DAY 20 of 30 - NESTING CIRCLE

NESTING CIRCLE by Sea Dean 12 inch diameter $125 (unmounted)

This was an experiment all the way. I had read somewhere that it was possible to mix acrylic paint with chalk paint, so I wanted to give it a go. I grabbed a round canvas board, just because it was easiest at hand. I added crackle and painted the edge so it could be hung without framing.

I will probably mount this on a hidden square birch cradle, but other options include gluing another identical canvas to the back, mounting in a needlework ring, ordering a 12” round frame, mounting onto a larger square birch cradle or mounting onto the same size round birch cradle.

Painting in the round isn’t easy; do you totally center the composition or off center it? If you off center, how do you balance the lopsidedness and how off center should you go. I remember when I first started painting on square canvas I had the same problem. I think the answer in this case is to triangulate.

30DCG2020  and ODP

Finally Frida VII

I’ve been looking back over my posts last year and I realized that I gave a sneak peek at Frida VII while she was in studio, but never the completed version. She was as much a handful for me as the real life Frida, but after 6 months of work she was complete. I think this is my best painting to date, my Masterpiece, so if I died tomorrow I could say I achieved my 10 year goal.

On the back I quoted Frida Khalo “Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” And I think that sums up how I feel about my work heading into 2020. I took time off to spend with my Mum in 2019, but I’m back and excited about what is yet to come!

Thank you all for your continued readership, it means the world to me.

Progress shots

The Off Season

WE ARE STARDUST by a Sea Dean

I recently read a blog talking about the “Off Season”. I have always looked forward to my studio off season so I can check inventory, handle paperwork, revamp web presence and work on ideas I simply don’t have time for the rest of the year. However, times are changing. One of the points the blog brought up, is that the internet has no off season, that alone should be why some of our marketing attention should be given to our online presence. I know many artists dislike marketing and often they don’t have the skills (or think they don’t) to sell through the internet, but in 2020 it really shouldn’t be ignored.

I’m all for keeping it simple and the simplest way to market your art on the internet is to find a platform that does most of the work for you. If you choose a strong online gallery, they hire experts to handle website building, marketing and accounting and all you have to do is produce art that catches the buyers eye and supply great images of it to the online gallery.

High profile bricks and mortar galleries charge up to 60% commission to cover overheads and make an income. Many artists make the mistake of thinking that an online gallery has lower overheads, but if they are doing a good job that just isn’t the case. Often artists tend to opt for platforms that are free or inexpensive, but it’s important to realize that they need money to hire the experts; the less that comes in, the less likely they can afford to do a good job.

There are several types of online gallery ...
1.  Completely free giving the appearance they are just there to help.
2.  Charge a monthly fee.
3.  Free to join, but charge commission on anything they sell.
4.  Hybrid, with a small monthly fee and a small commission.
5. Attached to a bricks and mortar gallery.

1. Don’t be fooled, if an online gallery is free, they get money from somewhere to make an income. It could be selling pop up advertising, selling your information, or enticing you to purchase their more expensive options by giving limited options for free.

2. Charging a monthly fee gives the platform committed money they can rely on to spend on marketing, website building and talented staff.

3. Taking commission on sales is the traditional way to sell art and makes a lot of sense to the artist because they only get paid if they sell your work. From the online gallery standpoint it is risky, so they are likely to hold back from spending on marketing etc.

4. Hybrids make the best business sense on both sides of the equation because the artist can expect more for their regular payments and the platform has a reliable source of income for growing the business and supporting their artists.

5. In 2020 bricks and mortar galleries must have a regularly updated online presence and marketing plan or it’s unlikely they will survive. If your storefront gallery doesn’t have this I would give serious thought to whether you wish to work with them. Your work needs to be visible to sell, not under your bed or showing in a gallery with limited vision.

Having been on both sides of the issue, I have absolutely no qualms about paying the experts to market my work: I would rather pay someone than spend 90% of my time doing it myself. That way I get to spend my art time exploring my talent rather than sitting on a computer stressing over things I am not an expert in.

What do you think? I always love to hear from my readers, both artists and art lovers alike. Please take a moment to check out the many links on my blog and give you opinion on that too if you like. Thanks for dropping by.

Sea

Art Pricing Woes

DESERT WIND by Sea Dean

I just read a really valuable blog and when I was adding my comment I realized both the blog and my comment would make a valuable post.

Myths and Misconceptions of the Art World | Myth #4 – Lower Art Prices = More Sales

My Comment

“This is a brilliant post and something many artists need to take to heart. 

I live in a country, retirement and tourist area and the market is flooded with craft shows and artists on pensions who price their work to cover costs, or even less to clear out their under-bed storage. I am a classically trained artist that returned to my roots after a career in business, so initially I fell into the standard marketing traps that Jason has mentioned. I priced my work low to develop a market. Back then my techniques were rusty and I was painting upwards of 250 small works a year to hone my skills. I sold work, but nowhere near as fast as I thought it should sell at those prices. I was in the mass market with hundreds of other art crafters in the area and I was exhausted. 

Over the years I have worked tirelessly on niche marketing and understanding the luxury market. There is a mass of opinion out there to wade through, but Jasons is the most accurate I’ve found. I can add two things, that in order to sell your work you must find a way to create VALUE, regardless of price. Size matters: It takes as much time, if not more, to create a miniature as it does a large painting, but a buyer is more willing to pay that price for an impressive size. BE UNIQUE; most selling artists are talented, but if two similar paintings are on offer, the buyer will go for the more unique style, technique or color combination even if it is more expensive. 

Lastly, make sure you value your own uniqueness, don’t be afraid to ask a price that makes a statement, gives your work stature and you a decent income. For some genre such as landscape or portrait you must be technically talented, but for most modern styles of art, knowledge comes secondary to things like wow factor, curiosity and even quality materials. It has taken me 50 years to figure this all out, I hope you benefit from my hard won learning.”

The Simple Life Shines

I’m pleased to announce that Artfinder has selected THE SIMPLE LIFE for an editorial collection. INSPIRED BY THE GREATS. I’m very proud that my work stands out from thousands of other works from artists around the world. It is a painting that was challenging to create and do justice to Mark Rothko who inspired me. It is one of my personal favorites from the recent solo exhibition 150 YEARS OF ABSTRACT. It can be purchased via Artfinder here. And the collection can be viewed here.

It is strange that I had just selected this painting for a totally unrelated advertising campaign. Big brother is watching! Today I’m selecting more ‘Paint a Masterpiece’ works for my Artfinder gallery.

Artist of the year

Have you seen the UK TV shows “Landscape Artist of the Year” and “Portrait Artist of the Year” on PBS? I LOVE them. Cant get enough of them. I have them recorded and whenever I’m feeling down they are my go to. Every time I watch I’m so inspired.

For a few weeks now I’ve been thinking about my fathers’ annual garden. In our parts we’ve passed through the (yellow flowers) season, the luscious (pink flowers) and now we have lilac. My father loved his lilacs, white, deep purple and light lilac. He also had a pagoda outside my bedroom window where he had carefully trained wisteria to drape. so I’ve been planning a wisteria painting in his honour and finally got around to it, right after watching one of the ‘Artist’ shows. It still needs a bit of tweaking, but I like the splashes of sunlight and the impression of movement in the blooms.

Lake Rondo

Lake Rondo 12” Round Canvas Panel - $125 USD

This was going to be an abstract, but adding the tree brought it back into the realm of landscape. The foreground and the tree have a lot of thick paint texture which serves to bring it forward to the feet of the viewer. The painting comes with a cord on the back to hang it. It is painted on 12” round canvas board and can be mounted or framed if you wish.

Into the light - Final Version

This is the final version of “Into the Light”, a commanding certerpiece to my upcoming solo exhibition. I had excellent feedback from two internet artist friends whose work I admire greatly, Marion Hedger (www.artbymarion.uk) and Sheila Delgado (www.sheiladelgado.com): The resulting painting is something I am proud to sign my name to.

The adjustments were very minor. First I eliminated dots and lines which had strayed too close to the edge, leading the eye away from the center of interest. The most important eliminations were some bright green lines above the figure, and one suggesting a face which was too bold and distracting. Another important elimination was the bright corner bottom left which has just been blended with the rest of the red area.

Of course I could keep adjusting forever, but that would I overwork and result in a watered down version lacking pizzaz. Not me at all.

Into the Light will be on show with all my other latest works, from April 20th at Lake Country Coffee House on Bottom Wood Lake Road, Lake Country, BC, Canada.

Summer Breeze V?

If you’ve been following me for a while you may recognise this painting. It has gone through many versions and many color palettes over the last few years: I was never quite saisfied though.

In this version I like the fresh breezy feeling. I’m pleased with the impression of cloud shadows throughout the scene and the sparkle on the water. Some of our beaches have shallow water which encourages rippling waves from wake like these, and the shadow under the tee looks like a good place to read an e-book and enjoy some down time.

I have a submission coming up in a couple of months, which calls for pet paintings and I may add a dog here running along the shoreline. For now this painting can be purchased on Artfinder, sans dog, or I could even add your pet pal.

Frida Khalo Series - #6

I see no reason to stop painting Frida Khalo just yet. Each portrait is a constant source of facination and learning. You will notice that the portraits are becoming less graphic and more like a real person. I observe closer and deeper, I am getting more in touch with Frida the person and further from Frida the icon.

I am also changing up different aspects of the creation: Changing the type of canvas, the color palette,  the means of preparation and texture. It’s impossible to be bored by the process or the series. I suppose I could accurately copy one of the earlier versions in the series, but where’s the fun in that?

My ultimate quest is not to make an accurate rendition, but to somehow capture the essence of her being. To add a certain something that cannot be described, but helps the viewer know her better, even without knowing who she is.

Presenting ... Frida VI - 16” x 20” on deep Gallery Wrap Canvas - available here

Sea Dean Solo 2018 - Lake Country Coffee House

Sea Dean Annual Solo
18 August - 15 September 2018

Lake Country Coffee House
10356 Bottom Wood Lake Road (Next to Lake Country Art Gallery)
Lake Country BC Canada

7am - 4pm Daily (8am Sundays)
Sea will be on site during Art Walk 8 and 9 September

I’ve been going at break neck speed to get ready for this exhibition. Almost every piece is new, and this year I have many large works including Oil, Acrylic, Mixed Media, Digital and 3D. I will be available all weekend during Art Walk, so you can ask about the inspiration for your favorite pieces. And if the weather co-operates I may even be giving some demos. Drop in and meet the artist.

If at first ..... Summer Breeze

SUMMER BREEZE 24” x 36” 

For a professional artist, one of the pressing questions is always what to do with paintings that have been shown extensively and not sold. Non-artists tend to assume that paintings sell soon after creation, but fellow artists will concur that is not the case. I just sold a painting from 2014, and that’s not uncommon. Depending on the size and depth of your work, storage can be a massive headache, especially if you have over 10 years excess.

Artists deal with the situation in many ways. I heard a story that Claude Monet once used a painting to patch his canoe. Other artists have used them to mend leaky roofs or burned them for warmth in the winter. Some artists have radical sales, gesso over and repaint, give to charity shops, or just have a cathartic rip and tear session. I tend to accumulate and occasionally tweak as my skills develop (hence the need for a store room).

Regular visitors to my blog may recognise this painting because it has been tweaked many times. I have loved each stage of this work, but the public has passed by. I believe it has good bones and just hasn't suited anyone’s decor and pocket book. The great thing about acrylic paint is there is no concern about cracking and no limit to the depth of paint, as there is with oil. Therefore, paintings like SUMMER BREEZE tend to accumulate a thick layer of paint, medium and gel, giving a fashionable and intriguing surface texture.

I suspect that this is exactly how Monets early works gained such depth of surface; how interesting it would be to x-ray through the layers to see the progression of composition and color before those paintings sold for millions. Below are a couple of previous versions of SUMMER BREEZE so you can see my thought progression.

SUMMER BREEZE can be viewed from 19 August at Lake Country Coffee House, Bottom Wood Lake Road, Lake Country, BC.

Solo Exhibition of Sea Dean new works
Lake Country Coffee House
during business hours
19 August - 17 September 2018
(including during Art Walk)

Cool Exercise in Abstract

Some of my abstracts

I came across a fun exercise blogged by Jacqueline Newbold, for loosening up and playing with abstract ideas. I’m definitely going to give this a go. If you try it out, contact me and I’ll post your painting on this blog.

Loosen Up Warm Up

This came at a perfect time when I’m considering a collaboration with a local designer who sells large abstract paintings to clients. I immediately came up with a collage of some of my abstracts to send off to him. I would love to do some large abstracts now I finally have the right creative space.

UNICAN

UNICAN
10" x 10" Mixed Media Collage
Deep Gallery Wrap Canvas
$150

Available at Gallery 97.
Peachland, B.C.
Canada
www.gallery97.ca

As promised, here is my submission for the "Proud to be Canadian" Exhibition at Gallery 97. Exhibition closes In October.

Summer Breeze Exhibition Painting

SUMMER BREEZE II
36" x 24" Deep Gallery Wrap Canvas



I've been working on this painting for a couple of months. It's one of those paintings that took its own sweet time declaring itself done. I think I had to wait for a nice sunny spring day to feel in the mood to get the colors perfect.

This is one I would like to keep for myself, but it is needed for a submission and if I choose not to submit it will either go to Skyway Kelowna Airport or Ritchcraft Gallery in Kelowna Mission district. However, it is currently for sale at Daily Paintworks, so if you love it, snap it up before it leaves the studio.

Venus - Progress shots

VENUS
Acrylic on 40cm x 60cm Canvas
Masterpiece Commission
Botticelli "Birth of Venus" detail

I usually just launch into an acrylic painting freehand, but with a masterpiece commission I'm a little more cautious. First I mark the canvas into about 16 squares along the edge with a neutral mid tone color like raw sienna or yellow ochre. Then I paint a main outline using the sections as a guide and paying attention to negative spaces.

I've been traveling with watercolors and the only acrylics I could obtain locally were thinly pigmented, so In this case I chose to build up the image in acrylic washes. For the sky I used two light washes of Ultramarine and Phthalo Blue.

I don't work top to bottom or background to foreground in any particular order as you need to in oil, because acrylics dry so fast. Here I laid in the darkest dark in a thin wash of Ivory Black, then went to the lightest light of the face, starting with a light wash of Vermillion, then a little Titanium White which was so thinly pigmented that it was almost mixing white. Lastly I painted a very light wash of Cadmium Yellow Light, adding some detail in the hair and eyes in Ivory Black.

Next I worked on the hair with layers of wash and line in Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Light and Burnt Umber. For the fine lines I used a fan brush. I made a few corrections to the face and eyes, whiting out dark spots with Titanium White and acrylic gesso and then adding corrections.

Lastly I worked on the right hand side of the hair using the same wash methods as the left side.

More tweaking to the all important right side of the hair.

Now the fine tuning of the features and hair. This is the part that takes time. I used a small round brush for the lines and an angle flat brush for the modelling washes. These were a bit of a nightmare because with acrylic paint a wet layer over a drying layer lifts the paint below. The only acrylic paint that works like oil in this respect seems to be Atelier Interactive, which is European, but available on the internet. If I had some of that I could have made one even light wash and it's longer drying time and reactivating quality would have helped with the hot climate here. I ended up using a stippling stroke, basically adding a light wash only to the dips in the canvas weave. This was very time consuming, but it gave a sort of weathered look to the painting. I have to admit that this made me feel like I was communing with Leonardo da Vinci and I certainly learned a lot about portraiture.

The final step was to coat the hair and features with a thin wash of my low pigment Titanium White. This softened all the Cadmium and gave the painting a slightly aged and faded look. Lots of work, but I really love how it turned out.

Voila!

U100 SHOW - The Lake

THE LAKE

10" x 20" Birch Cradle

Available at LCAG U100 Show

I am so proud that the Mayor of Lake Country, James Baker, selected this painting for his personally curated wall in the show. The view is a familiar one of Wood Lake taken from the bench between Wood Lake and Okanagan Lake. I'm hoping this ens up somewhere in the municipal offices.

The U100 Show takes place every year at Lake Country Art Gallery. This year there are nearly 1,000 works under 100 square inches and priced under $100. It will take the exhibition team over a week to prepare and hang this amazing collection. 

For enthusiastic early birds, the exhibition opens Saturday 19th November. Saturday and Sunday are hectic as buyers flood in to see small works by some of the top artists in the area and red dots flow as paintings are snapped up as gifts. I will be at the gallery both afternoons to assist buyers and answer questions. 

For last minute shoppers, this year the show closes December 21st but it's best to come early. In previous years we've sold a large portion of paintings in the first few days of the show and because buyers are allowed to take paintings off the walls, we have a fresh intake of art after the first week to fill spaces. 

SUNDOWN

SUNDOWN
by Sea Dean
10" x 12" Deep Wrap Canvas
Available at Artfinder

I love the sunsets of summer and this is no exception. There are layers of purple, violet, red, maroon, hot pink and yellow with tiny glints of reflected light in the water. It was inspired by a photo I took at 30,000 feet over Georgia Strait in British Columbia.

ORCHID WATER II by Sea Dean

ORCHID WATER

10" x 10" Deep Gallery Wrap Canvas

On the move to Artfinder

This dynamic painting is far more suited to Artfinders Urban professional buyers than to Daily Paintworks patrons. So it's on the move along with most of my abstracts, sculptures and collage.

PARADISE I

PARADISE I
by Sea Dean
12" x 9" Canvas Mounted on Cradle
Ready to Hang
Available in my Artfinder Shop

This is a mixed media piece in the Affordable Series. It includes multiple layers of paint and texture, which bring depth and dimension to the work. A tasteful amount of gold and textural words top it off. This is a painting which must be seen to appreciate it's full beauty. Many more to come in this series.

The series was called "Affordables" because originally the paintings shipped as rolled canvas sheets, which are inexpensive to ship. However, some have now been mounted on deep birch cradles with the edges painted to match. These pieces are experimental in nature and demonstrate my passion for free flowing, intuitive abstract.

Paradise found!