A Contemplative Mermaid

 

Pencil Sketch for June 2nd, 2014

From the Land of Faeries to Mermaids...

This week I've started working on my Sketch of the Day series again. I took a slight hiatus, but am back on track now. I'm not sure why, but my mind has been particularly filled with images of faeries lately. Just lots of wings flying about in my head! The only exception is the last one in this blog post. After so many faeries I threw in a mermaid just for fun.

As expected, some sketches I like better than others, but I am trying not to dwell on that as much. This series is about creating, not about creating masterpieces! I always find myself focusing too much on being a perfectionist and have thrown away countless pieces because of it!

 

April 30th, 2014

 

May 1st, 2014

 

May 2nd, 2014

 

May 3rd, 2014

 

 

Are you your own worst critic? We often hear that 'one man's trash is another man's treasure' ,but do we apply this concept to our art? I have often found that when I post a piece that I'm not particularly satisfied with, I receive a comment from someone who is moved by, or in love with the piece. For this reason, I ignore my own inner struggles with my pieces and just post them anyway. I create with the hope that I will give someone a bit of joy, hope or beauty and that's not always going to come from the pieces that I think they should.

 

To see more of my Sketch a Day series, check out my blog post 'Practice Makes Perfect'.

Mermaids On My Mind

Last April, I discussed some concept sketches that I had done for a client who wanted me to do a painting of her two daughters as mermaids.  I realize now that I never posted the final decision that my client made nor the final painting that was created for her. Sorry about that!! As always, life seems to get in the way of my good intentions.

Here is the final painting that was created for her.

Perhaps it's because of my work on this painting, but it seems as if I'm stuck on mermaids right now. Here are a few more mermaid pieces that I've created since then...

 

'Mermaid with the Golden Tail'

watercolor

 

 

 

Mermaid Necklace

                                                 
             Handpainted polymer Mermaid Barrettes

Do you ever find yourself getting stuck on a theme? What concept or theme have you gotten attached to? Children? Portraits? Landscapes?

Hope that your week is going swimmingly...  ;)

Creating Concept Sketches for a Client

In working on these mermaids, I've discovered something rather funny about the way that I work. I tend to just draw my ideas out in my sketchbook and THEN resize them in the computer to fit the proportions of the painting. I'll then add or rework things to make it fit within those proportions. Do you do this? Or do you draw out your proportions first and then create within those parameters?

I have chosen my three concept sketches for my client and have added color to them using some new watercolor pencils that I had purchased awhile back and some prismacolor pencils. I find it's a bit easier using these mediums for such a small piece. (the sketches are only 4" x 5" in order to stay proportional to my 16" x 20" final painting)

 I have sent these on to my client and am now waiting to see which one she chooses. It's always a bit nerve wracking when you send your ideas out for someone else's approval. Will she like them? Or will I be starting over from scratch? I guess that I'll just have to wait and see. Over the years I have at least learned that you need to make sure to only give your client the ideas that you are excited to create. In the past, I would have one that I really wanted to create and would put it in with two that I didn't like as much. In the end, I'd be stuck doing a piece that I wasn't terribly excited about. You can't expect your client to have the same tastes as yourself. In order to make the experience enjoyable for both of you, you must make sure that you are only offering to do paintings that you would be happy working on . The end result will be so much better if it's a piece that you are excited about.

Mermaids Here, There and Everywhere

I have recently received a commission to do a painting of a woman's two daughters as mermaids. She actually doesn't really care for the mermaids to look exactly like her daughters. She's more interested in them having the same characteristics as her daughters. (one has black hair, one brown, one has freckles, etc.)

I have been itching to do a mermaid painting for quite awhile so I am eager to get started on this piece. I went to my client's house and saw the girl's rooms and saw the sorts of things that make them different from each other. One is a bit of a tomboy while the other is a little more girly. My client also  showed me some pictures of her daughters including one where her youngest daughter is at the beach making a sand castle and one where her eldest daughter has a butterfly on her nose. I always try to include personal touches in my commissioned pieces, so I decided to incorporate the butterfly, possibly the sand castle and even the eldest daughter's pet corn snake wherever possible.

I usually begin creating as many different concept sketches as I can. Various angles, poses, even themes until I find the three that I like the best. Here are the concept sketches that I have developed so far for this painting. After I choose the final three that I like best, I will move on to choosing color schemes and then I will present the final three concepts to the client so that she can decide on which painting she would like me to complete for her. I find it best to limit the number of choices that you give a client. More than three choices can easily become overwhelming.

My first concept sketch for this commission was done while at work. I used whatever I had around me, which ended up being a blue pen and yellow and blue highlighters on a scrap piece of ruled paper

  The girls like to be together, but they don't necessarily like playing together. As such, having one brushing the other's hair isn't really in keeping with their personality's, but I really like the idea anyway as it's more in keeping with what mermaids would do.

 

            I fit the eldest girl's pet corn snake in this one, though I will
probably fit him in whichever design my client finally chooses.

 

In this one I was playing around with the idea of the girls being on different rocks and therefore at different levels in the painting. I also like the idea of one girl lying down.

 

       In this sketch I fit in the youngest daughter's sand castle.

I'm still trying to decide which three I like best. Which are your favorites? I'm excited to start cleaning up these designs and adding colors. It's always a lot of fun to come up with new paintings though it's a bit stressful when you have a client to please.

Making Art Usable

Some artists are what I would consider 'purists'. They only want their artwork in it's original state. They turn their noses up when customers ask them if they offer their artwork in prints or card form and scoff and take insult when customers ask if they've considered turning their art into textiles. To an extent, I can understand the mentality of these artists. I see that they fear diminishing the value of their work by transforming it into cheaper versions of itself. However, I also see this as stubborn foolishness. When a customer is asking you if you offer prints, they aren't meaning insult. They love your artwork, but can't afford one of your originals. I don't know about you, but I WANT people who love my art to be able to have some of it.

If this isn't enough of a reason, then there are always the financial benefits to consider. When you are a purist, you will only earn whatever that piece of artwork is sold for and you only earn money from your art IF that piece is sold. However, if you aren't a purist, then you will earn whatever that piece sells for as well as earnings from the sale of prints, shirts, etc. You don't have to wait for your original piece to sell in order to begin earning money on the artwork that you have created. There is a limitless income to be earned as long as you keep that image in production. Considering that museums these days offer prints, cards, glasses cases, umbrellas, etc with the works of some of the greatest artists in the history of mankind on them, how can any artist in this day and age consider their artwork ' too good' for the same type of consumer products?

There are many websites that allow artists to make their artwork accessible to clients in a variety of forms. One of my personal favorites is www.society6.com They keep the integrity of the artwork while allowing the artist to transform their artwork into prints, cards, t-shirts, iphone covers, etc.

' Fairy Kisses'  ipad Skin

'Little Mermaid' iphone cover

Most recently, society6 has begun to create throw pillows. I am very excited with this idea. I understand that in this economy, people WANT artwork, but they would prefer to have it in a usable form rather than purchasing something that will just hang on their walls.

When creating these pillows, you have to provide Society6 with a high resolution image that is at least 3500 x 3500 pixels square. I have created some pillows using my latest Four Seasons series.

                                                                      
                                                                        'Autumn'

                                                                           'Summer'

' Winter'

                                                                             'Spring'

Aren't these fun? I can just imagine rearranging these on your couch or bed and playing with which season goes where...

What are your thoughts on making your artwork accessible in a variety of forms? Are you more of a purist? Or do you embrace this new way of selling artwork? If you are a purist I would LOVE to hear your reasons for being so. I truly want to better understand this type of mindset. I have spoken to several purists at a variety of art shows, but they weren't able to voice their reasons very well.

Hope that everyone is having a wonderful week!!

Vacations and Root Canals

I'll bet you've been wondering where I've been all this time haven't you?
If you haven't been, then lets just pretend that you have been...

I was blessed this year to be able to take three weeks off of work to spend some time in North Carolina with my family. My little niece, Coralie, is two and a half years old and I was able to spend over a week of that time with her. I just love that kid so much!

                                                  Storytime with Aunt "Bocky"

The mountains have always seemed like a second home to me and it was wonderful having the time to reflect on my life and to recharge my inspiration battery.

Upon my return I promptly began the process of having some much needed dental work done. This has quickly become worse than my worst nightmare. So far, in about 5 weeks or less,  I have had three root canals. Inbetween these root canals I have had a variety of painful toothaches that were started after my dentist began crown work. The latest root canal was finished about 8 hrs ago. Despite this physical and emotional ordeal, (I hate and fear dentists with a passion) I have been busy working on several projects. Some pieces are inspired by my recent trip and some are from my imagination. I've also been hard at work creating jewelry components for some upcoming art shows that I'll be attending.

 

'Misty Mountain'  8x10

Acrylics

Sketch of Coralie in my sketchbook for an upcoming painting

Sketch of two ocean sirens for an upcoming painting

                                        Some fall inspired jewelry components

I only have one more crown that needs to be done. Therefore there is only one more possible root canal that I might have to have. Once all of this is over I should have a lot more time and energy for posting on here. I'm also looking forward to working on some new videos for my youtube channel.

Hope that you have all been well! Have any of you ever had a nightmare dental experience?

Introducing Laura Stamper Designs!

I promised to share with you an amazing fantasy jewelry artist, and here is she! I can't tell you how much her work inspires me. Much like me, her inspiration is rooted in story. As such, each piece of miniature wearable sculpture has its own personality and its own story to tell.

Laura grew up in rural Minnesota where she was surrounded by the natural elements that would become her greatest source of inspiration. Laura originally studied portrait painting. Even today, her first love is painting and illustrating.  She still uses the same creative approach to her jewelry that she used for her portrait paintings, thinking in terms of color, composition and negative space. Her artwork first evolved from portrait painting to creating miniature porcelain paintings, sculptures and jewelry pieces. Soon she learned how to work in metals and began to incorporate metal work with her jewelry.  Each of her unique pieces is crafted from porcelain and gemstones, and set in precious mixed metals.

Laura is a wonderful example of an evolving artist. Rather than continuing in only one area of art and doing portrait paintings her whole life, she has sought to grow and evolve so that her art takes on many new and exciting forms.  We have a shared love of learning and I admire her tenacity and perseverance.  

Often artists have a hard time letting go of certain pieces. Laura has a wonderful theory about her art that helps her to part with these beautiful creations without shedding a tear. She believes that each piece is waiting for her human twin.   "They tell me who they are and I just provide the hands to help them get here.  I also think they know who they are going home with long before I do. " What a wonderful way to look at it! 

To check out more of her fantastic creations, go to her etsy shop.