workworkwork hello girls

Excellent, my unsold art's back from its show in Chicago, and I can get prints made and start touching things up for the two shows I have planned this year.

New stuff up on the Fine Art page, including "Crazy Leaves" and "Lily #3":

"Crazy Leaves"


"Lily #3"


Also, since I'm not right in the head, I've started "Crazy Path":



There are FIVE other pieces in various stages of completion, not including a set of SIX line pen nudes in a series...Yay! I've got new pens, new color pencils on the way, a bunch of empty cut board and I'm not scared! Much.

I'll be putting up a way to subscribe to this Atom feed later today.

Okay, off to get the art and finish working on a grant application.

new doin's

The website's under heavy construction. The "Fine Art Gallery" is open, and the rest should be finished by 4-5-07. Entirely new website, with a new look, easier-to-navigate art galleries, new ways to purchase the art and products. There will be a new section in "Fine Art" of line nudes. Also soon to be added, Altered Art pieces I've been working on and ACEO's. A bunch of funky Ready-To-Fill scrapbook pages will also be available for purchase, and I'll be sponsoring twice-monthly scrap and craft newletters/online demos. These days, I'm also applying for shows and grants...busy times here at Illustration Ink.

process

On being an "artist." What it means for me, in a practical sense.

It goes like this and you're honored when somebody "gets it" when it's done and looks the way you intended.


From choosing photo to uploading final to site: 270 hours


From choosing photo to uploading final to site: 125 hours

• Find the right picture, or take the right picture.
  
• Decide on medium(s)/technique: painting, stipple, line or colored pencil piece. Will it incorporate more than one of those mediums/techniques? (Try to keep at least one of each technique going on several different pieces at once, to go back and forth to them so you don't get burned out/bored. Remember to go heavier on techniques that your portfolio is light on, for full representation of range.)
  
• Decide how large piece should be.
  
• Make sure to have all the materials needed on hand.
  
• Cut board, sharpen pencils, clean pens.
  
• Make initial sketch, deciding on placement of major elements. How much white space? Do I make it a piece featuring only one major element? If so, which one and where in the space?
  
• Begin execution of chosen technique. If stipple, plan on 200-300 hours of dots. If line work, plan on 40-120 hours of lines. If placing color, add 10 hours. If only color, plan on 40-100 hours of work.
  
• When piece is finished, clean up pencil marks and any other random marks, trim and scan to computer.
  
• Do sizing and color corrections for online display. Make four sizes of each image
  
• Decide price and title.
  
• Upload to website and start marketing (again, like every day, only extra push because of new work).
• In the meantime, work on the other pieces started, chipping away at the stones.
  
• Every day/week, make sure you check your forums, fiddle with your website and portfolio, check member sites for stats, check art supply sales (fliers and online), check site stats, contact galleries, contact potential buyers, list on ebay and Etsy and CafePress.
  
• Restart process.

It's not easy. It's not particularly difficult, either. It's just something that I have a talent for, have gone to school for, have been doing professionally for 25 years and have to do to stay sane.

Finally, a real update for Illustration Ink

Blog update, finally.

You make the art, you hope someone likes it. That's how it is for me. I am constantly creating something, be it four drawings in progress (at Illustration Ink's art page), or crafting a scrapbook page (for PersonalTales), or writing in my journal (Lacyunderall) The pointillism pieces take me out of my own head and places me in a meadow, or standing in a field...just adrift and thinking of really anything but what I'm laying down on the board. It's the most cathartic experience one can have, short of actual meditation or doing mind-altering drugs.

The next step is to let it go, as if it were a child. To that end, I'm also promoting and marketing at least 10 hours a week. This week, I've updated my store, joined its Affiliate Program, and joined My Expose. By the end of the week, I'll have my Etsy Shop up for crafty stuff. I've submitted to two local galleries; my goal is five by the end of this week.

Work in progress:

"Crazy Leaves" - Stipple botanical interpretation in India ink on illustration board:


"Arrangement" - Colored pencil and ink on illustration board:


Buy buy buy! That's what I hope you'll do if you like it. If you can't afford it right now, contact me and make payment arrangements. I can take payments via Mastercard, Visa, American Express or Discover via PayPay.

If you just like it but don't want to buy, I totally understand. If you'd like to give the site some kudo's, please respond here. I could use the boost.

Love,

Donna