When is it Done?? How to know when your painting is resolved!

When is it done???

Something that artists struggle with is how to know when the painting is finished.  You don’t want to overwork a piece, yet you want it to be the best it can be.  I actually prefer the word resolved rather than done.  So how can you tell if it is resolved?  There are some tricks to help you see things that need fixing.

Trick #1 – Hold the painting up to a mirror and study the reflection.  You would be surprised what that will reveal. 

Trick #2 – Snap a photo of the painting and study it on a computer monitor.   This helps you look at it with fresh eyes.

Trick #3 – Just let the piece hang around on your easel for a few days and look at it periodically.

Trick #4 – It always helps to have a second opinion.  Have an artist friend take a look at it if you can.

All of these tricks can help you see something that needs tweaking.    I use them often and they help me see an area that is drawing my eye away from the focal point of the painting.    They also help identify perspective problems as well as other issues.

I used the mirror trick to identify what was bothering me about this painting.  I saw that the background was a bit too bright and tried to come forward and fight with the foreground.  Since the background has a goldish orange hue, I glazed it with a blue compliment to dull it a bit.  Voila, now the painting was resolved!! 

Life is a Carnival Glass, acrylic on paper 10 x 13

Choosing when to stop altering a piece is a personal choice.  You, the artist, need to be happy with it and that is what matters.

Please share any tricks you use to get it done!!!

My time at 'Girls Night Out'.

This was the first ever 'Girls Night Out'  event at the Rome Art and Community Center.  I was sceptical about a vendor opportunity that charged the patrons to shop, but it was a huge success!  We had smaller  spaces than I anticipated and I brought way too much stuff!  But I did manage to squeeze it all in.  As you can see below, my chair was not easy to get to.  Once I got in I didn't leave very often.  Good thing my friend Diane was in the next booth.  She brought me food and drink from the wonderful array of gourmet appetizers and desserts!

I wanted to take more pix, but again I was trapped in my booth :0!  My pendants were popular, both hand painted and glass tile pendants with teenie prints of my work.  I also sold several prints, cards, magnets and even an original or two!!!  All in all it was a lucritive venture and I would do it agian.    It probably didn't hurt that the patrons were drinking heavily ;)  We did luck out being in the room with the chocolate fountain too - very popular!

We had a nice group of neightbors and had lots of fun!  Here is my friend Diane with her booth - she had the right idea and brought less stuff!  The theme was the Caribbean and you can see that Diane wore her tropical shirt in keeping witht he theme. 

Things I learned doing this kind of show:

Play to your space - I wouldn't bring the grids next time - smaller items are the key to this sale.

PC also not necessary - I brought the PC in case someone wanted to use Paypal to pay.

Not sure if I need to take credit cards or not.  No problem this time though.

Chocolate fountains and selling don't mix.  Gooey hands and face kind of embarassing

Explain your work to the customers - this really boosted sales.  Engage the folks

Art featuring local images is popular and helps open a dialogue.

Risers are your friend!  The display looked much better when everything wasn't at the same level.

Have lots of change in all denominations - we won't have to get cash again for a long time :)

Most everyone wanted a bag so have bags in several sizes and be sure to slip in a business card with their purchase.

Just a few observations.  Maybe they will help with your next art fair!

Thanks for Reading!

Summer Art and Craft Fairs or 'What to heck am I doing?"

Am I crazy? Am I nuts? Will I even sell anything? Why am I spending all this money? Why am I doing this to myself?

These are the things I keep asking myself. These are the woes of the first time craft fair participant. I got swept up in the frenzy of a wonderful group I belong to - The Central NY Etsy team. They are having a couple group shows and I am doing one of them. I am also doing one show all alone - Ack!

Reality then sunk in! OMG - I have to have a tent and table covers to the ground and something to hang art on and I need merchandise! I have been frantically ordering Giclee reproductions, backing board, cello bags, display solutions and on and on. I am gobbling up resources giving tips on how to run a great booth and what you need to take with you.

Now that I got that off my chest - I have discovered some great sites with solutions for the artist - even the cheap artist. I know many use peg board and create their own displays. This summer my husband did not need another project so I looked to the web to find me the perfect and reasonably priced art display. I found these grids walls at ABC Target. They are free standing and at $58 for a Z shaped set of 3 walls they were also affordabe. I have seen these in use - My friend Cathy uses them to display her lovely cut paper artwork. I got the idea from her for these grids - Thanks, Cathy!!

I also needed a magnetic board to display magnets on. I turned to my good friend Amazon and found a nice looking large black framed magnetic white board from Board Dudes for $24.

I am not a seamstress by any means so I had no intention of making a table cover that looked nice and fell to the ground as it is recommended ( covers any boxes and other stuff the customers don't need to see). Tablecloth Designs to the rescue! They carry tons of sizes and offer custom sizes too. They make everything to order - even their standard sizes, but I had my order in 2 days for under $40.

I hope this isn't getting too boring, but I wanted to give a shout out to these companies. One last resource I want to mention. I get my giclee prints from iPrintFromHome.com. I love these guys. The quality, color and packaging is ourstanding. The turnaround is super fast and they are very professional! I have only ordered gicless, but they have a large range of products,
including canvas prints. They also offer promotional services for their customers. You can list your upcoming shows on their website and they will also include them in their newsletter that has a large circulation. I could go on and on, but I won't (too late!).

Thanks for reading my rant - let me know what experiences you have had with craft fairs. I would love to hear them.