Marketing: Importance of Cross Marketing on Internet

I have not posted anything on my blog in quite a while.  I thought I would post some thoughts about cross-marketing on the Internet. 

It works something like this:
The artist creates one or more blogs on the Internet.  I chose to create mine on blogger, but there are many blog sites to choose from.  If the artist creates more than one site, each should have its own content and theme.  An artist could do one for each media he/she uses or one for realism and another for abstract works, etc.
The artist can create another account on other media sites such a youtube or vimeo. 
Then the artist creates all the accounts needed for Internet Sales - options such as zazzle, etsy, cafepress, imagekind, etc.
Other sites to post art can include picassa, myspace, flickr, and facebook.

Now that you have your art posted on all the sites listed, you can cross reference from one site to other sites where you sell your artwork.  The idea is that you now have the opportunity to drive sales from any one of the sites you are listed on.  It is part of the reason artists list art on ebay with very little profit - ebay gets so many views that you can direct buyers to your main website to build interest and sales.

Some New Watercolors

Here are some new watercolor paintings I've completed.  I'm still practicing with the media, but I'm having quite a bit of fun with it.  I hope you like them....

Practicing with ACEOs and Watercolor

Recently, I bought some watercolors and watercolorpaper.  Here are the results.  I posted them on ebay today.  They are under tgstanleyfineart. The dragon is a 4x6" and the others are ACEOs so they measure 2.5x3.5".

Crayon Art

I have recently tried my hand at crayon art.  I found a website gallery of Don Marco who specializes in crayon art and I thought I'd give it a shot.  Here is my first attempt.  I posted it on ebay at the link http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150499530497.  This took me a few hours to complete.  It is done on 300 gsm paper - with a very smooth surface.  I colored by pressing heavily onto the paper and I tried to blend the colors with paper.  I could not blend the colors and keep the thickness of the crayons on the paper, but I like the overall results.  I trimmed the edges to about 8" x 10" - the exact measurements are listed on ebay.  I plan on trying this out again.

Miniature Paintings Posted on Ebay

I have posted my first set of miniatures on Ebay to see what interest there is in my art.  I have posted these before, but these are the 4 I have on ebay currently.  I was going to change the color of the rest of the butterfly, but the contrast between green and orange sort of grew on me.  I will not varnish it until it sells.  If it doesn't, I'll go ahead and do the rest in orange and see if that helps.  I was going to add more detail to the cows as well, but I sort of like the piece in the unfinished state - again, maybe a bad idea, but we'll see if they sell.  I believe the link to my pieces on ebay are here:  http://shop.ebay.com/tgstanleyfineart/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

Commissioned Painting of Lion

I have begun a new painting today.  It is a commission work of a lion.  I looked for zoo photos but couldn't find anything of a lion that I wanted to use.  I did find a couple of photos of lions online.  I'm using about 3 for reference so hopefully I can keep proportions decent enough that it ends up okay although I'm not sure the hairline is where I want it yet.  I started on a toned canvas and have started to lay in my lights and darks.  As usual, I start with an acrylic underpainting.  I tried to do the mane by laying all the lights and darks, but I didn't like the result so I started brushing them in.  So far I like the effect better.  I've removed my charcoal...maybe too early because I've lost the far side of his face.  I will not be doing a video of this one, but I'll post photos as I progress.  This is a fairly large painting - 30" x 40".  Also the camera is below eye level of the painting so it makes the painting height compress a bit - the lion is proportionally taller than he looks in the image. 

Setting Up Business Accounts for Collin County Texas

Today, the topic is about setting up business accounts for an art related business in Collin County, Texas.  I am not a business lawyer or anything, so any information I provide here is to help someone else get set up for business - but I do not guarantee the accuracy of any of the information provided.  It is what I was told when I set up my accounts, but you will need to confirm everything is accurate and I welcome any input if anything is found to be incorrect.

For any business, you need to check at the Federal, State, County, and City levels to ensure you have all the appropriate licenses, permits, etc.  Recognize that you must be operating as a business to get the tax benefits of a business - the IRS will bump your business down to hobby status if you are not making sales.

My business operates as a sole proprietorship, so you will need to check into any other requirements for other business types.

The first step is to get your EIN number so you can report your taxes.  Most of the other permits and business bank accounts, etc. require an EIN number. 

• However you apply for your EIN number, it is a good idea to download the SS-4 form from the irs.gov website first.  Filling out the application first is handy so you can consider your answers before submitting.
• To apply online, use the following link (this application is not available 24 hours daily, check irs.gov for times):  http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=102767,00.html
• There is also an option to apply over the phone.

The likely next step is to establish a business checking account.

• A business checking account makes it easier to keep your personal finances and your business finances separate.
• Check with your local bank to find out what they require to open the account.

Register your business with the county:

• Some counties require other permits, etc. (and Collin County does for alcohol and some other related businesses), but an Assumed Name Certificate is all that is required for a home based art business.
• There are forms on the Collin County Clerk's website but you must first search that your business name is not currently in use.  You can send an email to have it searched -there is a charge, but I found it easier to go to the Collin County Clerks office located at 2300 Bloomdale Rd in McKinney.  They close at 4PM I believe and you will need to take your EIN number with you.
• I believe the charge is $10 or $20 to register your business name.  The current number for the McKinney County Clerk's office is 972-548-4185.

Register for a tax permit for the state of Texas:

• You will need a tax permit to be able to collect taxes for buyers located in the state of Texas and to set up a business account with merchants so that you can take advantage of buying your supplies tax free.
• Register for a Texas tax permit at http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxpermit/
• You will need a NAICS Code to register for a tax permit.  Since 2007, the code for independent painters - artists is 711510.
• The website will inform you how often you must submit your tax payments.  You will need to print and submit a signed copy to the Texas Comptroller to complete the process.  There are Comptroller satellite offices where you can take your form rather than mailing into Austin.  You can call 800-252-1382 to find one close to you.  It should be 7-10 days to receive the permit.
• The closest 2 locations to me were N.E. Dallas at 9221 LBJ Fwy suite 100 Ph. 972 792 5800 and Denton at 400 S. Carol Blvd. suite 1000 Ph. 940 891 4790

Register with your city:

• Contact your chamber of commerce to see what is required in your city.  For a home based business, I was not required to fulfill any requirements in my city so I did not need to do anything else.  Note that I am not allowed to have buyers come into my home - this is for Internet and wholesaling to local stores in the area.

Good luck!

Horse Painting is Complete

Here is the finished painting.  It is oil over an acrylic underpainting.  The video below is a timelapse of the painting from beginning to end.  It takes about 2 minutes to watch...

Pip

This is Pip, my Yorkie, when he was a puppy. I thought some of you would get a kick seeing him play in my parent's yard.

Timelapse of My Painting of Cattle in a Pasture

My Acrylic Pallet Colors

I have many different colors of acrylic paint that I've collected over the years.  Almost all the paints I use are Artists' grade paint to ensure they will mix as expected and to ensure my artwork is archival.  The only exceptions are when I use metallic paints for abstract works. 

The color pallet I use for acrylic is a limited pallet.  I do some abstracts fairly large, so it was important that I could get good mixtures from the least amount of colors - this way I could buy larger containers of paint at a lower cost.  It does require more mixing when I paint, but I'm happy with the results.  I also required colors that are transparent because I paint with glazes often. 

When deciding, I chose what Golden recommended in their color mixing guide.  You can read the explanation at this link: http://www.goldenpaints.com/artist/mixguide.php, but here are the colors suggested.

Format Redo of Blog

Following suggestions of other artists, I've changed up the format of my blog.  Most changes were to make reading the text easier and to remove distractions from the blog.  Thanks to everyone that gave advice.

My Work In Progress

These were done on the same type of cedar blocks although the block with the angel is larger than the others.  I am adding layer after layer of washes to get the colors I want.

Happy 4th of July & Miniatures I've Completed

Hi, and Welcome to my new blog.  I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July.  Send a note to someone in the military today!  Thank you Corkie, Rita, Bart, and Rocky for your service to our country!

This is a new blog, so I still have plenty of links to complete and photos to upload.  In the meantime, here are some miniature paintings I have completed this weekend.  I thought these blocks of cedar would be perfect for ACEO sized paintings, but they were a bit short on one side so they are just miniature paintings now.  The cedar blocks have been weathered, so I sanded until my hands could take no more.  The wood has plenty of ridge texture on it still.  I like the texture, but it was difficult to paint details across.
Since the wood is well aged and weathered, I prepared it after sanding by priming each block on all sides except the back with multiple coats of gesso with the top coat slightly tinted.  I do a monocrome painting followed with layers of color until I get the effect I'm after.  These were mainly for practice for possible larger paintings, so I may post them on Ebay to generate traffic to my blog.

Please look around and if you have any suggestions for the format of my blog, please leave a comment.

Thanks!