Japanese Body Painting Artist

This is the second in my series of ten articles about how to be a cost-effective artist - for "The Artist" magazine. This one is about framing.  That's because framing has the potential for eating into any profit you make in a major way. However there are a number of different ways to contain costs and this article suggests some of the ones I know about. What's your best tip or favourite tactic

These are some notes I made when visiting the exhibition of artwork by Jean Etienne Liotard at the Royal Academy of Arts - after I saw the new exhibition 'Painting the Modern Garden' on Wednesday. I'd been meaning to visit this exhibition for quite some time as it includes a lot of pastel portraits and I wanted to take a close look at them from a technical perspective. If you like pastels or

This is the last week of the Nature's Bounty exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens. It closes on Sunday 31st January (10am to 3.45pm). The exhibition is about the paintings of fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts in the collection of Dr. Shirley Sherwood.  The flowers which are included are those which include the method used for propagation associated with the flower - which is

This is a VERY overdue review of the RHS Botanical Art Show held last February. Initially I misplaced my catalogue and notes and then subsequently I was distracted (much loved cats dying etc.) and just plain forgot to write it up - so I'm now remedying the error as the RHS Botanical Art Show 2016 is almost upon us! Below are the images and information about the artists that won an RHS Hold

An approach from a major art website has prompted today's post about reasons NOT to link to a website. First the letter. Next and my response. Finally some of the reasons why it's not a good idea to link to a website ....and finally - what Google thinks about schemes to swop/trade links and why they are a bad idea. The 'request to link' email and my response I've removed the name of the

One of the things I very much like about the national art societies that exhibit at the Mall Galleries is they always have a good range of events, demonstrations and workshops. In February, the main gallery at the Mall Galleries will reopen after a major refurbishment and will be boasting a new energy-efficient heating & air conditioning system and more natural daylight. The first two

Earlier this week, the Share button disappeared from all posts on Facebook Pages for a number of people. [UPDATE 22 January 2016: Finally the 'share' button has returned to Facebook Pages - nearly two weeks after it disappeared. Seems like a long time to me for something that ought to be fairly straightforward to fix. Did it take Facebook this long to notice - despite all the feedback?] This

I have a problem with contemporary art. I always feel like I need a map to navigate what's happened in the last 100 years. There's just so many different artists and so many different art movements - and I find it very difficult to sort out who's important and who's not. This week Laurence King published a book called Art Visionaries which might well provide a resource to fill the gaps in my

The Cumberland Pencil Company announced the Call for Entries from international artists for The 3rd Derwent Art Prize on Monday.  The deadline for entry is 1st June 2016. The competition is now a biannual competition - so the next one will be in 2018. Astri Saunders, Marketing Manager at Derwent, said “We are proud to launch the Derwent Art Prize for the third year. Our aim of the

About the passing of David Bowie, his vision, visuals, paintings and my youth. David Bowie in 2002 Photo by Adam Bielawski Bowie is the man who elevated his music to what can only be described as an art form. I'm sure I'm not the only 60 something who has been remembering their youth today - following the news of the sad passing of David Bowie. (his website) He's one of the few people

Every year I write about how to enter the world's largest open submission art competition - the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. You need to know Artists wishing to enter need to know six things up front: If your entry is not one of the first 12,000 entries received you won't be exhibited. This is because, as in previous years, the RA are only accepting 12,000 entries for the

The only channel on British television which does programmes about art and artists on a regular basis - using people who are credible commentators is the BBC. In other programmes about art that are educational and informative and not just "entertainment". It's one very big reason why the BBC must remain a public broadcaster and NOT become commercial. Art documentaries on BBCiPlayer So - what

This week I came across a different approach to copyright infringement on an artist's website. The message on the website didn't look to dissimilar to those you see on many websites with respect to who to contact if you want to reproduce the art.  What was different was that the link went straight to a firm of lawyers in the USA who specialised in copyright and trademark infringement. Suddenly

I included a link to a video of Sargy Mann talking about what it's like to be a blind painter - and how to see more and see better - on my Facebook Page at the weekend. These are some of the words you would have heard from blind painter Sargy Mann in a TED Talk - if he hadn't died before he could deliver it The video has now "gone viral" - with many people appreciating listening to a man who

In 2016, The Artist magazine (in the UK) will be publishing a series of ten articles by me on the theme of 'Cost effective ideas for artists". The first one is in the February 2016 edition - published on 31 December - which is now available in the shops or online as a digital edition!  It's very easy to find - on page 66 - the last page of the magazine. The top of the first article - which

First of all I'd like to take the opportunity to wish a Happy New Year from Making A Mark here in London. May you and your art enjoy the best of times in 2016 wherever you live around the world. Next I have a celebration....... New Year fireworks in London 1st January 2016 Making A Mark was born on 13th December 2005 in terms of the first time I published a post. However I did then change