This weekend I did something new. I sketched live at a local seasonal marketplace. I had a small booth with a few canvases to sell and I thought I would also sit and draw. I decided to do a dragon since I know they can easily be made very detailed. I haven't done a dragon like this in many years. Before I had done half the work on it I had someone offer to buy it right there and then, I really wanted to finish it however so I said they could contact me later for the finished piece. Maybe I should have sold it, but I continued working on it and had many more people come up and comment.
I guess I don't look like someone who does dragon art because I had one couple basically accuse me of joking when I said I had done it after I walked away for a bit and returned to find them looking at the sketch. I had others say they will contact me about doing some custom work, one lady wanted a similar design for a tattoo. I had so much fun talking to people and kids while enjoying the fresh air, river view and a live praise band. I think I would like to do this again sometime. Next time I would probably like a better setup, maybe bring more work to display. I have been meaning for a while to get some of my digital paintings printed up for a hand's on portfolio. After giving out business cards both this weekend and two weeks ago at the river market, I have found that nobody, not one person EVER comes and checks out the site. I had the same results from giving out many business cards at a recent art crawl in town. My best stuff is only visible online, this presents a problem. Now I will say that I have been getting many hits on the website, but they seem to be coming from Pinterest or some other source, they don't come on the days following a personal meet and greet with me handing out the cards with the web address. After this experience I am considering making a real stab at doing live caricatures. I know it will take some practice and some real effort to develop an eye for such things, but I might could do it. I think it might make for some fun money making at local festivals. I just don't know, going into it may be just asking for a headache. I went on Reddit and found many people with experience saying that they often offend the customers with their exaggerations and even get yelled at sometimes. Maybe I will stick to just drawing what I like. I have an idea of maybe doing the local Celtic festival next year with more dragon drawings. I found out this year that it is a very large event held at our local park. I may be posting a nice digital color version of the dragon soon. Working on it now. Saturday was the first time I had a chance to draw anything for fun in over a month. It has been very busy around here. Thanks for reading, MM
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Well, I wrote a few clever words about all the things I have been busy doing over the last week or two... then the whole block of text disappeared... I even ended with a quote. I guess I will just skip the rest and leave you with the quote... "Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment. It fashions it's own perfect moments out of ordinary ones." - Bruce Garrabrant |
MistyThanks for stopping by. I'm a published illustrator working on getting better every day. My goal for my work is for it to be charming, bright and endearing. I share my ongoing work progress online because I welcome all the encouragement and feedback I can get as I try to improve my skills. I currently have a children's book project that I am nearing the end of. Archives
February 2017
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