May Day

As I was making major changes to my Redbubble site and cleaning out old posts from my public Facebook page, it struck me that today is "May Day," that statement that means "emergency" of some sort.

Well, not an emergency for me or my site, but some drastic changes.  I will no longer be selling reprints on my Redbubble site.  I removed at least two-thirds of my portfolio and replaced remaining images with small, low resolution, prominently marked versions.

Why?  Mostly because of a serious infringement problem.

It would not be a big deal if I could just do an occasional reverse image search and send an occasional DMCA takedown. But it has steadily grown to the point where it's a part time job.  So something had to go, and that in this case was the nice clean images I uploaded to Redbubble to make reprints.

I used ALL of the site's available options for image protection. The watermark, right click disabling, and no-pin code. They are all easily bypassed! The money from the prints was simply not fair compensation for the risks it caused, and that cost me time, money and energy, and I didn't feel I could be as productive or happy when infringements loomed over me like a constant dark cloud. Simply ignoring the problem was not a solution, as the infringements were often of a commercial nature and robbed me of sales, as well as diluted the value of my work and caused confusion over ownership of it. Those are all damages to an artist who does this as a profession, and should even be of concern to those who do it as a hobby.  Like the video game maker who is pirated so much they can't make anymore games, artists, photographers, writers and musicians alike need to protect their work or they can't keep doing it.

I WILL still be making the giclee type fine art prints available for Hen Party and Giant Coffee Drinking Chicken!  Those are totally separate from Redbubble or any site, and do not rely on an unmarked image being uploaded to make them. The printer here in town has a copy of the huge file the prints are made from. I will have them made on an "on demand" basis. More info about them here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/cschnack/journal/9663660-large-fine-art-prints-big-chicken-paintings-giclees

New work; site editing

Detail of larger painting titled "Good China in the Bad Desert," by Cindy Schnackel. This detail is only a few inches high. the painting is 48 x 20.

I uploaded new work to my Red Bubble site today, including the whole painting that the above detail is taken from.  The painting is titled "Good China in the Bad Desert," is 48 inches wide x 20 inches high.  I have no idea, as usual, where the ideas come from, they just run from my mind down my arm, and out my hand onto the brush or whatever tools I'm using. That's why I am very happy to hear what viewers see in my work, because I don't usually have planned meanings. The meanings are there, of course, in symbolism, external influences I haven't quite processed yet, or sometimes maybe just the fun of goofiness.

Since I'm in the process of editing my sites, I've held back new work from uploading images of new paintings, while I clear out older work and pare down the amount of things I have online to tend to.  That editing process is going to be continuing for the next few weeks.  It has wreaked havoc with my online price lists of original work for sale!  Some images no longer link anywhere.  On Red Bubble, I 'hide' images rather than delete them, from my profile.  That way if I want to make them public again, I can. So it's easy to flip the switch and make it reappear, if you saw one you wanted, and it's invisible now.  Just ask. artbycindy (at) live.com.  Or if you're on Blogger, Wordpress, Red Bubble, or Facebook, contact me there.  (Links at end.)

Red Bubble made a few site changes recently, too, and that may explain why there were some recurring glitches in those inventory/price lists.  I've come to recognize the signs of Big Site Changes a-comin' so am not in any huge hurry to do a lot of editing until I find out what's happening there!  In other words, any excuse to procrastinate on completely overhauling my price lists.  But, if you have any questions, it helps to know that anything 12 x 12 inches and larger is roughly priced at $200 per square foot.  My smaller works have a different price structure, and most of my really small work runs from $75 to $200.

More new work has gone to a good new home, yay!  In that process, I have seen shipping prices increase, so sadly I have to pass that on to buyers now when I ship.

I plan on having work in the new R. Pela Gallery in Phoenix this summer.   It's located at 335 W. McDowell. Robrt opened his own gallery shortly after leaving Willo North.  Willo closed in January this year so I don't have any of my work there anymore. Willo has since reopened according to their site. Maybe after the next art walk I'll know more.

The itch to try something new is growing.  But it has to be something I can either do inside, or that can be done in extreme heat because it's getting too hot to paint outside much past noon.

I've got three miniatures on my indoor table, nearly complete. They are a related series, and all I'm telling you now is that they are chickens. (Big surprise huh?) Lots of tiny detail. After a detailed piece, I have to loosen back up with palette knives or drawing, so not sure what's coming next!

Good China in the Bad Desert  Red Bubble; prints, cards, etc of some of my work. Once there, just click Portfolio to see more artworks. My price lists for originals are in "Journals."

Cindy Schnackel on Facebook  This is my public page.




Cindy Schnackel on Wordpress

A friend's warning about "scraper sites" with info on how to act on it

Redbubble Members Works Offered for free...:

Draw A Bird Day?

Draw A Bird Day?: Check it out.  Maybe I'll get an entry in on time next year.  Not sure I made it this time, just found out about it and had about 5 min. to whip something out and submit it.  Birds are so cool. Really loved looking at what others submitted.

Baby Cactus

Turning into a prickly pear I think

This little guy volunteered in our yard, in a spot where cacti won't likely do well.  I dug it up and put it in a little pot.  Later, a second one appeared in the same spot.  It's a spot where birds sit a lot, probably after having eaten some of the countless prickly pear fruit in the area.  After awhile the top of this one started to flatten out more. I really like this shape. It'll be fun watching it develop. And it has that little friend to keep it company now, (it's not as far along, it's still a slightly flattened column).  Baby cacti are still formidable.  The tiny prickles can really sting and get under your skin.