Fall Trees, originally uploaded by marilynsholin.

Just sharing a small part of our street here in the Smokies with you all. Was playing with this and it turned out to be more than a photograph and less than a painting and it all worked for me. Hope you enjoy it.

Our first year here in Asheville and we are taking advantage of Fall on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We drove both north and south of Asheville and have to say that the south drive down to Graveyard Fields and past Mt Pisgah is just amazing. This will definitely be a major part of our living here and enjoying the mountains!

On Thursday October 2nd we had a blast with Alyson B. Stanfield the “Art Biz Coach” as she set out a plan for our small personal group of artists at our Asheville: State of the Arts workshop. I hosted this group and was lucky to get Alyson to take the time out of her busy schedule to do an evening workshop for us based on her new book “I’d Rather be in the Studio”. Alyson gave us all tips and valuable marketing help on the business of being an artist, branding and professionalism and to continue creating.

  Alyson with myself as hostess with the workshop room in the background.

Alyson and me with Jeffrey Stoner.

Alyson with Joe Gemignani and Shelley Lieber.

Finally hung Gabriel Shaffers painting and Cynthias triple sculpture ceramic. Have another of Cynthias in another room. This spot for them is temporary until we finish the house renovation. Right now they are hanging in our studio. Visit Gabriels flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrielshaffer/

You can view more of Cynthias ceramic art at http://www.cynthialeeceramics.com/index.html

This week Red River Paper sent me an email to do an interview for the Digital Imaging Cafe. I thought it was so much fun to write and to think about their questions that it seemed like I should share it on the blog. So here’s the interview and when it’s actually posted on the site I’ll add the link to it also.

Marilyn Sholin

PPA: Master Craftsman Photographer, CPP

Corel Painter Master

Author, Artist & Educator

www.marilynsholin.com

1. What is the most valuable advice that you had received and found most useful in your career?

Advice comes cheap doesn’t it? But valuable advice comes rarely! I was extremely lucky to have a mentor early in my career who gave me advice I have tried to follow for over twenty five years. He said to always follow my own creative style and not to let education change my style. He emphasized to me that education in photography should be about learning the techniques but not to let that infringe on my own style. Don’t try to copy what others are doing instead use the technology to create your own visions.

He also taught me that the more we give back to teach others, the more we learn ourselves. That is why I enjoy teaching and speaking so much. I get to meet others at different places in their careers and to join them on their journeys and become a part of it. There is nothing more exciting than to see the light bulbs starting going on in people’s heads while teaching!

2. What is the most important thing you could teach another photographer about succeeding in photography, whether technical, business or artistically?

I absolutely try to leave everyone I meet with this one piece from my own life. BE FEARLESS!

Learn that everyone is afraid! Fear is what holds back success. Get over the fear and just do it, try it, shoot it and show it. Nothing bad will come from it. The most successful people have learned from their failures. Failures are a learning experience. Never stop creating no matter what it is. Whether it’s a day spent in the kitchen cooking or out shooting flowers or working on an image in digital image programs….it’s all about creativity in your entire life. Go visit other studios, galleries and museums to keep the creativity alive! Take notes, draw sketches even if you can’t draw. Make yourself unafraid to try things you never did before.

Fear=Absolute Failure from lack of exploration.

3. Which is more important to you…composition or content? Why?

Without composition there is no content. Composition is what leads the eye through the image and creates the content and transfers it to the brain. Content could be a glass of water but when it is put off center and maybe a leading line to it with background interest it becomes composition that creates the art. Without all that, it’s just a glass of water.

4. Are there certain mistakes made in your career that have taught you important lessons? If so, what?

Oh wow, which one of my gadzillion mistakes should I talk about here? Mistakes are what make a career! I always tell new artists and photographers that the number one mistake I made starting out was not charging enough for my work. It took too long to raise those prices and get into a new clientele in the right price market. Start out at the beginning to charge what is right, not what you think you are worth! Compare your prices with the best in your market and set your own prices reasonably similar. What matters is not how good you think you are, but how you present yourself to the market and where you put yourself in the marketplace. Wherever you start makes it harder to change later.

5. Was there a particular photo that inspired you to become a photographer? Is it your own or someone else’s? Can you show or describe it to us and explain how it moved you?

My inspiration for visual arts and photography was my family. As a child my mother took me to all the museums in New York City and had art books all over our house. She had art on the walls and also had 16×20 black and white portraits on the wall in the living room of my brothers and myself. My mother had a great joy and love of photography and all visual arts and passed that on to me. As a child I thought I could never be an “artist” because I couldn’t draw. Instead I opted for photography which was very much a part of our lives. My brothers had a darkroom in the house and my uncle had one of the first Polaroid cameras. My mother always hired the local town photographer for family events and cameras were always a part of our lives. So I started out as a photographer and for my sixteenth birthday I got my first camera that was all mine. I became the family photographer and gradually moved up to classes in 35mm and developing and printing my own work.

When I discovered Corel Painter software my life became complete because I could finally do with it what my mind had been seeing whenever I photographed. I always looked through the camera and saw much more than was there but had no idea how to make it more “my own” and not just a photo. With the current digital painting world I am now able to fully realize the art I always wanted to create. My influences now are more in the painting world than the photography world.

6. If it was your last day on earth, what would you want to photograph?

Color COLOR and more COLOR. Color is life to me. If it was my last day on earth I would want it to be the height of fall colors in the mountains and that is what I would want to photograph and paint. I live for color now and the ways to bend it and make it my own.

For more information about Marilyn and digital painting visit one of her web sites.

http://www.marilynsholin.com/blog

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marilynsholin/

Marilyn’s Events, Workshops, Webinairs and Online Classes

http://www.marilynsholin.com/archive/2008/updated-marilyn-sholin-event-schedule/

BOOKS:

The Art of Digital Photo Painting: Using Popular Software to Create Masterpieces (A Lark Photography Book) (Paperback)

by Marilyn Sholin (Author)

Studio Portrait Photography of Children and Babies (Paperback)

by Marilyn Sholin (Author)

Tutorials and Free Downloads

http://www.digitalpaintingforum.com/shop

Join the Digital Painting Forum

http://www.digitalpaintingforum.com

Gabriel Shaffer Art, originally uploaded by marilynsholin.

This is our new painting for the house. It’s not hung yet but we are so excited to own it we wanted to share it with you. Gabriel is an amazing Asheville artist that we found through a number of places and then met in person at the Biltmore Art Festival where we fell in love with this NYC piece of his. We also went to his opening at the Satellite Gallery in Asheville to pick our painting up. We wish him all the success he deserves! Visit his sites! http://www.gabrielshaffer.com/

Click on the photo and it will take you to more close up views of this painting on my Flickr site.

The course I moderated at the Digital Art Academy is now available as a Self Study Course. This means you work on your own and are not moderated by myself or anyone else. All the tutorials, movies, brush sets (for each lesson!) lessons, sets of resource images and goodies are all there for you to download and follow at your own pace!

This course will only be offered until January 1, 2009 at which time it will end and become part of Marilyns archived tutorials for purchase in her sets of lessons. Join the DAA now to take advantage of this course and enjoy the benefits of being a Digital Art Academy student!

REGISTER FOR SELF STUDY DIGIAL PAINT BRUSH

Here is a full description and also one of the promo images explaining the first lesson.

I am excited to present this self study course at DAA. You will find that this class will be fun and should bring beginners into the world of Digital Art and the more experienced will learn techniques and new ideas for creative art. What you need most of all for this class is IMAGINATION and after that Corel Painter X. We will be doing lessons that are ONLY applicable to Painter X. So if you do not have Painter X, download the FREE 30 Day Painter X for your platform.
We are also going to using Alien Skin SNAP ART to create layers that will bring new dimension to your art. Alien Skin SNAP ART also have a FREE 30 Day download, so again, wait till class starts to download and install it.
A Wacom tablet is truly the only way to be painting. A mouse can be used, but I highly recommend a Wacom Intuous 3 6×8 tablet as the minimum for painting.
Each week we will be working on a different subject. You may use your own images or the class reference images. It is highly recommended that all your own reference images be 8×10 @ 250 dpi as the minimum so you can truly see what you are painting. Smaller or lower resolution images make it difficult to see the brushstrokes and also hard for you to see details.

The Line Up for the Four Weeks:
Portraits: New techniques to speed up your portrait paintings and simplify them
Landscapes and City Art: Learn ways to improve your non-people art
Painting with Vibrant Color: Ways to look at color and add more color depth to your paintings
Texture and Finishing Touches: Adding texture to paintings and a variety of finishing touches
Once we finish a weeks lesson we will NOT be going back to it. These are Four SEPARATE lessons.

Tim O’Neill of ART MARKETING BUZZ blog did a two part podcast with me and it came out great I think. Here’s a little behind the scenes peek at what influenced me, how I grew up and where I think the Art Market is today. Please leave Tim some nice feedback!

Technorati Tags: stanfield artbiz sholin asheville workshops artists
Alyson has just put it on her blog that it’s TRUE for one night only Thursday October 2nd she will be here in Asheville at our Fine Art private workshop! Be sure to register as this is a small group and limited seating! REGISTER NOW
Refreshments, fun, get your autographed copy of Alysons book that night directly from her. “I’d Rather Be in the Studio”

Network with other artists that night and meet new people in all walks of art. We have ceramic artists, painters, illustrators, photographers, mixed media artists all coming! Location of the workshop is between Hendersonville and Asheville near the airport. Directions will be sent after registration.

To keep up with the busiest Art Biz Coach follow her on Twitter @abstanfield

Impressions of Fishing, originally uploaded by marilynsholin.

Here is a new fast painting done with Painter X. It was for the new weekly challenge at the Digital Painting Forum.