I’m going to be in pictures!

Or at least one of my sketches will be. I was approached by a fellow who’s making a movie about Seattle’s Fremont Troll (which had its 20^th anniversary in 2010) who wants to use one of my sketches in his movie. Hurrah! I’ve seen the trailer and it looks like it’ll be a fun and interesting film. The film, called “Hall of the Giant,” debuts in the Fall of 2012. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it as part of SIFF 2013 either. Wouldn’t that be something? :-D

This is my sketch that will be used in the movie.

More news of “Hall of the Giant” as it comes up!

This is not the first time that I’ve bumbled into an extraordinary art installation. The first time was in the 1990’s in Tucson when the a major photographic group (The Society for Creative Intentions) included two of my photographic prints in their permanent collection - “Big Vision.” At the gala event they projected all the included photos against the wall of a downtown building! It was quite literally, massive! Both photographs remain in the Big Vision Permanent Collection in Tucson to this day.

It’s so much fun having wild and wacky events like this show up in your life. I am very grateful.

8 Terrific Ways to Use Clip Art

Clip art image copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011
Get it free at www.flyingponystudios.com

Clip art can be a fabulous way to personalize cards and gifts. How? Read on and learn eight great reasons to have clip art on hand.

Eight terrific ways to use clip art

1.      Greeting cards
2.      Bookmarks
3.      Invitations
4.      Flyers & Business Cards
5.      Scrapbooking
6.      Decoupage
7.      Enlarge it and use it as a coloring page for kids.
8.      Dress up your Word documents with it.

Greeting Cards

Using clip art is a fun and rewarding way to make personalized greeting cards. You can create your card on the computer using Word, Photoshop, Illustrator, Paint, or any other program. Or, you can create a card by hand by cutting out a clip art image and gluing it onto a folded card or card blank. You can hand color your image using watercolor, ink, or colored pencils. Add some other doodles and/or decorations and you’ve got an original and totally personalized greeting card.

Clip Art used for greeting card, copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011

Bookmarks

Bookmarks make great giveaway gifts. Using techniques similar to the greeting cards suggestions above you can create personalized bookmarks to share with friends and family. You can even make collectible ones and trade them between friends.

Clip art used for bookmarks, copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011

Invitations

Some clip art really lends itself to invitations. Making a hand-made invitation can be extremely easy to do. Start by typing up your event information in Word and then add an appropriate illustration to the bottom corner. An easy way to make a very personalized invitation.

Victorian Image from Dover clip art book

Flyers & Business Cards

When creating a simple business flyer or a business card it is not always necessary to ask your designer to produce or procure artwork for you. Many times clip art will work splendidly.

Dover clip art used to create business flyer

Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking always requires a lot of photos but sometimes you want to illustrate a specific event with another sort of picture. Whether you need an image of a baseball player for a Little League page, or a set of balloons for a girl’s birthday party page, having a few pieces of clip art on hand can be just the ticket.

Clip art image from Dover clip art book

Decoupage
Decoupage is a perfect use for clip art. There are a great many clip art books available with wonderful color clip art in various themes ready for any sort of decoupage project.

Clip art image from Dover clip art book

Enlarge it and use it as a coloring page for kids

Many times clip art can be enlarged on your computer or at a copy shop and then used as a coloring page for kids. Think of it! An ongoing supply of low cost coloring pages! J

Colored clip art from FREE clip art available at www.flyingponystudios.com

Dress up your Word documents with it
We use Word for so many things nowadays but most of the time we write our documents without pictures. Why not add some clip art to spruce up a personal letter? If you’re writing a professional document you can also use clip art (only appropriate images, of course!) to create a professional logo or letterhead.  Clip art used in a document can be as simple as a small image of a heart or it can be much more complex, like an image that fits with the name of your business. (I use a cartoon image of a small pegasus for my business Flying Pony Studios.)

Flying Pony Studios logo. Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011

Where to get clip art

Dover Publications is probably the best known source of books on a wide variety of clip art subjects. You can find them at the Dover website.

Get some FREE Clip Art

Join my mailing list and download four pieces of professional clip art for your use. Go to www.flyingponystudios.com to get your free clip art today.

If you have a specific desire for a piece of clip art but you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can commission me to make it for you. You can see prices for "line illustrations" here.

Have fun expanding your creative experience with clip art!

What about coloring books for kids?

Like so many other kids, I grew up with coloring books. I did love them. It was my first venture into art! I still have a healthy collection of Dover coloring books (http://store.doverpublications.com/) on my shelves to use as reference of historic scenes and certain natural subjects (like hawks, for example.)

The best coloring book artists do a wonderful job producing very clean and easy-to-read line drawings. There’s a great deal of technical skill in those drawings and I have always admired them. So much so that I have decided to create my own line of e-coloring books for kids. The first one will be called “My Day At the Horse Show.” I hope to have some hard-copy prototypes ready to present at one of the largest Hunter-Jumper horse shows in the area next month.

I'm quite excited about using an e-book format for coloring books. Not only will it be economical to produce but it'll also be a great way for parents to get multiple uses out of each page. Mistake…? More than one child? No problem! Just print out another page! ;-)

Here is a detail from one of my images. What do you think?

Image copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011

The Fine Art Shop at Flying Pony Studios is now open for business!

For many years I have served the public as a massage therapist and a fine artist/illustrator. There is always a lot of pressure when one is in business for oneself. You always feel that you have something to prove to the world. This creates (at least for me) the feeling that you’re pushing against yourself and trying to force your will upon others. Some people don’t seem to mind this feeling of imposition but the truth is that you can never “get” anyone to buy your services or products. That is a false assumption. What is real is that the world is full of very creative and wonderful souls who desperately want to share with others what they have brought into this world with great care and joy.

I have met many of these folks on Facebook, Yahoo groups and other forums, and sites such as LinkedIn. I am astounded and grateful for the amazing creative souls that continue to pop up in my life every day.

As I was designing and setting up my new shop I realized that I had changed in a profound way. I no longer wished to try and “convince” anyone to buy my products and services. I no longer had anything left to prove. My desire is to share my work with the world. In doing so I hope that some people will find resonance with it and want to buy it. We as artists (or service providers) can hope for no more than that. Do you like my inner vision? We ask through our art. *smile* We can only hope that for some, the answer will be “Yes!”

Please come and share my visions. You can find the BRAND NEW Flying Pony Studios shop here. While you’re there, please take a moment to check out my home page where you can download some FREE clip art when you sign-up for my mailing list. In the future I will be adding more cards, fine art prints, clip art CD’s, and a line of kid’s coloring and paper doll books all based around a very cute, very fat, pony named Basil. My mailing list will keep you up-to-date on all my newest products and you’ll also get my newsletter which is packed with how-to art tips, free clip art give-a-ways, and other amazing things that I haven’t even thought of yet.

I hope you will stop by and take a walk through my new shop. It’s been a long time in coming!

Peace,

Sara

PS. Oh! There’s one more thing. Please let me know if you find ANYTHING that’s not working in the store so that I can fix it. After all, the paint is still wet on the walls. ;-)

Free Clip Art! And other new additions to Flying Pony Studios.

For the past few months I’ve been working diligently to expand Flying Pony Studios into some exciting new directions. Here are some of the products and services I can now offer you.

•    Free CLIP ART. Sign up for my newsletter and receive four (4) pieces of high-quality clip art for free!

•    The Flying Pony Studios Newsletter – includes instructional art and design articles for every level of artist or do-it-yourself maven, monthly drawings for limited release clip art images offered only to newsletter subscribers, and so much more!

•    The Flying Pony Studios Blog (you are here) - features a variety of articles targeted at artists. Topics include: professional-level instructional art articles, art supply product reviews, the use of color in art, and all the newest information about Flying Pony Studios’ fine art releases and other new products as they become available.

•    The Flying Pony Studios Shop – is filled with all sorts of yummy things. Greeting cards, fine art prints, and coming soon, paper dolls and coloring books! Something for everyone. 

•    Pet Portraits and MangaPets  - Our pets are important members of our families. We wish we could keep them with us forever but sadly, we can’t. The creation of a personalized pet portrait is a timeless way of keeping your beloved animal companion with you always. Whether the style you choose is formal or funky, a Flying Pony Studios pet portrait is a very personal and special way of remembering your very best friend.

•    Freelance Illustration Services – looking for illustrations but can’t find the right ones to suit your project or job? I’m your gal! With over twenty years of experience as a freelance illustrator, I’m sure I can assist you with the creation of that perfect image for your project.

My goal is to be of service to you as an artist. Whether that means helping you learn a particular art technique, creating a personalized illustration for you, or painting a large and lovely portrait of your beloved animal companion, I am here for you.

Please visit www.flyingponystudios.com to download your free clip art today!

All my best,

Sara

Finally! A new post!

This is just a hello post to let everyone know that I have not exactly dropped off the face of the Earth. It was close though...

Just kidding.

The month of May absolutely flew by with the end of the month punctuated by a 10-day trip to the East Coast for two Memorials (one for my Mother) which included a rather long and unnecessarily convoluted travel itinerary up and down the East Coast. Exhausting!

But now that I'm home with my feet actually touching ground, it's back to life, love, and art for me.

Soon I will be upgrading my Flying Pony Studios website with some fun new features and PRODUCTS at long last! It'll be an on-going process and one that I'm super excited about. When the relaunch occurs, you'll hear about it here first, but suffice to say that Flying Pony Studios is entering a brand new and really cool era. One that I'm certain will bring new ideas and opportunities for expansive play to many people. So please stay tuned!

Long time, no post

Oh my, it's been a long time since I've posted anything here! Today I thought it about time to let folks know what I've been up to. First off, I've been working on a large colored pencil commission of two Pointers. For each commission, I provide my client with a personal, secret webpage on my site where they can watch the progress of their portrait. It's proved a very popular feature that gives a client a lot of peace of mind about their portrait. :-) When the portrait is done and delivered, and with the client's permission, I'll post it here. ;-)

I've been playing around with Distress Inks and are finding them delightful. I've made a bunch of freebie promotional  bookmarks and have been experimenting with card and tags. I love the look of distressed paper and am considering some new options for a line of Etsy cards combining distressed paper, collage, and my artwork. Pretty fun!

My distress ink samples

Promotional bookmarks

Finally, after MANY, MANY years I have gotten myself a proper photographic set-up for small product photography. WHAT A RELIEF!!! The photos above were taken in a tent with a black sweep behind them and tra la! I AM SO HAPPY!! Back in the day, I was pretty good at both product and studio portrait photography. It's really nice resurrecting some very old skills. ;-)

Inspired Gifts: Equine Art for your Holiday List

I am delighted to announce that I am a featured artist in the December issue of Flying Changes magazine. Flying Changes is the premier magazine for northwest sporthorse enthusiasts and is an important magazine in horse community of the Northwest US where I live. I feel quite honored to have been included this year. For those who aren’t in the area, I’ve got scans of the pages here.

 

To go along with this great news, I also wanted to unveil the further news that I am currently developing both a greeting card line and a series of ACEO images. I intend to open an Etsy and Café Press shop really soon. Keep your eyes out here for all the latest news!

Fun Sketching Day at the Gift Horse

Quickie sketch day at the Gift Horse

I had so much fun today (well at this hour it was technically yesterday(!)) I spent the afternoon at the Gift Horse Saddlery doing quick sketches of people’s pets from photos they brought with them. It was a really successful event. Word had gone out in the Gift Horse e-newsletter the week before that I was going be there doing inexpensive sketches for people if they brought in photos. I got there on “horse person’s time,” (that is to say a few minutes late) and people where actually lined up waiting for me! I got a chance to see some old friends and clients and meet some wonderful new people and, one really cute Jack Russell terrier named, what else? “Jack.”

Here are some pictures from the day.

My table complete with art prints and my sketching stuff

Sketch of Marsha Murray's Beuford (I love the shape of this horse!)

Another quickie sketch

Debby Nicely's dog "Jack" - what a gentleman!

Such a fun day, I certainly hope that we can all do it again sometime soon. :-)

An Art-ful Afternoon at the Gift Horse Saddlery

Come one, come all! This Saturday (8/7) I will be visiting artist at the Gift Horse Saddlery from 1-4 in the afternoon. I’ll be answering questions about how a portrait can be created of your pet. I'll be showcasing my current work by demonstrating my painting process while at the store. People are welcome to bring in a clear, sharp photo of their pet/horse and get an on-the-spot sketch for $10. If you're in the area I hope you'll stop by and say "hi." It’s going to be an art-filled afternoon at the Gift Horse on Saturday!

Gift Horse art show went up today

Just for fun I consulted my resume this afternoon and realized that this show marks my 7th art show! Lucky number…? I think so! The show went up this afternoon and looks great! Many thanks to Ellen for getting up on the huge ladder so I wouldn’t have to. ;-)

I brought six pieces for the show including the Chronicle of the Horse cover which displays one of the pieces, “Jove, Mercury, Apollo & Daphne.” The show will be up for two months so if you’re in the neighborhood, please stop by and take a look...and of course shop! The address is: The Gift Horse Saddlery, 13300 NE 175th Street, Suite #4, Woodinville, WA 98072. They’re open Monday-Wednesday & Friday 10am-6pm, Thursday 10am-7pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, &  Sunday 11am-4pm.

 

  The light-yellow ochre wall was perfect

for bringing out the colors of the paintings.

A photo of the artwork without as much

light-glare on Percy's portrait ( far right).

General store ambiance.

(That's Ellen behind the counter.) 

 

Art show in Woodinville

I am delighted to announce that I will be hanging a small show at the Gift Horse Saddlery in Woodinville, WA. starting Wednesday, June 16th. The pieces will be there for a couple of months so if you're in Woodinville please stop by and take a look. The Gift Horse is one of the biggest saddleries in the area and a friend to all of us horsey folks hereabouts. I love the place. Thanks to Ellen for arranging this for me. :-)

In other news...Matt took the camera with him to New York so there will be no new artwork posted here until Sunday night. Maybe it's time to look into that Digital SLR after all. :-( & then :-)

And now for the postcard

Yesterday I showed off my new business cards. Today, my new postcard...

I was never one to use black backgrounds excessively before but it just looks so darn good with the artwork. :-)

New Flying Pony Studios business cards arrived today!

My new shiny, business cards arrived today from the printer. They look beautiful and I can't wait to start giving them out. :-)

Here's the front:

And here's the back:

Pretty cool, eh?