Snow Day Shoveling :Daily Art Practice
Couch Talk
We just had another snowfall but we didn’t get nearly as much as the predicted 8-12 inches. Instead, we got around 5 inches. Thankfully, the children already had off for Martin Luther King Day so it wasn’t a wasted snow day. My boys have recently started shoveling a few of the neighbor’s driveways for extra money. It’s a great use of their time, they make some money while getting exercise and they aren’t sitting in front of a screen all day. Today’s snow was very heavy and wet and they came in after 4 hours of shoveling, looking exhausted! Unfortunately, it was quite windy and $50 blew out of one son’s pocket. Lesson learned, next time bring a wallet. I fed them a hearty lunch and told them to eat a bigger breakfast next time before they decide to go shoveling. One son went back out to shovel while the other decided he was too pooped. Me? I enjoyed the excuse to stay warm while performing my inside chores. Snow is not much fun anymore.
Watercolor Shopfronts
Madd Pizza is a restaurant in Singapore that has a variety of yummy items on their menu. I had a lot of fun painting this colorful and cluttery shopfront. I enjoyed all the items out front, including the boots serving as a planter. My reference photo is HERE.
Bramble and Moss is a stunning building in the UK. The emerald facade and the bright yellow door make a gorgeous color palette. The window displays were my favorite part of painting this building. I painted them in gouache because I wasn’t able to get the correct color saturation with watercolor. All of these shopfronts are painted in a 5×5 book but the paper isn’t the best quality so I can’t apply a lot of layers. Gouache has become my best friend when it comes to covering up mistakes or making things darker. You can see the reference photo HERE.
Feedback, Please.
One of my goals for this year is to open an ETSY shop. Since I am painting all these shopfronts, I thought it might be fun to see if some of them sell. Since I have you as my audience, I would love some honest feedback from you all as it will be helpful in setting things up. If you don’t mind, I would love it if you could take a few extra minutes to answer my questions. Just pretend you are a potential customer. Copy and paste the questions into the comments and then add your answer.
- Do you prefer digital download (to print yourself) or a physical print when purchasing artwork?
- What sizes would you purchase (4×6, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14)?
- What subjects would you purchase (ex: landscapes, florals, animals, food, buildings, portraits)
Tea Day
I am joining the Tea Day ladies, hosted by Elizabeth and Bleubeard. My tea today is the Celestial Seasonings Fruit Tea Sampler, that I picked up at the grocery store. I am not a huge fan of berry tea despite my love of fruit tea, but I thought I would give it another go. I am enjoying the Country Peach Passion and the Black Cherry Berry at the moment. If you like fruity/Berry teas, this sampler might be for you.
I appreciate your feedback!
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
It’s not clear to me how you would sell a digital download for someone to print for themself. My home printer doesn’t create framable output (neither appropriate paper nor stable inks), so it would be a lot of trouble to get a framable version. If I purchase an art work, I usually expect it to be an original work (like a watercolor) or a higher-quality print, preferably with a mat so that it’s ready to frame. A standard size for the frame helps too. I like your shop front this week!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Hi Kate, Oh that is so terrible that your son lost his hard earned money-I feel terrible for him.
I love your watercolors. me personally I don’t want a digital download but there are many things sold that way on etsy. Perhaps offer both options in you shop. size is personal so again may need to offer choices.
glad you didn’t all that snow-HappY T Kathy
Oh no to your son. That’s a lot of money to lose., especially when you’re a kid and $50 seems like a fortune. And I”ll answer your questions. First of all I prefer an original, and I don’t have huge amounts of wall space so I prefer 5×7 or 8×10 matted. I prefer paintings or prints over photos. I love to put my own photos, but am not so big on other photos. That Bramble building does have some wonderful colors and details. Stay warm and dry and happy T day and week ahead too. hugs-Erika
Kate, hope you continue to stay warm. We even had snow here in Central Alabama – very unusual. How fun your boys made some extra cash too.
Your art is fabulous and I can’t wait to see your Etsy shop. I probably would not be a good judge of what would be best to do, but I think you should offer lots of options so you get the most potential sales. Your store fronts are my favorite.
The tea sounds good – you always find interesting ones!
Happy T-day and hugz
You have some lovely sketches this week, Kate. Too bad about your son losing that money after his hard work. Sorry, I don’t buy art on the internet, so I have no way to reference your questions. I only buy art from dealers who I meet at art shows. First, I have to like the painting, then I have to like the artist. I need both in order to pay so much money for art.
Your tea sounds wonderful,. I bought some “fruity” tea this week, so yours sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing your snow day, your sketches, and your tea with us for T this Tuesday. Kate.
4 hours of shoveling – my deepest respect (ahhh, to be that young again!).
Shoot for the money, how sad!
Agreed, snow is not fun anymore, we might get it come February / March…
Wonderful art again. What do you use for the lines? And, by golly. I could never ever draw a line in one swoosh like that!
1) Do you prefer digital download (to print yourself) or a physical print when purchasing artwork?
I lost prints in the mail. Then again it takes ages at our stores to get it printed!
But I think I would go for the second option. I can go shopping meanwhile 😉
2) What sizes would you purchase (4×6, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14)?
Very difficult. Our condo is small, but I love the details. If digital I can decide myself, that would be good.
3) What subjects would you purchase (ex: landscapes, florals, animals, food, buildings, portraits)
I fell in love with the buildings (maybe cause actually I came from architecture?)
Happy T-Day and thank you for your art.
Aw, too bad your son lost that well earned money:(. Love your shop fronts and I am especially drawn to the second one! As for your ? about Etsy I tend to agree with those who said to have a variety of choices. Perhaps you can start with all the options and see what customers are more drawn to and what gets purchased. Then you can eliminate some options that aren’t so popular or don’t sell so well. Good luck with it Kate, and happy T day!
We got barely an inch. I can’t remember the last time shoveling was necessary here in Memphis.
I prefer a standard-sized (so I can buy a mat and frame to frame it myself) print on high quality paper. I’ve printed some public domain works myself, though, so that’d work, but I’d expect to pay less for a digital download.
Happy T Tuesday!
I am not in the purchasing stage of my life, but in downsizing mode. LOL But if I was, I would purchase your artwork in real form, not digital. My printer just prints on 81/2x 11, so am limited that way. I love your shops! Happy T Day sweet Kate.
Awwee that is too bad about the $50.00. I am impressed that your kids go out to shovel. When we lived in ID. we couldn’t get any kids to do that, no matter how much people were willing to pay. I love your art. There is so much detail. As for your questions.
Do you prefer digital download (to print yourself) or a physical print when purchasing artwork? I prefer physical art. But on Etsy I would offer both. There is an option for that.
What sizes would you purchase (4×6, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14)? another option is to offer all sizes.
What subjects would you purchase (ex: landscapes, florals, animals, food, buildings, portraits) If you are going to open a full range store off all of these subjects. I know people who actually sell a lot of floral art.. Good luck with it.
Again a gorgeous shop painting. And one in the UK too. Really lovely.
Great that the boys can earn some money shoveling snow. How old are they now? Earning 50 $ is a lot of money. If someone offered me that money to clear a drive, I would be there like a flash in spite of my age. That is one tenth of my income! I do hope he didn’t lose it all together when it fell out of his pocket.
To answer your question, I would order digital as real prints would be expensive to ship, and of course i could print them myself any old size i wanted. That takes care of the size question. Sizes in inches don’t make any sense to me anyway. When you start your shop, please give sizes in cm as well as inches. The subjects I like are definitely buildings. I just love your shops and I’m sure there will be other interesting buildings associated with certain cities that would attract buyers from that particular city. (Like the Space Needle in Seattle. You would get customers from Seattle and ex-pats from Seattle if you get my meaning).
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
Awww, poor kid, that’s an expensive lesson to learn. I think in selling your art a physical thing on the small side 4 x 6 or 5 x 7 would be best. Postage wouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg to ship (or figure shipping costs in your price). As to a digital download, one could be dishonest and just copy the image from site without paying. Just a few thoughts. Happy T Day
What a beautiful watercolour paintings Kate! they are great, I love them. I would buy an original painting, given the choice, I prefer an original print over a digital download, for the quality of the print above all. And the size depends on where you want to put it, if it is on the wall, a larger size.
Happy belated T-day! I really like tea, especially green tea.
You have some very hard-working children, that’s good. I hope it’s not too cold, bundle up.
I wish you a very nice Friday, big hugs
Caty