Art Studio Update March 2016

Let's chit chat about works in progress

I've been a busy girl, wanting to get it all done now, when there's not enough hours or energy to keep up!  There isn't a specific to-do this for each day.  That probably needs to change.  I have a mental list of tasks and goals but no real game plan for each day.  It feels like a bit of chaos.  

I'm sidetracked so easily!  In fact, I've got quite a bit to share so here we go:

1.  Etsy shop new listings

The final two poppies watercolor paintings are now listed in the ChristySheelerArtist shop on Etsy.
These are the originals, 8" x 10" in size, on 300 lb. Arches cold-press watercolor paper.  

Poppies Sunlit Blooms 2016

What You See Is Not Always What You Get: Art Prints

so i might want to make prints...

I've been back and forth on whether to have art prints made for quite some time.  It's not an easy decision for me to make with my own artwork.  I read an article online, (it's a thread on Wet Canvas) How to Produce (and Sell) Prints of Your Artwork, by David B. Sullivan.  Click on the previous sentence and you can read through it yourself...if you are another artist trying to think through your options as well.  

After reading what David B. Sullivan has to say on the subject, I found myself more at peace with the options of ordering art prints of my work.  This led me to do more research on my options.  Most options are very hard to afford.  FinerWorks is the company I decided to try out in order to get a start in the process.  I spent quite a bit of time learning about photographing my artwork.  There are quite a lot of skills to be learned without a large sum of money backing these ventures!  Learning this process was very good for me by the end of it.

My photos looked great!  I uploaded to the FinerWorks website and made my order of prints.  When the order arrived, I wasn't completely surprised at my disappointment.  The prints were much darker and muted than the originals.  I felt this could happen after reading through the faqs on the website.  The finest details were there but the contrast is very much off.  

I went over them with a trusted advisor, my husband; he was so encouraging and supportive even though we'd just put money into this print order.  On the FinerWorks website, I had read about artists needing to calibrate the monitor for better results.  The company offers a couple of options for adjusting for better prints.  The most inexpensive option is $3.95 for a calibration print on a specific type of paper/surface.  The website offers complete instructions for how this works.  For $19.95, the other option is the Starter Kit, including samples of all their papers and a $20.00 gift card.  That's the option I chose; it's hard to choose paper types without a sample.