If you are in need of artistic inspiration, research for an art project, or even just a place to find information on the basic tools of your creative trade, SGS College LRC hopes to help! Here we have compiled a list of five sites that we feel are pretty great for art students and those interested! Artists, gather round…
1: VADS: The Online Resource for Visual Arts
The Visual Arts Database, as its name implies, is an online database for the visual arts. VADS holds online collections of over 100,000 images, made available and copyright cleared for academic use. As well as images, VADS also provides teaching and research resources, as well as offering advisory services to those with queries. With collections covering topics from Calligraphy to Weaving, Romanesque Sculpture to Spanish Civil War Posters, this database is full of inspirational images, and provides a great leaping-off point for academic research!
Ostensibly as much a Psychology website as an Art website, Colour Matters considers, discusses and educates on the role of colour in art, advertising, design, science, symbolism and psychology. Whether you simply want a detailed colour wheel to find complementary colours, or if you want a detailed article on the role of “Purple” in human consciousness, this website has something for you.
3: Arnolfini
A brilliantly Bristol-centric Subject Link here, with Arnolfini! The celebrated harbourside arts centre hosts arrays of experimental visual performances, independent films, and art displays in their exhibition rooms, theatre, reading room and studios, as well as holding participation events and talks and lectures for the public. The Arnolfini website, along with their blog, will not only keep you up to date with their events and news, but offers information and insight into the Bristol art scene, through interviews with artists and behind-the-scenes looks at the collections, displays and performances that have been hosted within this historic building.
4: A-N News
For up to date news, reviews, critiques and editorials on the latest happenings in the art world, A-N News has to be one of your first stops. A-N also runs campaigns promoting the arts, and artists’ rights, and this site keeps its readers up to date with these projects, as well as the reasons why they are needed. Covering exhibitions, galleries, festivals and art projects across the world, as well as reviews of these from both industry experts and members of the public, A-N News provides a great overview contemporary art, as it happens.
5: The History of Visual Communication
The title of this site seems to say it all. However, there is a lot more than meets the eye to visual communication (bad pun intended). Based around a degree-level course module that was run at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, this site covers the history of visual communication and all which that entails, from 40,000 year old Cro-Magnon cave paintings, through to the Computer Age and the role of visual communication in digital media. With concise, yet comprehensive, overviews of the history of visual communication, well-considered example images, and accessible, non-intimidating “Further Reading” lists, this site is excellent for first-time students of the subject and seasoned art buffs needing a quick brush up, alike.
For even more useful links, please visit the LRC’s Art and Design Subject Links page!
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