GO ... ivoteforart.com is live!

Yes, that's right ... ivoteforart.com is finally live. Actually it has been for a little over a week now. But I've been very very busy, which is why it has taken a while to write about this.


I'd love it if you visited ivoteforart.com to check out the little project that I've been talking so much about. Here's the spiel:

So far there are over 70 different pieces for sale, including amazing open and limited edition art prints and original pieces (although mostly prints).

The site isn’t called i vote for art for nothing. If you see an artwork that you like, click on that little thumb and give it a vote. The artwork that receives the most votes gets promoted to the front page for the millions of our visitors (well, perhaps hundreds) to see.

So far we've had so much fun with the launch, and have been so happy with all the blog posts and coverage that we've been getting ... It's been a very exciting week, that's for sure.

There's also a blog over on ivoteforart.com - and I guess from this point on I'll be talking about the artists and the site over there.

But what happens to Art Dabble, now that ivoteforart is live? Well, to be honest I'm not sure yet. The artdabble experience has been a lot of fun too, but I guess it makes sense to concentrate all the blogging over at my new blog. I'd better have a think about that.

On your marks ... get set ...

I vote for art, the art website that I've been busy working on, is finally about to go live. Within the next few days even ...

I'll let you know when.

More new artists

Here are just some of the new artists that will also be appearing on ivoteforart.com when it launches ... which is only about one week away!

One of the first original pieces that will be on sale is this one, Pan drives a Volvo, by Australian artist Magic Jelly.

It's an Ink & Pencil drawing & Collage, with vintage paper strips in the background. I can only hope to have more of these to sell as time goes on.

Over on the other side of the world, Barcelona-based designer and Illustratator, .Cesc. is selling 3 tre-cool pieces on the site, including this on on the right, Invaders. .Cesc does a combination of 2D and 3D digital images. Which rock my socks.

Texan-based Jason Limon is also going to be selling some prints, including 9 Voltz, pictured on the left.

The prints are all of Jason's original canvas paintings. I just love Jason's subjects. He paints batteries, bottle tops and all sorts of interesting things.

Also in the US is Ukranian born artist Tanya Pshenychny, who illustrates using watercolours. No room for traitors, pictured right, demonstrates her amazing style of work.

Next up is TOOCO. To be honest I'm not quite sure how to go about describing the work of this Argentinian artist. But we love her abstract stuff, and reckon you will too. On the left here is Before we sleep.

Now for something completely different. I'm excited to have Manchesters' Andy Council on i vote for art, with some amazing work. His creations are incredibly intricate creatures or roosters, dinosaurs and outher amazing creatures - like Cwmbranasaurus on the right. How cool?

I started this post with an Australian artist, so it makes sense to end with one too. Nathaniel Eckstrom is a Sydney based artist that I blogged about late last year. So naturally I'm delighted to have some of his pieces on the site, including this last picture, A glimpse of something new.

As you can see, there's a whole stack of artists that are going to be of the site when it launches ... all from different pockets of the world.

Make sure you check out my flickr page to have a look at all the pieces that will be on sale.

Exhibitions this weekend

I'm getting out this weekend and seeing a couple of exhibition in Melbourne. Both of which I think are going to be great.

Tonight is the opening of "Haven't we met before", at Kick Gallery in Northcote, featuring a whole whole swag of great artists:

Andrea Innocent
Brooke Bobridge
Catherine Campbell
Coralie Kane
Eveline Tatunadjaja.
Sean Morris

And tomorrow I'll be heading over to South Melbourne to see "The Drawing Machine" at the Green-wood gallery. I missed the opening night last week, but am very keen to see this one.

This is another group exhibition, curated by ghostpatrol and miso.

The Bright Side of Stolen Artwork

If I stumbled across this book in a shop, I'd almost definitely buy it. I reckon you might too. Cover to cover, it is full of a whole host of amazing artists and illustrators. Including a few artists that will be taking part in ivoteforart.com.

But if you do stumble accross it. Don't buy it. It's a fake.

It's been one of the big news stories in my next of the interweb woods in the past few weeks. All of the content in the book has been taken, stolen that is, from Darren Di Lieto's awesome illustration portal, Little Chimp Society. This includes images, interviews ... everything.

A publisher in Hong Kong ripped everything from the site, and re-packaged it into this book, which they are selling for $100. You can read more about it over at Darren's blog, Apefluff.

Understandably, Darren isn't happy. He's tried to contact the producers in Hong Kong, without much success so far. And it's looking pretty doubtful that he will get anywhere with this.

But is their a bright side? I think so. This has been a newsworthy story, picked up by artists and bloggers all over the place, which, in turn has probably generated some good publicity for Darren, and spread the word about some of the great artists that he's featured. Here's what I said on his blog:

Darren,

I’m a bit late to comment on all of this, but it’s such a shame that you had to experience this.

Having said that, you’d have to agree that the whole story has created quite a storm on the web. So, to look on the bright side, I’m hoping that you’ve picked up some new regulars over at Little Chimp, and gained some good publicity in the past few weeks.

In the process, the artists that you’re so passionate about have probably picked a whole lot of new fans as well. Surely this isn’t a bad thing?

It’s terrible that they did this without your knowledge or permission - but they did it because the content on LCS is so good. A back-handed compliment for you no doubt, but I hope there has been some positives that have come out of this experience for you.

Now I'm not saying it's a good thing that this happened, and I completely understand how dissappointed he must be.

But this sort of thing is happening a lot these days. It's like music piracy. You can try and stop it, but that hasn't exactly gotten anyone anywhere. Or you can accept that piracy like this isn't going away, and be happy that your music (or in this case, artwork) is potentially getting greater far greater exposure, to a wider audience.

What do you think readers?

Wilmer Murillo

The site will belaunching with 3 great pieces from Wilmer Murillo.

Just 20 years old, Wilmer is a freelance Illustrator from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

His colourful, quirky and textured pieces are a welcome addition to 'I vote for art'. "Vino Paz en el Diario", pictured here, is one of the 3.

You can see more of Wilmer's work on his Virb page, flickr page, and his blog.

What will 'I Vote for Art' look like?

I think that it's about time I showed some screen mock-ups of ivoteforart.com, to give you an idea of what it's going to look like.

This first one here is the home page. Because you will be able to vote for artwork on the site (who would have guessed?), the home page displays the top voted pieces.

As well as the top voted art, the homepage will display the most recently added artworks.

Below each picture is some brief info about each artwork: the artist, the title, and the price of each piece.

Also, in the bottom right hand corner of each image is a small 'thumb'. That's where you do the voting. You can vote for as many pieces as you like, but only once. That thumb turns into a tick once you've voted for something.

The right hand side-bar is where you can login or signup, display your favourite art that's on the site, and read the latest news about ivoteforart.com

You can click on each piece and you'll be taken through to individual art pages - with more details about each piece, as shown here on the right.

On these pages, you can buy the artwork, add a comment or review about it, and of course you can add you vote here too.

So, as you can see - it's starting to take shape. I must say that the whole process has taken me a lot longer than I expected ... but it's very close now to being ready to launch.

The 'Sell' area on the top navigation bar, and panel towards the bottom of each page, is where artists can submit their work to be considered for the site. But "I vote for art' isn't going to be a free-for-all like etsy is. We'll only be adding work that we consider to be of a high standard.

I hope you like the look of it ... but either way would be very interested in hearing your feedback about it. This is only version 1, and I'm sure that plenty of things will change in the months (and hopefully years) to come.

Christopher Nielsen

OK, you're probably wondering ... why has this guy from Melbourne started creating an online art site, but there aren't any Australian artists?

Well, that's not exactly true - I have quite a few Australian artists signed up and ready to to be part of ivoteforart.com. Starting with Christopher Nielsen, a freelance Illustrator based out of Sydney.

I guess you'd describe his work as abstract ... In fact I'm not sure how you'd descibribe it beyond that. But he has a unique, rough style that really appeals to me.

You can read Chris' interview over at We are the Image Makers, or just head on over to his site to see more of his work.

One of the exciting things about launching this site is that i can choose artists from anywhere in the world to take part. Having said that, I'm always on the lookout for more local produce.

Stay tuned for more Australian artists!

Prints

Just wanted to show you all a small selection of the prints that I've had done so far. The four flat ones are from Kokomoo, Jim Bradshaw, Kendrick Marr and Ryan Snook. The rolled up one is a larger piece, Skeletal Heart, by Mel Kadel.

I'm really thrilled with how they've turned out.

In the last week I've also picked up some artists that will be selling some original pieces. Most of the artwork that will initially be for sale are prints, so it's nice to have some one-off pieces as well.

Shane Vorhaben

Shane Vorhaben is part of the new breed of artists that knows just how powerful the internet art community can be to promote your work and get your name out there.

I first came across Shane's work over at flickr, where he is very active, with almost 1,000 contacts.

His work has an interesting 'Doodling' style that reminds me in a way of Keith Haring's work. And it just seems to get better and better.

Shane will be selling 3 pieces on 'I vote for art', including The resurrection of Bob, pictured here.

Great Gocco prints by Inkdesigner

I am delighted to have Inkdesigner's work on 'I vote for art'.

Inkdesigner, aka Wing Ngan is a Hong Kong born designer who now runs his own design firm, Ink Design, in Boston.

Inkdesigner will be initially selling 3 limited edition Gocco prints at a very affordable price. I can't wait to see these prints in person.

"What's a Gocco print?", do I hear anyone ask?

Gocco printing is "print gocco" is a clean, easy, and fully self-contained compact print system that exposes and prints all in one unit. It uses flash bulbs similar to those found in old cameras, where an original image is thermally imprinted on a master screen. Colourful prints are made by pressing the ink-applied master screen against a sheet of paper placed on a sponge pad.

Sadly, the Japanese company that make the Goccos have announced that they will no longer be making Gocco printers ... such a shame.

Anyway, it's great to have some Gocco Prints from Inkesigner. You can check out more of his work at his flickr page.

May Contain Traces of Nuts

So much for me saying that I'd visit an exhibition a week, I haven't been to see one in a couple of months.

But I'm thinking about going to this tomorrow night ...























May Contain Traces of Nuts features new art by:

ben frost - www.benfrostisdead.com
trent whitehead - www.nudesoup.com
beastman - www.esnce.com
jae copp - www.soopkichn.com
ainslie fletcher - www.ainsliefletcher.com
sam smith - www.blackbookno1.com
adrian knott - www.myspace.com/adrianknottdesign

It's on at paper shadow gallery @ miss libertines -34 franklin street, melbourne

Anyone keen to join me?

Jim Bradshaw

I'm really excited to have Jim Bradshaw, a US based pop surrealist on the site.

Jim's work is interesting and fun, and you can tell he's the type of artist that doesn't take himelf too seriously ... the bio information he sent me explains it all.

Jim was raised in New Jersey and now lives in the
rural south part of the state. He digs everything to
do with art, design and creativity. There is this
overwhelming passion that drives all his works. He
also loves cheeseburgers and you should see the
passion he puts into eating one or three of those bad
boys. Anyway, back on topic. Humorous illustration and pop surrealism is what he is drawn to. Some topics you'll find showing up in his recent work are dreams, the tyranny of time, life & death, the innocence of childhood versus the mixed up adult world we are all exist in, good versus evil, and just plain fun, whacked out, made up worlds that swirl around in Jim's brain.

Little Life and Death Parade, featured here, is one of four pieces that Jim will be selling on 'I vote for art'. But you can check out more of his work at his website or his blog.

The Desktop Wallpaper Project

Today's coolest online art project is undoubtedly "The Desktop Wallpaper Project" over at Bobby S' Kitsune Noir.

The idea is pretty simple :

Bobby contacted all of his favorite artists and designers to see if they'd create desktop backgrounds for him to give away to the readers of his blog. “I really liked this idea because it's not only cool to have desktop wallpaper by your favorite artists, but it's also free and accessible to anyone with a computer,” says Bobby.

Bobby has kicked things off with three wallpapers by three artists :: Tim Biskup, Mcbess, and IMAKETHINGS, and will be releasing one new desktop wallpaper every Wednesday morning.

(via Juxtapoz)

All the way from Argentina

Buenos Aires, it seems, is on fire.

In my travels for great art and illustration, I'm constantly finding great artists from Argentina, especially Buenos Aires. It makes me want to go there really badly. What is it about this city that is churning out such amazing artist talent?

My first two Argentinian artists are Seniorita Polyester and himnoefeda!

Seniorita Polyester has two very unique styles of work. Her collages - like this one4a & 5a - are nothing short of brilliant. But her illustration work is also to die for, with that perfect blend of cute and evil.

himnofeda! is the master of character illustration, and pieces like this one, Niño Cuete

Collectively, these guys are working together on a project called eat your carrots - which I can't wait to hear more about.

I first found these guys on flickr ... You can follow Seniorita Polyester and himnofeda!, and fall in love with their work like I have.

You can check out the other pieces that they will be selling over at the 'I vote for art' flickr page.

Pricing

I'm finalising some pricing decisions on artwork tonight, and would be interested in your thoughts. I've always tried to get other's opinions as I get closer to launching the website, so I'd be interested in hearing yours.

As I said in an earlier post, I'd like to find a balance, where artists can be fairly paid for their work, and buyers don't have to be high end collectors to find something for their walls.

Probably the majority of work that will initially be on sale will be open-edition prints. So I'll be taking my cue from some of the other print sites out there for setting the prices. And then for limited edition, I'll charge a little more. And of course, for the one off original work, you'd expect the prices to be a little higher again.

I'm constantly surprised by how little etsy artists charge for their work. Take Tanya Pshenychny, an etsy artist who I found tonight. Tanya's work is beautiful, and yet she is only charging US $15-$20 for her prints. This seem to be typical of many etsy artists, who, in my opinion don't charge nearly enough for their work.

I'm not saying this because I want to charge an arm and a leg for the work I sell on ivoteforart.com. It's just that these artists are pouring hours of love into their work, and I think it's only fair that they get something back.

I'll be working closely with the artists so that we price the prints at amounts that we're all happy with. But I'm thinking that the majority of the work will sell from anywhere between US $40 and $200, as a guide. And most of the work will be under $100 I think. This will depend on a lot of factors ... and this could change along the way. So don't hold me on this!

But this sort of price range seems to make sense to me. Some of the artwork will be cheap enough for a gift, where others will be more suited to buyers who want something more substantial to brighten up their lives.

What do you think?

Mel Kadel

Mel Kadel is a US based artist, living in a log cabin in the hills of Los Angeles.

I'm delighted to have some of Mel's work for the gallery - her work has a very unique style, and uses old paper which becomes part of the pieces.

Mel will initially be selling two prints on I vote for art, including Secret Geyser, pictured here.

You can read more about Mel from an interview over at Fecal Face. And be sure to check out her beautiful website.

Garfield minus Garfield

Ok, so it's a little off topic ... but I'm really enjoying Garfield minus Garfield:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb.

Some more about 'I vote for art'

You want to know a bit more about ivoteforart.com? Here are 10 things:

• I vote for art will be an online art gallery and store.
• You'll be able to buy some terrific artwork, including original art and prints.
  
• It will be launching in March, or perhaps April in 2008.
• Visitors to the site will be able to 'vote' for their favourite artwork.
• It will be high quality, adorable yet affordable art.
• Over 20 artists will be involved when the site launches.
  
• Will be involving great artists from all around our great little planet.
• You can preview some of the artists on my flickr page and here on the blog.
• Or you can find I vote for art over at Myspace too.
  
• Has been keeping me very busy for the last 6 months.

Lawrence Yang

Lawrence Yang's paintings are influenced by traditional Chinese painting and pop surrealism, and are mostly concerned with creating order out of chaos - - or vice versa.

I found Lawrence over at Artswhore, a crackin' little blog and great source of new artists, back in January this year.

I've just picked up a print of this picture here,
titled Growth, from my printer tonight. It looks wonderful.

ivoteforart.com won't be the only place you'll be able to buy Lawrence's work. You can also pick up a book showcasing Lawrence's work at Lulu.com. Or if you're a fan of Growth like I am, you can visit the superb Gelaskins to add a skin to your ipod, laptop or iphone. Very very cool.

Or if you're just browsing, be sure to visit his site - http://www.suckatlife.com/

Death to polaroid

NO!!!!!

IT CAN'T BE TRUE.

THEY'RE NOT MAKING ANYMORE POLAROID FILM!!!



(Gorgeous polaroid image : Credit to Grant Hamilton)

Update :: Ironic Sans has a nice little idea to keep the dream alive.

Introducing ... (drum roll please)

This weekend, Artdabble is 6 months old. Back on the 25th of August 2007, I had a plan to get into an art business of some sort. I wasn't really sure what. And I chose to use this blog as a way of exploring what that business might be.

So, after 6 months of this blog, I think it's time I told you some more about what I'm up to. In the last few weeks, I've been introducing the artists, but I haven't actually given any details about what it will be called, and how it will work.

It's about time. So, I'd like to introduce to you : 'I vote for art', a new online art gallery that I'll be launching in the next month or so.

You won't see much at ivoteforart.com just yet. But in March or April, I'll be launching the site. If you're interested, I'll be writing about it here.

I've been working heavily behind the scenes in creating this little business. I've used the blog to share some ideas about whether it should be online or offline, and at the high or affordable end of the market. And to talk about the exhibitions I've visited.

In the process, I've found some fantastic art sites and blogs, and met some new friends. I've visited some galleries, both online and off. And I've discovered some amazing artists. I have definitely learnt a lot about art, and my own taste in art, since I started this blog. And I've learnt so much from my readers.

The comments, both positive and negative, have taught me so much, and pointed me in the direction that I'm heading in. Thanks to you all for reading, and sharing your thoughts.

In the next couple of months, I'll be telling you more about 'I vote for art'. So stay tuned.

Kendrick Mar

I first came across Kendrick Mar's work via the Creep Machine, an alternative art blog that I'm continually blabbing on about here are art dabble. You can read the interview here.

Kendrick lives and works in New York - and I'm constantly amazed to be attracting artists like Kendrick who are from parts of the world other than my own.

He describes his work as "metaphorical self-portraits that deal with childhood emotions and memory". I describe them as brilliant. Pain Receptors, pictured here, is one of the pieces that will be available.

If you're anywhere else, head over to his website to see more of his art.

Ryan Snook

Next up comes Ryan Snook, a Toronto-based illustrator. I first found his work via Illustration Mundo, a site that has so many great artists and illustrators. I've fallen in love with his quirky style.

To start with, Ryan will be exhibiting 3 pieces of his work, including this one, entitled "Fitness Fairytales".

From his official bio:

He studied illustration at Sheridan College before beginning his freelance career in 2003. Since that time, he has worked with clients from around the world doing everything from editorial illustration to character design. Some of his clients include Time, Hasbro, Forbes, Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal and more. His illustrations have also received awards from American Illustration and The Advertising & Design Club of Canada. In between assignments, he focuses on various personal projects like comics and children's picture books.

I was thrilled when said he would be keen to get involved, and sure his work will sell well. You can see more work at his website.

My very first artist - Kokomoo

Back in December I mentioned that I was going through the process of contacting artists for my gallery.

Now we're in February, I'm proud to say that I have 29 artists who are interested in being part of my project - And I thought it was about time that I let you know who they are.

So, my very first artist who wanted to be involved was Yan Wei, aka Kokomoo, from China. I first found her art through her myspace page, and have been in love with her work ever since.

Kokomoo is based in Beijing, and she will be starting with 4-5 black and white illustrations on the site. Including this one, entitled "Happy Meal".

She has recently been featured on Start Drawing, an incredible blog that showcases artists from Asia.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks to see more artists.

Printing and paper

I'm becoming a real sucker for quality printing and paper as I'm getting in to all this.

Check out this letterpress print. Looks fantastic.

(via 64colors)

Linkety Links :: 21 Art blog links you shouldn't miss

I've just added a whole stack of Blogs to my blogroll, in appreciation of the cool sites that i subscribe to, find artists, and generally waste a lot of time on these days. They'll also give you a good idea about the sort of art / artists that I'm lookin for.

In the order of the alphabet:

• Art News Blog
  
• Arts Whore
• Creep Machine - (actually already linked to this one ... but it's probably my favourite)
• Curious Artist
• Days of Danger
• Design fckr
• Feed your wall
• Illustration Mundo
• Illustrativo
• Illustrophile
• k9pincushion
• Lines and Colors
  
• Little Chimp Society
• Lost at E Minor
• OMG Posters
• Paintalicious
• Robot Walrus
• Start Drawing
  
• Varshava
  
• We Heart Prints

Hope you enjoy them. And let me know if you have some other favourites that aren't listed here.

Finding Paper

I've had a great afternoon, finishing off a day's work with a visit to Image Science, who will be doing the prints for my gallery.

I'd heard good things from several people about these guys, and so organised a meeting to get things started. I've also been spending some time recently on their website, which is a very comprehensive resource to learn about Art printing and reproduction.

Jeremy talked me through the different type paper that they use, including Hahnemuehle Photo Rag 308, which I've heard good things about. He also recommended Crane Portfolio Rag paper for larger prints, as it flattens better after being unrolled.

There's also the option of printing onto canvas. Although I think to start with, I'll probably just be sticking to the photo rag paper.

As far as printers go, they use high quality Epson pigment ink printers, which ensure a long lasting, high quality print. The samples that he showed me were fantastic. But good image capture and colour management are a big part of the outcome, too.

Not sure if any of my readers have had any experience Image Science before. What did you think? I haven't had any prints done by them yet. But I have a really good feeling about these guys.

A great art blog find today ... my love for you is a stampede of horses.

Is that not the best name for a blog you've ever heard? It's also worth your while to check out.

A little update

Just wanted to give you all a bit of an update on how my online art gallery (Thanks, Liss) is going:

First, the boring stuff - During the week I received my ABN number and Certificate of Business registration, which means that I have now got an official business set up. I can't really explain why I'm so excited about this, but I guess it just makes the whole project seem a little more tangible.

Artists - As of tonight I have 12 artists that have signed up, and want to sell their work on my site. All of them are amazing, and I'm really pleased to have each one of them on board.

I have artists from here, the US, China, the UK, Sweden, the Phillipines and New Zealand. The truly amazing thing about the internet is that you can find so much talent in every pocket of the world. Of course, I'd like to get more local talent signed up as well though.

This has been the result of a lot of hard work over the last month. I think I'd like to have about 30 artists lined up before I launch the site though, so still plenty o' work to do.

The Website - I've been working with a local web designer and developer, and I could be more pleased with how that's all working out. We had meeting last night (via Skype, I'm such an internet nerd) to talk about how it's all going. It's really starting to take shape.

The idea? - Well, perhaps it's about time I told my readers what the site is, how it will work etc. but another part of me wants to keep it a secret.

Anyway, 2008 has gotten off to a great start for me - and I'm looking forward to telling you more about the site as I get closer to launching it.

The Decapitator

Via PSFK: An interesting street artist / culture-jammer in East London know as The Decapitator is making his/her mark.

Known as “The East London Decapitator,” an unknown artist has been lurking through the streets of London and cutting off the heads of characters seen in mainstream advertisements. With partially exposed spines and blood splatter, each piece displays a considerable amount of detail.

For those of us not in London, here's The Decapitator's flickr photos to see some more incredible pieces, like the one pictured here.

It's interesting that street-art has evolved so much in recent years. The quality of the work shines (compare this to the old-fashioned tagging and graffiti), and street-artists are challenging what is and isn't vandalism. This surely isn't.

I also think this is a really good example of one of the many new ways artists have to promote their art and themselves. By capturing the work on flickr, it makes it easier for art bloggers and journalists to spread the word about their art.

Tiny Showcase

I've found yet another fantastic place to buy good, affordable art on the web. Tiny Showcase.

The idea behind Tiny Showcase is fairly simple - to 'Offer up a tiny limited-run print each week for art enthusiasts to "take home...for around the same price as a CD, book or record..."'

Each week Tiny Showcase release a limited edition print that has become so popular they've been known to not only sell out, but sell out within the hour.

This week's print, "Send Joan of Ark Over", by Rachel Sumpter, is this week's cool print.

You can read more about Tiny Showcase here.

20x200 is a similar type of project, where each week they release one photo and one print, and sell a limited edition of 200 of each for $20.