Monday, December 17, 2012

Your Favorite Art Magazines

The poll results are finalized for your favorite art magazine, and here are the results:



#1: International Artist. (55 votes) This bimonthly Australia-based magazine features artists from around the world. It usually allows the artists themselves to explain their thinking and their process. There's a competition in every 160-page issue, with winners from previous rounds highlighted. Most kinds of traditional media are shown, sometimes with step-by-steps. Special features on portrait painting, wildlife art, and illustration extend its range. (Full disclosure-- I do a regular column called "Station Points" on a variety of topics).


#2. ImagineFX. (50 votes) Published in England, and available in many other countries, this magazine concentrates on fantasy and science fiction (or "imaginative realism" as many are calling it now), as well as concept art. The majority of artists working digitally, but there are some who use paints and brushes. There's always a feature for new talent. The DVD included, with demos of the techniques by each of the workshop leaders.

#3. The Artist's magazine (33 votes) This Ohio-based magazine covers a variety of painting media with lots of pragmatic information about technique with lots of how-to examples. It has features on drawing, Q&A, "Ask the Experts," and workshop listings. Its website has videos and other features. Other magazines from the same publisher include Pastel Journal and Watercolor Artist. The magazine is associated most strongly with North Light books, and it has inherited American Artist's former subscribers.

#4 Plein Air magazine. (29 votes). Launched, changed to Fine Art Connoisseur, and then relaunched by popular demand, this quarterly magazine features techniques and profiles of prominent outdoor painters and collectors, as well as information about contests and conventions. The emphasis is on oil painters, especially in the Edgar Payne thick-paint mode. The editor is M. Stephen Doherty and the publisher is Eric Rhoads.


#5 Southwest Art (23 votes).  The emphasis is on Southwestern USA Art and Native American Art and artists. There are features on artists, art galleries, show listings, plein air events, new artists and art towns.

Other strong vote-getters:
#6 Watercolor Artist (20 votes)
#7 Hi Fructose (18 votes)
#8 American Art Collector (16 votes)
#9, 10, and 11. A three-way tie for Pastel Journal, Fine Art Connoisseur, and Artists and Illustrators (13 votes each)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

surprised Art Of The West isn't on the list.

Anonymous said...

surprised Art Of The WEst isn't on the list.

Connie Nobbe said...

I enjoyed your article in International Artist just this morning, over a cup of coffee. :) I enjoy learning from you via your blog and your articles. Merry Christmas!

Roberto said...

James-
Sorry to hear the news about “AA”. I let my subscription lapse a few years ago, but I kept my “the Artist’s” subscription. Both mags covered very similar territory but I found “the A’s” wider variety of painting media, their pragmatic information about technique and their features on drawing, their Q&A, and "Ask the Experts" more compelling. I hope the “AA” subscribers won’t be too disappointed with their new zine… Welcome aboard!

One of my All-time favorite Art mags is the Leonardo journal. Youcan check it out here:
http://www.leonardo.info/leoinfo.html

Leonardo was founded in 1968 in Paris by kinetic artist and astronautical pioneer Frank Malina. Malina saw the need for a journal that would serve as an international channel of communication between artists, with emphasis on the writings of artists who use science and developing technologies in their work. Today, Leonardo is the leading journal for readers interested in the application of contemporary science and technology to the arts.

Watch an interview with Executive Editor Roger Malina (http://www.observatorio.or-am.cl/documental/videos/r_mailna/roger_mailna.html) as he explains more about the history and activities of the Leonardo community.

I also enjoy the E&S journal:
http://eands.caltech.edu/

Engineering & Science is a quarterly magazine, founded by the Caltech Alumni Association in 1937. Produced by the Caltech Office of Marketing and Communications, its goal is to present to a scientifically literate audience a lively picture of the intellectual life and research activities at Caltech and to promote interest in science and scientific issues. Its circulation of 20,000 includes alumni, faculty, students, JPL staff, donors, high schools, libraries, science media, and government leaders.

I look forward to seeing you in the pages of “the Artist’s” magazine soon! -RQ

Roberto said...

James-
Sorry to hear the news about “AA”. I let my subscription lapse a few years ago, but I kept my “the Artist’s” subscription. Both mags covered very similar territory but I found “the A’s” wider variety of painting media, their pragmatic information about technique and their features on drawing, their Q&A, and "Ask the Experts" more compelling. I hope the “AA” subscribers won’t be too disappointed with their new zine… Welcome aboard!

One of my All-time favorite Art mags is the Leonardo journal. Youcan check it out here:
http://www.leonardo.info/leoinfo.html

Leonardo was founded in 1968 in Paris by kinetic artist and astronautical pioneer Frank Malina. Malina saw the need for a journal that would serve as an international channel of communication between artists, with emphasis on the writings of artists who use science and developing technologies in their work. Today, Leonardo is the leading journal for readers interested in the application of contemporary science and technology to the arts.

Watch an interview with Executive Editor Roger Malina (http://www.observatorio.or-am.cl/documental/videos/r_mailna/roger_mailna.html) as he explains more about the history and activities of the Leonardo community.

I also enjoy the E&S journal:
http://eands.caltech.edu/

Engineering & Science is a quarterly magazine, founded by the Caltech Alumni Association in 1937. Produced by the Caltech Office of Marketing and Communications, its goal is to present to a scientifically literate audience a lively picture of the intellectual life and research activities at Caltech and to promote interest in science and scientific issues. Its circulation of 20,000 includes alumni, faculty, students, JPL staff, donors, high schools, libraries, science media, and government leaders.

I look forward to seeing you in the pages of “the Artist’s” magazine soon! -RQ

Vladimir Venkov said...

These two are the only art magazines I get. Love them...

Janet Oliver said...

Thanks for this post! Just bought the January 13 issue of Imagine FX for a friend!

Agnes said...

as Roberto I was a subscriber of American Artist and have changed for Artist's Magazine (digital subscription) for the same reasons. I find it more pragmatic (more how-to-s) and also much more convenient.

Moish said...

The inlay portrait on the cover of "International Artist" is yours James, right? That's why they are so popular, they feature the right artists.

Steve Kohr Fine Art said...

Very happy to see this post - have yet to browse through a copy of Plein Air Magazine, but this post has peaked my interest - thanks!

Steve

Unknown said...

I just bought your Imaginative Realism book, and I'm enjoying it very much! I like the format of the book and also your blog, because you cover each topic in just enough depth, but you don't overwhelm the reader with too much to digest in one sitting, like many art books and articles seem to do. Each of your topics is separated from the others, so that I can concentrate on just one thing at a time, and really understand it and think about it. I like what you say about tonal arrangements, and also when you talk about how you put together ideas for your pieces.