copyright connundrum

I don't have a picture to post today but I did want to throw around the idea of Artistic Copyright versus Creative Commons. I, personally, can't decide where to stand on this issue and I would love to hear what others feels about these ideas.

Financially, it of course makes sense to find a client for a piece of artwork or specifically make artwork for a client, sell part or all of the distribution rights, and either sell the remaining rights to other clients or move on to the next job. That's what makes money but is that the most conducive way of producing a high-quality product that stays true to the artist's style?

I currently sell prints and originals of my artwork and I also post my artwork online. There is nothing to stop someone from printing one of my pieces at home, framing it, and bypass paying for my work altogether. While I am aware that this could be happening, I still post my images sans watermark for the sake of showing the world my art. I have no idea if I would be making more money selling prints but I want to spread my artwork and share my talent with others. At any rate, I have a part-time job that provides income at the cost of time I could be creating more artwork. Is the cost of showing my artwork to the world for free infringing on my ability to create?

I have no allusions about money making the world go around and the fact that it takes money to create art. I would, however, like to know what happy mediums are out there for professional artists and how to be a professional without losing who I am as an artist.

Dancey Pants

This is the last of the three pictures I did for Spiritual Haze. I wanted to do something fun and peppy to balance out the other two. This is a 5x7" ink and watercolor painting in a 1" white matte frame. The framed original is $40.

Ocean Goddess

Of the three, this is the piece I'm most proud of. It took forever to get a design I was happy with and I begrudgingly erased elements that I really liked but didn't work overall. Hopefully it's fairly obvious that she's sort of turning into water. Anyway, this is ink and watercolor. I used masking fluid to get the water right and to create the sky, which has masked out hibiscus flowers in it. This is 5x7" on textured watercolor paper and it's framed in a 1" matte frame the same color as the leaves. The framed piece is for sale at Spiritual Haze for $50.
In other news, I am currently posting from my brand spankin' new computer! It's a refurbished Dell Latitude E6510 and so far I love it! There are some elements that I might have changed had I thought of them but given my living setup at the moment, it's pretty much perfect.


Oh! I have a blanket question out there. If you are skilled at website design and code and can help me execute my ideas, would you be willing to barter artwork for your skills? Please email me if you are interested.

Seer

This is one of the three pieces I'm bringing over to Spiritual Haze today. This 4x6" original watercolor painting will be available there, framed, for $30. I'll post the others tomorrow.

happy heart-shaped candy day!

I'm a pretty happy camper at the moment. I'm in the process of displaying artwork at a hookah bar in Worcester MA called Spiritual Haze, which is pretty epic. I'll post the pieces that'll be displayed once they are done. As for today, I'm feeling festive:This is the valentine I made for the beau. Pikachu is my go-to character on Brawl so I figured I would whip up some cutesy fanart for the guy who taught me how not to button mash. Of course, Pikachu and Brawl are (c) Nintendo. This was an experiment with gouache and, other than the background, it's pretty dead-on to what I was trying to accomplish. The lineart is with colored pencils.

new style

This was the piece I was referencing a couple posts back when I mentioned trying out a new style. This is a 25"x19" watercolor piece.

I had a sketch a few years back that I had been meaning to finish with watercolors but by the time I got back to it, there was a lot I saw wrong with it. I used masking fluid for the white spaces so I could go to town on the background without holding back where the white would eventually go. Expect more of this style, it's fun ^.^

wrench wench

DONE! Told ya so. Watercolor and ink on bristol and the use of masking fluid. Ftw.