I am the only artist in my family. Ever! I have no idea how I got my talent, or why I got my talent. What I know is that if I could not draw, paint, sketch, etc. my life would not be worth living.
Because I'm the only artist in my family, growing up I had very little guidance and even less knowledge of all the materials available to a fledgling artist. My tools were simple: a pencil, pencil crayons (chewed on regularly by my little sister), and plain, print paper--if I was lucky. (Plain paper was expensive, so I mostly drew on scrap paper, or in old accounting and graph books.)
I have not seen an art store 'till I was in high school, and I have not seriously started to use art stores to purchase my supplies 'till college.
I am writing all of this, because if you are an only artist in your family, or if you are the parent of the only artist in your family, I want you to know that I understand your frustration with the lack of information available to you. It is easy to ask questions when you know what to ask, but what if you have no idea what you should know? That lack of information is the chief reason I decided to write this series of articles.
In these articles I promise to do my very best to guide you through the difficult stages of becoming a professional artist, so that your way may be easier than mine.
I hope you will find the information useful, and I hope you will share this blog with anyone looking for art help.
If you do not find what you are looking for here, I'm always ready to help and offer what advice I can. You can post your question as a comment, or you may e-mail me: mili.fay@artofmili.ca.
On the other hand, if you are an artist and have advice and/or information you would like to share, please feel free to do so. I have been through several art schools, but I'll be the first to admit that there are many things I still have to learn. Your knowledge and experience is more than welcome.
So, let's begin at the beginning: Art Store Navigation!
