Clara Lieu's Blog, page 16
July 19, 2016
Art Prof LIVES!!!!
I had no idea when I wrote a blog post back in October 2014 about an idea that floated through my head for a few minutes that I would be here today. Our Kickstarter campaign was a real nail biter…. but we hit our goal this morning!!!
I am overwhelmed with the phenomenal support and enthusiasm that my partner Thomas Lerra and I, and our extraordinary staff of Teaching Assistants and Interns experienced over the past several weeks. We were all blown away by the amazing support we received from people from all different parts of our lives, it was truly incredible to see the way people came out to support us. I was surprised by the large number of people who I have never met in person before, or people who I barely knew, but who went out of their way to help us! Running a campaign like this was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, (this coming from someone who usually salivates at the idea of a challenge) but with the outcome we had, I have renewed faith in the universe. Knowing how intensely skeptical I generally am about everything, that says a lot.
It will take me many hours at my laptop to properly thank everyone who helped us, and that will all come over the next few weeks. For now, I have to express my immense gratitude to my exceptional staff, who are seriously my favorite group of people I have ever worked with.
Interns
Julia Orenstein • Vuthy Lay • Tatiana Florival
Anna Campbell• Makoto Kumasaka• Annelise Yee• Enrico Giori
Olivia Hunter • Jordan McCracken-Foster • Janice Chun
I would like to thank all of our Interns, who joined Art Prof this summer by basically diving into an ocean in the pitch dark, (metaphorically) who bailed me out when there were more than a few fires to put out, who pointed out every stupid mistake I made, (of which there were many) who inspired me with their innovative ideas, and who made me feel way older than I would like to feel by explaining to me how Snapchat worked.
Teaching Assistants
Sara Bloem • Casey Roonan • Annie Irwin
Lauryn Welch • Yves-Olivier Mandereau • Alex Rowe
When I first contacted our Teaching Assistants over a year ago, I am sure that they had absolutely no idea what they were getting into when they said yes to my email-I didn’t either at the time. Thank goodness they were all crazy enough to jump on board, or Art Prof would not be what it is today. I had no idea what a tremendous role the TAs would play a year ago, but as Art Prof grew, I realized more and more how critical the TAs were to Art Prof. Example: I KNOW I am not the reason someone told me recently that Art Prof looks so “youthful.”
Beyond looks though, I am completely floored by the unwavering commitment of our TAs. Their enthusiasm, energy, and drive truly gave Art Prof the electrifying fuel we needed to take off. The TAs brought diverse voices and opinions to the table. We discussed everything from the most minute concern to the deepest fundamental premise of Art Prof. They were just as good at discussing what precise shade of yellow the top menu bar on the prototype should be, to talking about fundamental philosophical questions concerning Art Prof’s mission and goals. The TAs put up with my constant questioning, pushing, and yes, my occasional whining (okay, maybe it was more than occasional) with a smile and warmth. The balance of camaraderie, seriousness, motivation, sense of humor, and sarcasm (a requirement if you want to work with me) is one I believe will never exist anywhere else, at any other time.
Thomas Lerra
I am still in utter disbelief that I ever found Thomas Lerra, my partner in crime. It took three degrees of separation and many months of searching and waiting in agony for me to find him, but boy, was it worth the wait. I like to joke that Tom and I were “dating” for several months before we made Art Prof official. In our early meetings that go all the way back to February 2015, I kept thinking after every meeting, that our meeting that day would be our last. But it never was, and so here we are today, jumping off the cliff every day with each other.
I hear many people talk big about taking risks, but so few actually take concrete actions to make things happen. Tom is one of the rare people I know who really does relish experimentation and risk, and I love the dynamic quality of our conversations, where we push and pull together at the task at hand. Having been micro-managed in the past by more than a few people at various jobs, I cannot express how immensely appreciative of I am of Tom’s trust in me as a teacher and professional. I know how lucky I am! If it weren’t for Tom, Art Prof would still be floating around in my head, a pie in the sky idea.
Alex Hart
Finally, there is one person who has logged more uncredited hours on Art Prof than probably anyone else in the history of video production. My husband, Alex Hart, who was always hidden behind the scenes, where his labor was seen by none. Alex saw the bloodiest side of Art Prof, that I never let anyone else see.
Alex was there at 3am when I was panicking because I couldn’t figure out how to do the sound mix in Premiere. He threw together a film shoot on 2 weeks notice to create my “audition” tape to show Tom. He sat patiently and watched me fall on my face left and right trying to learn Premiere. He fixed tiny glitches in the prototype. He scrounged up equipment, consulted on every piece of hardware and supply I needed for video shoots. He has been practically a single parent for the past 2 months; and altered his schedule on a moment’s notice on several occasions when video shoots ran far past when they should have. (there’s even a story of him forgetting that he didn’t have a car, and ended up strapping 2 kids’ bikes to his bike and then rode a mile like that to my kids’ school) He was there to calm me down when I had meltdowns, when I was convinced that Art Prof was going nowhere, and when I needed to vent for hours on end. Through all of that, Alex kept telling me that he believed in me.
All of this, which for most people would be grounds for divorce within 48 hours. And hardly a single complaint the whole time through. Thank you Alex, for believing in us.
I’ll leave you with our second preview video, which I will admit makes me just a little choked up every time I watch it.
July 18, 2016
Just $823 Away From our $30k Goal!
ART PROF is 97% funded! All we need is $823 to hit our $30k goal!
Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform; if we don’t hit our goal, we get no funding.
Our campaign ends TOMORROW, July 19 at 11:59pm EST.
July 16, 2016
Your Donation, Doubled!
For the 2nd time, our anonymous donor is offering to match all donations between today and July 18 for up to $2000! If you donate by July 18, your donation is doubled!!
Our campaign ends Tues., July 19. We are $5300 from our goal. If we can get $3300 from you + our donor’s $2000, ART PROF is going to HAPPEN!!!!
July 15, 2016
NEW REWARD #4! Art Prof iPhone 6 or 6S Case
Left: back of the case. Right: inside of the case.
NEW Reward #4: Art Prof iPhone 6 or 6S Case
Estimated delivery: Sept. 2016
Ships to: Only United States
Carry Art Prof in your pocket! Art Prof themed 3D printed iPhone 6 or 6S case, made out of PLA hard plastic. These cases can be ordered in red, black, and white. Design by Art Prof Intern Olivia Hunter.
Both views: case on the phone.
July 12, 2016
Free Art Critique Events at Boston Dick Blick Stores this Weekend!
FREE ART CRITIQUE EVENT AT BLICK BOSTON LANDMARK
Saturday, July 16, 2-4pm
Bring up to two pieces of artwork to get an individual review from one of the ART PROF staff: Casey Roonan, Leyla Faye, and Clara Lieu. Free and open to all skill levels. Pre-registration is highly recommended.
Register here!
Blick Boston Landmark
401 Park Drive, Landmark Center-Fenway
Boston, MA, 02215
(617) 247-3322
Questions? Contact us.
FREE ART CRITIQUE EVENT AT BLICK CAMBRIDGE
Sunday, July 17, 2-4pm
Bring up to two pieces of artwork to get an individual review from one of the ART PROF staff: Lauryn Welch, Casey Roonan, and Clara Lieu. Free and open to all skill levels. Pre-registration is highly recommended.
Blick Cambridge
619 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA, 02139
(617) 441-6360
Questions? Contact us.
Stay tuned by subscribing to our email list.
We recently hosted a Free Art Porfolio Review Event for artists of all ages at the Concord Center for the Visual Arts on Sunday, June 19. See videos, photos and read about this event here.
Don’t live near Boston?
Check out our crit quickies, audio critique packs, portfolio video critiques & Ask the Art Prof
Click to view slideshow.
ART PROF is a free, online educational platform for visual arts for people of all ages to learn visual arts in a vibrant art community. Imagine all of the resources here on our blog, except exponentially bigger, in greater quantity, and in more detail. Help us make ART PROF free and accessible for all! Donate to our Kickstarter campaign before July 19!
July 11, 2016
8 More Days to Make ART PROF a Reality
Watch our NEW Art Prof video!
ART PROF is a small step in equalizing arts education for disadvantaged students that is happening right now. As a free, online educational platform for visual arts, ART PROF that will provide people of all ages equal access to high quality art education.
We are thrilled to announce that we have an anonymous donor who will match all donations up to $2000 between today and this Fri., July 15!
Remember, Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform. If we don’t reach our goal by Tues., July 19, we get no funding. Donate here
Only 8 more days to help make ART PROF a reality!
July 8, 2016
Full Drawing Demo Available Now!
Part 3 of 20: Composition
All 20 videos in our new charcoal drawing demo are now available on our Youtube channel in this playlist above!
Part 8 of 20: Pressure
This demo was one gigantic experiment, we are trying to figure out how to stretch our budget as far as possible so that we can keep ART PROF on a long term basis. We would love to hear your thoughts on this demo! Do you like the three camera set up? Do you like the pop-ups? What would you like to see more of? What should we keep doing?
Part 20 of 20: Finishing
Only 11 more days left in our Kickstarter campaign, and remember, Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing format. If we do not reach our goal, we will receive none of the donations. Consider contributing to our campaign before July 19, every donation matters!
July 5, 2016
Be Featured in our New Sizzle Reel!
If you enjoy ART PROF, submit a video or audio and tell us why ART PROF matters to YOU! Winners will be featured in our new sizzle reel, to be released in the last days of our Kickstarter campaign which ends July 19.
The first 30 submissions will get to choose either a free ART PROF T-shirt, or a free 5 min. audio critique on 1 artwork from RISD Adjunct Professor Clara Lieu. (Limit of 10 audio critiques, and limit of 20 T-shirts.)
Any submissions that do not follow our guidelines below will not be eligible to receive rewards. Rewards will be fulfilled by Sept. 2016, regardless of whether you are selected for the final reel.
We prefer video submissions, but audio is fine if you are camera shy!
If your audio/video is selected:
You’ll need to sign a release form over email.
You’ll get your name listed & linked to your website on our Contributors page. (our blog gets about 14k visitors per month)
Submission Instructions
DUE: Sat., July 6, 11:59 EST
Record audio/video on your smart phone, limit 15 seconds.
Tell us what you enjoy about ART PROF, whether it’s our videos, our critiques, our written columns, our blog, anything!
Keep your language simple, and with a movie rating of G.
Drop your audio/video to this Google Drive folder. (this is a public folder)
Send an email to clara(at)claralieu.com to notify us, and tell us whether you would like an audio critique or a T-shirt. Submissions are not official until you email us.
We are more likely to choose videos that have good lighting with no camera motion. Contact us if you have any questions!
July 3, 2016
New Drawing Demo on Youtube!
The first 8 of 20 videos in a new ART PROF drawing demo are now available on our Youtube channel! The first 8 videos cover lighting, composition, thumbnail sketches, toning the paper, from sketch to drawing, and drawing pressure.
The next 12 videos will be released very soon!
We shot the entire demo on 3 iPhones, with no cameraman. No script, I ad libbed the entire demo the way that I teach my classes. See behind-the-scenes photos of our shoot below. If our Kickstarter campaign is successful, we’ll be able to produce 1, maybe even 2 of these demos every month and bring them to you for free! And remember, Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing format. If we don’t reach our goal, we won’t receive any funding. Make a donation before our campaign ends on July 19!
Click to view slideshow.
ART PROF is a free, online educational platform for visual arts for people of all ages to learn visual arts in a vibrant art community. Imagine all of the resources here on our blog, except exponentially bigger, in greater quantity, and in more detail. Help us make ART PROF free and accessible for all! Donate to our Kickstarter campaign before July 19!
July 2, 2016
ART PROF Prototype Preview #2
ART PROF Teaching Assistant Casey Roonan reviews a portfolio at our recent free portfolio review event this past June.
Getting professional trusted feedback is really tough to find if you are not currently enrolled in a degree program. Even more rare is the opportunity to have your artwork critiqued by not just one, but several seasoned art professionals. So many artists have written to me over the past three years, seeking advice and critiques on their artwork. I saw this gigantic void that I knew I could fill with the ART PROF Teaching Assistants, so that’s why we started offering audio and video critiques here on this blog and Crit Quickies on our Instagram.
Below are recent audio critiques I did with Teaching Assistants Casey Roonan, Lauryn Welch, and Sara Bloem. Listen here:
Jeff Wrench
“Chelsea Rose”, acrylic paint on wallpaper and paint chips, 11″ x 17″
See more audio critiques we have done here!
Here are some thoughts from people who we have done critiques for:
“Thank you so, so much for such a thorough and honest critique. It is really difficult to find that sort of feedback. It is such a help to have a direction to explore.”
“Thank you so much for your encouraging words and constructive feedback. I’ve never had my work critiqued before so I was a bit apprehensive but you were all so well-meaning and gave me such good advice that I not only feel relieved but extremely grateful!”
“Clara, this was great for someone like me — I’m not in school and I haven’t really found a way to get thoughtful input on my art. Many of the critique comments highlight things I hadn’t explicitly thought about, so I am excited that pursuing these ideas may lead me to some interesting development. Thanks to all four of you!”
Below is a tiny slice of a video critique from the ART PROF prototype:
Now imagine if there was a page on our prototype that could consolidate all of the different kinds of critiques ART PROF has to offer. On the contrary, we don’t have to imagine! This critique page is already built, its just sitting on a server, waiting for the funds we need to bring make it public. See the page below!
If our Kickstarter campaign is successful, that means that several pages that like this one, and many more sections of our prototype will become free and accessible to the public. Donate before July 19! (Remember, Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing format. If we do not reach our goal, we will receive no funding.)
ART PROF is a free, online educational platform for visual arts for people of all ages to learn visual arts in a vibrant art community. Imagine all of the resources here on our blog, except exponentially bigger, in greater quantity, and in more detail. Help us make ART PROF free and accessible for all! Donate to our Kickstarter campaign before July 19!
