It’s great to be surrounded by your friends, family, and people you know…so why not have them around you here on Artybuzz as well?

Having people you know on Artybuzz creates loads of new opportunities to get the most out of Artybuzz.com; a few ideas of how you and your friends can benefit from Artybuzz is highlighted below:

- Keep track of your friends latest work online

- Comment and interact with your friends

- Create groups for you and your friends to add their work to

- Raise the profile of your art groups, university courses, camera clubs and more by having your own group space where you can get you and your friends work noticed

The above are just a few benefits that having people you know on Artybuzz can achieve, i’m sure you would be able to think of more as well!

The more people that know about our site also means more people who are likely to buy your work, so it’s all for the greater good. If everyone in the community can do a bit to help then it will be beneficial for all in the long term.

Everyone has their own little space on Artybuzz, it’s your space and it belongs to you, so be proud of it. Upload your best work if you are an artist,  tell people about it, and let people see it. I firmly believe this site partly belongs to everyone who joins it, you make this site what it is by adding your work and making it better with your comments, groups, events and more. Working together to let more people know about Artybuzz I think will make the site better still.

Please bear the above in mind and let people know by email using our invite friends tool, or use the share button at the top right of each page to tell people about us on facebook, twitter, myspace, digg, stumbleupon and much more.

Another final incentive to let people know about us is our referral scheme…if you tell someone about us and they sign up quoting your username, you both get a £5 off voucher to use on Artybuzz!

Thanks and keep the work coming!

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Today we are featuring Chris Taylor, an illustrator from Merseyside who specialises in producing illustrations for the publishing industry.

We asked him a few question about him and his artwork, of which the questions can be viewed below…

Hi Chris, first could you give us a bit of background info on yourself?

I have always loved books and magazines of all varieties, especially ones with interesting pictures and illustrations to accompany the text and felt it was a direction I should pursue. I started emailing my illustrations and designs to many, many magazines, e-zines, and publishers all across the world hoping for someone to take an interest. Luckily an Australian magazine Skive, wanted to use one of my illustrations. Skive then put me in touch with a publisher in New York for whom I now work for on a freelance basis.

I love the creative process it takes to design or produce the artwork for books, from reading the text, transferring my thoughts into images, input from the author (who I always like to be involved) and the publisher, finalising the digital images and sending them to print. The best part is receiving the finished book – very enjoyable no matter how many I have done.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Because I work for the Publishing Industry I get most of my inspiration from the publications and stories I read.

My favourite stories are usually fantasy and adventures so my art reflects that I think.

You have quite a distinctive style, how do you create this?

I prepare to use traditional methods to create an image, this is usually pencil sketches and pastels. Using a rubber and my fingers to create

marks, light and shade.

Most of my work is created this way though many have been digitally manipulated until I get the desired result.

What made you join Artybuzz?

The main reason I joined Artybuzz is because I enjoy sharing my artwork with like minded people.

Chris Taylor said that he is available for commissions and if anyone has a particular image they would like to have drawn in his style then to get in touch with him via his website and it can be arranged; Artybuzz could also handle any production as prints that you may want.

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Today we are featuring t shirt designer Stephen Harris, you can take a look at and buy his work by viewing his profile.

Check out the interview we conducted with him below:

Where are you from and how long have you been designing?

I am originally from New Zealand, moved to Australia 15 years ago and now live in a city called Melbourne. I have been designing since I was 12 years old (23 years ago). I designed my first t-shirt for myself using permanent black markers on a white t-shirt. I traced elements off my favourite LP records and made a collage of sorts. It rocked, I still have it to this day!

What made you want to become a designer?

My parents love art. They use to drag me and my sister around art galleries as kids. I used to get bored there, but as time went on I grew more and more of an appreciation for it. Now I drag my partner around, and slowly but surely I see her love for art growing too. I simply enjoy drawing and designing. It relaxes me, it gives me a sense of purpose, to create something for the world to see, a window into my creative soul.

Where do you get your inspiration from for your designs?

Well this is an answer that you will hear a lot from many artists. The answer is simply “the world around me”.

Many artists examine the world around them and garner their inspiration from a variety of elements. Some of which are created by other people/organisations, and some that speak from personal experience. I find childhood memories are a great source of inspiration, so you will see silhouette images of children playing in my work. I like to express things that demonstrate people doing what they shouldn’t be doing, but the types of things that bring joy to others at the same time, and really don’t cause any harm. “Mischief” is probably the word .

What is your biggest ever success?

Wow that is an interesting question. I’m not going to give a creative success because I feel that I am yet to make that one and don’t want to look back at this interview as an artist and go that is so not true. So my biggest ever success is probably surviving 6 weeks in South America. Man that is one crazy continent!

Do you have any tips for other people when it comes to designing a t shirt?

Don’t rely too heavily on other peoples designs. I cant stand seeing stuff that is ripped off other people. It really eats me up. I mean we all draw inspiration from previous artists, some of my work demonstrates this. Even corporate or creative elements, like star wars is ok to use if you put your own spin on it. I just don’t like seeing stuff that is obviously another persons design. One of my pet hates is those ‘Obamaesque’ shirts that have one word at the bottom of them – its over!! Move on!! create something new for the world to digest!

All Steve’s designs can be bought as prints and T shirts here at Artybuzz.com.

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Take a look at our top ways to benefit from Artybuzz.com below:

1. ADD YOUR INFO

When you create your profile, input some information about you, your art and anything else you’d like to include.

2. UPLOAD YOUR WORK

Upload the images of your best work that you would like to sell, but be sure to upload big images to print on all items

3. INVITE YOUR FRIENDS

It’s great to have people you know around you, so why not invite your friends using ouremail invite tool, or share button in the top right of each page. Using these features is also a great way to get your work noticed on Artybuzz. You will also be able to take advantage of ourReferral Scheme

4. CREATE AND ADD WORK TO GROUPS

To get your art noticed in more places on Artybuzz, why not either find or create groups that suit your work. To add work to a group just go to it’s main page and click ‘Add Work to Group’.

5. COMMENT ON PEOPLE’S WORK

At artybuzz it’s always great to get feedback from others, so if you like a piece of work, comment on it to let the creator know you like it! This is also a great way to gain feedback on your own work, and allow people to find your own profile on Artybuzz through seeing your comment.

6. JOIN US OFF ARTYBUZZ.COM

We’re also onTwitter andFacebook so be sure to follow us there and get involved on those sites too.

7. PROMOTE YOURSELF

This is very important, we do as much as we can to promote your work but you will get the most out of Artybuzz by promoting your profile yourself where possible. You can just do little things like use the ‘Share’ button (top right) to post a link on your facebook to your profile, or bookmark your page using Digg, Stumbleupon and more. If you have your own website or blog, in your account control panel you can choose to post banners on your own site so people can buy direct from your artybuzz pages!

If you have any of your own special tips, please let us know and we will see if they can be included here.

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Hi everyone,

I’m very glad to introduce our new blog to the Artybuzz website!

We will be covering a wide range or topics on this blog in the future including:

- Regular tips and advice that will help you get the best out of Artybuzz.com

- Features, interviews, and guest blog posts from Artybuzz.com members

- General advice and tips when it comes to art, design and photography

- The latest news and happenings on Artybuzz.com

- Regular guest blog posts from experts around the world

Keep checking our blog to keep up to date with what’s going on, and if anyone has something to say or would like to contribute to this blog, please do get in touch and we’ll try to arrange something for you.

Thanks!

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