If you sell on the internet you know that there is a learning curve and you need many skills to pull it off well. I’m talking about graphics, photography, web site publishing, blogging, html, and on and on. I’d like to alert you to a resource that allows you to learn at your own pace while video lessons are spelled out step by step, two to three minutes at a time.
I’m talking about www.lynda.com.
I’ve known about lynda.com but only recently used their services after receiving a free 30 day trial with my Photoshop CS4 purchase. In those 30 days I was able to teach myself some CSS and basics of Flash.
What? You’ve never heard of those things? That’s ok. You can get by selling on line and maintaining a web site without them. However, if you’d like to learn more about Photoshop, Blogger, WordPress, Dreamweaver, eBay, FrontPage, even iTunes now Lynda.com will hold your hand as you work through the lessons.
Each module has a handful (or more) of videos that you can watch for free to see if you’d like to continue on. To unlock the remaining videos it will cost you $25/month. And that is a STEAL!
I’m not an affiliate for Lynda, but I would be if they had an affiliate program.
from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit
Whether you’re heading off to art school, and want to fit in, or whether you’re already there, and realize you don’t, or whether you just want to be different at whatever school you’re at…
Take these steps.
Steps
- Understand that the world, including your clothing, is a palette to express yourself. Find what makes you feel happy or alive, not what others tell you is fashionable.
- Look at your hair. Something has to be different about it. Choppy, bangs? Dreads? Dyed a unique color, or streaks? Shaved head? Mohawk? Teased, big, hair? Extremely short (girls)? Extremely long (guys)? You get the point.
- Do you have any piercings? You’re not required to, as long as you employ many other methods of stand-out-isms, but it can help. Consider your eyebrow, especially. Or if you want something a little tamer, your cartilage. Be careful about nose rings. They can look trashy on girls instead of artsy.
- Give up shopping at the generic department store, except for small staples like underwear, simple tank tops, and maybe jeans.
- Buy the latest and most fashionable pieces you can find at the specialty or thrift stores.
- Dress up any shirt or dress with awesome accessories, with a belt added to the natural waist (on girls) really pumps up the artsy. A well tailored trench coat is a good artsy investment. Most of the time you have to look like you don’t care about what you’re wearing, you just threw something on. It also helps a lot if it fits really well, especially on guys. Artsy guys should never wear ill fitting ruined dress pants or something. If you do wear jeans, make sure they’re stylish and they can be ripped and faded. Shoes can be bought here too.
- Shop at ‘vintage’ stores or at tiny exclusive boutiques. This will be much more expensive, but you can find some truly original things. Perhaps a couple good, classy pieces mixed with other stuff is a good idea.
- Try Anthropologie, an artsy specialty clothing store.
- Look for jewelry that is interesting and unique, or ties together your look. Look for funky pieces, foreign pieces, expensive well made pieces, intricate wood pieces, and the 80′s had a bunch of fascinating stuff.
- Stop shaving (if you’re a guy), or give the impression you have. No artsy guy is hotter than when he has a little facial hair.
- Black is a good tool you can use to unify your look, as is white.
Tips
- Artists see the world around them as malleable and full of visual and physical textures. Clothing is a medium for art, both something that is art in itself and that can allow other art to happen. When you want to make your clothing an art statement, explore colors, fabrics, cuts. Do you find your self drawn to soft fabrics like velvet or stiff starched shirts? What colors do you think go well together? What is your reaction to big prints? Small prints? Also think about dressing so that you can allow art to happen. Have shirts that you can get paint or charcoal on. Wear leggings that you can dance in.
- Make your own clothing with or without patterns. Sew fabric into jeans, crochet a shawl, revel in remaking what is already out there.
- The whole point is to try to find beauty in your own unique style. If you ever find something and aren’t sure whether it’s the best thing you’ve ever seen or kind of cool, it’s a treasure. Buy it, use it, be proud of it.
- No matter what you do, or what style you go with, the key idea here is to look different and look your best. Whatever is not done, do it. Wear patent leather boots with knee length skirts with a stylish raincoat, wear a cute t-shirt with a feminine, flowing skirt. If you throw yourself into anything at all, with poise and self confidence you will most likely carry it off. More than anything, it’s about your attitude. Believe you look cool, wear whatever truly appeals, and you’ll be golden.
- Shopping at thrift stores is a killer way to get your different style on. You can find retro and modern styles and easily mix and match them. Thrift stores can be a great asset.
Warnings
- If you shop at a vintage store, make sure you thoroughly wash clothes before wearing, and only buy overgarments – such as coats and jackets at these stores. At the very least, get vintage store items professionally dry cleaned before wearing. You never know.
- Nobody can tell you your specific style, Again, The best way to find your style is to try things yourself. Try really bold or drastic styles, then if you want, round them off, carving out your looks.
Related wikiHows
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Dress Like an Artist. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
For as long as I can remember I’ve been obsessed with the process of creating. Creativity is as intriguing to me, as is psychology and what makes people tick. Whether it be the inner workings of the psyche that produces a design or the methodical adding one technique to another, it fascinates me. And, when something fascinates me I just have to believe that it is fascinating to everyone else, right? Well, maybe not, but that’s how I operate. So, today I give a little shout out to my own creative blog where I’ve been exploring my process and steps to finished designs…before I even know how they’re going to look in the end.
If you’d like to join me and follow my progress you can check it out here:
Lori Greenberg Glass Bead Blog. Currently up, I’m learning to fuse some beads flat so I can work them into finished jewelry pieces with fabricated silver. I’m not sure where it’s going but it’s going.
What about you? Do you like to hear about the artistic process? Do you know of other blogs that delve into that? I’m in search of others who do that…leave a comment and give me the links. I’m seeking blogging artists in all media.
