Blogger Issues

Some of you have been writing (thanks!) to let me know that they can no longer post comments on my blog. After researching online a bit I have found that this is becoming quite the little problem on Blogger (the site I use for my free blog). If this is a problem for any of your blogs this is how I fixed mine:

I had to manually go into each blog I had already posted under "Edit Posts" (under Posting), then "Edit" each post by clicking on the "Post Options" in the bottom left hand corner and click "Allow Comments" as each of my posts had somehow been stuck on "Disallow". If I find an easier way to fix this problem (besides using a new blog site to publish news) I'll let you know.

Cheers.

Part-time work

I have finally decided to make the plunge and look for part-time work. Being summer (ok, almost!), the sun is shining, the garden outside is planted and I'm itching to work outside, or with green things. A good break from being in my basement alone all day will probably be a positive influence. I'm crossing my fingers for either a greenhouse job (that pays more than minimum wage), work at fort edmonton park (ok, my number one choice actually), or oddly a job at westjet airlines where I can get a discount on travel and work one on one with travellers. Wish me luck!

New Drawings For Sale

Doctors and Derrieres has come to a close and there are many life drawings left in my little black portfolio case that I have started to upload to my online store, etsy. In time I will also include prints of the paintings sold at the show, if anyone is interested. To view these original paintings and sketches for sale click the link above.

Doctors and Derreries 2... Gala Tonight!

Tonight is the grand gala for Doctors and Derrieres II! If you're still interested in seeing the show or bidding on a few pieces (there are some really cool ones in there....) tonight at the Red Strap Market between 7 and 11pm is where you'll find a buzzing crowd, cocktails and of course doctors and arists to chat with.

I will be selling prints of the pieces that were for sale at the auction as well as the rest of my originals soon. I know a couple other artists are going to sell the rest of their pieces as well and we might set up an online store where you can purchase some of these splendid goodies. Hope to see you at the show!

Shown below (and please forgive the reflections on the glass) are artists: Adolfo Ruiz, Amanda Woodward and Gerry Rasmussen.

Dustball Fairies

I've been working very diligently on a new children's book with local author, Mrs. Georgie Prockiw. It's a cute story about Grandma GoGo and two little dustball fairies that she discovers in her dollhouse. I am half way finished the paintings (which I am so excited about!) and can hardly wait to see the final product.

To see some of the newly uploaded sketches feel free to click on the title above, which will take you to my flickr page.

ps: For those of you interested in a little treat buy the edmonton journal this Saturday... (look under Ed Magazine) and you'll find a little feature about yours truly. Thank you so much Jason for making the interview fun and entertaining. I can hardly believe the leg on my chair broke just as we were starting, however!

Here are some if the character development sketches for the story, which I completed long before the storyboards and sketches.





and here is a glimpse of the author, Grandma GoGo!

Paint Brush Care & Selection

When you step inside your favourite local art supply store it's hard not to be bombarded by the intense vast array of paintbrushes. I usually have to buy paintbrushes several times a year and usually have to buy them more frequently when I'm painting on rough surfaces (such as plywood or heavily gesso'd board) as the surface does lots of damage to the delicate tips...

So, what's the difference between different kinds of brushes? First of all there's two main distinctions: Natural bristle and synthetic. Natural haired paintbrushes can come from a variety of animals including Weasles, Oxen, Goats, Ponies & Squirrels (and camel does not mean it is made from camel hair but rather an all-encompassing brush made of many types of hair). Synthetic hair brushes simply mean that the hair is manufactured. Natural is often best for watercolour and synthetic for acrylics although I do not always follow these rules. I Often prefer natural brushes for the acrylic wash work I do as I find the brush head lasts longer.

When choosing your next paintbrush consider these following tips:
1) What are you painting with? (acrylic, watercolour, ink, etc)
2) What are you painting on? (is it rough or smooth)
3) Your desired effect... (texture, or perfection?)

Natural Brushes:
Kolinsky: The finest red sable brushes. Ideal for watercolour: great absorbancy and strength
Red Sable (weasle): Oil & Watercolour: Holds a point well.
Goat: Inexpensive brush, very absorbant.

There are also stiff haired brushes (called Bristles, found in both synthetic and natural fibres, I personally enjoy natural more as they seem not to "grate" along surfaces), ideal for painting on fabric, textured materials, oils, acrylics and tempera. I love these brushes because no matter how ratty they get I never throw them away. I use them for dry brush work and thick acrylic paintings because the worse they get the more comfortable I seem to be with them.

The next thing to consider is if you will want a long handle or a short handled brush. I have lots of both but usually seem to hold my brushes close to the tip for most of my work. However, when painting on plywood I like to have big handled brushes so that I can sit farther away from my work. It helps to view things from far away and having a long handled brush will take lots of the walking back and forth out of the situation if you tend to paint from a chair (like I do).

*Historically short handled brushes are preferred by watercolourists and long handled brushes are for easle work.

How to take care of your paintbrushes:
I bought a cleaner from my local art supplies store (keep in mind to buy the right cleaner for the paint you are using). It's softer than soap as brushes can't take too many harsh chemicals before the hairs start falling out everywhere. My biggest reason I have to replace brushes is because I often forget my brushes in the little tub I wash them in for too long: Don't let them soak! They'll eventually get bent tips and you'll forever be cursing the curve of your brushes if you do this. Also: do not overload your brush as it isn't healthy for brushes to get crammed full of paint all the way up to the metal part (ferrule). This eventually rusts out the brushes and makes them stiff and gross. Who wants to be putting the final touch on a painting when suddenly a little bit of old crusty black ink comes oozing out... staining it for good! Of course the more obvious rule is to not allow paint to dry on your brush. It's very unhealthy for the brush to get scrubbed like a maniac to get all the paint out (even if you do get it all out your little brush will never be the same).

Finally store your brushes laying flat or upright. Never store them with bristles down or once again you'll get a nice crocked tip which will inevitably be very annoying.

The tip I heard lately to fix old brushes where the hair has seperated is to boil some water and let your brushes sit in there for a few minutes. If the brush isn't in too bad of shape it should repair itself... NEAT!

Good luck painting and love your brushes.

How much to Charge?

As a beginner freelance illustrator I've never been more daunted by what to price my work. Do I charge what I want and risk scaring my client away or do I undercharge to "build my portfolio". Lately I've been erroring on the side of charging too little and have been wondering if my fee even covered the supplies (Yikes!). However, I have been lucky enough to find some posted rates for illustrators on the "chewingpencils" blog by Matt Glover

Australia
The MEAA (Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance) sets recommended rates for Australian artists. Only members have access to the site directly, but the Australian Cartoonists’ Association has kindly reproduced the rates

here

The Australian Society of Authors lists rates for authors and illustrators on their site

here

England
The AOI (Association of Illustrators) in London has a very comprehensive list of rates on their site

here

Ireland
The Illustrators Guild of Ireland list their rates

here

South Africa
The South African Freelancers Association has a list of rates here:

here

America
The Graphic Artists Guild has a handbook on pricing and ethical issues for sale on their site

here

I don't have much for Canadian Illustrators but I know Canadians contributed to the American: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook for Pricing and Ethical Guidelines (link above).

Individual People's Rates:
http://www.curtoons.com/logo-design-rates.htm
http://www.unlimited-ideas.com/cost.htm
http://www.electriceasel.co.uk/Prices.html

Last night I was the host for a small gathering of edmonton artists involved in Doctors & Derrieres II. Vance Yung, Sarah Jackson and Gabriel Wong brought their top drawings and we went through an intensive, "American Idol" style voting process to get down to everyone's top four pieces (we can only submit up to four framed pieces to sell at the charity auction). View our four final pieces in the below photo, labelled with each artists name.

Auction Gala Event: May 24 7-11pm.
Viewing Times: 11am-5pm May 22-23
Red Strap Market 2nd Floor

I am so excited to be working on a children's book with a local author. I am posting this image from the book, which happens to be page 01 of the story. The interesting part is that both people in this picture actually exhist in real life! Grandma GoGo is indeed our author!

I finally got round to scanning a few sketches from Doctor's & Derrieres II. These might be the four I am going to submit to the silent auction, on May 24th at Red Strap Market. I encourage all my readers to make it!

Please view the rest of my images at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystaldriedger/

I was quite surprised this morning to return from my parents house (after doctoring a sick car and father) to find an email saying that I had gotten 3rd place in the ben wicks award. Not half bad! The editor told me "Your front page got the highest marks for original concept, followed by your crossroads page, also for original concept" which of course I was excited by. The thing I have to work on (which I did have a feeling about) is colour. Too little contrast, etc for newsprint. Of course! Bah, silly me. This does make me want to try again for the next contest... and maybe now I'll have an edge.