Sunday Thoughts (Ep. 19)

Hello again, Patrons! Happy Sunday! I have a bit of a delayed newsletter for you this week because I wanted to cover my second art walk!

So this week’s focus was preparing for my second art show, this time in my home neighborhood of Ballard. The original paintings I did for the Fremont show are hanging for all of August and September, and I wanted more original paintings to show in Ballard.

So Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were spent essentially repainting 7 of the 11 originals I painted while I was in the Caribbean. This might have been unneccessary but I was actually excited to do a second round of the paintings, and make some adjustments that I noticed from before. Most notably, I increased the size of all of them, from 5x7 to 8x10. Increasing my size for original paintings is a great adjustment, and I plan to push myself to work larger in the future. If anything just as an experiment.

Above you can see some of the adjustments and differences between the first smaller iterations and the second larger iterations. I’m especially satisfied with the stylistic differences between the green paintings. I’m continuing to push away from realism and closer to stylization!

It was surprisingly useful to do a second pass of paintings. Iteration is something I don’t usually do, but I can truly see the value! Do you agree?

I finished the new paintings fairly quickly, within those three days! Luckily, because I received my second digital commission this week. Check out a little bit of my process for this cute portrait, from sketch to finished:

And finally, the Art Walk was Saturday night, and it was truly lovely! All of the staff of Annie’s was so friendly and welcoming, especially Jose, the curator. This show was much more hands off, as Jose hung all of the art, purchased wine, and set out bowls of delicious fruits (which fits perfectly with my art!) 

(This photo was after everyone snacked all night.)

The most exciting part of the show was the collaboration with their in-house letterpress print artist, Damien. They asked me to send in a simple print that they would turn in to a limited run letterpress print. So much of my design language is influenced by letterpress and screenprinted style art, that I am floored by this opportunity! Receiving a large stack of freshly pressed prints to sign and number made me feel ‘like a real artist’, a feeling I’m always seeking out.

Above, the second version of original gouache painting next to the letterpress print of the first version.

It seemed like the whole staff was very pleased with how the print turned out. No promises, but there may be future collaboration with this letterpress artist in the future!

Jose was also very helpful in setting up a display of my prints and products, lending a few stands and labels that made the display feel so much more professional! I will be investing in these kinds of items for future markets.

And there will be future markets because I. Love. Doing this.

I met so many lovely and interesting people, my art was received so well, pet a few dogs! Selling directly like this is definitely the top of my list of art paths to pursue. I feel truly in my element, happy, and satisfied.

I have one more art walk scheduled, and Geek Girl Con in October. I will be seeking out any opportunity to show and sell like this immediately. I’m hooked.

Non-Art Life:

I finished the entirety of Steven Universe (for the second time) while painting and preparing for art watch. I also watched the Marvelous Mrs. Maisle, which is written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creater of Gilmore Girls. Both shows are excellent. Especially Steven Universe.

Zach and I took some recharging time on Friday with a hike to and in the famous Discovery Park. The hike itself was lovely, but we were equally impressed that we were able to walk to the park itself directly from our apartment. It added an hour there and back, and really wore down my knees, but it was totally worth it.

What an exciting week! Next week, I don’t have any big outside imposed deadlines so I am going to impose my own deadlines and goals, because there’s much that I need to do!

Thanks for tuning in, friends! Hope you’re doing well, making art, and making yourself smile!

xoxo

Ragon