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Category: Features & Editorials

Inside the Sketchbook of Noemi Conan

Polish-born, London-based painter Noemi Conan discusses her lifelong impulse to gather inspirational fragments of data, and how she curates these visual mementos within her sketchbook as a way to process her busy mind. Noemi’s sketchbook serves as a creative receptacle for her collection of found materials and snippets of inspiration compiled from films, exhibitions and long journeys. Through this process of visual journaling, Noemi is able to explore the themes of migration, womanhood and identity that are central to her work.     Inside the Sketchbook of Noemi Conan I’m Noemi Conan, a Polish painter based in London for the time being. In my work, I explore the ways visual storytelling can aid me in talking about my conflicted experience of migration, self-image, and womanhood. I paint women, cats and conifers, smoking after dark, and extended hangouts at roadsides.     I arrived at what I would call a sketchbook by combining my lifelong obsession with collecting visual data – labels, dried plants, napkins, stickers, a particularly tasty typeface or logo, a ridiculous headline in the daily newspaper – with the written scaffolding I was encouraged to build by tutors at art school. My brain is a messy, overstuffed attic …

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Expert Advice on Social Media and Websites for Artists

Social media for artists can be a drain on our resources, often because we expect too much from it. It can be helpful to think of it as one useful tool rather than the whole box. This article is less about how to get a high follower count and more about identifying the purpose of your social media to help you approach it more effectively. I will also share insights on the necessity of a website and benefits of newsletters.     What’s the Purpose of Your Social Media? Figuring out the purpose of your social media accounts is the key to their ‘success’. And the success may come in many different forms. Are you looking to connect with your community? Build an audience for your work? Use it as a selling platform? I like the word platform because it suggests something to dive off and build from. Whether that’s simply directing people to your website or initiating an in-person meeting with someone at an event. It’s not the whole story, just the opening chapter. So with that in mind, try not to put too much emphasis on its immediate return. You may have all of these objectives, but, to …

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Inside the Sketchbook of Katie Moody

Katie Moody is a mixed media artist based on the south coast of England. Her work takes a joyful approach to absorbing the world around her, favouring playfulness and experimentation over the pursuit of perfection. In this article, she discusses the vastly important role sketchbooks play for her as an artist, the broad range of materials she uses, and how her intuitive approach leads to finished pieces within her sketchbooks.     Inside the Sketchbook of Katie Moody I have so many sketchbooks on the go! I fill them all with a variety of subjects rather than ones with specific themes, though I do love the idea of seeing the progression more clearly that way. They are very mixed, and I reach for them based on media and size. There are some I know work better with wet mediums, with paper that holds up to the amount of layers and materials I throw at it. Others work better with thicker paint layers or dry materials.     Most have smooth hot-pressed paper, which I love for brush pens. Sometimes I just want something small that’s easy to carry when I’m drawing outside. I have many half-filled sketchbooks, but they’ll get …

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Expert Advice on Open Calls for Artists

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition has prompted me to offer some advice on Open Calls. The response letter carries a lot of weight for many artists, but it’s not the only open call out there to consider. We are going to look at the benefits of entering open calls, researching and choosing wisely, advice for your application, and healthy acceptance of the outcome.     Expert Advice on Open Calls for Artists   Why Enter An Open Call? An open call is an invitation for any artist to have their work considered for an exhibition, residency, prize, or grant. In this article, we’re going to focus on open call exhibitions, which are a smart way to get your work seen by more eyes, including potential new collectors and galleries. You can also meet new artists to connect with and gain experience in getting your work exhibition ready. There is nothing like seeing your work out in the wild, curated in a space alongside other artists. You can use these opportunities to invite people to come and see your work. For example, an artist I work with had a painting at the Mall Galleries, in London, and she hosted a coffee …

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