Art - Fun Hobbies

Singing Workshop

May 20, 2021 by Staff

Singing workshops are an essential requirement for individuals who want to improve their vocal skills. They teach students about the theoretical aspects and practical techniques of singing. It may be surprising that singing involves comprehensive theoretical knowledge in addition to vocal practice. You will be going through various reading materials. Attendees gain knowledge about various breathing and vocal exercises to improve their ability. Singing workshops benefit hobbyists and professional artists alike.

Choosing the Right Singing Workshop

Many institutions and instructors organize singing workshops. Here are a few things that can help artists, singers, and vocalists choose the right singing workshop.

Group Workshop vs. Private Lessons

Singing workshops are hosted for a group of students, but many instructors do provide one-on-one coaching. Group singing lessons are more affordable, making them ideal for hobbyists. They are conducted in a publicly accessible facility. It gives children a chance to meet people with similar interests and make new friends. However, the instructor shares his or her time among all pupils. The timing is less flexible for group singing workshops as the instructor decides a time that fits most pupils. Most beginner and fundamental classes are organized as group workshops.

Private singing lessons are delivered in a one-on-one mode. The instructor can visit the pupil’s home or student for the singing workshop, although it may be organized at a public facility. Each student receives dedicated attention from the teacher and can greatly benefit from it. Private singing workshops cost significantly more as compared to group workshops as the instructor generally charges by the hour. Students who want dedicated attention or are uncomfortable in a social setting may opt for private singing workshops.

Online vs. In-Person

Singers can choose between in-person and online singing workshops. Most traditional singing workshops are organized in-person. They are conducted in dedicated classrooms in a school, college, or studio. Pupils have a hands-on experience, learning from their instructor. The coach can assist students better as they perform in front of them.

Online workshops are conducted through video conferencing like a zoom call. They may be one-on-one or involve multiple students. Some of the lessons may be pre-recorded, while others are imparted in real-time. The main convenience of online singing workshops is that the student and instructor don’t have to travel for the lessons. An instructor in one part of the country can teach a student in a remote area. However, they require good quality equipment and Internet access for the same. Poor quality hardware can distort the voice, making it harder for the instructor to guide the artists. Online singing workshops have become convenient in today’s epidemic-inflicted world.

Age Limit

Singing workshops are organized for kids and adults. They may specify an age limit for the participants. Some of them accept kids as young as two years, while others may cater to adults as old as seventy years. Quite a few singing workshops take students in the 13 to 21 age group. Teaching a class of kids may require a different approach as compared to teenagers or adults. The instructors will have to be patient with children and impart lessons in an entertaining way to them. Teenagers and adults are self-motivated and more focused on their singing. The coursework may be defined according to the age of the pupils. Therefore, when choosing a singing workshop, consider the specified age limit. Ask the instructor or person in charge about the participants accepted.

Skill Level/Types of Singing Workshop

Singing workshops have a curriculum like all other courses. It is defined based on the skill level of the participants accepted in the class. They can be broadly classified into a few types.

Beginner singing workshops

Beginner singing workshops are organized for students who are new to singing. They may be suitable for individuals irrespective of whether they want to pursue singing as a hobby or a profession. Beginner classes generally educate pupils about the fundamentals of singing. The curriculum may consist of essential stretches and breathing exercises that can improve the vocal health of artists. They may learn various tips and tricks as well as receive suggestions for practicing singing. Beginner classes are generally short, lasting for three to five sessions. If you are new to singing and want a quick course, a beginner singing workshop may be suitable for you.

Fundamental singing courses

Fundamental singing courses are suitable for individuals who are passionate about singing. The classes focus on strengthening the foundations of the trade. Students may learn about the basics of singing, different types of singing techniques, and essential practice exercises. Instructors may work with individual pupils to assist them in discovering their voice. They may also build their confidence for performing in front of an audience. Many fundamental singing workshops cover music theory in their curriculum. The coursework lays the ground for intermediate and advanced lessons. Individuals who consider singing more than a hobby may consider these classes.

Intermediate Singing Workshops

Vocalists who are sure about pursuing singing professionally and want to take their skills to the next level can consider intermediate singing workshops. These classes cover the theoretical topics and practical techniques that require a solid foundation. Singers learn vocal improvisation, expand their voice range, and master medium and high tempo vocalization. They are familiarized with different styles of singing. Many intermediate workshops may cater to vocalists specializing in a particular genre. There may be different work shops for jazz, classical, musical theater, or other styles of singing.

Advanced singing workshops

Advanced singing workshops are organized for vocalists who are or planning to get a break on the professional scene. These classes may involve one-on-one training with a dedicated instructor, although a few of them may accommodate a small group of students. The lessons may be customized according to the requirements of the pupil. They may want to prepare for a talent hunt program, practice for a stage performance, or give an audition at a recording studio. Advanced singing workshops can cater to the specific needs of the student.

Choose a singing workshop according to your skill level and requirements. Beyond these levels, many professional singers hire personal vocal coaches to organize one-on-one singing workshops. While singing workshops are a great way to educate yourself and enhance your vocal skills, they will only get you so far. Daily practice is equally essential for getting better at singing.

Photography Website Names

May 18, 2021 by Staff

Bob Books

The breadcrumb trail that aligns the photographic evolution of cameras began at the first Camera Obscura. The vast, bulky models slowly transformed into Kodak film cameras and polaroid versions that captured happy moments between the pages of our childhood albums. Digital cameras stole the spotlight soon after. Then came the smartphone era that introduced a whole new dimension of photography and editing, bringing the entire experience together with photography websites right at our fingertips.

Technology and photography are now inseparable. Software apps and technological gear have pushed the limits of our perception by creating endless spatial possibilities. And we always have drone cameras to bridge any gaps. The result is a picture that speaks a thousand words! Photographers, whether amateur or professional, create websites for their portfolios. This helps to showcase their art and share their talent with the world. Photography website names are great platforms for inspiring others and being recognized for your shutterbug hobbies.

Types of Photography

Photographers pursue different styles of photography and display the shots on their websites. These skills catch the eyes of potential clients who would like to hire a photographer for various projects. While there is no limit to the scope of photographic creativity, there are several specific types that focus on key aspects to make the images stand out when you choose one of your photography website names.

Landscape Photography

Landscape photography takes the scenic route and captures the beauty of nature. We know these images from our affinity for nature screensavers and backgrounds on our smartphones. Various topographic elements are captured, such as mountain reflections in the sea and snow-canopied forests.

Travel Photography

Travel photography documents the cultural and historical aesthetics of a place. Monuments, cuisines, heritage sites, and festivals are common themes in travel photography websites.

Candid Photography

Candid photography celebrates living in the moment by capturing random, precious memories without the subject’s knowledge. There are no rehearsed poses for picture-perfect results. There is only the unassuming spontaneity of trivial things like a child’s toothy grin and airport reunions –or farewells.

Macro Photography

Macro photography refers to extreme close-up shots of very small objects like bugs and dewdrops. They are macro-photographed into life-sized images, making them appear larger than normal. This highlights the intricate details and patterns of snowflakes, eyes, flowers, leaves, insect skin, etc.

Aerial Photography

Aerial photography employs drones and other height-based setups for a good vantage point. The bird’s eye view helps with advertising commercial projects, gaining a new perspective on landscapes, and capturing images above oceans.

Underwater Photography

Underwater photography is popular among water sports enthusiasts like scuba divers. Educational documentary websites like BBC Earth often make use of automated cameras for deep-sea imagery. Your photography website will definitely attract more visitors if you have a creative portfolio with coral reefs and marine diversity.

Wildlife Photography

Wildlife photography is another famous style for photography websites and channels like National Geographic and Animal Planet. It documents wildlife habitats and animal behaviors. You get to discover the thrill of capturing decisive moments that photographers always keep an eye out for. These decisive moments are split-second contexts that add a bit of humor, catch your interest, and make your heart skip a beat. Some examples are: the silent stand-off between a hovering hummingbird and a green pit viper; an eagle shaking water from its wings to form a halo of water droplets; a whale just as it caresses the side of a passing ship.

Features Of Great Photography Websites

Minimalism

You do not want to clutter your photography website with graphical overkill. Your website is the doorway to your business or freelance pursuits as a photographer. Keeping things simple, organized, and uncluttered is crucial to increasing the average visitor time on your website.

Easy Navigation

By limiting your visitors’ focus on key elements and hyperlinks, you can streamline their navigation across your photography website. It always helps to guide the visitor to your portfolio, contact details, Instagram pages, etc. through clickable graphics. This enhances the visitor’s browsing experience by using very few clicks to get all the information they need. Good navigation also brings mobile responsiveness into consideration. Your photography website should be compatible across mobile devices by adapting to the different screen sizes of laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

A Well Thought-Out “About Us” Page

Potential clients will seek the “About us” page to learn more about your photography website business. This page is almost like a virtual profile to the readers, and it is your chance to promote your work in unique ways that allow visitors to remember you.

Brand Identity

Having a customized, signature theme for your photography website leaves a lasting impression on your visitors. This is where the design elements step in to combine your business logo, name, and defining theme into a visually-pleasing layout. The backgrounds, color palettes, and font styles should reflect your personality and photographic ambitions.

A Creative Name

Last but not the least, your photography website needs a powerful, memorable name that stands out from mainstream ideas.

How To Brainstorm Creative Photography Website Names

Play With The Photography Vernacular

Make a list of vocabulary words associated with photography website names and play with them to form interesting combinations. For example: shutterbug, polaroid, and candid. Conveniently enough, the word “camera” can be split into “Cam Era” for different improvisations. Test different combinations for your photography website such as:

• Shutterbug Sara

• DIY Candid

• Still Candid

– for still life photography styles

• Polaroid Skylines

• The Urban Polaroid

• Ben’s Cam Era

Use Synonyms

Look up synonyms for common photography terms and explore creative possibilities with your name’s initials. For example, instead of the words camera, picture, and album, try using their synonyms like tripod, portrait, gallery, studio, portfolio, etc. for your photography website.

• The Tripod Studio

• E&B Galleries

• AQ Portraits

Use Your Rare Name

If you have a unique and rare name, chances are that other photography website names will not have already taken it. Use this to your advantage. Many professional photography websites are simply named after their owners. This is the time for all Caspians, Cassandras, and Auroras to shine! Alternatively, you can use pseudonyms to make the brand more personal and representative of your character. People who are named after the months –like April –can form creative pairs with photography words. Moreover, adapting from proverbial phrases is another smart idea.

• Aurora Lenscape

• April & Candid

• April Shower Studio

– from the phrase, “April showers bring May flowers”

– makes a fitting name for wedding/nature photography businesses

Highlight Your Photography Genre

You can choose to include the specific type of photography that you focus on, and combine this with some defining aesthetics. It can add up for your photography website names. If your name fits into creative twists, it makes the whole brainstorming even more exciting. For example:

• Landscape Horizons

• Macro Paulo

– a play on Marco Polo+ Macro + the name Paulo

• The Aquatic Lens

Consider Location-Specific Domains

If your portfolio covers photographs in certain locations only, then try experimenting with location-based domains. By using certain abstract components that make up a picture, you can come up with unique names for the photography website.

• Chromatic Michigan

• NYC Golden Hour

• The Ohio Pixel

A Final Word

Before finalizing your photography website name, make sure that you check for domain availabilities with various online tools. This allows you to revise and revamp your brand’s identity until it becomes one of a kind. Just like an artist’s signature on paintings, your photography website’s name trademarks your digital canvas so that once you are behind the lens, the world is your oyster.

Art Collection Management

January 22, 2021 by Dan

Art buying and art collection are two different hobbies, despite sounding quite interchangeable. Any art lover can buy their favorite art pieces and put them together into a creative assortment. There is no connecting theme that tells a story. Art buyers have random, diverse interests that are more about living in the moment and celebrating artistic freedom. Your pursuits as an art buyer are freestyle, bohemian, and almost extroverted in nature – always open to suggestions, always welcoming change.

Contrary to this mix-and-match style of art buying, art collection is a tunnel-vision approach that follows a specific interest. Art collectors really dive into their theme and have a clear idea of what they are looking for. They can spend years hunting for just the right art piece that fits like a puzzle to complete the image and tell a story. As an art collector, you need to decide on a central theme that brings all the pieces together. It will act as a focal point that adds gravity by keeping everything grounded. You will then carry out extensive research on the subject to decide on your artwork collection. This is where you think about what paintings to buy and assemble into a conceptual narrative.

Choosing a central theme

Start with anything you like

Art collectors usually begin with buying anything that catches their eye. The random accumulations help you discover your preferences, and they eventually develop a pattern to give you a theme inspiration. Observing features that draw your attention – like autumn leaves, auburn sunsets, volcanoes – allows you to build a concept around those artwork aesthetics. In this example, orange-red becomes a defining theme, and you keep an eye out for pieces in the autumn color palette. Orange-red also represents the idea of change, that everything sheds away to make room for something new and bold. These common threads in art collections stitch the fabric of your interests to guide future acquisitions.

Pick historical genres

Fans of popular painters like to collect genre-specific paintings from a certain era. They aim to look for common artworks from their favorite artists and assemble them into a unique story. Collectors tend to focus on one particular style of art – like impressionism and modernism – and buy pieces that celebrate those styles. You can also dedicate your theme to a timeline of your chosen artist’s creations. This showcases the artistic skills of your favorite painter throughout the course of their career and turns the theme into a tribute.

Ways to organize your art collection

Your art collections should have a beginning, middle, and end to streamline the intended concept. There are different ways to organize the pieces. You can arrange them in chronological order based on date, artistic style, genre, location, etc. You can also divide your collected portfolio into distinct subjects that each represents a new idea.

Art collections often reflect the owner’s character and perspective. When collectors choose to add some of their own personality into the ensemble, the individual pieces may seem fragmented. However, when viewed as a whole, they start coming together really well. This also represents the complex nature of human personalities – they are a combination of varied, exclusive elements. When you organize artworks in a personal style, you direct your train of thought into the sequence, and viewers get to enjoy an artistic ride.

The way you choose to organize your collection highlights the laws of synergy: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

When collectors require more space for organizing their acquisitions, they may opt for museum facilities. Art museums pay collectors generously for their incredible collections. This also lets the owners share their themed artworks with the public.

Reasons for collecting artwork

Joining a community of like-minded collectors

Art collections bring people together to collaborate on their valuable possessions, organize art galleries, and share experiences. It allows hobbyists to connect with professionals in the industry and add to their creative horizons.

Preserving history

Paintings with historical charm are like a glimpse into the past. Collectors who love history will look for limited-edition artworks and other forgotten artistic gems. The joy of discovering and unearthing such souvenirs really amplifies the whole experience.

Home décor

Interior designs increasingly feature remarkable art collections as part of the décor. Ranging from vintage pieces to contemporary styles, it is always a refreshing change to be welcomed by your self-curated artistic story.

Artwork collections preserve family legacies as well when they pass on between generations. The successive collectors can add to the assortment and rejuvenate existing themes with modern editions.

Family legacies

Art collection management

Document and maintain your inventory

The first step to managing an art collection is to organize a detailed inventory of all the artworks. This helps you recall the details behind each acquisition, have reliable facts to make sales, and keep track of everything you own. You can document your art collection history in various spreadsheet or database programs, designating a new file for each painting. Recording such data is crucial for insurance and trading contexts. Some aspects to capture in these records include invoices, close-ups of the painting, details of the artist, inventory number, dimensions, signatures, stamps, exhibition catalogs, and current location.

Ensure the safety of your collections

Whether you collect vintage pieces from an auction or paintings from art galleries, your prized possessions require optimum climates for safe storage. For example, ornaments and jewelry are best-stored in vaults, whereas artworks retain their quality in climate-controlled storage facilities. Sunlight can cause escalating damage to the paint and polishing, which is why you should never display or store the collections in direct sunlight.

Use digital tools

Various mobile apps have been launched to streamline the whole management process for your collections, update databases, and purchase insurances. Some of the best art management applications are discussed below. They include features and services to consider when you purchase an app for art management.

GalleryTool

GalleryTool is designed to optimize your art businesses through efficient management systems. The online software can be used by gallerists, artists, and collectors. With GalleryTool, you can store a vast array of artwork information for record-keeping. Business aspects like client relations, PDF catalog sales, team collaboration, etc. all converge into one management hub that keeps you updated and organized. Art collectors benefit by sharing their acquisitions on social media to target a wider audience for potential sales. Inventory management details such as artists’ information, locations of every piece, exhibitions, and images are added to help you navigate quickly when needed.

Art Galleria

Art Galleria is an efficient art management archive for artists and collectors to have a bird’s eye view of their portfolios, clients, and marketing catalogs. Its innovative database automates inventory tasks to speed up data-entry. You can create online private rooms to host exclusive viewings of your artwork collections for invite-only clients. Moreover, the app allows you to scan QR codes for instant retrieval of your artwork’s details. Collectors will be able to catalog their assortments, track deliveries and progress with exhibitions, and host their own virtual exhibitions.

Artwork Archive

Artwork Archive provides an all-in-one platform to manage collections and boost sales. With a comprehensive suite of digital tools, you can generate QR code-enabled reports, record inventories, integrate portfolios with your own websites, collaborate with artists, track the movement of your pieces, and host private rooms with guests. Artwork Archive also lets you stay updated on new editions or reproductions of original artworks. Its premier features are a great way to digitize and secure art collections, with provenance tracking tools to follow location histories.

The future of your collections

As a collector, you may choose to pass your collections as family heirlooms, particularly to those family members who share your passion and love of arts. Paintings make really thoughtful and generous gifts for institutions like museums, universities, and charities. By using technology similar to the digital tools discussed above, you always have the option of attracting audiences to make outstanding sales in your lifetime.