Spring Semester Almost Over!

Wine Label

copyright © Joan Kerrigan

Only 1 more week to go and 5 classes done! Exams end a week from tomorrow and I can't wait for summer. I will never take this many classes at one time again! I designed this wine label in Graphic Design as a redesign of an existing label. I have learned a lot and in the fall will go ahead with 2 more classes followed by 2 next spring. Then we'll see where it all leads.

Shutterstock Marathon 2008

Green and Yellow Kaleidoscope

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

The 2008 Shutterstock Marathon is now over for me. In 25 weeks, I have gone from a portfolio of 2826 images to 3708 images/footage clips. That's a gain of 882 images in 6 months! Although I am pleased with the growth of my portfolio, I'm not thrilled that the time and creative effort spent haven't paid off financially. I will continue to upload in 2009 but probably won't be concentrating on microstock quite as much. So I've decided not to join the 2009 Marathon that is gearing up. With all the classes I'm taking this spring, I will be working on classwork and getting back into painting.

The image above is an experiment with importing a photo into Ultra Fractal and applying a kaleidoscope mapping to it. The process has produced several interesting images.

Hearts

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

On another very happy note, my husband and I are celebrating our 26th anniversary today!

Happy Anniversary, Evans!

Wrapping Up the Old Year Soon

Heart Texture Background

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

This year has just flown by! I have worked on goals set last year and maybe not done as well as I should have. However, I'm not unhappy with my progress in the art world. I have shown a micro-profit overall which makes me happy. I'm finally not just throwing money into the money pit that is called "art supplies". I'm looking forward to an interesting and exciting year in 2009 and will work on new goals in the Bahamas this weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cornstalk with Pumpkins

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Fabric Design?

Retro Floral Background

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

I uploaded a series of images based on the same retro style flowers in two different color groups. When I looked at this one and another seamless tile, I realized that they could very easily be quilting fabrics. This is a fascinating possibility as I love fabrics (the brighter, the better) and quilting (which incorporates actual texture along with the visual). My immediate interest now is squarely in the seamless wallpaper category with the obvious additions of greeting card samples, using the same basic images. Of course, this will have to wait until after my anthropology essay exam, due Sunday!

Happy Halloween

Cat Silhouette

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Taking Stock on Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Halloween Kaleidoscope

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

After much deliberation, I have decided to remove my images from Fotolia. I have not been uploading anything for quite awhile already because I had such a high percentage of rejections for inexplicable reasons. If sales were better I would continue trying, but it seems that Fotolia customers don't like my images. That's okay. Every site has their own unique customer base that prefers some images over others. And many photographers and illustrators are doing well at Fotolia. But with school and work, I just don't have time to worry over it and would rather make a clean break of the site than beat my head against a wall. Some say it is stupid to remove any images from any site, but for me, this is the way to go. My portfolio will be deleted by the end of the year, hopefully making a final payout in that time.

Greeting Cards

Mola Butterfly

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

We went to Burlington County's Arts in the Park event Sunday and although it drizzled a little in the morning, the rain cleared up for the rest of the afternoon. As we left, just after 5:00, heavy rain clouds with pronounced lightning rolled toward us, so we were really lucky.

I'm happy to say that I sold 10 greeting cards, showing that my pricing is acceptable and there may be a market for my work. This is good news as we are going to try selling them from the BCC Gallery Art Store as soon as the display arrives. Now I have to work on the business end of the cards and decide on printing and marketing materials.

Taking Stock on Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Abstract Spiral

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

I'm holding my own in the Shutterstock marathon around 9th place. I am increasingly concerned that even with massive uploads, I am unable to boost or even maintain my sales. I'm disappointed, of course, but I know that everything changes in time and nothing is for certain. I still enjoy making and working with my images so maybe one day I'll reap more financial benefits.

Since change is inevitable, my list of things to learn has expanded. Not only do I want to get the Graphic Design Degree at BCC, but also learn HDR (High Dynamic Range imaging) which produces the most extraordinarily vivid photos, 3D rendering, animation, cartooning, website design and more about digital photography. I'm sure there's more I want to learn but I don't even know what I don't know yet! :)

Accepted into Alamy

Angel Wings

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

I now have a (very small) portfolio at Alamy. They require much larger images than the microstock sites do, so I have been working on re-rendering some of my fractal images to comply with their standards. Although it might take awhile, maybe years, to catch up with my Shutterstock portfolio, I will work on it when I have the time. It's another venue and may pay off at some time in the future. In any case, it's fun to revisit some of my older images.