Do you know how when you begin something and it doesn't go quite as planned, it's sometimes hard following through with it? That's how it is with my most recent painting. It started out REALLY well, I LOVED how it looked and was very excited about it. There was only one other touch I needed to put on the painting...and I messed it up somehow. That finishing touch did not come out at all as I envisioned.
This was about 3 weeks ago and I have not touched the painting since. I really don't think it will be that difficult to fix, I just need to confront it and do it. I will do my best to confront it tonight and finish it, and try to post pictures tomorrow if I do. It will be awesome when it's actually completed.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Portraits, anyone?
Wow! I can't believe it's been about 1 1/2 weeks since my last post. To be honest, I've been completely focused on my upcoming marathon this weekend and haven't been paying much attention to my art, or at least so I thought.
I have been drawing a lot at work. I don't know why but earlier this week I was suddenly inspired to draw. I looked around for something to draw and decided to just draw my hand. A co-worker saw me and asked if I could draw a picture of her. That sounded like a great idea, so I did a fairly brief sketch of her. As always, I surprise myself and it came out better than I thought it would.
Another co-worker saw me drawing the 1st co-worker, and asked if I could do a picture of him, which I proceeded to do. The next day I drew a 3rd co-worker. I spent a lot of time on the 3rd, so it was more of an actual portrait as opposed to just a sketch. It wasn't perfect, but I was quite pleased with the results.
I now have had quite a few of my co-workers asking for "portraits." This could actually work in my favor, though the first few were free, I could easily start to charge for these, even if it's just $10. Plus, they are a lot of fun to do and help occupy and time I'm bored at work.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
I guess this counts as art?
I just made a website for my sister for a new preschool she is opening. She saw the website I had made for myself (www.meartist.com) and loved it so asked me to make one for her (much cheaper than hiring someone to do it). I readily agreed because I think it's fun. I was also curious to see if I could do it basically from scratch and make it look appropriate for a preschool and professional.
She was very happy with the results (it's still pretty basic but I only had limited info to work with) and I was fairly happy as well. I've now taken on the project of helping her promote the preschool, so I created a twitter account and a facebook page as well. Now I have to figure out how to get people interested in the product, from scratch. This should be interesting....
Her new website is www.littleacornsgrow.net. If you could check it out and let me know what you think, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
She was very happy with the results (it's still pretty basic but I only had limited info to work with) and I was fairly happy as well. I've now taken on the project of helping her promote the preschool, so I created a twitter account and a facebook page as well. Now I have to figure out how to get people interested in the product, from scratch. This should be interesting....
Her new website is www.littleacornsgrow.net. If you could check it out and let me know what you think, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
Disappointed
I was trying to finish my painting last night and I had, for now, just one more thing I wanted to do to it. I wanted to add a translucent white over the moon in the painting, but somehow I messed it up and now it looks kind of bad. I have to think of a way to fix it tonight, but I haven't come up with any ideas yet. The problem is that it didn't come out translucent enough and there's no way I can re-paint the background over it....so I'll have to figure it out tonight, hopefully.
As soon as I figure it out and fix it I will post it. I also have another mixed media painting I started on and messed up (since I'm a beginner at this method it's expected). I'm not sure how to fix that one either, but I think the best way would be to sand it down maybe, or just try to paint over it. Maybe I'll paint over it first, and if that doesn't work I'll sand it down...that's a good idea.
As soon as I figure it out and fix it I will post it. I also have another mixed media painting I started on and messed up (since I'm a beginner at this method it's expected). I'm not sure how to fix that one either, but I think the best way would be to sand it down maybe, or just try to paint over it. Maybe I'll paint over it first, and if that doesn't work I'll sand it down...that's a good idea.
Friday, May 21, 2010
New painting coming soon
I finally got some more time in to paint last night. I took another old painting that I wasn't really satisfied with and started working on it. So far I LOVE how it looks (a lot better than the original painting).
It's an acrylic, which isn't really my thing but I really like that it dries so much faster than oil. I have an oil painting I finished about 3 or 3 1/2 weeks ago and it's still not dry in some spots.
I'm also learning how to use acrylic in fun ways to make the painting look how I want. I love that I can mix the paint with a varnish to thin it out and make it kind of translucent. I still have a lot of experimenting to do, but I'm getting better at it and, like I said, it dries a lot faster than oil.
I should finish it tonight and I'll post a picture as soon as I can :)
It's an acrylic, which isn't really my thing but I really like that it dries so much faster than oil. I have an oil painting I finished about 3 or 3 1/2 weeks ago and it's still not dry in some spots.
I'm also learning how to use acrylic in fun ways to make the painting look how I want. I love that I can mix the paint with a varnish to thin it out and make it kind of translucent. I still have a lot of experimenting to do, but I'm getting better at it and, like I said, it dries a lot faster than oil.
I should finish it tonight and I'll post a picture as soon as I can :)
Friday, May 14, 2010
How to throw your own art show
On the note of how to get your art shown, if you would like to have your own art show or an auction for your art (I have done both) here are some useful tips:
1. Pick the date and time you want to have your show. I would start planning about 4-6 months in advance from this date. Saturday nights usually work best so you don't have to contend with people's work schedule and Sunday family activities as much.
2. Find a space to borrow or rent for the amount of time you want. I recommend allotting 2 hours for the show, with an additional 1-2 hours for set-up/break-down. I would pick a studio type setting - a big empty space, usually with hardwood or cement floor, track lighting or otherwise good lighting, a way to play music and ample space to display everything you want. For my first couple art shows I rented a space for a day for $200 a pop. I recruited a few other artists who wanted to show their work and we all chipped in. For my auction I got the space donated.
I would recommend getting a few other local artists to do the show with you. That way it's cheaper and you get more promotion out of it (5 artists each bring 20 friends = 100 people. One artist = 20-40 people usually). But of course you can do a one-man show as well, you just have to work harder on promotion.
3. If you are attached to you art as I am, get everything scanned beforehand so you can keep them digitally forever and make prints if you want.
4. Decide if you want to charge for the show or not. I usually charge a $5 entry to my art shows and am charging a $10 entry fee for my auction, which is all going to charity. The entry fee will cover the food and some of your costs of renting a space (or if you're lucky it can cover all of your costs for the food and the space).
5. Plan your menu. I have always catered my own and I usually keep it pretty simple with finger sandwiches (tuna, egg salad, cream cheese and cucumber), fruit and vegetable platters, cheese and cracker platter, and some sort of desert (cookies or eclairs). I usually also have wine, champagne, juice and water. This is the most cost effective, but if you won't have the time you could always have it catered.
6. About 1 1/2 months in advance make or have made invitations and pass them out to your friends. Create an event page on facebook. Promote on twitter. Send out an evite to your email list. You can also post a free listing on craigslist in the community section (I haven't tried this before but I plan to do it for the next show). The biggest thing will be word of mouth, so get your friends and family to help promote you to their friends. You could also look into putting a posting in a local newspaper or magazine (I also haven't done this so am not sure how that would work).
7. Recruit a couple friends or family members to help you at the event. If you're charging you'll need a person at the door selling tickets. You'll also want to have another person in charge of the music, making sure the food is stocked, and any other random details. You want to leave yourself free to be the host and roam so you can answer any questions about your art as needed. You may also want to recruit someone to take photos, which you can then post on your blog, website, facebook page, etc.
8. Set up about 1-2 hours before hand (depending on how much art you have to set up). Make sure art work is fashionably shown, evenly spaced, at a good height if it's on the walls, and well lit. Put your price tags next to each piece (it's a good idea to have a master list already made with each piece of art work and the price listed so you can keep track). It is also a good idea to write a biography for yourself with a picture and post it next to your art. If you have business cards lay them out on the various tables. Set up food table in a logical location. Set up a play list for music or pick a good set of CDs to play and get the music rolling.
9. Greet your guests and have fun!
1. Pick the date and time you want to have your show. I would start planning about 4-6 months in advance from this date. Saturday nights usually work best so you don't have to contend with people's work schedule and Sunday family activities as much.
2. Find a space to borrow or rent for the amount of time you want. I recommend allotting 2 hours for the show, with an additional 1-2 hours for set-up/break-down. I would pick a studio type setting - a big empty space, usually with hardwood or cement floor, track lighting or otherwise good lighting, a way to play music and ample space to display everything you want. For my first couple art shows I rented a space for a day for $200 a pop. I recruited a few other artists who wanted to show their work and we all chipped in. For my auction I got the space donated.
I would recommend getting a few other local artists to do the show with you. That way it's cheaper and you get more promotion out of it (5 artists each bring 20 friends = 100 people. One artist = 20-40 people usually). But of course you can do a one-man show as well, you just have to work harder on promotion.
3. If you are attached to you art as I am, get everything scanned beforehand so you can keep them digitally forever and make prints if you want.
4. Decide if you want to charge for the show or not. I usually charge a $5 entry to my art shows and am charging a $10 entry fee for my auction, which is all going to charity. The entry fee will cover the food and some of your costs of renting a space (or if you're lucky it can cover all of your costs for the food and the space).
5. Plan your menu. I have always catered my own and I usually keep it pretty simple with finger sandwiches (tuna, egg salad, cream cheese and cucumber), fruit and vegetable platters, cheese and cracker platter, and some sort of desert (cookies or eclairs). I usually also have wine, champagne, juice and water. This is the most cost effective, but if you won't have the time you could always have it catered.
6. About 1 1/2 months in advance make or have made invitations and pass them out to your friends. Create an event page on facebook. Promote on twitter. Send out an evite to your email list. You can also post a free listing on craigslist in the community section (I haven't tried this before but I plan to do it for the next show). The biggest thing will be word of mouth, so get your friends and family to help promote you to their friends. You could also look into putting a posting in a local newspaper or magazine (I also haven't done this so am not sure how that would work).
7. Recruit a couple friends or family members to help you at the event. If you're charging you'll need a person at the door selling tickets. You'll also want to have another person in charge of the music, making sure the food is stocked, and any other random details. You want to leave yourself free to be the host and roam so you can answer any questions about your art as needed. You may also want to recruit someone to take photos, which you can then post on your blog, website, facebook page, etc.
8. Set up about 1-2 hours before hand (depending on how much art you have to set up). Make sure art work is fashionably shown, evenly spaced, at a good height if it's on the walls, and well lit. Put your price tags next to each piece (it's a good idea to have a master list already made with each piece of art work and the price listed so you can keep track). It is also a good idea to write a biography for yourself with a picture and post it next to your art. If you have business cards lay them out on the various tables. Set up food table in a logical location. Set up a play list for music or pick a good set of CDs to play and get the music rolling.
9. Greet your guests and have fun!
Letting go is hard...
Tomorrow night I will be having a silent auction as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I will mainly be auctioning off my art work, though I have some other items, including art donated by another artist, a starbucks gift basket, gift certificates, etc.
I will be auctioning off every single original I have at the moment. I guess it's a pretty good sign that I don't have any in my possession. I have either sold or given away the rest as gifts (and I have actually sold quite a few, I didn't even realize it).
There are a couple of the ones I currently have that I REALLY like, specifically my first mixed media painting "Travel" and my 3 panel oil "Sunset." I love it when I do a painting I'm really proud of and don't mind showing off, but I hate the fact that I will now be selling them tomorrow. I already have a $100 bid on "Sunset."
The sad thing is I don't even have time to get all of the latest pictures scanned so at least I can have the digital version and can make prints if I want. I did get "Travel" scanned, so I'm happy about that. I hope whoever wins "Sunset" won't mind if I borrow it back later to get it scanned :)
I will be auctioning off every single original I have at the moment. I guess it's a pretty good sign that I don't have any in my possession. I have either sold or given away the rest as gifts (and I have actually sold quite a few, I didn't even realize it).
There are a couple of the ones I currently have that I REALLY like, specifically my first mixed media painting "Travel" and my 3 panel oil "Sunset." I love it when I do a painting I'm really proud of and don't mind showing off, but I hate the fact that I will now be selling them tomorrow. I already have a $100 bid on "Sunset."
The sad thing is I don't even have time to get all of the latest pictures scanned so at least I can have the digital version and can make prints if I want. I did get "Travel" scanned, so I'm happy about that. I hope whoever wins "Sunset" won't mind if I borrow it back later to get it scanned :)
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