I Didn't Know My Artwork was so POLITICAL

This past week I experienced, in just a tiny measure, the world's sad state of affairs when  a comment about a post I shared in a farmhouse decorating group had me scratching my head.  This nation's political division, for the first time, raised it's ugly head in my studio.  

Don't get me wrong,  I have very strong political opinions, but I work hard to keep all that off of my Facebook studio artwork page.  I feel that this world lacks joy, and that a great deal of what is passed around Facebook is more like throwing rotten vegetables in a pot to stir up unrest and create division.  So I feel strongly that my online mission is to share art that brings people back to a happy place where they, even for a brief moment, forget all the junk going on in the world and just smile.  So how could I possible, in drawing a cow and some watermelon have made what can be construed as a political statement? 

I created this drawing that I titled "One in a Melon" to be my July 2021 artwork in the calendar that I have been working on.  What says July and summer more than fresh watermelon, cows and the American Flag?  Well obviously I wasn't thinking straight because here is the comment I received after sharing this artwork in one of the many farmhouse groups I belong to:

"Thinly veiled political statement, much"  and a second person chimed in "My thoughts too".  I read and reread that comment, and for the life of me could not understand what she was referring too.  While it is just one comment, I felt it important enough to understand what about this image prompted that statement.  I shared this question on my studio art page and received an explanation that is probably accurate.  My artist friend felt that the "RED BLANKET" under the flag was a promotion of "the GOP".  She is probably correct in her critique of what this comment was about but let me tell you that this of course was not my intention.  

Do you remember way back in elementary art class when we learned about the color wheel?  Do you remember the each of the primary colors of Red, Blue and Yellow have a complimentary colors?  Red and Green, Blue and Orange, Yellow and Violet are all complimentary of each other.  I can tell you that this art rule was my whole motivation for picking a "RED" blanket to lay my "GREEN" watermelons on.  LORD what has the world come too?  

The post never got ugly or any more negative.  She liked my explanation that the image was not political and that this was a COW under the flag and not an elephant or a donkey.  LOL!  

To end my little rant here, I do want to share with you that this week I made my 2021 calendar available for purchase and this drawing along with 11 other "Wash Tub" images look great.  I hope 2021 is a better year than this year has turned out to be and having my funny wash tub artwork to look forward to is just a tiny contribution to that end on my part.  Here is the link to the calendar on my ETSY SHOP if you want to order one for yourself or for a friend. 

Cover Artwork for my 2021 calendar

JULIE TOWNSEND STUDIO ON ETSY

Bunnies in Stocking Caps and Mittens

What a beautiful time we had spending 3 great weeks of the summer in the small mining town of Ely, Nevada. This was our 4th year in a row taking time for what I call my "art sabbatical" and living in our camper.   I have gotten a lot of art accomplished while I’ve was enjoying the cooler temperatures that the higher altitude affords.

One of my biggest projects in the first week was the creation of 10 new designs that I have used to make my Christmas cards for 2019.  I had to create each piece of art that I used and then come up with the designs.  I so appreciated all the feed back I received from my followers on my Facebook Studio Page.  The ladies were so encouraging and shared their valuable opinions as I was coming up with each design. 

One set is called “Barnyard Country Christmas” and the second is “Gingham Country Christmas”.   Besides the 2 sets of cards I also created to fine art prints that can be framed and displayed on the wall to bring a smile to all your holiday guests.   They all turned out super cute but I will just let the images speak for themselves.

You can place a order on either my Website or on my Etsy Shop-Barnyard Christmas & Etsy Shop-Gingham Christmas.

 Barnyard Country Christmas 

all 5 designs included in the set

8 x 10 print matted to 11 x 14- perfect to add as a holiday focal to any wall

 Gingham Country Christmas 

all 5 designs included in the set

 

8 x 10 print matted to 11 x 14- perfect to add as a holiday focal to any wall

Lots of Sunshine and Buffalo Plaid

Chickadee on Red 

I am in love with this combination of buffalo plaid and and pen and ink sunflowers that I designed a few months ago.  I think this little chickadee is my favorite.  Maybe it's the red with the black and gray that makes it so striking.

Using this design I wanted to create a set of cards that all had a similar feel to them.  Now as far as a set of cards goes,  I strongly feel that a set  should consist of  4 unique designs and while the first card pictured here in this collage does show sunflowers and is a design that I love, it just doesn’t go with the other three.  It almost looks like that Sesame Street matching game deciding “which three of these things go together”?

So even while on a recent vacation and many miles away from my studio my sketchbook is always near.  I decided to work on another sunflower design that will be used to come up with that 4th needed design.  I also get many requests or inquires about cardinals so I thought the combination of a cardinal eating from a sunflower would fit perfect.  The sketches below are still safely attached to my sketchbook and will be what I will be working with as soon as I get home to my scanner.  I'll be sure to post the updated set as soon as I can and they WILL be available for purchase on my ETSY shop soon at ETSY SHOP

If you like my artwork, I might suggest that you join my Studio VIP list through my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com.  I try to have monthly art giveaways and being part of the list ensures that you have a chance at winning.  Sign up at the “GIVEAWAY tab.

New sketch that will be used for my 4th design in the series

BEE HAPPY Color Sheet- FREE

This is one of the Large Stickers on my "Bee Happy" Full Page Sticker Sheet that you can download on my Etsy Shop

Sketchbook Rough Drawing

Bee edited in Photoshop

I am having a blast and this is SO MUCH fun!  Actually, it is a bit of a challenge for me to draw a simple designs after years of trying to draw every small detail.  It's a different way of thinking but it is kind of freeing.  The designs are bare bones and on their own not too impressive, but add some color and create an interesting composition and their simplicity turns into their beauty.  This little bee may be simple and cartoon like, yet when I pulled him into Photoshop and gave him a little color with my paint bucket tool he is transformed into an attention catching illustration.

Arrangement consisting of the 2 flowers and the bee

The flowers are nothing special but I decided to make 2 different varieties of each design.  Once you have each element edited and color added you are now ready to create a composition.  I decided to surround the bee with colorful flowers.  I was careful not to let his wings be hidden by blending into the blue flowers.  I wanted every portion of the bee to stand out and not be lost.

Wrapping Paper available on my Zazzle Shop

Repeating pattern design

You can see that once you have your basic composition created that than you can work into creating a repeating pattern.  Repeating pattern designs can be used to create the artwork for many images including fabrics and wrapping paper.







Here you will see that I have added this pattern to a roll of wrapping paper that is available on my ZAZZLE SHOP along with a lot of other cool merchandise that feature my artwork.  Also check out my ETSY SHOP for more original artwork.





Yesterday, I turned my attention to one of my favorite subjects, FARM ANIMALS and created a series of drawings that included a cow, pig and a rooster.  I have the cow shown here.  I can now make a variety of colors but this one is of my Holstein.  I know for certain I will be creating a set of stickers using these comical creatures but really the sky is the limit on what I will eventually create.  That is the amazing thing about using my art in a graphics program like Photoshop.

Next I want to learn how to do more painting so that I can add some depth and contrast to these images.

I realize that I am just using the bare basics of the graphic capability of my software but keeping in mind that just 2 months ago all I used Photoshop for was to crop my images and now I am actually using it to create art.  To say I am thrilled about this new knowledge is an understatement.  I have had so many comments from other artists asking if I would teach a class or about how I learned to use Photoshop.  Well let me just state here that my path wasn't hard but I was determined.

First, I made a list of 5 things I wanted to learn how to do in Photoshop.  I picked something I really wanted to learn how to make and that was a page of stickers.  I started watching YouTube videos on making stickers in Photoshop.  I found one that seemed to make more sense to me and was very basic.  I took lots of notes and followed her process step by step.  Pausing the video so I could match what she had just done.  That wasn't always the easiest thing because I own an older version of Photoshop Elements and so many of the options are not the same but I looked around until I found it on my version.  The first thing I created was a bit crude but I felt that I had accomplished a great thing.  My advise to you is to GO FOR IT!  Carve out several days with just you and your computer and  YouTube.

Here is my first ever "Bee Happy Coloring Sheet" created just today. I have had so much fun working on this that I want you to BEE HAPPY TOO!   I am providing you as my blog reader a link so that you can download and print this out to color and enjoy.   (The Bee Happy Coloring Sheet is for personal use only and may not be reproduced or sold without my written permission)

FREE BEE HAPPY COLORING SHEET

I Love my RedBubble Bubblebees

A Bumblebee that I sketched

I am at about a week and half of my proclaimed "Art Sabbatical" and I'm trying to stay focused.  I have probably spent more time on the computer in Photoshop than I have creating art these past couple days.

My time has mostly been spent working out designs on a number of products to fill my Zazzle Shop.  While I have had no sales yet on Zazzle, I am having a lot of fun creating this unique items that feature my artwork. I do believe that if I keep creating cute designs that sales will come.  Right now I have mostly focused on t-shirts and coffee mugs, as these I would guess would be favorites for gift purchases.

Here is one thing I did manage to create in the past few days.  Just a little sketch in my sketchbook of a bumblebee.  Funny enough, I actually got a lot of positive response from this little sketch on my social media accounts.  One thing I do not have access to is my scanner/printer here on my little art get-away so I have only my cellphone to capture and share my artwork right now.  That didn't stop me as you will see further in this blog post all the designs I have created using just this one little lone bumblebee.

A t-shirt created from my artwork "Up, Up and Away" 

I'm trying the service out by ordering two matching t-shirts for my granddaughters whose birthdays are coming up in just a few weeks.  I was very pleased yesterday to find that I was ordering them just as Zazzle was offering a 50% off on all t-shirt orders.  That was a double bonus in my books.  I will blog about the quality of the t-shirts and how I feel as the artist when I see my design on printed fabric.

The one thing I really like about Zazzle.com is the ability to actually design your item.  You can upload multiple images and add text using a variety of fun looking fonts. This gives you the ability to make a variety of text or image changes to your product allowing for the ease in creating similar but unique products.  I like this freedom.   My other shops on Etsy and RedBubble do not allow this freedom.  You will have to work in Photoshop to have the designs completed first and then upload them for each item separately.  Etsy charges you .20 for each product and the stress there is having up to 10 really good photo images of your handmade item.

Redbubble.com, like Zazzle, offer a wide variety of products for you to put your image on.  It states on it's website that it is a Global Marketplace for Independent Artists.  What I really appreciate about Redbubble is the fact that it allows your image to be uploaded on all the products at the same time.  You just can work your way down the page making edits to the images based on each products. There is a wide range of products range so your image can be ordered on items like t-shirts, scarves, notebooks and clocks.

Bubblebees added to my pink peony design

Here are a few of the images that I created this week that focus on just that one bumblebee sketch.  I have added flowers of different varieties, scriptures verses and created a repeating pattern that would work well on gift bags, wrapping paper and maybe even tablecloths.  I fell I am getting one step closer to creating a portfolio for art licensing.

flowers from pngtree.com - bumblebee is my original artwork

 Artwork used to make the repeating pattern

Creating a repeating pattern using the Bumblebee

Email from RedBubble notifying me of 1 of my 2 sales for the day

I should note that I have had some of my images on RedBubble for quite sometime but have just recently started updating the site with my newest works.  I was beyond thrilled yesterday when I received notification not once, but twice that I had sold items on RedBubble with my images on them.  Now royalties are much to really write about, but the great thing about "Print on Demand" is that once you have taken the time to upload the image the money is really effort free.  I just wait to collect my automatic PalPal deposit.  The image "Bees in Flowers-Yellow", I had just uploaded a few hours before.  Here is the email notification I received.  I love how encouraging it is.  I'm hoping to start seeing royalties from both Zazzle and RedBubble become a monthly occurrence.

I just wanted to show off one last thing I created in Zazzle yesterday.  I created buttons for Brad and I to wear at art shows or festivals that identify who I am as the artist just like a name badge would.  The button I made for Brad is rather humorous so I just had to share.  He claims he WILL wear it but we shall see.








To check out all my products just click on these links and let me know what you think.

Julie Townsend- Zazzle Shop

Julie Townsend- Redbubble

Julie Townsend- Etsy Shop

Trying to Capture Silly With My Pen

Trying to capture humor and silliness with just a ink pen can be a challenge.  I'm working on some ideas for a solo show I have coming up in March 2018.  I'm sort of known for creating art that results in some smiles and sometimes out loud laughter.  For a theme, I'm considering calling the show, "I Dare You Not To Smile"

Now that is a tall order but here in the past 2 days I've picked up the challenge and decided I would share a couple of the pieces I have made. Let me take a minute and introduce you to my growing menagerie of silly creatures.

Claire the Cow

First off, we have Claire the Cow.  Created with mostly scribbles or stippling of my pen she has a rather long narrow face and blank stare that is sure to cause a chuckle.  Not to mention that double, triple, quadruple chin action going on there.

There is just something about cows.  Even though they are very large and rather intimidating, they have a sweetness about them. They have the largest brown eyes and the most interesting nose.  I LOVE drawing and painting their noses.

Rusty the Rooster

Next we have a feisty fowl that rules the coop.  Rusty the Rooster is one comical cock full of attitude.   Look into his eyes and you will have to decided if he is thinking either "What are you laughing at?" or "You had better get ready to run!"  He is lightly tented with colored pencil to show off his amazing comb and wattles.

Lily the Llama

The ink may still be wet in spots on my newest drawing.  Here is Lily the Llama.  What a funny face that llamas have. I mean I knew that they had goofy faces but it isn't until you start to study them to actually draw them that you realize just how goofy they really are.  Two large yellowed teeth protruding out from their bottom lips, giant bug eyes and hair sticking out everywhere.   Not the typical farm animal, but I have seen a number of them in pastures as I drive across rural ranch land so I decided to include her in my silly farm animal lineup.

Just as I did with Rusty, I have tinted Lily with blue colored pencil to enhance the shadows of her face contours.

Now what shall I draw today...?











If you like my artwork consider checking out my Etsy Shop, Zazzle Shop or my Website.  All are available by just selecting the tab above.

NO LIMITS in Sight

Just Like in This Image....My Art is Now FREE TO FLY

I am on a SABBATICAL....well that is what I have been calling it but I guess it is more correct to say that I'm on an art vacation.  When I looked up the definition of sabbatical and I found out that they last usually a year.  I don't see me putting aside my other obligations for that length of time, but I am determined to make the most of this small window of time I have carved out to really produce more art and to improve my online presence.

I will be blogging regularly, showing off my newest art creations.  I will be working on making some holiday collections along with images for my March 2018 show..."I Dare You Not to Smile" that will be presented at the Boulder City Art Gallery in Boulder City, Nevada.

For the past month I have been learning to combine my artwork and digital enhancements using Photoshop.  I love the freedom that this program gives me with my artwork.  I can fix things, combine separate elements together to change up the compositions and add backgrounds or foregrounds.

Up, Up and Away

Digitally Improved

Here is an example of what I worked on yesterday using a painting I did a year ago.   Up, Up and Away was painted especially for my grandson Hunter.  His nursery was decorated in elephants and my daughter asked me to do a special artwork piece to hang there.  This painting was done on a 16 x 20 canvas in Acrylics.

Because of the way I had painted the balloons I felt that I wasn't really able to produce prints or add the image to cards and magnets as I usually do with my work.    Yesterday afternoon I pulled up the image onto my laptop and began working some Photoshop magic on it.  I removed the original balloons and the little mouse I painted hanging on the elephants tail.  I then downloaded some royalty free png file  images of balloons, a stowaway mouse and the blue sky background and I now have a great image that I believe very marketable.

Here is a mockup I created using my Up, Up and Away artwork. Mockups are made to help you visualize just how this image would look if place in the environment of it's intended use.  I think this is now such a cute image that your imagination doesn't really need the extra help to know that this little flying elephant would be perfect hanging in a nursery or child's bedroom.  If you are an elephant person I suppose that any room might work for you.   I have added this print to my Etsy Shop and it will be available for order at this link:  Etsy Shop- Elephant Print



I've added this image with different sayings to both a Child and Toddler T-shirt.  I'm planning on ordering them for my two granddaughters birthdays coming up next month.
 

Zazzle Shop-Elephant T-Shirt 
Zazzle Shop-Elephant Toddler Shirt 


Making the effort to learn just a little Photoshop has opened an ability for me to take my art to a new level.  In my heart I knew it would but each time I tried to learn to use the program for more than cropping the photo I grew frustrated.  I tried on several occasions to learn from my children, which resulted in...INSTANT FRUSTRATION!

What was different this time?  First I made a list of about 5 things I really wanted to learn how to do and then I started watching YouTube videos.  I know this may sound funny, but I have been fascinated with stickers for sometime and I really wanted to learn how to make them.  I watched several videos before finding one that made sense to me.  I took notes and then spent a whole day working on making a sheet of poorly done stickers, but I learned how the layers work.  This had always been the mystery to me and as you know if you know anything about Photoshop, it is ALL ABOUT LAYERS.

I have also been taking my edited JPEGS of my artwork and adding them to a number of products in my Zazzle Shop.  Mostly coffee mugs and T-Shirts at this point, but I think they look great and am confident that I will be earning some small royalties on these images soon.  Here is several examples of my coffee mugs and an easy to use link in the event you might just want to order one for yourself or to give as a gift.














Zazzle Shop- Online Dating Sparrow Mug

Zazzle Shop- 5 Sparrows on Fence w/Wildflowers

  Zazzle Shop- Rooster & Hen in Love Mug

Art Licensing in a Tiny Nutty Shell

Art Licensing 101 presented by Jodi Pedri- I'm on the front row.

Last week I had the great pleasure of attending a mix between an informal presentation given by artist Jodi Pedri of Working Girls Designs about her experiences in the field of art licensing.  Let me first say that I met Jodi maybe a year and a half ago when she dropped into the @Arthouselv gallery one afternoon when I just happened to be there.  The meeting might have been chance and lasted only a short time but it was like she was speaking straight to my goals list.  I immediately found her on Facebook and sent her a friends request because I just felt she might be an excellent  resource and an inspiration to me down the road.


If you check out Jodi's work and read her bio you will realize that she is very successful as a licensed artist.  Here are my big take aways from the evening.
   

Button that is now on my website Home Page

Most important is your portfolio. This portfolio should be easy to locate on your website home page. I made this button and I now have to right on my home page of my website.  Of course I'm still working on the portfolio page and have it currently "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" right now.

Get your work copyrighted.  This can be done periodically in collections.  She copyrights her work quarterly and includes all her drawings as a collection for the one price of around $55 at the  Copyright.gov website.  Intellectual property is automatically protected but manufacturers require that the images be officially copyrighted before they will issue a contract.
 
Building a contact list is extremely important.  Jodi suggests that as you walk through a department store that you pick up products that you are drawn to and flip it over to find the name of the manufacturer.  Make a note and then try to call them and get the contact information for their Art Director.  Build an email/phone list so that you can start sending out your newsletter to the appropriate individuals keeping them informed of your new projects and artwork.

Jodi also confirmed what I already knew that learning a program like Photoshop was key.  Even if you are 100% producing standard artwork using traditional mediums you will need to be able to resize and clean up the images.  She passed around some of her change orders that she gets from the manufacturers and the ability to have your artwork in layers only makes sense.  This gives you the ability to move elements of the design around as well as remove or add images.  Using Photoshop and keeping your artwork in layers is a must.  I'm starting to think differently when I sit down in the studio.  Rather than full compositions, I'm doing more of drawing separate elements that I can then bring together.  Here is an example where I took two existing sketches that I drew sometime ago and embellished them with autumn themed elements to create a completely different composition.


Create mockup images of your artwork on products that you are trying to target.  For example, a paper manufacturer would need to see your images on gift bags, party plates or napkins rather than on a piece of wall art.  It helps those in the decision making capacity to quickly see how well your images will work for their application.  Here is one mockup I put together to showcase my fine art.  It goes perfect with my Giraffe piece because of the stuffed elephant in the chair.   I want to create a mockup that has more of a country flavor because so much of my work is country influenced.

Mockup to showcase my artwork

Banner I created this week for my Etsy Shop using my artwork and Photoshop.  

Social Media Sign to add as a photo to each of my Etsy Listings