Lights, Camera, Action: Video Content for About.com

 

 Santos arrives at my studio with a ton o' gear.

 

See Santos prepare for the shoot. 

 

See me seeing Santos as Santos sees me.

See me looking nothing less than awkward on set!

On Monday we shot five "How to..." Videos for About.com

The videos are required to be 3 minutes or less.  I was booked to cover the following topics:

Fabric Painting Techniques

Acrylic Painting Techniques

Watercolor Painting Techniques

Drawing Techniques

Giclee

 Let me say that this is not an easy task.  Trying to demo and discuss these mediums in the time allotted is "insane in the membrane!"  Too much material in too little time.  Thanks to the world's greatest producer Santos, the job was accomplished.  If you ever need an artful eye, photographer, or video director he is your guy.  He is extremely professional and easy to work with.  His production company is called CANDY LOOP PRODUCTIONS 

  I haven't been in front of the camera in two years and the format has changed completely since my last shoot.  Santos was exceptional.  He was kind and walked me through the entire process.  I hope that he got the footage he needed and that About.com is happy with the content.

I'm just thankful that it is over and I can return to painting. 

The National Building Museum 3/26/11

Inside the National Museum Building

Saturday, March 26th the National Building Museum hosted "Family Day" to celebrate the arrival of the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival.  The building was blooming.  There were all sorts of activities inspired by the Cherry Blossoms and Japanese Culture.  Everything was pretty in pink, but my favorite site had to be larger than life Japanese paper lanterns draped from the ceiling.

MG Stout gears up to challenge young artists to show off their blossoms

There were all sorts of Japanese inspired workshops for children to try.  

So what did we do?

We created recycled sketch books from outdated Workhouse Art Center Course Catalogues.  Saving trees!  A perfect activity to honor the Cherry Blossoms.  After participants made their drawing pads we encouraged them to go out into the festival and render the blossoms their way.  We asked parents to photograph the artworks and upload them to our Facebook page.  Our hope is to share all the works with the general public.  We thought kids would be stoked about having their work become a part of our virtual gallery.  

volunteers and staff help youngsters bind their books

artists very busy creating

Fun was had by all.  Families also enjoyed live entertainment.   Dancers moved gracefully across the stage, musicians played, and lively skits were performed by lovable characters.  One highlight of the day was when the star of the new movie HOP came into the building.  The kids went CRAZY!  

The HOP Star (I don't know his name)

If you missed family day there is still time to check out all the exciting events associated with the National Cherry Blossom Festival.  Click this link and plan to spend the day in the District.  It really is the perfect time to visit our Nation's Capitol.