2 Guinea pigs. “Slumber parties” (aka video shoots) at Prof Lieu’s house. Air mattresses that don’t always work. Outdoor mud fights with Prof Lieu’s daughters. (Casey defends himself with hot sauce) Art supplies that smell like rotten eggs.
We are committed to keeping Artprof.org free. Which really, isn’t the best idea when it comes to having a sufficient budget. However, we believe that art education should be for everyone, not just those who can afford to pay for it.
Art Prof has recently been a crazy whirlwind of video shoots, we shot 5 tutorials in less than a month! We’ve settled into a very efficient, streamlined shoot process which has been huge in terms of really maximizing our limited time. Before we had a system in place, it would frequently take at least 2 days to shoot 1 tutorial. Now that we have a solid process in place, we have been able to pump out 1 tutorial in 1 day which is a gigantic different in terms of our productivity.
One critical advantage that I didn’t anticipate is that my experience editing all of the Art Prof videos has made me much better on camera and also directing on set. It’s incredible all of the habits I had in terms of my speech and movement that I never even realized I did; until I had to watch hours of footage of myself doing those habits. I’m extremely conscious of those “filler” words that people insert into their speech habitually without even knowing it. I’ve eliminated “kind of” and “sort of” from my speech entirely, to the point that I now barely have to edit my speech.
Previously, I saw editing as a necessary task that I had to learn to do from scratch, simply because there was no one else around who could do it. I dreamed that at some point we would have enough funding to hire professional editors. However, now that I’ve gained a ton of experience with the overall process of video production, I’m really glad that I have these skills under my belt. My editing skills have certainly had a tremendous influence on how we shoot the videos, to the point that even if we did hire professional editors in the future, I can’t imagine that I would step away from the editing process entirely.
Being able to see a tutorial through from conception to a finished video has been really important; the fact that I have been involved every step of the way has given me a holistic view of the process that I think has really helped us a lot. I know that in film production people generally specialize in one specific skill that they do incredibly well, and certainly if we got enough funding I would definitely not complain. However, it’s been great to look back on learning this process from knowing nothing to where we are today.
In a project like Artprof.org, which still feels like it’s in it’s infancy (despite that we started in 2014!) I still find it hilarious the incredible range of tasks that I am doing on a daily basis. While parts of Art Prof are creatively exhilarating and exciting, there is also a side to Art Prof which is so mundane and at times tedious and super boring.
One part of the day I’m brainstorming the creative possibilities of the future, and mapping out upcoming tutorials and looking at the scope of the project. Sometimes I’m speaking to representatives from art suppliers, or having an important conversation with my partner Tom Lerra.
The next minute, I’m sweeping the floor in our studio (AKA the former playroom and current guinea pig room in my house) or I’m sitting at my computer renaming files for an hour. I feel strongly enough about Art Prof that most of the time I don’t mind doing the menial tasks, and most of the time, I laugh at the range of tasks I’ve had to do.
I admit fantasizing about the day I won’t have to do these types of tasks, but until then, my attitude is “if I don’t do it, no one else will.” Some day, maybe I won’t have to get down on my hands and knees and scrub the floor.
Sometimes when I doubt myself, one activity that is guaranteed to always lift me up is reading the scores of testimonials from people who use Artprof.org. When I was researching early on to see what kinds of art education sites were available, one aspect that I definitely took note of was the types of comments and reactions that people had to various types of content. There are tons of YouTube channels with art instruction, and I noted that many of the YouTube comments generally were either one word exclamations, “Cool!” or sentences that had three words or less: “So cool!”
Which is why when I read the reactions from our users, I know that we are definitely doing something noticeably different. In fact, the reactions from my Taiwan brush pen video are even more unique in that so many come from people who are not artists. Our other video lessons tend to be aimed more towards people who want really specific instruction and intend to take that instruction and act upon it in their own work.
That’s why I think this Taiwan video (watch it below) is a major milestone for us. The content is immensely more diverse both in terms of the visuals and the content, making the video much more like a personal narrative and has the potential to become mainstream. Our other video lessons are still just as important to me, but they’re definitely much more niche and targeted towards a specific demographic of people.
Here are some of the reactions we’ve gotten from the Taiwan video:
“Even though I’m not an artist, I really enjoy your videos. The narrative is so interesting and informative! Great work and I can’t wait to see the next one!”
“Clara’s view of the world with an artist view is so much more detailed than my non-artistic view!”
“It is very engaging video. I felt like taking up sketching just from watching!”
“Lovely well produced video. I wanna get a brush pen!”
“Now I’m hungry for dumplings after watching the video.”
We celebrated the one year anniversary of Artprof.org last week! Hard to believe that it’s only been one year; Art Prof started as a one paragraph blog post way back in 2014 so I have to remind myself that technically speaking, the site really hasn’t been around for that long!
There are so many aspects to running the site on a daily basis that most days I feel like it’s a continuous game of whack-a-mole that I’m playing. However, we are moving into our second year armed with three partnerships that are really exciting: Fredrix canvas, Tombow, and our digital partner, Cantina. So much of starting a project like this from scratch is trying to convince people that what you’re doing is worthwhile and that they should join your journey.
As the site grows every day, I’m proud that our content keeps evolving for the better. The first course posted on the site was a Drawing with Crayons course, and while I still think that course has it’s own merits, it’s a far cry from the Brush Pens in Taiwan course and the two person courses we’ve been producing like this Balsa Wood carving course below.
It can be really challenging to be constantly experimenting with different formats for the courses, as there’s a lack of stability that accompanies that approach, but it’s also incredibly exciting at the same time. Every time we make plans to shoot a new course, such as the upcoming Digital Illustration and Oil vs. Acrylic course, and we start talking through the logistics, I feel exhilarated by the possibilities and the opportunity to explore ways to present the content.
Art Prof has been so exhilarating to work on that I wake up everyday with a powerful drive to tackle what at times feels like 5 billion tasks that need to be done, but I thrive and flourish with that drive. I’ll admit that my fine arts career has really been neglected for some time now for that reason; I mean, I haven’t lifted a finger really to get into exhibitions and push my career forward the way I used to.
Ironically, that’s when major career landmarks started happening. I was invited to show in a 4 person exhibition, “March Four Women,” at Boston City Hall which goes up this week and to my tremendous surprise, I was awarded an artist fellowship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. I’ve applied to this artist fellowship every year I’ve been eligible (the categories alternate years) since 1998, so I was in complete disbelief when I got the phone call.
I used to obsess over every detail of my fine arts career, probably to a degree that verged on unhealthy, and it’s such a relief to have a project I am so excited about that those emotions have completely disappeared from my head. When I do make some work on occasionally, it’s almost always influenced by what we’re working on at Art Prof. I haven’t picked up a paint brush to oil paint in over 12 years, and yet shooting the Oil vs. Acrylic course made me want to paint again. (I seriously thought painting and I were OVER.) I got out an old canvas that has done nothing but sit in my garage for many years, and starting painting over it.
In a field that can be so unstable, unpredictable and nervewracking, I think I’ve finally found the balance and positive energy I’ve been searching for, for as long as I can remember. Looking forward to what the next year has in store for Art Prof!
I’m thrilled to release my Tombow brush pen course on sketching in Taiwan! I’ve been working on Artprof.org since 2014, and to say that our videos have evolved would be a severe understatement. Out of all the videos we’ve produced, this is one is hands down my personal favorite. This course has all of my favorite things in the world: drawing, food, culture, and travel!
Shooting the tutorial was the most chaotic, bare bones production I’ve ever done. I traveled with my husband, 2 kids, and my parents throughout Taiwan and trying to find moments to draw, much less set up a camera to shoot was not easy! Despite the almost complete lack of a production crew on this trip, (it was either it was me with a tripod by myself, or my husband doing a few minutes of hand held when we could squeeze it in) it was the most fun I’ve had in my life!
I’m a workaholic, and although working is incredibly satisfying to me, I’ll also admit that it makes me a little crazy at times. Which is why this trip to Taiwan is exactly what I needed in terms of stepping away from my life and trying to reset. In terms of Art Prof, this past year has definitely been the most stressful of the entire project; the site launch alone I think took 10 years off my life, and then figuring out how to keep moving forward and keeping the project alive from there was an immense challenge.
I hadn’t even thought about creating any Art Prof content while on this trip until Tom (my Art Prof partner) mentioned that the trip would be an amazing opportunity to film a tutorial here. I had been experimenting with Tombow brush pens for some time and had been thinking at the back of my head that I wanted to eventually do a tutorial on their brush pens.
That’s why this trip has become the best of both worlds: satisfying my compulsive need to work, but under the best, most exciting circumstances possible. I’ve been able to shoot a lot of Broll footage on my own, and my husband Alex has been filling in the gaps an setting up shots of me drawing. In the evenings, I’ve been editing the footage, photographing my drawings, and trying to come up with a narrative for the tutorial.
At first the footage I shot felt totally all over the place and I couldn’t quite figure out how I wanted to format and present the content. While I wanted to highlight my personal experience, I didn’t want it to turn entirely into a personal video about me. After a few days of editing, I think I’ve finally figured out a balance between a tutorial and personal stories. It’s definitely a unique tutorial, I’m weaving in stories of my experiences here with technical advice on the brush pens, while also speaking about what frame of mind to be in when you’re traveling and drawing.
Initially I didn’t bother doing any editing, but once I started editing, it really helped me recognize where I was missing footage and what content I hadn’t talked about yet. Perfect because I won’t be able to come back and re-shoot any missing footage!
Editing on the go has also been important because all of the tiny details of the trip are really present and fresh in my head. Although I am taking detailed notes in my sketchbook about what’s been happening, it’s great to be able to tell a story the same day that it happened so that the details are a lot more vivid.
