Alice -- Work in Progress

Still working on Alice. I was hoping to get her done this week, but too many things going on. So hopefully today I can finish it up.  I really wanted to participate in Ellen Millions May Sketch Fest today, but no time. http://community.livejournal.com/emglivejournal/3255.html Maybe next year :)

Alice is done in color pencil. I am using mainly Prismas with some Derwent Coloursofts and some  Lyra Rembrandts. The paper is Canson Mi Tientes and it is 6.0" x 8.0"  This piece is part of my new fairy tale series, based on Grimm Fairy Tales and Disneys.

New Work In Progress, Scams and Seminar

New Work In Progress
I had to share my latest work in progress. Color pencil on Canson Mi Tientes. I normally complete the hair first, but I had to put it on hold as I ran out of some greys I needed.
Its the first of my new fairy tale series. This one is inspired by Disney's latest movie "Alice In Wonderland" with Johnny Depp, and Avril Lavigne's new song "Alice". Reference photo by the beautiful Aline Potter http://alinepotter-stock.deviantart.com/  I am hoping to get it finished up this week, so I can start on a new piece for the "Picture Yourself in Wonderland" contest  being put on by Walt Disney Studios. I don't know if I am going to have enough time or not, as the deadline is June 4th. Going to give it a try though, that is if  I can find the right reference photo, for what I am envisioning.
http://news.deviantart.com/article/117360/

Scams
It's pretty scary for all the artists out there in cyberworld at the moment, with all the scams, identity theft, and art theft going on on the internet. I think I receive at least 5 scams a month of people wanting to buy my artwork, but are not legit.
Purchase Scams,  Phishing Scams, Nigerian Art Scam and Gallerie Scams are just some of the type of scams that artists receive monthly. Now the latest type of scam is a student emailing to you tell you, that they are wanting to write a report on you and need some personal information - Phishing.

Here are some warnings and ways to protect yourself from becoming the next victim.

• Avoid emails inquiring about purchasing your artwork that have bad spelling, bad English and vague inquiries.
• Avoid ever giving out any personal information, such as Social Security number, place of birth, passwords, names of your children, mother's maiden name, pet's name and so on.
• Red warning lights should go off, if someone is offering to send you a money order, a cashier's or corporate check in an amount that is greater than the purchase price of your artwork.
• Never ship an artwork out, til the check clears, especially if the purchaser is located outside of your country.
• Insist that you only take payments through Paypal. No money orders or cashier checks. Put the Paypal logo up on your website, as it tends deter predators.
• Avoid Vanity Galleries and Vanity Publications that charge expensive fees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_gallery and  http://www.artcalendar.com/article.asp?ID=145
•  Check galleries and businesses out through the Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce to make sure they are legit.
• Avoid emails from Nigeria period.
• Avoid emails about art awards or art grants, unless you requested the information.
• If you are a victim of fraud, contact the  Internet Fraud Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/ or go to http://www.ftc.gov

Help spread the word about these type of scams and identity theft to help protect other artists.

Seminar
Ann Kullberg has a new seminar that I would really LOVE to attend "The Teacher in YOU Training" seminar. Time to start saving up! You can check out the details here if you are interested  http://annkullberg.com/teacherseminar.php

Miniature Artwork

It's been a challenging past week for me,  I have been working on what I call, my very first miniature work of art, of a black tail deer.  I have much more to learn and much more practicing to do, but I am on my way and I have joined a great group, full of some amazing talented artists http://groups.yahoo.com/group/miniatureart/
I used watercolor and color pencil to do this piece and used my own reference photos. It's 2.5" x 3.5"

You might say, "Well that's the same size as an ACEO and what's so challenging about that?" A lot!  A miniature work of art is a specialty art and has layers of  more fine details,  than an ACEO.  Miniature artwork can range in size from 1.0" x 1.0" to 5.0" x 7.0".  They are to be no more than 1/6th scale of the actual subject and specific art guidelines are to be met with each association.    
Working in color pencil at such a small of scale and fine of detail can be quite challenging as the color pencil tips can break easy and you have got to keep your points sharp at all times. I am thinking, Prismacolor verithins,  might work better for such small of detail, only problem is, the verithins do not have a wide range of colors available, but I plan on testing them out on my next piece.

Some amazing miniature art can be seen at Wes and Rachel Siegrists' site  http://www.artofwildlife.com/

They have two books out "Exquisite Miniatures" and "The World of Nature in Miniature" located here

http://www.artofwildlife.com/miniature_painting_books.html 

Take a look around at their galleries, their works will just blow you away. Truly inspiring, blessed and talented artists.