clips, 3 inch.

Amazing how versatile these binder clips can be for holding, clamping, hanging, etc.

What still has me "iffy"

acrylic paint tubes, basic set of colors

prepped canvas, unstretched

desktop easel

large sheets of paper

Worse Case Scenario

Buy art supplies in Paris, France.

Ship things home.

Extra checked bag fee or bag weight fee.

What is an art or creative item that YOU must take on a trip? What art or creative tool are you guaranteed to use?

*For more about the 0 Planes, 1 Train, and 2 Up on a Motorcycle, click this sentence. For more about the items used on that trip, click this second sentence. 

Save the date! You are invited to share more art on Saturday, August 20th, at the Children's Gallery and Art Center!

Remember, too, to explore Paris, France with me during my Fridays in France posts which began Friday, May 6th.

Smiles!!!!

Angeline Marie of

Angeline Marie Fine Art

Facebook Page for Angeline Marie Fine Art

Curious about marketing for creatives and artists? Check out ArtBizCoach.com by clicking on this sentence!

Sketches Done at the Beach

When I leave home, the wallet, keys, cell phone, pencil sharpener, sketchbook, and pencil go with me. I never know what I will find to sketch. Going to the beach is different in only that in addition to the basics, I take a little ink and a few brushes. The beach is a great place for plein aire painting and drawing!

These are quick sketches of people and clouds. Can you tell these are beach scenes?

©All images copyright Angeline M. Martinez, 2010. Ink in sketchbook.

For more about what art supplies an artist (ok, at least this one) takes on the road, please visit my blog post about Traveler's Dozen.

For more explanation about what "plein aire" means, please visit my blog post What are Plein Aire Events?

Smiles!

Angeline Marie of

Angeline Marie's Fine Art

0 Planes, 1 Train, 2 Up on a Motorcycle - Adventure

Here is the ADVrider Ride Report link - this will have photos, comments, etc. Andy. You do NOT have to have an account to read the ride report:
CLICK HERE

Here is the Spot link - this is the map that shows where we have been already:
CLICK HERE

I am working on getting an online image account to upload some of my photos. Most of my photos are not to the level of Jason Eldridge, but they are mostly meant to be for art reference.

SPECIAL NOTE: You are invited to Coconut Grove's Art Stroll on September 4th at Dharma Studio! I will have a some of my art work on display there, from 7pm to 10pm! For more information, please visit my webpage and/or my blog page about the event.

Comments on this blog are welcome! Feel free to visit some of the past blog posts, too. Your comments, questions, and ideas are always welcome here, and you will receive a response.

Thanks for visiting! Smiles,

Angeline Marie of
Angeline Marie Fine Art

Traveler's Dozen for this Artist

Lately, it seems that my home studio is ignored, empty, and dark. The road gets more of my company than our cat Simon, and so have created an artist survival kit for myself.

I try to remember to keep it simple, silly (KISS) and so have pared down to the following dozen plus bonus items. After realizing that I truly use on a few things, this is it. To see a sample of the item, click on the item description in my list.

1. 3 to 4 pencils of 4B hardness 
2. pencil sharpener with attached "trash can"
3. round #8 and #5 brushes for watercolor painting techniques
4. black ink in unleakable container
5. plastic white tub top (recycled item) to use as a palette for ink
6. 2 sketchbooks: 3 x 5 inches and 8.5 x 11 inches, one for purse, one for sitting a while
7. laminated sheets, two for each sketchbook (keeps pages dry when working wet)
8. 2 large binder clips (keeps sketchbook pages open in wind)
9. scotch tape (for business cards, tickets, etc.)
10. MP3 player for podcasts, music, etc.
11. digital camera for reference photos to take home
12. business cards because I am optimistic
13. sunblock

This all sounds like a lot, but it packages down easily since most of my travel requires sunblock, MP3 player, camera, and business cards. The most bulky of all the items is the larger sketchbook, and the smaller items are usually tucked into it.

I prefer to keep my travel kit to black and white sketches and ink paintings because it keeps everything simple enough for me to actually use while outside of home. My philosophy is that as I improve in black and white, my use of color will improve, too. For more on how black and white exercises improve your perception of colors, click here for photographer Jason Eldridge's blog post about returning to basics.

If you want to know what I am up to for the next days, click on the following link: ADV Rider Ride Report for FLA Rider

Smiles from the road!
Angeline Marie of
Angeline Marie Fine Art

Figure Drawing at the Bakehouse Art Complex

After many months of of enjoying participation by the emails sent to me by the Bakehouse Art Complex, I finally GOT TO ATTEND!!! I have to shout that here, because the driving distance between my home and this wonderful place sometimes seems unsurmountable. The hour up and second back will be repeated for their monthly figure drawing sessions. Life gets in the way, but sometimes I will get there!

Mike, the one who monitored the Bakehouse Art Complex, gave me a wonderful complement while I was leaving. He said he noticed that of the dozen or so artists in attendance, I was the only one using brushes. He said that in my inks, you could tell they were figures, but with an abstract style. Cool! 

I will be sharing more about each set of two ink drawings, as well as some sketches from those wonderful two hours. 

What do you think of these inks? What would you like to know about these?

Angeline Marie

of Angeline Marie Fine Art

For more figure drawings (naked people), go to my page Angeline Marie's Fine Art - Figures.

Indiana Trip 2010 - Silly Photos

If you want some art talk on this post, you might be disappointed. Other than the art found at Lincoln's Tomb and the St. Louis Arch, silliness, fun, and relaxation were the goals of this recent vacation.

The trees in Indiana are so TALL! The corn in the foreground is at least six feet tall - and the trees are distant and tower over everything. The farm photo shows what I mean. We do grow corn in South Florida, but not as much as in Indiana. Incredible greens!

Brenda and Andy rubbing Lincoln's nose for good luck.

Brenda and Andy rubbing Lincoln's nose for good luck.   Silly me, echoing the St. Louis Arch. 

Do you see what I mean about the trees? For those of you who live outside Florida: hurricanes are the way regular tree trimmings occur here. Most trees are either trimmed by humans being pro-active to protect homes and property from hurricanes OR are naturally trimmed by hurricanes. The result is a whole bunch of low-to-the-ground trees. I also thought it super weird to have occasional cemeteries show up casually along the roads - and such old ones! 

Other than boring you with over 400 reference photos of landscapes in Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, here is one sample of the farms that left me speechless and in awe. Most photos were taken from inside of a moving car. I would have enjoyed using the small watercolor kit and/or my sketchbook that I took, but had to adapt to just using my camera. Within minutes of setting up to watercolor (cup holder with soda can of water, open sketchbook, a few watercolor dry paints), I was immediately reminded of how car sick I get and had to take a nap to recover. We spent many hours in the car...but the only thing this passenger could do safely was take photos. Oh, well!

Do you take reference photos when you travel? Do you take silly photos of you and your friends and family? If you are an artist, what supplies travel faithfully with you? 

Smiles,

Angeline Marie of 

Angeline Marie Fine Art

Getting in the Mood

I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to earth." --Pearl Buck, American writer

Art is a need for me. At times, I am not in the mood to create, but I make the time. Into the studio I go, rummage and re-organize supplies, play with wax, set up for the next painting session. After a five minutes of that, I grab a pencil and do what I am beginning to call "Speed 30." I have to get down to creating, and the brief ritual gets my mind jump started.

"Speed 30" is something I got out of Dean Nimmer's book, Art from Intuition. You can either create a scene (a still life) by grouping objects together, or you can use a photo or a figure model (a person posing). The idea is to spend only ONE MINUTE per drawing of the object(s). Once the minute is up, move to the next drawing. By the end of 30 minutes, you should have 30 drawings of the same object(s). The results of this exercise are quite interesting. So far, this is my favorite thing to do when I feel "stuck" or uninspired. I am still creating and drawing, therefore I am happily "getting in the mood" and getting "mind down to earth." Some of these drawings have inspired some of my mixed media pieces.

As for exercise, there is always time to work out. If you have a minute, drop and do push ups or crunches the entire minute. I have a no excuse policy: there is work out gear in every geographical place I spend time. That means I have gear at work (in disguise, for when the chair hurts), at the gym, in my studio and home. I have the same no excuse policy for creating art: sketch in my mind, in a book, on a piece of paper, on my gadget.

You want to do something? Create the mood. Get a pencil and paper and just draw lines. Wear work out clothes under your work clothes. Do what you need to get yourself doing what ever it is that makes you dream. Sometimes, like my artist photographer and friend Jason Eldridge, it is a simple as "getting out the door"!

Artist (me) at the easel with "Heart on Sleeve," March, 2010 at the shared studio.

Smiles!

Angeline Marie of

Angeline Marie Fine Art

PS: Remember, you are invited to the Deering Estate the weekend of April 17th and 18th for the "Affair en Plein Aire." For more details, please click on the words Deering Estate. Thanks! 

DRAWING MATERIALS - BASICS

Sometimes, someone asks me what supplies should they get for an aspiring artist. Well, here goes!

Office Depot, Staples, Office Max have basic supplies. Michael's also has some. I'm sure up north Hobby Lobby will have. Art sites such as www.jerrysartarama.com and www.utrecht.com have better loose supplies (meaning you can buy as many of one type of pencil your heart desires, etc.) that the office supply stores may not have.

The list:

- #4B pencils run about $1 each (don't waste time w/kits full of different pencil types),

- pack of "smudgers" (they look like sharpened lollipop sticks for blending the pencil ($3/pack),

- a sketch pad that has a book binding not spiral (Borders, Barnes & Noble, look in discount sections, $10-20) about 8x11 size are nice b/c pages stay in,

- pencil sharpener (Dollar Tree!), get a few because somehow they always get lost & scattered,

- small pencil pouch to carry pencils, etc.,

- gray eraser that you have to pull & stretch (Michael's) & perhaps one pink eraser.

I think that's it. It'll run you about $30 for all - paper being most expensive @ ~$8/pad if you don't want the book bound type.

For lessons, I did a quick YouTube search:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=drawing+lessons&aq=2&oq=drawing

Although I didn't have a chance to watch any of the videos, seems like there are some high quality lessons!

Check your local library for art videos and/or lessons. Check www.wetcanvas.com for the BEST artist forum in the world (you will get lost).

Thanks to Daimisy for the idea of this blog topic!

Jerry's Artarama - Dangerous!

I've been a catalog shopper of Jerry's for a few years now. They have super prices, and better customer service. They opened a store in Fort Lauderdale. I resisted visiting. Now, they opened a store in Miami. YIKES!

I can't go in there...I did go in there...and all things considered, didn't spend as much as I could! Got some more drawing paper, some brushes, tape...No, the tape did NOT help me stick things to my hands.

Now I know where to shop for frames, and canvas, and, and, and. Utrecht, know that I still love you, but Jerry's has some serious supplies. Rows, and rows, and rows of supplies.

My dreams are sweet, LOL.

PS: Bianca, this post is dedicated to you, because now you can finally post comments on my blog.