Some Advice From An Artist Friend

I can’t believe it has been a month since my art show. Where does the time go? Where is this season going?!

(Sigh)

Along with this disbelief of the summer circumstance had come the feeling of emptiness, in the pit of my stomach. A sense of fear was slowly setting in. What’s next? What should I be focusing on, now, as an artist? Looking for some guidance, I decided to reach out to friend and local professional artist, Deborah Leonard.

She was happy to chat and even welcomed me to her West Simsbury studio!

Isn’t it lovely? It’s like a little English cottage just waiting to show it’s treasures within. You really do feel transported into the rolling hills of Yorkshire, while being here. It is a must visit for all you art enthusiasts out there!

I had brought along a painting that I had completed for the show and Deborah had nothing but nice things to say about the piece. She also gave me lots of encouragement to pursue portrait commissions further and what price points to consider. It was really nice to get wonderful advice and hear such positivity from a fellow artist.

Deborah then continued to show me around her studio and gave me so many great tips on framing my canvases like; vendors on where to buy frames from, sizes to think about for my portrait art and what types of frames to look for that would compliment my work. She even mentioned some upcoming art show events that might be a good fit for me to become a part of!

I was like a bright-eyed student walking around Deborah’s studio feverishly taking notes and looking intently at her artwork. It was so inspiring to meet up with a well-known artist and really get some amazing guidance from her. I now have a better pulse on what to do and can’t wait to share with you all my art developments!

Thank you Deborah for this wonderful day :)

My Art Showcase Aftermath

And just like that…the show is over. Queue up the song Closing Time.

I was sad packing up my artwork last week. I must have thanked Sandy, like, a thousand times for having me display my work and, likewise, she said that Almost Famous was happy to do so. This opportunity had first posed some questions in my blogpost “I Got My First Art Showcase To Get Ready For”. I’m happy to report that I can answer them.

What my showcase will consist of:

A three tiered display of the different categories of cartoon, realism and fantasy. My cartoon and fantasy were placed on one side of the room, while my realism and portraits were placed on the other side. This helped the gallery viewer, as well as myself, see what I have to offer, creatively.

What styles I need to really hone in on, with my skillset:

My three categories were narrowed down into two different art style approaches. Cartoon and realism. This art showcase helped place a mirror in front of me. It forced myself to make decisions on how to categorize my art and, in turn, help sell my skillset to the public. I’m so thankful for that. I had created multiple events for my family and friends to attend while my artwork was up on display.

Each time I went to Almost Famous, I got to see various people and answer various questions on my art. Due to these events, I gained the confidence to let someone know what I can offer them, when commissioned.

What will get me recognized as an artist:

Lastly, this question was my biggest hurdle to jump over. I needed to do research on not just me, as the artist, but what other elements that make up my artwork.

Some elements were; the mediums, of both digital and traditional (pencil and painting), and how to display them all successfully, the design and print materials that needed, as well as, framing and pricing of artwork. I took surveys of what people thought and put their feedback in consideration on how to approach things in the future. So many great things were learned from this first art showcase, but I also know that I still have a long way to go. That’s part of being an artist though - it really is about the journey and not the destination.

If you have some feedback for me, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

Thank you for your support!

A very important thing that I learned throughout this experience was my art was only one part of the show. The other part were the people, present. Before the showcase, I felt that I created my art only for me, but that’s not true anymore. When I create a retro inspired piece and someone tells me of their stories as a kid…

…or when a person tells me about their loved one after seeing a portrait I drew - it makes me so happy. I’m happy that my art got someone to think about their own life in a positive way.

My artwork has been taken down off the Almost Famous walls, but that doesn’t mean the showcase is over. Keep your eyes open for more art showings in the future. Also, please feel free to contact me on buying existing artwork as well as commissioning me to create something for you!

I really can’t say it enough, thank you.

Shedding Some Light On My Digital Art

Phew, what a whirlwind these past couple weeks have been. Got my art showcase up in running with some help from my friends (thanks Annmarie and Lynda!) I also had fun at the opening and got to chat about my art and commission process with people. The one thing that I needed to discuss further was digital art. I feel that people are still in the dark about this and I thought an informative blog post would help.

Q: Digital art must be easier than traditional art?

A: Nope.

Digital art is the same amount of skill set as traditional art. The only difference is that I’m on a computer screen and not in front of a canvas. I still go through the sketching and coloring process in digital, just like I do in traditional.

The first step to ALL my artwork is sketching the piece. Here is an example of one of my art showcase pieces in the beginning stage.

…and here is the second step, the coloring phase. I created this piece in a gouache painting style. If you would like to see the finished art piece, come to my art showcase!

Q: So then why is your digital pieces less expensive then your traditional ones?

A: In this instance I am treating these digital pieces as art prints and not originals.

Just like what artist do with traditional art work, their originals are more expensive and their art prints of that original are cheaper. If I was commissioned to create a digital one-of-a-kind piece, it would be full asking price and the client would have the file to use as they please. I would not resell that piece. This is similar to what I do with my business clients that ask for illustrations.

Q: Is the price just for the art print?

A: In the art showcase the digital art price is for the print, print material and framing.

Some of my digital art fluctuates due to this. For instance, the cheapest option is the poster style printed on poster paper and placed in a poster frame. These are great for kids’ rooms and man caves ;). A step up from that is the option of my digital art printed on canvas and framed, gallery style.

Q: Do you have other options for your digital art?

A: I do!

The great thing about my digital art is that it is already digitized so I can transform my art into many creative elements. I bring my stickers and art postcards along with me, to the art showcase, for little souvenirs that can be purchased (that is a big hit with the kids!) I have also been commissioned to creative t-shirts, pins, beer koozies even cookies for a wedding!

I hope this sheds a little more light on what I do with my digital art. If you have any other questions, please ask. I will be at Almost Famous tonight, to hang with my art, so feel free to come by and see my artwork and have a chat with me. See ya!

A Little More About This Geeky Gal

I was born to two geeks.

One, is my dad, whom was into movies, TV shows and Intellivision video games. The other, is my mom, whom needed to have a record or MTV music videos always playing in the house. Their pop culture preferences paved the way for my own music, cartoon and geeky interests that I would draw, often.

I can still recall running into my parents bedroom, at 7am. I would jump onto the bed and show them my latest creations I drew while watching the Saturday morning kids art show, Captain Bob. They may not had shown it then, so early in the morning, but my mom and dad were always very supportive of my artwork growing up. That was where my own Geek Gal Go brandmark came from.

This is me.

The bright-eyed, corduroy pants and Hush-Puppies wearin’, 80s child that drew everything in sight. Even though I am now a mom in her 40’s I will never forget to always be that little creative girl, at heart.

This week has been a lot of print cutting, frame cleaning and matte assembling to get my art pieces prepped for the show.

I can’t even count how many times I have been to Michaels. I believe the cashiers all know me by name now. Many frames were bought and many coupons were used (thank God) because buying printing materials has been EXPENSIVE. I have forgotten this, since I have been in the digital world as a graphic designer for so long.

I also have been getting my artwork professionally printed on poster paper and canvas, so cardboard tubes of joy have been showing up on my doorstep, recently. Among all of this, I have been setting aside time to sit and create several traditional pieces that I have been showing WIP (work in progress) posts of. Lastly, I have been working on advertising graphics which I will end this post strong with an ad of my art showcase opening. Hope to see you there!

My Art Showcase Title Backstory

For my art showcase I decided to play on the phrase “Sex, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll.” I thought it was a great way to categorize my own three types of artwork, I will be displaying. After a little bit of word swapping magic the title for my art exhibit will be:

“Portraits, Cartoons & Rock’n’Roll”

I was curious, though, on the original phrase. I do this often. I like to know of the backstory to things. Why do we have “Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n’Roll” in existence? The first thing I thought of was the 60’s. I think this phrase pretty much explains the whole decade, right? Well, I went and asked the smartest guy I know, Google, and he told me that it was based off of a song in the late 70s...wha?! 

The song “Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n’Roll” was a B-side track off of an album called “Razzle In My Pocket” by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Now here’s a fun fact that got my eyebrow raised, boys and girls... The song was released in 1977 - the year I was born (head explosion). You have got to check out this video. It’s has all of the 70’s vibes, man, and some far out wipe-in effects. But what caps it all off is the super-rad Ian Dury floating head that moves into center camera. It’s perfection.

The birth year connection to this raunchy classic inspired me to officially make this the art showcase with the most sexy, addictive, air guitar hands (get it) EVER! I’m now completing portraits and my art prints are starting to come in, so more developments and little artwork teasers are in the works. It’s starting to come together :)

#Quarantinelife: The Academy Of Mama Robin

In the midst of reprogramming my Asnuntuck Community College Graphic Design 1 course to be completely online, I have also enrolled my son in the Academy of Mama Robin. Here he is, in his PJs and muscle shirt glory, taking the official academy oath with a proper salute. I have trained him well.

Over the past few days, this prestigious institute, has been bustling with things to do. I have started the day with school-like studies. Yesterday, Nathanael worked on the decimals section from his mathematics book, while today he wrote a fictional short story on some Leprechaun friends! The next class I call Brain Games. This is where we can play board games, problem solving activities or crafting. Today was a self coloring shamrock math game. In order to win one has to divide and take of the remainder to move forward, which Mama Robin failed miserably in. Nathanael actually had to teach me how to play, because I completely forgot about remainders. He received extra credit for that.

Reading time was next, which was followed by lunch. Then it was one of my favorite classes as a kid, Performing Arts! Yesterday was spent on practicing his saxophone, while today he got to construct a Leprechaun scene with coloring and free draw time.

Lastly, we finished our day with some good ol’ physical education. Yesterday was a perfect day to get outdoors to complete some soccer training with coach mama (yes, I have multiple institutional roles, but the pay is the same). Today, was a nice bike ride around the neighborhood.

So far, Nathanael has received high marks for his accomplishments, here, at the academy. He even says that he wants to come back tomorrow. That was good to hear, lol!

For the many of you that are also living the #quarantinelife, I will be sharing more of what we do. That way other “professors” and “students” can enroll online, as well! If you have some ideas too, please share it — let’s get through this time, together <3