At the end of this post I have a little announcement. Okay, a BIG announcement – to me, at least. Just in case you get bored with my dribble, go ahead and skip to the end.
Ever since I started painting I have envisioned my art, not hanging on walls, but on stuff. Stuff you use. Aprons, mugs, rugs, notepads . . . stuff.
In the art world, it’s called ‘licensing’. You paint something, companies pay you to use your painting and put it on their stuff and then they sell their stuff. It’s always been a tough world to get into.
Nowadays there is ‘self-licensing’ where you can upload your own art (or photos) and it somehow winds up on stuff. And you can sell the stuff with your art on it.
Which is easier said than done. To sell it, that is. I’m just sayin’ . . .
Ever since I’ve been writing painting tutorials, I wanted people to take their paintings and put them on stuff too. Aprons, table runners, t-shirts. And totebags.
Since tomorrow night is my first painting class I wanted to make some stuff. Or, at least a totebag.
I mean, how hard could it be?
Uh, well . . . harder than I realized, I guess.
But then, this doesn’t surprise me. I’m used to my un-craftiness. I’m used to not being good at things that should be easy. Give me something complicated or complex – now that’s what I’m good at.
It’s not that I’m intellectual or super-intelligent. Just your average Jane-smarts.
But BBH often says, “How can you be so smart and be so dumb?” It sounds like an insult, but it isn’t. He’s right. I don’t do well with simple stuff.
Like iron-on transfers.
So I painted this poppy and dragonfly on canvas a while back.
I shoulda been happy with this ‘craft’ – a handpainted piece of canvas laid into a serving tray.
But, noooo . . . I want to show my students how they can put their art onto stuff. You know, paint it once and then make all kinds of cool stuff. Your own private licensing company. Without the selling. And, well, without the profits too.
But still fun, right? Can’t be that hard, can it?
Iron on transfers. Check.
Size the artwork to fit. Check.
Reverse the image. Check.
Ok, so it didn’t actually matter if this was reversed or not – I just thought I’d follow the directions. Implicitly.
Print the image and let it dry fully. Check.
Iron on a hard surface like a cutting board. Or in my case, a painting board. Check.
Tote bag. Check.
Cover wood board with pillow case. Check.
Cut image out. Check.
Ok, I have to say at this point – This is not rocket science, People! I mean, again, how hard can this be?
Right?
Moving on . . .
Place image side down. Check.
Set iron on hottest setting, no steam, and iron image in circular motion for 15-20 seconds. Check.
Carefully remove transfer backing and . . . UN-CHECK.
When I first lifted an edge for a peek I saw that it hadn’t completely transferred so I carefully put it back down and applied more heat.
No difference.
I went online and read up on the technical details of iron-on transfers.
Nope – I did everything right.
But this is how my art-turned-into-craft looks.
And this is how my painting looks.
If you’re keeping track, this is Day #2 of projects not working out for me.
Now I know this can be done. I’ve seen it done all over the web. I’ve seen it at ball games – kids photos on moms’ shirts. The kids’ faces didn’t have little white pebbly marks all over.
Ah, well. I’ll give it another shot later.
In the meantime, any suggestions for iron-on transfers? Puh-leeze?
And now for my ‘announcement’ -
This goes along with wanting my art on stuff, okay? And the fact that I totally realize that even though I want everyone to pick up a brush and start painting, I know they aren’t gonna.
And the fact that while there might be a lot of people that would like to have custom art and murals, they don’t wanna pay for custom art and murals.
So I think I’ve come up with the next best thing. Or found a product to put my art on.
They’re not decals, yet they stick on walls. Or wood. Totally removable and repositionable. Up to a 100 times. And they don’t leave a mark on the surface.
They’re not vinyl either. They’re made out of ‘fabric paper’.
But here’s the really cool part – the stick-on’s (I haven’t figured out what to call them yet) look like they’re handpainted. By me, I mean. My paintings transformed into stick-on’s.
And here’s the very, very best part – they’re affordable. Seriously affordable. Like they start at under $15-affordable. For a 7’ tall stick-on, it’s under 200 bucks.
I’ve waited to tell you about this until I saw, felt and tried actual samples. I’ve stuck them on nearly everything, including textured walls. Before I put my art on anything, I want to check the quality.
And I like it. Very, very much.
I’m still working on transferring all of my art, as well as painting new images because here’s the deal – you can either order my murals in various sizes, OR, you can order certain parts and create your own mural.
Whaaa?
Okay, take the Dragonflies & Water Lily painting below.
You could order it as it’s painted, in different sizes, or you could order it as Elements – three dragonflies, two bamboo, three lily pads and a water lily.
Why would you order Elements? Because you could put a dragonfly or two over a window, another by a mirror and the water lily and bamboo by the bathtub. Or wherever.
You get what I mean, though, right?
So, yeah, this is really big for me and my art. And hopefully for a lot of people who like the look of handpainted art but can’t afford to hire a muralist.
I have loads of work to do on it still – new paintings, retaking pics of old paintings, deciding which pieces to turn into Elements, deciding what to call the stick-ons!
Got any ideas? I don’t like ‘decals’ because they’re soooo much more. I’d love your input.
Oh! And any suggestions you have for new paintings. What would you stick on your wall? Or your child’s? Kitchen? Bathroom?
That’s it for now. Thanks so much for ‘listening’. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have the gumption to do this, believe me. I’m trying to figure out a blogger sampler campaign. I’ll let you know more as my catalog fills up.
and one last thing -
MMMWWAAAHHH!
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