The World of Watercolor Painting with Birgit O'Connor

Before entering into a show, check the show prospectus Do you own the copyrights? Did you create the painting on your own without guidance or instruction? Entry fees range and are not refundable Digital images usually need to be at 300dpi (Check the show prospectus) 1200 - 2100 pixels at the largest side Free online tool to resize an image  https://www.pixlr.com/editor/ Does your painting have Does it command attention and stand out with a strong composition? Different values, and a good use of color, and light, Are you painting with confidence? Is it unique, with impact? Will it grab the attention of the judge? Your strongest paintings will be with a something that you’re excited about. Rejection: Try not to take it personally, it happens to all of us. Remember there are only so many paintings that can be accepted into a show. if a painting is rejected in one show it may be accepted or even win in another. Standard size frames 5" x 7" 8" x 10" 11" x 14" 16" x 20" 20" x 24" 20" x 30" 24" x 36" 22" x 32" 30" x 40" Call for entries Cafe https://www.callforentry.org/login/ Here are some societies that you can look into to enter shows: Alabama Watercolor Society of Alabama – http://wsalabama.org   Alaska Alaska Watercolor Society – http://www.akws.org Fairbanks Watercolor Society – http://www.fairbankswatercolor.org   Arizona Arizona Watercolor Association – http://www.azwatercolor.com Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild – http://www.watercolor-sawg.org Northern Arizona Watercolor Society – http://www.naws-az.org   California California Watercolor Society : http://www.californiawatercolor.org National Watercolor Society – http://www.nationalwatercolorsociety.org San Diego Watercolor Society – http://www.sdws.org Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society – http://www.scvws.org Watercolor Artists of Sonoma County – http://www.wascoart.org   Colorado Colorado Watercolor Society http://www.coloradowatercolor.org/aboutcws/aboutcws.htm Pikes Peak Watercolor Society – http://home.pcisys.net/~ppwsart Western Colorado Watercolor Society – http://www.wcwatercolorsociety.com   Connecticut Connecticut Watercolor Society – http://www.connecticutwatercolorsociety.org Delaware: Delaware Watercolor Society – http://www.delawarewatercolorsociety.org   Florida Brevard Watercolor Society – http://www.brevardwatercolors.org Central Florida Watercolor Society – http://www.centralfloridawatercolor.com Florida Watercolor Society – http://www.floridawatercolor.org Georgia Georgia Watercolor Society – http://www.georgiawatercolorsociety.com   Hawaii Hawaii Watercolor Society – http://www.hawaiiwatercolorsociety.org   Idaho Idaho Watercolor Society – http://www.id-ws.org   Illinois Illinois Watercolor Society – http://www.illinoiswatercolorsociety.org/ Transparent Watercolor Society of America – http://www.watercolors.org/   Indiana Watercolor Society of Indiana – http://www.watercolorsocietyofindiana.org/   Iowa Iowa Watercolor Society – http://www.iowawatercolorsociety.org   Kansas Kansas Watercolor Society –  http://www.kansaswatercolor.com/   Louisiana Louisiana Watercolor Society – http://www.lwsart.org/   Maryland Baltimore Watercolor Society – http://www.baltimorewatercolorsociety.org Western Maryland Watercolor Society http://www.westernmarylandwatercolorsociety.org/   Massachusetts New England Watercolor Society http://www.newenglandwatercolorsociety.org/index.html   Michigan Michigan Watercolor Society – http://www.mwcsart.com/   Minnesota Minnesota Watercolor Society – http://www.minnesotawatercolors.com/   Mississippi Mississippi Watercolor Society – http://www.mississippiwatercolor.org/   Missouri Missouri Watercolor Society – http://www.mowsart.com/mainNN.htm   Montana Montana Watercolor Society – http://www.montanawatercolorsociety.org/   Nevada Nevada Watercolor Society – http://www.watercolorsociety.com/ – Sierra Watercolor Society https://www.sierrawatercolorsociety.com/   New Jersey The New Jersey Watercolor Society – http://www.njwcs.org/index.htm   New Mexico New Mexico Watercolor Society – http://www.nmwatercolorsociety.org/ –   New York: American Watercolor Society – http://www.americanwatercolorsociety.com/ Central New York Watercolor Society – http://www.centralnewyorkwatercolorsociety.org Niagara Frontier Watercolor Society – http://www.nfws.org/ North East Watercolor Society –  http://www.northeastws.com/   North Carolina Watercolor Society of North Carolina – http://www.ncwatercolor.net/   North Dakota Red River Watercolor Society – http://www.rrws.20m.com/   Ohio Ohio Watercolor Society – http://www.ohiowatercolorsociety.com/   Oklahoma Oklahoma Watermedia Association – http://www.watercolorok.com/   Oregon Watercolor Society of Oregon – http://www.watercolorsocietyoforegon.com/   Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Watercolor Society –  http://www.pwswc.com/   Rhode Island Rhode Island Watercolor Society – http://www.riws.org/   South Carolina South Carolina Watercolor Society – http://www.fineartsemporium.com/scws/SCWS.htm   South Dakota Northern Plains Watercolor Society – http://npwatercolors.com/ Tennessee Tennessee Watercolor Society – http://www.tnws.org/ Texas Society of Watercolor Artists :  http://www.swa-watercolor.com/ Southwestern Watercolor Society :  http://swswatercolor.org Texas Watercolor Society – http://texaswatercolorsociety.net/ Watercolor Art Society of Houston – http://www.watercolorhouston.org/     Utah Utah Watercolor Society – http://www.utwatercolor.net/   Vermont Vermont Watercolor Society – http://www.vermontwatercolorsociety.com/index.php   Virginia Virginia Watercolor Society – http://www.virginiawatercolorsociety.org/ Potomac Valley Watercolorists – http://www.potomacvalleywatercolorist.org   Washington Northwest Watercolor Society – http://www.nwws.org/dnn/   West Virginia West Virginia Watercolor Society – http://www.wvwatercolorsociety.org/ –   Wisconsin Wisconsin Watercolor Society – http://www.wisconsinwatercolorsociety.com   Wyoming Wyoming Watercolor Society 160 W 6th St, Sheridan, WY 82801-3003  Contact Phone: (307) 672-8379

Part 2 of our discussion of building an artist website Notes from our conversation Absolute Art  https://www.absolutearts.com https://www.absolutearts.com/cgi-bin/portfolio/art/get_art.cgi Absolute Arts is an online marketplace for artists to sell their unique masterpieces, including paintings and sculptures. You can sign up as an artist to promote and sell your products. List up to 20 works of art for free, or you can choose from one of the other subscriptions to list more artwork, have less commission taken from your sales, and access to other features. The best part is that Absolute Arts can also take care of some of the marketing for you! Do you want your art on products? Do you want to be in a fine art gallery? Do you feel that that having your art on products cheapens your work? Etsy Etsy is craft site dedicated to items that are handcrafted, custom-made, unique, or vintage, painting etc. When it comes to ranking all the marketplace options, many consider it the best place to sell handmade items online. Pros: Etsy has been praised for its ease of use, so you can start selling crafts online in no time. It also offers a large customer base of people who are interested in buying unique, handmade items. Cons: there’s a lot of competition, which tends to drive prices down. That means it can be a little harder to make money selling crafts online with Etsy. There are also some fees for listing your items and getting access to all the tools Etsy offers. Firstly, Etsy takes a five percent transaction fee when you make a sale. There’s also a $0.20 listing fee for every item you put up for sale. You’ll need to sign up for Etsy Plus to customize your shop page with banners or get featured listings. It currently costs $10 a month, and is set to increase to $20 a month in January 2019. Easyup https://www.ecanopy.com/craft-show-tents.html Pro Panels  https://www.propanels.com/ Email sites Mail chimp https://mailchimp.com/ Constant Contact https://constantcontact.com/ Wordpress sites WordPress.net WordPress.org Be aware that WordPress sites can be vulnerable to hacks so it must be constantly updated Student sites www.Flyingpigdesign.com www.Helenbond.com Clear Bags https://www.clearbags.com

Do you need a website? What are your specific needs? Functionality, How you want to show yourself to the world, e-commerce Is Support important Is it mobile friendly Website builders to look at https://www.wix.com https://www.Godaddy.com Weebly.com https://www.faso.com https://www.squarespace.com ost varies  Basic site SEO  SSL security Domain Ecommerce connects to square paypal stripe Build Your Brand First Establishing your brand is an important first step in selling your art online. It’s a chance to show off some of your style and establish who you are as an artist. It also it helps customers connect with you.  At a glance, your brand should give customers an idea of what makes you unique. ost varies  Basic site SEO  SSL security Domain Ecommerce connects to square paypal stripe Build Your Brand First Establishing your brand is an important first step in selling your art online. It’s a chance to show off some of your style and establish who you are as an artist. It also it helps customers connect with you.  At a glance, your brand should give customers an idea of what makes you unique. Picking a domain name   Big decision, choose something that will be easy to find and not too long to type out.  Usually, your name (dot com) or, if that’s not for sale, your name studio (dot com) or your name art (dot com). Make it catchy and easy to find. If your name’s not in the domain, make sure it’s at least featured in the page title so people can still find you on Google!

Today we will be discussing the challenges that students had along with what paper types they preferred for the looser painting style along with looking at a few paintings, and how to rework hard edges to get the effects that they want.   The Joy of painting Loose and Free - interactive course Non-interactive option will be available soon For student discounts Join here for the the mailing list or take a Free course  Have Fun & Happy painting Birgit

Let's talk about our fear and obstacles, is it real, or imaginary, do you limit yourself by someones else's idea or projection. Let's take a look. http://birgitoconnorwatercolors.teachable.com

Continuation of our conversation to "Say it out Loud". To join an interactive, non-interactive or Free Mini course go to https://birgitoconnorwatercolors.teachable.com

Let's talk about what are your Wildest Creative Goals at this time, everyone has a different idea, they are all relatable and fascinating to hear.  To join the conversation or take a Free mini course go to https://birgitoconnorwatercolors.teachable.com/  

Lets start to name some of those 2019 Goals, and say them out loud and discuss how you can obtain them. Goal Setting PDF download

If you passionate about watercolor then this is the place for you, talking with real students that want to know more about watercolor. we will be reviewing paintings, problem solving, motivation and finding the humor in making mistakes in watercolor painting

Dream BIG - in order to make your dreams a reality you must take action. The magic happens when you name your goals, say it out loud, (even if it seems to grand), write them down, put them in a journal, and be accountable. Here are just a few questions to ask yourself that are on the PDF download What is the wildest dream you have of being an artist? What does being a successful artist mean to you? How do you measure yourself as an artist? What kind of art do you want to create? To realize your goals use this PDF Download to get you started or make a journal. Setting your Creative Goals for the New Year PDF Join a Free Course YouTube Channel

Today we are reviewing a few of the paintings that have come in along with problem solving, negative painting to help pull shapes out, layering color, how to change a background and more.. This course encourages students to find their own creative voice and painting style. View all of my online courses  Material list ideas  

When it come to painting loose you may think that should be easy, but as you'll find from the student comments and reviews it's a little more challenging than first thought. It's a lot of fun but requires a different way of thinking and a new approach, brush types and paper make a huge different to your success. The Joy of Painting Loose and Free course Art Materials Kit pick & choose View all online courses  

Painting through the Holiday Season without going nuts. So you thought some of those simple looking lessons would be a piece of cake, right, as students are finding they a quite a bit more challenging and a great way to create foundations for many paintings. Let's talk a little about copyrights again and what they mean. How to view your online courses on a TV Can we really can we have live multiple day online workshops online? (the answer is Yes) Join a Free online course Home Website

Let's talk about the materials for the Atmospheric landscape course discussing paper, painting, pigment numbers  Atmospheric landscapes Take a Free mini course

Audio version of how to paint a Holiday Poinsettia, the video lesson can be found on my YouTube Channel or Join my email list. You can find the reference photos through the YouTube channel too, or have them delivered to your inbox when you join my email list Join my email list  YouTube channel  View all of the suggested Art Supply Kits