ECOURSE & WORKBOOK
Welcome to the Engage Art Choose your own “art-venture” eCourse. There are parts of this ecourse that are good for artists in all media and at all experience levels. So do the parts that will help you – and just skip the parts that won’t.
Choose your own “art-venture” eCourse
The eCourse is extensive, but it is broken up into modules, and it basically covers these things:
• Better understand and enjoy a variety of art forms
• Make better art, especially art informed by a prompt
• Be more successful at the business of art
Most of all, have fun!
Because this is your very own, amazing, choose your own “art-venture!” We hope this eCourse will help you make the very best art you can for the Engage Art Contest! What’s that? You don’t know about the contest? Let’s fix that right now!
Module 1: On Your Mark
In Module 1, we learn about the Engage Art Contest and where to find out more information about it.
The contest will be open to entries from 4/15/21 – 4/14/22 and it has $60,000 in prize money with two categories, visual art and video (all music video, film, and performing arts AND we give you a TOPIC to inspire the artwork you submit)
Many artists don’t have a lot of experience working from a topic, so we spend this module giving you some tools and practice to understand the relationship between a TOPIC (subject), the THEME (what you have to say about the subject), and the PLOT (the “story” you use to explain what you have to say about the subject).
Module 2: Topic to Theme to Plot
The topic for the Engage Art Contest is the Spiritual Battle as described in Scripture, especially Ephesians 6:10-20.
Waitwaitwait!! This contest and this eCourse is for everybody—no matter your faith or beliefs. Scripture has been used to inspire art for as long as it’s existed, and it’s been used to make some of the most meaningful and amazing art on the planet.
In this Module, we provide information, resources, and a process for you to understand the topic, develop your theme, and then work through the “story” around your theme, even if you’re just choosing a portion—or even one moment—in that story to portray.
Module 3: Understanding Art
Module 3 is meant to help you understand and appreciate art better, whether you make art or just love to consume it.
It’s all about upping the level of your “art thinking”—how you understand and evaluate art. If you are an artist, the shortest road to becoming a better artist is by getting better at understanding and evaluating other people’s art, and then integrating what you learn into your own creative process.
Thinking about and evaluating art can be challenging, but it’s also a lot of fun and will make your life so much richer!
Module 4: Skills, Supports & Surprises
Module 4 is all about helping you sharpen your skills. Whether you’re a novice, emerging, mid-career or established artist, there are always places to grow. Every time you work through any of the sections of this module, it will be a different journey, because YOU will be in a different place as an artist.
We Talk About Ways to:
Build your art skills in the most efficient way possible. Identify your influences, helping you to understand your own art better. Create a space to make art. Make experimentation part of your art practice.
Approach collaboration in a productive way.Get the right kind of feedback at the right time.The work of this module is ongoing for an artist. Consider it a way of life.
MOdule 7: Marketing & Promotion
coming soon!
Pro-Tips
These pdf Modules are interactive, so you will probably be able to type your answers in to the worksheets and save the customized document to your computer. If that is not working for you, you might want to print out the workbook, or at least the fill-in-the-blank workbook pages.
Skim a section before you start, so you can see where you’re heading.
Take it at your own pace. Weeks, months, years. Revisit as desired.
You can work on Modules 3 and 4 at ANY TIME. Really. ANY time. During this process … during your entire life … Rinse. Repeat.
Seriously consider collaborating with others on your Engage Art entry. Find people who bring skills you need but don’t have. We have a whole section on it in Module 4.
HAVE FUN! After all, this is your very own, amazing, choose-your-own art-venture!
Further questions?
Let us know.
