June 2017 Newsletter

Howdy!

It would seem the 4″x6″ character sketch cards were a mild success, so they are now permanent.

I now offer bookmarks! The front is a full image, while the back has a bordered image and an optional title. Current sizes offered are 2″x6″ and 1.5″x6″.

Etsy has made it is mandatory to enable “Etsy Payments”, which means I will be upping my prices on Etsy to offset the double in fees that they are charging me. A total of 6.5% + 55¢, ugh. Including Paypal, that is now 9.4% + 75¢. Still better than eBay’s 10% + Paypal and Artists&Clients 15%, I guess. As always, my site is the cheapest way to order from me, and I can use Paypal Invoices to make them “more legit” if you want the added security. Plus they make such lovely invoices!

Hope to hear from you soon! Be safe!

Current Specials

Father’s Day:: Additional 10% off for gifts to fathers.; June 1st to June 30th.
Summer Sale:: 20% off all orders involving water, such as a scene at the pool, on the river, by the ocean, etc. Does not include Character Sketches.; June 20th to September 20th.

All sales, discounts, and promotions are applied before shipping charges.

Question and Answer Spotlight

Q: “Can you draw a tattoo for me?”

A: Eh, maybe. I’m not a tattoo artist, but I have made a few in the past for friends. Drop me a line and I’ll consider it.

Standard Available Sizes:

4″x6″ – 5″x7″ – 8″x10″ – 9″x12″ – 11″x14″ – 14″x17″ – 16″x20″ – 18″x24″

Ask about custom sizes.

Children & Adults, Pets & Animals, Houses & Buildings, Fantasy Alterations

Birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries, Memorials, Graduations, Promotions, Holidays

Any special occasion and normal occasions!

Order at: Ashe’s Site | Etsy | eBay

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May 2017 Newsletter

Howdy!

Tax season has ended and I’ve had a bit of time to try to put myself back together. Considering this last tax season, I will now be closing commissions during the months of January, February, March, and April.

I have two new sizes available! 16″x20x and 18″x24″. These will be shipped in a tube due to their large size.

Hope to hear from you soon! Be safe!

Current Specials

Mother’s Day:: Additional 10% off for gifts to mothers.; May 1st to May 30th.
Father’s Day:: Additional 10% off for gifts to fathers.; June 1st to June 30th.

All sales, discounts, and promotions are applied before shipping charges.

Question and Answer Spotlight

Q: “I’m in a hurry, how fast can you finish for me?”

A: That thoroughly depends on how many people are in line before you and what all I have going on in my life at the time. A standard bust portrait of one person can take 4-6 hours minimum and I could finish that in a day (or 2-3 evenings if my seasonal/day job is in) if there aren’t too many changes to be made. So under ideal conditions, it could be out the door within three days.

Standard Available Sizes:

4″x6″ – 5″x7″ – 8″x10″ – 9″x12″ – 11″x14″ – 14″x17″ – 16″x20x – 18″x24″

Ask about custom sizes.

Order at: Ashe’s Site | Etsy | eBay

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Celebration Sale!

I know I’ve been quiet for a few months, and I do apologize for that. It’s been very hectic, tense, and stressful these past few months. And not just because my main income is from being an income tax preparer. Quite a bit of bad news over the past few months. But I’ve also gotten some good news! We’ll have a new member of the family at the end of summer, so I am celebrating (and fundraising) by offering a sale until August. And I recently completed invoice #100, so happy milestone there as well.

The sale will combine with my newsletter discount and any holiday discounts I’m offering. So if you time it right, you could get an artwork for 45% off.

I’d also like to announce the release of a new type of drawing offered.

I offered these once before some years ago, but it never went anywhere. I’ve had a few inquiries since then and I am going to tentatively bring them back. If it goes well then I reckon I’ll make them a permanent addition.

Like it says above. This will be a relaxed transaction. I’ll do a quick sketch with just some rough line work and basic shading on a 4″x6″ card like the examples. No advanced/detailed pencil work like with the rottweiler. Some sketch lines will likely show. Likely to be done in one sitting with little to no adjustments after it’s finished. Unlike my typical commission slots where I badger you to death making sure it’s just perfect nigh every step of the way. (Well, maybe not to death but I do make sure you are happy with it before I ship it.) And I reckon if anybody wants a quick portrait done like this, they’re welcome to it as well.

Just $5 through Paypal. If you want it shipped to you, add $1 for S&H and I’ll slip it into the mail in a standard First-Class envelope. $3 S&H if you live outside the USA.

Same ol’ principles, policies, and limitations as my other commissions. Except the digital copies of this will be just a 150dpi (600×900 px) and a 300dpi (1200×1800 px), and I won’t be mailing out a CD. Sales and discounts also don’t apply to these things ’cause they’re pretty cheap as is.

The website has also had some work done to it. A few cosmetic changes, some work on the backend to make it tiny-screen friendly, some backend work to fix what the webhost broke, and a few new things in the store. There’s now a little estimate script if you would like a quick quote. Drop on by and check it out sometime. :)

Little Art Questionnaire

In one of my art circles this little questionnaire was posted regarding the decision to become a professional artist. I liked it, so I thought I’d repost it here.

Were you lost? What questions did you ask yourself? Did your family support your decision or tell you to find a “real” job?
I never wanted to be a professional artist. I didn’t have any friends because everybody thought I was too weird and odd for them to be worth hanging out with. My only friends were my books, my pets, and my art. And I guess my relatives. For the longest it was just me, my mother, and my sister since my dad had to work a lot to keep heart and soul together. We got to see our grandparents most weekends.

So art was something very personal to me and to draw for money felt the equivalent of whoring myself out. My family thought I was pretty good and should draw for money. Thankfully most of them respected my decision to let my art be something personal and dear to me until I after I married and had somebody who liked me for me.

How difficult was it for you to actually support yourself once you decided that drawing would be your life?
HARD. On the one hand you’ve got these $1000 for 16″x20″ photo-realistic oil painting artists, and then on the other are these teenaged bottom feeder artists drawing an 8″x10″ for $5 or less. Both of them make it hard to set fair prices without turning customers away because they are two very extreme ends of the price spectrum and make the middle ground hard to find. If you set your prices too low, nobody thinks you’re any good and won’t hire you or they’ll only hire you so long as you’re dirt cheap. If you set your prices too high, nobody can afford you or don’t think you’re worth your price tag.

My first year was spent working at $3/hour and working myself into the ground just to keep my family together. It’s hard to support a family of three on $50/week. My husband couldn’t help at the time because of his health. That gives you a bit of an extra incentive to try and make it as an artist. A little bit of something is better than nothing.

Did you take on many jobs and draw in your spare time? Were you quite poor before breaking through? Did you quit, did you choose to take a “safer” path in life?
I’ve chosen a safe route. I’m working hard as an accountant and as an artist, and trying to build them both up. So I work two jobs. Three, depending on how you look at it.

I’m in income tax preparer, so that is my main income and pays the bulk of my bills. Should the IRS decide to do away with income tax preparers like they talk about from time to time, I can still do bookkeeping and art.

I’m a bookkeeper during the rest of the year, and that provides a trickle of income. If I never get another bookkeeping client or lose what few I have due to them going out of business or something, I have income taxes and art to fall back on.

I’m an artist in my free time. It’s not much, but every little bit helps. If nobody wants portraits, at least there are taxes and record keeping to do.

Some years I make more as a bookkeeper, sometimes I make more as an artist. Neither can yet compete with what I bring in as an income tax preparer. I’m still broke as hell though, all three of them are pretty young and require a lot of work to build them up. But so long as I stick to it, we’ll be alright.

Ashe Skyler

Portraits and Artwork

June 2017 Newsletter

May 2017 Newsletter

Celebration Sale!

Little Art Questionnaire