I have been a graphite and pastel artist since early childhood and have always sold or given away my originals. I have had a few ventures into reproductions and limited edition prints but unfortunately, getting the color right, the cost involved and potential for damage with limited edition prints have always held me back.What I have found is that recently there have been amazing breakthroughs with digital media that makes fine art reproduction more affordable and sensible. You can now print amazing reproductions on an as need basis. Most people know these types of prints as Giclee or Digital Pigment Prints capable of printing on multiple types of media.With the amount of time it takes to create your stunning originals you are almost sad to see them go and rarely do the artists recoup their time out of the sale of an original. Many artists lack funding to properly reproduce their artwork in a quality format, the first hurdle I see artists struggle with is accurately reproducing the colors in their pieces.Depending on whether the image is scanned, or photographed makes a difference in the color output as well as what type of lighting is being used. My most successful photo captures have been utilizing natural light in slightly overcast conditions. Other times of day have been early evening and late morning, as long as the light isn’t so harsh as to fade the colors away. Next is making sure that you have little to no light reflection within the photograph of the image to create the best digital capture for your reproduction.Once you have your digital copy it is off to Photoshop or editing program of your choice. I personally love Photoshop, but its cost can be preventative to some artists. This will allow for full control of the colors and amazing filters to create the best reproduction. Forgoing this step can lead to disappointment when your piece goes to print. In most cases what you see on your screen does not even remotely resemble what comes out of the printer. I recommend the purchase of calibration equipment to save money on ink and paper.Last but not least to have the best result you need to have the profile of your paper selection loaded in for your printer. This tells the printer how to put the ink on the page for best results. When you see set up fees ranging from $50 to hundreds of dollars, it is referring to many of the steps you see above. Not all printers are capable of printing to high enough standards to be considered Digital Pigment or Giclee. You want to make sure your printer is using Archival quality media and Fade resistant inks some when printed on proper materials and framing can last up to 200 years.Happy Printing!
Career Guidance and Career Advice for Graduates
What career guidance or career advice would you give to somebody that really hasn’t a clue as to what career they would like to pursue? Education and Career Guidance, do they go hand in hand? What importance those education and academic qualifications go toward career guidance and a candidate’s career progression?The student who hasn’t a clue can often be very worried about this but in actual fact they are often better off than the student who sees career as a particular occupation they will have when they graduate for the rest of their life. Career is a lifelong journey and a process of continually developing skills and personal qualities that are transferable. It is far better if the student can focus on the journey rather than on a particular destination.Education and Career Guidance go hand in hand. For almost all careers nowadays academic qualifications are a pre-requisite. However students also need to be able to make decisions and choices, plan initiatives and be creative thinkers. This is because the reality today is that the majority of the students I see will have not one but several careers. They will have to change roles and organizations and reinvent themselves many times.Is it ever too late to get back into education?It is never too late to get back into education. Learning is a life-long process and people are most alive when they are learning and engaged. There are also so many opportunities now for people to return to education. There are also many more opportunities for students to remain in education after second-level. The National Framework of Qualifications provides a level for everyone and all qualifications in the NFQ are recognized at home and abroad.At secondary school level education, career advice and career guidance are very closely linked. You are guiding the student and helping equip them with the skills and self knowledge to progress further. With post-graduates current job opportunities and prospects play a much bigger role.Post Graduate Options:Why should a Graduate consider Post Graduate study? How can a career guidance face to face session help a graduate pick a post graduate course?There are several reasons why a graduate should consider postgraduate study. It can improve their employment prospects, may give them the chance to specialist in a particular area, may help them change a career direction.An Arts degree for example can be a good choice at undergraduate level as it keeps a tremendous range of options open if a student isn’t quite sure what path they would like to follow. The difficult task for many Arts graduates can then be deciding which postgraduate course to choose and this is where getting professional advice can certainly help. A professional assessment will look at their level of educational achievement to date, their personality type, aptitudes and interests as well as job experience to date. There are over 1400 different subjects that can be studied in Ireland at post-graduate level and when busy studying for a degree many students find they are not aware of the choices available to them. This is where educational guidance can be of huge benefit.Are employment prospects heavily factored in a career guidance session for a graduate?Employment prospects are certainly considered in a career guidance session with a graduate but again it has to be remembered that ultimately we are striving to prepare the student best for a lifetime of change and uncertainty and help them equip themselves with the skills necessary to survive for whatever jobs may be available or whatever opportunities may arise. In the world of business a Masters degree has almost become an essential if you want to be called for interview whereas in many other career areas a few years work experience is often valued more than additional qualifications.
Personal Finance – Why You Need Momentum to Succeed With Your Personal Financial Plan
If you already have your simple personal cash flow plan and are working towards financial freedom, you might find that staying on track is the hardest part. I talk to people all the time who know what they need to do to achieve financial freedom or stay in good health, but the problem is almost always sticking it out for the long-term. In this article, we’ll be looking at how important momentum is when it comes to sticking with your commitment and how you can use it to stay focused and on track with your financial freedom plan.The Power of MomentumThe hardest part of your financial plan should never be staying committed; the hardest part should be getting started. The reason why people lose sight of their commitment is because they lose their momentum by making something called an exception. The motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said that exceptions are the most dangerous thing that we face in life because they get us off track. However, if you never make exceptions and stay consistent, you’ll build more and more momentum until it becomes all but impossible for you to give up or to lower your standards.Think about this, when the space shuttle leaves earth, it exerts more energy during its first few moments than it does for the entire trip to the moon and back. This is because once it gets moving, its momentum carries it, and as long as it doesn’t stop, that momentum carries it for the entire trip. However, imagine if it was making multiple stops along its way, how much more energy would it expend having to gather momentum and start moving again? It’s the same with your financial plan, if you stick with it EVERY day no matter what; it gets harder and harder to give up as the habits become solidified.However, once you start making exceptions like: “I can’t write in my spending journal today because I’m too busy,” or “I can’t take out my investing money this paycheck because of ____,” you start to lose traction and you have to work that much harder to get going again. Always remember this: A little bit which is applied consistently is MUCH better than a LOT which is applied inconsistently. In other words, it’s more important that you set aside a few bucks every day or write in your spending journal for 5 minutes every day than trying to knock it out in huge chunks whenever you “get around to it.”How to Maintain Your MomentumMaintaining your momentum in working your financial plan is all about having a set of daily habits to repeat on a consistent basis. In other words, set aside 15 minutes of “no matter what” time to work on your financial plan and write down your spending habits for the day. Set aside a certain percentage of money out of each paycheck for investing, and do not stray from it. Pretty soon these habits will become so commonplace; it’ll be hard for you to NOT do them.Be successful!