Tag: Links

by Leland Richardson on July 21, 2023 0

How to Find Arts and Crafts Supplies

About 20 years ago, I was playing around with the idea of buying a florist business. I eventually didn’t go through with it as I was breaking the cardinal rule of owning a business – that of having good practical experience. My total amount of floral experience was limited to occasional purchases from the area wholesale florist. During my interview with the owner, I asked her how I could find floral-related vendors. Her response:‘Don’t worry – they’ll find you!”.

If you’ve been in business any length of time, you know how true this is. However, you need to scare up some potential arts and craft supplies vendors and request price lists before you start your arts and crafts business. There is no way you can take even the first step towards starting a business unless you know how much it’s going to cost you to make your product.

Arts and Craft Supplies Instructor Referrals

Instructors at arts / crafts classes or seminars are great referral sources for tools, art supplies and craft materials. Since the instructor has so much experience in the field, they should have an encyclopedic knowledge of the best vendors in your arts/crafts area. Most likely, they’ll have a handout addressing this issue they’ll distribute the first night of class.

Arts and Crafts Books and Magazines

Flip through any arts/craft specialty magazine and you’ll see numerous advertisements by arts and crafts supplies vendors. The more tailored the magazine to your particular area of interest, the more useful the advertisements. Check them out – but keep in mind that as your business grows you’ll want to find vendors selling wholesale. Most advertisers in these magazines gear themselves towards the casual hobbyist.

Most arts/crafts books have a resource section in the appendix listing supply vendors. You don’t have to lay out the money to purchase many different books. Pay a visit to your local library and borrow the books or use the library copier to make copies of the applicable info. Make sure the book is current (my suggestion – published within the last year) so you don’t waste your time tracking down a bunch of defunct vendors.

Online Arts and Crafts Supplies Vendors

Your first online search should be the Guide who writes about your craft. Most Guides have resource links with plenty of vendor suggestions. For example, check out Painting Guide Marion Boddy-Evans’ What Art Supplies Do You Need to Start Painting? article.

Do a key phrase search by Googling ‘wholesale xxx supplies’ and see what comes up. I’ve not found that Googling is the best way to find full service arts/crafts vendors but it’s worth a shot. I also occasionally check out suppliers selling through eBay, Etsy and ArtFire.

Finding Arts and Crafts Supplies Vendors Through Trade Organizations

If you haven’t already, you should join some of your industry arts/crafts organizations. Besides keeping up with your industry, they are a great place to find wholesale vendors. You’ll also find links to other online resources serving your particular art/craft.

For example, The Ganoksin Project has a resources page with a comprehensive guide to industry websites . While tailored to the jewelry making industry, many of the vendors listed provide materials and supplies for other types of arts/crafts also. The Society of American Silversmiths also has fantastic resources for artists such as technical information and how to purchase hard-to-find goods and services.

I know from experience that it can be just plain hard to find exactly what you’re looking for. Worse yet is when you find the perfect vendor only to find out they won’t sell to your business because it’s too new or unknown or their minimum order is too big. My best advice is to just keep on looking until you find what you need, go to as many trade events as possible and make industry contacts by joining trade organizations.

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by David Burgess on May 30, 2018 0

How to make Fractals

Fractals are beautiful computer generated images

Make your own unique images for use as wall paper on your computer desktop, as background art on web pages or simply to enjoy.

Fractals are drawn by your computer with a little help from advanced mathematics. The great thing is, you can easily create your own fractals without understanding math. Fractal images can be made by you self by the use of easy-to-use, free computer programs.

This easy guide helps you on your way to fractal heaven.

Fractals – the basics

calculating the image

Fractals are generated by calculating a complex mathematical formula. Each point is checked for how fast it goes to infinity. The result is mapped to a colour, and so the images appear.

The same formular can generate different images depending on the parameters used and the zoom level applied.

There are a lot of different formulas, all giving different, fantastic looking images.

Fractals are rooted in chaos theory, and because of their unpredictable (not really, but they look unpredictable) nature they are great for organic looking artwork and landscapes.

Enjoy these images

Large enough for use as images

Make your own fractals

Fractal creation is a fun challenge for programmers. So several programs exist to make your own fractals.
See the link list below and try out the different programs. If you don’t know where to start, try ChaosPro! It is free, easy to use, and generates many different types of fractals.

Find and download software for fractal generation

there is plenty of software to draw fractals
Here are links to sites that offer software for making fractals, much of this software is free. Take a look at the programs, and cast a vote on the one you like best.
You can even submit a link, if I forgot one. The link needs approval by me, but I’ll get to it soon.

More fractals

Big enough for wallpapers

Books on fractals

here is where you can lean even more about these amazing images
Fractals are based in mathematics. So there is of course many books on the subject. Some deal with the theoric background and others just explore the beauty of the images.

And then some fractals

you can download them as wallpapers

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by David Burgess on May 25, 2018

What Are Artists Trading Cards, An Introduction

My Personal Introduction to Artist Trading Cards

I was introduced to Artist trading cards or their equivalent ACEO’s by Ebay. Not knowing about artist trading cards, I was browsing around in the art categories on Ebay and kept seeing reference to ACEO.

I had to find out what it was. It is actually an art format, sized the same as the ubiquitous Trading Cards so beloved by kids of all ages. That is 2.5 X 3.5 inches exactly. The acronym stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. It could be in any media at all and had been started on Ebay around 1996.

Anyway, I had always prepared for my painting by doing several small sketches to get right the composition / colour / etc and found that this size format was a natural for me. I tentatively put the first listing of an ACEO painting on Ebay and WOW it sold!!! Fantastic!!! I had soon sold around 50 of these little miniatures and felt great.

That first aceo painting was a scene from Portmeirion in Wales where the exterior scenes for the TV programme The Prisoner was filmed. Remember Patrick McGoohan, Prisoner Number 6. This was the rear of his circular house in the village. (see picture above).You can see more of my art on my blogs Painting With John and Artyfax, the trials and tribulations of a leisure artist.

I hope to give an account of the history and potential of these wonderful little works of art, they are a great way for anybody to start their very own art collection. They are fun, affordable and a real insight into the work of any artist that you like. Further to this I will talk about the making, collecting and selling of ACEO’s.My own personal collection of works by other artists is several hundred, but I think that this will grow substantially in the future. Why not try it out?

I originally wrote this lens specifically to cover art cards which were made for selling and so the term ACEO is used throughout the lens. However, I now recognise the similarity between these and art cards traded and indeed the only difference is that one is sold ( ACEO) and one is only ever traded (ATC). Therefore it should be taken as read, that whenever the term ACEO is mentioned in this page, it refers to either form of artist trading cards. I will gradually rewrite this anomaly out of the lens as it is modified.

please note the copyright of all images is the property of the original artist, unless otherwise stated all art and photographs are by Artyfax

What is an ACEO?

The ACEO format

abstract building the cityACEO (artist trading cards) are a particular art format which is defined by its size. The acronym stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. This reflects the idea that they are sometimes made as part of a series or may be made as numbered editions, usually limited editions. These miniature works are only 2.5 X 3.5 inches. This incidentally, and not by accident, is the size of the ubiquitous Trading Cards beloved by kids of all ages and sizes. This means that there are many products available for storing and displaying the art work, from simple plastic wallets to A4 loose leaf pages with multiple pockets, and whole display books. The miniature aceo art works can of course be framed for display either singly or as multiples.

Collectors often come up with their own devices or simply use a favourite box ( of the right size of course) and I have even heard of them being used as dolls’ house art.

It is a format that started back in 1996, and soon grew into a very popular collectible area. A search on Ebay.com for ACEO can bring up 3-4000 items (rather less in the UK as you might imagine being a much smaller market, but we are getting there) with aceo’s available in so many different media it soon becomes confusing. Watercolor, oil, acrylic, pencil, collage, photographic images, computer generated images….. the list goes on.

ACEO’s are a really inexpensive and fun way of starting your own original art collection.

Alternatively, for those with an artistic bent, art cards can be traded with other artists, almost always as originals or “one-of-a-kind” (OOAK). This was thte original means of dispersal when the format was introduced, see a short history below. When traded they are called ATC’s , short for artist trading card.

My ACEO’s on You Tube

A Portfolio of ACEO paintings by myself on YouTube

This video to be found on YouTube was an experiment for me. A selection of some of my ACEO paintings, backed by my own soundtrack, hope you like it.

Some of my favourite artists’ sites on Ebay

I have at least one work by most of these guys in my own collection of ACEO’s

There are many, many really great artists selling ACEO’s on Ebay. Some are selling simply to attract attention to their larger works, others sell ACEO’s as their main line. If you are interested, then give them a quick once over. I did not intend this lens to be a commercial, but hey! we all need to make bread, so please forgive the intrusion.

I am not selling on Ebay at the moment, and have given up my Ebay shop, please watch this space for news of developments on Etsy.

ARENA-CREATIONS
Immortalising Dreams, Moments and Memories……….. Artist, Gaynor Lewis shows her endless inspiration and expression through her artwork. Bringing extra to your life through art – Original artwork, prints, greeting cards, gift tags and commissions.
Aartless ACEO Gallery
ACEO Originals, Limited Edition ACEO Prints, Postcard and other Small Format Art by JAN VALLANCE. Direct from the artist. Cats, Portraits, Landscapes, all in Jan’s instantly recognisable and individual style.
Naj – My Depictions
Internationally selling UK based artist. Sells promotional samples of small format art, undertakes commissions for art work such as portraits, pet portraits and other custom art commissions, including canal art.
Round the Cauldron
I was raised in California but I now call Scotland my home. My two biggest inspirations are my children and my love of nature. I have been an artist for as long as I’ve been able to hold a pencil, working mainly in Graphite and Watercolour.
Mareens Art Gallery
*Contemporary Art* This Gallery is all about the art created by Mareen Haschke. Purchase ACEOs (Art Trading Cards), Fine Art Prints, and Originals such as pastel drawings and acrylic paintings directly from the artist.

ACEO Links On The Web

just a small selection to wet your apetite…

Here I have tried to provide links to sites with articles about the subject rather than artist sites, I will be adding more regularly.

A painting a day
From Shanti’s world of watercolour, A painting a day seems like a wonderful target. A great way of building up a real expertise. Why don’t I do it?
all you need to know
Probably the first and last link about ACEO’s you should need.
Entry in Wiki
A highly debated offshoot of artist trading cards are the “art card, editions and originals” (ACEO). ACEOs originated when some artists began to create cards to sell on eBay, in addition to trading among themselves. The selling of these cards is a sore point with some ATC purists; however the practice is not unprecedented: trading cards in other areas such as sports have also been traded and sold.
Art in your pocket
Basics of ATC’s ( Art Trading Cards)which are the equivalent of ACEO’s but are traded rather than sold. And importantly, many different ways of making them. Materials and techniques.

More ACEO Artists on the web

another list of links to fantastic artists

It never ceases to amaze me how how much can be contained in one little 2.5 X 3.5 inch painting. Here are some more of my favourite artists aceo’s:-

Affordable art – Ken Gillam
Ken Gillam is a Marine and Landscape Artist based in the South of England working in Watercolour and Acrylic. This site features some of his Miniature Paintings.
Original ACEO art for sale
About the artist, Jim Read

As a scholar I was taken to The British Museum and there saw my first nude, a sculpture.

I was entranced by the perfection of the form and the ever changing lines as I moved around it. I never lost the sense of awe I felt then and it is only now in later life that I feel able to commit my fascination to paper.

ACEO’s from the ACEO UK, Ebay group

a small selection from some fine artists

The Ebay user group ACEO UK has recently started to take notice of ths exciting development and list art videos (aka showreels) on You Tube. This is a group endeavour.

Artist Trading Cards In The News

Artists are creative people and like to keep up with new ideas.

Who is writing about these new ideas and what do they have to say? Find out here:-
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History of ACEO’s

What and Why

jester aceo atcWe have seen above two variations of the artist trading card, ATC and ACEO. And how they only differ in that one is sold and the other is only ever traded. How did this come about?

Artists have always painted miniatures for patrons but in September 1996, Swiss artist M Vanci Stirnemann formally identified the concept and format of artist trading cards now known as ATC’s. I have also shown above that ATC’s are not limited to any particular media but can be created in almost any way that can be envisaged. I have listed and given examples in my lens Making Artist Trading Cards. The original idea was that ATC’s should be exchanged between artists and never sold or indeed should not involve the art establishments selling art. However the internet was taking off at this time and this helped to create a popular demand for this format. It very soon became established around the world particularly in the USA thanks to the involvement via the internet.

For more information see:-

Time line for ATC’s
ATC Quarterly

Collecting ACEO’s

As Opposed To Trading ATC’s

flower garden abstract atc aceoSome time after the introduction of the concept of the ATC an artist selling her work on Ebay (ID Bone-Diva, real name Lisa Luree) put some artwork in this format up for auction. This caused consternation amongst many supporters of the format and Lisa formed a breakaway group which came up with the name ACEO ( Art Cards Editions and Originals) as an acronym for art cards which were sold. This represents the fact that art cards are produced as originals, in series or as editions (open or limited edition prints). Ebay and other sites sell quite large numbers of ACEO’s to artists and collectors looking to start their own art collection at reasonable prices. Many are sold very cheaply by amateurs by auction but established artists with a strong following can command premium prices as you would imagine. Prices in the latter case can be relatively inexpensive but still command prices of $4-500.

For more information on the controversy see, ATC’s vs ACEO’s The Real Story

Selling Your ACEO’s On Ebay

A Quick Introduction

Collecting, selling and trading ACEO art (Art Cards Editions and Originals) is as easy as buying and selling anything on eBay — and it has the advantage of a specialized market. Here’s how to turn drawing miniature artworks the size of trading cards (2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″) into some added income to help you add to your collection!

This image is of one of my early watercolour ACEO’s sold on Ebay. A good price is difficult but they are fairly quick to complete and if it sells short it is no great loss. take it on the chin and try again with another. There are other on-line sites and I will add some of these very soon to the lens on Selling ACEO’s; the next in this series. For now check out the recommended links on the side bar.

read this lens for more detailed informationHow to sell ACEOs on Ebay

Some Featured Items From Google News

Sometimes the items discovered by the Google News module are the sort that you don’t want to lose. For example the first in the list below is about hhow a school is using trading cards to overcome the lack of an art tteacher and structured art lessons. How great that this hobby (or passion even) can be used to help school kids in this way. I decided to keep track of some of the more relevant and interesting items for reference.

Art Cards In School
How the use of art trading cards is helping school pupils
trading with a difference
A different take on the trading of artist trading cards

Reader Feedback
I look forward to hearing any feedback!

An artist always craves attention, we prefer to be told how great or original we are BUT I am a realist, let me know what you think and if you don’t like it … well I will just use the input to improve on my next piece – thanks

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by David Burgess on May 7, 2018 0

Gaston Costume

Make, Buy or Build a Gaston Costume for Beauty and the Beast

Are you playing Gaston in an upcoming production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast? If you’re looking for a stage costume for Gaston or even a Halloween costume or party costume, this article will tell you all you need to know about making, buying or renting a Gaston Costume for Beauty and the Beast. Headwear, vests, boot toppers and more will all be explained and highlighted.

How to Take Measurements

Great costumes start with accurate measurements!
Before you get started, check out this lens on taking proper body measurements. (Right click to open in a new window and easily keep your place here at your costuming article!)

Gaston Hat

In the show, it’s rare to see Gaston costumed with headwear or hats. If your director insists that Gaston wear a hat in the show, he could most likely wear a tricorn hat, perhaps in the mob scenes. You could go with a fancier hat or you could do a leather look tricorn hat (like a pirate style hat) to show his rugged outdoorsiness.

Other Beauty and the Beast Costumes

Check out the rest of the show here!
This lens is a lens branched off of a larger article I wrote called “Costumes for Beauty and the Beast on a Budget”. There’s info there on how to decide whether to buy rent or build your costumes and links to all the other Beauty and the Beast costuming lenses I have.

Gaston’s Costume Pieces

Pants, Shirt and Vest
Gaston is really one of the easiest characters to costume in Beauty and the Beast. My favorite costume supplier for his pieces is Alexanders costumes, and they are available through Amazon. The long renaissance lace up vest for men that they have is a great quality and will definately last through all your performances, I’d say the same of their renaissance shirts. When I worked at a rental shop, we’d purchase these items and they held up for a rental business just great. The look is also spot on.

The pants should be a black stretchy pant (stirrups stay on the best) with boot toppers over the top.

Movies Set in this Time Period

From Amazon
Sometimes a great way to get some additional research in on a time period or a character is to watch some movies. You can get some great visuals on what period costumes look like. Plus, it’s fun!

Gaston on Broadway

Hugh Jackman in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as Gaston

Gaston’s Boots

Again, a simple solution for this costume is available. I really recommend boot toppers for Gaston. You can choose how tall the boots are, but I’d recommend a wide cuff on the top of the boot toppers. Not sure what a “boot topper” is? It’s the boot without the sole, worn over a shoe of the same color. This is a great option because you can reuse the costume piece again with another actor even if their shoe size is different. It also keeps the price way down because you’re only paying for the “topper” and not the sole etc. Love these. Again, I prefer Alexanders brands.

Gaston Accessories

The only accessory I think is really great to add a little flair to a Gaston costume is some arm gauntlets. These can be made with some imitation leather, or you can purchase some lace up versions online. The gauntlets are worn over the base of the sleeve like a leather cuff. They look sort of tough and balance out the look.

Thinking of Renting?

Here’s some advice before you sign the papers
If you’ve read through this lens and you’re thinking maybe you’d rather rent a costume instead of making one or buying one online. That’s cool. Here’s some information I wrote on questions to ask before renting theatrical costumes. I worked for nine years as a costume rental shop manager for a shop that specialized in theatrical show costumes.

I’m also including a link to a lens I wrote with links to theatrical costume rental shops across the country. You can vote them up or down if you’ve used one or more of them, and also leave comments about the service, quality and selection.

Gaston Hair

Gaston traditionally is seen with dark hair in a pony tail. Because the movie is so popular, usually many directors don’t deviate from the look in the movie, even down to the hair. A dark brown or black deluxe men’s colonial wig (usually from Lacey wigs) does the job quite well. Here are a couple of options. The use of a wig is always more complicated than wearing your own hair, but it’s a good option to complete the look folks are expecting if they’re familiar with the cartoon.

Washing and Caring for Costume Wigs

If you choose to use a wig, check out this article!
Here’s a detailed lens about washing and caring for costume quality wigs. If you’re using costume wigs in your theatrical production, you’ll want to check it out!

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by David Burgess on May 7, 2018 0

Cool Gifts For Theater Lovers!

I Created a Theater Gift Shop on Zazzle to Raise Money for my Local Community Theaters!

I’ve been tinkering around with this Squidoo thing for a while now, and I am proud to say I finally have something I am excited to create a lens about! A while back, I decided my love for all things theater must not and cannot be contained any longer.

To this end, I have declared war on my “cubicle”, where I spend 40 hours per week. I am secretly developing plans to escape the cubicle and pursue my passion for theater full-time. This is going to take some money. So, among other top-secret missions, I have created an online store where I am selling gifts for theater lovers.

My shop is on Zazzle, a wonderful place where creative people can invent clever designs and have them professionally printed on hundreds of different products! With my store on Zazzle, all I have to do is create, and they handle the advertising, printing, shipping, payment, and customer service! I am loving it!

After I had spent a a little time building my store, I decided I wanted to share in my profits to help support two of my favorite local non-profit community theaters! So I am donating an equal split of a total of 20% of my royalties to Carrollwood Players Theatre in Tampa, Florida and The Manatee Players in Bradenton, Florida!

Help me escape the cubicle and help me support these two fantastic community theaters by visiting my online store!

THEATREPALOOZA!

My Online Theater Gift Shop

Here are some links to my online theater gift shop and some of the cool products I am hoping to sell. Every item purchased brings me a little closer to escaping from the cubicle and also helps out two wonderful community theater groups. Oh, and I have included links to THEIR websites, too. Hope you’ll check them out!

THEATREPALOOZA

The place to find gifts for that theater-lover in your life! T-shirts, polo shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, hats, mugs, magnets, key chains, baby clothes, pet clothes, pet bowls, buttons, stickers, bumper stickers, greeting cards, note cards, invitations, calendars, mouse pads, pillows, neckties, necklaces, ornaments, place mats, napkins, stationery, stamps, real postage, water bottles, candy jars, cases for iphones and ipads and ipods, laptop and macbook sleeves, tote bags, messenger bags, plates, photo sculptures, skateboards, notebooks, binders, note pads, envelopes and much more!

Carrollwood Players Theatre
Carrollwood Players Theatre is one of the two community theaters I am donating part of my Zazzle royalties to. Check them out, they are a great organization. If you’re in the area, stop by and see a show!

The Manatee Players
The Manatee Players is one of the two community theaters I am donating part of my Zazzle royalties to. I got my start in theater here! If you’re in the area, stop by and see a show!

Open a Zazzle Store to Raise Money for YOUR theater!

Shakespeare is a great place to start for product ideas! Looking for a great fundraiser idea to help support YOUR local not-for-profit theater group? OPEN A STORE ON ZAZZLE! There is no cost to open your own online store and the potential for earnings is only limited by your imagination! You could even form a Zazzle Committee and work as a group to come up with great ideas to put on the quality merchandise Zazzle offers. How about taking some photos from your season and making a calendar, or mugs, or t-shirts that your theater members and fans can buy? What a great way to be creative, have fun, and support your theater! What are you waiting for?

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