My Shop is 1 today!

Somethings gone wrong

 

Does that mean you will be selling some of your artwork on there then? As I think you should.

 

Good idea

We have the usual "For Sale" sub forum and within that there is "Crafter's Corner Shop"

 

Yep thats exactly what the second shop will be for. My bro has bullied me into it lol Im thinking of selling originals and prints but then also making drawings into notelets, cards, stationary, notebooks, gift tags etc

Just need to do some research into printing, scanning and which printers to use to create the products etc. Also need to get this first module out the way for the course

I then need to think of a name. A friend suggested doodle dip (like toodle pip) but thats all taken on social media so thats no good. Im def going to make the new shop more personal tho. I don't with Design by Hook as I'm treating that as a brand that could get bigger and I pretend there are more people involved than just me by saying we or our rather than I etc Where as if I'm doing sketches and art i think that should be more personal and more based around me. Does that make sense?

Slightly gutted that all my 28 day drawing challenge is work for my working sketchbook for the course because they are having an exhibition in glasgow of everyone works. Everyone who can take part can submit 5 pieces that will all be up for sale and you will receive 60% of the sale. Which is highly exciting but i really need the drawings for my sketchbook

here is the poster for it.



my fellow sickie mate who introduced me to the challenge has one of her pieces on the poster. Its the pic of biscuits in the 3rd row down on the right which is so cool and i'm so excited for her.

 

Glad to hear it. I personally would hold your horses at going into the stationary side of things and just sell originals. Thats what I did. You need to build a following and that can take years or even decades to do. Some great artists, like Van Gogh never even had a following until long after he died so I would personally just sell originals and keep it small and personal. Once you start mass producing you artwork in various forms you do tend to devalue the original, which is why I personally won't do it.I am however toying with the idea of one day selling the rights to my digital artwork to a card company but this is a long way away.

Etsy is flooded with artists and I'm trying to put you off doing it but would suggest you approach a few art galleries and exhibitions taking place this year. Round here we have an art trail and this might be something to look into too. I personally would rather buy from an art exhibition, knowing the artist is nearby than a faceless online shop. But an online shop is always good for people to refer to or pass onto others.

Use your real name, or at least use your first name and create a second name to suit. It shows people they are buying from an artist rather than a crafter that mass produces things. I can understand why you have your name for the crocheting shop as that is more of a craft than art. I went through all different ideas for names of my shop/business and then decided to keep it simple. I changed my surname though to silverwood after a friend suggested it to me as I was working in a lot of silver birch at the time.

I wish I had taken part in that now. Perhaps next year I will. Love the spock picture.

 

Jane i get your points but im not going to do art art does that make sense

Just quick sketches and botanical drawings. I generally have no interest in producing paintings and proper proper artwork. I dont really enjoy it

So it will be be like the sketches of the flowers i have done thats all and thats why i think it would work better if i made them into products because they are not peices of artwork as such.

I have no interest in becoming an artist that exhibits

There are loads of far better artists out there than me. its why i didnt do fine art and went to uni to be trained as an interior architect. I would just rather produce some nice looking sketches and some cute products.

 

I love the poster title: "28 drawings later".

 

Art is subjective. What you see as sketches others see as your impression of something. I have no interest in producing proper proper artwork either. Most of my sketches (I see as scrawls) are done while I'm outside and anxious about it. They are used as a tool for mindfulness which calms me down while I am out. Beyond that they are disposable to me, I have no intentions of going back over them and making it better for any of them.

Several people said I should exhibit them and so I have. No one has ever said to me "you should make that into a painting" etc. They just accept them for what they are really.

It's still art imo. Something which you have created and will devalue as soon as you mass produce it. Some of those drawings you did for your project in the Art Attack thread were quite impressive. If I could of I would have bought a few of them off you but you refused because you had them earmarked for your project.

I would still love to buy one off you or do a trade when you get the time btw.

And there are far better woodcarvers out there than me. But its the way we depict what we see or express it. Artists can not be compared to one another as they all have different styles, techniques and views that they still the world in. I used to be very uneasy about my wood carvings as I don't use the tools or methods to the letter that other carvers do but at the same time this gives me a different style to them because I taught myself.

I didn't do fine art either, or woodworking at school for that matter, in fact I failed GCSE Art believe or not. That didn't stop me, if you have a gift you should refine it yourself, in your own way and style. When I did my first exhibition a lady came up to me and said "its a lot like hanging your knickers on the washing line for all to see" and she was right, but once you've done it the first time you loose that self doubt when people start buying your work, or even just compliment your work. It seems you have self esteem issues with your work or calling yourself an artist and that's normal, but I wouldn't let that hold you back personally.

 

Ah jane i have appeared to come across in totally the wrong way. I dont class those sketches are proper proper art because they are not complete pieces with any thought or any effort put in them at all. I know i could do so much better but I cant be arsed lol Plus in my mind art is suppose to mean something and have a message and feeling and capture something. Im genuinely just scribbling and going well yeh that kinds looks like that that will do.

But i dont want to take it anymore seriously than that. I just want it to be a little hobby on the side of design by hook that helps with the down time in winter that i can make a bit of money off with less effort needed than design by hook. Where i can just sit and watch a tv show and do a sketch and im pratically done apart from ordering someone else to produce things. Like i love doing design by hook but i do design the pieces, write the patterns, make the every single product, take product photos and then create the listings. I just want something that is just a little easier and less demanding on me being the main manfufacturer of all the products. Honestly the thought of mocking artwork up on illustrator so its print ready, then sending it off and someone sending me back some beautifully made products ready to sell sounds like complete luxury.

I would also of loved to sell you my sketches. The only reason i hadnt and im not sending any to the exhibition is Im so far behind on my work for this course because of my health and to make duplicates will take too much energy which i just dont have at the moment. I basically have too many tasks to do and not enough energy to even complete 50% of them which is why at the moment i cant be creating more work for myself.

Its not self asteem issues as to why I dont like exhibiting. I just genuinely hate the process of it I have done three previously one for art foundation, one for my degree show and one for my degree in collaboration with the sorrell foundation where we exhibited at somerset house. I liked my work for all of them and was proud of it but i cant stand the process, the organisation and effort of exhibiting. I seriously hate it and i dont have any desire to do it again.

Also the problem i have with doing exhibitions these days is im housebound without the help of my parents to drive me places. They already do so much for me and i am completely dependent on them to be able to live. I dont want to add something else to that. My poor mums life is now more about looking after me than doing all the things she wants. Im 28 this year that shouldnt be the case and I dont want to put more demands on her, its just no fair. I just want something i can do myself at home independently. The only thing at the moment i need help from her with for my etsy shop is if i get an international order then I have to ask her if we can go to the post office. Otherwise uk orders i do myself as hermes do home collections. So i really dont want to start doing things that involve me having to leave the house more than i need to.

plus also i wouldnt be able to even go to exhibitions that would have my work in its a massive toll on my health and being in rooms with lots of people talking when you are noise sensitive it impacts massively and can cause my body to crash and my muscles to stop working. They would be so draining and honestly i wouldnt see them as being worth it. I dont mind going out and doing big things that can make me sicker if the enjoyment outweighs the damage to my health. So this year my big things are going to fleetwood mac live which will more than likely almost kill me and i will be the loser wearing the ear defenders when there lol Going to llangollen Eistedford which again will be an ear defender job and most likely cause a lot of post extertional malaise and my last big thing this year will be going to biddulph grange which more than likely with the amount of steps will be a walking stick jobby by the time i get half way round. Those things im prepared to be sick for becaue i really want to do them. Im not prepared to be in excrutiating pain just to exhibit some sketches.

 

Likewise. But I still stick by what I have said all along in this thread, that they are art, even if you feel you can do better.

Ah yes but you are capturing how you feel at that time. It's capturing a moment, your mood etc. Even if you yourself see them as scribbles. I see my sketches and have a lot of memories attached to them, even if it was just a telegraph pole I drew etc. Pictures like that will not be sold but have emotional weight to me.

Likewise. I got pretty sick of carving out nothing but reindeer for 2 solid months and needed a creative release and found sketching a great release. I can't sketch in front of the TV as I find it too distracting and need to be alone to "go somewhere". Recently my current counsellor has encoraged it as a way of being mindfulness, which is a relaxation exercise to calm me down while I'm outside.

So are you talking about knocking up drawings from scratch digitally and then getting them printed? Or scanning originals and then getting them mass produced?

No pressure. I will still be around and can wait. I can't afford much though lol and prefer to trade with artists

It seems that that was a very big exhibition to me, so needed more effort. I've taken part in small community ones, where you just drop one or two bits off and are displayed in a room with other peoples artwork.

Galleries will just take your stuff and sell it for you, no effort required really. When I sold me reindeer at my local gallery last year I emailed them a picture asked if they were interested and they said they were. I dropped it off and they sold it. Had to fill in a form to get my money but that's on file now, so I can sell stuff to them more freely now.

I'm sorry to read you are housebound. I can't relate to your physical problems but know what it's like to be housebound as I have been battling agoraphobia for nearly 2 years. I know how it feels to rely upon others to do simple tasks and how frustrating it can be.

Exhibitions you don't have to attend. Like the community ones I mentioned earlier, you just drop them off and someone else minds the place for you. I choise to mind the one I did, but didn't have to. I'm not saying do it right away now, especially if you have a lot on, just something to perhaps think about in the future.

 

Sorry for the delayed reply Jane i have been quite sick today i stupidly did too much in the garde and got carried away thinking i was superwomen who can get loads done. Ah silly me lol

isnt it fascinating how people have to do things differently. I cant go some where and just sketch especially somewhere quiet i need noise and chaos and mess to concentrate so i sit at the computer with facebook, twitter, etsy this forum all open and with a tv show playing and then i can relax into it and work. Without stuff going on i just drift off and get distracted or over think and try to make things really perfect and then draw terribly.

I know a bit about mindfulness alot of ME sufferers use it i guess as a way to cope with the emotional aspect from things changing so much physically. I dunno tho its not for me and neither is meditation.

How you finding mindfulness for you? Is it helping?


Im talking about doing drawings then scanning them in to create prints or artwork for products. So would just be using photoshop to tidy up and illustrator to set up print ready artwork to send to the printers or manufacturers. i have drawn my dads birthday card with a daffodil on it as that is march's birth flower and i thought today that would look amazing on a white iphone cover.

Trading sounds very interesting to me. As someone who has no skills what so ever with wood i think we could work something out in the future.

How was your birthday by the way did you have a good one?