Bitty Baby Animals online mini class

Bitty Baby Animals

Come with me on this mini class journey and learn how to create sweet Baby animals using a simple composition, colors, and style. I'll show you how to lay down color for a striking, rich background. We will layer on top with gesso to create a placeholder for our animals. We will be exploring and sketching in our journals beforehand to work on shapes and to decide what animals we want to create.

the details

• $39
• 5 lessons - sketchbook lesson and 4 animal lessons (piglet, elephant, Bitty baby-corn and giraffe)
• Guest Artist Sylwia Gryczuk at @tandiart
• color choices and background work
• i'll talk you through each step....i'm pretty chatty in these videos (I hope you love my southern accent....lol)
• class begins April 10th, 2017

Register

Guest artist - Sylwia of +TandiArt will be creating this stunning Momma and baby Bear dream catcher!

Supply list:

• watercolor set - any set will do. I have used Prima tropical set for this lesson
• 6x6 hard board panels (a quantity of 3 at least)
• stabilo graphite
• catalyst wedge - optional
• lyra graphite stick (you'll see me using prima, but this is a great alternative and easier to find)
• journal or loose paper for idea sketching
• red colored pencil or watercolor pencil
• tiny brush 000 - i use this one (for detail work)

paint colors:

• any colors you love: don't feel like you have to use the exact color (except for quin. nickel azo gold. that color is a must-have for all my classes)
• quin. nickel azo gold (this is really the only color that has no substitutions and what I would consider a must have color)
• blick matte acrylics - green blue light
• golden matte - titanium white, paynes gray
• artist's loft - orange (any orange is fine)
• target colors: seaweed, morning mist, leaf (all of these are interchangeable)
• ceramcoat - salmon

Celebrating my 10 year ETSY-versary!!

March marks my 10 year anniversary of selling my art. I remember, seeing that someone had this thing called an "etsy shop" over on the Art Chix studio website (a place for beautiful collage sheets). I had no idea that there was a dedicated website for everything handmade where you could sell your art. I immediately clicked on the link and it literally changed my life. I knew that I wanted to get started right away with selling my art but the thing is, I didn't know what the heck I was doing....lol (of course I didn't know that then....)

Here are some interesting facts about me and my etsy journey:

• it took me 3 months before I sold a single thing on etsy.
• my first sale was a penguin made with oil pastels
• my third sale was from my mom
• I didn't have a social media presence back in 2007 (was it even a thing back then?) no blog, no instagram, no FB, zilch, nada....
• I was a makeup artist and art student at UALR when I first began selling on line.
• Later in 2009, Etsy featured me in their "Quit your day Job"series
• In March 2010, I was featured seller on Etsy. (kind of a big deal back then....it was a crazy, fun whirlwind!!)

Here is some of my first faces that I sold:

To celebrate my 10 years, I am having a big sale in my shop. 

Just enter code at checkout: BIG10ETSY to save 40% on self-paced classes, prints and select originals. Coupon is good through Monday, March 13th.

dolls by Simplijessi and Boopsy Daisy. 

(paintings behind me, mine)

I was on the cover of Somerset Studio in 2010!!!

My advice for others looking to sell their art online:

• begin! this is the hardest part because it seems so overwhelming with all the steps involved
• list 1 item a day in your shop. by the time a week is up, your shop is filled with beautiful art
• of course the item above means that you'll need to paint often. I try to paint everyday to keep the muscle memory strong. if you don't paint for a week, some of the muscle memory can be lost (at least it is for me)
• don't wait till you have a social media presence, (yes I think things have changed since the early days of etsy and you will probably need to begin thinking of instagram and Facebook but don't let it stop you from beginning)
• list often and refresh your shop with new art