I did say children because it transpired that I am to be the grandmother, nanna, grandma, oh whatever, of  identical twins.

After I was picked up from the floor and the tears wiped from my eyes I started to get excited and then inspired.

It has filled me with new hope to know that my beautiful daughter, Lauren, is going to give birth to two babies sometime in the new year.

I am so inspired that I have created a new character for more artwork.

I will let you in on this one after I have done the drawings and artwork but suffice to say I will not only have my first two grandchildren but also a new character to work with over the next few years.

Off to the drawing board now, I will introduce my new prodigy later

I was recently invited to exhibit some of my paintings at a local exhibition.

I dont like saying no but the truth is I am too busy.

I got into sublimation printing accidentaly late 2008, I had designed a piece of artwork in 2005 and it disappeared into the twilght zone, or as artists know it, the portfolio.

I had an idea for the artwork but the method was not an affordable option at the time.

Then I stumbled across some sublimation equipment on eBay, love it or loathe it eBay is a great place to find bits and pieces, and the grey matter started working. I have always been a person who asks ‘how’ rather than ‘why not’.

I sold some of my framing equipment and bought a basic set up of a cheap epson printer with sublimation ink (the ink is expensive), a five way press, 60 mugs, paper and tape and I started.

I have just passed my 2000th mug, have a new printer with the best inks, a five mug press and I have moved into printing on other items.

I don’t print mugs just for fun, they make money too.

All I can say is put a printing system in the hands of an artist, and the fun begins!

Koi Mugs http://www.koiart.co.uk

So I fell upon the mercy of a friend who lives near the koi to take some images of the other side of her, due to circumstances beyond all of our control it took a long time to get the images and complete this piece.

Anyway, less of the excuses, here is part 3

The pattern on this koi is superb,  her colour is tomato soup red and her white is deep and lustrous almost snow like.

There are three coats of colour on both the red and the white to achieve depth and allow the scales to show through faintly.

The painting is currently against a warm radiator, gently drying for her final coat of acrylic toworrow.

This painting is as complete as can be shown on the net so I hope you have enjoyed this small insight into my work.

Thank you for looking and and please join me for the next one, which I will be giving away.

Firstly, I lay the dark area of the fin rays in, and get the fin rays in the right position.

I then over paint them to soften the whole effect on the fin.

The dorsal fin is also painted in so tomorrow I can concentrate upon the colour and scales.

This is also when I hate the painting the most I just have to persevere past this point.

You can see that the fins hang over the edges of this box canvas, this is to emphasise the sheer volume of this koi, the fins are completed around the side of the canvas.

Now is when the koi comes to life, it aquires its form and shape.

The shading is being built up to give the koi a real feeling of life.

After a little more shaping tomorrow the colour will start to be added, the best part of painting koi.

More tomorrow (umless life gets in the way of art, again).

This koi carp is life size at almost 3 feet long she is a stunning fish.

As you can see the back ground is already in, this acrylic on canvas and I almost finger painted the background in putting the paint on with a brush and then smoothing it with my fingers to attain the soft effect that I required.

I have also put gesso over any areas that where over painted in the background, there is still a visible colour shadow around the edge of the koi.

The scales are the next piece to tackle, I will mark where all of the scales are to go on the koi.
This is a laborious task but the benefits later in the process of this painting will be worth it.

A mixed grey gesso is used to mark each and every scale, I do not worry too much about a few looking out of alignment as the scales will be only a slight effect in the completed work.

After eight hours of painting I have stopped today, as the painting of scales can tire my eyes quickly.

Lots more tomorrow and hopefully colour by Wednesday.

Hourly rates
Cost of art materials
What if I do not really want to do this painting

Also add into the equation that
Sketches, preparatory work and photographs you have to prepare
The painting will be personal to you
What your client expects
Should I take a deposit
Being paid what your worth
You probably will not get all of the work you quote for

The first thing to consider is your ‘get out of bed’ rate.
This is how much it actually costs for you to get out your sketch book or brushes and do the painting.
I have an hourly rate, I estimate how long it takes to do the painting x hourly rate.

Before you say that looks expensive ask yourself “Am I worth it?”
You where given a gift (so was everyone else) you are aware of yours but do not give it away, your accountant, doctor, dentist even cleaner gets paid for what they do, so should you.
Also remember to add in the time for doing your research, photography and preliminary sketches it is all YOUR time and it costs.

Example
2 hours travelling to take photos
4 hours preparation
12 hours in sketches (which you can show the client to agree the work that you are to do)

This is 18 hours before you begin the final piece.

So if my ‘get out of bed rate’ is, for example, £10 an hour X 18 hours in prep work that is £180 before you begin.
Stick to the same hourly rate and estimate how long it will take you; 24 hours x £10 is another £240

The cost of your materials comes strongly into the equation
The cost of the canvas
The cost of paint
The wear and tear on your art equipment.

All of these things you have to replace over time

So put a charge in for your materials

There are other factors to include;

Do you really want to paint this picture? 
yes it is a bonus that you want to do it
No this makes painting a subject more difficult because the passion is missing.

When you paint you project some of your talent onto the canvas that makes it personal

Is your client a stickler or easily pleased, a client who asks for a multiude of tiny changes can soon diminsh your profits when they take more time than you have estimated for.

Should you take a deposit?
Most definately, get paid for your materials and some of your time, if the client backs out or rejects the artwork at least your costs are covered.

Final thoughts

Don’t give your talent away, get paid what you are worth, if the commission is purely about price the client will get what they pay for.

You will not get all of the commissions you quote for; dont be disillusioned expect to lose some.

Never judge a book by it’s cover where the client is concerned, most will wince when you tell them the price but at least they will treasure your artwork because they have to pay a reasonable price.

Become a self sustaining artist, break even is good but profit feels great.

Painting both of these koi was pleasure and I would love to own either of them.

There are over three layers of paint which allows me to create scales and then push them back into the painting.

It may not have a standard blue background as is usual with koi paintings, the beige, brown and golds will mean that this painting will truely have pride of place in the new owners home.

I have another painting to do for this client which I will be starting in two days so if you would like to follow me, see you soon.

My art is my life.

First is the Kohaku, for no particular reason.

I personally love it when koi in paintings begin to project their shape and volume.

Now this painting is becoming seriously addictive.

More tomorrow.

To see a short movie of how I painted the ‘Picasso’ sanke in the header link 

This is an acrylic on  a box canvas, the background on koi artwork is generally a mid blue but this will not fit well into the clients home so the warmer, richer tones are being used to make the painting ‘belong’.

This is a large canvas 30″ x 30″ though the koi are not life size.

The koi have had the majority of thier shape and colour washed in with gesso.