Butterflies as Autumn Arrives!

Fun design trick to try, in this video begins August 18th.

I just finished up entering 2 design competitions on Spoonflower.com.  One is with Moda fabric company - Botanical Sketchbook - and the other is 1 yard with 4 different butterfly themed designs in each quarter.  You can see my entry, here, for each contest.
Butterflies by the Yard
Butterflies and Lotus Pods
(the repeating design that caused the next part of this post - a video for you to try it out too!)

Because of the design I wanted to submit, I ran up against a design skill that I don't use much as most of my fabric has been banners, panels, or pillows that fit a fat quarter or yard.  For the butterfly competition, however, I wanted to create a repeating design that was larger than a swatch, but not an entire fat quarter.  In other words, I had to relearn to step-and-repeat a design.  This trick - using only paper and scissors - helps explain the concept of step-and-repeat, or creating a continuously repeating design.  So, I created a video, testing out the trick to show how to create your own wallpaper.

Autumn isn't far away!  See the Autumn Leaf Faery's dress (starting August 22nd) with acorn cap crown and the upcoming Harvest Moon Faery (Sept. 22), here at The Faerie Project page of this blog.

Art By The Book - Reviews

Do you ever see art books that you simply must have just to find that they were a waste of your time?  I've started a series on my channel called Art by the Book where I show one of the step-by-step exercises from the book on video.  That way, you can see if a featured art book holds the type of art and training you were looking for, and also the difficulty level of the demonstrations.  Usually the claim I try to prove or disprove is in the subtitle.  In my reviews, I try to show if the book lives up to its promise.  Viewers can also get an idea of how much success to expect in a short of an amount of time - sometimes with even the first workbook demonstration.

The truth is, I haven't put any books I don't like on the channel or the blog - I just don't have time to video a book that didn't provide any results that it promised.  I do have one example book on the blog - what I think you can use to try to avoid a frustrating purchase and time spent with a bad workbook. The trick to finding an art book that works for you as a guide - or even  bible - is determining where you are starting and what you need to get where you want to be. The blog is called Art by the Page and my Youtube channel playlist of book reviews is called Art by the Book.  Have a look and find a book - it could be just what your art needed.

New Work with Crayons - Wax Resist - and More Art Journal Experiments

Looking for more updates as to my art from the home-studio? Subscribe to my vlog! I have new content each week with lots of tips, tricks, and experiments. Watch to see which ones to add to your arts and crafts before spending any time or money hunting down supplies. Also, read my new audiobooks reviews with book quotes and craft to go with the theme. Listening to audiobooks adds to the crafting time flying by, and these reviews are fiction, middle grades to young adults, fantasy and faerie genres. Crafting A Review Subscribe New videos every Tuesday and Saturday.

A Gallery Of Sorts

I just added a new shop - supposed to be a gallery - for the paintings I do to create fabric designs, book illustrations, and just for the things I like to create! This little mini-Etsy reveals a sample of the 18 active listings now in my shop. Where is it? Etsy.com! I haven't had any luck with the basement (detached) studio idea, and what was in my yard for fair weather art shows has been torn down. It is my hope that this shop will not zero out as all the other things I've done online have been determined to do. But the google analytics number has been compromised. I know you care and it is reciprocated!! Please do visit the shop: RavenArtGallery for a closer look or something to buy. 

Original paintings are priced with hourly painting/drawing, art supplies, and the cost of listing and promotion, shipping, and packing - so they are more pricey as they are a 1 time, artist signed, deal. Most are available in prints, which do not take as much time to create (reproductions of the originals), so their price is based on creating the print - ink, paper, processing - and shipping, framing, matboard, and retail listing.

My newest product  is a little twist on the older banners that many people already have. They are a little piece of artwork on a banner, rather than a canvas. Custom orders are accepted. There is the usual assorted oddity that I am known to create - especially at odd times, for me, like these. Gnomes, owl dolls, and my new Yoga Mat Sack kits. Retro Apron Wrap Dresses are something I have been working on, but am not quite able to yet provide for the shop.  They are gorgeous colors and designs that I hope to be able to stock in the shop by summertime.

Celebrate Spring with a new banner for your home, or art on eco-canvas. Shop Raven Art Gallery

The Faerie Project is Underway

I haven't updated in a while - in fact The Faerie Project is halfway done!  This August video will be The Autumn Leaf Faery Dress with Acorn Cap Crown.  The second part is also in the same video - which is the stand that the dress hangs from, although the dress could hang from a hook, or pull, or knob, or the ceiling.  Its as gorgeous as autumn in all the vibrant colors and the wings are made of leaves.  In the video, I mention a recipe to preserve leaves to keep them soft and pliable, but I have added it before the release of the video on August 22nd on my blog with Art Supplies I use in my videos.

Link to the video on August 22nd and after:

A Request From This Studio

I am trying to get my Facebook page to achieve the 'goodies' that Insights offers.  So, I need LIKES to my studio page: Raven Art Studio.

This page isn't exciting - not yet - I have plans for better games, apps, and interactivity with Insights.  Your help has been appreciated over the years.

Happy V-day Weekend!!

I Finally Got My Seasons Right

The other day, I spontaneously decided to paint sunflowers for my new design - in the middle of winter.  This mixed-up notion, at long last, set me right.  In this cold weather, when swimsuit models are being flown out to warmer lands for their photo shoots and outerwear is already a by-gone seasonal must-have, I actually planned ahead according to the world of textiles and fabric.  Yay me!!
As for gardening - which the new design is about - its season is only a sigh away.  The design will have a second piece to it, but for now, it is a banner (in fabric) from Sunflowers and Bugs.  I have done lots of vlogs about this piece (sunflower milk, anyone?) so take a moment to have a look at this fabric design process, or join in! I hope these vlogs encourage you: