From Hand Drawn to Print on Demand
I’ve got two online shops, one at Zazzle, one at Redbubble. I maintain both shops because they have different focuses and different audiences. Zazzle has the best set up for doing indvidual greeting cards. Back in 2013 I had an Etsy shop where I sold hand drawn greeting cards. I did the art in ink, colored pencil and markers. I did about 50 different designs. I sold a few cards but, at the time, not enough to maintain the shop. I made high resolution scans of each card on the off chance that I’d be able to use the illustrations again at a later time.
That later time came last year.
A Well Read Mouse
This was the first card design I decided to put up on Zazzle. Below is my scan of the original art.
Below is the original version of second image I chose to update.
The version below was posted in August as well.
After I posted the first two images on Zazzle I got sidetracked creating the store at Redabubble. I’ve decided to make converting all those original Etsy images my first big project of 2021. My goal is to set up at least four card designs each week. Here is the original scan –
It rains a lot here in Seattle. The rain keeps the countryside green and pleasant but it does mean we often find ourselves longing for the sun. Below is the original scan –
Feeling Undead
The process GIF below is of a new Get Well card design. It’s my first card with interior text. It started out as random practice sketch that, after I looked at it a bit, seemed like it was destined for more. Unfortunately I didn’t think to scan the image in the pencil stages so I’ve missed out on a complete start to finish documentation. I’ll try to remedy that in the future. If you’d like to read the message inside, follow this link.
Inspirations: Wayne Barlowe
Every artist is inspired by the work of others. Sometimes it’s obvious. Sometimes that inspiration is less in technique and more in an artists approach to their subject matter. I’ll be using this part of the newsletter to show off the work of illustrators and cartoonists whose work has fired my imagination and helped me to improve my work.
I’m sure I’d seen his work on the covers of science fiction books previously but I first really discovered Wayne Barlowe’s illustrations in 1987 with Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials, a book featuring his visualizations of a number of alien races from a variety of popular science fiction novels. I was hooked by the rigour that he brought to his work. He used his background as natural history illustrator to depict extraterrestrial life in ways I’d never seen before. The creatures looked both realistic and realistically alien. I’ve been a fan ever since.
Above: one of the creatures depicted in Expedition, his account of a serveillance of an alien planet.
Above: a scene from Barlowe’s Inferno, an illustrated tour of Hell.
Above, one of the dinosaurs depicted in An Alphabet of Dinosaurs.
I’m always inspired when I look at his work. If you’d like to see more, check out his website.
These Days …
I was given this certificate at the station on December 31st. For most of my working life I haven’t used sick days. For most of my working life I didn’t have much in the way of paid sick days. I’ve worked through food poisoning, many hangovers and many more flus and colds. I did this not just to get a paycheck but because, somewhere back in my youth, I stubbornly decided to refuse to let being sick stop me from doing what I thought I needed to do. And because I’d rather work sick than have to catch up on work after calling in sick.
I suspect that not wanting to have to catch up on work is the biggest motivator. When we were in junior high school my brother and I spent a couple of weeks each year in Hawaii with our Dad and his new wife and kids. While we were enjoying the sun and the ocean my classmates back in California were learning mathematical formulas that I needed to properly do higher math. Gradewise I still did fine in math but my comprehension was lacking. It wasn’t until I took math again in college that I felt like I had a handle on the logical processes of higher equations.
I didn’t miss a day of high school. In my decades of employment after graduation I’ve really only missed work for a broken leg and when my back went out. Since working at USPS I’ve only used sick days to take my wife to doctors’ appointments and I scheduled those in advance.
I’m glad to have available sick days. If someone is sick they should stay home and they’re more likely to do if their paycheck won’t suffer from it. A lot of folks took sick time when the pandemic began. I haven’t taken any sick days because I’ve stayed healthier than in years past. It turns out that wearing a mask and keeping physically distanced also helps one avoid regular colds and flus. In the last year I haven’t had a real sore throat, snotty nose or other debilitating symptoms. So I’ve continued to store up sick days. I’ve seen enough carriers have to use theirs because of twisted ankles or other fall related problems that I want to have as many days waiting as possible. I have quite a few years to go until retirement.
Mail volumes have dropped. That happens every year at this time. Parcel volumes have dropped as well but they are still higher than in previous years. Actual parcel sizes are larger as well. When I started this job seven years ago I could usually carry all the parcels intended for a swing in satchel. These days I have a dozen or more packages that require car hops – driving my truck directly to the address and schlepping the thing to the customer’s front door. But I am and will be working shorter days for a while so I’ll have more time for art.
I hope that this year is looking better for you than last. I hope that you are healthy and warm and having good days. See you next week!
