Taking Control of your Creative Life by: Michaela Cristallo You’re showing up to the studio every day, you’re making art and you feel like you’re on the right track, but do you ever wonder if you’re making the right kind of progress to get to where you want to be? It’s wonderful to create freely and […]
Practice, practice, blah, blah, blah…. Okay we get it. By now we’ve all heard the great secret of success is that you have to sit down and practice more. Then again if we did everything we are supposed to do, we probably wouldn’t have all of these infomercials trying to sell us the latest […]
Artists statements, what do they really mean? by: Andrew MacDonald Whether you love them or hate them, artist statements seem to be a fixture of the visual art world. So in order to help you make sense of them, and read between the lines, I have compiled a list of frequently used terms from artist statement […]
How can I create more art? How do I become a better artist? How can I get more people to see my work? What the $#!@ is a “Skinny Artist”? These are the kind of questions that people ask me all the time. Unfortunately I’m stumbling around in the dark like everyone else. Occasionally I’ll […]
Who are You? by: Angela Cross Brand (verb) – To mark indelibly. Think of branding as a stamp, by which people will be able to recognize you. Branding is a process of clarifying who you are as an artist and what your goals are. A strong brand can capture a potential fan or patron’s […]
Art is Work Creating art is a valid career. There seems to be this perception in our culture that art is not really a profession but more of a hobby. That creativity is a pastime, not a true vocation. It’s no secret that many of us see our day jobs as monotonous, boring, and […]
How to ship your art safely without breaking the bank I was recently talking to one of our fellow community members (the always awesome Toni DeBiasi) and she was telling me about how difficult it was to find good information online on how to ship art safely to customers without having to spend a ton of […]
Each year we publish a list of “21 Amazing Artists to Watch” in an effort to recognize some of the best up and coming artists online, as well as some who are already highly successful in their field. Now obviously we continue to keep a close eye on all of the artists we have featured in […]
This is the fourth book in an ongoing series where we talk about some of our favorite books that deal with art and the creative process. These books were chosen because they have significantly changed my own perspective as a writer and as a human being I believe these books will benefit any type of […]
Hold on… Before you start firing up the torches and sharpening your pitchforks — hear me out. Since you’re here at a site called Skinny Artist, I’m going to assume that you’re either a fan of the creative arts, or you simply ended up here by way of a misguided Google search for diet pills. Look, […]
You know we love this stuff! Those of you who have been around the Skinny Artist community for awhile know that we like to do whatever we can to encourage artists to follow their dreams and find a way to live their art every day. We love to share images, quotes, and writings that inspire […]
Tweak! Tweak! Tweak! No that’s not the sound of some deranged bird, it’s a creative perfectionist who just doesn’t know when to stop. Just one more… How many times have you said something like this to yourself? “Just one more edit.” “Just one more color.” “Just one more layer.” “Just one more ______ and I’ll […]
From fearless to fickle… Back when I was a kid, I remember experiencing that moment when you felt invincible and like nothing bad could possibly happen to you. Maybe this was a result of youthful naiveté (or general stupidity), or perhaps it simply evolved from years of swimming in a murky green rock quarry growing […]
Waxing the Golden Rule by: Kara Brook The road to hell & litigation is often paved with good intentions I’m an encaustic painter who enjoys sharing what I have learned as I develop my own skills. I’ve found there’s a lot of information on the web, specifically video trailers often linked to a video or […]
It’s time to. . . Let go of the anger of what could have been Let go of the worry of what might become Let go of the mistakes you think you’ve made Let go of a future you cannot yet see Let go of the expectations of others, their path is not […]
Dude, where’s all my stuff?! These days it seems my head and pretty much my entire digital life is “in the clouds” Yes, I’ll admit (grudgingly) that I’m old enough to remember things like CD’s, printed photographs, DVD’s, computer software that came in a box, and even those weird looking papery things with all the […]
Stop Thinking About It and Start Doing It! By: Dan Johnson You know that feeling when you’re dying to create some epic piece of artwork, but for some reason, it never gets done? As an artist, I get that feeling a lot. Sometimes I have a whole weekend free, and I think I’ll get a […]
Let’s be honest for a moment. . . Does your current website suck? Do you frequently suffer from website shame and embarrassment? Do you sometimes avoid telling people where to find your website because you haven’t updated in over 6 months? Does it seem like everyone else online has these really cool websites, while […]
You win, I lose! As creative artists we have been trained to see things in a particular way which is if you win, then I lose. We either get the publishing or recording contract or we get rejected. We either get the gallery show or it goes to some other artist We either get the […]
Copyright is Not the Problem, You Are! by: Cory Huff Pinterest is upon us! For some reason, the Internet decided to throw a giant fit over copyright over the last few weeks. It started (sort’ve) with this interesting blog post by a lawyer who tearfully deleted her Pinterest inspiration boards. Her post spread like wildfire, […]
The last several years, Skinny Artist has published a list of “21 Amazing Artists to Watch” in an effort to recognize some of the best up and coming artists online, as well as a few who are already highly successful artists in their field. Now obviously we continue to keep a very close eye on all […]
You’ve got more #$@% mail! Those of you who have been online long enough may remember when getting email was an exciting event. We all loved hearing that bossy little AOL voice telling us that we got mail. Our pulse would quicken and we would race to our email inbox to see what technological […]
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” ~Lao Tzu Let’s face it, having goals kind of sucks! What do you want to do, be, or have in ten years? Where do you see yourself in twenty years? What are your three major goals for this year? What are […]
This is the third book in an ongoing series where we’ll be talking about a small collection of books that deal with art and the creative process. These particular books were chosen because they have dramatically changed my own perspective as both a writer and as a human being I really believe that any of […]
How to finally get that art scholarship by: Kristina Gehrmann There are literally thousands of available scholarships, awards and grants out there, for both art students and professional artists alike, in all fields of art: writing, painting, sculpture, dance, acting, music, ballet, photography… This mere fact is a revelation for many. You too can get […]
Every once in awhile when we get our act together here at Skinny Artist, we have the pleasure of introducing you to a new featured artist. We have them sit down and talk to us for a few minutes about their experiences working as a creative professional. We’ll talk to them about their work, some […]
Turn Off, Tune Out, and Rediscover Your Life It’s probably no surprise to you that these days we are under a constant barrage of media input. If it’s not television, music, moves, or video games consuming your time these days — it’s probably email, blogs, apps, YouTube, websites, Twitter, and Facebook. I mean it’s gotten […]
I have always loved invocations like this because they remind us of the mysterious and quite possibly magical creative process that inspires all artists regardless of their craft. I forget how many times I have read this particular piece by the late great Irish poet John O’Donohue, but I do know that each time I […]