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.