Checking On Sales Of Other Artists

I try to keep up with different artist websites and places that artists can sell their art. Yesterday I checked on eBay to view the completed auctions in the art category. Absolutely nothing was selling that was valued over $25. That was what I needed to know in order to help make a decision about having prints made and selling those. Prints often sell for $25 or less on etsy. The cost of printing is at less than half that amount. Sounds like a plan to me. I also heard that high end items were selling in art galleries. That means the rich are still purchasing art, but high end art. I'm not quite there yet. My art is priced affordable for the average art admirer, not for a high end collector. So here again, I see that prints are the logical way for me to continue. I will have prints made on art paper and cards, not giclee on canvas. That keeps everyone's cost is down. So, enough analysis. Let's get going on making prints.
Going to Oregon to visit family for a week, so the blog will be on hold during that time. While at my sister's place on the Oregon coast I will work with her to help start a shop on etsy.com for her photography. She in turn will help me see how some of the images of my paintings will look printed. She has a nice epson printer and I am anxious to see how the prints look and then will see if the prints sell any better than my paintings have lately. Should be interesting to see the results.

Putting Things On Hold

I am putting my etsy shop on vacation mode. I am taking a trip soon and do not want to sell anything and have to be concerned with shipping anything while traveling. I will only have my shop on vacation mode for about 10 days. When I return I will have everything up and running again and will devote a lot of time to making some positive changes. It sometimes helps to put things aside for awhile and then return with a fresh perspective.

Validation

Again today I had someone mark as a favorite a painting that sold on etsy. This painting sold about a month ago and yet people still want that painting. I will have prints made soon and offer those for sale. I will not be able to charge as much for a print as I could for the original painting, but I can make numerous sales off the same art image. I see this continued activity as validating the need to move in this direction with my art business. Not only will I offer my original art but will offer more affordable prints of my art.

Words Of Encouragement

We all need words of encouragement from time to time. Yesterday I created a treasury list on etsy.com of items that other artists and artisans were creating and posted the list for others to view. I had one woman thank me for including her painting, then she complimented me on my shop and paintings. She could not understand why I had not sold more items than I had and also was quite frustrated at her lack of sales. I told her that I enjoyed her work and to be patient. There are a lot of people looking and admiring art but not that many people are actually buying. It's not that someone's work is less than good or that no one wants to buy it, it's the economy. Until the economy improves, there will be little or no sales. I reminded her to continue to do what she loves and not to be concerned about the sales side of it. That's a lesson we could all use.

Pure Enjoyment

Yesterday I worked on and completed my autumn tree painting. It was pure enjoyment. I plan to do several more of these quick paintings of trees with their fall color. Perhaps prints of the autumn tree paintings will make nice greeting cards? We will see as this painting series progresses. I have two photos of the painting below. One photo is of the painting in progress and the other photo is of the finished painting.

Cutting Costs, Eliminating The Middle Man

I decided that there was an opportunity to grow my art business by offering prints and cards of some of my paintings. After investigating printers and printing costs, I have come to the conclusion to buy a nice small printer and do the work myself. I will cut out the middle man. I worked for 27 years in the printing industry. I can purchase paper reasonably from suppliers and print up to 11 x 14 or a little larger with no problem. The printer I am looking at is one that my sister always has and is printing her photography on. She even clued me in to a good paper supplier. The printer she has offers a good rebate for purchasing as well as a dvd of Photoshop Elements. So, it sounds like a really good deal all around. It will cost me a little up front, but I think I can recover my expenses with just a few print sales. So, after I go visit with my sister and we print a couple of my things, if I am happy with the results I will purchase a printer. I am excited about that. I will have more than expensive original paintings to offer. I think it will greatly expand my customer base. People with less expendable income with be able to purchase a print or an art card and still have a copy of a painting of mine that they have marked as a favorite. It will be cheaper for me to mail prints out than deal with shipping paintings. So, it seems like a very good idea. I will eliminate the middle man and keep a higher percentage of the profits.

A Work Schedule

I don't have any particular work schedule. I don't punch a time clock anymore. Thank goodness! 28 years was enough of that. But I do feel a need to paint on a fairly regular basis. Painting more often improves my technique. There are some painters who paint every day. There are others who actually complete an entire painting in a day. If I had a completed painting everyday, I would not have the space to keep them, assuming that they did not all sell. Can you imagine 365 paintings in a year? That's being quite prolific. And would the thought of being required to paint every day, whether you feel like it or not, take the pleasure out of the whole experience. I paint when I can. My whole day is not controlled by the thought that I must paint. Now I do paint often, but am not concerned if I skip a day here or there. That's life. I go through periods of drought, doing very little and feeling nonproductive. Then there are periods of time that I paint and paint and paint and produce a lot of work and am constantly full of ideas and experimenting with my ideas and different techniques. So, for the days that I don't sit in front of an easel, I forgive myself. I know the reasons that I paint are much more than monetary and I will be pulled back in front of the canvas when inspiration woes me and beckons me with her seductive voice.

Paint For Yourself

Paint for yourself. Paint because you enjoy it. Don't worry about whether the public likes it. Only paint to please yourself.
I am enjoying my new series of paintings. They all start out in my head and involve different fall color combination and various organic shapes. The painting technique is a combination of impressionism and the graphic technique I've been pursuing. The painting is like a living thing, growing and changing each day. I am really enjoying the process. See yesterday's progress in the photo below.

Started A New Painting

I don't waste much time after finishing a painting before I start something new. I have decided to paint a few landscape paintings with fall color. I am not looking at a photo, though I have a large selection, but rather building the painting layer by layer from a vision in my head. I am off to a good start. I have two photos below of the progress on building the under-painting.

It Is Finished!

I am satisfied. The painting has more sense of dimension, more depth. It also has more richness of color and some added interest with buildings added to the background of the painting. It is not a masterpiece, but it is a nice painting. For the moment, I am satisfied with the painting. It may need further attention at a later time. But for now, IT IS FINISHED!!!

Adding Texture With A Palette Knife

I had a very good afternoon painting. I worked on the foreground lavender in the painting. I added a lot of contrast and texture. I used a palette knife and had lots of loose quick strokes and acquired the results for which I was aiming. Below you will find two photos. One photo is of the painting as a whole. The other photo is a close-up of the lavender in the foreground to show the effect obtained by the palette knife.

Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously

Today I had a normal morning out which includes coffee at a local coffee shop and a brisk walk through town. Now I am back home and absolutely nothing on the agenda for the afternoon. That means I have a free afternoon that can be dedicated to painting. That's my kind of day. No pressure to produce anything but an afternoon to play around and paint. Some artists are way too serious. I want to keep the element of fun in my work. I definitely do not take myself nor my work too seriously.

What Do You Do When The Economy Is Bad?

What do you do when the economy is bad? Well, my answer is to continue to do the things which make you happy. In my case, that would be to paint. No one is even looking at what I have painted, so I have to forget that I sometimes make some money from my painting and just do it because I love to do it. Painting is a passion. It is a mood lifter. In bad economic times I can think of nothing better to do than paint.

Decision Made

I have in my head the next painting project. Thank you inspiration for helping me make a decision. I have always enjoyed painting lavender fields and also trees in the fall which are full of color. I have numerous lavender field paintings. I have only a few autumn tree paintings. I think it is settled. I am going to do some loose, fun, impressionist paintings of trees in the fall. I have a couple of paintings that are on a large scale. So, I think I will do some fun autumn tree paintings on a smaller scale, 8 x 10 or smaller. Now that I have my next few projects in mind, I can better focus on the painting I am doing now. I'm glad that decision is made!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions! What To Paint Next?!!!

Sometimes when I am painting I have in my head the next two or three painting projects. Even though I've been looking around at galleries and attended an arts and crafts fair, I am still undecided about what to paint next. The options are limitless. Do I paint more of what I seem to paint best or do I strive to do something different? Do I think about what the art market may want or do I paint strictly to make me happy? I am considering painting something seasonal. I always enjoyed painting fall tree scenes. I also am considering painting some dramatic cloud paintings of sunsets. I also enjoy painting animals. I may take time the next several days and look through my photos and ideas in my journal and try to come up with the next painting. Meanwhile, I am still working on the wide 12 x 36 inch lavender field painting. I still have to add some light lavender in the foreground to contrast with the very dark purple. Then I will put my attention toward the distant background and adding a few farmhouses. Reworking an old project is not as exciting as doing something new. Hopefully by the weekend my mind will be settled upon what the next project should be.

Making A Nice Landscape Painting Better

Back in November I painted a long horizontal painting (12 x 36 inches) of lavender fields. It is a nice painting, very pleasant to the eyes. I have decided to make the nice painting better. The painting needs a little more contrast in the foreground and a few farmhouse and buildings in the background. I think these few improvements will make the painting much more interesting. So, for the next several days I will be working on enhancing this painting. The original painting is seen below.

Ideas Galore!

The last few days have been wonderful for gathering ideas for new projects. I am now overwhelmed with ideas. I am currently working on a painting but need time to organize my thoughts. I will spend time today listing ideas in my journal as well as going through my work area and reorganizing. It's not a pleasant task, but a necessary one.

Arts And Crafts Fairs

Today is a fun diversion for me. There is the annual Fiesta de Artes (arts and crafts fair) in town. There are all sorts of artists and artisans showing and selling their creations. It is always fun to see what others are doing. Yesterday I went to a local home furnishing store and looked at art. So this whole weekend has been filled with lots and lots of inspiration. I did start working on a painting yesterday, so not only have I been inspired but I am following through and painting.

Display of Work

I've rearranged items and once again created a space to showcase my artwork. It makes me very happy to have a gallery like setting at home. Below you will see one of three areas where my artwork hangs.

Something For Everyone

Sales of paintings seem to happen sporadically. I am trying to list new paintings often, maybe two to three times a week. Adding new paintings helps bring more people into the shop with possible sales. Having various types of paintings helps to draw in different people as well. Some people prefer abstracts whereas others prefer impressionist or graphic paintings. You have to appeal to a large group of people. I plan to have art prints and possibly cards made in order to have something for the shopper who cannot afford a large original painting. Most people can afford to spend $20 or so, but not as many people are willing to spend $125 to a to $250. So I will have something for everyone.

Finished!

I enjoyed this painting project but am not 100 percent happy with the result. It is a nice little painting, but doesn't seem to have the wow factor. I think perhaps it is too busy with lots of shapes and lines and needed to have more solid dramatic areas. Well, I will not fault myself too much, after all it is a learning process. I am satisfied enough with it to say that I have completed the work. The finished product is seen in the photo of the painting below.

Getting Closer To A Finished Product!

I was able to put some time into painting yesterday morning before the day got busy. It isn't finished yet, but I can see it will be finished very soon. See the progress below.

Closer To Completion

I appears that I still have one or two days left to paint on the painting of the graphic chapel in the grotto. This afternoon will be busy but I will see how much can be accomplished this morning. The painting thus far has a lot of mid-tones and needs some darker shadow areas and some highlights added. It is progressing nicely. View the progress in the picture of the painting below.

Need Some Art Prints Made!

One of paintings that recently sold on etsy.com, the painting that was featured in a newsletter, keeps getting marked as a favorite and placed in treasury lists. It was a one of a kind item, an original painting. I did however make a high resolution digital file of the painting with the thought of making an art print later. I have been researching and trying to discover the best place to have some art prints made. I also want to consider greeting cards of the painting. But, first I will concentrate on having some prints made. I am finding out rather quickly that there are a lot of options out there. There are different requirements for different companies. Some printers request CMYK and 300 dpi, which was the standard when I was working in the printing industry many years ago. Some printers that do digital printing request that the file remain in RGB color mode and a JPEG file. It's all interesting. I may go with the easiest thing to start with, which is to keep in RGB and a JPEG and see how that goes. I will tackle the greeting cards and all those options later.

Very Productive Day

I was able to paint for a longer period of time yesterday and the results show. I still have plenty of work left to do on the painting, but the progress can be seen below.

Good News, Bad News

Good news, bad news. I'll mention the bad news first. I put three of my paintings on auction on eBay. It was during a period when there were no insertion fees. There were absolutely no sales and very few people even looking. It is a refection of our economic times.
Good news is that my graphic painting is progressing well. See the progress below. Whether the economy is good or bad, an artist paints. It is our passion. It is who we are.

Patterns, Shapes and Lines

I am enjoying working on my latest graphic style painting. I am trying to think in terms of pleasing patterns, shapes, lines and also color usage. It is a fun process and I enjoy building layer upon layer and watching the painting develop. Below is a photo of the painting in progess.

A Slow Start, But It Is A Start

I've finally begun work on my latest graphic painting. I am enjoying the process. Thinking of which colors to use and just what to paint first as I build the color and layers of the painting. Trying to think in terms of shapes and colors and lines, which is hard after painting so long in an impressionist manner. Enjoying my painting. See the photo below. It's a slow start, but it is a start.

Painting Featured

I had another lavender field painting included in a treasury list on etsy.com. That often draws people into my shop and hopefully will result in a sale or two. It's nice to have someone like my work enough to promote it.

Photography And Painting Today

Today is a photography day. Taking time to do the high resolution shots of my paintings, just in case I want to make small prints or cards from the artwork. Then nothing on the agenda but painting. And the painting will be a fresh, new painting. Always a good feeling to begin a new work. I often go back and tweak an old painting, but much prefer doing a new project. I enjoy the planning and thought process involved as much as the putting paint to canvas.

Busy Work

Some days are filled with less painting and more with busy work. Today is one of those days. One of my last abstract paintings has to be stretched again. The stretcher frames where warped. The canvas had to be removed. Now it needs to be stretched again and stapled in place on another set of stretcher frames. The painting needs to be saved, therefore all this extra work needs to be done. Also there is more busy work in that I still have many paintings that need high resolution digital photographs done of them. Busy, busy, busy.