How to Create a Product from Nuthin to Sumthin

Once in a while, you create an image your reeeaaallly like. 

"Jaguar Sunset"

A few years ago I painted a 3 foot tall cat statue for a charity auction. It was titled Little Cat's Four Season Fantasy. Each side featured the different seasons of the year.

It was the second one I painted, the previous statue having sold at auction for $1100. So of COURSE they nicely asked me to paint another! I was happy to help, since it was for C.A.T.S., Committed Alliance to Strays.

But since I donated it to charity - and seeing as how I loved some of the images on it - I decided to photograph them for my own collection. This fantasy setting of the jaguar swimming in a cool pool at sunset was one of my favorites. 

To put it into context, here is the completed

 3 ft tall statue from different angles:
(can click on any images to enlarge)

But how do I translate that into a product to offer collectors??

Here's what I did.

It all started with a nekkid statue:

Underpainting  getting started:

Giving him some spots:

Continuing around the jaguar:

All done:

So how does he look when you put his image onto products? I found a site that does "POD"  (print on demand) and I'm very happy with their quality. Here are some of the things they can do with my jaguar. I was so tickled when I saw these for the first time!

This is the main page for my "Jaguar Sunset"

And here is how he looks on a throw pillow.

The newest to join the product line is this cute Tote bag

I think the metal prints are cool!

They even have smart phone case covers.

Naturally there are also greeting cards, framed prints, canvas prints,  and posters.

And there you have it. From blank white statue to all kinds of fun stuff to put your image on. 

I hope you found this interesting. I sure had fun seeing my little jaguar on all these items. If you have any questions about Fine Art America (FAA), the folks who do my printing, just give a holler in the comments and I'd be glad to share my experiences. 

Now, imagine something YOU created.  If you have paintings, images of your creative endeavors, or photographs that you'd like to have printed, I can wholeheartedly recommend FAA. You have your original, yes. But by creating "multiples" of your efforts, you can offer your art to more people in many more forms, including gift giving.

If you try FineArtAmerica, I'd love to hear how it went for you. :-)

Thanks for reading,

Retta

Flashback Friday: Little Cat, Big Dreams

I started this blog in 2005, so thought it would be fun to re-visit some of those older posts that are buried under layers of time.

For our first flashback let's visit November of 2005:

Little Cat, Big Dreams

 (can click on any pics to enlarge)

Butterfly was a rescued kitty. She almost died, but with love and care, and her own spunky personality, she made it.

She was my inspiration for the painting I did on this 3ft tall fiberglass cat-shaped sculpture. It was a fundraiser for C.A.T.S. (Committed Alliance To Strays) called "Pawsing for Art". Sold at auction for $1100!!

The colors are more vibrant in person, but you get the general idea!

Thanks for reading,

Retta

PS: Now you know where the image at the top of my blog comes from! :-)

Virtual Paintout 15: Washington DC!

The Virtual Paintout gang has been traveling the world for 5 years now! Yay for Google StreetView!

This is my 15th outing with them. Remember, we are not ACTUALLY and physically there... we travel via Google Street View. It is SO much fun, and I encourage anyone to join. There is no obligation. You can do it as often as your schedule permits. Here is Bill Guffey's blog, Virtual Paintout, where you can find all the deets. 

So... for February we "traveled" to Washington DC. It's amazing how you think you are familiar with a place so iconic. Until you really LOOK at it. I totally enjoyed cruising the streets, both the familiar landmarks and the unknown backstreets. And that is how I stumbled upon "my" spot to paint.

I was cruising past the Marriot Hotel when a brightly painted 5 ft tall statue of a Panda bear caught my eye! I laughed, and just HAD to stop and zoom in. Yep... this was it.

The Panda was originally a part of a fundraiser for Arts and Grants Education programs in Washington DC. There were 150 pandas generously painted (for free) by local artists, which were auctioned off at the end of the summer of 2004.

The original artist of "my" panda was Anne Marchand, a prominent and talented Washington DC artist.   Panda was exhibited all summer in Chinatown, Washington DC, before he was auctioned off at the fundraiser.

Painted fiberglass statues like this are special to me because I've done them myself. I painted two 3 ft tall cat statues to help raise money for a cats and kittens shelter. If you'd like to peek at them, here are the links:

 

Little Cat Big Dreams   

Little Cat's Four Season Fantasy  

So... on to the making of Political PandaMonium!

(Can click on any pics to enlarge)

I cropped the original version down to this size:

First I sealed the paper in my sketchbook with acrylic medium, since I was going to be using acrylics and didn't want to risk any wrinkling issues in the sketchbook. 

It's a Super Deluxe Aquabee sketchbook with Heavyweight Drawing Paper, "For use with wet and dry media". I love this sketchbook, but still, it's only 93 lb paper and can't take a LOT of water. 

Here I roughed in a colorful underpainting for all the bushes and flowers behind Panda:

Drew in Panda and underpainted him yellow, for brightness and so I could SEE the design I was about to add. :-)

The first layers of flowers and foliage in the background:

Drew the Panda design in with charcoal pencil, then acrylics. 

Began painting the colors for his design, starting with a darker underpainting (this dark brownish-red was for the red areas). I used a simple "3 value" system. That's where you simply think "light, medium, dark" for each color. By blending and shading, you naturally end up with a lot of variety this way. 

For example: on this section of his finished tummy there are several design elements that are predominately Yellow. 

I let the yellow be the lightest value, using orange and red for the middle and darkest values. At the end of the day though, I usually end up playing around, and adding some purple shadows here and there, white highlights, and whatever strikes my fancy. Whatever works! :-D

Here is Panda in my sketchbook:

Close-up of his face:

And the finished image, Political PandaMonium:

(oopsie, see my goof? Kinda makes me think 

of political goof-ups.. mwa ha ha ha)

Political PandaMonium

acrylics in 6 x 9 sketchbook

Happy Painting,

Retta

"Little Cat's Four Season Fantasy"

Well, since this IS my blog, I think I will finish up the parade of cats with my own creation, "Little Cat's Four Season Fantasy".






Here's a close-up... click to enlarge...

And of course, here is the kitty that started it all...my inspiration...Butterfly, when she was a few months old, all tuckered out after a hard day playing "tiger".



Thanks for reading,
Retta
=^..^=

PS: Until the auction in October 2006, "Little Cat's Four Season Fantasy" was shown at Lawrence's Jeweler, 232 E Main, Medford OR

"Cat Eyes" (Part 2)

And here are the rest of the pics for the wonderful "Cat Eyes"!







Happy Painting!
Retta
=^..^=

PS: Until the auction in October, "Cat Eyes" can be seen at Jacksonville Mercantile, 120 E California, Jacksonville OR

And last but not least...."Cat Eyes"!! (Part 1)

Okay, I've gotta admit it...this is one of my favorites! The imagination, creativity, design, color..it all works! I hope you enjoy "Cat Eyes", by artist Steven Bell, as much as I did!











Enjoy!
Loretta
=^..^=

"Independent Claws" (Part 2)

And here are the rest of the pics....








Enjoy,
Loretta
=^..^=

PS: Until the auction in October, "Independent Claws" can be seen at Country Quilts, 214 E California, Jacksonville OR

Stand up for "Independent Claws"! (part 1)

This clever cat, by artist Dixie Kinser had us all in stitches! It lists the rights of cats...I have tried to post as many as I had photos for...very funny!