6th November 2011 - Who's made a mark this week?

Autumn Sunrise by Loriann Signori,
10 x 10 pastel on watercolor

This week I'm featuring Autumn at the beginning of this post - starting with Loriann Signori's wonderful Autumn Sunrise!  I really like people who paint subject matter appropriate to the season.  It always seems to help give me a fresh eye on the world around me.

• On The Art of the Landscape blog, I've started posting reader's images of their paintings of Autumn Landscape.  So far I've got two posted (see links below) and one coming up next week.  I was trying to get round to posting one of my own today - but maybe tomorrow!  Do let me know if you've drawn or painted a good Autumn landscape
• Limousin, France - Reader's Autumn Landscapes #1 by Nigel Fletcher  (Painting in the Limousin)
• Dale Hollow State Park - Reader's Autumn Landscape #2 by Bill Guffey
• Ronelle van Wyk (African Tapestry) has two super posts about the:
• colours and foliage of November #1
• colours and foliage of November #2
• I loved Duane Keiser's play on how the angle of light changes in the Autumn and creates some fabulous colour changes in Fall Light

Autumn sunlight near Verinas by Nigel Fletcher

Artists and Art Blogs

Makingamark's Top Ten Art Books in October 2011

This post comments on

• my assessment of Makingamark's Top 10 Fine Art Books in October 2011 
• The Best New Art Books published in October 2011
• new websites devoted to the best new art books published in 2011 - month by month.  These are dedicated to specific sites for 
• 2011: NEW drawing books (published)
• 2011: NEW painting books (published)
• artists and mixed media (both in draft)
• new websites devoted to the best new art books in 2012 - where announcements have been made and books are available for pre-order
• 2012: NEW drawing books (published)
• painting and artists both in draft

If you're beginning to draw up your Christmas present list or identifying gifts for other artists, these are a jolly good place to start!

The Artist's Calendar - for 2012

At this time of year I begin to get very anxious about finding a new art calendar for the New Year.  If I haven't found one by the beginning of December I ratchet up to 'panic stations' mode! That's because I don't keep a diary - I maintain a calendar - and it sits right in front of me at my desk - just to the right of the iMac - and what I look at through the year is very important to me!

This year I got rather more anxious than usual when I didn't see a "must have" art calendar soon after they started to be published in the late summer.

So this year I actually sat down and created a website - just to make sure I knew what was on offer this year!  Except when I got started I actually ended up with two (prompted by Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery  - see my blog post on The Art of the Landscape)!

Click the links below to see the two websites I created.

• Artist Calendars 2012
• Canadian Art Calendars 2012 

Which artists do you like for your calendars?

I think you can tell a lot about the art you like by the calendars you choose.  I have to confess I hoard my old calendars because of the quality of the reproductions.  (Did I say I refuse point blank to have a calendar with poor quality reproductions?)

TWO QUESTIONS for you

Call for Entries: Pastel Society 113th Annual Exhibition in 2012

For the third year running, this post about the Call for Entries for The Pastel Society's Annual Exhibition needs to highlight the fact that the dates for entry and submission have changed yet again!

This post summarises:

• the change in the pre-selection process - which this year is:
• applicable to all work and not just large work
• digital - with online entry
• the change in date for entry and submission to the 2012 Exhibition - and the fact that pre-selection closes on 21 November 2011
• the change in the name and why I still think this is not a good idea.

This is a link to my review of the 112th Annual Exhibition in April 2011 - Review: The Pastel Society's Annual Exhibition (25 Apr 2011).  The images are of last year's Private View.

POLL: What proportion of your art time do you spend on marketing?

24 hour clock by Paulo Uccello

This month the Making A Mark Opinion Poll is going to focus on just one aspect - the time spent by an artist in marketing their art.

The question is What proportion of your art time do you spend on marketing?

You can find the new opinion poll in the right hand column (just above "For Your Information").  It closes at the end of the month and the results will be published on 30th November.

Read on to find out more about:

• why marketing is important right now
• how to count time spent on marketing art