June Give-away

6 x 6 painting of those  available at the time of the drawing. 

You can see the paintings available at Daily Paintworks website

 

To enter:  subscribe to my newsletter and blog posts.  (top right corner of this page)

The winner will be picked July 5th, First Friday at Liberty Town Arts Workshop. 

Jo mackenzie: Late afternoon light

Jo mackenzie: Late afternoon light: Later afternoon light  watercolor  7.9x7.9  matted 12x12  $140 The late afternoon light makes my wood table glow all go...

George Lockwood's Daily Paintings: Puddin' 5x7

George Lockwood's Daily Paintings: Puddin' 5x7:   I liked the profile of this content sow dozing off in the sun.  My Website

Day 30 of the Marketing Challenge---GRADUATION. 

I'm including a link to today's challenge especially because Leslie has put the entire challenge into the form of an e-book.  I've been taking notes here and there and was thinking this morning how I need to make a complete list of the tasks for each day.  What a dream come true, Leslie did all the work. 

You can get the e-book here


THANK YOU

One of the best things about this challenge was meeting other artists through cyberspace.   Seeing the amazing work of others, their ideas and ways of creating blogs, websites, and much more has been inspiring to me.  The generosity and spirit of helping is heartwarming.  Thank you so much to others in the challenge. 

 

Wish we could get together for donuts!

 

How to make a collage, one of many things I learned.

All proceeds from this painting will be donated to the victims of the Oklahoma tornado.

 

 

It is in an auction at Daily Paintworks.  Click here to make a bid:  Daily Paintworks Auction

I just can't imagine what it must be like to see your home as a pile of rubble. 

There is currently a bid for $35.00, but I would like to see more donated.

 Now showing paintings at Heather Boutique on Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA

Starting today, Heather Boutique, will show and sell a number of my small paintings, mostly 6 x 6 size.  Since I recently learned how to do collages, her is one that includes most of the paintings at the Boutique. 

Please stop by, they have wonderful gifts, accessories, and jewelry, and, of course, art.

I am so happy about this.  I just dropped off the twelve paintings.  Here is a link to Heather Boutique's facebook page:  Heather Boutique

 

 

Day 27 of the Marketing Challenge

I can hardly believe it is day 27 of the marketing challenge.  Thank you to Leslie Saeta's generosity in sharing her amazing knowledge.  On top of this she has beautiful paintings!
Here is the link to her blog.  Click on this to get to Leslie's Blog 

Our challenge today was to use another social media, like Pinterest.  I did stumble across it a short time ago and mentioned it on an earlier post, but I never knew you could put a price on something and use key words in the description of the item.  I've added 10 new paintings (our assignment) and edited a lot because I did not understand previously about using keywords. So much to learn.

I realized, too, that for the most part, I have not put the size of the paintings.  I corrected a few, but am going to save that for sometime later. 

I'm putting the Follow me on Pinterest logo at the top right side of the page.  I somehow did that a couple a weeks ago and couldn't tell you how right now.  My lesson is to write these things down somewhere. 

 

I just pinned this onto my board.  My son's sneakers from when he was a baby 35 years ago.  I'm going to give him this painting. 

my paintings on pinterst

My frames arrived.....

Yesterday my frames from Tennessee arrived.  Franken frames is my favorite place to order frames. 
They can be made to any size, right down to the half inch. Plus they have a great selection of frames.  The ones that you see here are #6629 (black with gold - 2 inches).  I am very excited about these because I really like the way they look with the bright colors. They are very solid and made of real wood.  I have come to realize the importance of having the right frame on the right painting.  On top of all this, they are so nice to deal with especially in helping you meet deadlines. 

Here is the link to Franken Frames


These are the three paintings I did in the workshop with Dreama Tolle Perry, an artist I admired long before I took the class because of her skill with color, brush work and composition.  I've described in earlier posts her technique. 

  (I didn't crop these too tightly so you could see the entire frame).  12 x 12's

 

Ready for First Friday at LibertyTown. 

Day 23 - Marketing Assignment:

Get more people to LIKE your fanpage by creating a badge on ipiccy, then putting it as your profile picture on your fanpage. 

Here is mine and I linked it to my page so please LIKE me on facebook

Click on this to go to my fanpage

What I have learned is that you have to do these things frequently because I had to start over on how to do a badge.  Repetition is key, just like painting, the more you paint the better you get. 


It's not too late if you want to do this challenge here is the link:  http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/

How to keep paint brushes clean

 

I have ruined so many brushes.  I now take very good care of them and have a very regimented routine. 

 

 

 

You can probably tell these are badly cared for brushes.  You can see where I went wrong.  The bad part is, its like painting with a boom.  You really need a nice edge to make a brush work for you.  However, I never throw them out because you never know when you might need one for something. 

By the way these were not cheapo brushes.  It's brands that I really like, Silver and, I can't read the label on the top one because the handle is so covered with paint.  I confess in the past to leaving them with gunked on paint overnight. 

I've had these awhile and, so far, they are like new.  They keep a nice edge and you can use even  big brushes for tiny things, because the corners are good, as well as the edges.  These are Silver Brand and Monarch, terrific brushes. 

 

 

My routine:

 

 

1.  Pull of excess paint by swiping across sock.

(If you read a recent blog about how I attach an old sock top to my palette, you will know what I mean)

2. Then I dip the brush into the odorless mineral spirits, next use a paper towel to remove even more excess paint. 

 

3.  Use soap and water (I use Ivory Soap because it is white and you can see the paint coming off the brush).  Use a circular rubbing motion until there is no more color coming off the brush.  Use your fingers to squeeze the soap and water and maybe paint, from the brush ferrule to the edge of the brush.  (Now I wish I knew how to put a video on my blog)

 

 

4.  Dry the handles, then put on a flat surface to dry. 

 

What I like about this routine is that you have nice clean professional looking brushes when you start to paint the next day.  It feels good.  

 

Finished Painting 2 -  May 20, 2013

 

On yesterday's blog post I showed the almost finished painting.  Today I made one major change and a few tiny ones.  It hit me right away that the background was too warm and came forward too much so I cooled and lightened the background, making it darker on the left.  Now I feel it is finished and will post it on my website. 



Day 19 of the Marketing Challenge:

Leslie's Marketing Challenge

Until today I have completed every assignment, but today's idea of putting a video on your blog was out of my reach.  I read the suggested information and checked out the editing/settings that are part of the process.  Another snag is that I don't have any videos to present, unless videos of my  grandchildren or my dog Ziva would interest anyone. 

Instead I am sharing two ideas that I really like.  One is a container for your paints that keeps them organized while you paint.  The other idea is to use the top of an old sock on your palette.  The way I use it is to swipe the brush over it and it removes excess paint, part of keeping your brush clean to achieve strong and vibrant color:

This idea is from The Dreama Tolle Perry workshop.    If you look closely, you will see the paints are organized according to the color wheel.  The front row is yellow, red, blue.  The second row is secondary colors and so on.  I bought this one at Michael's with a 40% off coupon. 

This is my own invention, sort of a recycling thing. What else can you do with old socks?  Just pull the brush across the ribs and it helps keep it clean.  It lasts for one painting session, then you can use the other side.  Saves on paper towels.

 

 

Almost finished painting from today, I 'm too tired to finish it today and, anyway, I need to get away from it and re-evaluate tomorrow. 

How not to Frame

I have made quite a few mistakes in framing.  Here are a few examples.  Please note that I like the frames, not the choice of what I put in the frame. 

Mistake #1

The cow goes right to the edge of the frame.  The subject can go all the way off, but not "kiss" the edge of the canvas/frame or should be completely inside the frame's edge.  The one of the turnips below the cow painting is positioned nicely.  I may end up re-framing these (what I mean is, ask my husband to re-do them. I am lucky because my husband does all my framing)  He finishes off the back of each painting with archival paper and nice wiring.) 

Here are the examples:

Top of cow's head and left ear are "kissing" the edge of the frame. Not good.

Positioned nicely within the boundaries of the frame.  

Mistake #2

Too much frame for too little painting. 

Too gigantic and ornate for such a delicate painting. I see that one flower touches the edge.  Two mistakes in one frame.

Something  positive:

I order almost all my frames from Franken Frames.  They custom cut to any size and have a wide variety of choices.  They are so nice to work with because if you need something to meet a deadline, they do their best to get it to you. 

I found some nice frames for my 6 x 6's that are narrow with a gold or silver band.  I'll have them ready for First Friday at LibertyTown Arts Workshop. 

Painting from yesterday

 

 

I did make a few changes, but very tiny ones.  The main change was the dark green area,  top right in the flowers.  The darkness of it made it look like a hole.   Then I put a little pink in the green of the  background.  I could hear Dreama's voice telling me to do that (from the workshop I took with

 Dreama Tolle Perry).  Doing the underpainting in transparent colors really makes the final layer so much brighter.  Thank you to Dreama for helping me with that. 

 

Our assignment for Day 17 of the marketing challenge was to think about the concept "call to action", another new one on me.  For example, asking friends on facebook to SHARE so that your paintings reach more people.  I tried it, but what if nobody clicks on share.  So far I have followed every one of the challenges and I didn't want to skip a challenge.  If anyone knows of a more diplomatic way to ask people to share your work with their friends, please let me know. 

 

 

 

 

 

Is this finished?

 

That question comes up a lot in painting.  Sometimes I just know, but in this case I reached a point where I kind of like it and the next steps could take away from the "abstractness" and big brushwork.  What do you think? 

 

 

 



Daily Painting from a couple of days ago, I forgot to post it.  ( the title fits)

 

 

I' ve always wanted to get my ducks in a row....

 

4 x 16

Oil on Belgian Linen

Daily Paintworks





May 14, 2013

Day 14 - Marketing Challenge



Today's assignment from :  http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/

The assignment was to give away something free, then link it from your blog to facebook.   I have really gotten good at linking, but I might have made this one too complicated.  Please let me know if you think so. 

This give-away started earlier in the month.  First I tried using a widget that appeared on the bar under the big photo on the fanpage.  No one entered that one so I finally removed it.  Next I tried creating an event.  Five people did enter that I will include their names twice because it took some doing to figure that one out.  So far there have been around 50 new likes on my fanpage which could be a coincidence. 

I've been doing give-aways for about 6 months, done by filling out an entry form at my studio, very low tech, but there were over 90 entries last month.  That one was for a painting of a jelly donut. 

Link to fanpage:
https://www.facebook.com/carol.josefiak?ref=tn_tnmn

Last month's giveaway

More about the Marketing Challenge........

One of our assignments recently was to look at some new blogs especially ones related to marketing.    After looking at a few I was astounded by how much I don't know.  There are even blog radio shows about how to improve social media using facebook and pinterest.  Pinterest was the biggest shocker to me.  I had heard of it, but it wasn't until a couple of weeks that I noticed how some of my paintings from Daily Paintworks had been pinned. Pinned?  I kept investigating, then about a week ago I joined and started making "boards",  found out how to link to my facebook page and now I am hooked.  It is fun to look at other boards and have become a follower of quite a few boards.   I put a link on my blog, too. 

Today I listened to one of blogs I mentioned, it was the one about social media, and changed Pinterest to a business account.  I don't quite see the difference yet.  I have become so fascinated by all this, that it is consuming a lot of time.  In the end, it is probably still better to use most of your time to paint which is the best way to improve and then, hopefully, sell paintings. 

The 30-day marketing challenge with Leslie Saeta, where all these blogs are listed has opened my eyes about all that is out there about marketing.  Thank you, again, to Leslie for this treasure trove of information. 

I'll include my latest painting just to prove that I am still painting. 

 

Mother's Day Flowers

Painting of flowers that I picked yesterday.  The jar is one I got from an antique story in Blacksburg, Virgina. 

 

 

"Just Picked"



 

8 x 10

Oil

 

I'm concentrating on keeping the brushwork loose and used some of the techniques I learned from the Dreama Tolle Perry workshop that I attended.  It always takes me awhile to incorporate what I learned into my paintings.  I started with transparent colors first, then layered on the opaques.  

 

Demo for painting

 

First, I toned the canvas using Rembrandt's Transparent Red Medium.  The reason I use it  is because it makes the final painting more luminous when it peeks through here and there.  I started by measuring the distance between the eyes, then using that increment to place nose and top and bottom of the head.  I started with the darks.  (Before even starting the painting, I did a couple of drawings and a study with oils)

 Then I started adding the white and grays, trying to include temperature difference to make it more interesting. 

 Finished up by adding details, lightening the ears, and adding the color.  I never met the dog in person, but the owner said the fur was black even though the photo looks more brown and white. 

Sold - at LibertyTown Arts Workshop show "Feast for your Eyes" - April 2013

 

 

 

 

 

A Balanced Diet - 11 x 20

Oil

 

 

 

 

6 x 15

Line-up

Oil

 

 

I said I would do another collage to be sure I remembered how and I'm glad I did because I learned how to do a border.  I like ipiccy even more now. Just  google ipiccy.  I guess I could use this as a badge, too. 

 

 

 

Day 6 of the Marketing Challenge by Leslie Saeta

 

Today our challenge was to create a badge (which is displayed on the sidebar), then connect it to our facebook page and blog.  The only trouble I had was trying to figure out how to put a border on the badge. I'm still not sure if I did it correctly because I used a background and then placed the photo on top of that.   Look closely and you will see that it is a little uneven.  If anyone knows how to create a frame or border or ipiccy, please let me know. 

 

Still I have really enjoyed learning these new things.  Ipiccy is useful for scrapbooking, making calendars and cards, etc. 

 

I even made coupons yesterday using the collage from the day before. 

Day 5 of the Leslie Saeta Marketing Challenge 

 

Create a collage and put it on facebook and your blog plus link to Leslie's site.  This was the toughest one so far for me, but I am learning a lot of new things.  Google alert, yesterday's challenge, was a new one for me, too.  Have you ever heard of it?

 

Here is a link to Leslie's Blog which includes the challenge. Leslie Saeta's Blog Thank you to Leslie for providing this kind of help.  Here on my blog, I can confess that it took a long time to learn how to do this.  I have never used ipiccy before today.  I think I will try to do another collage tomorrow to make sure I remember how to do it. 

 

 

This is a painting that I did in 2008.  I hope it is okay to say that it is a favorite of mine and that is   because of its simplicity.  I like the hard and soft edges and the way some leaves are detailed and others fade into the background.  It also has a little abstract quality to it. 

Pink and Red Roses

8 x 10

(framed in a wide gold frame)

 

Available for purchase on my website

Leslie Saeta started a 30 day marketing challenge today, May 1st.

  I am working on the first challenge to start a mentoring group, one that exchanges ideas and helps one another. 

I just realized that it would be a good idea to link my blog to my website.