About Wayne

Wayne is one of the manager dudes at FolioAcademy.com, a site where anyone can learn to improve their artistic abilities with a growing compilation of video lessons from professional artists helping you with your craft by teaching you their secrets and techniques.

A VISUAL ARTS DEGREE ISN’T NECESSARY

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Wayne

Better Get that “ART” Degree So You Can Make Money?

Universities give degrees to who haven’t mastered their craft

Question: Why don’t companies like: Disney, Pixar, Sony, Blizzard, Microsoft, Blue Sky, Mattel, Hasbro, Random House, Harper Collins, Scholastic and Folio Academy hire artists based on whether or not they have a college degree?

Answer: Lets cut to the chase – it’s because colleges and Universities routinely give degrees to students who haven’t mastered their craft. And because many “students” master their craft with out ever getting that “invaluable” certificate of diplomacy. This really isn’t news but I thought I’d briefly write about this so I have a link to send to artists who ask me for advice on what degree they should get? recently an artist wrote to me asking what colleges look the best on a resume for animation studios.

Companies want you portfolio, not your diploma

If a bachelor’s degree in visual arts said anything about the quality of the students pumped out each year, companies would interview and require applicants with BA’s and BFA’s. The truth is that these companies couldn’t care less that you have a degree. They want to see what you can do. They want to look at your portfolio. They also want you to be semi normal but that’s another discussion, don’t eat paint.

BUT Most of the Professional artists Went to School

Most professional illustrators DID go through a University or art school program. While that is true, it doesn’t mean the DIPLOMA is what made them a Pro. Most artists (most people) aren’t motivated enough to impose the rigorous hours of practice necessary or even know what to practice on in order to become a professional. Schools provide an immersion of exposure to mentors, professionals, assignments, markets, networking, methods as well as techniques, history, standards, and philosophies. These introductions can unlock hidden talent, desires and passions the beginning student never knew they had. So ironically, maybe you should go to school (and that could mean everything from University to art school to online classes and tutorials – one or a mixture of them) to get good at your craft but don’t think too much about the certificate you get – nobody is going to ask for it. And they don’t hand out cushy jobs and art careers with the diplomas either.

You do need that degree in order to teach.

You don’t need a degree to teach, unless you want to teach in a formal setting. The bachelors degree is really only valuable if you want to teach at a public or private school, institution, or college and then you will need a masters degree to top it off. Ironically, the school probably doesn’t care if you can do or if you can teach, they care if you have that “invaluable” certificate of diplomacy. What’s that old saying?

“Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.”

Prov. People who are able to do something well can do that thing for a living, while people who are not able to do anything that well make a living by teaching. (Used to disparage teachers. From George Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman.)

And oh yeah – getting a degree WILL make your parents happy.

You can’t just fix a bad design with good color

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Wayne

If it don’t work in Black and White, it ain’t gonna work in color.

A good painting will also look good in Black and White. That is to say, if you can’t work out your value patterns in black and white, you won’t be able to just fix it with color. Have you ever heard of a grisaille, (that was a tough one to sound out, let alone spell) It’s a black and white under painting. I think the word gray, or grey, as I like to spell it, comes from the same root.

What is a Grisaille and how do you pronounce that?

Grisaille (/ɡ r ɨ ˈ z aɪ / or /ɡ r ɨ ˈ z eɪ l /; French: gris [ɡʁizaj] ‘grey’) (Giz-eye is how I pronounce it) is a term for painting executed entirely in monochrome or near-monochrome, usually in shades of grey. ~Wikipedia

Work out your lights and darks before you add color

So, where was I? Ho yeah, it is often wise, especially for beginners, to work out you lights and darks before you move to color. I like to give it the squint test. Squint at your work and see if it reads well. Do the wrong things disappear? Do the right things stand out?

The under painting can be in a sepia or other tone too, for a nice effect, it doesn’t have to be BLACK and White.

Light and Shadow

Where is your light source? Is it in the picture? If so, you shouldn’t have anything in the painting that is brighter than the light source.

Are the shadows, cast, core etc, in the right places? I am thinking that the cast shadow in this piece is not dark enough.

Do you have reflected light in the right places?

Just add Color, or Colour as my UK friends like to spell it.

If you are painting digitally, like in Photoshop or on the iPad, you will enjoy the ability to undo. If you are using water colors then you can just glaze transperant colors over you black and white under-painting. AKA Grisaille.

If you are using oil paints, you may want to try a water color, acrylic, or gwash, (i better look that up) Gouache. The oil paint goes right over the aqueous paints without disturbing them and it works really well. You should see how Robert Barrett uses gouache, for under-paintings to create a beautiful effect. He calls it a “Rub-out” technique.

Working with Color

Political Correctness in Art and Illustration; Are You PC?

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Wayne

Is your artwork politically correct? Should it be?

The consumers drive the market, & publishers want to Make money.

Supply and demand. What do people buy? Picture books about white folk.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author in his or her, okay it’s Wayne so his, private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of FolioAcademy, or any others involved with FolioAcademy. In fact, many views portrayed here are not even those of the author, he is only exploring ideas and suggesting what his opinion might be, as even he is too spineless to make up his mind. He says he is always willing to update his opinion. So is he open minded or wishy washy? I think he is a short, chubby, gray haired, wrinkly old, slow learning, pale faced, Gringo, Stupid, right brained, attention seeking, art teaching, blog posting, picture drawing, lazy, art loving, math hating, spell check using, time wasting, attention seeking, Yankee and a little man who used to wet the bed.

Yet another opinion from another middle class, white maLE. Go figure.

Let me start with my own disclaimer, I do not in any way mean to offend and I refuse to be offended if you comment. This is a LONG post, read as much or as little as you want and please, Don’t let me offend you. That being said, POO-POO PEE-PEE! tee hee. No offence.

Strong words that offend can be used for shock value.

I used to think that (poopoo peepee) was the absolute most worstest thing a person could say, and i peaked over our fence as a child and just blurted out “POOPOO PEEPEE!” at some innocent people. I ducked back down, giggling and feeling exhilarated and at the same time, scared for my eternal soul.

What Politically Correct means to me.

My opinion in short, or in long as it may seam. In a nutshell, PC is a hot and popular topic and it can affect your bottom line. Since the beginning of time, the white man (figure of speech) pretty much controlled and dictated what was published and HE didn’t care who he offended as long as he was on top and was making money. Well, we the people started to notice, and people are easily offended. So we complain and things slowly change. Depending on who’s buying your product, and if you want ‘those kind of people as customers’, you should comply to their needs and wants. A true Artist may draw and paint what ever SHE (to be PC one needs to limit the HE word) wants and “If you, (the would be client,) don’t like it, tough! I am being true to myself.” Maybe that’s why artists starve. If you want to make money, create value. If people want PC in their art, or ads or magazines or books or training material, then ultimately, they won’t buy your racist, chauvinistic, leave out the minority, pick on the handicapped, social faux pas art work and they will buy from artists that are smart enough to provide PC work. If you are working for Ebony magazine, for example, feel free to leave out the crackers. (white folk) if you are working for a White supremacist magazine, (I hope there aren’t any) then you could probably leave out the ‘people of color’ or even dis other races and be as non PC as you want. The cool thing about free enterprise is that you can do what you want and if you provide value, you will be rewarded. I believe however that it is ‘uncool’ to be racist, sexist, communist, supremacist etc.

People will take offence when they shouldn’t.

So what does Politically Correct mean to me? It means walk softly, try not to offend or exclude anyone. Be ultra fair. Do not pick on anyone. Stay far away from racial slurs don’t use racial, old age, career, or gender stereotypes to help get your point across. Look at your work objectively and be nice. That’s just good practice. But even still, there are a lot of people, I feel, with huge chips on their shoulders, just looking for an excuse to be offended. I hope you are not one of those, and I try not to be.

As a white child in a white (trash) neighborhood, going to a white school, with white friends in a white family, I never gave it a thought that most of my toys and books were “white”. My favorite fisher price character however, was a little black kid and I had a black G.I. Joe, and a red headed one, and a bunch of white ones. Billy blast off was white, my Bozo doll was white, (clown white), my trucks were yellow, my army men where green and my Teddy Bear was brown. My dinosaurs were all colors, and my blocks and tinker toys ere multi colored too. My favorite doll, yes I played with dolls, (Sissy!) was Zipy, a chimp and Bozo was my next fave.

My mother and father were nearly illiterate and seldom read to me. But I enjoyed it when they did. Among my favorite books were, Where the White, I mean, Wild Things Are, (that would have been my fave no mater Max’s race, was he Asian?) ping, (Asian) and a bunch of white people books, Dr. Suess types. My sister’s favorite dolls were Mrs. Beasley (an old lady, white) and Nancy (a black girl). And some little dolls called Kiddles, some were of color. My mom was puzzled.

This was Inspired by Will Terry’s Response to the New York Times ‘Why No Peeps of Color in Children’s Books’ Article; by Walter Dean Myers

WHY DO YOU THINK THE CHILDREN’S BOOK WORLD IS so NEGLECTING TO DEPICT, PEOPLE OF COLOR?

When I was a kid, I didn’t like any people in the books at all. The fewer humans, white or other, the better. I liked animal characters in my books and in the cartoons I watched, and in the coloring books I colored in. Or monsters or dinosaurs. Animals are cuter than people and more fun.

I worked as an in-house artist for 12 years creating educational software, books and videos for Waterford Institute. We were mostly white folk there, trying to create artwork and educational stuff for the ‘inner city’ children, so we had a ‘PC department’, more white folk, and a lot of our stuff got shot down. We were only allowed to put so many white people in our work. One time an artist there, we’ll call him Pat, illustrated a book with a whole family of whities. He used up our cracker ‘quota’, so then nobody else could illustrate a white person again on that project.

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Are We Creating Too Many Artists? Teaching ART

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Wayne

By Teaching Others, Are WE Creating TOO MANY Artists?

I AM often asked these questions:

1) Are you worried that you are helping too many artists – that will one day take away your business?

2) Why would you help other people learn and succeed with their art when they will ultimately compete with you and yours in the market place?

3) Aren’t you worried that you will have a bunch of artists copying your style?

Abundance versus Scarcity, A Way of Thinking

I Copied This for School

I was happy to finally be able to make this video to explain my position on the abundance mentality vs the scarcity mentality. I would love to know how you feel?

Won’t your students take away YOUR business?

Will the copy cats out there, copy YOUR style and steel all your would be work? Absolutely not, your style is like a fingerprint. Only you can produce it. And I can’t think of anyone who has really gotten anywhere just by completely copying someone else’s style. Many have found their niche or their style by copying that of another or a lot of others. I say that is a good thing.

I will also say that if you have a unique style, like Will’s unique acrylic painting style, and as a lot of leaders and great artists do, and as a lot of unknowns also have, people will copy, and why shouldn’t they? Suppose it is such a cool style, You have mastered, that others start to mimic it or copy it. Good for you, that means something. And what about the market place. As that style becomes popular, there will be more demand for YOUR style of work. And the market is so big that it won’t hurt at all to have others doing similar work.
We talked to a young artist who has a neat and unique style of painting. We invited her to teach an online art course for Folio Academy. She wouldn’t do it because she was afraid that all of you would hurry up and copy her “style” and put her out of business. I believe that IF hundreds of artists, in fact thousands, learned her style and copied her and promoted their work, she would only do better. First of all few if any would nail “her style” and as more and more artists painted like her, that “style” if it is SO good, would become popular and more clients would want it. Creating a much bigger market then she alone could ever fill.

Art Schools MAKE their students “COPY” others.

copy of the Death Dealer

Most art schools will have a few assignments where you are to do just that. Copy a masters art work, or that of someone you idolize. I copied a piece by Franz Halls and a piece by my favorite fantasy fiction artist, Frank Frazetta. I learned a lot from it. If you know your history you’ll know that Franz Halls was already dead and I didn’t put Frank Frazetta out of business at all. I probably didn’t promote him much either with my insignificant attempt to mimic his “style”.

Author’s note. I was so proud of how I took the word Forgery, and made it look like Frazetta’s own signature.

I have seen people sitting in front of great paintings like the Mona Lisa, right there in the Louvre, copying the daylights out of these paintings. I haven’t seen any one mistaken for Leonardo Da Vinci lately. Copy away. Okay, enough of the soap box. Wait, one more thing, Bob Ross was never replaced and all he did was teach “His Style and Techniques”. I’m just sayin.

EVERY ONE’S COPYING SOMETHING

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Is Folio Academy’s Art Lesson Video Site “DANGEROUS”? No, It’s Webroot

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Wayne

Is Folio Academy’s Art Site DANGEROUS, or is Webroot Incompetent?

Webroot is an Incompetent Security Software

danger sign

We hope try to be open and honest as we know with our peeps, as we know that word of mouth and a good reputation is key in maintaining good business. So when we heard that someone was recommended NOT to visit our page by their security software, we quickly contacted our web guy to get to the bottom of it. We recomend that everyone visit our site.

One of our friends informed us that Webroot was… Well, here’s what she said.

Hi FolioAcademy- (she actually wrote Hi Will, but since I’m writing this and don’t to give him all the glory, I acted like she said Hi FolioAcademy)

Are you aware that your site is one that my (and perhaps other) web security software (I am using Webroot) does NOT recommend you visit? Many folks might be hesitant to continue to your website until this issue is addressed…..

~Ellen Fountain; Watercolor instructor for FolioAcademy & Fountain Studio.

Thank you Ellen and thank you everyone for helping us maintain a safe and secure site. We appreciate ALL of you, our peeps.

Our web guy, Tom Gilson, already knew that Webroot wasn’t that great, but he further checked into it of course. We certainly don’t want to have any danger associated with our site.

Here is some of what Tom found…

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webroot

Webroot had the worst results out of 20 products tested by AV-Comparatives in the September 2012 File Detection Test of Malicious Software, both in terms of malware detection rates and false alarms.^[25] Webroot detected less than 80 percent of viral samples, much worse than the 94.4 percent rate of the second lowest detecting product. Among clean files, Webroot inappropriately flagged 210 of them, raising as many false-positives as the other 19 products tested combined. According to AV-comparatives, the “results and misses have been confirmed with several tests and also by the vendor”.^[25]

Thank you Tom, for keeping our site safe, up and running and safe for our friends.

Comments Welcome

I don’t believe visiting our site or watching our art lessons has ever harmed any ones PC in any way whatsoever, and we welcome comments, good and bad. Well the bad ones aren’t as welcome of course but we are artists and we know that constructive criticism is necessary for improvement.

“Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous you don’t want it.” ~Duke Ellington

And here is a nice, Dangerous Illustration by Jim Madsen, for you to enjoy.

Two monsters holding, and looking hungrily at a man

Art by Jim Madsen

BE WARE! DANGER! Thar be artists about. They might OPEN your mind.

How to Break Out of a the “ARTIST’S BLOCK” Slump

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Wayne

Artist’s Block, Break Out of that Horrible Slump

What do you do to break out of a slump? Artists block…or whatever you want to call it……it’s got you, what do you do?

A Can’t Think of Anything to Draw!

We all get it and rather than just tell what I do, I am going to list a bunch of ideas and comments from other artists. So lets hear what they suggest and then you can decide what’s best for you.

I just rant and rave. And RAGE!

COMMENTS FROM A DOODLERS LINKED IN GROUP.

Keith Kern • Get out and do something you love doing. Have an adventure, watch a cool movie or whatever it is you like to do.

JB [Jack] Hertz • Kind of depends on what the situation is. It is different if it is for a deadline. Nothing can kill creativity better than pressure to perform. Getting away and doing diversionary things doesn’t work as well for me as I find I tend to obsess on the fact that I can’t come up with anything. And there I am sitting in a movie thinking about not being able to come up with some idea rather than enjoying the movie!!

If I just feel like I have had the last idea i’ll ever have, I will just scribble on a piece of paper. Big swirls, and little tight ones. Then I stare at it for a while. It is amazing what you can see in that sort of thing. It can really get the juices flowing. Another technique I use is to just draw. Free your mind. draw eyes, or other body parts..or faces then I imagine what the faces are saying or doing. Also I try not to throw much of what I have done away whether it is good or not as I can look through this “morgue” and get stimulated as well.

Chuck P• That is very good advice Jack, doing simple little scribbles and doodles would at least get me doing something on paper. It might inspire something…..you never know. I obsess on my block also and that is probably why it is stumping me. I should also work on some faces and hands as well as those are the things I am not happy with in my own critique. I might just have to start a :sketch graveyard” as well…lol…maybe I can pull a doodle back from the dead into something significant!

JB [Jack] Hertz • Glad you found something useful. I am always happy to help. This is a tad off target, but I find ideas don’t always come at the moment you are trying to conjure them up. Some of my best have come just as I am waking up. I guess that’s when my mind is the least cluttered. They may come, however, any time and anywhere. At any rate, I always

try to have a note pad and pencil close by so I can write down any pearls I surely will forget ten minutes later. [ (Shhh it’s a secret). That’s really why there are napkins on tables in restaurants and bars] ©¿©

Our brains are really funny machines. It is impossible to understand why there are somethings we cannot get out of them, while others are gone in a flash..at least that is what happens between my ears.

Keith Kern • “Great ideas Jack”

Wayne Andreason • (that’s me) I say, work on something easy. It seams like you don’t want to draw or paint when you fear that it won’t turn out. A lot of accomplished artists have the same problem. They too fear that it won’t work. They will work on an easy area on something that is easy, not a face. Then as their Left Brain shuts off and the Right Brain engages, they get back into their groove.

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PHOTOSHOP PLUG IN DOES THE WORK FOR YOU

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Wayne

New Photoshop Tool Makes Painting TOO Easy to Believe

I know we don’t usually post on a Tuesday but this is a special occasion that can’t wait. This new plugin is SO usefool, You would have to be a fool not to look at this new Photoshop tool. Some wonder if computers are going to make it too easy. We will have to compete with every fool out there that can afford a PC and Photoshop.

Watch this short Demo video while Mr. Folio Academy, Will Terry shows you how easily he just painted this beautiful digital creation of Santa Claus on a snow board.

You probably want to know where you can get this cool plug in and how much it’s going to cost. They say that the right tools don’t make you an artist but I am starting to think that this is all I need. I am so greatfool for this new plug in. The cool thing is, the company that created this affordable plug in is working on another one that is equally helpfool. It does most of the drawing for you. It will be released 04/01/2015 a year from today. Happy april fool’s day.

Comments welcome.

A detailed guide to help you plan, create, manage, and fulfill your Kickstarter project.

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Wayne

A Kickstarter Project on “How to do a Kickstater Project”

Pledge $20 and get the $29.00 Video coarse free

This post is to invite YOU to be a part of this Kickstarter project. The Kickstarter companioin book. We are looking for $20 pledges to help Heidi create this How to Guide in video form. The course will cost $29.99 when it is made available this October, but will be given to our $20 pledgers for that pledge. DEADLINE: Monday, March 31st, at 11:59 PM CDT.

Kickstarter is a Crowd Funding Website

Kickstarter has become a valuable resource for many creatives looking to raise money to fulfill their dreams and ideas. It’s a crowd-funding website based on a fixed-funding model which means, unless a project reaches its funding goal during the duration of its campaign, no money is taken from backers. So you could go through a lot of effort and receive no money. Or you could go through a lot of effort and get the money you need plus more. Kickstarter is also project based; some thing must be produced at the end of the campaign and given to backers as rewards for their pledge money. That thing can be physical (IE: a book, CD, art print, etc.) or electronic (EX: PDF, MP3, FolioAcademy courses, etc.). A Kickstarter project is a fabulous opportunity and great responsibility when it succeeds.

My name is Heidi and since 2009, I’ve backed over 80 Kickstarter projects. I love how Kickstarter allows creators to connect directly with the people who would most want their creations. I promote a lot of Kickstarter projects and get a lot of questions about Kickstarter. But I could only answer questions from the perspective of a backer, which is quite different than the perspective of a creator.

In order to be able to give more thorough answers, she ran her own Kickstarter project in June, 2013 – 1000 Origami Wish Cranes. Thanks to a $25 funding goal and over 260 Backers from around the world, her project funded over 6000%.

She wrote a book to answer all those questions and more

After her Kickstarter success, she received a lot more questions about how to run a Kickstarter project. With over 15 years of experience with information architecture (Organizing stuff and writing technical documentation for non-technical people, like artists), she’d not only backed a lot of Kickstarter projects, she had analyzed them and was able to provide a lot of detailed answers. So she wrote a detailed guide to help people plan, create, manage, and fulfill their own Kickstarter project and called it the Kickstarter Companion book. She ran a Kickstarter project to raise money for the editing and ebook formatting, and to print limited edition copies which contain the names of all the backers who supported her project. The Kickstarter Companion Kickstarter project reached its funding goal on March 29th, and we’re currently working our way through some reasonable and attainable Stretch Goals before the campaign ends on Monday, March 31st, at 11:59 PM CDT.

Get the $30 online video course by pledging just $20 now.

One of the add on items we’re very happy to offer backers of her project is access to a video tutorial based on the Kickstarter Companion book which will be available at the Folio Academy website in October. Different people learn information differently, so she wanted to make this information available not only in print, but also as a video course for those who prefer that kind of format. Backers of the Kickstarter Companion can add the video tutorial for an additional $20 to their pledge, compared to the $29.99 it will cost when it is released this fall.

Whichever crowdfunding website you use for your project, We wish you great success in achieving your ideas and dreams. ~Heidi Berthiaume.

Should I Go To Art School Or Take Art Classes Online?

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Wayne

Should I take college art classes or learn online?

Advice for beginner artists.

I get this question a lot so I posed the query last week in hopes to get you all thinking on your own and now I am going to give my answer. This may take awhile so you may want to pack a lunch or put on a pot of coffee.

Let me just start by saying that it is really an unfair comparison, it is like the old apples and oranges thing. But let’s compare anyway.

So first, let’s look at cost.

Online, you could probably spend anywhere from $1000 maybe even up to $5000. With that amount of money and a little digging around on the internet, finding a few systems or mentors that work for you, and applying yourself, you should be able to get all the schooling you need to become a genuine artist and get started as a pro. Compare that to a state college where you could spend from $25,000 to $35,000 and that’s if they even have an illustration program and if you are close enough to go to that school. Compare that to an bonafide (bow-nuh-fide) Art School that can cost well over $100,000.

What Kind of Artist Are You?

Maybe a better question here would be, What kind of student are you? This makes a lot of
difference. Are you super motivated? Do you love to draw? Do you love to paint? Are you a
self-starter and can you push yourself. This will make a lot of difference. If you are self
motivated, like most of us are NOT, then you will most likely do better any way. If so, you
could become a professional artist/illustrator and do well without any college or formal
education. When people really want to learn something, they usually figure out a way to do it. Libraries, stores, teachers/mentors, internet etc. That is probably fewer than 3% of us, but if you really made up your mind to be one of those 3%, I believe you could. I believe you CAN. I KNOW YOU CAN. I also know you probably won’t. (just sayin)

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Another Billy Goat, How Gruff.

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Wayne

TREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF, CONTINUED…

Artist Jim Madsen’s take on the three billy goats gruff.

So I was trip trapping on Facebook last night and my best friend Jim Madsen had posted a digital painting he did of the 3 Billy Goats Gruff, and boy did he make a big troll. He says don’t worry about the little goat.

Don’t feel sorry for the goat. Remember that killer rabbit from Monty Python’s Holy Grail? This goat has the same amount of whup arse as him. My dad used to tell the 3 billy goats gruff story nightly to me and my brother… never got old. ~Jim Madsen

Since we just posted a Billy Goat blog, and we said, use a big troll, and we also posted on that post, a Jim Madsen illustration, a twist on the old NC Wyeth’s, Blind Pew, and then I saw this, I wanted to hurry and put it on the blog. Nice work Jim.