Pushing the envelope

   One of the tricks I have found to forward my art is to not be comfortable.  It's fun to be the best artist in your gang (which I am not) or your house (which is questionable for me considering Sabrina's work lately) - but it doesn't make you reach.
   You need to look, every once in a while, at stuff that is better than yours.  Art that makes you wish you could have drawn/painted/made that.  You need to be in an environment where there are people around you who are better than you.
   Then, you need to bite your lower lip and get moving.  Don't just sigh - put brush to canvas and pencil to paper.  Try stuff.  Fail.  See how things moved, and what you were happy about.

   As artists, we tend to have the 'I can't draw' face.   It's easy to get frustrated when you are trying to breath life into something.  It's really easy when it seems so effortless to some people. 
   Yet, if we don't try, don't reach - then we're all drawing stick figures.

color pencil vs painting

I had this absolutely great commission to do.  A paladin cougar furry in black dragon armor.  Yes!  Here are the inks.

The customer wanted colored pencils, so off to work I went.  Easy, fun - it goes like a breeze when you are really enjoying yourself.
Once done, I looked it over.  Love that armor.  I have a character that would love that armor.  It'd be easy to just add her face on.  Photoshop off the head...  Also, I don't think the boots add much, I can crop the picture....
Dave says, paint it up.  Okay, you talked me into it.
I actually printed the piece out in color to paint on the top of it.  Hey, a lot of the work was done - why re-invent the wheel?  Here's the two side by side.

Cool!  Here are some close ups.

Fascinating!  You can really see the difference in the media.  I am enjoying learning what each kind of art media is best at what.

Character Commish

I do a lot of character commissions.  I love them!  They are a chance to have my creativity meet up with someone else's ideas.  I try to make the character mine with cool added bits and pieces of costume, attitude or looks.

I find it interesting that I tend to go for the usual face front, standing pose all the time.  It's the best way to show the character details.

But, if I am thinking painting or event - I tend to go for something that the character is interacting with - they are merely a part of the work.  Sometimes they are not the star.  I've seen some great pictures where the main character has his back to the viewer - or much of them are hidden in darkness.

I need to remember to ask if this is a character portrait - or something more.

instructional watching snow days

Last time I was snowed in - I put in a DVD of Donato's. 
http://www.donatoart.com/mechanic/index.html

Took us all day to watch it.  My husband - who is not a painter - enjoyed it completely.  Immersive, informative, inspirational.  Really made me want to be painting and not just enjoying a show about painting.

Today - I am painting, and thinking about making my own video.

If you are snowed in, there are lots of How-tos.  I'm gonna check out You-tube.  It's a good day for it.

Residuals

As artists, we create works.
As most artists - we are not getting the top dollar for our skills, time and costly ingredients.  So, one of the way we survive is residual sales - reselling images - prints.  By re-selling images we can keep the price of the originals down.

Trouble is...  Print sales are down.
There are lots of reasons why.  It's easy to say why: Internet, lower cost printing, more artists available.

So, where are the residuals these days?
I watch the cons and try to make mental notes.

CD collections - easy to make, lotsa images, most people are on the computer.
buttons - but you have to make these.
stickers - don't sell for a lot of money, but they seem like steady sales.
T-shits - especially if you do the Woot shirts and you don't have to keep stock.
Book collections - need to be fancy and loaded with images to make a difference in today's electronic marketplace.

I've seen people offer subscriptions to private art sites - with content uploaded weekly.

I like the live feed places where you are building more of a fan base (not that I have one).  Also, there are pod casts that get your name out there.  These sorts of things allow you to advertise prints.

If anyone has any other ideas and input - I'd love to hear it.

Artist Bookshelves

Have you seen Jim Gurney's blog?  I adore pictures of artists bookshelves.  Mine are not so neat.
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2013/02/your-art-bookshelves.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FNVaYV+%28Gurney+Journey%29

I have the set of shelves in the livingroom - where I sit and draw.  These are my right at hand books.  I tend to tuck things on the shelves in front of the books.

I also have the set of hold onto these shelves in the 'studio' room.  These are often shifted from one side of the house to the other.   These are also alot of my favorite collection books.


Books, books, book!  Gotta love 'em!

Just Saying

It is practically impossible to draw or paint with a runny nose....

just saying