Episodes
Tuesday Mar 05, 2019
#026 Video: Problem solving from the Waves & Water course
Tuesday Mar 05, 2019
Tuesday Mar 05, 2019
Video Podcast From the Waves, Water Land & Sea course I'd like to give you a peek inside, learn about brush strokes and problem solving
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
#025 How to work with Creative Blocks
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
Remember that creative blocks are temporary
Can you identify your creative block - how long has it been?
What are some of the things that are happening in your life right now?
What does you inner critic say?
Does the fear of failure prevent you from getting started?
Who are you afraid of being rejected by?
Are you aware or can you tell when creativity flows through you?
Do you have a creative routine - what is it?
Do you do negative self talk - what do you tell yourself?
How to break those creative blocks
How would approach those blocks if you were a different artist?
Does the blank paper paralyze you - what can you do about it?
Ideas
- Get out and get a new perspective
- Try painting something else
- Do you give yourself permission to explore
- Look for patterns
- Try painting by temperature
- Give yourself a deadline, anything that forces you to be creative
- Think about these times as a gestation time
- Try not to be so serious, have some fun, and write down your ideas.
Do you think you don’t have the time to be creative, how can you create the time?
When are you going to show up?
Dates & times:
Brainstorm - write down ideas no matter how silly or grand it is
Keep it fun - Happy Painting
Birgit
Thursday Feb 21, 2019
#024 How to Enter Watercolor Competitions
Thursday Feb 21, 2019
Thursday Feb 21, 2019
Before entering into a show, check the show prospectus
- Do you own the copyrights?
- Did you create the painting on your own without guidance or instruction?
- Entry fees range and are not refundable
- Digital images usually need to be at 300dpi (Check the show prospectus) 1200 - 2100 pixels at the largest side
- Free online tool to resize an image https://www.pixlr.com/editor/
Does your painting have
- Does it command attention and stand out with a strong composition?
- Different values, and a good use of color, and light,
- Are you painting with confidence?
- Is it unique, with impact?
- Will it grab the attention of the judge?
- Your strongest paintings will be with a something that you’re excited about.
Rejection:
- Try not to take it personally, it happens to all of us.
- Remember there are only so many paintings that can be accepted into a show.
- if a painting is rejected in one show it may be accepted or even win in another.
Standard size frames
5" x 7"
8" x 10"
11" x 14"
16" x 20"
20" x 24"
20" x 30"
24" x 36"
22" x 32"
30" x 40"
Call for entries Cafe https://www.callforentry.org/login/
Here are some societies that you can look into to enter shows:
Alabama
Watercolor Society of Alabama – http://wsalabama.org
Alaska
Alaska Watercolor Society – http://www.akws.org
Fairbanks Watercolor Society – http://www.fairbankswatercolor.org
Arizona
Arizona Watercolor Association – http://www.azwatercolor.com
Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild – http://www.watercolor-sawg.org
Northern Arizona Watercolor Society – http://www.naws-az.org
California
California Watercolor Society : http://www.californiawatercolor.org
National Watercolor Society – http://www.nationalwatercolorsociety.org
San Diego Watercolor Society – http://www.sdws.org
Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society – http://www.scvws.org
Watercolor Artists of Sonoma County – http://www.wascoart.org
Colorado
Colorado Watercolor Society http://www.coloradowatercolor.org/aboutcws/aboutcws.htm
Pikes Peak Watercolor Society – http://home.pcisys.net/~ppwsart
Western Colorado Watercolor Society – http://www.wcwatercolorsociety.com
Connecticut
Connecticut Watercolor Society – http://www.connecticutwatercolorsociety.org
Delaware:
Delaware Watercolor Society – http://www.delawarewatercolorsociety.org
Florida
Brevard Watercolor Society – http://www.brevardwatercolors.org
Central Florida Watercolor Society – http://www.centralfloridawatercolor.com
Florida Watercolor Society – http://www.floridawatercolor.org
Georgia
Georgia Watercolor Society – http://www.georgiawatercolorsociety.com
Hawaii
Hawaii Watercolor Society – http://www.hawaiiwatercolorsociety.org
Idaho
Idaho Watercolor Society – http://www.id-ws.org
Illinois
Illinois Watercolor Society – http://www.illinoiswatercolorsociety.org/
Transparent Watercolor Society of America – http://www.watercolors.org/
Indiana
Watercolor Society of Indiana – http://www.watercolorsocietyofindiana.org/
Iowa
Iowa Watercolor Society – http://www.iowawatercolorsociety.org
Kansas
Kansas Watercolor Society – http://www.kansaswatercolor.com/
Louisiana
Louisiana Watercolor Society – http://www.lwsart.org/
Maryland
Baltimore Watercolor Society – http://www.baltimorewatercolorsociety.org
Western Maryland Watercolor Society http://www.westernmarylandwatercolorsociety.org/
Massachusetts
New England Watercolor Society http://www.newenglandwatercolorsociety.org/index.html
Michigan
Michigan Watercolor Society – http://www.mwcsart.com/
Minnesota
Minnesota Watercolor Society – http://www.minnesotawatercolors.com/
Mississippi
Mississippi Watercolor Society – http://www.mississippiwatercolor.org/
Missouri
Missouri Watercolor Society – http://www.mowsart.com/mainNN.htm
Montana
Montana Watercolor Society – http://www.montanawatercolorsociety.org/
Nevada
Nevada Watercolor Society – http://www.watercolorsociety.com/ –
Sierra Watercolor Society https://www.sierrawatercolorsociety.com/
New Jersey
The New Jersey Watercolor Society – http://www.njwcs.org/index.htm
New Mexico
New Mexico Watercolor Society – http://www.nmwatercolorsociety.org/ –
New York:
American Watercolor Society – http://www.americanwatercolorsociety.com/
Central New York Watercolor Society – http://www.centralnewyorkwatercolorsociety.org
Niagara Frontier Watercolor Society – http://www.nfws.org/
North East Watercolor Society – http://www.northeastws.com/
North Carolina
Watercolor Society of North Carolina – http://www.ncwatercolor.net/
North Dakota
Red River Watercolor Society – http://www.rrws.20m.com/
Ohio
Ohio Watercolor Society – http://www.ohiowatercolorsociety.com/
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Watermedia Association – http://www.watercolorok.com/
Oregon
Watercolor Society of Oregon – http://www.watercolorsocietyoforegon.com/
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Watercolor Society – http://www.pwswc.com/
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Watercolor Society – http://www.riws.org/
South Carolina
South Carolina Watercolor Society – http://www.fineartsemporium.com/scws/SCWS.htm
South Dakota
Northern Plains Watercolor Society – http://npwatercolors.com/
Tennessee
Tennessee Watercolor Society – http://www.tnws.org/
Texas
Society of Watercolor Artists : http://www.swa-watercolor.com/
Southwestern Watercolor Society : http://swswatercolor.org
Texas Watercolor Society – http://texaswatercolorsociety.net/
Watercolor Art Society of Houston – http://www.watercolorhouston.org/
Utah
Utah Watercolor Society – http://www.utwatercolor.net/
Vermont
Vermont Watercolor Society – http://www.vermontwatercolorsociety.com/index.php
Virginia
Virginia Watercolor Society – http://www.virginiawatercolorsociety.org/
Potomac Valley Watercolorists – http://www.potomacvalleywatercolorist.org
Washington
Northwest Watercolor Society – http://www.nwws.org/dnn/
West Virginia
West Virginia Watercolor Society – http://www.wvwatercolorsociety.org/ –
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Watercolor Society – http://www.wisconsinwatercolorsociety.com
Wyoming
Wyoming Watercolor Society
160 W 6th St, Sheridan, WY 82801-3003 Contact Phone: (307) 672-8379
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
#023 Building an Artist Website Part 2
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
Part 2 of our discussion of building an artist website
Notes from our conversation
Absolute Art https://www.absolutearts.com
https://www.absolutearts.com/cgi-bin/portfolio/art/get_art.cgi
Absolute Arts is an online marketplace for artists to sell their unique masterpieces, including paintings and sculptures.
You can sign up as an artist to promote and sell your products.
List up to 20 works of art for free, or you can choose from one of the other subscriptions to list more artwork, have less commission taken from your sales, and access to other features.
The best part is that Absolute Arts can also take care of some of the marketing for you!
Do you want your art on products?
Do you want to be in a fine art gallery?
Do you feel that that having your art on products cheapens your work?
Etsy is craft site dedicated to items that are handcrafted, custom-made, unique, or vintage, painting etc. When it comes to ranking all the marketplace options, many consider it the best place to sell handmade items online.
- Pros: Etsy has been praised for its ease of use, so you can start selling crafts online in no time. It also offers a large customer base of people who are interested in buying unique, handmade items.
- Cons: there’s a lot of competition, which tends to drive prices down. That means it can be a little harder to make money selling crafts online with Etsy. There are also some fees for listing your items and getting access to all the tools Etsy offers. Firstly, Etsy takes a five percent transaction fee when you make a sale. There’s also a $0.20 listing fee for every item you put up for sale. You’ll need to sign up for Etsy Plus to customize your shop page with banners or get featured listings. It currently costs $10 a month, and is set to increase to $20 a month in January 2019.
Easyup https://www.ecanopy.com/craft-show-tents.html
Pro Panels https://www.propanels.com/
Email sites
- Mail chimp https://mailchimp.com/
- Constant Contact https://constantcontact.com/
Wordpress sites
- WordPress.net
- WordPress.org
Be aware that WordPress sites can be vulnerable to hacks so it must be constantly updated
Student sites
- www.Flyingpigdesign.com
- www.Helenbond.com
Clear Bags
- https://www.clearbags.com
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
#022 Building an Artist Website Part 1
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
Do you need a website?
- What are your specific needs?
- Functionality, How you want to show yourself to the world, e-commerce
- Is Support important
- Is it mobile friendly
Website builders to look at
ost varies
- Basic site
- SEO
- SSL security
- Domain
- Ecommerce connects to
- square
- paypal
- stripe
Build Your Brand First
Establishing your brand is an important first step in selling your art online. It’s a chance to show off some of your style and establish who you are as an artist. It also it helps customers connect with you.
At a glance, your brand should give customers an idea of what makes you unique.
ost varies
- Basic site
- SEO
- SSL security
- Domain
- Ecommerce connects to
- square
- paypal
- stripe
Build Your Brand First
Establishing your brand is an important first step in selling your art online. It’s a chance to show off some of your style and establish who you are as an artist. It also it helps customers connect with you.
At a glance, your brand should give customers an idea of what makes you unique.
Picking a domain name
Big decision, choose something that will be easy to find and not too long to type out.
Usually, your name (dot com) or, if that’s not for sale, your name studio (dot com) or your name art (dot com). Make it catchy and easy to find. If your name’s not in the domain, make sure it’s at least featured in the page title so people can still find you on Google!
Wednesday Jan 30, 2019
#021 Students discuss which papers they liked best for the looser painting style
Wednesday Jan 30, 2019
Wednesday Jan 30, 2019
Today we will be discussing the challenges that students had along with what paper types they preferred for the looser painting style along with looking at a few paintings, and how to rework hard edges to get the effects that they want.
The Joy of painting Loose and Free - interactive course
Non-interactive option will be available soon For student discounts Join here for the the mailing list or take a Free course
Have Fun & Happy painting
Birgit
Thursday Jan 24, 2019
#20 Fear and Obstacles
Thursday Jan 24, 2019
Thursday Jan 24, 2019
Let's talk about our fear and obstacles, is it real, or imaginary, do you limit yourself by someones else's idea or projection. Let's take a look.
Friday Jan 18, 2019
#019 Say it out Loud Part 2
Friday Jan 18, 2019
Friday Jan 18, 2019
Continuation of our conversation to "Say it out Loud".
To join an interactive, non-interactive or Free Mini course go to https://birgitoconnorwatercolors.teachable.com
Monday Jan 14, 2019
#018 Say it out Loud Part 1
Monday Jan 14, 2019
Monday Jan 14, 2019
Let's talk about what are your Wildest Creative Goals at this time, everyone has a different idea, they are all relatable and fascinating to hear.
To join the conversation or take a Free mini course go to https://birgitoconnorwatercolors.teachable.com/
Tuesday Jan 08, 2019
# 017 Name your Artistic Goals
Tuesday Jan 08, 2019
Tuesday Jan 08, 2019
Lets start to name some of those 2019 Goals, and say them out loud and discuss how you can obtain them.