Never promise to draw while on vacation.
I promised that I would do a drawing a day, on my iPad, while I am on vacation. Now I am being asked to actually draw someting. Whine.
Today was my first full day, so here is Vacation Drawing #1.
Tag: cityscape
Simple checklisk for buying artwork as a gift
My suggestion: Only purchase a painting, drawing, or print for another person when the other person …
- is with you or
- has written the name of the artwork and the artist and given it to you.
An exception is when you have seen the artwork together, the other person gushed over how much he/she would love to have it, and you go back later to buy it.
But: If you are still determined to buy something, then use this checklist …
Check all that apply:
___ The other person is not with you and has not told you what to buy (it will really be a surprise).
___ The other person has not seen the artwork yet.
___ You love it and know that the other person will love it, too.
___ You may or may not like it, but are pretty sure that the other person will like it.
___ The artwork is a scene of somewhere you both have been.
___ The artwork is by a (relatively) well-known or popular artist.
___ Similar artwork has been going up in value.
___ The artwork costs money.
___ The artwork is free.
If you checked one or more of the above items → DO NOT BUY IT.
Transcend the obvious. Three things to consider when buying art.
The holiday season is almost upon us
Original art and prints are a wonderful thing to purchase for yourself, a loved one, or a friend. There is much good art available online at reasonable prices. If you don’t believe me, check out FineArtAmerica.com, Etsy.com, Deviantart.com, Art.com, and many others.
But are you conscious about your purchase?
Are you going beyond the obvious reasons to buy a piece of art: Collecting, investing, decorating?
Those are good and worthwhile endeavors. I do all three. But when we are about to buy a piece of art, it might be a good idea to step back and transcend the obvious.
Three things to consider when buying art
1 → What will your purchase do for you? A good piece of art will make you feel good almost every time you look at it. You shouldn’t take too much blow-back from your friends over it, but in the end, it doesn’t matter because of rule number one: You like it. A good piece of art might even make you feel better about yourself, just because you feel good about having it. It’s a psychology thing and it works.
2 → Will you feel good about sharing it? Like it or not, the artwork will connect you to a community of people who own or like similar art. It’s like a car, once you buy one, you see lots of them on the road. Car people go to car shows. Art people go to museums (and flea markets). Part of “pride of ownership” is telling your friends and others about it.
3 → Are you prepared for what the artwork says about you? It tells everyone what you like, what you value, and how you lead your life. Heavy stuff. I recommend invoking rule number one.
Spinnrädl Restaurant – A Favorite
I am putting together a show of my iPad digital sketches of old Kaiserslaltern, Germany. The Spinnrädl Restaurant is one my favorite iPad paintings, and places to eat. That’s me in front of it a couple of days ago, and my painting to the right.
The original photo that I worked from is below. It was taken by Peter Turgetto of the Kaiserslautern Media Center (which he founded) sometime in the late 1930s (best guess). Spinnrädl is one of the older buildings in Kaiserslautern, however, the building with the archway in the original photo was even older. Unfortunately, it was demoloshed to make room for a (tacky) new building.
Spinnrädl Wine Bar, Pub, and Restaurant: Schillerstraße 1; http://www.spinnraedl.de
![](http://michaels-travels.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Spinnradl300.jpg "Spinnradl\\" width=")
Au revoir Paris
Paris – Never again?
I am working on my last two travel watercolors from my trip to Paris earlier this month: A view of Rue Polpot in Montmarte and a backside view of Notre Dame Cathedral. I will have an online show of all of my French watercolors when I am finished. Stay tuned for details.
After that, I’m finished with small travel paintings. I need to do something different, big. That’s not to say I will not do a sketch now and then. I still plan on lots of travels.
You can vote, have your say in my new direction. See tomorrow’s post.
At the Moulin Rouge, Paris
Moulin Rouge- Painting in progress – sketch #1
