While stretching a giclee, I tore in the canvas on the back a bit, right under where the corner folds over so it is impossible to see.
It is invisible, but *I* know it’s there.
If you want it (and if you are quick enough) it is yours for 1/2 price: www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24995797
This is a work in progress – oil on wood panel. You can see a closeup of the airship here: here
The airship within is done from an earlier engraving; I wanted to see how “the Sabiku” would look in something other than straight lineart, and I am glad I decided to do so. I have come to really like this piece.
It has taken me a while to do; An extended winter (and the resulting lack of ventilation), made me lean on the acrylics for quite a while, and I found that when I returned to oil panting I had developed a lot of habits and methods that were not oil-friendly.
Not that I am nearing the finish line, everything is finally coming together, I think I have at least some of my technique back.
If you have seen my art over the past year, you might say to yourself: “Wow – he really loves airships”…
Though I do love working in this strange fiction/science fiction/fantasy vein, and though the airships do make for a good mode by which to explore these worlds and a decent centerpiece – it was not my intention at first to do so many of them.
I often realized that my subject matter, styles, media and the like were all over the place: I might work digital one day, paints another, an engraving on another day, a sculpture, a wooden box, some brass trinket – one week would be horror pieces, another would be figurative art, another would be monsters, another devices – and my styles varied in more ways than media or subject matter.
This may sound interesting to some… but galleries however like unified themes when it comes to shows, and so do publishers.
Most anyone who saw a collection of my past work, had none of it been signed, would think it was a collection from at least twenty different artists… which I suppose, in some fashion or another I am… though I am not nearly as fragmented as I was several years ago.
And since I had a number of people writing me, wondering if I could do a commissioned painting of an airship in similar style to the one that started this all off, I decided, spur of the moment, that selling those commissions would be a good way to make it home for a family emergency – they all sold within an hour or two of putting them up, and I have been working on them ever since.
Having an anticipated collection and theme laid out for me is nice, because forces me to stay somewhat on target, but it also forces me to use my imagination and improvise in ways other than technique, media, style, theme, message…
It has been interesting – but I’ll be glad when the last of these are done.
BTW – If you like this one as it is, I made 10 prints, because Beth likes this one as it is. There will only be 10 – I suppose that makes them very limited. The rest will be based on the finished piece. I don’t want them around by the time the piece is finished, so I am also pricing these 10×10 signed metallic prints at $22 – and to add, their shipping is free with the purchase of any other item in our store.
If you want one, you can grab one over on our Etsy Store or in My Store
cloudery.typepad.com… Thanks to them for including me, but I share this link because of the awesome dragonfly at the bottom
Also, a friend of mine started a group on Ning for Steampunk people: Here is my page on that site: steampunk.ning.com/profile/MykeAmend
A beautiful 6 minute film about a scarecrow (many more like this available at the distributors site: Premium-Films.com)
I love how they put the projector together, because it is nice to see artists putting thought and creativity into every element.
One should not simply think of the elements within a work as building blocks within the work of art itself. Every stone, every wave, every cloud, every everyday thing offers an opportunity to imagine something new, and most importantly: to have fun with one’s creation…
This second video is by a band called “Doves”, and I am posting it because it has some stunning visuals of biplanes and zeppelins. The music, is something that neither stands out as fantastic or terrible, in my opinion. The video is worth watching either way…
[via 3liza.soup.io]
I haven’t shared anything Abney Park here in a while, and because I was recently reminded of this video’s existence:
Also – Since I am working away on commissions still, I thought I might point you to some new things Beth has added to the EttaDiem store:
“I makes the dark cutes that you can choke on these days.”
Under the umbrella of the Etta Diem brand are the Kewpie Noir, a collection of geisha like paper dolls meant for dark cuteness and frivolous use. There are currently thirty-eight different versions of the Kewpie Noir completed in this collection, each with their own personalities and backgrounds.
This particular set is collection of 4 x 6 inch prints of the first four Kewpie Noir. The print collection comes wrapped in our decorative packaging (samples can be seen by following the flickr links in our profile) and are ready to be given as a gift or kept for yourself. As an addition to the collection, a bonus package of related scrapbooking items will be tagging along. What they are is different from collection package to collection package and a secret until opening. And within one of them is Etta Diem’s own version of a *golden ticket. The lucky individual who draws one of the golden tickets wins a free 8 x 10 print of their choice from our store.
The Kewpie Noir are quite cute and dark and are really, really longing for a home! This is a wonderful and somewhat frivolous bit of novelty merchandise to lighten the mood of the bit of dampening the world seems to be splish splashing through as of late. To see more of the Kewpie Noir, take a moment to stop by Etta Diem’s blog and get acquainted: ettadiem.com/spiderwebs
*Each “Golden Ticket” comes with a unique serial number to ensure we all keep it honest with the free things ;)
This is a rather unique print, printed at 12×12 instead of 24×24 – If it hasn’t sold, it is available here
It is the proof from the printers, one of four artist’s prints. Two are this size, two are normal size.
It is also, were I to put preferred darkness and saturation on a percentage, at about 98% perfect – slightly lighter than I want the prints to be, but pretty much unnoticeably so.
These test prints are all a part of the process, and I am told that these slightly different from the others, being a part of my working process, are probably worth more to some people.
This is my first time stretching and mounting one of these prints on my own. I hand made the stretcher bars that hold it, though I could probably have picked up 12 inch stretcher bars for 79 cents a piece – it was late night, and I rather like making things by hand anyway when I can.
I am trying things like these, because right now, my markup is really low and I still feel guilty for not being able to make things more affordable for those who like my work.
So, I am trying new ways to cut costs: Stretching and mounting these through hobby lobby or someplace similar saves money (hence the price cuts over the past month). Not only did the printers charge me a good deal for the stretching and mounting, but the shipping gets really expensive when shipping a box that is 40-some inches by 20-some by 3.
Stretching them myself saves a little more still, which allowed me to reduce prices again this last week – and I went one further by offering unstretched prints on our etsy store for “The Rescue”. That way people can purchase these for less, and – rather than paying $30+ for shipping, can pay $6 for shipping, and $24 at hobby lobby for stretching, or $8 to stretch it themselves.
If such proves to be popular, I will probably do the same for every giclee.
The Ommastrephidae, or “Flying Squid”, not to be confused with the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, because such would be a silly thing to do.
“A squid, presumably Ommastrephes bartramii, gliding over the sea surface near Japan.”
More about this can be found here: TolWeb
Bethalynne Bajema, my fiancee, has been working diligently from her hospital bed – as the result of a recently attempted coup executed by her nefarious organs earlier this week.
In this time, sustained only by gallon-sized bottles of earwax-flavored liquid chalk, she has managed to put up a sizable portfolio on her site, including many of her standalone works, and almost the entirety of each of her more recent series pieces, including her Sepia Stains Tarot (Or as I like to summarize it: “the Neovictorian Pinup Tarot”).
You can go directly to this portfolio by going to ettadiem.com/bajema. There, you may also find some interesting things to invest in – those proceeds of course going towards evil scientists, their attempts at reading her mind with giant magnetic contraptions, and various types and forms of mysterious alien probes.
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