Online Art Design and Craft Classes From the Best

I wrote in my last post that I had hit a major “snag” in my posting since discovering that one may not be “legally correct” by using photographs from another site, even if one is merely publicizing for them, and alerting other potential readers to it’s existence. The aforementioned post concerned an artist by the name of Marilyn Radzat.

I have spent the time in the interim trying to solve the dilemma; a post about arts and crafts cannot work without photographs. I have found the most amazing art that I have never seen since beginning this endeavor, and it has been somewhat of a distraction that I don’t know if I can legally include a photo of the amazing things that I find. I do, however, have several happy things to report in the interim as I continue to analyze how to handle this hurdle.

Number one: Not only is Marilyn Radzat the finest fantasy artist I have ever had the pleasure of discovering, she is also a real person. I don’t mean that in it’s most literal sense; Of course she’s a “real” person; she makes “real” art. I mean that she is accessible and nice. She actually took the time to personally email me with permission to use her photographs to promote her art classes. In case you aren’t familiar with the artist, she does not do this for money, but for the love of teaching. Her works are in fine galleries throughout a great deal of the planet, and in the homes of such notables as the Clintons, Ron Howard, and Anne Rice, to name a few.

Number Two: For the first time in her decades-long career as an accomplished fantasy artist specializing in figure form, she is offering on-line classes.

Number Three: The classes are very reasonably priced. A steal, as a matter of fact. The opportunity of a lifetime, in my humble opinion. She told me in her email that teaching was what she loves best; hence, the reasonably priced online classes, accessible to folks from all walks of life, not just the privileged. She could easily give personal classes to only those who could afford the exorbitant price she has a right to request.

Number Four: She often uses gourds and specializes in incorporating other “found” and natural materials in her works, such as stones, shells, flea market finds and “throwaways”… Although she does fantasy art in other mediums, it’s predominantly sculpting in one medium or another; her depiction of female faces is unparalleled. She has a lovely “artist’s statement“, which is:

See her website @ www.marilynradzat.com/ for breathtaking examples of her other “prettier” fantasy works. For a mere $20.00, yes, you heard me correctly, $20.00, you can take the online course of how to create these enchanting “pea-pod babies“…. Find information on all classes @ www.thatcreativeplace.com

Now, THIS is what I call “art”….

Now, loyal readers, this is very irritating. I am stuck in a sort of limbo here about copyright laws and such boring details as that. All I want to do is direct you to some extremely cool sites with fantastic art, and I feel that in order to do that, the post should include one photograph of the aforementioned art to get your attention so you’ll know I’m not making this up. But now I have become hobbled, bogged down, and simply afraid to include a photo in my posts, even if it’s only purpose is to link you back to the site from whence it came and promote the artist. Doesn’t seem right, does it?

Anyway, I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it until you go and see for yourself. I just discovered this artist by the name of Marilyn Radzak…. Absolutely mind-blowing stuff. So, if you’ve gotten this far, please visit the site: www.thatcreativeplace.com/ It’s hard to remember that this was made from a gourd….

In the meantime, I will try to clear up this fog and confusion concerning the placement of a photograph which is used simply to link back to the site from where it originated… Sounds like good business practice to me, but hey, what do I know about legalities?

Leslie

Julian Beever, master of perspective

If you’ve never seen this work, you’re in for a surprise, a shock, and more than likely a great feeling of inadequacy! This is one of the “real” artists that make me feel like I’m no more than a child playing at finger-painting. But there will always be somebody who can do it better, whatever it is you do. All you can do is admire the work, be amazed, and thank the Lord that they exist to awe and inspire us. The vast majority of us will never reach this level, we just do the best we can.

Then take into consideration the fact that he works with such an usual medium; sidewalks and pavements…. He works primarily in Europe, and somehow manages to distort his drawings in such a way as to give them an absolutely unbelievable three dimensional effect when viewed from a certain angle.

He also does murals and traditional fine art paintings, but the “sidewalk art” is my favorite. He is an English artist who has been creating his pavement creations since the mid-1990s. Beever uses a technique called trompe l’oeil, French for “trick the eye”, and you absolutely cannot believe how well he does it. Take this for an example, if you can manage to wrap your mind around it… Now, keep in mind that what you are seeing right now is total optical illusion, created by the artist. There is nothing but the pavement in front of him (he’s the guy in the photo); no ledge, no Batman or Robin, no crowd, no burning building, just his art. Can you see where it begins? Look closely and with any luck you may be able to discern where the pavement leaves off and the drawing begins. Can you see the lines of the pavement in the drawing? Can you even believe that this guy can actually pull this off? I’ve looked at his work dozens of times and I remain in awe. And the real kicker is, that sometimes by the day after he’s finished a drawing, they’re often gone, erased by the feet of passing pedestrians. His work survives through photographs. What I would like to know is , who could actually walk over something like that?

Well, it wouldn’t be fair to just leave you with the one example of his work; let’s look at some more: Remember, all of these are drawings done on flat pavement, using “trompe l’oeil”, tricking the eye.

There are many more. I have only scratched the surface.