Thank You, Thank You.

So here we are, almost at the tail end of another year. It's been really up-and-down for me, but for our purposes here let's focus on the pros and not the cons. I met an astounding number of new friends, both locally and worldwide. And among other things, these friends (as well as the ones who've been with me for years) have bought and/or promoted my art everywhere.

I've been interviewed, profiled, reviewed, you name it. I was in two very successful shows (the second of which was my first solo show, and let me tell you, brothers and sisters, that there was no small amount of anxiety in the days leading up to that one). I've had many commissions, a handful of which are nearing completion as we speak.

So without further ado, here's the roll call for 2012. It's loosely organized into categories, but there's so much overlap that I'd rather not get too specific about what those categories are. Here we go:
My family, Dan Udey, Jenn Ashton, Patti Catroppa, Nicole and Todd Cruickshank, Ceci Graber, Lori Kittelberg, Donna Jaggard, Lisa Jarvis, Mario Loubert, Joe Clark, Karina Halle, Scott McKenzie, Regan Taylor, Devin Oickle, Jeff Murphy, Mike Seymour, Geoff Seymour, Susan Burzynski, Cynthia McShane, Lola Augustine, Jenny Burzanko, Linda Kat Spencer, Domenick Bartuccio, Geoff Gauthier, Anthony Wittrock, Jennifer Davis, Kit Knowles, Randy Bishop, Blair Pritchett.

Colin and Cameron and P.J. from the Tipper, Franziska San Pedro, Lori McNee, Lindsay B., K. Myles, Ned Tobin, Mike Hoffman, Cathryn Salter, Crystal Kwon and Karm at VanCity Buzz, Sati from LiveVan, Vincent Ng, Bahaneh Grewal, Matty Sadorf, Lexy Stabbs, Meghan Low, John Lee, Ian A. Martin, Rheni Tauchid.

John Watson, George Smeltzer, Gary Bolt, Tina Power, Stephanie Young, Jaye Frisina, Pól Rua, Mike Watson, Donna Jay, Jeff Hornby, Anthony Smith, and everybody at RedBubble, Imagekind, Blurb, MOO Cards and ABC Photocolour.

Robert Genn, Alyson Stanfield.

And obviously, Tess McCann.

I thank you all.


(Please note: if I left you out, it's not a personal slight; it's just the effects of my insomnia. In which case, drop me a line and I'll correct the oversight ASAP.)

Artists and Social Media.

So hey, I wrote a little guest-blog thing for Lori McNee's Fine Art & Tips website.

Up to Date.

Hey. For those kindhearted souls still frequenting this blog, I've got something on my mind. I mentioned recently that half of the hot rod book is done, but at the rate I'm going, I'm probably a good 8 months away from the big finish. And people have indicated they're interesting in buying some of the new art now.

The other day it occurred to me that a hot rod calendar might well be the answer. Poked around the internet today to look at my options, and I've settled on RedBubble. Which leaves me in a bit of a quandary - should the calendar be a standalone piece, or could it overlap some with the book, in terms of content? I certainly don't wanna stop doing the automotive art anytime soon, but at the same time, if I have to do 12 more cars on top of the 50 in the book, then the book release will be that much farther away.

I'm also looking into magazine options from Magcloud. Maybe take the same cars that are in the calendar/book and show a bit more of the creative process - initial sketches, maybe some discussion of the different directions a piece might've gone in.

I dunno, a lot to think about here. I'll have to make a decision fairly soon to cash in on the Christmas market, but some feedback would come in handy at this juncture. While you're thinking about it, feast your eyes on some eye candy:

What say you?

Sell, Sell, Sell! Everything Must Go!

(Just pretend there's a photo of a fat, toupee-wearing, furniture-warehouse guy in a loud polyester suit here.)

Okay, all hyperbole aside, I've decided (after much deliberation) to drop the prices in my online art store. I've been reading a lot of spirited debate about how artists should never cut their prices or give discounts - lots of comparison to bargain basement stores, etc. But ultimately I think that's an easy argument to make if you're already an established, successful artist. Me, I'm really just starting out in my art career, such as it is. I need all the help I can get.

That being said, I'm not going to drop them permanently. That strikes me as a bad (self-defeating) career move. So just as an experiment, prices have been cut by 1/3 for the remainder of March. I'm curious to see what effect, if any, this will have on sales.

I've also added two recently-finished pieces to my Automotive gallery. You can see all of the work here.

A Question.

So, a question for those who are making money off their art - and even those who aren't - how and where should I be promoting mine? I've already got a blog, a Twitter account, a Flickr account, two online stores, etc. Sold a decent amount of stuff over the past few months, but sales have pretty much petered out, and most of the sales were to family and close friends. Where should I be pushing this stuff? What (ideally cheap or free) venues am I missing out on?



(Just for clarification, I'm primarily looking for ways to drive traffic to my existing online stores, as well as to this blog.)

Plans for 2010?

Well, here we are again - another year almost over. For me it was an intensely shitty one, in almost every regard except art. So once again, art kept me sane and more-or-less focused.

Fortunately, the general work situation seems to be on the upswing, and between my online store for prints and my new book, I've taken some major steps towards making my art work for me.

So. 2010. I'd like to get some art into local restaurants, sell a lot more prints, dramatically up the traffic on this blog, and finally get my long-awaited (by me, at least) website up. No real goals in mind when it comes to technique or media at the moment. I'm already working on another book, though - a hardcover book of cars, most likely with 50 illustrations.

How 'bout you folks?