Progress on the Beagle drawing

I didn't get as much done on this drawing today as I'd like due to coming home from work yesterday with a 102 temp. and just feeling off most of today, but I have to have him finished plus matted and framed next Tuesday for my sister's birthday, so I forced myself to accomplish something on him. So here he is with the right side of his face mostly complete.

Just the ear, ground, and touchups left. I'm not sure what color to mat him in. My sister's bedroom is blue and orange (high school colors), but she'll be gone to college next year, so those colors (besides absolutely clashing in my opinion) won't match her room for very long. I'm thinking maybe a chocolate brown?

My first featured artist!

Been a busy weekend for me, but I'm finally going to get my first featured artist up.

Kristina from Germany is the photographer behind tidytipsy. She feels that, at age 26, she's finally starting to find out her style and what kind of person she aspires to become. "That makes me about 10 years late in growing up I think. Or maybe it is an ongoing process and we change all the time anyway."

Kristina has always been fascinated by pictures and color and compostion and started taking photographs regularly as a teenager. In 2005, she bought her first digital camera and started exploring and learning more about the technical aspects of photography such as lenses, aperture, shutter speed, etc. Two years later, she upgraded to her present camera, a Canon 450D DSLR. "The more I learn and explore about photography the more I love it and couldn’t imagine not taking photos or not being constantly on the lookout for the perfect little photo."

Kristina's personal favorite photograph is the Vintage Camera

This photo was taken in Italy in 2009 while Kristina was visiting friends there. They went to an antique market in the middle of the night and saw a stand full of vintage cameras. The old man selling them was just showing and explaining this camera to an interested couple.
This photo reminds Kristina of a wonderful night in a wonderful place. "I was moved by how lovingly the vendor handled each and every one of his cameras, they were his treasures." The toned black and white matches the age of the camera and of the hands holding it, and Kristina says, "I love, love, love grain in pictures, though some may consider it a flaw."

My personal favorite of Kristina's photos is a Cowboy print

I love all things western and unique angles on everyday scenes, so this one caught my immediate attention. Kristina took this photo at the barn where she goes horseback riding. They host cowboy/old west themed events throughout the year, and this was one of a series of shots she took to sell as postcards to visitors at the events.
 
 
Thanks so much to Kristina for allowing an inside look into her life and photos! To view more of her beautiful work, go to tidytipsy.

My current project and brand new subject for me

I thought it was about time to give everyone a peek of what I'm currently working on - a portrait of my sister's beagle. I've never drawn a dog before (at least not since becoming a "serious" artist), so I was a little hesitant to post photos in case he didn't turn out as planned, but I think he's coming along pretty well. So... here's Beau:
This is the original photo I'm working from - I'm discovering how easy and fast it is to draw when you can copy exactly from a photo. It makes me love taking my own photographs even more!

Here's the drawing so far. The left side is mostly done, and I'm just starting the right side.

And just for fun, a close up of the nose since I love it so much! (Apparently, there was a dog hair laying on it.)

Featuring other artists

So, I think I've gotten enough of a handle on this blogging thing now that I want to start doing some small features on other artists. I have lots of ideas, but I want to keep them somewhat short (so I can actually accomplish completing one every week! ;) ), so I'm looking for any comments on what you would consider to be essential in a spotlight on another artist. More personal information to get to know the artist, or more focus on their work? Should I stick to a certain type of work (probably two-dimensional pieces since that's what I know about), or should I expand to whatever catches my eye and have more variety? Any opinions are welcome! :)

Branching into multi card packs

I've had a couple people buy two packs of cards from me, and I'm thinking I should make listings for those people who want more than one pack of cards. So I just listed a set of two packs (one dozen) cards: Horse cards

Brand new finished drawing!

I just put a brand new drawing up on Etsy. I'm pretty excited about how this one turned out. I just love the detail in the buckle on the bridle.

Etsy listing

Excited about shows this fall!

I had a big surprise yesterday! I'd been accepted to a juried show that draws an estimated crowd of 7,000 people, but I had to turn it down due to financial constraints. Not a week later, I sold an original drawing that would've provided the funds, and I was very disappointed that I'd turned down such an opportunity. Then, yesterday, I received an email asking if I'd still be interested in participating - it appears they still have room!  So I'll be in that show Sept. 10-11 - less than a month to prepare!

First weekend in October will be the Upper MN River Meander Art Crawl - will be my fourth year participating, and I'm hoping to have a few more sales this year since the entrance fee went up yet again. I love this event - 40-some artists scattered around west central Minnesota during the peak season for the fall color - the drive is almost as great as the art! I attribute a lot of my success thus far to this event, but it is becoming prohibitively expensive with the fees going up and up every year. I'll see how it goes this year to decide if I want to continue with it.

The very next weekend after the Meander, I just received confirmation that I'll be in the Scott County Art Crawl in the twin cities! This is their first year, and so far, I'm not real impressed with the communication, but they've got a beautiful full-color brochure in the works, they lined up a venue for me, and they exempted me from the "required" meetings since I'm so far away. I'll be exhibiting in the library in Shakopee with two other artists - an oil painter and a nature artist, and I'm so excited to see their work! This will be my first time exhibiting out of my immediate area, and I'm excited to meet a new crowd though I'm a little nervous about marketing my definitely rural-themed artwork to the big city crowd.

Beautiful photographs!

"Raw Beauty"
I'm more in love with this photo every time I see it, so I thought I'd give other people the chance at it too.


I also ran across this today: Friesian Photograph I love everything in Amanda's shop, but I think this is my favorite.

One year anniversary deals!

I can't believe it, but today marks one full year I've been selling on Etsy. To celebrate, I'm offering deals to my next five customers. The first person to buy will receive 25% off their total purchase, the second will receive 20% off, the third 15% off, the fourth 10% off, and the fifth 5% off.

If you've been eyeing something in my shop, this would be the perfect time to snap it up! :)

New Etsy listing - a gift for that horse-lover in your life!

I finally got a new listing up today instead of just renewing. I've been meaning to put up some item groupings for a while but have been lazy about taking the photos.

Horse Lovers Gift Pack

My first Etsy treasury!

I had so much fun making this last night! There's an incredible amount of drool-worthy artwork out there! I chose a subject near and dear to my heart (horses) for my first treasury. Equine Essence - if the link doesn't work, here's the address to copy and paste: www.etsy.com/treasury/4c5f7921290a8eef4756d99e/equine-essence?index=0

Enjoy!

My First Blog!

So I'm a little new (okay, REALLY new) to this blogging thing, but I just get so excited to share some things, and Twitter just doesn't seem to convey my thoughts well enough, so I'm going to try this avenue. Bear with me while I'm in the learning phase. :)

The county fair was this past weekend, and while the judge and I didn't see eye to eye on what makes a good photograph, I was pleasantly surprised with how some of my photographs turned out. You know how sometimes you look at that little image on your camera's screen and think, "Hey, this might be a good photo" and then you print it out and you're just wowed by it? I love it when that happens! So even though I didn't place any higher than 2nd on any of my photos this year, I wanted to share some of my favorites.