Art Drop 2014

-By Howard Lyon


If you didn't know September 2nd was the inaugural World Art Drop Day!  It is the creation of very talented artist Jake Parker.  An "art drop" is where you take a sketch/painting/print and hide it somewhere and then post clues on your site/social-network-of-choice.  The person who finds it gets to keep it but they have to post a picture of themselves with the found art and tag you.  I printed out a little instruction sheet to go with each art drop.

If you go to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and use the #artdropday or #artdrop hashtag to search you will find thousands of hits from September 2nd and you can see the variety of work that was involved.

Jake started doing this a little while ago and I thought it was brilliant.  When I saw that he was organizing a day for anyone to participate I decided to join in the fun.  It brought out a great sense of excitement.  I loved the idea of going out to find some treasure and it also seemed like a great way to connect with people through my art in a very real way.

I stopped by Jake's booth at SLC Comic Con this week

I put three pieces out there.  A print, a study and an original sketch done for a Magic card.  Here is what my clues looked like:


Left one in the book section of a Sprouts Grocery store.
I thought the gaming section of the local Barnes and Noble would make a good hiding spot
The last one was left in a cabinet at Costco

Why am I posting about this here?  Because I want this to take off.  I want it to grow throughout the year (you can obviously do this any day you want) and hopefully be a massive event September 2nd, 2015.  If it sounds fun at all, give it a try.

Draw your favorite superhero and leave it at a local library or drop a dinosaur drawing at a museum.  Maybe some kid will find it and inspire them to spend a little more time drawing.  Maybe someone out there who couldn't ever afford an original drawing or piece of art will get the chance to own one and treasure it.

Here are the shots of the three finders of my 'art drops':

How cute is that little art collector on the left!?

You will make someone's day and it is a unique and gratifying way to connect with your audience.  You could just so the seeds of a future collector too!

Links:
World Art Drop Day
Art Drop Facebook page

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