That’s right, a contest! Want one of my prints but don’t have one? Here’s your chance to win one for free! Time to crack out your favorite art supplies because this is going to be a coloring contest. What better way to win some art than be a little creative yourself? Here’s how to get started.

1.) Download the Contest Lineart.
2.) Color it in any way that you wish– it can be done digitally or printed out and colored traditionally (markers, crayons, colored pencils, paints, etc.) and then scanned in.
3.) Submit it to me to become an official entrant in the contest!

Easy, right? You bet! You can get your entry to me via Twitter, Facebook, DeviantArt, by email or right here in the comments of my blog!

Now, how do you win? By being the Fan favorite! I’m going to set up a voting system with all of the entries so that you have a chance to win by popular vote.

!!WAIT that means you can enlist your friends to come vote for you! Spread the word about the contest, get your friends to come vote for you, and WIN!!

Prize:
The winner will be able to select ONE (1) print from my Etsy store and I will mail it to them after the winner is announced.

When is your entry due?

Deadline for Entries: March 21th, 2010 at 10:00 PM EST

The voting will begin the next day, and the winner will be announced on March 28, 2010. That gives you a FULL week to rally your friends to come vote for you!

OMG, are you excited? Colored pencils quivering in anticipation? Hold on, gotta read the RULES first!

Rules:
-One entry per person, please.
-Only entries received prior to the deadline will be considered.
-No voting for yourself, that’s just dirty.
-No purchase necessary.
-The prize can ONLY be selected from Joie’s Etsy Store Account: No exceptions will be made.
-Entries may be submitted via tweet, Fan page posting, Facebook wall posting, email, or comment at Joieart.net.
-No entries that someone else colored for you. This is supposed to be about having fun and being creative!
-No entries may be submitted by postal snail mail. Sorry– visit Kinko’s if you need scanning help!

What if I can’t/won’t/don’t color? Don’t worry. There is a contest made just for you coming next month!

Ok, that’s it! Here is your lineart! GO!

Download the lineart here!

I started this piece back in November of last year around the time that I was participating in the 151 Midtown Arts Show. As a matter of fact, anyone visiting the show may well have seen me working on this piece live. These progress pictures were originally uploaded to my Twitpic Account linked to my Twitter Account. If you haven’t yet followed me, I invite you to! I frequently share in-progress shots and tiny glimpses into things I’m currently doing. In addition, there is also my Facebook Fan Page which I also invite you to join– I’m cooking up a fun contest that is available only to those who follow me on Twitter of Facebook! More news to follow…

This piece started out as an idea to complete a ballerina painting to represent each season, however it somehow took me two full seasons to finish this one. I suppose it’s just one of those things– life gets in the way. I’m in the middle of a day-job transition and am looking into grad school. Plus, within this time frame, I’ve moved, opened an online store, and been dealing with a handful of commissions.

Anyway, this is a fairy-esque ballerina who represents the spirit of Autumn. I made her outfit a little more modern in style because I didn’t feel that a true pancake tutu would fit the scene. And of course, she has a Welsh Corgi escort– no fairy should be without one! This was completed with Windsor & Newton watercolors on Bristol Board.

Prints of this piece will be available shortly, and will available at all of my upcoming shows this year.

Autumn Ballerina Preliminary Sketches: Ballpoint pen on paper

Autumn Ballerina – 11″ x 14″ Watercolor and ink on Bristol

Autumn Ballerina – 11″ x 14″ Watercolor and ink on Bristol

Autumn Ballerina – 11″ x 14″ Watercolor and ink on Bristol

Autumn Ballerina – 11″ x 14″ Watercolor and ink on Bristol

I have added another section to the Portfolio page called Graphics Work. It’s meant to house some of the graphics work and web design I have done over the years. Originally I had not intended to make those things part of this website, but I have changed my mind. Design is a big part of my art, and I find myself doing graphics frequently in my art career. I added some of my oldest works, and will be adding some of the newer items and photo restorations/manipulations soon.

This blog has been quiet the last few months, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been up to exciting things! Having seen how successful my prints were at the 151 Midtown Art Show last November, I decided it was high time to stick my toes in the water of internet sales.

http://joieart.etsy.com

Etsy.com is a website dedicated to the sale of handmade items. I thought it would be the best platform from which to begin selling my prints. Currently there are four prints for sale, but there will be more as the week winds down. I also only accept Paypal as a payment method– but hopefully that will be remedied soon.

There’s lots more fun news, commissions, and new art that’ll be posted in coming weeks. I’ve got plans formulated that I’m very excited about! Thanks for stopping by again.

Back at the beginning of October, I posted an article called Art: Not Just a Hobby, that spring-boarded me into a fact-finding mission. I wasn’t given all of the tools necessary to make my passion into a career—so I need to find them for myself. I thought perhaps other young, emerging artists such as myself may benefit from this journey, and so I wanted to share it.

My very first question was, “What are other artists and freelancers doing?” I needed to find some successful artists, see how they are doing business, and what they did to get there. I asked around, hit the library, and did some heavy web surfing to come up with some answers. I’ll share what I have thus far. (continue reading…)