Art & Design Articles
by Joelle Steele
Below are links to some of my new and previously published articles about art, design, and collecting art, along with a few glossaries. But here’s a little about my art and design background.
I’m an artist, illustrator, photographer, graphic designer, floral designer, landscape designer, and art collector. I have an artistic ancestry going back more than 500 years on both sides of my family, and an art-influenced childhood. I began painting at age 4, had private art instruction until age 17, and had my work exhibited in nine student art shows. In 1970, while in college, I worked as a part-time illustrator for an advertising agency, and a few years later I became a creative director for a book publisher. In 1983, I started providing creative services and was restoring photographs in the darkroom, later in Photoshop. I continued painting, illustrating, doing commissioned work, and participating in art shows. I gave private instruction in art and also taught in group settings. I wrote many articles on art, design, and collecting art, and two Q&A advice columns in art and design. In 2018, I wrote and published two illustrated books: “Souvenirs of Europe: Decorative Landscape Etchings 1900-1949” and “What Did They Really Look Like.”
Investing in Art: Learn how much it costs, where to buy it, what to buy, investing versus collecting, and what can happen when you want to sell.
Painting Your House: How to select exterior and interior colors for your house, how to select colors that bring the outdoor color scheme indoors, and working with color palettes.
Chromodynamics – The Psychology of Color: The history of color as it relates to the psychology of color, and the symbolism behind the various colors.
How to Light Your Fine Art Paintings: Looks at the kinds of lighting available and which are safest and most effective for illuminating art.
Where Art Meets the Mind: The role of the eye and brain in effective advertising.
Color in Advertising: The role of color in logos, print ads, brochures, etc.; the use of color; selecting color palettes; and a few “don’ts” in the use of color in your print work.
Colors – The Seasons of Your Wardrobe: Describes the origins of the seasonal color system (summer, winter, spring, and fall colors), notes the basic colors for each season, and the personalities of each season.
Conserving Works of Art on Paper: How to handle, mount, frame, display, store, and in other ways protect your art investment.
Colors for Your Web Site: The role of color in web marketing, web-safe/browser-safe colors (including samples of each), color palettes, and a few “don’ts” in the use of color on your website.
Selecting Paints in Black and White: A simple artist’s guide to selecting white and black paints.
How to Varnish Your Acrylic Paintings: How to select varnish and apply it to enhance your painting and protect it from dirt, dust, and environmental pollutants.
Does An Art Education Guarantee Success?: Outlines the options artists have for studying their craft and how their studies impact on their art.
Art Prints and Printmaking Processes: If you collect prints, this articles describes some of the types of prints and printmaking processes you might encounter along the way.
Conserving Works of Art on Canvas: How to handle, frame, display, and prevent damage to your own art or the art you collect.
Selecting & Using Typefaces & Fonts For Print Work and Web Sites: Learn about the history and use of fonts and typefaces; what font sizes mean; font names, attributes, and similarities; fancy fonts; fonts on the web; and fonts that fit.
Pricing Your Art: Price Tips for Emerging Artists: Six basic factors to consider when pricing your art work.
How to Hire and Work With A Creative Service: What a creative service is, hiring and working with one, establishing budgets.
Painting Tips and Techniques – Acrylics: A few tips on working with acrylics on canvas.
Make Your Art Show A Success: Detailed helpful tips for gallery shows and craft fairs.
Basics of Color Theory: Defining color, color wheels, color models, color chips, and mixing colors.
How to Photograph Art: For artists and collectors, and for photographers shooting an artist’s works, this article should help you do it yourself and keep accurate digital images.
Advertising & Marketing Tips: A few words about advertorials, press releases, broadcast advertising, updating your image, ad copy, marketing during a recession, keeping ad costs down, sharing your know-how, and display ads.
Inspired Design – Oiva Toikka: Award-winning Swedish Finn glass artist Oiva Toikka is best known for his beautiful stylized birds.
