Tag: support an indie artist

Pet Portraits for Christmas

Posted on by abigailcossetteryan in Animals, artist, Bearded Dragon, birds, brush pen, cats, Christmas, colorwheel, Commissions, dogs, Equine Artist, Etsy, Gifts, Gouache, Holidays, home, home decor, horse, ink, inktense, Pet Portrait, sketches, Uncategorized, watercolors

I can’t believe it’s November. 2022 is nearly over. It was a pretty good year for me in a lot of ways. BUT, this post isn’t about that. This post is about Christmas gifts, because it’s that time of year AGAIN. ALREADY. WHAT.

I wanted to do something I’ve never done before, and that’s offer $25 mini portraits. These are wallet sized pet portraits, done in watercolors, inktense, and brushpen, and shipped straight to you at no additional charge.

The minis are a lot of fun, and I prefer doing fun things with them.

How does it work?

  • Place an order in my Etsy shop. You pay when you place your order. Let me know what I’m painting, tell me your pet’s name.
  • I’ll reach out for a good photo, preferably multiple good photos of your pet.
  • I sketch, then send you the initial sketch for feedback. These portraits are small, so are most likely going to be a bust or headshot.
  • I add color to your pet! My portraits usually don’t include a background of any kind, but sometimes a wash.
  • I will ship your original portrait to you, or to your intended recipient if you prefer, in a cellophane sleeve and a stiff card for protection.

To get a good portrait, I need a good photograph to work from–preferably multiple good photographs.

What makes a photo GOOD?

  • Clear, well lit, photos are best.
  • If you want a flattering portrait, send me a flattering photo.
  • If you want a goofy portrait, send me a goofy photo.
  • Multiple photos help me get a feel for the shape and true color of your pet. Maybe you have a great photo of your dog in action, and that’s the one I use for the primary reference–but I have to use one of the other photos to find out what your dog’s eye color actually is.
  • Multiple photos let me choose the one best suited for modeling, but also allow me to supplement for an even better composition.
  • If you keep a social media account for your pet, feel free to send me that.

What kinds of animals do I paint?

Cautiously, any kind! But, most often I paint birds, horses, dogs, and cats.

  • Framed original watercolor $75
  • Framed original watercolor about 4×6 $100
  • Framed fine art print $100

I make each portrait with a mix of media, primarily the water soluble kind. I combine watercolor, gouache, inktense, and sometimes brush pen, to bring each piece to life. I use a setting spray to protect the work once it’s finished.

Anyhow, that’s my Christmas experiment. Pet Portrait Minis! Be sure to check out my Etsy Shop and order yours!

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The Coffee Cup Critters aka the “Cuppa” Series

Posted on by abigailcossetteryan in Animals, artist, big cats, birds, brush pen, cats, colorwheel, Commissions, Equine Artist, Etsy, Fantasy Art, geek, Gouache, ink, inktense, Redbubble, sketches, tiger, watercolors, wildlife

I really love drawing animals. When I’m stuck for ideas, I find some reference pictures and draw an animal.

And then…..and then I give them a coffee cup.

I don’t know why.

It just makes me happy.

So, here they are (most of them, anyway). I hope they make you happy too!

If you aren’t a coffee person, think of them as giant, steaming, mugs of tea.

Several of these are up on my Redbubble shop already–the rest are pending! I’m also hoping to get some of them as stickers for sale on my Etsy. But that’s a project I’m *just* beginning. Let me know in the comments which ones you think would be the best stickers.

What animals would you like to see cherishing a nice steaming cuppa?

Let me know what you think in the comments, and if you like, subscribe so you won’t miss any art, incredibly profound musings, or other treasures from the Raven’s Landing!

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Art in a Time of X

Posted on by abigailcossetteryan in Animals, artist, Bookish, Equine Artist, Etsy, Fantasy Art, home, Redbubble, RPG, sketches, stir crazy, style, watercolors, writing

I did some sketching on my tablet–it’s been a while. Apparently, i’m better at it than i remember. This looks way better than I remember art on the tablet looking. I’ll have to mess around some more!

The CEO of Tee Public had a great reminder for artists, so I thought I’d share it here:

“Today, you don’t need to be Pablo Picasso and you don’t need to have something poignant to say. But you are an artist. You do have a sword to wield. Can you push through anxiety and find the space to be creative? Can you find your voice and whisper to us, a joke, an idea, or a memory of some better time? “

Adam Schwartz, CEO Tee Public

Read a book, look at art, make art…get out those coloring books, the beads you were going to do something with…If you can’t get outside, you can find solace in art or escape in stories. We’ll do our best to keep you supplied!

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Let me know what you think in the comments, and if you like, subscribe so you won’t miss any art, incredibly profound musings, or other treasures from the Raven’s Landing!

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adventure arabian horse art art for sale birds books character art commission competition dancer DC universe dog portrait dogs Equine Artist flowers food for sale garden gardening geekiness green thumb hand lettering homey things horse horse training IliadHouse ink jumping liberty training love Midas movies paint pet portraits Photography Plants practice Real Estate recipes Smaug style support an indie artist watercolor wildlife writing

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tall ship tattoo design

Posted on by abigailcossetteryan in artist, ink, sailboat, sailing, sketches, tall ships, Uncategorized, watercolors

I have been playing with coasters recently. Yes, that’s the big secret behind most of the circles you will ever see on this blog. It’s probably a coaster or a plate.

I actually own a couple compass tools, but they both live (sensibly) in my studio, and (insensibly) I’m almost never actually creating art in my studio. Sometimes I do. But often I paint at the end of the day, in the evening, sometimes while watching a show or listening to a book, and the light in my studio is not great at night. It takes a special mood.

Or it takes the mood for acrylics. Because those aren’t portable. Not nearly so portable as watercolors.

Anyway. I was messing with circles, and more graphic design-like images because it is stretching for me. I greatly admire those who can make that type of art.

I feel like this piece is really close to how I wanted it to look, but it doesn’t actually look how I wanted. Things got skrewy with the flourishes. Flourishes are hard , you guys.

This makes me think of tattoos, but I think you’d have to be quite clever about placement, given the circle and flourish–or make it smaller. I don’t think I would get it as a tattoo, though.

Maybe if I were a sailor.

For all my appreciation of tall ships, I am not a sailor. I’ve only been out on teeny tiny boats on ponds, and never on a tall ships when it was, you know, actually moving. Though exploring the ships in harbor has always been a lot of fun to me.

I haven’t put this piece on Redbubble, frankly I’m a bit daunted by the thought of the digital clean up process on it 😛 Maybe someday. But you could get an art print if you wanted one, just message me.

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Let me know what you think in the comments, and if you like, subscribe so you won’t miss any art, incredibly profound musings, or other treasures from the Raven’s Landing!

Connect in every other digital way:

adventure arabian horse art art for sale birds books character art commission competition dancer DC universe dog portrait dogs Equine Artist flowers food for sale garden gardening geekiness green thumb hand lettering homey things horse horse training IliadHouse ink jumping liberty training love Midas movies paint pet portraits Photography Plants practice Real Estate recipes Smaug style support an indie artist watercolor wildlife writing

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time. I promise there won’t be many, but you’ll get info about events and paintings for sale and things like that which aren’t really…bloggy.

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galleries

Posted on by abigailcossetteryan in acrylics, Animals, artist, ballet, Ballet, big cats, birds, brush pen, cats, Christmas, colorwheel, Commissions, dancer, Equine Artist, Etsy, fairy, floral, geek, Gifts, Holidays, home, home decor, horse, ink, inktense, mountains, owls, Pet Portrait, Redbubble, songbirds, tiger, watercolors, wildlife

At the end of August I collected the last of my pieces from the Firehouse Gallery and moved them all to–plus a lot more original pieces–to the Leesburg Town Hall. I was in such a rush I didn’t really get pictures of everything once they were on the walls–but they DO look good I think.

All the pieces are for sale, of course. I actually last minute switched out one of the works (my Blue Ridge Mountains) just so I could say that. The Blue Ridge stays with me!

I think one of the hardest things for me to do, as a artist, is put the brush down and let a piece be finished. I did that with the Blue Ridge, and it is just so pretty.

pure ultramarine

Here is the one picture I have of the arrangement in the town hall lobby:

It was also cool, then night we held an opening during First Friday Leesburg, to see so many of my products on display. Most of them owned by my very supportive mother–but some of them are mine.

I have these gorgeous painted boots you can see in the back there–not for riding anymore, if ever–perfect for a Kentucky Derby Party, or maybe a Steeple chase tailgate. I have a couple more pairs needing painting, I should probably paint them all up and then list them all at once instead of dripping them out into the world.

Also, you should know: Product pictures are a thing. There are moments when I think, “OH! I can totally do that.” and others, usually when I am holding a camera, when I realize that it is MUCH harder than it looks. Hats off to all you product picture people. Good work!

The exhibit runs to the end of Nov, you should swing by the Leesburg Town Hall if you happen through Northern VA. The downtown is incredibly cute, lots of great food and fun shops, plus, you know, this really awesome art exhibit by this artist you follow on the internet.

I’ve already started thinking about Christmas and I’ll be planning out time to paint. If you’re interested in a commission piece, they are shockingly affordable and make amazing presents. If you aren’t sure about something, just ask me.

You can hit me up here, or go straight to my Etsy shop and place an order there.

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