spinninghead

Wow, it has been a very long time since I've done *anything* on DeviantArt.  Kind of crazy, although I guess it isn't so crazy when you look at the fact that I've been on dA for 8 years now.  THAT's crazy.

Anyway, as you can see from the title of this journal entry (and my location on my profile page), I am living in Shanghai now.  I'm here teaching English for a year, and experiencing the amazing culture, food, people and language of China.  It's definitely an experience I'll never forget, and I've only been here for a little over a month.

Although you'd think I would be very busy, living in a foreign country and whatnot, I seem to have plenty of time on my hands.  I think I shall spend some of this time (maybe even tonight) working on some art.  I brought my latest WIP with me from the US, and I think it's about time I finish it... it's been sitting around for a long time unfinished.  I also should be able to sneak in some new photography submissions here... there are plenty of interesting things to photograph, but the trick is to do it in some sort of artistic way.  So far, I've mainly just been taking snapshots to show my friends and family what my life is like here.  But I think I might get artsy sometime soon, depending.  The weather is getting cold, so I might not get too much photography in in the next few months, since I might just want to spend more of my time indoors.

If any of you who have been "watching" me are reading this, I appreciate that you're still around, and please let me know that you're there!  I'd love to hear from you and hear how you're doing.  I have had some dear friends here on dA through the years, and lost touch with some of you, it seems, even with the invention of facebook.

Speaking of facebook, if you haven't added my artwork page on facebook yet, check it out: www.facebook.com/pages/Rose-Co…

Okay, time to finish my noodles and think about finishing up this WIP...

Only 4 days and 10 hours are left before the auction closes!  Take a look and get your bid in while you can!
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?…
This would make a great holiday gift, and you can even buy a frame to be included with it!  This is a great deal for what is a very detailed original piece.  Don't pass up this awesome deal!

Check out my pencil artwork HERE: spinninghead.deviantart.com/ga…

If you like my artwork and are interested hiring me, I do accept commissions.

Please keep in mind, an piece of art is always an artist's interpretation. I do reserve the right to reject a commission request if it doesn't fit my style of art.

I specialize in pencil (graphite or charcoal) portraits of people, pets , celebrities, and sometimes still life, and I will work with colored pencil if you would like me to; I have experience with it, however, it is not my specialty.

Subjects I WON'T draw are anything violent, racist or pornographic.

I will post my commissions on my online portfolio galleries. If you do not want me to post a commissioned piece for display for any reason, please let me know beforehand.

I require a non-refundable 50% deposit of the total commission charge. The remaining 50% + shipping will be requested upon completion of the artwork. Once I finish the artwork you will receive an email with an attached file of the finished artwork for viewing. (And you may receive works-in-progress photos whilst I am working on the piece.) Once work begins, in the event a client changes their mind about a commission, I will keep the deposit and any work completed... and do what I want with the artwork. If for some reason I can't complete the commission, the client will be refunded the 50% deposit.

I accept graphite (pencil black & white), charcoal & colored pencil commissions requests in various size portraits.

A commission artwork can take from 1-3 weeks to complete, but sometimes I will finish even sooner. It depends on the number of portraits currently in process when you place your order, and of course the complexity of the portrait itself.

If you do need a portrait completed in a specific time frame due to special occasion please let me know and I will do my best to complete the artwork sooner for you, but if you need an artwork by a certain date please don't wait to contact me a week before you need the artwork; my style of art takes a lot of hours of work and I need enough time.

Check below my commission chart for pricing. If you would like a different size of artwork /commission not listed, I'm always open to suggestions and I can usually crop any size of bristol board or paper down to a custom size. I don't accept commissions over 18" x 24".

Payments are accepted through PayPal, money orders, or of course cash is acceptable if you are meeting me in person.

Please note ALL Artwork is mailed UN-FRAMED.

Prices are subject to change depending how many hours of work, size and how many characters are in the piece. These are just the basic prices I will start from. You will be given a correct quote once you contact me and I know what size, etc. you want for your piece.

All drawings are worked on Bristol board, except for the 18" x 24" size; this is drawing paper.

Graphite/Charcoal: 6"x6": $80 - 120.00 9"x12": $130 - 200.00 11"x14": $200 - 350.00 18"x24": $350 - 550.00

Colored Pencil: 6"x6": $90 - 150.00 9"x12": $180 - 300.00 11"x14": $250 - 400.00 18"x24": $400 - 600.00

Thank you so much for considering my art services. Please note I hold copyrights on all my commission work.

Special thanks to Katerina-Art (katerinaartworks.ipower.com) - I borrowed most of this statement from her commissions page because I really liked how she outlined everything!

I now have a Fan Page on Facebook!  It is full of photos and scans of my pencil work, some of which have never been posted online.  This page will be a great way to stay updated on my pencil work, exclusively.  I will post events for any shows I might have and I will update the page when I am working on something new to show you what I'm up to.   This will also be a great place to contact me if you are interested in a commission!

So what are you waiting for?  Go to www.facebook.com/pages/Rose-Co… and become a fan!

I can't come up with a better terminology than that... but I was just thinking about my artwork today and how far I've come with it.  My pencil art, more specifically.

I didn't used to think I could part with any of my drawings; they felt too personal and I felt too attached to them.  That, and I always felt self-conscious of my own skill or lack thereof, and like it wasn't good enough to sell or expect someone else to want.  To give you an idea of time frame, I started out drawing anime back when I was about 16... so I've been drawing for nine years.  I'd say I was in this phase of introverted drawing for at least the first three years of developing my skill.

However, I have slowly shifted over to being fully comfortable selling my art and even having the sale being my motivation to draw.  I think the biggest factor in this change has been that I've grown so much as an artist in my skill, and mainly in my confidence.  I also realized after awhile that I had all these pieces of art sitting in a folder, not being viewed or appreciated by anyone, and what was the point of that??  So after some time I started to consider selling some of my pieces, or at least giving them away.  I started with drawing a couple of drawings as gifts for my sister, and my first piece I sold remains one of my best drawings to date - the one of Julianne Moore with the long, flowing hair that won 1st place in the Mid-State Fair.  This drawing was sold to a stranger, unfortunately, and while it is flattering that a stranger would buy my artwork, I'm a bit sad that I have no contact with this person to see how they've displayed it or what they have done with it.

Anyway, I was curious today so I did a count, and here's what I came up with:

Drawings for sale: 8
Drawings sold: 11
Gifted: 6
Not for sale: 10

I did only count my pencil portraits, starting with the charcoal portrait of Sofiane Sylve, my first piece done in charcoal and really the piece that started it all.  It feels really good that I've sold so many pieces and also that I've gifted as many as I have.  These aren't very large numbers, I know, but I am just starting out and I have sold seven pieces in the year 2009 alone.  That's an average of one portrait per month.  Not bad, I'd say.

There was a time when I thought it'd be a bad thing to "sell out", or to start drawing for commissions, but really it is a great way to challenge oneself, in my opinion.  The commissions I've had have given me photos to work with that I wouldn't normally have chosen on my own to draw, and for that reason they have challenged me in ways I wouldn't have otherwise challenged myself.  I find that I really struggle the most with details on clothing and the torso area of a person.  Faces, heads, hair, necks... I'm pretty comfortable with all of that.  So yes, drawing for commissions can be a very growing experience, and it's one I am excited about.

I'm starting to ramble, so I'll stop now, but I will add that I just sold Dido - my dad bought it!  I was very pleasantly surprised, and he's even buying the frame that I have it in.   Yay!