This is the first in a series.
Reason #1:
My art freezes a beautiful moment of time. The camera is my best friend, because my visual memory isn’t photographic and my techniques in drawing and painting are slow, slow, slow. When I see something beautiful, I feel compelled to capture it, to relive it, to revisit it, to examine it and to share it.
If you’ve been reading this blog in the last week or so, you are aware that I have a large, nay, HUGE (I refuse to accept “ginormous” as a word), nay, ENORMOUS project underway. There is much to be figured out, tons, freak-me-out amounts. (Deep breaths, deep relaxing breaths. . .)
One of the things is to learn is whether it is better to photograph the drawings or to scan them. I experimented with lots of settings on the camera, keeping Kaweah Kitty from walking over the drawings, trying different editing tricks, and comparing the differences.
Remember in the olden days when we took photos as carefully as possible, then waited an eternity for the film to come back and let us know we failed? Things are much better now, maybe. That might be a subject for another post.
This post is about showing you the difference between a scanned drawing and a photograph of the same subject. There is a distinct difference in quality.
photographed, adjusted with iPhoto
scanned version
Whoa. Wow. Woo-hoo.
This is what drawing student Gerald said to me when he finished his drawing. “Spray?”, you are asking, even as you read this. (Yes, I can hear you.)
Spray fixative is one method of preventing the finished drawing from smearing. Framing is another; workable fixative is a third. I’ve been told it adds “tooth” (that means texture in Artspeak) to the paper. It didn’t, but that’s another story for another time.
Early in my art career, drawing people’s cabins and houses was my main activity. One time, I finished a commissioned drawing of a lovely old home, grabbed my trusty can of spray fixative left over from some college art class and proceeded to ruin the drawing. It left little waxy spots all over the paper. They scratched off with my fingernail, and I learned a Big Fat Lesson: do a test spray on something else first.
Because of that unfortunate incident, I went off spray. Completely, cold turkey, no tapering down, no patch, just Q U I T. Go ahead and call me a quitter – I can take it. (I’m a loser too, in the true sense of the word. But I digress.)
A few years later I met a pencil artist who charged huge amounts of money for her drawings, used a wide range of pencils, and sprayed with Blair No Odor Fixative. I began using a wider range of pencils (see The Rules for further explanation) and the fixative. My prices stayed the same.
“No odor” was a lie – it stunk. I think the manufacturer meant “this smells like you can get high but don’t waste your time”, but “no odor” took up less space on the label. After several years of learning to depend on this marvelous stuff that prevented my drawings from smearing despite pulling them in and out of various envelopes, folders and picture frames, the magic spray was discontinued.
I hoarded 6 cans, and today I used the last spray from my last can.
There are other brands, other types, maybe even a Blair substitute. Ick, shopping. Add it to The List. Meanwhile, I’ll just be careful with my drawings as I complete them. There will be many. I’m not ready to tell you why just yet.
Let us spray.
Lemons VII, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×10
If you are on my email list, about every week or 2 you receive an email from me. It mostly says hello and this is what is in my blog and here is the link. People ask me about these emails when they haven’t heard for awhile. Some people don’t read my blog unless I resend the link. People also ask questions about how to access certain posts or if I have ever written about a subject.
Thanks.
Class dismissed.
Grapes V, 6×6, oil on wrapped canvas, sold
Nope. Look at the things I could/can/should/am/will do:
This list didn’t include rehanging my work in the studio, wrapping and shipping work to shows and customers, going to the Post Office, paying bills, updating accounting, balancing the checkbook, or weeding and pruning outside the studio.
Are you tired yet?
‘Scuse me, I need to go lie down.
This is a movement, or perhaps a trend, or maybe even a fad in the Artworld. I’ve considered it for several years, but seem to have too much work to be slamming out extras. And I would be “slamming them out’, because layered and detailed is my preferred way of painting. But, I can and often do paint daily among the tasks of blogging, updating my website, drawing, paying bills, tending the studio garden, teaching drawing lessons, returning phone calls and emails, bookkeeping, running to the Post Office, designing murals, bidding jobs, framing drawings, keeping up with inventory, photographing my work, et cetera. (Notice this list does not include Facebook. I am still resisting, but feeling the pressure and beginning to weaken.)
“Scuse me. I got distracted with that list. Had to go lie down for a bit, revive my spirits with a bit of chocolate.
It occurred to me that I don’t have to pay a fee to join a daily painting site. Nor do I have to announce that I am going to do FIFTY PAINTINGS IN FIFTY DAYS or whatever grand scheme I might concoct by staying up too late at night, consuming too much chocolate, stewing over ideas to generate interest and create sales.
Nope, all I have to do is show you one painting every day. In fact, I am going to do that for 5 days in a row. Maybe even 6 days. Aren’t you excited??
This was a painting done from the Hidden Garden Tour. I did 8 different paintings, of which 5 sold, including this one. It has a certain glow to it, and might have been the best one of the lot. Of course, taste is an individual matter.
I have a policy in my kitchen that unless an item performs 3 tasks, it doesn’t belong. A friend tested me once, going through my drawers, pulling out things and saying “Aha! What about this?” (Hi, Carol!)
(Just for your information, a potato masher turns bananas into bread worthy gunk, mashes 2 kinds of potatoes and pulverizes applesauce. Just sayin’.)
I’m not entirely unreasonable about this, because I am NOT giving up my popcorn popper. (A nut chopper? Get lost, Pal – I have a chef’s knife and I know how to use it!)
When I painted the mural on panels for the museum at Mooney Grove, it pained me to have to buy these clips. Almost caused a twitch under my eye with their one-function purpose in my studio.
Yesterday I began a set of 6×6″ paintings. This is usually routine business, but with this splint on my hand, it it not possible to hold the canvases in my usual manner. HEY! THOSE CLIPS!
Look. I was in such denial about having to buy One Function Stuff that I never removed the tags.
What handy little canvas holders. BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE. . .
They work as easels too! That’s 3 functions for these items – guess I’ll keep them.
Buckeye Bridge, 16×12″, oil on wrapped canvas, $250
Tulare County is poor. We have high unemployment, even in better times. We aren’t very educated, and people buy inexpensive posters and cheap prints for their homes and offices. But not everyone. . . I have been earning my living with art, a full-time occupation, a business with art as my product since 1993. How?? By God’s grace, for sure. By not giving up. By building my skill and my reputation as a reliable business person who works well with customers, has fair (read “cheap”) prices and meets deadlines.
My good friend and I have been discussing art, business, and all variations of same.We know it is a luxury rather than a necessity. We know it continues to sell, people continue to buy it, even in a place like Tulare County, even in crummy times.
Why do people buy art? I thought of eleven reasons.
Have you bought art? Care to share why?
I have mentioned Colors in the past as being a delightful place to visit. It pops up suddenly along Sierra Drive in Three Rivers, and the parking is a little squishy, but it is Oh So Worth the effort to visit!
Colors is the studio and gallery of local artist, Wendy McKellar, one of the most versatile and high energy artists I have the privilege of calling friend. She has begun a blog, and we had such a good time learning together how to use WordPress.com. We sat side by side in my studio with our laptops, and just clicked, talked and laughed for almost 2 hours. I was able to help Wendy because my blog is very similar but on WordPress.org. (This is a confusing, hostile and territorial move that computer people have done to normal people just to keep us, the normal people, out of our comfort zone – it’s a conspiracy and a plot but I digress.)
I have added Wendy’s blog to my blogroll, under the heading of Blogs I Follow so you can regularly peek into her world of colorful creativity. It is so encouraging to have friends alongside in the journey of making art and making a living from art.
#14 in the series “Thoughtful Thursdays”
Becoming a professional artist takes more than talent, training and desire. It requires a plan, because one’s art can be the best in the world, but if it isn’t seen, it can’t be purchased.
The traditional method of “making it” in the art world is through galleries. An artist can build a professional reputation by entering and placing in juried and judged competitions, and by studying under professionals who are known in the art world. These artists prepare an artist statement and a biography that lists shows, prizes, galleries, professionals studied under, and other art training. These types of documents are very important in the formal art world and are often the key to opening doors.
It is more convenient to make it in this traditional manner if the artist lives near cities where shows, master artists, and galleries are available. Since each gallery has its own personality, it can take awhile to find the right match between artist and gallery. Between internet sales and the stalled economy, this traditional road is no longer the automatic route for artists to pursue.
The less traditional method of making it is to be self-representing. These artists seek direct contact with buyers through weekend festivals, commissions, selling on consignment in local shops and by opening their studios to the public. Instead of making art to fit the personality of a gallery, they are making art based on knowledge of their buying public.
These artists tend to have plain speaking loyal customers who say, “I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like!” Their customers might be impressed by shows entered and prizes won, but often are not familiar with the shows. They may find it interesting to know an artist’s training, but usually haven’t ever heard the names over which other artists go gaw-gaw.
Now that the internet provides direct access to millions of people, many artists are following the less traditional route. There are artists who sell all their work through eBay. There are several artists’ groups that specialize in completing a painting per day, and these are selling very steadily. There is a site called Etsy that sells handmade goods, and another called Cafe Press which will reproduce artwork on merchandise for the artist to sell. Most serious artists have a website for direct sales to customers.
In Three Rivers, I know several artists who haven’t found it lucrative to sell in Tulare County; they have gallery representation in cities and are building their reputations by entering shows around the country. There are also artists who prefer to stay local and sell directly to the public. All are friendly, helpful, supportive, respectful and genuinely excited to see one another succeed at earning a living through art regardless of the road chosen.