Writer Erin Loechner launched award-winning <a href="http://designformankind.com">DesignForMankind.com</a> in mid-2007 in an attempt to bring light to the inspiration found in today?s creative culture. Her work has been featured in Ready-Made, Glamour, Dwell, Lucky and Nylon Magazine. She is also a staff writer for AOL's top home design blog, <a href="http://www.shelterpop.com/bloggers/erin-loechner/">ShelterPop</a>, and is one-half of the creative business collective <a href="http://thinkbakery.com/">BAKERY</a>. Want more of her sound advice? Stay tuned <a href="http://thinkbakery.com/courses/">right here</a> to register for one of BAKERY's acclaimed business e-courses. http://designformankind.com <h2>I hate networking.</h2> <p>I know, I know. Total heresy. Let me explain?</p> <p>Networking, in the traditional sense, makes my stomach churn. You know the scenario. Business cards, three piece suits, Las Vegas conferences. The norm. Sure, it may work, but it lacks one key ingredient in a successful personal relationship: sincerity.</p> <div class="image"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/teachesandteaches/571146546/"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1358/571146546_b55fa5e101.jpg" alt="networking" border=0 /></a> </div> <h2>I'm a firm believer that if you can't offer sincerity, you can't offer much.</h2> <p>And as creatives, if our heart isn't in our work, it can get pretty ugly. And I'm not talking metaphorically here. Really, it's ugly.</p> <p>Same goes for networking. Without heart, you're just a gal with a paintbrush and an email address.</p> <p>In other words, you can attend all of the trade shows in the world and rock an overflowing Rolodex, but if you don't make a sincere effort to foster those relationships, chances are, it all means nothing.</p> <p>Remember that really bad late 90's song 'You Get What You Give'? Although I don't encourage you all to <a target=_blank href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91WgM6dNLTE" title="YouTube - New Radicals - You Get What You Give">skateboard in the middle of a mall</a>, this song has a great message when it comes to networking. Don't expect Martha Stewart to descend upon your studio anytime soon just because she slipped you her assistant's assistant's main line during last season's craft show. Networking is a 2-way street, and unless you have something to offer Ms. Martha herself, I wouldn't bank on your phone number making its way into her speed dial anytime soon. Think you have nothing to offer the Queen of Craft? Think again.</p> <div class="image"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/miekewillems/3179752157/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3179752157_4741317072.jpg" alt="networking" border=0 /></a> </div> <p>You have a perspective. A pair of eyes, a pocket of experiences and a lot more talent than you think. <a target=_blank href="http://networkmiami.blogspot.com/2007/05/10-most-creative-ways-to-network-for.html">Use your head</a>. Get creative. Chances are, if you can illustrate something worthy of a sale or two on Etsy, <a target=_blank href="http://webhypes.com/blogging/improvement/stand-out-of-the-crowd-on-social-media-websites-like-digg-and-start-making-some-real-traffic">you can figure out how to catch the attention</a> of any blonde jailbird you set your sights on.</p> <p>With that said, forget about Martha. You don't need her. Look around you. We are so blessed to be surrounded with BILLIONS of creatives from every walk of life. Someone, somewhere is bound to be feeling similar to you. <a target=_blank href="http://webhypes.com/blogging/improvement/stand-out-of-the-crowd-on-social-media-websites-like-digg-and-start-making-some-real-traffic">Find that someone</a>, establish that connection, and grow a friendship. You'll need that friendship whether or not your work is picked up by a gallery.</p> <h2>Don't discount a less than obvious connection.</h2> <p>For instance, I'm a blonde Midwesterner living in L.A. with three bachelors' degrees, two dogs and a weakness for paper goods. You may be the complete opposite, but I would suspect that I know someone a lot like you. And unless you ask, you'll never know if I'm willing to make the introduction.</p> <p>Now let's talk specifics. Obviously, this crazy webosphere is a great place to establish connections, but come on? that's way too easy. <a target=_blank href="http://www.americantowns.com/" title="AmericanTowns.com: Online Local Community Network - Connecting The Community Is What We Do Best">Get off your couch and into your community</a>. The best mentor I ever gained was someone I met at the market in the check-out line. Be friendly. Be open to possibility, but be intentional.</p> <p>Use your resources. <a target=_blank href="http://www.designspongeonline.com/" title="Design*Sponge">Grace Bonney</a> has established a fantastic networking event for some of us in bigger cities with her <a target=_blank href="http://www.designspongeonline.com/category/events" title="Design*Sponge &raquo; events">BizLadies MeetUp</a>. Don't live in a big city? Check out <a target=_blank href="http://www.mediabistro.com/events/" title="mediabistro.com: Events">these events</a> across the globe.</p> <div class="image"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/unmadebeds/2267844624/"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2222/2267844624_cf974bd055_o.jpg" alt="networking" border=0 /></a> </div> <h2>Get creative.</h2> <p>How about a VideoChat session? A Yahoo group? A community blog? Book club?</p> <p>And to be totally honest, if you're reading this post right now, you have all the resources you need to <a target=_blank href="http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/696/Social-Networking-Build-Your-Own-Community/" title="Social Networking: Build Your Own Community | Practical eCommerce">start a network of your own</a>, or include yourself in an existing network. And if you've ever commented on a blog, you've already done the latter. Congratulations! You've networked!</p> <p>The good news is that this post is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so, <a target=_blank href="http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&amp;itemId=1074463739" title="">so many benefits of networking</a> and billions of ways to go about it all. Figure out what works for you, and go get 'em.</p> <p>And lastly? Never, EVER monetize a current relationship. It's rude, crude and socially unacceptable. People are not steps on their way to your heaven. Grow some respect and take the elevator.</p> <p>Besides, I happen to know what <a target=_blank href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/01/painting_fakes.html" title="Seth's Blog: Painting fakes">Picasso thought about that sort of attitude</a>, and trust me, it wasn't good.</p> <p><span class="small"><em>*could be an exaggeration, but wouldn't hurt to find out...</em></span></p> 2009-09-15T14:30:06-07:00 Erin Loechner dives into marketing yourself as a creative, getting people to remember your name, and the importance of networking with heart. 2 erin 1 published 2009-09-15T14:36:18-07:00 1327 Sam Cookson is a Fine Artist, Sculptor and full time dumpster-diver, from one of the 10+ Southport's in the world. He works mostly with Found Objects and re-purposed Wood panels, using whatever paints he can salvage along the way. More recently his work has seen an increase in size, after acquiring a Sailboat and a Piano when poaching objects from a derelict Theater. Such is life. http://allofusarelost.wordpress.com/ <h2>Introduction</h2> <p>Printmaking was never much of an option when i started Art college, but being a young Skateboarder, there was never lack of spray-paint in sight, and so a lot of my work as an artist all these years later tends to manifest as street art, but on wood-panels. I've found myself fortunate to have a studio space that's about twice the size of my bedroom and living room combined, which serves me nicely for throwing a whole bunch of paint around with no concern.</p> <p>I'm far from a graffiti artist these days, and much more fine art based, so i find myself wanting to do some printmaking of my own work, which isn't easy for someone who is habitually a 'found-materials' artist. Chances are this guide won't be so much of a step-by-step, but perhaps one of my hack-techniques might make your printmaking life a little easier, or cheaper! </p> <p>Also, i've found that making Swine-Flu parody images has so far kept H1N1 at bay! Touch wood!</p> <h2>1. Sketch, Sketch, Sketch.</h2> <p> I don't know many visual artists who don't have at least one sketchbook getting scuffed around at any one time. I've kept one as a rule for the last 7+ years, and this is probably the MOST important part of my creative process. So yeah, grab hold of the nearest, most primitive writing tool at your disposal, and start forming some rough images. If you already have a rough idea of your end image, great! If not, sit back, let your mind wander? got one? Is it a Giraffe? Try again, or stick with the Giraffe if that does you. When you've got a nice rough-up, get a fresh page and make a nice, big, clean lines image. Nice thick black marks now! </p> <div class="image"> <img src="/images/tutorials/samcookson/01.jpg" alt="Sketch, Sketch, Sketch." /> </div> <h2>2. Throw Up.</h2> <p> Don't listen to the negative hype about eBay, there is some stuff on there that actually works, from regular people who aren't scamming you. Case in point, the sweet Overhead Projector (high school style!) that i grabbed for &pound;25. ($40?) Best purchase i've made in a while. Now go find some Acetate, or some kind of transparent sheet of plastic, glass maybe, that'll take a sharpie. I mean, what WON'T a Sharpie write on?? Now jam that on top of your awesome sketch, and trace it nice and neatly. While you let the ink dry a little, go find a piece of cardboard the same size as (preferably slightly larger than) your desired end image. In this case, the image was roughly 11"x16", which is near-as-damnit to A3 paper. Some cereal boxes might do the trick, i'd found some packaging from my most recent Amazon-binge. Now project that see-through sucker onto the card and trace, trace, check and trace some more. </p> <div class="image"> <img src="/images/tutorials/samcookson/02.jpg" alt="Throw Up." /> </div> <h2>3. I'll Cut You!</h2> <p> Unless you're really into wrist pain and tender fingers, get an awesome and sharp scalpel/craft knife and find a hard surface to carve your stencil out on. In this image you'll see i've broken down my image into 3 layers, this will totally depend on how many colours your image wants to be, and how detailed. In this case i stuck to a basic 3, 4 at a push, but more on that later? Yeah, carve away, be sure to leave small tabs that'll hold your image together as a stencil. This can be achieved afterward with a bit of tape, but it's better to get into the habit of tabbing. </p> <div class="image"> <img src="/images/tutorials/samcookson/03.jpg" alt="I'll cut you!" /> </div> <p>How does it look? Great! Lets start making a mess.</p> <h2>4. All Your Base.</h2> <p> Here's where some kind of studio space has been essential in switching to creating larger, more painterly pieces. I've found myself quite attached to all the splashes and drips that are found when painting quite rapidly. I think that it helps an image retain that 'just painted' aesthetic when returning to view it much later. The sense of urgency is always an exciting thing to see in a painting, at least in my opinion. It's the happy mistakes that add character. </p> <p> That said, we're going to start on prepping a surface for your final image. In the quest for drippy, urgent looking painting techniques, i've discovered two awesome tools. The first is a diner-style sauce bottle, the second is a spritz-bottle. </p> <div class="image"> <img src="/images/tutorials/samcookson/04.jpg" alt="All Your Base." /> </div> <p>You can see the two in the image, along with the spray paint, all i do is fill the container 1/4 the way with paint (in this case green) and the rest with water. Then shakeshakeshake, and keep testing until you get a nice flow, but minimal translucency. When it's good, grab your base material. In this case i'm using illustration board in black. I'm not a fan of plain white backgrounds, so i went with black. Now start spraying and squirting your paint until you've made a beautiful mess!</p> <h2>5. Victor, Meet Spoils.</h2> <p> Once your background/base has dried, either to one side or left outside for a bit, bring it back and grab whatever stencils you've got. The rewarding part is now. </p> <p> First off, if you didn't have any black board to work on, don't spray paint something else black, hardly anything sticks to spray paint once it's dried, which is no fun. If you didn't do that (like me first time round) then great, lets carry on. Take your stencil, if theres more than one, get your furthest-back template and line it up, get plenty of tape on there to keep it still when it's all good. Now get that spray paint, or some acrylic if your careful to not let it run under your stencil, and lash plenty of colour through them gaps you lovingly carved earlier. Lift it up, looks good huh!? </p> <div class="image"> <img src="/images/tutorials/samcookson/05.jpg" alt="Victor, Meet Spoils." /> </div> <p>Let it dry, spray paint will take about 10 seconds, then line up your next stencil piece. My Father always said "measure twice, cut once", and that's about the only sage bit of knowledge he had left before i turned 16 and obviously became the intellectual superior. Heh. So yeah, measure twice. Is it in line? I mean, perfectly? Get that next smattering of paint down. Rinse, repeat for any more layers you've got. You should get it awesome first time, but there's always room for something to go amiss, which is all good, just make sure you've got spare materials. Now go wash your hands because paint does wonders for the sores that you got from the scalpel accidents you had earlier. </p> <h2>6. Measured Twice, Failed Once.</h2> <div class="image"> <img src="/images/tutorials/samcookson/06.jpg" alt="Measured Twice, Failed Once." /> </div> <p> Ok, so i mis-measured, yeah yeah, whoops. Get that spare material i mentioned, and start again with the paints. Step 7 awaits when you're done... </p> <h2>7. No SIlkscreens in Skips.</h2> <p> So as i mentioned, i might have a nice big space to make a mess, but i never really got much of a start on Printmaking. So i suppose that these prints will be more like Litho, Archival etc. or what have you. Since we're working from essentially found/spare materials here, this is cheating a little, but you can't win them all from skips and scraps. Go to your nearest art-supplies store, and find high-GSM, slightly textured Watercolour paper. The stuff will need to be essentially card, but not quite, and be large enough to leave a slight border around your correct-sized image, (11"x16", remember?) we'll trim the fat later on. Get your finished illustration-board masterpiece, get that paper you've just bought/found, make sure there's enough sheets for your edition, and head to somewhere that's got a great setup for reprographics (photocopiers, scanners, awesome printers yadda yadda..) </p> <div class="image"> <img src="/images/tutorials/samcookson/07.jpg" alt="No SIlkscreens in Skips." /> </div> <p> I live in a small town, which still has a blacksmith and stuff, so it was easy for me, there's a printmaker already in a small village near my house! Regardless, head in to the residence of all those wonderful printing machines, and demand the best printmaker in there! Explain what your prints are for (artists Edition) and ask them to reproduce your now dry painted piece onto the awesome paper you have to hand. Now we wait, we get some food. Cup of tea. </p> <h2>8. More Hand Cramps.</h2> <p> Flash forward: You got your prints, they let you tweak the colour settings on the printer a little, and your stack of prints loo AWESOME. You've ridden home on your bike, and now you've gotta post your repro-babies to whomever may want a print. </p> <p>If you don't already have a nice big box from when you bought a print, or poster from the Internet, don't worry, the post-office do. </p> <div class="image"> <img src="/images/tutorials/samcookson/08.jpg" alt="More Hand cramps." /> </div> <p> Woah woah, don't jam them in there yet, you've gotta trim and sign and edition all those prints first! Grab that sketchbook again and start practicing your signature. Once the typography is flawless, and yet full of character, get chopping and numbering them prints?. maybe stick your iTunes on shuffle first, this'll take some time. Slow and steady! Now get some serious soft-packing in that box you have, stop them prints from getting ratty edges mid-post. </p> <h2>Conclusion And A Note About Reproductions</h2> <p> Damnit, you've only gone and made an Edition of prints! </p> <p>Don't be put off by all those guys and girls who can get their hands on screen printing equipment, as awesome as that all is, this way was still a great way of making prints almost entirely by hand. Plus, if you have subtle detail in your work, screen printing may not be the way to go, but a scanned image will retain all that detail. ALL OF IT. So maybe no making prints over the top of old, possibly embarrassing images, ok? Might not be visible, but make no mistake, that drawing of you giving a high 5 to Bill Cosby will be in the final print somewhere. Such is life! </p> 2009-09-15T14:30:06-07:00 Sam Cookson, an artist from England, shows us how he put together his edition of prints for <a href="http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/printexchange">The Great Art House Print Exchange 2</a>. Sam is all about figuring out how to make things work in a nontraditional way and shares his experience of stenciling and reproducing his edition. 1 samcookson 2 published 2009-09-15T14:36:18-07:00 2216