One Artist's Journey

Would you like to win one of the paintings I do during the “100 paintings in 100 Days” challenge? Well, you can. All you need to do is tweet me the title and link of your favorite painting I have painted during the 100 day challenge and you may win that painting on New Years Day.

How to win an original painting in seven easy steps!

1) Visit http://oneartistsjourney.com/ or http://shaunellsworth.com/ (Make sure you look at the “100 paintings in 100 days” gallery on shaunellsworth.com) and pick your favorite paintings
2) Then go to http://oneartistsjourney.com/
3) Click on the “Twitter” link in the top right corner of the home page.
4) It will take you to Twitter.com. If you have an account, great. If you don’t, set one up. It is free.
5) You should land on my Twitter page for “shaunartist.” If you don’t, go to http://twitter.com/shaunartist
6) In the top left, just under my picture, is a “follow” button. Click on it.
7) Next, hit “home” and make a post under “What are you doing?” Tell us which of my paintings you like. Include a link to the page with the photo of the painting you like. Get the link by clicking on your favorite painting and then copying the address in the browser window.

It should look something like this:

I like Shaun Ellsworth’s painting “Fields.” You can see it at http://oneartistsjourney.com/2009/10/one-month-is-past/

(Remember, you have 140 characters to get your message across, so you may need to adjust what you say. Twitter will probably shorten the link part for you.)

And now you are entered to win your favorite painting! Once you “follow” me, I will “follow” you and all your tweets of all your favorite paintings will be entered in the drawing.

You can enter as many times as you want, but only one per painting title per day.

Answers to all your questions

What are you doing?
I am painting 100 paintings in 100 days. This challenge will end on New Years Eve, 2009. I would love to give away a painting to a fan to celebrate the end of the challenge.  If you are reading this, I hope you are a fan – and I hope you win a painting.

The winner of the contest will win an original painting, ready to be framed. This isn’t a print or reproduction of any kind. The winner will get the real deal. And it will be ready for you to pick out your favorite frame at Aaron Bros. or Michael’s.

Is there a Catch?
Of course there is a catch! I want to start some online buzz by having people tweet about my art. That is where you come in. You tweet about my art and tell the world about your favorite painting and that tweet counts as one entry in the contest.

But that is the ONLY catch, I am even going to pay for shipping inside the US. If you are out of the US, you will need to pay the difference between what it will cost to ship domestic and international.

What are the Rules?
In order for the contest to be valid, at least 100 people must “follow” me and post at least one “favorite painting” tweet. You can find out how many people are following me by going to my Twitter page at: http://twitter.com/shaunartist

It would benefit you to tell your friends about this contest so we make sure and reach the 100 followers number. I purposefully set the number low so I can give away a painting.

Your tweet must follow the format. “1) I like/love/adore/dream of owning, etc. 2) Shaun Ellsworth’s painting, (Painting Title). 3) Link (url) of page with the picture on it. The link should be from either from http://oneartistsjourney.com or http://shaunellsworth.com . You can just copy the link from the address bar in your browser when you are on the page of your favorite painting.

Check the websites often because I will be posting new paintings weekly. You might change your mind and want a newer painting. Tweet about the newer painting and it will become another entry for you. Then if you change your mind and an old tweet of yours wins, you can still get the latest favorite painting that you tweeted about – if it is available.

I say “If it is available” because I am constantly entering these paintings in exhibitions, trying to sell them. So if one that you want sells before the end of the contest, I am sorry, but you will need to pick another painting.

EXCITING REFERRAL BONUS
If you tell a person about this contest and that person wins, you can also win a painting. So if you have a blog and talk about this contest and someone who reads your blog wins, you can also win a painting. Because I have no way to track this, the only thing I can do is ask the winner how they heard about the contest. We will have to go by what they say to award the second painting. The REFERRER must also have entered the contest to be eligible to win the second painting.

IMPORTANT
Remember, this is a contest. ONE person WILL win. YOU might not win. If you really love a painting, don’t wait to win it. Please buy it. And then if you win, you can win another painting and have a set. Good idea, huh?

Questions
If you have any questions, please contact me by leaving a comment under this post. That way, when I answer your question, it will become part of my “Frequently Asked Questions” and perhaps will help someone else. I will also email you a personal answer if you leave your email address.

Small Print
As always, contest rules subject to change at any time.

Pricing is HARD.

On the one hand you want to make as much money as you can, right? So you want to price your artwork high. I also want to brand myself as a serious artist and serious artists charge high prices for their art. You see a $300 price tag and think, “Oh, it is a hobbiest painter.” You see a $5,000 pricetag and you take that artist seriously, whether they are any good or not. If they aren’t good, you wonder what you are missing, right?

On the other hand, if you don’t price your work so your audience can buy it, then you won’t sell anything… and 0% of 0 is still 0.

I am new, my work is still fairly small and I want to sell what I am making. All signs point to lower price. So I brought myself to mark it at $297. I guess I could go to $247. But much lower than that, and it is kind of like, “What’s the point?” Except that I love to paint. hmmm….

Here is my art. "Autumn Valley" and "Sailboats" - the two on the left. They are hanging in the "East Wing" which is a fancy way to say "the big studio room off the main gallery."

Today I sat in the Redlands Art Gallery. It was the first of my two days to sit.

Lynn, a real sweetheart who makes great jewelry, was my trainer. We had a crazy, busy morning, but I learned how to use the system. We have a new POS system and everyone is learning how to use it.

We had a lot of interesting visitors come to the gallery and we sold a few things. It was a good day. I lowered my price for the two paintings I entered. I started at $600, then thought better of it and on Saturday I dropped by and brought it down to $400 and then today, I was still thinking about it and dropped the price to $297. Let’s get this thing sold and make some Christmas money!

Kanji #4 - 12” x 12” Acrylic on Masonite - This is the painting that sold.

I am so excited!!!

Today I reached a milestone. I sold my first painting on ebay. I told you I posted 5 paintings online about a week ago. There was a free deal where I could post 5 things for free. So I did.

I posted 5 of the kanji series. This morning, I was reading my email and got the news from eBay that the auction was over. And I didn’t sell the painting – do I want to relist? I got 4 of those, but then the 5th one said “Your eBay item sold! Contemporary Abstract Asian Kanji Acrylic Painting” How cool is that!?

So what did I do? I went out and spent 3 times what I made in supplies! Go figure!

Finally got around to setting up accounts on some online art galleries. I had to look around for some free ones – which I eventually found.

Oh, and I posted 5 paintings on Ebay last night too. They are cheap on ebay. If you are interested, I put the five Kanji paintings up for $47 each. See link below.

Here is a list of the online art galleries I am now a part of:

My Zatista online gallery: http://store.zatista.com/shaunellsworth

My d’Art online gallery: http://www.fine-art.com/shaun-artist

My “About Me” page on Ebay:
http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=shaunartist

My Artbreak gallery (Be careful. Even with the adult filter ON, some gets by. Sorry): http://www.artbreak.com/shaunartist

I realize I have a problem if I want to be a professional artist. I don’t think I like selling my paintings (my babies). Painting/creating is such a personal matter that I think it is hard for me to sell my creations.

If that is the case, then I am going to have a difficult time being a professional artist. So, I need to come up with a mind game that helps me to be able to sell my paintings.

I could use the money – yes.
I like it when other people appreciate what I create – yes.
I want my paintings to have a good home – yes.
There is no way in the world I can display all my paintings myself – yes.
If my house burned down, all my art would go with it. If I sell it, I am spreading out the risk so that something would survive – yes. (Don’t laugh, I think the weirdest little concept is what will do it for me!)

If any of you reading this have an answer to my problem, please let me know in the comments on this page. I read all the comments you send, even if I don’t reply back.

Please don’t let this post discourage anyone from buying a piece of art from me. Perhaps you can be part of the cure.

Abstract #6" - 12" x 12" Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas board - $150

I went “down the hill” today to visit my friend Barry. I walked into the furniture store he works at and met the owner’s wife.

I introduced myself and she said, “Oh, you’re Shaun, the ceramist!”

“Wow. I am known!,” I thought.

Anyway, she works in glass and needs some molds made. I haven’t made any glass molds before, but I am sure I can.

We talked about glass and how she works with it. It is all new to me, but I think it would be a blast to do some glass work.

What she does is layers the glass with clear glass and colored pieces. She sets it on the mold (of a bowl or plate) and heats it until the glass fuses and slumps into the mold.

It is pretty cool.

She said I was welcome to use her kiln any time!!! I might just get back into ceramics. I will probably trade a glass mold for kiln time.

I prefer a wood burning kiln, but beggars can’t be choosers, right?

Before I left, I mentioned that I am also a painter. She offered to let me put my work up on the walls of their furniture store! Wow, a place to exhibit. Cool. They show by appointment only, so there isn’t a lot of traffic, but one store can open the doors to more.

"Dwellings Series #1" - 14" x 11" Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas board - $100

Went shopping today.

Went to Barnes and Noble and got an ARTnews magazine. Paid $6 so I can subscribe for $20 and get a whole year. I should have just take the subscription card! Oh well, it gives me something to read in the bathroom.

Then I saw another book, Expressive Drawing: A Practical Guide to Freeing the Artist Within by Steven Aimone and just had to get it. I am going to use his lessons in the book as my assignments and perhaps that will get me rolling. I owe Christina a new pair of pants now because this wasn’t on my shopping list.

Then I went to Michael’s and they were having a sale. 40% off stretched canvas. I almost bought armloads of them but then reminded myself, I paint to roughly to use stretched canvas. And besides, I don’t have that kind of money. You know, starving artist and all. I ended up with some woodless pencils, woodless color pencils and watercolor pencils. And a few of those canvas panel boards to get started with. I plan to get some masonite because it is cheaper and I can cut a bunch out of a 4′ x 8′ piece.

It is a 30 minute drive for me to go shopping, so I looked online and found a place called Dick Blick Art Supplies. They sell art supplies and will pay your shipping if your order is big enough. I haven’t compared prices yet, but it looks like they have some pretty good specials. If you want to check them out, you can here.

I went to Lowe’s to get the masonite or “hard board.” $12 bucks for 4′ x 8′ piece. I got two and had the guy chop them up into managable pieces that would fit in my car. I don’t know what sizes I will chop them up into when I get home. I guess I should look at standard frame sizes, so I don’t make it too hard for my customers and force them to get custom frames.

Got home and started painting. First time in years. It is slowly coming back to me, all the techniques I used in college. I really like some of what I did back then and I will try and incorporate that into what I am doing now. I will let you know how it goes.

My first piece is of a village in Italy. I am going to do houses for a while, using the forms in the house as shapes for an abstracted piece. What do you think of “Dwelling 1?” Please comment below. I would love to hear from you.