Fees increase, Automotive paintings

I have to be quick today, because my pink dye job needs to be washed out in 10 minutes.

Priorities, you understand.

First of all, I would like to mention to all my loyal art clients worldwide that I will be increasing my fees as of March 2, 2009. The rate for custom ACEO paintings will increase from $20 to $25 for a single-subject ACEO (2.5"x3.5") or 3"x3" square painting.

I will, of course, continue to offer specials from time to time when time allows.

Second, I'm excited about my Friday Morning Meeting. I have arranged to visit the RM Classic Car Exhibit in Blenheim, Ontario for the purpose of taking reference photos for a series of Classic Car paintings I am planning. I've also purchased photos from CMG, the company that handles Marilyn Monroe licensing, & acquired permission to use them as artistic reference. The photos I purchased include Ms. Monroe in a classic car...it will all tie together quite smartly I think.

Ooops I'm dripping pink onto the keyboard. Must be off, but I have a new ACEO commission to share with you that I enjoyed painting from last Saturday's SNS (Saturday Night Special).

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Wordless Wednesday

Amy's Cats

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Marilyn Monroe ACEO painting from B&W postcard

Marilyn Monroe #1
2.5 x 3.5 inches (ACEO)
$15 at Art Fire

After finishing up a few commissions this week, I needed to do something fun for me, and to add to my Art Fire & Etsy shops.

I just finished a custom ACEO (still only $15 at Art Fire) of these 2 best friends, and I was still in the mood for painting portraits. I love the bandanna here, and it was fun that the girl on the left had eye makeup on - I don't get to paint that very often!

I was browsing some old postcards that I collected as a teenager, and this one I picked up in 1987 (I wrote the dates on the back for some reason!). I have quite a collection of old B&W film star postcards, and Marilyn Monroe was a personal fave - next up on my list was Marlon Brando. Hmm...maybe I'll paint him next for a bit of nostalgia.

I love the freedom of working from a B&W photo, because the opportunities to select colors that appeal to me are limitless. Here is the reference photo ( a postcard from France that reads "Photo Baron Studios, London" as the only credit). Not a lot to work with, but the basis was there for a really fun portrait. I had to guess on the eyes, as they were mostly black shadows, but I drew Ms. Monroe so many times in my youth that it was like riding a bicycle - I don't think I'll ever forget what they should look like!

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Oklahoma University Statue Painting

Okay, I've been a little MIA this past week, working on a rather large commission. This is a little different than what I usually do: a statue instead of a real person. The subject is the statue on the South Oval at the University of Oklahoma. The painting is 22x30 inches, watercolor and gouache.

I enjoyed this project, however I would have preferred a better composition. Both the colorful flower beds, and the pathway leading off the top of the page draws the viewers eyes away from what should be the focal point, the statue. Also, the statue itself is seen from an unusual angle.

But all in all, I'm glad I took on the challenge, and I'm also glad it's over!

What have you worked on lately that had you tearing out your hair?

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Artist Interviews, Ipromote, and a new Avatar.

I've had a great week so far! I've been promoted in several different ways, and I've been inspired by others.

First, I finally "branded" myself. Not literally (ouch) but in the Virtual sense. My artwork has started popping up all over the place lately, and I've had various avatars for different social media sites. So it was time to clean up my image a bit, and to that end I needed an Avatar that showed the world who I am and what I do.

Without further ado, this is me, from my point of reference. A watercolor portrait artist trying not to take herself (or anything else for that matter) too seriously:

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Next to tick off this week:

My Twilight-inspired portraits that I painted last month have received a lot of attention. TwiFans picked up on the cards as a Valentine idea and blogged about it at TwiFans.com
Thanks Alison!

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by Michelle from the Twilight Series Theories website. I love this podcast from sisters Kallie & Kassie - a lot of fun, and they discuss more than just Twilight. Michelle has helped them build a new section on Artists that feature Twilight art, and she interviewed me here.

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And then last night, I signed up for iPromote, which is pay-per-click advertising, because I LOVE the style of their ad.
So far (in less than 24 hours) my stats show that the ad has been viewed over 22,000 times, and clicked on 7 times. Which means I've already spent $7.00...hmm, we'll see how long I keep THIS up. And the "clicks" are suspicious at best. I linked this Art Fire listing specifically so that I could monitor the success. In the first hour, I had 2 clicks, which registered in my Art Fire stats right away. Okay - that's legit.

But since then, apparently there have been 5 more clicks, but they aren't showing up in my Art Fire stats (the stats on Art Fire show the links that they came in from - very handy)

So I'll give it a few days, check my Google Analytics, and find out what is legit and what isn't, and then blog all about it!

See you around,
Christy

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Cat painting on the front page of Etsy!

Yesss! My cat painting "Channon" made it to the front page of Etsy today!




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Stella - A Cat with Artistic Flair

"Stella"
Original ACEO watercolor
$12 at Art Fire

I have a confession to make. When I was younger (last week) I used to dream about being a glass-blower. It seemed so exotic and fascinating to be able to take sand and turn it into gorgeous colored glass. Then when I realized that I didn't have quite enough motivation to turn my garage into a firing pit (read: enough money to build a new firing room so that DH could keep his garage) well I just went back to my dreams of being a harpist in a flowing red dress (sort of like Sarah Brightman's ensemble several years back - I think it was about 30 feet long).



But NOW I can live a semi-glass-blower's life vicariously via the ArtisticFlair blog. Okay, she doesn't blow, but maybe she can? (I should ask her. Hey I know, maybe an interview for another day?) I digress... she is a "fused glass artist" and hot-damn is she cool!

I follow her blog regularly, and here's a pic of her nifty glass heart pendants:

What I love is that every one of Deb's pieces is completely new & unique. No two are alike (you can get these lovely hearts at her Etsy shop by the way) Oh and she lives in Columbus, Ohio - one of my favorite cities.

Hmmm... where was I going with this? Oh yes, a CAT with Artistic Flair... Thank you Deb for letting me use your beautiful photo of Stella as a model for my latest ACEO. I love how the wet-in-wet wash around her halo of fur turned out. It was quite challenging for me to wait while it dried before charging forward with the finer details.

In other news, I'm officially on Indiepublic and Twitter - so you can follow me whenever you want! (or you can just spy on my when you think I'm not watching, and fantasize about having a life as infinitely exciting and glamorous as mine)

Truly, what does a Glass Blower have on me?

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Tux in Tilos - new cat ACEO painting

"Tux in Tilos"
original ACEO cat painting
$12 at Art Fire

Petar, a wonderful cat photographer over at PicCat.com, provides me with so much inspiration when it comes to painting cats.

This little Tuxedo cat was drawn from a feral cat he once photographed. I loved the pose, peeking out from a window or ledge somewhere. I was unhappy with the eyes and background though, and wanted to make something a bit more cheery.

Cerulean blue always makes me think of the Greek Islands, so I used it as my backdrop and for the shadows on this lovely cat. I changed the eyes to make them bigger and brighter, and TaDa! Here we have Tux living splendidly on the finest fish available on the island of Tilos.

If only it were that simple to change the poor cat's life that originally inspired this portrait.

Scarlett & Lily in Blue

Scarlett & Lily in Blue
4"x6" original watercolor

I was so happy to sell the first in this series of Scarlett paintings to fellow blogger Kelly over at Happy Shack Designs that when I discovered she had twin redheads (one with curly hair!) well, I just had to paint Scarlett in reverse. With flame red curls this time.

As you know, I'm a big fan of the Twilight series, and I have a little photo of Rachelle Lefevre (she played "Victoria") with her gorgeous red curls in my "inspiration" box. I'm so happy with her hair this way that it will be fun mixing it up from straight to curly in future paintings.

I also chose Idanthrone Blue for the dress this time, with Perylene Green for the floor area and the same Permanent Rose/Quinacridone Rose mix for the background.

Her hair color is the same as before: Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Quinacridone Gold (yum!)

Today's Best on Zazzle!

Sock Monkey Lover Valentine Card
by
ChristyDeKoning

Get this custom card at Zazzle

(okay it's not too often that I blog twice in one day, but really - this is what we artists live for!)
(see attached message from Zazzle)
(and today's first post was wordless anyway...so I'm basking)

You Are In Today's Best

Hi ChristyDeKoning,
Congratulations!

Your product, Sock Monkey Lover Valentine Card, has been selected as one of Today's Best on Zazzle!

This means it will appear on the Zazzle homepage for the rest of today and it will also be added to the Today's Best Awards Showcase. Keep up the great work!

Bask. Glow. The honor is yours to enjoy.

- Zazzle

Wordless Wednesday - The Unbearable Softness of Lily

The Unbearable Softness of Lily
4"x6" original painting $18
ChristyDeKoning.ArtFire.com

Art Fire Opening & Sock Monkey Love

"Monkey Love"
$12
Original ACEO painting
www.christydekoning.artfire.com

I opened a new shop over the weekend over at Art Fire. I'm giving it a try for several reasons, but the biggest one is NO FEES (almost) ... I opted for the $7.00 a month option, because I usually have about 100 items available at any given time in my Etsy shop, and I want to slowly add them all to my ArtFire shop too. The "no fees" option only allows for 10 items at a time - perfect for those just starting out.





The $7.00/month option "for life" is only available to the first 5000 members who opt in, and so far they have sold half of them already. The regular price for a verified account will be $20 after these are sold. Just in case this turns out to be the next big thing, I wanted to be locked in. And right now, I spend between $40 and $100 a month on Etsy fees so it's worth a try for me.

To celebrate my new store opening, I'm offering CUSTOM ACEO portraits for only $15 (that's $5.00 off my regular fee)

Just select "Make an Offer" option from this listing, and type in $15.00 - I'll accept it right away!

I'll be promoting this new store a lot, because the more people who give Art Fire a try, the better it will be for all involved. If you open a shop, let me know and I'll visit you, stumble you, heart you, the works!

And the best thing: with little to no fees, I can afford to do more promotions!