Sunday, April 26, 2009

The week that wasn't!

Above- How I fell this week!

Last week everything was geat I was on a roll, creativity and sales were on a high. Well, I took a little dive this week, I had to dump my growth chart illustration that I had been working on and in the process lost over a weeks work, it drives me crazy when this happens!

To add to this my seo company have not been doing the seo work they had claimed they were doing on my .com site selling nursery art! Sometimes I could pull my hair out!


On the upside, I have started on a new idea for my next growth chart illustration and have a great idea for a second growth chart, so everything isn't so black! It is good to struggle with a drawing as it makes your next one better. (I hope!)


Relating to a blog post I did earlier about getting a licensing agent, I haven't done much on that front yet, but did add a page to my website about licensing my art. Please take a look.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

The week that was.


Rough artwork for my next growth chart design.

Wow, my week has been great. Sales on my online shops selling
nursery art have been brisk. So, I am juggling kids, painting, packing and delivering orders, blogging and twittering!

This week on the creative side - I want to create two new illustrations for my growth chart range. I am starting with a circus growth chart and am undecided about the second growth chart illustration. The first illustration I have been painting is on a circus theme, I have been illustrating it for over a week now and still have a lot more work to do.


Crocodile growth chart

You can see a very early rough of my illustration above. This shows you how I start my ideas. I work over and over on a black and white rough until my layout is decided. I then start to paint in the black and white line. For my growth charts I us traditional paint methods with adobe photoshop. I paint the image first and then I add the cm and inches with the adobe photoshop. For this circus growth chart I am also separately painting some animals to run along the side of the chart and these too will be added by adobe photoshop.

I will show you the rough to final art work at a later date. (When I have managed to finish it!)

For my UK clients - I am having a great sale at the moment on my
kids wall art site and there is 20% discount on some of my growth charts.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Finding A Home

The Twitches- Gert


I have spent a lot of time thinking about my work this weekend (in between potty training!). Agents are really on my mind at the moment, I have written recently about trying to get a licensing agent for my work. Now, I have to say, agents get me nervous. I have had a few different agents over the years, when I first left college I quickly got an agent based in London. I thought, that's it, I have made it! Well how wrong I was, she did get me one of the most enjoyable jobs I ever illustrated - The Twitches books for Roy Apps. Unfortunately her agency was in decline and it took me a while to realise this. I then moved onto another London agent but by this time I was getting more work in the UK and America than they were getting for me. I remember the lady saying to me - You are one of those rare illustrators that can sell your work better than an agent! (Her exact words) So agents have always frustrated me
.


Gert's twin sister Lil.
( They really look a like, don't they?)


Some advice I would give to any new illustrator out there - keep on top of your agent and don't be shy to call them and see what they are doing with your work, how they are promoting it etc. They can take on lots of illustrators it doesn't mean they are promoting them all. Also don't pay them any money!

It took my husband (a software engineer) to encourage me to open my online shop that I really finally felt I had found a home for my work. Unfortunately sometimes you get a little dissatisfied at staying home, now I am thinking of venturing out to rediscover the agent world. I love creating children's art for my shop and my sales are great but I would love to see my art for children on products other than paper. This time I am looking for a children's licensing agent not an illustrators agent, it should be interesting!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Social Networking.

Above is my profile image for my social networking sites. (A great likeness!)

Wikipedia says-

A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

Social networking has encouraged new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life.


I would love to hear how other people get on with social networking sites. I discovered Facebook a couple of years ago but I never really got it, it took me two years to collect 46 friends! My brother on the other hand has collected 2,806 friends in less time! I never used it to promote my work or career and found it strange updating my friends on every move I made. I only really like to network about my work, so I thought Twitter might be better.

I started Twittering a couple of months ago and have 50 followers. I kind of get it more than Facebook but still struggle to do more than two twitters a day. It is fun, but I just can't Twitter about having a coffee break or going to the gym etc. It would be great to hear your stories on social networking, please leave a comment.

I think we should spread some social networking karma and follow each other on Twitter! You can follow my twittering here, I will follow you back. Happy Twittering!


Blue Throw Blanket / Kids Throw Blanket /Lion Throw Blanket /

Blue Throw Blanket / Kids Throw Blanket /Lion Throw Blanket / Snorkeling Throw Blanket / Water Throw Blanket I love the use of my art on thi...