Superman Watercolor Painting

I couldn't stay away from drawing superheroes for too long. I've been wanting to do a Christopher Reeve Superman painting for a long time. Mission Accomplished.

Click here to buy!

Selling Art on Etsy

I'm going to veer off the beaten path and talk about life for a second. Today I'm 30 years old. It's past 12 AM and I'm not soundly asleep as perhaps I ought to be. The reason isn't that I'm excited for my Birthday or turning 30. No. I'm excited because I got my first sale from a complete stranger on Etsy. It's a fantastic feeling. The sale was for 20 dollars and after I ship the print I'll have made a whole 12 dollars. But that's not what's exciting me. Even though, YES, I can really use that 12 dollars right now, what excites me is the possibilities. Less than a week ago I wished that for my Birthday I could make a sale. Any kind of sale. Something that showed me I was moving in the right direction with my career. Miraculously when I checked my e-mail tonight there it was and I couldn't be more delighted by it!

I'm also excited because today I put into motion something I've been working on for a couple months now. I wasn't sure at the time how I would make it work. But I did it anyways because I knew there would be a place for my idea somehow someway. Today I listed my first board game. A new take on an old game. The New Snakes and Ladders Championship Edition is my first attempt at creating original concept board games. The thing is that I honestly ridiculously enjoy creating games. So right now on my shop you can find the listing here .

It's incredibly rewarding to see put into motion an idea you've had for a long time. I very much plan to add more! Art makes me happy. :)

New painting post! I'm adding new Custom house painting listings to my shop and here are a couple of the new works I've had the pleasure to work on. Enjoy!

Christmas is over and it's time to retool, rework and generally give some love to my etsy shop. I've been wanting to streamline my listings for a little while now and I finally had the time to devote to doing just that. Check out the new pics and feel free to stop by the shop and take a look around.

Watercolor "home portrait" commission on 140# cold press

Acrylic Red Chair

Red Chair - Acrylic painting on canvas 11" x 14"

Etsy Product Photography

I've touched on the importance of your brand as an artist in my previous post. But now I want to dedicate this article to pictures. To be specific. Product pictures for my Etsy shop.

SeasonColours is 18 days old now and I've already accumulated 100's of photos in connection with my store. I use a 2 year old canon powershot sd1200 IS. It's not a professional camera, but we use what we have right? So we make it work. We focus on what we do have. Which is an eye for what feels right and we go with that.

If you're thinking of opening a shop you might find yourself doing the same things. Taking picture after picture of your product from different angles, different lighting all in the name of producing the most enticing and easily read image you can then place on your shop. The idea is pretty basic. Make it look good. When I take my product pictures I try to think about what I want to convey. If I'm shooting a print. I want to show a couple things. One is how it might look on your wall. A close up of the detail in the print and how it'll be shipped to you, (Still working on that.) I also think about the Etsy brand. Bright white seems to be the common link between Etsy and shop owner. So using natural soft light from a window in your home might be the best place to take pictures. You'll want to take MANY photos. Many.

I think if you're like me and you've never done this before, you'll just have to learn through trial and error. Thus taking hundreds of photos just to capture that perfect look you need for your own brand of product.

I've found the most challenging thing about doing product photography is that there is only about 2-3 hours of sunlight a day in Montreal right now. And with a busy schedule it's hard to find the time to get everything done. So I don't. I know that my photography is a work in progress. When I get a chance to improve or try something new, I take it and only do as much as I can. Currently this means I have a variety of product photos on my shop that don't really coalesce with each other. But Other than wait to get everything just perfect, I find it's important to show the best you have and keep working to eventually get everything the way you envision it.

It's your shop and you get to choose. I love being a shop owner because I love being able to make decisions. SeasonColours is really the best job I've ever had.

Here are some examples of my photos from multiple shoots (the ones that didn't make it) as I try and find my way through the fog to creating a brand that represents me.

Drop me a comment with your thoughts! I'm all for hearing your stories of photo madness

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