Mentor Program

Most of the artists that have joined the Mentor Program did so because they felt that something was missing from their work.  Like many artists, they had strengths and weaknesses: some could do photo-realism brilliantly, but then were not able to draw from life; others could paint wonderful abstract forms, but then fall flat when they painted real objects.

Some of the artists have also had a problem with what to paint and how to find a meaningful and personal subject matter.

Another problem I have seen with artists is that they rarely present their work to spectators, either online or in real life, in the best light.

What I do is get the artists to pull all of their talent together so that they develop a comprehensive command of art. If they are weak in certain areas or need a skill, I help them develop that.

In the idea/subject matter realm, through the use of thumbnail sketches, we exhaustively hash through meanings, symbolism, sizes, and compositions until we feel that the image will really communicate what the artist wants to say.

For the presentation part of the program, I encourage the artists to have a clean and clear online presence. I discuss with them the intricacies and importance of pricing the art. We also spend time titling the work, and briefly writing about it--all with the purpose of encouraging spectators to contemplate the art work.

When all these aspects come together the whole experience of being an artist comes to fruition.

The Mentor Program is 10 sessions for $700, and it works like this: you send me digital images of your works, then, over the phone, we exhaust what is going on with your work and discuss what will be the next steps. You need to work about 9 to 15 hours a week, and then we review the progress. It is very much like a college course.

If you are interested in the Mentor Program and would like to know more, please send me some images of your work, and we can take it from there.

Michael Newberry