A New Year For Magnum Arts

Welcome to 2010 - now where are those jetpacks...?! What's it going to take, people??

Seriously, there are big things planned for 2010. Magnum Arts is expanding and will be launched as an official business this year, branching out into selling original artwork, photography, photography services and, of course, art instruction as always. By the end of 2010 Magnum Arts will be an established business, operating part time until enough revenue is generated to be able to take the business full time, a process expected to take about one to two years.

So what does that mean? It means you will see changes in both this blog, and on the website, which will soon be moved to another hosting service, in order to better display photos, graphics and information, as well as to allow business to be conducted. It means you will see more original artwork that up until now has not been shared, and you will also be able to interact with me in more ways, including my Facebook page which I keep (look up Michael Lyman on Facebook to see it). This is going to be an exciting year and so, artists and cartoonists, let's all make the most of it!

Cartooning Tools To Download and Use

On this blog I upload a lot of material and create posts to expand on what is taught in the Cartooning and Drawing class. Make use of them; they are on this blog for your benefit! Simply click on the category on the right that says Art Tips. The Art Education category is for blog posts that feature artists and art techniques that is worth knowing about; check it out when you have time. The Class Review has descriptions of subjects previously covered in classes, and the Star Wars category are posts that feature the events I participate in with the 501st Legion, a global Star Wars costuming organization. The Events category are posts describing art-related events to keep you aware of what's going on out there.

Sketching - This is a skill that is as fundamental and important to an artists as holding a pencil. For a good tutorial on what sketching is, and how to be comfortable sketching, click HERE.

Your Sketchbook - Do you know how to use it effectively? How to take advantage of it so that you are generating good ideas and trying out concepts and drawings that will take your art in new and better directions? Your sketchbook is one of your most important artistic tools. Find out more about how to use it HERE.

Perspective - Want to learn how to draw scenery that looks real? Check out this step-by-step tutorial I created that teaches you how to draw proper perspective. Click HERE!

This blog exists to support the students (and potential students) of Magnum Arts, and hopefully will be a valuable resource.