Sharing Artistic Knowledge
If there’s one thing that makes the RedBubble community unique, it’s a willingness by artists to share knowledge and information to help others to become better at their craft. Many artists recognise how important creativity is in their own lives so encouraging creativity in others seems to come naturally. Recently, we’ve been struck by two examples of this willingness to share. The first comes in the shape of the RedBubble Tutorials Library. The group has been chugging along for just over a year and in that time they have amassed quite an index of tutorials from some of the brightest on the bubble. Wander through the group’s forums and you’ll discover tips on:
- 3D stereo photography
- How to improve a failed painting
- Marketing and selling your work
- How to create YouTube videos
- How to build a large diffuser screen
- Drawing, sketching and illustration
- Photographic composition
And that’s just a small selection of what’s on offer. The group are always looking for contributions so if you have an existing tutorial or tip, or you’ve been thinking about sharing some of your wisdom, they’d love to hear from you. Head over to the RedBubble Tutorials Library for more information.
Our second example of this willingness to share comes from a recent journal entry by Rory Stapleton:
“I was watching an old episode of Forger’s Master Class a couple of days ago and it struck me that many tricks of our trade have been “discovered” not at art schools or through the advice of other artists, but by the trials and experiments undertaken by individuals just like us. By “us” I mean, practicing artists with a few years experience under our metaphorical belts.
With this in mind, rather than keep our “discoveries” to ourselves, I thought that it might be a good idea to share some with the rest of our fellow travellers. After all, not all those who exhibit here on RedBubble are seasoned veterans, and there are many just starting out on their vocation. I’d like to invite all of my fellow Bubblers to share their practical tips so that all can benefit from our collected years of experience. I’m sure that there are many practical things we all do each day that we assume every other artist does as a matter of course and which makes our working lives just that little bit easier”.
As Rory points out, no matter how big or small, our advice and tips are always of value to someone. While the way we work and the knowledge we’ve picked up on our own creative journeys may seem obvious or second nature to us, we shouldn’t underestimate its value to others. If you have some spare time this week we’d like to encourage you to take up Rory’s invitation by popping your own nugget of knowledge in a journal. If you’re stuck for ideas here are a few to get you started:
- Tips on caring for your equipment
- Art supplies, materials or equipment you can’t live without (and why)
- How you produced a recent work
- Hacks, tools or modifications to equipment which you’ve built yourself
- How you achieved a certain effect in your work
- Creating your own textures and elements for digital art
- How you use colour in your work
- Dealing with a creative drought or writers block
- Where you head for inspiration
If you create a new journal, pop a link to it in the comments below and if enough artists take up the challenge we’ll post a wrap up of the most interesting and useful tips and tricks next week. And don’t forget you can share your knowledge in the RedBubble Tutorials Library. We’d also like to invite you to share links to your favourite tips and tutorials. Is there a work you’ve created as a result of something you’ve learnt from another artist on RedBubble? We’d love to see these too.
