ARTIST

 

What is Artist?

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts, and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only. The term is often used in the entertainment business, especially in a business context, for musicians and other performers (less often for actors). "Artiste" (the French for artist) is a variant used in English only in this context. Use of the term to describe writers, for example, is certainly valid, but less common, and mostly restricted to contexts like criticism.

How to Be a Good Artist

Truly becoming a good artist takes more than just raw skill and talent. Hard work and developing an individual style are at the heart of being a good artist.

STEP

1

Decide what type of art you are most interested in. You will have a much easier time putting in the time and effort necessary to improve as an artist if you work in a medium you enjoy on a subject you are passionate about. You may know what interests you right from the start or you may have to try a number of different media and subjects before finding what clicks for you. Don't be afraid to experiment.

2

Schedule time to work on your art. The best way to learn any new skill or improve your abilities is through regular practice. Whether you're looking at art as a hobby or a career, setting aside time in your day or week to focus on your art will help you to hone your skills.

3

Take classes. Few, if any, artists are so skilled that they can't benefit from some kind of formal instruction. Art classes can help you get past problems with your work that you haven't been able to solve on your own, identify areas in which you could improve, or just give you some direction and a regular time to devote to working on art. There are courses available for all skill levels at colleges, community centers, local arts centers, and numerous other places.

4

Accept constructive criticism. Constructive criticism is designed to help you improve your artwork, either the piece you're working on now or your future works. A person giving constructive criticism will usually point out both the flaws and the strengths in your piece and make suggestions on how you could fix the flaws. While it isn't always fun to hear, criticism is something you're going to have to deal with as an artist. Learn to identify when a criticism of your work is valid and use that information to focus on correcting your mistakes.

5

Show your work. For most artists, art is a form of communication. You create art because you want to share it with other people. Otherwise, you could just leave the ideas in your head. Exactly how you want to show your work and to who is your choice. You could try to get your work shown in galleries and put up for sale. You could try getting published. You might be more comfortable putting your work online and possibly selling prints of it. Or maybe you would rather just frame some of your best work and hang it up in your home for your family and friends to enjoy.

How Artist Make Money While Doing What They Love

1. Network with artists, writers, and buyers

As uncomfortable as it may be for an artist to leave the sanctity of the studio, nothing gets sold without interacting with writers who will bring attention to the art, the 500 or so well-to-do people who are interested in buying art, and the other artists who can give introductions to their art world connections.

"When you're young, you talk to everybody," contributing artist Ellen Harvey told Business Insider. "Your career gets its own momentum once you start meeting people. Artists rely a lot on other artists and you can't overlook that generosity. I think it's also important to buy other artists' work."

When times get tough, artists can sell the work in their collections or trade on the goodwill of being an active participant in the marketplace. 

2. Pay attention to your finances and make a budget

"Honestly, looking at my finances was the best thing for me," contributing artist Erik Hanson told Business Insider. 

"My goal has always been to have an art career. When I got money and I was presented with the option of paying my rent or going to Miami for Art Basel, I would go to Miami," he said. "I got into some really scary financial situations because I thought I had to sacrifice everything for the art. It forced me to soberly look at my money and ask if I'm spending it the best I can."

"I've really tried to be more responsible," Hanson said, "and get jobs that pay well." 

He primarily makes money by selling his art work, but also works odd jobs he thinks will fulfill his creative practice. Over the summer, he got a job on Craigslist to work with antique carousels at a carnival on Governors Island, south of Manhattan.

3. Plan ahead and take internships that count

"If you wait to think about your career until you first graduate, you're way behind," contributing artist Tony Ingrisano told Business Insider.

"I interned with three galleries and got a lot of experience with the behind-the-scenes work like art selling and handling, even down to things that are good for the website and marketing. When you're working for free [at an internship], you want to make sure you learn something."

Ingrisano, the youngest contributor to "Living and Sustaining a Creative Life," teaches drawing at Briarcliff College in Long Island when he's not making massive ink drawings in his own studio.

"People just assume that if you're in a gallery, all that work is sold and you're living well, but that's not the case. A lot of that art goes back to that person's studio. Having gallery representation is not the answer to economic stability," he said.

4. Commit to working as an artist

"I decided at a certain point that all money had to be made in the studio," contributing artist Kate Shepherd told Business Insider. She relies wholly on selling her artwork to make an income. 

"I did art jobs on an as-needed basis like copying paintings and doing portrait paintings. After a commercial piece, I'd make a work for myself based on that commercial piece. Had I had a waitressing or paralegal job, my hand wouldn't have been moving in the same constructive way."

5. Open a gallery, treat it like a business

Contributing artist Austin Thomas started investing in real estate in Brooklyn, and a year and a half ago, she opened a gallery space in Manhattan called Pocket Utopia. 

"Owning your own business gives you the most flexibility of all," Thomas told Business Insider. "You decide when you're open and closed. I feel like I'm even more influential in the art world because I sell other artists' works and try to make money for myself and them. Some of the people [here for the book event] I've sold their work for the highest price it's ever gotten."

6. Get used to playing the real estate game

"I had to move my studio after so many years there because Etsy started taking over in the heart of Dumbo," contributing artist Jenny Marketou told Business Insider. 

"Etsy is willing to pay twice the rent, so I had to move," she said, "Luckily I travel so much that I could move to a smaller space in the same building. Space is the biggest issue for an artist based in New York City. In a few years I'll be completely out of Dumbo. I still have to pay the rent for where I live."

Marketou has an apartment in the East Village, and moving into a smaller studio actually lowered her overhead. She works in a lot of different countries where her work has been commissioned for biennials, after creating an international network of curators since she came to the city for art school in the 1980s. 

7. Only go into teaching if you love it

"If you don't have a passion for teaching," contributing artist Carson Fox told Business Insider, "absolutely don't go into it. The college level is outrageously competitive." 

"I was on a search committee for one sculpture instructor position. We received 300 applications and 80% of the people were right out of grad school. The people with little to no experience like that just don't stand a chance."

Fox works as an associate professor of art and art history at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y. She advised applying for grants and residencies to diversify an artist's income outside of teaching.

8. Take advantage of the down economy

"The art market crashed in 1986 along with the economy," contributing artist Brian Tolle told Business Insider. "It wasn't a great time to graduate, but the depressed economy meant the market was looking for cheap talent, and young artists benefitted as a result. The expectations were so low that it was easier to break in and when the economy started to recover, we were already in place."

Now Tolle routinely manages to create work on the budgets of public art work committees. He often gets a flat fee that has to cover his time and expenses in generating these massive projects. Tolle has three public works he will install this spring: one in Canada, one in Houston, Tex., and one in Brooklyn. 

FIBER OPTICS

What is Fiber Optics? Fiber optic cable in essence, is a hair-like glass conduit that carries virtually any type of signal from one point to another at light speed. In case you are wondering why light travelling through fiber optic cable does not actually travel at true light speed, it is because the glass that makes up fiber optic cable is denser than the vacuum of outer space where light can travel without disruption. Needless to say, a fiber optic light signal is still much faster and far superior to a copper based signal, which is why it has become so popular in the cable television, telecommunications and computer networking. Unlike copper based signals, fiber signals are not affected by external power sources or surges and there is no need for shielding or grounding. How are Fiber Optics used today? Today, practically every communication network contains fiber optics. In most cases, fiber optics are used because of their convenience. Fiber optic cable allows network builders to divide their network into smaller service areas that prevent large numbers of customers from being affected in an outage. The result is better service and customer relations. Fiber optic cable also gives them a fast return path which they use for internet and telephone connections, thereby increasing their revenue potential. Local Area Networks (LANs) use fiber optics primarily in the backbone of the network, but the use of fiber optics to the desk is increasing. The LAN backbone often needs longer distance transmissions and more bandwidth than copper cable is capable of providing. Fiber easily offers the higher bandwidth needed to prepare the network for the much higher speeds projected for the near future. The use of fiber optics is not just limited to communication networks. Cable and telephone providers often use fiber for its distance capabilities. Distance is also an advantage to industrial plants that use vast amounts of fiber primarily for its noise immunity. Utilities also prefer fiber for noise immunity, security and high bandwidth properties. The military uses fiber because it's nearly tap-proof and impossible to jam. Fiber is even used by the aviation and aerospace industries because of its smaller size and weight.

WEB BROWSERS

A web browser, or simply "browser," is an application used to access and view websites. Common web browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.

The primary function of a web browser is to render HTML, the code used to design or "mark up"webpages. Each time a browser loads a web page, it processes the HTML, which may include text, links, and references to images and other items, such as cascading and JavaScript functions. The browser processes these items, then renders them in the browser window.

Early web browsers, such as Mosaic and Netscape Navigator, were simple applications that rendered HTML, processed form input, and supported bookmarks. As websites have evolved, so have web browser requirements. Today's browsers are far more advanced, supporting multiple types of HTML (such as XHTML and HTML 5), dynamic JavaScript, and encryption used by secure websites.

The capabilities of modern web browsers allow web developers to create highly interactive websites. For example, Ajax enables a browser to dynamically update information on a webpage without the need to reload the page. Advances in CSS allow browsers to display a (responsive website| responsive_web_design) layouts and a wide array of visual effects. Cookies allow browsers to remember your settings for specific websites.

While web browser technology has come a long way since Netscape, browser compatibility issues still remain a problem. Since browsers use different rendering engines, websites may not appear the same across multiple browsers. In some cases, a website may work fine in one browser, but not function properly in another. Therefore, it is smart to install multiple browsers on your computer so you can use an alternate browser if necessary.

ENCRYPTION

Encryption is the conversion of data into a form, called a cipher text that cannot be easily understood by unauthorized people. Decryption is the process of converting encrypted data back into its original form, so it can be understood.

The use of encryption/decryption is as old as the art of communication. In wartime, a cipher, often incorrectly called a code, can be employed to keep the enemy from obtaining the contents of transmissions. (Technically, a code is a means of representing a signal without the intent of keeping it secret; examples are Morse code and ASCII.) Simple ciphers include the substitution of letters for numbers, the rotation of letters in the alphabet, and the "scrambling" of voice signals by inverting the sideband frequencies. More complex ciphers work according to sophisticated computer algorithms that rearranges the data bits in digital signals.

In order to easily recover the contents of an encrypted signal, the correct decryption key is required. The key is an algorithm that undoes the work of the encryption algorithm. Alternatively, a computer can be used in an attempt to break the cipher. The more complex the encryption algorithm, the more difficult it becomes to eavesdrop on the communications without access to the key.

Encryption/decryption is especially important in wireless communications. This is because wireless circuits are easier to tap than their hard-wired counterparts. Nevertheless, encryption/decryption is a good idea when carrying out any kind of sensitive transaction, such as a credit-card purchase on-line, or the discussion of a company secret between different departments in the organization. The stronger the cipher -- that is, the harder it is for unauthorized people to break it -- the better, in general. However, as the strength of encryption/decryption increases, so does the cost.

In recent years, a controversy has arisen over so-called strong encryption. This refers to ciphers that are essentially unbreakable without the decryption keys. While most companies and their customers view it as a means of keeping secrets and minimizing fraud, some governments view strong encryption as a potential vehicle by which terrorists might evade authorities. These governments, including that of the United States, want to set up a key-escrow arrangement. This means everyone who uses a cipher would be required to provide the government with a copy of the key. Decryption keys would be stored in a supposedly secure place, used only by authorities, and used only if backed up by a court order. Opponents of this scheme argue that criminals could hack into the key-escrow database and illegally obtain, steal, or alter the keys. Supporters claim that while this is a possibility, implementing the key escrow scheme would be better than doing nothing to prevent criminals from freely using encryption/decryption.