Student Resources, Part 1

One of the assignments in my classes at Emily Carr University of Art & Design, is to submit some resources that we do not discuss in class. Below is part one of some of the resources submitted by my students; all comments are theirs, not mine.

• Basic Inquiry Allows me to further build up my anatomical drawing skills and create possible inventory. It is a resource for fine tuning drawing skills, group show casing, and workshops.
• Communications Arts (magazine publication) Good for keeping a look out on trends and what other designers, photographers, and illustrators are up to. It is also a good place for advertise and showcase my work; another route for gaining exposure and marketing myself because it provide competitions and call for submissions.
• ArtForum (magazine publication) Good source of contemporary art reviews, essays, and gallery exhibition. Continuous resources for learning more about art/ stimulate art making process.
• Alliance for Arts and Culture Provides job postings, volunteer opportunities, workshops, and resources. Good career builder-----I can still apply for a job in a related field if I feel I need a change of pace or a break from my practice.
• Helen Pitt Gallery This seems like a welcoming group for the emerging artist and has a good reputation. They have a broad universal theme that I believe my work could enhance.
• The Drift They provide public exposure to my work, maintain a web profile, and keep me informed of submission calls and other resources locally and across Canada.
• AIGA: http://www.aiga.org/ AIGA is an online professional association for design. It’s a great resource for prospective and current designers that highlight professional resources (i.e. salary surveys, industry articles), education opportunities and design trends. For now, I use it mostly as an educational resource for workshops and articles on graphic design programs. In the future, I plan to use their job listing website and post my work in the “member gallery”.
• Drawing Board: http://www.drawingboard.org/ This is a great resource for artists to post their work and get feedback from the public. The work can range from photography, illustration, life drawing, caricatures etc. This is useful in terms of finding inspiration for my design school portfolio or posting my own work for honest feedback.
• Software training online-tutorials: http://www.lynda.com/ Lynda is an affordable online training website that I use for tutorials on Adobe Photoshop. It’s great for people who want to learn the software on their own time and get up to speed on current design technology. I started with Photoshop, but I also want to expand my knowledge on Illustrator and InDesign.
• Before & After Magazine: http://www.bamagazine.com/ This is a great magazine that I subscribe to. It gives quick tips (online and print) on how you can use simple elements of design to improve your website, print materials, presentations, etc. Each tutorial is broken up into steps so it’s easy to use for everyone, including non-designers. This is a sufficient resource for me right now because I don’t have as much experience in graphic design. I’ll likely move onto more advanced tutorials as I progress in my career.
• Open Studio Program (www.langleyartscouncil.com/webpage/id/3). I chose this resource to provide me with opportunities for instruction, community building, networking, and mutual support.
• Langley Arts Council (www.langleyartscouncil.com). The Langley Arts Council works to raise the profile of the arts in Langley, promote and support Langley arts and artists, and to increase accessibility and awareness of the arts to the general public. I hope to actively volunteer with this organization. This exposure would be beneficial for my emerging career and will facilitate networking.
• Emily Carr University of Art + Design Continuing Studies (www.ecuad.ca/programs/cs). I will continue to pursue my artistic education by taking courses in a variety of mediums after successfully completing the requirements to receive the Certificate of Fine Art Techniques. I will acquire new skills to enhance my professional development and my own practice, be challenged to look at art with different perspectives, be involved in a peer assembly and have networking opportunities.
• Canadian Artists Representation (CARFAC)(www.carfacbc.org). A wealth of information and resources to address my issues as an emerging artist. Also, members have their names and website addresses listed on the CARFAC website.
• Canadian Art (www.canadianart.ca). I’ve subscribed to this magazine for a few years. It profiles Canadian contemporary artists and their work. I live outside of Vancouver and do not have many opportunities to visit many galleries. The articles and visual content of the publication challenge my thinking about what is considered art.
• MyArtClub.com (www.myartclub.com). A user-friendly website designed by artists for artists who wish to increase exposure and sell their work. They claim to be easy, effective and economical.
• Cultural Human Resources Council (www.culturalhrc.ca). This website has a very interesting and informative resource guide titled: The Art of Managing Your Career in Visual Arts. The guide clearly outlines the steps you need in order to reach your goals.
• Opus Framing and Art Supplies (www.opusframing.com/community). Not only to buy the tools of my trade, I use their website for many functions. Under the heading “ART NEWS”, I find the Call for Submissions, Workshops, Exhibition, Show & Sale, Studio Tour, Festival and Other links invaluable for keeping current with the Visual Arts community.
• Cultural Human Resource Council (http://www.culturalhrc.ca/).This is a web site with all sorts of information regarding career development and human resource issues. It has representatives for all types of careers in the arts. There is important information regarding training and career development. This web site can offer me trusted resources for my career in visual arts.
• Neatorama.com has an art blog that provides space and audience to artists of all kinds. It would allow me to introduce myself and my artwork. Neatorama gets millions of readers every month, so that's a lot of potential new clients. This feature is completely free and comes with no strings attached. Neatorama is one of the largest blogs on the web. It can drive a significant amount of traffic to my website (once I have created one) and profile page at their Art Blog.