From My Sketchbook to the Client

The past few weeks, I have been working on a project that is a bit different for me.  I was contacted by a woman who was part of a start up company and they were looking for an artist to create their logo and commission a second piece of art that was more of a showcase of their product. She had initially contacted the Boulder City Art Gallery and they suggested that I might be the artist for the job.  

After meeting her in person and listening to her story I decided that I would take up the challenge.  I haven't really done anything like this before but everything is a learning process and this work will undoubtedly help me with future jobs like this one.  

This logo was created almost complete with Photoshop.  I sketched out a simple outline and then scanned it.  Using Photoshop I colored it in and added the star and collar.  I even downloaded the specific font that the client wanted using the website dafont.com.  Here in my examples I purposely omitted the website information as the name of the client.    

With the logo complete I then turned my attention the artwork.  I decided that rather than trying to draw the whole scene I would be better off sketching separate elements and then putting the composition together in Photoshop.  I drew the woman, the dog, the fence and grass, the cage and the walls of the house as separate sketches in my sketchbook and then scanned each of them as a JPEG.  

There were many changes made with the first rendering after I presented it to the client.  They nixed the furniture and flowers and then completely changed the woman.  It was then that they provided me with a photo of the clients wife and asked if I could make her appear more like her.  They also asked if I could make the dog look like his boxer by giving me several photos of the dog.  This wasn't clearly discussed in our initial meeting but since I had approached this as separate drawings I could easily make adjustment.

Here is the second rendering and this one had just a few adjustments.  I got rid of the leash and ball and put the cage on the floor.  Now it was time to add the color.

I decided to print out the piece onto my usual fine art paper and with colored pencils began working my way around the 8 x 10 image.  Finally, I put both pieces into a white matte and back board to finish them off.  

Here is the finished artwork just before I turned it over to a happy client.  I learned a great deal with this job and have a better idea of the amount of time needed to work on this type of project and help me provide a more realistic quote for the next time I'm asked to do a commission job.   

Original Art Can Make the Perfect Birthday Gift

I have tried now for the past couple years to create a special piece of birthday art for my grandchildren.  I've now decided to try to include my grown children in this tradition.  Today is my son Jason's birthday so I will start with the piece I made for him yesterday and then share a few other pieces that I have done in the past few months.  

Jason has just started to once again be careful with what he is eating and regularly exercising.  I had to make his birthday art reflecting this fact.  The adorable bunny in the corner is from my original color pencil artwork that I call "Don't Forget Your Vegetables".  The beets, turnips and cupcake are also drawings out of my sketchbook.  I added additional royalty free salad graphics to finish off the background.  That picture of Jason I found on his Facebook page is a real hoot and fits perfectly into my composition and with the magic of Photoshop, I can create a one of a kind birthday greeting.

The second piece I want to show you is for my little grandson, Noah who turned 5.  He loves the video game, Minecraft so I went to work figuring out just what I could create.  I knew I wanted to include his little stuffed enderman doll in the picture because he loves to take a nap with it.  I jokingly call it a spider and he is always correcting me on the point.  I drew my grandson, a sword and his little stuffed buddy in my sketchbook.  I used colored pencil to complete the sketch.  I then scanned that sketch into Photoshop and added the royalty free background, TNT and the pig to the picture.  This turned out so cute that I actually had it blown up to a 16 x 20 poster at Sam's Club.  You should have seen his eyes when he realized he was on a poster.  I also made him a sheet of personal stickers.  Here is how his birthday card turned out.

Hunter also has a November birthday so I had to work on a design that was special to a 1 year old.  I was informed he LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so I knew I needed to add Mickey in there for him.  When he was born last year I painted him a special elephant floating with balloon painting to decorate his nursery room.  He still has a number of elephant themed things so I grabbed my sketchbook and drew both a stuffed elephant and his sweet little face.  I once again used colored pencil to finish off the sketching part.  The rest of the image is from graphics that I used in Photoshop.  I think this turned out super cute!

Finally comes my two sweet September granddaughters.  Their birthdays are just 2 years and 1 day apart so I decided to make their art very similar.

Katherine turned 5 and is the owner of a giant doberman named Odin.  I sketched a simple likeness of both her and the dog and colored them in using Photoshop.  The bees and the purple flowers are also part of my sketchbook.  The rest of the composition comes from royalty free graphics.  I printed out a 5 x 7 image and matted it so she could frame it in her room.  I also had the image printed on a small tote bag using the print on demand services of RedBubble.com.  It turned out GREAT!

Sweet little Jenna turned 3 and she has a GIANT great Dane named Bane and yes the dog has one blue eye and one brown eye.  Both sketches turned out amazing and the girls love their personalized tote bags.

Brad and I have a total of 9 grand kids so just keeping up with their birthday art is a challenge but I'm loving the creativity that Photoshop allows me and all the GRANDMA points I'm scoring.    

To end this blog post, I thought I would show you one more commission artwork I finished this year.  This is a transaction that took place on my Etsy Shop back in May for a woman that lives in Canada.  Here is the 8 x 10 colored pencil commission piece I did using a few reference photos she sent me.    This piece features two curly haired sisters and their doberman puppy.  I believe this is going to be her brother's Christmas gift.       

Puppy Love x 2

This week marked an exciting event for me.  I received my very first Etsy commission request and I am beyond thrilled.  Etsy is an online marketplace that I really want to be part of for a while now and maybe this will be the start of some regular orders.  Building a reputation with customer satisfaction is critical to your success and I need to get a number of 5 star reviews under my belt.

I was contacted by a potential customer asking if I could change the composition my sketch of my granddaughter and her very large doberman to include her 2 little nieces, ages 4 & 6. Her brother had just purchased a doberman puppy and she thought this would be a perfect gift.   A few messages back and forth and I had several photos of the girls to use and a reference.  We agreed upon a price and I went in a created a special variation button to included customization.  To my joy she paid the price and placed the order right away.

After a super busy weekend, I was able to start working on it Monday evening.  Total drawing time was probably 3 hours I think.  Using several references photos of my 4 year old granddaughter I was able to combine them into what I think is a solid composition.  The challenge came in when I found out their doberman puppy doesn't have his tail docked or his ears cropped.  Finding a photo of the backside of a doberman to see the detail of the tail wasn't easy.  Actually, I never found a true backside view but I think I didn't do too bad of a job here.

The original drawing is much brighter and those pink sweaters just pop off the paper.  I have to figure out how to get a better scan of my drawings so the colors look more true.  Right now when I am working with a print of one of my drawings I usually grab the color pencils and my black pen and quickly go over some of the areas to brighten them.  I like the idea they are hand embellished but I have so much still to learn when it comes to the technical side of producing reproductions.

All that is left to do is to matte the drawing and get it packaged up for shipment.  This actually represents a new first for me too.  This package is being shipped international because the buyer lives in Douro Dummer, Ontario.  I looked that up and that town is sitting right on the border of the US and Canada but it is still international shipping so my usual USPS Standard Rate Shipping boxes won't work.  Yesterday just happened to be "trash" day and I was able to find several boxes that appear to be the right size that I can use to ship.  As I get busier with my shipping, I will have to find a good source of small shipping boxes that fit the dimensions of my artwork.

This image will soon be available as cards and magnets on my Etsy Store.  If you want to check out my artwork you can go to my website gallery at Julie Townsend Studio Gallery.  Let me know what you think because I would love to hear from you.

You can also visit my Etsy Store if you are interested in this image in a small print, magnet or greeting card at: Julie Townsend Studio on Etsy

It's More Than a Painting of a Tea Cup

Sunday was a very special day as my husband and I were the invited guests for a lovely brunch prepared by some dear friends that we have known for many years.  As we entered the front door it was obvious that much care had been taken in preparation of our visit.  The table was spread out in formal fashion with gold tablecloth, placemats and napkins topped with beautiful China and sparkling silver.

My dear friend and co-worker of many years has also recently become collector of my art by having commissioned a piece from me and the purpose for our invitation was to show me where she had hung my painting that I had created for her.  This particular painting that I called "Tea Time" included a number of sentimental items that all reminded her of her mother who was also an artist.

The China tea cup and silver spoon were both painted to resemble her mother's own set that she has recently inherited.  It was that very China that lay on the table in front of us.  Her mother's favorite flowers, roses and hydrangeas fill the glass vase and are the focal point of the piece.  I finished off the composition as she requested with a small bowl of berries.

What an honor it is for me to be able to create a piece of art that not only is pleasing to look at hung there in the center of their room but one that is so full of meaning and sentimental memories.  This experience makes every minute I have spent for the past 5 years painting and improving my skills worth it.  I love the rewards that come from having my art connect with someone at the heart level and to know that I have created something that is treasured and a blessing for a deserving friend.

The day that I presented my friend with her commissioned piece, "Tea Time"

2015 Cowbell Marathon is Going Down Now

I have boldly announced this week over several social media venues that I am committing to painting at least one cowbell a day from my Las Vegas studio for the next two weeks. That's everyday until Thanksgiving.   I'm calling this self imposed proclamation my COWBELL MARATHON!  These are my most recent contributions to this effort and I think they turned out nicely.  

Actually, the only bell showing in this line up here that isn't already sold is that of the hummingbird that I just finished a few hours ago.  So much for building up my Cowbell Inventory.  I guess this is a good problem for me to have. 

I plan to blog here about this endeavor often and keep my Facebook Art Page updated as to my progress.  So check back often and if you see something special you like or have an idea for a custom bell that you want me to paint than just drop me an email or a Facebook Message.  I would love to hear from you.

CLICK THE LINK HERE TO:

Visit my Website     OR      Like my Facebook ART Page   

Commissioned pieces here are the Eagle and Giraffes.  The Nativity scene was just me getting ready for Christmas

I added a snowy cardinal and a little hummingbird to my cowbell flock of feathered friends line-up

Cowbells Ring...Are you Listening?

So today I counted up all the cowbells I have sold in 2015 and I was blown away when I realized it equals 38 and I have a commission for 2 more that I'm working on currently.  That is amazing to me.  Who would have every thought!  That is a total of 40 cowbells not counting the couple I gave away as gifts. 

Brad got busy this week and prepared 6 more cowbells for me and so I'm putting away the canvases temporarily and am ready to paint some Christmas, Nativity and snow scene designs on them for the Holiday Seasons.  I can almost hear the faint sound of "Cowbells ring, are you listening?  In the Lane, Snow is glistening..."

You can check out some of my cowbell designs on my website JulieTownsendStudio.com or on my Cowbell Facebook page at Hand Painted Cowbells.  

I still believe that this hummingbird cowbell is my favorite

More Red Dots to Report

This past month I have the pleasure of seeing several of my pieces find new homes.  Getting to post an article about how much I love talking about RED DOTS is right up there with winning ribbons.  Selling a piece is the ultimate confirmation in my mind that your art is headed in the right direction.

"13 Pickers in my Pan" sold to a young man that came into City of the World on August First Friday event.

"Always Tea Time" was a commissioned piece for a special friend. 

Special Order cowbells finished and ready to ship off to Columbia Falls, Montana this week

FOR WHOM THE COWBELL TOLLS?

Perhaps a commissioned cowbell tolls for you!  


I know it may sound like I'm bragging here this morning, but think it takes some skill as an artist to do a commission piece from a small photograph.  I've heard horror stories about artists trying to use a tiny, faded, wrinkled black and white photo of grandma to capture everything that the family remembers of her years after she has passed away.  I can only imaging how very hard it would be to make a realistic portrait on a canvas under these circumstances.  My commission experience wasn't anything so drastic but I was asked to paint a commission bell of of a beloved pet, in this case a horse and transfer that likeness to the small 4"x 6" metal surface of a cowbell. This morning I decided to share with you my experience.

Painting so many of these cowbells have given me some valuable practice and I think, just like consistently drawing in my sketchbook, these small artworks are also giving me valuable practice as an artist.  Painting small can be a real challenge because I naturally prefer to paint much larger. Today, I can report that I'm feeling much more confident at painting in general and I can almost paint chickens in my sleep. 

Up to this point, my cowbell commissions have been pretty non-specific and rather more a general theme such as "Can you paint me a rooster, a cow or a sandhill crane?"  I also get request for certain flowers such as the Texas blue bonnets, lavenders or sunflowers.  This particular commission request was much more stressful because this is not just any horse but the clients horse "Lady" and I had to get it right.  

I was a bit nervous during that time that I sent the initial photo of the finished bell to her Facebook message thread to the time that I received the "I LOVE IT!" reply.  Let me just say I gave a huge sigh of relief because this bell probably took me as long to paint as it would have taken to paint maybe 2 or 3 bells of a different subject.  

I am happy to report that this bell is today packed up and waiting for the scheduled postal pickup, soon to be a fixture in it's new home in Ponca City, Oklahoma.  As an artist, there is a great deal of satisfaction to take a project, even if it is as small a cowbell, from start to completion.  

Please contact me at Julie Townsend Studio Contact Page if you might be interested having me do a commission cowbell for you.  They make GREAT gifts!

Create It and They Will Come

I have been doing some research and browsing for examples of a commission agreement that I could use to create my own form.  This past week I was told that I might be getting a call from an individual that purchased one of my hand painted cowbells and that he was interested in getting me to paint a picture of long-horn steers and that confirmed to me that I needed to get busy.

Although, I haven't done very many commission art pieces yet in my short art career, they are a very important part of being a professional artist and so I am both nervous but excited about the possibility that someone may be calling.  I certainly want to be ready when it does happen and so today I created a Commission Agreement.  I have in my mind that it may be something like that Kevin Costner movie "Field of Dreams" and if I create the form then the commission requests will come!

There are basically 4 main sections to most of the contracts that I reviewed they are:

1.Artwork details- This is where you outline sizes, mediums, framing and anything else particular to this piece of artwork that is under consideration.  This might include some attached renderings.  Creating some small renderings is always a good idea so that the collector won't be completely caught off guard at the date of delivery.

2. Payment Schedules- Date the first payment, which is serves as a non-refundable deposit is due and the balance remaining at estimated delivery date.

3. Copyright- This is a standard statement that should accompany all of your artwork.  I have a very similar statement on my Certificate of Authenticity form.  I will be sharing that form in also in the next few weeks so please keep checking in.

4.  Right to Refuse- Gives the buyer one last chance to change their mind but also protects the artist.  The artist retains ownership of the piece that may be sold at a later date and gets to keep the non-refundable deposit for all the sweat and tears that when into creating a commission piece.

All the verbiage that I reviewed seemed to be very standard but the agreement covers the necessary points to protect both the artist and the collector.  Key point to me was collecting 1/2 of the total price as a non-refundable deposit.

So you can find the agreement that I came up with on my webpage.  I wanted to embed the document directly into this blog for you but learned that Blogger doesn't allow for that function so you will have to follow the link I've listed below and it will take you to my contact page where I have the document linked.  I'm happy to share this so feel free to adapt it to your own use and hopefully there are many occasions for us both to use it!

Julie Townsend Studio Contact Page

If you found this blog helpful, consider becoming a follower.  I'm on a slow journey to success and you're welcome to tag along!

Selling Art Out of My Trunk

Selling my art is something that I have not yet gained much experience at.  Yesterday my experienced selling my first commission piece struck me just a bit on the funny side. It has been my experience that strangers selling things out of the truck of their car in public parking lots are usually up to NO GOOD.  You should be wary no matter how good the deal seems but here I was, meeting two strange guys in the parking lot of the local Hobby Lobby while I was out prom dress shopping for my niece.  The exchange of cash for my painting was to take place at noon. The whole transaction felt a bit strange but all went well.  They loved my piece that I called "Trail of Dreams" and I loved that I had sold another painting this year.

Hey Kid!  Come here!  You want to buy some art?

24 x 36 "Trail of Dreams"- SOLD

Everyone Needs a Critic

I have one friend that I can depend on that will always tell me the truth about my artist endeavors. She will always tell me what she likes about my creation but equally she doesn't hold back with truthful criticism and since she has nearly 40 years of painting experience, I know that she knows what she is talking about. Sometimes it is hard to hear but it is EXACTLY what I need if I want to grow as an artist.

Right now, my week has been consumed with working on my very first commission piece and last night my friend had a great deal of sound advice regarding my progress. The issue with this commission piece is that the buyer has requested a combination of two of my existing paintings on one canvas. Both of these pieces were featured in the Mar/April 2013 edition of "Gold Prospectors Magazine". Now with many paintings that might not be a problem per say but in this case we are talking about two completely different landscapes; one is of a mining shack that I painted near Tonopah, Nevada and is smack dab in the heart of the Mojave Desert and the other one is of a prospector panning for gold in a mountain stream. The focus of both is gold mining but blending the two together is proving difficult.

I had followed her previous council and had created a rendering by doing a pencil sketch of the layout based upon the conversation I had with the buyer. The buyer said he loved the idea and so I proceeded to start my painting. Visually, I worked to combine the sky and mountains between the two scenes and then my plan was to separate the two scenes by using tall pines trees and shrub pine in the center as a division. When I was about 3/4 of the way complete, I sent a progress picture to my friend and she had a great deal to say about it.

First, she told me that it was breaking a huge compositional rule by having large trees in the center of my canvas and that these trees are the focal point when they shouldn't be. No matter if the buyer agreed, it was my job as the artist to direct him to a composition that works and while they may be buying the piece upon completion, I still owned this work. They will probably be in awe at anything you paint because they don't possess the artistic skill to paint anything and that is why they hired me. She didn't want me putting something out there that I might later regret. All I can say about this is that I sure have a lot to learn about this art business.

Then she gave me some helpful advise to consider a correction. She advised me to take a heavy bristol paper and to tape it on to the canvas in the problem area. Then re-paint the scene that better brings the two paintings together and that will minimize the center pine trees. This way I can visually see the correction before I start laying waste to my piece and deciding this wasn't going to work. Wise advice to be sure.

I have included the pictures of my original works and the current piece in progression so that you as the reader might learn along with me. After all, the purpose of this blog is to hopefully help other aspiring artists like myself by sharing my journey.

A Year Of Firsts For Me

This may be my 51st year on this planet, but it is one marked by many firsts and yesterday was no exception.
1.  I retired from my position as Business Administrator of 27 years.
2.  More than doubled the number of individuals that call me "Grandma" after the birth of my 3 new adorable grandbabies.   Sept, Nov and Jan saw the Townsend Clan greatly multiply and if you have the joy of being a grandparent, you know just how exciting that can be.


These are personal changes but I have also experienced a complete career change.  It has always been my childhood dream to someday be considered and "Artist".  Now that I have time to pursue my passion I am seeing a number of exciting new developments in 2013 already.

1.  My art is hanging in a small co-op gallery down in the heart of the Las Vegas art district.  It's just a tiny wall, but it is a start to have my work publically displayed on a regular basis

2.  This past month saw the publication of the magazine article in Gold Prospectors Magazine that featured my love of painting Nevada and it's rich mining history.

3.  March also saw me selling my first piece of original work and 2 prints (thanks to the exposure that the magazine article provided) to STRANGERS.  Collectors unknown to me and are spending their hard earned money because they like my painting rather than buying it because they know me.

"Dreams in Shades of Gold" packed up and ready to ship off to a new home.

4.  It is only the 2nd day of April and I'm sitting here considering another first.  I have been contacted by a company in California that specializes in mining equipment to paint an original piece that they want to hang in their store and also use as the image on their business cards.  They have offered to allow me to add my website address to the cards for self promotion.  This is what I think you call a "Commission".  My FIRST!



You know when I turned 50, I thought that was a really BIG deal.  Who would know that being 51 would be SO much more exciting!