Projection

In response to my post about displaying a presentation of your artwork in a festival booth or gallery exhibit, Les and Mary asked:

"Yep, we were planning to do similar in Mary's first exhibition, Aug 4th, just using my laptop out front... Any thoughts about an inexpensive computer projector...brand?? cost??"

Here is some info that may be helpful:

Click here for About.com's article about choosing portable projectors.

And click here for an interesting projector from Mitsubishi. It may be too small for your needs, but wow, it is very portable.

One thing to consider is the effect of sunlight. If you have a tent or will be indoors, this may not matter as much. But outside, it may be difficult to see the projected image unless you have a projector with a very high lumens rating.

If you have a Circuit City or similar store nearby, you may be able to go in and look at projectors to see how effective they are.

A flat panel TV would work too - put a frame around it, like a framed painting! You could put your computer on the floor or 'behind the curtain.' Maybe you could rent one from a local AV place or hotel that does conferences.

And what about a portable DVD player? Small, but up on a stand at eye level, it might work.

If you have experience with this, please let us know.

Hope this is helpful. And best wishes on your first exhibition, Mary!

Showtime

I attended an art festival this summer where one booth stood out. Against the back wall of her booth, the artist had placed a screen with images of her artwork slowly dissolving from one to another. It was a unique attention-getter that drew people into her booth. Because it ran on its own, she was available to speak with customers and make sales, while the slide show was attracting new visitors.

Photoshop includes a very easy-to-use tool called PDF Presentation. You choose the images you want to use, and then set the length of time the slides appear on the screen and the type of transition between slides. You can also set the presentation to start over automatically (or not). The slides display full screen with a black background, making for a very professional look.

To display your presentation, you could use a computer and projector, or put your presentation on a DVD and then use an all-in-one TV/DVD player.

Read the instructions for creating an automated presentation in chapter six of The Painter's Guide to Photoshop. Then set up your own show for family and friends, an art fair, gallery exhibit, speaking engagement, or other venue.

Paintjam Dan Dunn

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned Margaret Dyer's caution against "seeing too much" and trying to get too much detail into your painting. Here's a fun example of getting down to the essence. Be sure to have your sound on, and watch to the end. (@5 min) Enjoy!

Create a Catalog for Your Artwork

I've been reading a great new book, Art Festival Guide: The Artist's Guide to Selling in Art Festivals, by Maria Arango. The book includes great tips and techniques for every aspect of selling your art at fairs and festivals.

If you sell at festivals, you may want to have a catalog of your work with you, so you can show work that has already been sold, or show other pieces that you do not have available at that particular fair.

With Adobe Photoshop, you can easily create a Contact Sheet that can be used as a catalog. Prepare digital images of your artwork (a whole topic of its own!) and put them in one folder. Name each image with the name of the artwork; for example, Summer Pond.jpg. Then use Photoshop to create the catalog. Be sure to make an attractive cover page for your catalog. Take all the files to Kinko's or a similar print shop, add a spiral binding, and wha-la: you have a tasteful catalog that buyers can browse in your booth.

See Chapter 6 in The Painter's Guide to Photoshop for instructions to make the catalog.

Click here to learn more about Maria Arango and her book.

Do You See Too Much?

Last month I was privileged to participate in a painting workshop led by Margaret Dyer, P.S.A. She specializes in figures and is a master at revealing the essence of people with few strokes and gorgeous colors. Her frequent comment to those of us in the workshop was a caution against "seeing too much." In other words, don't try to put too much detail into your painting.

Photoshop can be a great help to you in this regard. If you are painting from a photograph, you can use Photoshop to eliminate some of the detail and get down to the essence of the image.

Use Image Adjustments to bump up the contrast and wipe out some detail. Use the Blur Tool on busy portions of the photograph. Try Posterize to exaggerate the basic color blocks in the photo. Experiment with other tools to get the look you are going for. Then print your photo and paint it without all the details.

For more information about Margaret Dyer: http://www.margaretdyer.com/

Is there any easier way to print the greeting cards?

This question is from Cactikid:

I set up my printer HP Photosmart following the guidelines in Photoshop and have problems printing my art within the guidelines specified. I have to keep fiddling around and reprinting until finally the picture prints where I want it to be. Is their an easier way?

And here is my reply:

Sorry you are having trouble. It is always hard to know the exact specifications of every printer. Some printers will print "bleeds" - that is, they print completely to the edge of the paper. Other printers will only print to within 1/2" (or another measurement) of the edge of the paper.

You might look in the documentation that came with your printer, or you may want to try a test. In Photoshop, create a new document with the dimensions 8 1/2" wide by 11" high. In the Tools palette, set a Foreground color. In the Edit menu, choose Fill and choose Foreground color. This will fill your document with color. Then print the page from Photoshop.

After it prints, measure the edges of the document that did not print with color (if any). Also, note any differences in the sides, top and bottom of the paper. Then you will know the limitations of your printer and you can adjust your future documents accordingly.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you still have troubles.