Getting Ready for the WWAF - with free interior photos

 I'm Photoshopping my art into copyright free interior pics for the Woodlands Waterway (virtual) Arts Festival!

A friend told me about a couple of useful websites for copyright free photos. Unsplash.com and Pexels.com. If you do a search in these sites for "interior decorating" all kinds of interesting pics will come up, that you can sift through and find some with walls that will suit your artwork! And these sites really are copyright free and free to download the images! No attribution required.

Then, with the magic of Photoshop (or any photo editing app with the ability to adjust colors and create a drop shadow) you can "hang" your art in these beautiful rooms to stimulate the imagination of potential buyers!

Here are the above photos as I found them, before hanging my art...

 

I Photoshopped these at last Saturday's Virtual Open Studio day. I've been busy trying to do this with much of my current painting inventory to prepare them for the Woodlands Waterway [Virtual] Arts Festival coming up. (...Seems like "virtual" has become the world's favorite adjective these days!) 

(I've also been taking evening walks with the hubby while the weather has been so nice, so my time for these [virtual] tasks has been kinda short lately! But winter will be here soon enough. Gotta enjoy these temperate days, especially in south Texas!)

The recording of this Photoshopping will be available soon on my Patreon page (at the Bunny Buddies level.) Oh yeah, I haven't yet mentioned my new Patreon page on this blog yet! I'd love for you to check it out! I hope to make it my general blog/vlog with art tips and news, plenty of public posts, and all things Pastel! Right now it is anchored to my Virtual Open Studio Days (born out of the Covid stay-at-home) and my two main levels on Patreon have access to all the video recordings from the Studio Days. Lots of pastel demos!

I'm thinking I may slowly blend this blog into the Patreon page (as public posts) so I'd love for you to follow my Patreon page ("following" gets you the public posts, kinda like a blog.)

Judging the PGE Member Show

A few weeks ago, I was asked by Dorothea Schulz of the Pastel Guild of Europe to be the judge for their "Get Dusty" Online Member's Show for the month of April.  I was honored to accept! Past judges from the shows include Jacob Aguiar, Adrian Frankel Giuliani, Jude Tolar, and Christine DiMauro, among many others.

April's theme for the competition was Baby Animals. Awww... who could resist? And based on my own work, I guess I was eminently suitable for judging. Dorothea sent me the link to the entries last weekend, and I enjoyed viewing them for a couple days before making my choices.

See the entire show here!

There were only 16 entries. They are a small group - but very talented!! It was quite as difficult to decide on the placements as it would have been with 10 times the entries, mainly because almost all of the works were of equal quality, with a variety of strengths in different artistic ways. 

I wanted to share with you here my picks for First, Second and Third Places, and the three Honorable Mentions that were allowed. All of the entries demonstrated strength in values and draftsmanship, so I'll be commenting on the additional qualities that made these six stand out in my viewings.

First Place - "Harley" by Claudia Chimenti

The composition was the first thing that struck me about this precious puppy portrait. The variety of flowing diagonals, enhanced by the strong warm light and the relaxed and trustful pose of the puppy make this a powerful painting. Chimenti is also wise in her choice of a limited palette, using shades and tones of whites to set off Harley's brown patch. The reflected light blues in the shadows are very well done. The simple, un-fussy handling of the background and sleeve fabric are the perfect frame for the more detailed rendering of this adorable face, while the bits of warm salmon-brown color pervading the entire painting allow his brown patch of fur, as the one main area of vibrant color, to still harmonize with the whole.

Second Place - "Explorer" by Dolores Saul

Light, color, texture, and a moment captured in time are what I see first in this little wild Explorer. The subtle handling of the warms and cools within the various tones of fur are masterfully done! The wonderful textural contrasts of the finely detailed fur, to the ripples of the water, the middle-ground grasses, and finally the very loose, gestural rocks in the background, create a convincing sense of depth. I like the unconventional pose withing this otherwise traditional portrait composition (the subject centered within the area of the painting.) The cat is looking off to the left, as if something there has caught his attention, and in a moment he will leave the frame. But this doesn't encourage our eyes into leaving; the sunlight streaming on the cat's face holds our eyes, and the bits of dark along his shadowed side and in the background bounce our eyes around and down the right side, and back up the sunny side to his face...

Third Place - "Triplet" by Elisabeth Blass

This one got the "Awww!" response right off the bat for me, but I might be a sucker for ducklings in the light. Then the more I looked beyond that initial cuteness, the more I liked. The arrangement of shapes and patterns within this square come across as refreshingly spontaneous without being awkward, which makes me suspect they may have been very carefully composed. Even though the two ducklings closer to us are offset in high contrast by the shadowed rock, our eye still jumps back to the duckling above, who, in spite of being mostly the same value as the water, appears to be more strongly bathed in the bright warm light because of the temperature contrast of the blue around him.
Fresh and spontaneous describes the pastel application as well!

Honorable mention - "Ducklings" by Karin Kießling

Balance, contrast and harmony. Incredible color harmony for one; the entire painting looks like it may have been done with shades and tints of just three colors. The balance in this composition is sweetly calming, just as the visual of these ducklings are for our eyes. Almost symmetrical, but not quite. Held in place by the reflection which touches the bottom edge. The amazing detail of the wet feathers is contrasted by the smooth, calm surrounding water.

Honorable Mention - "Guarded Childhood" by Eva Schläfli

Yes, baby animals -- what's not to love? This painting perfectly exemplifies a mother's love and a baby's safe haven. Once again, wonderful color harmony. Excellent detail without looking overworked. The close cropped view with the chimp's face centered is another almost-symmetrical composition, but the subtle variety of angles created by the hand, arm, and head create a sweet cocoon of comfort for this baby chimp, and pull us back to the expression in the face, and most especially, the eyes.

Honorable Mention - "Puppies" by Ute Farr

Speaking of expression... These are the happiest puppies I've seen in a long time! This one's all about the JOY and the FUR! In fact, in spite of there appearing to be no discernible light source (the reference may have been a flash-front photo?) Ms. Farr was able to create a wonderful depth of fluffiness within the subtle varied tones of warm and cool whites, blues and violets that make these coats so believably thick. The simplicity of the background and the sofa edge support the strength of this traditional portrait pose.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the show, and check out the rest of the Pastel Guild of Europe's site!

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Why Paint Small?

Recently I had an inquiry from a blog follower about my work. "Wow beautiful work Rita! I've been following you for quite a while now. Just curious, why do you work on such a small scale?"

I replied:

Hi friend,

My goodness! You asked the best question! I put this off for a day to think of how best to answer it, and also because this is an excellent blog topic for my Art Journal so if I answer it well I can turn it into a post. (multitasking - yea!)


First I'd like to recommend some light reading of 2 of my older posts:

http://ritakirkmanjournal.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-inspires.html

http://ritakirkmanjournal.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-years-resolution-first-do-work.html


These talk a bit about painting frequently, how I started doing cows and painting small. But to specifically answer your question the best way is to make a list. There are so many excellent reasons for painting small that even the list has lists. The reasons spawn more reasons...

1. Small is cheap.
2. Small is fast.
3. Small is small.
4. Small uses less materials so is more economical ("cheap" #1).
5. Because it's more economical you can charge less ("cheap" #2).
6. The low prices attract more buyers.
7. Acquiring more buyers grows your client base, and your email list.
8. You can connect with your new clients on FB and potentially attract all of their friends.
9. Because small paintings cost less, some clients buy several at a time.
10. Some of the small-buying clients will also like to buy your large work.
11. Because small is fast, they take less of your valuable time, so are more economical ("cheap #1). Etc, etc.
12. Because small is small, mistakes are less stressful.
13. Because small is fast, mistakes are quicker to fix.
14. Because small is fast, failed paintings are easier to shrug off, and quicker to learn from.
15. Because small is fast, you can paint more of them.
16. The more you paint, the better you get!! (This should be Number ONE!!)
17. As your work improves, more people like it and want to buy it.
18. (And because the small ones are cheap, they can!)
19. As your work improves, failed paintings are less frequent.
20. Many art-buyers have no room on their walls for large work.
21. Many buyers (at fairs and galleries) are traveling and want something they can carry.
22. The more you paint, the more paintings you have.
23. The more paintings you have, the more frequently you can post on social media.
24. The more paintings you have, the more paintings you can sell.
25. Painting small makes it easier to paint every day.
26. Painting small is addictive.

All of the items on this list are true and from my own experience. None are made up or borrowed from anyone else, but you might hear other artists have the same advice because they've learned it too!

I could keep adding on to some of these - especially about the social media! But that one might need it's own post...

Let me know if this is helpful! ;)

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Studio - Then and Now

Way back in March of 2009, I started my first blog. it was called Rita Kirkman's Art Journal, but it wasn't this one. In June of 2011, I had been into the 'Daily Painting' movement for five months, after taking a Carol Marine workshop, and had decided to limit my blog to daily paintings. So I changed the name of my blog to Rita Kirkman's Daily Paintings, and created a new blog with the name Rita Kirkman's Art Journal that would host all the other stuff besides Daily Paintings.

Well, what I'm leading up to is that my very first post on my first blog was some photos of my studio-in-progress:

Here was the pic of my future studio from that post. (More info on the post here.)

Well, 4 years later, I've been reluctant to post photos of the studio, because I have yet to arrange everything to my ultimate satisfaction. I began working in the building in 2012, long before everything was completed.

Here's a shot from move-in week in 2012:

Here's a shot from last week:

This is a panoramic image that shows all four of the walls of my studio; I was standing in the doorway when I took the shots. Along the left wall, I plan to have some french hanging system to hang finished, framed artwork. (Meanwhile, there's a b*#load of stuff just leaning against the wall..) Along the right wall, I have some molding converted to short shelves for unframed work. Here's a better shot:

This is NOT what it looks like today. There's even more clutter along the baseboard and every inch of shelving is filled! But then, I am in the midst of preparing for 2 art fairs and a solo show.

Here's a close-up of where I do my work:

Darn it, this is also an old shot. I know I have more recent shots, but just can't find them! Aarrg! Fie on technology! Well, it looks pretty much the same, but I've been working on larger stuff lately.

Thanks for reading! Please share!

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Packing Small Unframed Pastels for Shipping

I'd been meaning to create this post for a while now. I've had these pics since last summer!

Now and then I get asked how I mail unframed pastels and keep them safe. I've actually been sending unframed pastel commissioned portraits for years, most of which are on paper, and matted, usually 16x20. In the case of those, I put a piece of glassine or wax paper between the portrait and the mat, slide that into a Clear Bag, and wrap the whole thing up with plenty of thick cardboard until I have a flat 'box' about 17x21x1. I've never had any arrive damaged.

For the small pastel paintings that I post (almost) daily and auction off, I have a approach that I modified from Carol Marine's method of shipping her small oil paintings. I just add glassine and skip the little tabs that hold the lid off the painting.

NOTE: This method is for paintings that are done on a board, or on paper mounted on a board. The same method can be used for a pastel on paper; just hinge-tape the paper to a backing board, cover with glassine, and follow the rest of the steps...

 First, trim a piece of glassine to the height of the board, and carefully place the painting face down on the waxy side, and tape the glassine to the back.

 Cover with a piece of foam board the same size as the painting (or backing board) and tape it in place.

 Now cut 2 larger pieces of foam board for the top and bottom of your outer package, and some 1/2 inch thick gatorboard for support around these over-sized edges. Tape the gatorboard supports into the edge spaces with double-sided tape.

 (NOTE: If your painting is on the 3/16" gatorboard, and your foam board topper is also the standard 3/16" size, the 1/2" gatorboard supports will be just the right height. If your painting is on 1/2" gatorboard, or some other size, you'll just need to adjust your formula and to build your edge supports the right height to support the lid, without leaving too much wiggle room.)

 Tape the lid in place.

 Now you have a sturdy 'sandwich' with the painting safe inside.

Wrap this sandwich in some small bubble wrap and slide into the mailing envelope!

NOTE: I've since gotten into the habit of ordering the 9.5" x 12.5" sturdy Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes, and use those for all 5x7's and 6x6's, and if I make the sandwich edges narrow enough, even the 6x8's will fit. I also purchased a roll of the slightly-sticky bubble wrap, the kind that will wrap around an object and hold on! I love it!

If you're shipping a larger unframed pastel painting, I would follow all these same steps, but I'd use the large bubble wrap instead of the small and then wrap in cardboard. OR make an investment in some Airfloat Printpads. They're designed to protect and would probably last through a few uses.

Let me know if this is helpful!
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The Ritas of ISCA 2012

Since it was my very first Convention of the International Society of Caricature Artists, I was one of the "new" faces of the week.

And... since my face is, undeniably, unusual and unique, I was a popular subject.

Here are the 44 caricatures that I brought home last Friday (in approximate order from around the ballroom):

by Mike Hasson, ink & pastel, 15x8 in.

by Tim Hough, graphite, 14x11 in.

by Mel Lothrop, digital, printed 6x4 in.

by Kunikazu Noguchi, mixed media (paper. fabric) 11.75x5.25 in.

by Vincent Rensel, graphite, 11.5x11.75 in.

by Angie Jordan, digital, printed on canvas 10x8 in.

by Karel Op De Beéck, cut paper on 11.5x8 in.

by Fukue Motoyama, marker and color pencil, 10x7 in.

by Emily Anthony, marker and color pencil, 4.5x5.25 in. cropped from the following image...

by Emily Anthony, uncropped wall (do you see me?)

by Ferg Gadzala, color pencil and collage, 15x9.5 in.

by Brian Vasilik, ink and watercolor(?), 14x11 in.

by Joe Fu, color pencil or Prismacolor stix, 10x14.5 in.

by Joe Fu, ink, 14.25x10 in.

by Keisuke Chiba, pastel pencil (copied and printed) and marker, cut and mounted on 11x8.25 in.

by Jeff Pecina, marker and Prismacolor stix, 15.75x11 in.

by Taka Watanabe (2012 Golden Nosey Winner!), acrylic on illustration board, 17x11 in.

by Erica Missey, marker and Prismacolor stix, 14x11 in.

by Brian Oakes, graphite, 17x11 in.

by Brent Noll, digital, cut to 13x10.25 in.

by Mano Kyoko, acrylic on t-shirt, and mixed media, 9.5x11 in.

by Cory Lally, color pencil or Prismacolor stix on black paper, 8.5x11 in.

by Sarah King, ball point pen, 17x11 in.

by Sarah King, markers, image cropped from 17x11 in. (Don't know what happened to this one, didn't have it when I got home.:(

by Steve Dorris, ink and marker, 14x11 in.

by Seo Kim, graphite, 14.5x5 in.

by Michael Mike Graessle, watercolor(?) with color pencil, 14x11 in.

by Debbie Burmeister, ink and watercolor, 12x9 in.

by Ricardo de los Angeles, ink, 12x9 in.

by Ricardo de los Angeles, ink, 6x6 in.

by Ricardo de los Angeles, ink and Prismacolor stix(?), 11x8.5 in.

by Chihiro Miura, watercolor, 11x16 in.

by Tomomi Monma, marker, 13x9 in. cut out

by Chunco Yamashita, watercolor and colored ink, mounted on blue paper, 8x8 in.

by Dan Dunn, marker and Prismacolor stix, 17x11 in.

by Jun Oomura, ink, watercolor, collage, 14.5x20.5 in.

by Dan Almariei, graphite, 18x12 in.

by Tom Brennan, digital, printed 17x11 in.

by Derek Brennan, watercolor (or ink wash?), 18.5x10.5 in.
  This was #4 of the Top 10 caricatures of the Year!

by Anne Bush, marker, 8.5x5 in.

by Nolan Harris, digital, printed 11x8.5 in.

by Beejay Hawn, ink and color pencil, 8x7.5 in.

by Jan Op De Beeck, ink, inside his book "Sketching is Fun!", 11x7.5 in.

by Nate Kapnicky, graphite, inside his book "Beasted", 10x9.5 in.

by Jan Op De Beeck, graphite, demo in seminar, 16.5x11.5 in.

Stay tuned for the next posting of My Wall in Detail: the drawings and the faces that go with them!