Have you ever heard of the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words?” Many times people use photograghs and artwork to express themselves and spread awareness on certain issues. This can be referred to as photojournalism or even art journalism. In the Art Gallery section of this website we want to provide an outlook for all of the artists and photographers out there to express themsleves through topics they are passionate about. Follow this step by step guide if you are interested in creating and adding your own submissions to the Art Gallery…

Step 1: The Idea

In order to begin your piece, you will need a topic or issue that you are passionate about. This can be a problem that you see in your life, an inspirational message, or just a subject that you are interested in. Ask yourself these questions to begin brainstorming topics…..

– What are some issues that you see or encounter in your day to day life? What forms of advocacy (if any) do you see already taking place around this issue?

– What message would you want to convey to your audience?

– What are some of your hobbies? What are some topics you are interested in?

Step 2: Choosing a Medium

Now that you have an idea, you need to choose a medium to work with. There are so many different forms and mediums of art. How do you know which one to choose? When choosing an art medium you should keep in mind your level of experience, supplies you have, and what you’re interested in. For those who may not be familiar with art mediums, here are some examples and what you will need for them…

– Watercolor: You will need special paints, brushes, canvas/paper and water to obtain this hazy and translucent effect.

– Acrylic: You will need special paints, brushes, canvas/paper, and water to obtain this solid and opague effect.

– Sketching or Color Pencil: You can use graphite sketching pencils or color pencils to create drawings on normal paper.

– Photography: You can use a camera to capture photographs of real objects and even edit them on different apps/softwares.

– Collage: You can put together a bunch of pictures, words, stickers, textures etc. together to express an idea.

– Pens: You can use special pens to create detailed value drawings or even to add outlines to other media artworks.

– Markers: You can use regular markers to create colored pictures, caligraphy markers to create fancy lettering, or even fine tip markers to add outlines to other media artworks.

Step 3: Complete the Art

Gather your medium and any other supplies you may need to create your art. Keep persisting you’re almost done! Don’t worry if  it isn’t perrfect the first time, don’t give up and just remember to persevere through!

Step 4: Description

Now that you have completed your art, the next step is to create a description for your piece. The description should not only describe your piece but also the message you are trying to convey. You can see the current art gallery for several examples of descriptions.

Step 5: Submit Your Piece

In order to submit your piece, click on the ‘Art Gallery’ tab and scroll down until you see the ‘Email Us’ button, that you can use to contact us. In your email, make sure to include a picture of your piece, your description, the title of your art, and a little bit of information about you.