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Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts

03 September, 2013

The Only Magic Line of Code Bloggers Need

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How to Embed a Link in Comments



 photo tumblr_les3d2zn191qbhw3u.gif
Takes Me Elsewhere, You Know.


To embed a link in the comments of a blog, you have to use a line of code.  Since I don't know any code, what I do is recall that it begins as "a href."  I search query a hrefand don't even open the results, as the Google page has enough introductory words and, inevitably, one result will say something beginning with a left angle bracket (<) and an "a," a website address in the middle, and ending with an "a" and a right angle bracket (>).  This shows me that the code is complete.  The words you wish to present with the link are also present and enclosed within angle brackets.




This magic line of code will take your readers out to your target page, and you have a smart looking line of text highlighted as a hot link.  What I do is cut and paste the sample line of code from the source to the comment field.  I switch the target web address, and the bracketed word that sends the reader outbound to the target, and now I have my own custom line of code with a link in it.

Write down the brief "a href" on a piece of tape and put it by your keyboard.  I could write the whole code, too, but I would rather cut and paste it from my Google search.  Perhaps you type 300 words per minute, and would prefer to just type it.  I find the address of my target website in the address box at the top off the webpage, and I copy it to paste, as well.

Cheers!

01 August, 2013

New Blog!



The popularity of my portfolio blog, currentcaseyklahn.blogspot (Casey Klahn Art Portfolio of Available Works) has been surprising. 26,500 pageviews in 9 month!

Here is what I intentionally left out of that portfolio blog: the small works.  Now, I am introducing a new portfolio blog that covers the works under 12 inches. Casey Klahn Art - Intimate Sizes, small works available in framed or unframed formats fills that gap, and may be seen here. 500 hits in one day makes me think it will be another great place to showcase new works. And, I am grateful to my kind readers.

Portfolio of Medium & Large Works.
Small Works Portfolio.


24 June, 2013

Bye Bye, Google Reader


The soon-coming demise of Google Reader fulfills the tenants of Murphy's Law.  In particular, the one about when something is really good, it will be discontinued.

Please take the time to switch my humble blog over to your new feed service, kind reader.

I very much like Cristina Dalla Valentina's blog, and here is her suggestion to use Feedly as an alternative.  What is your idea or plan? 

27 March, 2013

Blog Action!

The Storm Begins On High
9" x 23"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

Thanks to the following wonderful bloggers for noting The Colorist: Donna Zagotta, Laura K. Aiken and Alyson B. Stanfield. With Donna, this blog been featured 3 years running among Blogs to Watch, and it is wonderful to be found in this company.  Laura and I share a love for Henri Matisse, and so I am honored by this attention.  Alyson is the Art Biz Coach, and her work with artists has helped them make incredible strides in the business and outreach aspects of their studios. I have benefited from several of her workshops, and recommend her to you without reservation.  Be prepared to work hard, and reap benefits, at her workshops, including and especially the online ones!

Donna Zagotta

   22 Art Blogs to Watch in 2013

Laura K. Aiken  

   Eight Blogs That Rock My World

Alyson Stanfield

   Save The Apologies...

I also made it in Alyson's newsletter.  Thanks, my blog friends, for the exposure and for the interaction in blogging over the years!

09 April, 2012

Banners, Business Cards & Graphics


Placing a new banner on your blog is the fastest way to brand your blog.  Why do this?  Because you want (I think) to make your blog instantly recognizable for the "click-through" audience that you are reaching.  The banner should identify you, and set up the visual character of your blog and your art.

This post features my new e-mail banner, and at the top of The Colorist you will see my newest blog banner.  I used Photoshop to create these, and I recommend that you get good with whatever design tool you have and learn how to work with layers.  Once I cracked the code on layers, my design life improved dramatically, and I have fun making these things, whereas before it was like pulling teeth for me!  The links at the bottom of this post shed light on using Photoshop: working with layers and making graphic products.

There are so many You Tube vids for this topic, that you ought to be able to find one that makes sense for you.  My only advice is that you match the tutorial to your design software.  Many videos show how to make a blog header with freeware, but find one for your tool.  Also, if the tutorial shows how to upload the banner to Blogger, realize that the latest version of Blogger is dirt easy to use for headers. Just open Design, and use the widgets at the top of the template.  You should do fine.  I use the header widget, and then I add a banner photo below that.

The widgets for your header or banner offer three options: 
Behind title and description
Instead of title and description
Have description placed after the image

For Pastel Workshop, my instruction blog, I chose the "Instead of..." option.  I created it this way so that clicking on the banner brings the reader back to the home page.  Here at The Colorist, I add the blog title and description above the header.  This makes it clear that the reader is at my flagship blog, and clicking on the title and subtitle/description brings one back to home. The oversize header works as a logo for The Colorist, and lets the reader understand instantly what blog they have landed on.

Experiment with different settings for your header.  Many bloggers choose a low profile header, which gets the content on the screen and above scroll.  Have fun!


    Your version of pse may vary from the video.

Note:  I took an online workshop to learn how to make a business card with Photoshop.  It was inexpensive and has served me in making all of my graphics.  I think that instructor has moved on to other tutorials, but I recommend that type of thing for those of you who, like me, aren't completely computer savvy.

23 April, 2011

Easter Weekend Notes

Self Portrait as The Man of Sorrows
Graphite, 1522
408 x 290 mm
Albrecht Durer






Happy Easter!  


Easter week has been a contemplative time here in my studio.  The Matisse series has been, for me, a great exercise in writing and critique, and my essay on The Conversation will be published here at The Colorist after the holiday.  


As if I needed more things to take my mind off of the highest Christian holiday, and off of my painting, life rolls in and washes my time away.  Doctors appointments, turkey season, spring yard work, and my new iPhone, which Lorie gave me last night.  Still, in all, I did make time for two plein air pieces, which I hope to post here or at Pastel in the next couple of days.  


It was fun to find a new store, yesterday, in Spokane Valley named the Hobby Lobby.  It is like a cavernous Michaels, only cheaper.  I bought a few General pencils, a drawing board of Chinese make (I need drawing boards loaded with current projects and more of them than you'd think) and the best things were small Birch wood boxes and trays.  I currently keep my smallest pastel outdoor set in a cigar box that is tiny, but now have an even smaller one than that.  It makes me want to make some of my own boxes, but that urge will pass, I'm sure.


I am very happy to see Diane Mize posting at COMPOSE again.  Harry Bell has been blogging for 7 years.  Yes, you read that right: seven years.  His cityscapes are a lesson in composition in themselves.

More Notes:

Lots of big images by Durer - very nice collection.





29 July, 2010

Introducing The Colorist Daily




It gives me great pleasure to introduce my newest blog: The Colorist Daily. Original Pastels in the New School Color style, posted mostly every day and many at under $100.

Should I offer a drum roll? How about a theme song? I need a theme song for this. Although this one I found at You Tube is for The Blob, try to imagine it as "The Blog!" It is from my birth year, so I kind of liked that.




Need it more up tempo? Try another from my birth year; this one by Henry Mancini, who always did the best theme songs I can remember.



Man, I love that!

Too out there for you? Nothing says intro better than this one, also from that same year.



Anyway, you get the idea. New, fresh art in small and collectible sizes. The Colorist Daily. Feel free to subscribe or follow.


04 March, 2010

Banner Banter - How To Make a Blog Banner


Banners and Badges Are Creative Blog Design Elements


Here is a special thanks to those of you who voted to choose a new blog banner. The gray banner has prevailed. There were 16 votes for gray, versus 11 and 10 for the brown and green ones, and some sentiment for keeping the old one was expressed.

A new and attractive blog banner
can be the most dramatic change for your blog, next to selecting a new template. Yesterday's post presented various types of creative blog banners for your inspiration.

This post will link you to the simplest tutorials I have found for creating and posting a new banner to your blog. I won't touch on platforms other than blogger, except to say that I think the information here on designing and creating your banner will benefit you no matter which platform you use. I will add the following advice that I found helped me. I use Photoshop Elements (version 2!).

  1. Determine the size that you want your new banner to be. I experimented with my old one and discovered that 717 x 426 pixels was my preference for a banner in my particular template. When you open a new file in Photoshop, designate the size you choose.
  2. A helpful hint in choosing a banner size is to find an image that you feel is an approximate of what you want to make and open the properties by right clicking on it. Use that as a starting point, but don't copy - you want to stand out.
  3. Notice that a few of the banners I linked make their statement in a small space, about 70 pixels tall. That may be your solution if you want to cut to the chase. Charley Parker's is 593 x 110.
  4. Why not allow your readers to participate in choosing a banner design by polling them?
  5. Make sure your finished product doesn't look pixelated, or fuzzy, when you post it at your blog. I suggest that creating it in the right size, by pixel dimensions and by dpi, will do the job. I try to create my designs in a 200 or higher dpi, and then I save them at 110 or so to make sure they look sharp enough. In my (uneducated) opinion, most people's web feeds can support at least an image of 110, rather than the old 72 dpi. Any other opinions on this?
Some have advised against big banners, and I sympathize with that opinion. I have gone with a big banner to make a graphic statement and to make my blog recognizable. I have found that there are many ways for readers to arrive here, and usually they have followed a subscription tool, which highlights the image or title of each post. The downside of having your post "below the fold," as Katherine van Schoonhoven says, is not too critical, in my opinion.



How to make a banner and post it:

Blogspot Tutorial
Photoshop Tutorials
Paul Stamatiou
Design Mom (embed code tutorial provided)


Don't forget to have a tag line. I like Angela Taylor's, "I have marks to make." Mine is "New School Color." Many bloggers make the name of their blog fit a tag line, such as "Robin Pucell, Watercolors in the Plein Air Tradition." I think it's important to include your name somewhere in your header, because people want to view and buy art from an artist. An internet nom de guerre doesn't help in building your artist profile.

Keep in mind the overall look of your blog, not just the header or banner. Also, your background color. The Colorist sported a mid-value blue-gray background for the first half a year of its life. When I went to white, the added light was well worth it as far as my art was concerned.





Why I'd never make it as an IT guy.


03 March, 2010

Banner Banter - Banners I Like



Blog banners I like are linked below. Tomorrow I'll post a "How To" for those who want to upgrade their own blog banner.

Paint2day (modest sized banner)
Chris Earnhart (irony and graphic pop)
Deborah Paris (has a new banner!)
Jennifer Phillips (artist in action)
JafaBrit's Art (story time)
Laura K. Aiken (remember to include your name like this)
Charley Parker (thin to win)
Brian McGurgan (definitive art image)

23 January, 2010

Free Association

Pinks & Greens
7.8" x 6"
Pastel
Casey Klahn


Let's noodle around the net for a little on a Saturday morning. Very little focus, but I thought you'd enjoy some of this content.


Rarely, if ever, have I looked at the blogger site, Blogs of Note. For some reason I did take a peek and actually noticed a couple I have seen before. If you want some new ideas, this is a good place to go. And, unlike many other blog aggregates, they seem to find their way to artist's blogs occasionally. Here are a couple of eclectic art/craft blogs, Nat The Fat Rat and The Hermitage. Notice the follower bling and see the way blogging can be when you do it very well. Where does Rima find a plug in?

A photo/art essay on What is Beauty? is up at the TelegraphUK. Do you want to post your own version? I know I do. File that under soon.


Also from London, you can get a fine review of the Real Van Gogh art and letters exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts by reading Katherine Tyrrell's post. I followed the links to several newspaper reviews, and read Vincent's last letter, which was in his pocket when he committed suicide.

Why don't you go here and read Margery Caggiano's blog, From the Studio? It is a gem, with a wide view of fine arts. Need some figure painting and drawing blogs? Start with Tina Collins, at Starving Artist. You'll enjoy her blog, and she links to numerous figure art blog sites. Wonderful!



A new pastel web site out of Europe is the Soft Pastel News. A daily report covering pastel art, news and events, it is a rich read for those of us who enjoy the medium of angels.

Is your art broken? It might be, and you just don't know it, yet. Sorry to be so provocative, but I was hit with a clue bat, myself, when I read Micah R. Condon's art marketing site, ArtIsBroken. Read it and don't weep - get busy!

Enjoy your day.

14 January, 2010

Studio in the Mist - An Update

Local Landscape in Mist
Small
Graphite on Sketch Paper
Casey Klahn



You are long overdue for a studio news report, and so today we'll get caught up. But first, here is an around-the-blogosphere update.

A recent post at Observe Closely, by Jan Olsen, addresses 5 Elements of a Successful Artist's Blog. I am working on my response to her post, and recommend her well designed blog to you.

Over at Katherine A. Cartwright's Studio blog, Katherine and her readers have just finished a three post exercise in trying to define what art is. To do it right, begin with her challenge first, Is It Art?, then proceed to Results... and lastly: Summary: What is Art?, to see how it all shakes out. Well worth your time, and not a few chuckles will be had!

The Colorist is now coming to you formatted on my new laptop pc. Sorry Mac-heads, I just couldn't afford the time to relearn all of my hard-earned but meager e-savvy. The time savings I am enjoying is phenomenal - it's as if I have an extra 2 hours added to my day. My old laptop now serves merely to run my old Photoshop version 2.


Bald Ridge in Haze
Small
Graphite & Pastel on Sketch Paper
Casey Klahn


Studio News.

My studio is humming with activity. We have had snow, but now are suffering a mid winter thaw. This morning I slipped on a shield of ice and had to lay there like a beached whale for a minute wondering how stupid a guy has to be to step on 2" of ice with rubber boots. Ouch. Both kids are home with sinus infections, and I am sharing that with them, myself. Ugh.

There are a number of new works in the studio, waiting for the photographer to capture them. In the meanwhile, I have taken some informal photos of sketches
with my point-and-shoot, and two of them are posted above. Enjoy these over the next few days, and don't be too critical of the focus. I am totally in debt to my wife and her fantastic skills with the lens.

Speaking of lens skill, Lorie has taken a series of portraits of your artist on the occasion of my recent awards. See one of them below. Time to get out some newsletters and press releases, and in the mean time you get to enjoy my "mug" in the next few posts.

I am working on three new series, and on my studio goals and direction. I will review my old goals for you, and we can walk through the new ones. But, as usual, I don't find this stuff easy and I am still at this task. Stay tuned.

The Colorist update.

A while back, I got rid of the blogger profile tool here at The Colorist. It was too blogger for my tastes - trite and dull. On the right, see my new link to a refurbished blog profile. More remodeling will be forthcoming here soon.

The Colorist blog is swinging along very well. Statistics are up and there seems to be some synergy developing as far as the popularity and readership here. Thanks to everyone who has been reading, and to those bloggers who link to me.




Casey Klahn
January, 2010
Photo: Lorie Klahn

08 January, 2010

Seattle Rain



Do take the time to follow Susan Abbott's A Painter's Year. Usually in Vermont, this watercolorist is touring the Pacific Northwest right now and is live-blogging by posting her paintings. Today's Seattle image, Seattle Street Corner, hits the nail on the head.

Did I mention it rains there?


gif by i karen

24 December, 2009

Another Christmas Hymn & Top Posts


As a teaser, I will let you know that The Top Ten Art Blog Posts for the year 2009 have been selected, and will be revealed next week. Last year, I posted the 2008 Top Posts before Christmas, and you can review those here.

Now, please enjoy another Christmas hymn.


23 October, 2009

Vincent van Gogh: Postal

VVG et Moi


If you didn't catch this at Lines and Colors, or at Pin Tangle, then I want you to know that Vincent van Gogh's letters are being posted, one at a time, as a blog. Named Van Gogh Blog, it originates from the Van Gogh Museum, in Amsterdam. The artist's correspondences, which were mostly with his brother Theo, are the subject of a current exhibition at the museum in Amsterdam.

Van Gogh’s letters, the artist speaks
, 9 October 2009 - 3 January 2010.

08 June, 2009

art *setter



My profile at art *setter.

The new web presence art *setter has gone live. My article, Artist, Know Thyself, has been published there. The artist as navel gazer? Not so much! It is the artist as a risk taker that we dissect.

art *setter is a global community website for people who are interested in contemporary art.

On another global note, some artists whose work I admire:

Zul Albani
Malaysia
Ujwala Prabhu
Bangladesh



15 May, 2009

Good Stuff to Know for Bloggers



Brushing up on my article writing powers. This was the best advice I found, and you'll thank me for linking it. Now we can all write like the pros.

Public Service Announcement. Trouble with Alien Abductions? Your solution may be here. Haven't tried it myself.

07 April, 2009

Blogging Love



Do you feel that art blogging should be even more popular or widespread than it is now? I do, and I predict that it will become more popular this year than ever before.

I have been slacking here at The Colorist just a bit, lately. On the plus side, some of that inattention has been due to extra time in the studio. A very happy thing!

Another happy thing was receiving the "I love Your Art Blog Award" from Kathi Peters at Equine Artists. Thanks for the love! I wish I could love-up an award for every artist blogger who reads here, too. The rules of this meme are that a recipient should name seven loves, and pick seven more art blogs to receive this award.

My past award recipients are listed at this post. I want to shake the love around and pick others this time.

Seven peeps I love:
  1. Wife
  2. Son
  3. Daughter
  4. Artists
  5. Art Patrons
  6. Army Veterans
  7. Our Brave Servicemen
My seven blogs to love:
  1. Brian McGurgan - Brian McGurgan's Drawings, A Journal
  2. Robert Chunn - Alla Prima
  3. Jala Pfaff - Art Every Day
  4. Charley Parker - Lines and Colors
  5. Garth Edwards - The Artist of Paradox
  6. Loriann Signori - Loriann Signori's Painting-A-Day
  7. Gesa Helms - Paint and Pastel

Ever feel like your circle of artist blogs is too narrow? One fun way to go out visiting is to take an award like this and Google it to see who's been posting about it. An example.

Another slick place for discovering art blogs is the new Art Blog Directory. Spin the cube!

Eden Compton has tagged me here, as well. Thanks, Eden! Adam Cope has awarded me here, and I hope to post my responses next. Thanks, Adam!

06 January, 2009

Winter Yard Birds

Winter Yard Birds
Photo: Casey Klahn

The little ones are climbing the trees. Cooped up and stuck in snow world for a couple of weeks, and today makes the second day they should have been back in school. Canceled.

Personal subjects in art blogging are a matter of taste, I think. Is it the right subject matter? Isn't it supposed to be about the art, after all?



Your Blog Style: Lifestyle, Art Form or Spare?

The answer lies in your own style. Some artists thrive by blogging about their life as well as the studio, and it is a very successful strategy. A perfect example is Tracy Helgeson, who just completed a month of daily postings challenge. Of course, having the world's yummiest studio, a beautiful farm house in upstate New York, chicken-coop full of joy, and fantastic colorist oil paintings doesn't hurt her profile, either. Her blog style has created a story line that is compelling, and authentic. Yours will be your own individual story, of course.


Tracey Ullman with a paintbrush


This leads to another style of art blogging: the art blog as an art form. First in mind for me is Jafabrit's Art. Jafabrit tells the story of an artist's life but keeps it stylized by writing spare, centered copy. Her work is dramatic, with skulls, ravens and crows, and screaming faces on rocks. Her humor is dry British wit, but tends towards the outlandish kind. Think Tracey Ullman with a paintbrush.

Corrine (Jafabrit herself) knits tree ware, gives art to the cosmos on Fridays, and commiserates with her greater art community in her Ohio locale. Well, actually she does this worldwide, too. Her "Your Documents,Please" piece has circled the globe, and don't forget these blogs go out to the world wide web. As an added bonus, because her blog is an art form, she peppers the format with music widgets, talking heads, and occasional videos - always funny. I consider Corrine's blog, and her art, to be absolutely among the most authentic and original out there.

If you are considering the absolute, most spare art blog that you can manage, think twice. The SEO gods want you to add copy to those pictures. This is the way their robotic algorithms compute. Picture...BZZZZZt-TzT (flicker, sput); Words...HzMMM nng- BTZ, AHHHHH. And the SEO deities like certain words better than others. Call it alms, or perhaps a dogma. My favorite SEO tripwires are Donny Osmond, Michael Jackson, Terri Horton, Vincent van Gogh, pastel, you get the idea. The problem is, these words don't all fit my narrative, except on very narrow occasions. OTOH, the posts live forever on the net, and garner traffic in perpetuity.

I will back up and say that images have their own pathway to the search engines such as Google Images. Here is a little research on this. Also, learn a bit about the alt attribute, and the title attribute of your images.

have a tissue handy as you cry at the results



If you have been blogging for a while, try a search of Google Images with the search query as your name, or as the name of your blog. Have a tissue handy as you either laugh or cry at the results. But, copy is still king on the Internet, since the default page on Google is text based.

Anyway, my vote for the best spare but extremely effective style is Robert Chunn's Alla Prima. Cunning and colorful still lifes posted on a consistent basis are his fare, but he has a program far more thoughtful than art only. Robert posts an art-related quote with every post, and try that sometimes if you think it is easy! Additionally, his spare motif includes his sidebar design. Precious few widgets, text all lined up and justified, and links. That's it. Think that's all? Have a closer look at his links - very exhaustive and organized. The outcome is a blog that very much matches Chunn's art, and tells the story he's after.

And you thought daily painting was the only format for art blogging! What is your art blog style? Next time: more tips, and types of art blogs.


Monetize Me, Bro:

Visit my profile page at ArtSlant here.

My art for sale is here.

05 January, 2009

Art Blogs & Art Blogging

Photo: Lorie Klahn


A number of clues have me feeling that art blogging is going to be a focus for many this year. It is free, which helps since general advertising budgets are getting slashed. In that light, I'll be adding this thread about my perspectives on art blogging. An outline would be: tips, theories and observations.


No one is in greater need of improvement at blogging than moi, and that provides my motivation for this thread. Katherine Tyrrell at Making a Mark has focused early on blogging this year, and I am catching on myself that this blogging upgrade series will benefit the artist blogging community. Katherine's new posts include how to use Google Analytics, and a poll on posting frequency.


In the area of design, Rose Welty has taken the ball on Cleaning Sidebar Clutter. My own "how to" on this is posted here: Quick Key Links. Good work, Rose! Rose has emphasized clean and neat, but I choose communication over being tidy. I once had my labels shrunk, but now am leaning towards having them available for clicking - sort of an impulse shelf. The one thing that I mull is whether to consolidate the number of labels down to more distinct categories. What are your opinions?



Art Blogging Tips

First, a rant. The Weblog Awards still do not have an art blog category. Hello. Photography? Hottest Mommy Blogger? Hobby? People often ask me if I think our culture is in decline. My answer: "what culture!?" Here is another loser award blog without an art category. I have written them, and now reside in their troublemaker files. Power to the people, baby. *endofrant*


This reminds me of my other blog goal this year: to get out-of-genre to expand my reader base. My wife reads Ravelry, which is mega big, but I can't really see going there, myself. I did get some link-love from Pin Tangle recently, and I thank them for having an interest in art - that's what we like to see in our culture.

In the same vein, I will be setting a goal of following through with an exhibit at my alma mater, Northwest University. They now have an art class, or department, but didn't when I attended in the 70's and 80's. I ran into an old classmate at the Bellevue ArtsFair who is now a Hebrew prof., and he suggested a show. An exhibit there would be outside of the art gallery fold, and provide some extra exposure. And frankly, it would be a cultural event.

So, outside of genre blog interests should be just that - authentic interests for yourself. Mine include
Christianity, the military, particularly WW II and the Civil War, Italy and blogging and marketing technology (a little bit).

Here are my favorite blogs in these categories:

Christianity - Faith and Theology

Military - Michael Yon

WW II - Ordinary Heroes: Six Stars in the Window

Civil War - Civil War Blogs

Italy - Living in Florence

Marketing - Seth Godin


Another discovery of mine has been the art community website ArtSlant. I have avoided many such sites, usually because of issues with their layout. ArtSlant has an attractive layout, and meets my goals, so far, of cross-exposure for my art, and for The Colorist. Hat tip, Julianne Richards, for recommending me there.
Abstract Expressionism, Art Criticism, Artists, Colorist Art, Drawing, History, Impressionism, Modern Art, Painting, Pastel, Post Impressionism