Artist For Sale: Will Draw For Money

I get a lot of emails from people who have found my drawings on line and would like to use them for various things:

"I was searching the web today looking for inspiration for our upcoming Relief Society Birthday Party and I came across your drawings. They are so adorable.
Do you draw for other's?
If you could help me out I would apprieciate it. I love you work. It is amazing."



"I came across your “Super Hero” drawing on the Internet and I liked it very much. I now write screenplays and I am starting to produce them into movies. I have been thinking of doing a screenplay about a ten year old boy who becomes a Super Hero at night. The movie will be partly animated, mostly the super hero sequences. The feel of your Super Hero drawing is exactly what I have in mind for the comic book style super hero sequences. Would you be interested in working with me as I develop the script. This would mean doing some drawings that can serve as a story board to show the animators the intent. There would be payment after I get the project moving toward and financed."

My response: The boy is Harry, my son. He went to super hero party where everyone dressed like super heros. I made him trading cards to give to his friends.
I'd love to draw for you. Send me some story lines to work from.

Never heard from him again, but if you go to this guys website, you'll see a thumbnail of Super Harry.



"Hi Jan....I'm making a Relief Society Blog and I LOVE your artwork. First and formost! There is one you have that looks RSie with three women with the "We are united in standing" etc. I love that. Any chance in the world I could use that for the header on the blog I'm doing?"



"I saw your picture of a mother holding to the iron rod and the children hanging on as a thumbprint on google images. ...so I'm asking if I can use your incredible image in a July visiting teaching lesson handout that I'm making. The picture is amazing because it aligns with the Family Home Evening story that is used in the message from the Ensign.



OK. So for Church drawings I don't ask for payment. I consider it part of my covenant with Heavenly Father to share my talents to build the church. And as you can see I have done a lot of drawings for the Church. And I'm not including the drawings I've done for my own ward.

I LOVE TO DRAW!

I draw whether I get paid or not.

I worked for 10 years as a scenic artist and got paid a little, by show, when they could afford it, classified as a clerk because they didn't really want to make a real position for me or pay me for full time work.

I worked in a print shop for a while for free making their stamps and made my own stamps to sell. Did I sell any? Would you like one? I have a whole box full, nicely packaged with little ink pads.

When people see my drawings they comment on how cute they are and tell me I should be illustrating books.

I have a website. I have a store on cafepress.com and one at Fine Art America.

People like my artwork but they don't want to pay for it.

What brought me to rant on like this? I got this email a while ago:

"... the reason I'm writing you is I'm chairing our churches ladies retreat and our theme (which is still in the works) will be about the stages of a a woman life, .... grow up, fill out, slim down, hold it in, and let it all hang out! ... with the underlying theme that we are all united. ... not only through the various stages we women all experience, but more importantly through Christ. Which leads me to the reason I'm writing you. I would love to use one of your illustration on our t-shirts. Would that be possible?"

My response: "You got it! Let me know which one/ones and I'll send it to you. If you need it tweeked let me know how and I'll work on it."

"Wow! That would be wonderful. How much would it cost to somewhat combine the two posters so that it showed five women all in the different stages of their lives?"




I spent a lot of time working on the drawings:

But when I told her the cost...well, let's just say I probably won't hear from her again. $20/hr. 8 hrs of work (at least). Discounted to $100. And even a "we'll work it out if that's too much." To be fair, maybe the drawing didn't work with their theme. Or they changed the theme. Or the retreat fell through. A note saying "thanks but it didn't work out" would have been appreciated.

I love that the Internet allows artists the opportunity to put their artwork out there more easily and for more people to see. I appreciate everyone who has asked to use my artwork. And I love having people ask me to draw for them.

But I'd occasionally like to make $ at it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad.

Let's Catch Up

Sometimes life just gets away from me. So I have to play "catch up".

Here's what's been going on:

Stolen Life
My bank card info was stollen and whoever stole it used it to buy computer stuff and set up a porn site. After calling the bank and all the venders I found out that there really aren't any consequences for the thief other than all the payments for stuff are canceled. I got my money back but it bothers me that it's just one of those "Oh well, these things happen" kind of experiences and nobody cares or does anything about it.

What's happened to integrity and honesty in our society? It seems that what's important today is not getting caught.

Baptism
Harry baptized Sabrina. Sabrina is 10 and since she wasn't blessed when she was born, there are no church records for her. Consequently, she is considered a convert and so had to take the missionary discussions. Elders Killinger and Cedillo gave her the discussions and they did an excellent job of teaching her about the Restoration of the Gospel on a level that she could understand. Her baptism was one of the most spiritual experiences EVER! Kelly sang, and David confirmed her. She was sweet and beautiful.

Taking the discussions reminded me of the reasons I joined the Church and why I love it. It makes total sense to me. I know that it is true.





Called to Primary
I've been the Relief Society Chorister for a while. It's a calling I've had before. I don't know why the lord keeps calling me to do music- I really have no talent for it. But I did the best I could. It was a challenge. I've never really wanted to be in Primary- it kind of scares me, but I was thrilled when I got this new calling (probably because it was a way to get away from the music). So...I'm teaching the 10 & 11 year olds. Now... I love teaching- I'm good at it, but these guys are a challenge. It's their last year in Primary and they feel they are too old for most of it. So I have to stay on my toes and keep them interested in the stories of the Old Testament. I also have to keep myself interested during Sharing Time lessons that couldn't be more boring.




Summer Arrived
It's been a long, cold, and wet winter! I thought spring and summer would never get here. And then finally, the last week of school, it finally got warm. And although, I have complained about the weather, my backyard has never been so beautiful!

I love my home! I love that is a place my kids and grandchildren want to visit and play at and sleep over. I LOVE floating in the pool and counting my blessings.













My iPad
You know how much I LOVE my iPhone. Well, I couldn't wait to get an iPad. I had Kelly stand in line at the Apple store that morning because I was in Disneyland. It was waiting for me when I got home. I LOVE IT! I have figured out how to blog on it. I can watch ABC TV shows on it (if only all the other networks would put out an app). I have books to read on it. I can watch Netflicks on it. It holds all my artwork, family photos, e-mail, calendar, thoughts, Primary lessons...oh! I could go on and on! I would probably give up my laptop completely if it had some kind of flash player. Alas, until Apple makes nice with Adobe or until they develop their own version I still, sometimes have to turn on my laptop.

Someday, kids will be carrying iPads to school instead of backpacks. Wouldn't it be cool!



So, now we're all caught up.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad.

The Talent Show

Rich and I went to Harry's High School talent show tonight. We were surprised at the talent.

Everyone is so worried about the disappearance of the arts in our schools- especially here in California. When cuts need to be made, it's never in the sports department- no one would ever cut funding to Football. But music and art and drama- somehow they are never important enough.

And yet I saw some really amazing singing, piano playing, dancing, even spoons tonight. The winner played the ukulele. I guess funding can be cut from the arts but not talent. Whether it's parents providing lessons and support or just the shear desire of the student to perform-the arts are still alive.

It was so encouraging to see teenagers applauding and cheering each other on- whether the performance was outstanding or a little off. It made me glad to be a parent of a teenager. Harry had a very small part playing the box drum in a small group and yet as we were leaving so many told him he had done a great job.

I'm a great believer in the importance of the arts in school. I wish somehow the powers that be would come to the realization that the greatest minds of all time were artists of some kind- I don't think Leonardo DaVinci played football, Einstein was not the most popular student in his class, and Mozart probably didn't win a state championship.