Valentine Give Away!

Right now on Georgia Dunn Studio's Facebook page, you can enter to win a valentine and a valentine print on Monday! I'm going to chose one winner at random at 3pm Pacific time/6pm Eastern time on Monday, February 3rd.

Some of you may recall my ultra scientific method of choosing winners....

Yup.

As folks comment on the Facebook post, I will write their names down and put them into the owl. On Monday, the owl will jumble them in his belly as I ever-so-vigorously shake him up and down. Then, when he feels "lucky enough", I shall draw THE CHOSEN ONE!

The details of the giveaway are on the Facebook page, but I will post them here too:

HOW TO ENTER:

1. If you haven't already, like Georgia Dunn Studio's Facebook page.
2. Comment on the giveaway post on that page with which valentine and valentine print you would like, if you win!

That's it!

You can browse the valentines here, and the valentine prints here.

I have all the questions and rules on the Facebook page, so check out that post for more details. You should totally enter, though! Valentine's Day is nearly upon us, wouldn't you like to go big and get your loved one something awesome and free? Or, hoard a valentine and print for yourself? The valentines are 5 x 7. Pop them in a 5 x 7 frame, and BAM, you've got a baby print. Wouldn't you like an adorable baby print to hang on your wall?

Or, if you have pets, you get a human sized print and a cat sized print, to hang by your cat's tiny cat bed.

Why am I not creating pet sized prints for pets? Why am I not doing that thing right now? Sometimes thoughts like this cross my mind, and I'm like, C'MON GET ON YOUR GAME, GEORGIA!

This post is getting weird. TL;DR Want free prints? GO ENTER TO WIN FREE PRINTS

Welcome to Night Vale's Old Woman Josie and an Angel

I love, love, love the podcast "Welcome to Night Vale." If you have not listened to it, stop reading this and go listen to every episode. I'll wait.

Awesome, right? Right! For those of you who only pretended to go listen to every episode, "Welcome to Night Vale" is a fictional news radio show from the desert town of Night Vale, where some very wild and creepy things happen on the regular. It's just terrifying and delightful!

Here's my take on the character Old Woman Josie and one of the angels.

Detail of the Angel

Detail of Old Woman Josie

Bottom of Angel's robes

Angel's face again, even closer.

Detail of chained wing

This is just my take on the angels, and I won't say too much because I don't want to give anything away, and I can't stress how much you should listen to this great show. When it comes to Old Woman Josie, I just love painting little old ladies. They may be my favorite subject to paint....

Usually I offer prints of my pieces, but this one will not be for sale, out of respect for the great folks who put this podcast on. They sell their own merchandise, and you can buy all of it here! This was just painted for fun, and I may paint a few other favorite characters as well.

Valentines for sale on Etsy!

The Valentines are painted, printed, and ready for sale in the shop!

Prices are:

1 for $3.50
5 for $15 .... save $2.50
10 for $25 ...save $10

And I have 8 x 10 inch prints of the valentines for $16 available too!

Here are the designs:

I took a few photos of them in action for the shop, which was fun. I don't get to have too many photos since most of my pieces are just prints. These have me thinking though, and I may add some shots of my prints framed on the wall just to show people what they look like out in the wild, so to speak.

Luke's friend Ollie graciously modeled one of the cards....

I'm bouncing around the idea of possibly having a give away at the beginning of February. Win and print and a valentine, something like that! I'm still hammering the details out in my mind, but I like the idea and hope to make it happen! I'll give you more details when I figure them out. 

Etsy Deals!

For some time, I've wanted to offer a few permanent deals in the shop. I love sales and deals, which is a bit like saying "Yes, I also enjoy air and water, keep it coming." We all love saving a little, right? When I open up an Etsy shop, like a treasure trove of links to favorite, bios to read, and second guesses to agonize over in my own shop ("My God, this person's banner makes my banner LOOK LIKE GARBAGE I FOUND IN MY YARD..." You know, typical artist stuff) ...Where was I? Oh yes! Whenever I explore an Etsy shop, I am delighted any time I see a deal.

Coupon codes too. The only thing I like more than receiving an Etsy coupon code, is creating Etsy coupon codes. It's the names....

Anyway, I finally sat down and created a few deals for my own shop. It was 20% "how do I word this" and 80% "how do I present this", and here's what I came up with....

You can visit the shop to find the deals by clicking here!

What do you think? It's really the shipping that becomes a big savings, especially for International customers. I plan to offer a few more, especially as I begin dabbling in cards. I'd like to create a "print and a card" deal, for birthdays and other special occasions calling for gifts of artwork.

And--exciting--I plan to offer Valentines this year! As in, next month! I hope to have them in the shop by the end of the week! Here are a few sketches so far:

Hopefully I will have an update to share with you soon, with these sketches painted and a few more as well!

Two bears, a fox, and a Hercule Poirot rag doll.

I've been on a real "bear kick" lately! I'm not certain why, but in the last three weeks I've drawn and painted two illustrations with bears:

Bear Maiden

If I'm allowed, I really love this painting. It developed from a sketch, where I was just sort of playing with some loose ideas. I'm still not quite sure what is going on here and I think that's why I like it so much. The girl is some sort of rebellious Victorian wild child, in her pine bough crown and feathers. And her bear friend is remarkably patient and well mannered to not only allow rides but also daisy chains. I love this pair.

Detail of the Girl

Detail of the Bear

A series of photos showing how the painting progressed
during one of Luke's afternoon naps.

I used masking tape to help create the birch trees.
One of these days, I'll write up a tutorial on this if anyone is interested.

And this charming fellow on holiday is the second bear I painted:

Bear by the Sea

Such a jaunty little hat....

He popped into my head with his little beret and red umbrella one day last week, and I just could not stop thinking about him. And so, there he is!

One New Year's resolution that I can't believe I forgot to share (especially on a blog devoted to my art and personal goals... Really?) is that this year I am going to offer more original watercolor paintings in the shop. I have mostly only sold prints, and hoarded many of my paintings over the years. As such, I have many of my paintings still safely tucked away. A few favorites are staying with me (I can't help myself) however, in 2014 I am going to try to send more paintings out into the world. I'm going to try and list new paintings regularly, and add some of the older paintings into the shop here and there. And so, I have listed the Bear Maiden painting here and the Bear by the Sea painting here. Yes, these are actual real deal brush to paper paintings!

If there's a painting of mine you've been longing for, send me a message. If I still have it and it's for sale, I will list it for you. Full paintings complete with backgrounds will be around $125, and paintings with just one figure and little-to-no background will be around $85. (Sadly, no, I am very sorry, my original Penguin with a Red Balloon and Octopus Drinking Tea are each not for sale. I know they are requested the most, and I apologize profusely! I may list Otter on a Laptop, though! I have not made up my mind...It would need to go to a good home, where it would receive lots of love).

In other news, I've completed the letter "F" in my Alphabet Animal series!

F is for a fox in flip flops wearing a fez.

I just love a jaunty hat.

Lastly, since we love Hercule Poirot so much in our home, I made Luke a rag doll of Agatha Christie's Belgian detective right before Christmas. (It was sort of a gift for Luke and Ryan, which is good, because they've both been playing with him pretty equally).

They're going to solve so many mysteries.

I really love making toys for Luke and a few of our young friends. I hope I've gambled correctly here and someday he loves Poirot as much as I did when I was a kid!

Thank you for checking my new projects out. I hope everyone is enjoying the New Year!