business

New interview over at The Penny Hoarder!

Tips and tricks from Heather Landry AKA Sandpaperdaisy on saving money as an artist
| sandpaperdaisy

Yep, someone at the largest money-saving blog in the world, The Penny Hoarder, actually agreed to let me open my big fat mouth to staff writer Lauren Tharp for an interview on ways to cut costs while making art. You might be familiar with all of these tricks or you might not, but believe me I picked my brain for every sneaky little way I could think of to save a few bucks. I’m blushing a little though, the article makes it sound like these are all my ideas and achievements. Actually, the credit goes to all of my artist buddies and acquaintances who’ve shared tips and organized great events over the years.

Article Link: http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/artists-save-money-art-supplies-shows/ Continue reading →

Everything I did wrong when I tried to make a digital comic file

| sandpaperdaisy

As promised! Wow, where to begin.

First off I will start off by saying this is referring to creating a .mobi file with the Kindle Comic Creator to be used as a kindle book for sale on Amazon. I made digital files for Comixology and IndyPlanet as well, but all that involved was sending them a .zip file of nice huge .tiff images and they do they rest!

…not so with Kindle. Continue reading →

Comics on the cheap!

| sandpaperdaisy

When I drew The Ruby Machine I was sitting in the hospital waiting on the results of an operation my mother was having. I was not only severely cramped for space, I was also out of the vellum bristol type stuff I generally try to use when making comics the traditional way. Then I thought “I’m planning on toning and lettering this comic in photoshop anyway, so why not just use any old paper and scan it in?

So my cheapskate method of using typing paper folded in half to draw one panel at a time was born. Here’s some progress shots I took of the process. The one above is from the hospital, I made those roses while I was waiting too. Some of the others are from continuing my cheapness at home. I still have these papers jammed in the bottom of my collage-paper box somewhere, where they are getting even more wrinkled and messed up as I type. Hooray!

Well, all things are transient anyway…

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The many faces of Daedalus…how do you feel about re-using your art?

a repeating row of dissected mudpuppies combined with airplane blueprints in bright neon colors
| sandpaperdaisy

This piece is one of many versions of this linoleum block print I did for the 2012 Hand Prints show:

linoleum block print of dissected mudpuppies melded with airplane blueprints.

A friend of mine had a lot of fun taking it and coloring on it to create three collaborative pieces as well:

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daisytrog_collaboration_2_by_troglodytespacebird-d57b522

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And lastly, I recently used them in different pieces for my December 2013 solo show:

polygons and viscera, goya reference

The Sleep of Reason on Society6||Redbubble

Bone and syringe butterflies merge into black polygons which in return become flying lizards. An homage to Escher's Metamorphoses.

Ergo Sum

In other words, those mudpuppies really got around! I’m not sure when I first hit upon the idea of using my own art as collage to make new pieces, but I’m currently using the same approach on my Kaguya Hime piece in progress. Part of a totally unrelated piece (Moonlit Night, in fact!) is supplying the huge swollen moon behind the princess.

I personally like finding new ways to use different elements I’ve made that lend themselves to replication (mainly my digital and block prints) because that way, as an artist I still have the option of finding a better way to finish a work of art. If something I made doesn’t stand out in its original setting but later becomes much more successful in a completely different context, I feel very gratified. I have also done this with very old art, using amateur monoprints as effective and vibrant backgrounds for newer, more skilled block prints or incorporating crude paintings from my youth into new collage art.

How do you feel about re-using a piece of art or making series based on many variations of an element you’ve created?