STANDARDIZING PHOTOS

I'm fairly certain there are entire university degrees dedicated to selling stuff using only great photography, but since I didn't take those classes I was forced to learn about it by perusing through various web articles.  And let me tell you, if I only learned one thing from all that perusing, it's that you can sell anything as long as it's got a great picture.

If I only learned two things, it's that all the photos you post in one place should look the same.

If I only learned three things . . . well, I let you know when that happens.



Now that my shop is open on Etsy I have to put those learnings into practice and make sure every listing is gorgeously standardized so they get maximum ooohs and aaahs.  Enter the photobox: instant standardization for background and lighting.  Many places sell them, many people have made them with fancy materials, but in the end I followed in the footsteps of my friend Jeff and just made one out of a cardboard box, tissue paper, tape, poster board, and a couple of desk lamps.

And here's why standardized photos are important:

The slap-dash background is distracting and the color is washed out with poor lighting.  

Who would look at the monkies when they'd be distracted by unflattering background and texture? 

But these boxes look super cute and intriguing!  I wonder what's inside?

GASP!  Trinket boxes with monkies?!  SOLD!

I see I need to tweak the lighting a bit and retake these, but overall the difference between the top two photos and the lower two is extreme.  And while the last two photos may not be great, they're still more likely to focus a shopper's interest and lead to a sale than the first two, which is the entire point of standardizing photos.

PENCILATED NOW ON ETSY

Another milestone moment for this mild-mannered entrepreneur: I've opened an Etsy shop!  Pencilated on Etsy will be a place to sell my crafts, photos, prints, and whatever else I make that isn't original fine art.

To the common eye it may appear that I've gone about this backward by starting up a personal website then opening a shop via Etsy; after all, folks typically start in a community site then migrate over to a separate location once they've established a clientele.  My website is, in fact, set up to function as an independent store but I've not included those features in the active site just yet.  By opening an Etsy shop and keeping a separate website, I'm able to:

• keep the focus of my own website on a body of work (similar to a portfolio)
• provide a place where customers can easily view what's for sale now
• use third party management to deal with higher traffic flow
• take advantage of Etsy's existing web-presence to build a clientele for Pencilated--because I have none (yet!)

So you see, it's really a no-brainer.  Things are just getting started here, and while I'm still getting my feet under me I'll need to use what tools are available to minimize how much time I spend on back-end admin tasks and maximize how much time I have in the studio.

(I'm just excited to be able to work on something new that isn't apples or a crash-course in software . . . I digress.)

Come visit Pencilated on Etsy and see what's new!  I'll offer a selection of photographs and limited-edition goods each week to keep things fresh, and with the stacks of projects and supplies I've amassed it's always bound to be a surprise (even to me).  Here's the link, and happy shopping!  Pencilated on Etsy

LINES ON THE ROAD, PART II

We officially have the cross-country art blog and its associated Facebook page up and running!  There is still some minor tweaking to do (online shop and sponsors pending, etc), but we're now open for business so to speak.

Since LOTR is meant to be more of an event journal, blog posts will start appearing as we get closer to the trip dates in August or as relevant news occurs.  The facebook page, however, will be more active in the meantime with public queries, polls, etc.  I'm looking forward to these places generating some traffic and interest as we get closer to and during the trip . . . if this is successful this will be an annual event to different places or regions, all culminating in annual shows to showcase the final art pieces inspired by the journey.

Link to the blog here
Link to LOTR on Facebook here

WINCHESTER VA ILLUSTRATIONS (LOTR)

This week one of my goals is to develop a series of cartoonish sketches of iconic places or structures around my hometown of Winchester, VA; these will be used to kick off a few merchandise pieces to support the cost of the previously mentioned Lines on the Road cross-country art trip.

Today I went out to do the first sketches of a few places in town: the Handley Library and the Rouss Fire Company.  Although these could be tightened up to look more realistic, I feel Winchester can be a little rigid about maintaining a traditional or more formal look, so I like to push my interpretations into a look that's more modern and fun.  Right now I plan to have the final images be something close to a cross between HB's Bedrock (from the Flintstones) and the Life is Good illustrations with a pinch of Dr. Seuss for good measure.

Of course, I also find the art sometimes takes on its own personality and I end up with something totally different than what I planned!  Here's to skillful execution and pleasant surprises . . .

Winchester's Handley Library and iconic original apple (top), and Rouss Fire Co (bottom).

*Update 7/20


Draft version of the Handley Library/apple illustration:

*Update 7/23


Draft version of the Rouss Fire Company (sans Old Jake weathervane, which will be added to the final):

LINES ON THE ROAD, PART I

I was invited to attend a plein air workshop this September in Roseburg (Oregon) by my ridiculously talented cousins, and since the workshop is on a style with which I have little experience and because it was a mere 2800 miles (so close!) from my personal stomping grounds, I naturally said, "Yes!  Save me a spot!"

Flying out for the weekend was obviously too simple for my brain to comprehend, so immediately the trip out turned into a driving trip-turned cross-country art adventure-turned marketing ploy-turned group event (i.e., I'd convinced my friend Jose to come with me).  It's either going to be the most amazing experience ever and we'll do it every year . . . or Jose and I will never speak to each other again.

At any rate, we're building our joint blog now and will be live this weekend in order to move forward with marketing, getting sponsors, creating buzz, etc.  Jose had me sketch up something for the banner image (it'll be professionally tweaked), something that looks intentionally like the kind of quick sketches we'll use later for final works, represents us both, and still conveys the tone of the trip.  (Also, I should mention my sister has me practicing my illustration for a book she's writing, which may have influenced me just a tad.)  Here it is:

Proposed banner draft for our cross-county art blog Lines on the Road.

*Update: My traveling partner-in-crime had an emergency that put a crimp in our blog readiness date, so we've had to push back to THIS weekend (7/14-ish).  Stay tuned . . .

THE ECHO, IT OWS

Officially, I'm embarrassed.  I kept putting off posts on this blog, thinking that I'd have a shiny new blog to deal with on my website, thus making this one defunct and etc, etc . . . but that didn't happen.  In fact, I spent much of the last two months struggling with the website design and making back-end improvements, changes to codes, etc.  In the end I hated what I ended up with and still no blog.

In the meantime, I've been busy traveling, taking photographs, working on illustrations and commissioned pieces, and preparing for a cross-country art adventure.  All of this you've missed, and I'm sorry.  And no wonder it's dead around here, too; I can hear my post echoing around this site!  No matter, time to get back on the bandwagon and sally forth.

This week I sucked it up and went shopping for new and improved website templates I could beg, borrow, or steal to use on my new and improved site with little or no modifications needed.  Found one and revamped it and should have it published (again) by this weekend, along with the blog for the cross-country thing, and complete with a hefty photo gallery if not a plump portfolio of art (yet).

Like I said, sallying forth.