1. Watercolour is too hard to use, I won’t bother…I’ll never get the hang of it anyway, so what’s the point?: watercolour is, in fact, even more versatile than oils in some ways. Why? You can paint layers and washes – which you can’t do with oils half as well – and you can use watercolours as you would oils (whereas, the other way around is virtually impossible).

2. Oils are expensive, and I need a canvas and I prefer paper: in fact, oils are only as expensive as any other kind of quality paint, and the good thing about them is that they last a long time, so some you found in the attic that are ten years old may be as good as brand new ones! And you don’t need canvas. You can paint oils on anything that has a hard surface: wood, plastic, metal as long as it’s primed it should go.

3. I can’t draw so well, and everything that I do draw looking like something that you would find on the floor of second hand campervans - that’s why I don’t do pen and ink: the whole point of pen and ink is the freedom. Don’t be put off if you don’t usually draw much, the flowing lines will make up for that, and you can incorporate all the abstract elements you like with no problem whatsoever.

So you’ve enrolled into a Fine Art degree program and you’re heard of the term ‘Starving Artist’ but you are driven to be a Fine Artist anyway. And you still just feel like it’s a ‘calling’. Why does this term, Starving Artist exist? Aside from its philosophical meaning, perhaps its the fact that the educational cost for an artist to obtain a Fine Art degree is expensive - costing upwards toward $80,000 in attending a four year BFA degree and then the cost again for completing a 2-3 year MFA degree, which is the educational level generally recognized in the art world for museum quality work. Living expenses and art supplies also need to be taken into account for an art student and then as a working artist after graduation. A graduating Fine Art student is trained to be an academic and learns to create ‘high art’ that poses intellectual thought for viewers. It’s an elusive career position and schooling for this generally won’t educate you for a particular paying job or profession. Therefore making a viable living as a fine artist is a gamble and even in the luckiest of times it may take years to get established after school; so whilst you’re in art school here are 5 tips to consider for getting an early head start:

• Start networking and meeting not only many other art students but students outside of your department that maybe studying Art history or Curatorial Practice. If this is not offered at your school then find other colleges and universities and attend their social functions by researching the school’s website. It is through meeting people that may hold a connection in the future toward showing your artwork in events to promote your work professionally.
• Begin in your first undergraduate year to have group shows outside of your school’s institution. It doesn’t have to be first rate, and you will probably be using pop up stands instead of actually mounting your work on the walls, but you will gain valuable knowledge on how to do shows and work with others. Also this allows you to start a CV of exhibitions.
• Build a professional website showcasing your artwork. This is the new ‘business card’ to refer people to your work quickly.
• Write an artist statement with a few paragraphs. As your work evolves so must your artist statement. Critical writing is a way to help articulate your contextual ideas and communicate them to others. If you find critical writing difficult, ask a friend to assist you. With a Fine Art degree critical writing is an essential part of the course and certain art students excel in this, find out who they are and perhaps they can write something for you.
• Visit art galleries and private views. Research and understand about the owners, directors and the individual curators. Determine how a gallery environment may support your work. Are there similarities to your artwork in a visual and contextual sense to the work being exhibited? What is the history of a curator, are they contracted by galleries? How is the gallery organized? When you get the chance to meet an art curator, start by simply becoming an acquaintance; visit their private views of exhibits. Invite them to your degree show or your art studio when your artwork warrants, remember an art curator work is his or her business and their time is valuable. Most curators will work with artists if not only they like your work but if there’s a mutual dialogue, respect or a rapport.

There are numerous web pages available on the internet ever since it evolved and increasing competition became evident amongst websites. It is therefore very important to create websites using the latest technology and designs with the best programming in order to make your website look more different.

The technology keeps advancing with every passing year and gives rise to new features. One of the more popular technologies that are being used to make websites today are tables, html tags, jquery and div tags. They make the website look more advanced and informative.

Creating a website requires the same input that one would give to construct their home, in this case it is done virtually. With the help of Div tags the work gets easier as these tags help in dividing the website into different sections. Each section can also include sidebars, headers, an article area and many other features, a great example of this can be seen on the laser hair removal manchester webpage.

The first step in developing a website with the help of DIV tags would be the creation of HTML files with the help of a text editor. Each portion of the content is then enclosed inside a set of Div tags in the body of the article. It is important to remember to get each tag a unique name.

Using the CSS code, a style sheet is created that will provide rules for every separate division. The header must be positioned at the top of the web page while the side bar is placed on the right of the page.

Once the designing and styling has been completed, link this to the HTML style sheet on the page while remembering to include the tag in the header section. The information that you would like to appear on the home page of the website can be added hereon. This data can be changed as per requirements and that would be reflected on the homepage accordingly.

So a few of us got together and decided that it was about time to create a little bit of a community where we can shoot the breeze about what we do with like-minded individuals. This includes not only website design, but also classic illustration, branding, logo and character design. The discussions on this site will mainly include things we like, books and tutorials we dig, and maybe a few rants about the industry we have decided to give our lives to!

So no matter what kind of design you are into, come hang out!