Welcome to Artisan HQ

We believe that art is of huge importance to everyone in some way, shape or form, so this is why Artisan HQ has been created. The site is laid out for ease of use for art/artisan fans to trawl through our extensive collection of online tutorials absolutely free. There is something for everyone here and you’re never more than a few clicks away from something to suit your needs.

As a site, we have in mind a huge expanse for growth as we want to collaborate with local artists of all backgrounds from all around the world. Individual artist biographies will be created so they can showcase their work for thousands of others to enjoy (and potentially buy) over and over again. We feel it is important to work closely with local talent as it has never been more difficult to fight through the competition alone to achieve your path to success.

Our website provides an excellent place where viewers can go and find art tutorials on a variety of subjects. There are hundreds of videos available in full length form to watch and gain inspiration from right on the computer. This website is user-friendly and allows users to navigate through its impressive collection with ease. A key advantages of this site is that it is an absolutely free resource for the user.

Each week, the website features the ‘top 100 art tutorials’ that are being viewed. Some of them are basically entertaining information while others present emotionally-charged issues. There is a section of Artisan HQ that invites visitors to submit their artistic videos that they have produced and made themselves. The submissions are reviewed by the websites editors to see if it is something that would be appropriate for the site. This feature broadens the variety of views and subject matter for viewers’ consideration.

For those who want to stay in the know about new releases featured on the website, there are a number of ways to be notified. Registering with Artisan HQ for updates is easy and completely free. Users may choose to to have new art tutorials sent to their feed reader via RSS feeds. People who have an email account may sign up for weekly email alerts. Every week, Artisan HQ will send a list of new releases that are available on Artisan HQ. Users can stay informed of the latest research and art related current issues, subjects, and events. New release information is also available by liking Artisan HQ on Facebook or by following the site on Twitter. Which ever way viewers want to use, they will definitely stay current about newly-available art documentaries.

People who regularly access Artisan HQ will find that a playlist will automatically be made of the art documentaries that they have viewed. This makes it easy to go back to watch it again or to quickly scan the subjects and titles they have already watched. Sometimes, visitors to Artisan HQ would like some further information about a tutorial, or to read some reviews about the film. The site offers users a section of articles that review some of the current art documentaries. This list of articles offers useful information for research and is updated every week.

Regardless of what people are interested in, they can find many good art tutorials on Artisan HQ. It is a valuable resource for students and for those who are just wanting to broaden their understanding about different subjects and issues. With the quality collection offered by Artisan HQ, users can make more educated opinions about the artisan world around them. Come in and join us or even contribute and become part of this active community.
Key Personnel:

Taken a Year or so Ago

Gary Thomson – Co-founder of Artisan HQ and active contributor

Gary Thomson was born in Cape Town, S Africa but was brought up in Belfast, N Ireland from the age of one. He now lives in Newport, Wales but has lived in Cyprus, Germany, Hong Kong, England and USA. With his son, Paul, he will shortly be moving to live in Greece for a period of time in order to write and paint.

His career has been in telecommunications, serving 29 years in the Royal Air force followed by a corporate position as a support manager in a Global corporation. Gary has a passion for life and is still an active sportsman; he is mostly a self taught artist but did study and gain qualification through in Weston-S-Mare Art College, UK when he was younger. He has always had a keen interest in all facets of art and has attempted to portray his visions in most media with varying degrees of success. He has painted some of his best studies whilst a 51 yr old backpacker on a round the world trip and successfully exhibited his work in an outskirt of Melbourne which resulted in sales of his work “down under”.

After many years painting almost solely in watercolours he has, in the past 5-6 yrs, concentrated upon the use of acrylic media and has tried to execute all of their properties. His acrylic paintings demonstrate the flexibility to successfully work with this media to produce differing characteristics ranging from watercolour to heavy impasto pieces of work.

Whilst serving in the Royal Air Force and holidaying with his family, he was fortunate enough to travel extensively and experience many aspects of life which has allowed him to have a deep insight into the world around him. You can appreciate the resultant power of observation in all the pieces he now produces. He is a fun loving person with a very spiritual side to him and this is exhibited in the variety and diversity of the subject matter he now concentrates upon.

Gary has taught a small art group for the past 3 yrs. The average age of this group is well over 70 !! with 3 of the members over 88. Every art night produces laughter and fun…AND paintings; which give the members a huge sense of achievement and pride. It has always been Gary’s ambition to develop a form of career based around the arts and so this extracurricular activity has gone a little and satisfying way to realising this ambition. He has his work exhibited on a number of websites and actively provides advice and critique to forum members of these sites.

Gary is very proud of his two sons, Ian and Paul, and the current highlight is that both of them are cofounders of this particular website which they hope to develop into an iconic tool for use by the art world. Paul is the brains of the operation and has single handedly developed this website. Ian, his older brother, is another artist who will be a feature artist on the site shortly but currently reviews all site videos for quality content and installs them on the site.

Gary can be contacted through the contact page on the website and would willingly discuss any subject with any other artist with a view to helping.

Ian Thomson – Lead Editor and Promoter of ArtisanHQ

I have had and still lead a varied life as an artist with my oldest memories being of my Dad (Above) teaching me how to draw eyes for cartoon characters when I was maybe 6-7 years old back in the south west of England. I drew eyes very basic like a child would drawing large discs with some dots in there which to me was perfect…but oh no, these little beauties were off the mark by a long shot so when my Dad grabbed my little hand and taught me how to hold the pencil at an angle and ‘sketch’ the eye as I perceived it I was hooked. I will never forget this memory and believe it to be the basis for my passion with art. So Dad i thank you for this!

My passion for art thrived through school, college, art college, university and to the moment I write this, and has at times been just a hobby during other life commitments. ArtisanHQ has been an addiction for some months now as I love critiquing other artist’s work to help guide other aspiring artists who crave useful and informative comments surrounding their interests within art. I feel there is a huge demand for art video tutorials and there always will be because artists as I know them are extremely visual beings who struggle to relate to word guided instruction. ArtisanHQ has begun as a video tutorial website archiving everything art related and if my dreams and visions have anything to go by will expand dramatically to incorporate user galleries, an active blog, a forum section and my ultimate dream…This dream is to work with children in underprivileged communities teaching them art and creating the reality of unity and education. I myself am from a western background and have never needed for anything as my desires have always been fulfilled through the support of my family. I am very fortunate.

I have also embarked on an adventure travelling around the world with my best friend Scott from school where I have met great people and seen beautiful and inspirational things. I have been lucky enough to meet a young French girl called Nelly and she has provided me with my dream to teach young children art in Nepal in the very near future which I endeavor to fulfill with my up most passion. Travelling broadens your horizons and proves you do not need money to make a difference, I myself left England with virtually nothing to my name to create this dream and I absolutely will.

I will be a very busy boy for as long as ArtisanHQ is going so with the support of our sponsors, subscribers, members and visitors we can all make a difference in the art community as well as that of children and their families lives.