I Love the SPOT HEALING BRUSH TOOL

Isn't that just the coolest name?  Wouldn't it be awesome if we had a SPOT HEALING BRUSH TOOL in our make-up bag.  Oh look at that wrinkle or giant lunch food stain that is prominently residing on the front of my blouse-  I could just pull out my SPOT HEALING BRUSH TOOL and presto...spot, wrinkle, pimple or stain BE GONE!

Yesterday, I spent several hours just quickly going through some past photos looking for something that would spark my Photoshop imagination.  It didn't take long for me to stop on this photo.  Absolutely amazing Nevada sunrise that is completely ruined by the heavy power lines.  I have always wanted to edit that photo to try to create that beautiful scene that I remember. 

That is where the "SPOT HEALING BRUSH TOOL" came in.  I'm sure there are a number of ways to FIX this photo but after a quick internet search I decided to give this tool a try.  Just a little Photoshop history on me....About 6 weeks ago, I knew absolutely knew nothing beyond cropping a photo. With determination I set aside a weekend and began painstakingly watching YouTube videos in an effort to learn how to do some simple photo editing.

My main motivation is my artwork.  I have for a long time felt that learning Photoshop was essential for me to take my art to the next level.  I'm pretty happy with my progress and am determined to become proficient.  Now, I also should mention here that I don't actually own Photoshop or whatever they are calling it these days but rather I own an old version 8 of Photoshop Elements.  The current version is 15 but I wasn't about to spend a dime to purchase another program when I didn't even know how to use the one I have owned for years.

I am happy to report that last night I noticed Photoshop Elements 15 was once again on Amazon Prime, offered at the lowest price I have found of $59.99.  Usually it is listed at $79.99.  Only one other time had I seen it that price and didn't buy it soon enough and the price jumped the $20 while it sat in my shopping cart.  I wasn't about to repeat that scenario, so I quickly made my purchase and can't wait to load it on my laptop when it arrives.

Now I had better get back to my whole purpose to this post and that is my sunrise photo.  The SPOT HEALING BRUSH TOOL did the trick.  It was a bit of a time consuming process because I had to keep going back over the lines before they were completely gone and there was no distortion left.  My patience paid off and I couldn't be happier with this edited photo.  

I was SO happy as a matter of fact that I decided to get a little silly and so I then edited this photo we took last spring of a street performer in Virginia City, Nevada dressed as an old prospector complete with his burro.  Here it is added to the sunrise photo looking sillier than ever.

Art is Hard Work-And Thank God I Have a BSBA

(Be sure and check out my website gallery if you are interested in seeing more of my work at JulieTownsendStudio.com)

Art is Hard Work-And Thank God I Have a BSBA:
I'm sure that many people believe that to be an artist means that you are spending hours in a studio, covered in a variety of paint colors and being a bit on the loopy side from hours of inhaling solvent and turpentine fumes. I mean why else would Van Gogh have decided to rid himself of a certain appendage? It had to be toxic fumes and lead poisoning, right?  While that might be some of the perception, there is actually a great deal more to it than just painting.

Once the painting has been created, I have to come up with a name.  This can actually be harder than you would think.  For example yesterday I reworked a piece that I had finished as part of a lesson several years ago.  The changes really improved the piece so I have decided now to add it to my available inventory.  Yes, I consider my available completed works as part of an inventory and I have created an inventory worksheet in Excel to keep track of each of them.  Speaking from an accounting perspective, I don't care if my inventory is LIFO (Last In,First Out) or FIFO (First In, First Out) just so that there is inventory going "OUT"!

I include the name, dimensions, price, date completed and location for each piece on my spreadsheet.  When you are actively displaying your work you can find that you can forget that you have pieces displayed and so it's important to keep a record of where each piece is, including the date that you have to pick it up.

"Lazy Daze"- This is my reworking of the original painting lesson- My own style added and a good measure of my improved painting skills

My original painting done as part of my online lessons with Tim Gagnon

Back to naming a painting...This morning I was creating price cards and certificates of authenticity for each of my paintings and of course I needed to come up with a name.  This slow flowing river, tall grass and young pine trees made me think of a pleasant summer day (Thinking about pleasant summer days is all I can really do because there is no such thing as pleasant summer day in Las Vegas) so I decided that I would name it "Lazy Daze".

After coming up with a name I then must set my price for my piece.  Currently, I set my prices based on the size of the canvas.  In theory, the larger the canvas the higher the price because the longer it took me to paint it.  That isn't always the case but that is my logic right now and I feel it is important to have logic when pricing your paintings.  I don't know how other artists set their prices but this is the way I have decided to do it for now.  The goal of course is that I will be able to command higher prices later but right now I feel that my pieces are worth $75-$300 range.  And while I can't attest to lots of sales at this point in my early career, I feel that this is a fair price, especially if the piece is framed.

In my example of "Lazy Daze" I have set a $200 price as it is a 20 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas.  Galley wrapped means that I took the time to paint the outer edges of the canvas so that the piece doesn't have to be framed.  Now that I have the name, set the price, added the painting to my inventory and printed out the paperwork to attach to the painting, I then need to photograph the piece with our nice camera. I often take a quick picture with my iPhone so that I can talk about the painting on Facebook but this doesn't provide a high enough resolution photograph for future use.  If you want to create giclee prints later for promotion or to sell you need as high a resolution as possible.  You can always decrease the size of a file but it isn't very effective to try to increase the pixels and if your piece is sold you have lost your chance to get a photo later.

Finally, I upload the file to the gallery page of this blog and then I go to my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com and add the file to the gallery page there. Here I have created Paypal buttons for ease of purchase.   I also have to come up with an interesting promotional paragraph about the piece.  I think it is important to explain what inspired you to paint it.  If there is history or a personal story that goes with your inspiration then this a very nice addition and will hopefully touch the potential buyer and makes you more personal as the artist.

That is a lot of background work just to get the piece ready to show it to the public, not to mention packing and transporting the painting.  Of course a business degree isn't a requirement but there is an element of organization that is helpful  to the overall success of your business.

Getting Ready to Take This Show on the Road- Portable display stand made from 2 easels, (2) 1 x 2's and a sheet