I read this excellent post on Artsy Shark today and wanted to share it with you. It's about why artists should continue to share their creations with the world by finding buyers for their art. I especially like the closing statement:

"As you have already experienced and know in your heart, your collectors are forever thankful each time they lay eyes on your art and the life-enriching spirit that is seamlessly wound into your art and bonded with their hearts.

My best advice after 50 years of sales: Love yourself, your talent, your art and your client’s long-term needs. Help them, guide them, and encourage them to become owners, today; not for the money – but because it is the right thing to do."

Click here to read the full article.

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This week I entered my painting instruction book 'Watercolour Toolbox: Essentials for Painting Success' in several international book contests. Judging will take place later in the year and I will keep you posted if I win any medals!

One of the contests, hosted by Readers' Favorite, also provides written reviews for each entry, and I was pleased to learn today that my book was awarded a 5-star review (that would be 5 out of 5).

Here is what the reviewer wrote:

"Watercolour Toolbox: Essentials for Painting Success by Karen Richardson is a useful guide to all painters and those who are learning to paint. The book guides you step-by-step with useful strategies and demonstrations. It speaks about problems that painters face while painting and, apart from being helpful to novices, the book is also helpful to experienced painters. The book guides you in a sequential manner and speaks about everything that a painter would love to know to improve their techniques and skills. The book covers extensively the right usage of colors, brushes, and good textures for paintings.

The book has eight demonstrations by the author which is really educational and useful. It gives useful tips to improve your techniques and widen your perspective on how to handle the complexities of art. The examples will tell you how to avoid or fix the challenges presented while using watercolors. The tips to keep in mind before you start with the painting are very helpful. It helps you in planning your picture and how to go about it methodically. The book also tells readers about the classic design guidelines and traditional painting methods which will help them improve their craft.

I will recommend this book to all artists and beginners. The most common painting challenges faced by painters and the simple solutions offered by the author will help you enjoy painting. This 65-page tutorial is very helpful when it comes to improving your style."

For information on where to buy my book, click here.

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Most years, in mid February, we embark on a multi-day couples' snowmobile trip to celebrate our Valentine's day wedding anniversary. In the past, our trips have taken us to Labrador, Quebec City, the Gaspe region, and several parts of northern Ontario.

This year, my husband John organized a six-day excursion to discover the winter wonders of the Bruce Peninsula, which lies between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, in central Ontario. Four couples took part, trailering their sleds for as much as eight hours, to congregate on a Monday at our 'base camp' at the Days Inn in Owen Sound. The Inn graciously allowed us to park our trucks and trailers in their parking lot until we left the following Saturday. We like to tour on week days as the trails are less busy.

Day one we snowmobiled about 200 km up north to Tobermory (that was our longest day at 11 hours of riding); day two we made our way back south and west to Port Elgin; and day three we meandered eastward to return to Owen Sound. All three days were cold and clear for the most part. The trail was very smooth and fairly easy to navigate, taking us through rolling hills, hardwood bush, and lovely open farmland.

Day four, which was Valentine's day, we made a big circuit east towards Meaford under cloudy skies, then south and back to Owen Sound, passing through the scenic Beaver Valley. We stopped for a delicious gourmet lunch at Ted's Range Road Diner, directed there by a sign on the snowmobile trail reading "Ted's - hot food - cold beer". This was our third visit to Ted's (see my Owen Sound post from last spring) and we have never been disappointed. Don't let the humble Quonset hut disguise fool you!

After dinner that evening back at Days Inn, the group gathered in our suite to play a version of 'The Newlywed Game' for valueless prizes, and enjoyed Valentine's treats and conversation.

The next morning we all headed home, thankful for such a great week - 750 km of sledding in great company, beautiful scenery, and gorgeous, classic winter weather.

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Courtesy of Artsyshark.com, here is some fabulous, practical advice for artists wanting to sell products on line.

I already use several of the recommended solutions: I sell my reproductions on Fine Art America, design and update this responsive web site on Shopify, and use Square to accept credit cards at shows or in my studio. Definitely worth the read:

http://www.artsyshark.com/2013/12/17/ecommerce-solutions

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Yesterday I learned how to do something really fun, cool, useful and easy - make a short (30 second) video using the free version of Animoto.com and post it to YouTube.

The seminar was hosted by the Writers' Community of Durham Region at Trent University in Oshawa and taught by Rich Helms.

Animoto is very user-friendly. You just have to upload a couple of images, type in the text for each slide, choose a background theme, and select the music you like. It's amazing to play with, like PowerPoint on steroids, and you can change the slide order, add or delete images and text, try different music and another presentation style.

And if you want to make longer videos, Animoto has very reasonable monthly or annual fees.

Check out my first two videos and let me know what you think:

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When I create a custom painting for a client, the package includes a coffee table style storybook, telling how the painting came to be. Having this permanent art journal allows the client to revisit the creative journey at any time. I am pleased to share with you the story of my latest commission.

Last spring, a new client asked me to create a portrait of their home, as a surprise for her husband's 50th birthday. She came to my studio to discuss size, season, time frame and budget. Then she and I visited her home and decided on this view for the painting. 

She asked me to do a summer scene, when her garden would be in bloom, and to include certain elements in the painting, such as their three pets, and her husband's favourite truck. I took photos then and agreed to return for more photos in August.

In September, I drew a small concept sketch on graph paper to make sure the verticals were straight.

Once the client approved this concept, I made a full size layout drawing showing more details, such as the cats in the window and the dog on the front porch.

After approval, I traced the sketch onto watercolour paper, using a sheet of graphite paper to make the transfer. I used a ruler to make all the straight lines.

Masking fluid was applied temporarily to all areas that needed to stay white during the painting process.

I painted practice skies on scraps of watercolour paper, so I could choose the right combination of blues for the painting. Then I chose the other paints I thought would work and made colour tests to ensure I could mix all the colours I needed for the painting.

The sky wash was applied and allowed to dry overnight, and then I added the first layer of greenery.

I added window interiors, roof colours and a warm yellow wash on the front face of the home.

Using two mixtures, I painted the brick surfaces to look mottled. When dry, I added shadows under the eaves and porch.

After that layer dried overnight, I removed the masking fluid with a crepe eraser.

Below is the completed painting '180 Roseborough', watercolour 13 x 16.5".

With the storybook designed and ordered, I met the client at the framing gallery to select mats and molding. The framed painting and accompanying storybook were delivered to the client in time for the big birthday in November.  I do love a happy ending...

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While we were travelling around the Great Lakes in our RV last month, I created this painting based on a photo I took while visiting my Mom in B.C. on an earlier trip.

In the photo below, I have started with a pencil sketch on 300 lb watercolour paper and masked out the flower and leaves with Pebeo Masking Gum. I like the fact that it is dark enough to show up against the paper, allowing for better application accuracy.

Once the mask was fully dry, I used Indigo paint on the shadowed crevices between the stones. When dry, I spattered a fine spray of masking gum over the whole painting (using a tooth brush and a pot scraper), to preserve fine white dots in the stones. Then I spattered on a fine spray of Indigo paint and let everything dry overnight.

The next day, I gently wet the entire painting with clear water using a soft, natural hair brush, to disturb the Indigo spatter as little as possible. I gently dropped in muted mixtures of Indigo, Burnt Sienna, Primary Red and Aureolin (yellow). I waited about a minute for absorption and evaporation to reduce the wetness of the wash, then sprinkled table salt sparingly over the entire painting. I let the painting dry overnight.

After brushing off the dry, dirty salt using my pot scraper and fingers, I created a 3-dimensional effect on the stones using my 2-brush technique. I added dark shadows on stones beside the crevice lines, using a brush loaded with Indigo paint, and softened the edge of that shadow towards the centre of each stone, using a brush loaded with clean water. I used as few brush strokes as possible, to minimize disturbance of the previous paint layer.

Once the paper had fully dried, I erased the masking fluid with a crepe eraser, revealing white paper underneath. Some of my pencil lines disappeared in the erasure process, so I redrew them where necessary.

On dry paper, I painted each leaf and the stem, using mixtures of Indigo, Sap Green and Aureolin.

I completed painting the leaves, then defined the petals using Primary Red, Burnt Sienna and a touch of Indigo. A few shadowed areas and white dots were darkened where needed, to complete 'Hyacinth and Drystone', watercolour, 12 x 9". 

If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

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I subscribe to Artsy Shark, an art marketing blog that often has excellent posts. Here is one for artists who show their art at summer festivals.

When I'm at the Buckhorn Fine Art Festival this August I will be sure to put this advice to good use. I hope you find it helpful as well.

Selling Art With Confidence

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We spent a month camping at the excellent KOA Campground on the outskirts of Owen Sound this spring. Several groups of our friends joined us from time to time and all of us were very impressed with both the beauty of the region and the vast number of interesting things to do there.

Aside from a few hours spent relaxing, we were busy every day touring the area. Having done that, I would like to recommend that anyone interested in visiting  Owen Sound should experience the following highlights.

VIEW GEORGIAN BAY

Owen Sound is situated on the shore of Georgian Bay, which is part of Lake Huron. The water in the Bay is very deep, pure and clear and at times we thought some shorelines looked like the Caribbean. I never got tired of looking at the gorgeous blue water and all the fabulous rock formations and stones on the shore.

Highlights were a cruise out of Tobermory to Fathom Five National Marine Park (home of Flower Pot Island) and hiking in nearby Bruce Peninsula National Park. It was hard to pick just these few photos of the hundreds I took:

REVISIT THE PAST

We spent many lovely afternoons and evenings strolling through the residential areas of Owen Sound. At one time, this city had the largest number of millionaires per capita of any city in Canada. Imagine the lifestyles of the families who built these lovely homes.

HIKE TO WATERFALLS

Since Owen Sound is on the Niagara Escarpment (a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve), there are lots of accessible waterfalls nearby. Pick up the handy brochure Waterfalls of Grey County  which provides a map, photo and description for each of nine waterfalls.

We visited most of them and found Inglis Falls and Indian Falls (pictured below) to be the most impressive. Many can be accessed via the Bruce Trail and all are fairly easy to get to (no cliff climbing!).

DINE AT TED'S RANGE ROAD DINER

This unusual restaurant is out in the middle of nowhere, east of Owen Sound, and offers an incredible array of dining choices, from kangaroo to caribou to sea bass.

It is housed in a Quonset hut that surely does not meet fire code, and the extensive menu is written on chalk boards around the room.

The food was so tasty and beautifully presented that we went twice with groups of friends. 

ENJOY GLORIOUS GARDENS & WILD FLOWERS

Many private gardens in Grey and Bruce Counties are open to the public year round. Pick up the brochure or visit RuralGardens.ca. Our favouite was Morland Place home and garden (shown in four photos below) - a huge labour of love.

The Bruce Trail runs very near Owen Sound and offers easy access for hiking and photography. Since I love flowers, I took hundreds of floral photos during our month stay in this area and it was difficult to select just a few to show you here.

RELIVE YOUR CHILDHOOD

We chanced upon an unusual museum east of Owen Sound called Vintage Riding Toy Collection. It showcased 300+ antique bicycles, wagons, scooters, pedal cars, sleds and many more ride-on vehicles.

Call 519-538-3200 for a private tour and a trip down memory lane (for us baby boomers that is).

More interesting places to visit:

Munshaw's Bistro, Flesherton

Bird Sanctuary at Harrison Park, Owen Sound

Artists' Co-op (40 local artists), Downtown Owen Sound

Sunday Flea Market, Rockford

Saturday Farmers' Market, Owen Sound

Factory Outlet, Meaford

Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound

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