I am offering three paintings every week between now and early December at 40–60% off their original prices. It’s a ‘spring cleaning’ experiment that will hopefully create a bit more space in the art cave. Please click on the images below to visit my Etsy shop.
This week’s featured paintings are:
‘Grey Duck’ is one you probably haven’t seen before. He was an art school ‘life drawing’ exercise from a few years ago; a four-hour sketch; a resident of the Canterbury Museum (yes, sadly, an ex-duck)… and I’ve only just decided to let him out into the big wide world. Some art is like that. Some art wants to stay with you ― privately, secretly ― at least for a short time until you figure out what you want to do with it (if anything).
If you like him as much as I do, you can click on the image above and buy him from my Etsy shop : )
Yes, I’ve been having fun styling the cards for my shop. But now it’s back to painting… that way I’ll have something to show you next week. Thanks for reading.
‘CBD’ is another favourite that is now available as a note card. This one sprang from my ‘In the style of…’ drawing experiment and was inspired by the work of Jim Flora. You can read the original post here. It is based on a photograph I took of Christchurch in 2010. The centre of town looks nothing like this now… I really need to go in and take an ‘after’ shot ― I suspect that the only thing still standing will be that tree.
Click on the image to visit my Etsy shop : )
It’s been a long time coming but I’ve finally turned some of my drawings and paintings into note cards. They are all 6” x 4” because that’s a nice size for framing.
The really hard part has been limiting myself to a dozen designs for my first printing. The following are now available from my Etsy shop:
I wrote about Shand’s Emporium in one of my ‘pen vs earthquake’ posts a couple of years ago (click on the photograph below to read the article). Relocation has taken years rather than months but moving day finally came last week.
Here’s a link to a news report on the move, complete with a video showing how they lifted it over the tram lines: Shand’s Emporium touches down on Manchester Street, Christchurch.
Friday will be the third anniversary of my little blog. My, how time flies!
Three years ago, I graduated from Design and Arts College NZ with a Diploma in Communication Arts and Design (graphic design). I started this blog as a way of putting my student projects online ― and then I wondered what to do next:
There were graphic design jobs (logos, business cards, posters), a couple of research projects (when I considered becoming a children’s book illustrator), and I even entered a few design competitions (which I didn’t win):
Nothing motivated me quite like my blog, though, to experiment and really explore my options. In particular, there were the ‘Shoot it, Sketch it’ posts…
…the ‘Thank You’ posts…
…and the ‘just for the heck of it’ posts:
Two years ago, I started getting more serious about painting. I taught myself about underpainting and painted on canvas for the first time:
I began my ‘In the Style of…’ posts and was inspired by some of my favourite artists and illustrators to experiment and see things differently:
I was thrilled when, out of the blue, I got my first commission…
…and over the moon when someone asked to buy one of my ‘Shoot it, Sketch it’ paintings:
About a year ago, I opened my Etsy shop… and sold my first painting online!
2014 was also, rather astonishingly, the year I passed the ‘1000 followers’ milestone on WordPress:
Since then, it’s been more of the same, really ― I’ve painted and sketched, posted ‘Wordless Wednesday’ photographs and inspirational quotes, I participated in my first craft market late last year…
…and I’m still happily working from home as a graphic designer:
Phew!
Now I’m getting ready for my first big (proper big) art show… but I’ll tell you more about that next week. Thanks for reading : )
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 