Art Makers Denver 2016!

Coming up fast--Art Makers Denver 2016!

Every year I'm pleased and very excited to be part of this fun and innovative urban art conference! It's like no other art-learning experience. Art Makers Denver offers a warm and friendly environment in which to learn and make new friends. I'm a friendly, patient, and knowledgeable teacher, and my workshops are designed to be easily understood. They feature lots of one-on-one, personalized instruction to fit your level of experience.

This year, fresh from doing a series of character designs for an upcoming animated film, and multiple gallery shows and commissions, I am extra-ready to share everything I know, from traditional to new illustration and art techniques.

So here are my workshops, going backwards from Day Three to Day One:

 Watercolor Techniques from the Golden Age of Book Illustration
I'm very stoked to be able to share my techniques! I've studied the great British Golden Age illustrators for years, gleaning their processes and integrating them into my own work. Designed for children's book illustrators (aspiring or experienced) and watercolor artists, here's the description:
Tom's Day Three Workshop

 Creating Illuminated Letters and Decorative Borders
I love hand-lettering, illuminated manuscripts, and innovative border design. If you've ever wanted to explore these for your own work, or want to grab fresh techniques and ideas, my Day Two workshop is for you:
Tom's Day Two Workshop

 Illuminating Illustration: 3-D Drawing with Forms
If you are new to drawing and/or illustration, or want to expand your creative drawing ability, my Day One workshop is designed to give you the information you need to construct creative and amazing drawings and illustrations onto the paper. I take you through the process in step-by-step, easily understood methods that I use everyday in my own artwork! Check it out here:

Tom's Day One Workshop
 
Tier IV pricing ends very soon, so now's the time for you and your friends to sign up!

And a bonus: Everyone who signs up for my workshops will receive a gift package and discounts at my online store
Tom Sarmo Store
 
and at my new Denver studio at Helikon Gallery!
Sarmo's Helikon Studio

Thanks, as always, for the visit!

You Can (and Oughta) be an Art Collector: Part Three

By Kayla Edgar

Kayla is a Colorado Artist/Illustrator. I bought this at a show we were in together called Monkey Business; at Valkarie Gallery. It's an 8" x 8" artwork that holds its own on any wall in my house.

Continuing from the previous post Collecting Art: Part Two

By David Thierree

I use Facebook for art inspiration--that's where I saw this. Luckily, I enthusiastically shared David's post with my family, and they later got the drawing for me as a Christmas present.
Also lucky--it happened to fit perfectly into this nice old frame.

By JB Monge

Etsy is great for inspiration, and a gift or two to myself. This drip-nosed goblin sketch was sized to fit into a 10" x 8", ready-made frame.

My taste in art doesn't suit everyone. Yours shouldn't either. Disconnect your fear of buying art by remembering that you aren't trying to please your guests; you are collecting to please yourself.

I hope these three posts on collecting art have given some incentive to become an art collector and support living, working artists. My aim was to show that great art can be found in a variety of places. The media focuses on the huge, million dollar art sales in NYC, and that seems intimidating to lots of folks. But everyone can and should enhance their life with original artworks, hand-made by real people, not the stuff churned out on foreign printing presses.

Check out more of the aforementioned artist's works here:

Kayla Edgar

David Thierree

JB Monge

 Next post: Great digital art to collect!

Thanks for reading!

You Can (and oughta) be an Art Collector: Part Two

By Irwin Peralta

Irwin Peralta is a Colorado artist. I found this landscape at his booth at the Art Student's League Summer Art Market.

Continuing from the last post  Collecting Art: Part One:

Myth Four: Posters are cheaper.

Not always. Often by the time you shell out the money for framing a poster, your cost ends up being the same or more than buying an original. Yeah, a poster-sized original might be expensive--I get that. But for me, a group of small originals is more satisfying than a big piece of paper from the local mall.

Myth Five: No difference between a poster and an original; both are just decoration.

Sorry, I'll never believe that. Original art is more than decoration. I'm a collector of many things, but having original artworks in my home and in my studio space has added the spirit of the artist to those places. You don't get that from a poster. Yes, when I was a kid, I bought posters to decorate my dorm room and apartments. They ended up faded and yellowed and in the landfill.

(Also, I'm not talking about prints carefully made by artists--digitally or otherwise. I have digital prints of my works, and immensely admire and respect digital artists and their works. I'm talking about posters made in China and sold in stores and places like allposters.com--with no regard for the artists who made them.)

 By Frank Moss Bennett 

Bennett was an English watercolorist.

I had my eye on this piece at a local, trusted gallery for years. Because it was an unsigned painting from the artist's estate, it was not expensive--it cost no more than a night on the town. And I didn't want it because of the artist's name; I just loved the painting. I suppose if I were accumulating pictures for a museum or a public collection; or I cared about status, I'd need to worry about signatures, or the artist's name or fame or something. But I hang artworks on my walls that resonate for me.

And I love landscapes. They add a peace to a room. You need calming? Just gaze at a favorite landscape--maybe study the brushwork and mood--lose yourself in it. That's as good as meditation. Believe me, a poster from Z Gallerie won't give you that.

Click on the names below for more art and info from these guys:

Irwin Peralta

Frank Moss Bennett

Thanks for reading, and for supporting the arts and artists.

Next week: More sweet originals!