Christmas Presents

These are a few Christmas presents I did at the last minute. They were actually quite fun to do and I might end up doing more of these little pics. The actual picture is 2"x3". Pen and Ink with Gouache. The smudges and specs are all on my scanner glass. I was in such a hurry I didn't stop to clean it so all of them look like they are dirty but they are not. No wait, that is my smudged up monitor screen! Ha, ha just kidding. =)

Etsy Shop Banner

This is the banner for my Etsy.com shop. This was just the sketch for the idea but when I scanned it I kind of liked it as is, so I am going to use the sketch. I want to put my name in the opening but haven't figured out how to do that yet. ( I am not a calligrapher by any stretch of the imagination!) I will try and play around with Photoshop today and see if I can figure out how to add lettering to a scanned piece of art.

I don't have any artwork up at the shop yet because I don't have a printer to print prints with! I bought an Epson Stylus Photo R2400 in September after doing a bunch of research and deciding that it would be the best machine for me. I was so excited to get it, however when I set it up I couldn't get it to feed paper! I tried everything, reading the instruction book cover to cover, trouble shooting on the computer, and finally I called the 1-800 number. After spending over an hour on the phone trying one thing after another the tech guy decided it was not something we could fix over the phone. He said they would ship me a new one!! and when I got it I needed to ship the old one back to them. .. .. .. Well, that was a couple of months ago.. .. .. I have called them twice since then to see where my printer was.. .. .. .. the last phone call was yesterday... ... ... ... the conclusion was that I needed to call a different number on Monday when their offices were open and they would be able to figure out why the printer hadn't been shipped yet... .... or if it had, where it was... ... ... ... sigh. So much for the Christmas season sales! I guess there is always next year. So, that is the reason there is no artwork up at my Etsy shop. I don't want to post anything until I am able to actually fulfill the orders. The scans are ready and waiting to be made into prints... just need a printer. I don't think this is a reflection on the Epson company by the way, I am sure it is just a glitch in the usually smooth running system. I am just getting a little frustrated. I guess I could look at it as giving me more time to make more art to sell.

Doodles

Some doodles I did a while back... I found them when I was going through some photographs (not sure why they were in with the photographs). They are back to back on the same piece of paper. It is about 1.5 by 5 inches. Now that I see them again I kind of like them.

The Second Black and White

Here is the second black and white design I have been working on. I think I like it better than the first one. These are 5 x 7 pen and ink on Smooth Bristol paper by the way.

I Almost Forgot the Last Door!

Here is the last door in the series. I may put up the colored pencil one later on but in my mind it is not part of the series and is very similar to one of the gouache ones so I think it would look kind of strange along side of the others. Here I am trying desperately to think of something to say and I have nothing... silly me. The other pen and ink that I am working on is almost done so I should have that up in a few days.

Something New

Here is something I am playing around with... what do you think? I really like working in pen and ink.

Door Number Four

As promised, another door with not much to say.

Door Number Three

You know, I am just not good at writing regularly and because I don't know what to write I put off putting up another picture... which is not a good thing. So from now on I will put up pictures whether I have something to say or not...so there will probably be a lot of pictures and not a lot of writing. I have been reading other blogs and they are SO well done! Their subject matter is interesting, their writing style is funny, they post very regularly... it is down right intimidating! =) And (yes you can start a sentence with "and", a teacher told me so) when I figure out how to add the links to their blogs I will do so. Here is door number three.

Another Door in the Series

I am not too good about posting regularly but I will work on it. Here is another of my doors. I did a series of 5 in gouache and one in colored pencil. Actually, I started in colored pencil and decided it wasn't the right medium and started over in gouache. That is one thing that I am becoming good at... starting over. I used to do everything in my power not to have to start anything over. I would crochet and leave in the mistakes and in my artwork I would try to hide the mistakes or just accept a mediocre work. Not any more. I don't know why but I am not so intimidated by starting over. I guess maybe it is because I enjoy the process so much now and am not so focused on having a finished product. Maybe it is just age, who knows but I am glad for it. I am not a perfectionist by any stretch of the imagination but I just don't mind doing things over. Any thoughts?

Arched Door, Gouache on paper 7x5

I have recently taken an online class from Alyson Stanfield at ArtBizCoach.com http://www.artbizcoach.com about organizing your art business. The class was great and very motivating. One of the things it motivated me to do was make use of my Blog so here is my faltering beginning.