Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Why I Photograph the Painting's Progress - Squirrel Point Lighthouse, Maine

https://www.etsy.com/listing/187513346/squirrel-point-lighthouse-maine-original

https://www.etsy.com/listing/187513346/squirrel-point-lighthouse-maine-original

Took a break from working with Alcohol Ink on Tiles an went for a larger
9x12" AI painting of Squirrel Point Lighthouse here in Bath Maine on Yupo paper.

Here's a hint that I like to use when I'm painting buildings such as a Maine Lighthouse or animals. Take pictures of your progress as you go! When I'm unsure of when and where to stop I find it best to photograph the painting and take a step back.

Once the photo of the painting is taken, I download it to my computer and view it on my screen. 
Sometimes I'll post my steps on Facebook too.


It really gives your eye a break and you can see things you didn't see before.

If you look at the bottom right hand side of the lighthouse in the second picture here, you can see it's off slightly. I also decided that the rocks need a bit more details for my taste.

Another great way is to see opportunity area's is to hold your painting up to a mirror and look at the reverse image.  It helps you see where lines just don't look right...they may be a bit off or need a slight adjustment.

~Happy Painting!
Find me on facebook!

Kellie
Maine Artist






Sunday, April 20, 2014

Eiffel Tower - Commission Alcohol Ink Painting on Tile


A friend of mine from High School sent me a message on facebook the other day - she had seen one of my tiles and wanted to know if I could paint something special for her daughter's room. I was excited to start!

Her decor had shades of pinks, purples, and black so she wanted to have something painted with those colors in mind along with the Eiffel Tower. She loved the background I had done on one of my dragonfly tiles so I tried to duplicate it as close as I could!


The first go around was just with the tower, but it looked a bit lonely so after a bit of back and forth emails and a bit of research online we decided to add the moon, stars and a few trees in front!


We had a winner - she loved it....so I was off to the next step of varnishing and sealing the tile when disaster struck! I'm still not sure how this happens sometimes....but the sealing process on occassion will do funny things and it ruined the top right hand color in the tile. I was so upset!!


I tried to re-work it, but with inks that isn't something you can really do with the background once it's dried. The inks will re-activate and it changes the whole look!
 


 So I started over...... here is the finished result (all sealed and ready to go).

Friday, April 18, 2014

Getting Fine Details with Alcohol Ink

You Can Detail AI Paintings 

 I've tried an Owl before with inks when I first started and it just didn't cut it. I've learned how to manipulate the inks better since first starting out with them in October of 2013.

With the help of a number of wonderful Ink artist's sharing wonderful tips and best practice's.....it's been a smoother transition than I thought!

How To Detail with Inks
With most of my work I use a fine watercolor brush to get these tiny lines. Pour a few drops of ink into a pallet or small dish and wait for a few minutes until the ink settles or thickens a bit. It's much easier to control the "explosion" of blur if the alcohol has evaporated slightly!

 

White is always the hardest to use with a brush. I found that I love using the Uni-ball' Signo gel pen in white.

 Heads up....The white doesn't always stay bright white, you can see where It's yellowed a bit, especially where you are going over an existing color numerous times.

Amazon: White Gel Pen

Happy Painting
~Kellie




https://www.etsy.com/listing/186646738/owl-bird-original-alcohol-ink-painting



Kellie Lynn Art Etsy Store - Hoot the Owl will be posted on here soon!
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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Power Up Your Art Marketing - Free Tips

My husband is a Senior Marketing Manager for a Vet Pharmaceutical company and he is always helping me out! Thanks to him I have learned many new ways to use the internet to help my online sales! He recently published a book for Internet marketing called Power Up Your Email Marketing.

In Today's post I thought I would share a little bit of PROMO info! For those of you that are looking to sell your work online via facebook!

 #1 rule...always try to use your links to direct your clients to your art page.

I use this great little FREE program called Ipiccy
You can download your photos of your Alcohol Ink art or AIArt and then add some cool text to get a FREE professional yet easy advertisement for you to use on facebook or blog.

This one was used to make a coupon code for my Kellie Lynn Art Facebook page. I posted the picture on my facebook page and then added the etsy store link. It's a great way to draw traffic to your store as well as have folks share you items!


Gaining email addresses is an important way to stay connected with your clients/collectors. It's a way to share your newest work as well as direct them to sales, or specials you may be running.

I use an email program called Mail Chimp. You can sign up for FREE and it can be attached to your facebook page. Here is another example I made via Ipiccy -  sign up for my newsletter by giving away a FREE print.

So don't be afraid to get yourself out there!

Happy Inking~
 Kellie Chasse!
Find Me On Facebook :)

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