I go through a LOT of Bristol board. In this video I’m testing out Fabriano 1264 Smooth Surface 100lb Bristol Board Paper to see how well it handles common art supplies like watercolor, acrylics, copic markers and pencils.
There are 5 different designs of postcard to voters as a voting reminder available essentially at cost for me, as a way to help get out the vote, now available here: https://crysodenkirk.printify.me
If you’re interested in these postcards with information pre-printed on the back, let me know and I can set up a custom project.
Alongside more traditional art, I create illustrations for tshirts, greeting cards, etc. Shown here is a t-shirt design for a fun current trend called “whimsigoth.” I chose a vivid pink and a softer cream shade for how they stand out against the black background. For vector artwork I prefer to start out right in Illustrator so I can keep the lines crisp. You can paint in another digital art program and then turn it into a vector but there’s a lot of clean up that you can just avoid by skipping right to vectors. If you’re interested in a tutorial on how this is different from digital painting in general, let me know down in the comments. Remember to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
“Grow” Mushroom Vector Illustration and Time Lapse Video
Alongside more traditional art, I create illustrations for tshirts, greeting cards, etc. Shown here is a t-shirt design for a fun current trend called “whimsigoth.” I chose a vivid pink and a softer cream shade for how they stand out against the black background. For vector artwork I prefer to start out right in Illustrator so I can keep the lines crisp. You can paint in another digital art program and then turn it into a vector but there’s a lot of clean up that you can just avoid by skipping right to vectors.
Once the design is complete, I prepare the file as a transparent png to be flex printed on tshirts by a small business I’ve partnered with and list them in my Etsy shop.
Creating a listing that will convert to sales requires a combination of skills beyond design. I start with retail trend and keyword research and incorporating chosen keywords into the copywriting so that I can be found in the search ranking on the site. For Etsy specifically, listings also require a 15 second video and 4-10 product photos. I also have to set pricing taking into account all my business costs to find a balance between a low enough price that people will buy, but high enough that I can still make a profit on them.
For designs where the process is interesting or complex, I also create time lapse process videos as content for my art Youtube channel, one full-size video and one short. As with all videos, this entails screen recording the process of creation, and then using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the footage. I choose music from Epidemic or Artlist depending on the mood of the piece.
