Allison here is going to be an excuse
to explain what I have been up to lately. Namely, that I was
scrambling all day yesterday to get one stinkin' drawing done to put
up today. I think she turned out just lovely, I am so pleased with
this drawing. But, I am growing increasingly frustrated by the amount
of time I am spending organizing my business rather than working on
art.
Basically I have no idea what I am
doing. I have idea what to do with my origami crafts, which are just
beautiful but have so many options that I don't know how to list them
in my Etsy shop to account for all the variables. Do I photograph
every variation? Let's see, four different glitter styles, 21
different colors of paper, hangers or no hangers, three different
sizes. That comes to a number I cannot deal with.
Then there comes just organizing
things. Started with spreadsheets, that worked OK. This week I
learned about databases and made one for my Ebay stuff- much easier.
But now I have to re-measure and weigh every Etsy item to create a
database for that.
Then there's shipping. I have had to
make a chart and a custom calculator to calculate my shipping costs
for everything I sell. Charge too little and I lose money. Charge
too much and people think I'm a gouger of prices.
I want to be prepared for every
situation. I want certain info in front of me with one click of a
mouse. I want to be professional and function like a well oiled
machine. I have a (surprising) streak of the perfectionist in me. But
I am also an artist. I need time to think and create and plan and
experiment. So forgive me if right now my output is low (and that is
not really directed at anyone who might be reading this bt more
towards the little anxiety voice that lives in my head). I am trying
to get caught up. I am trying to get things in order. Hopefully thing
will all into place soon.
Art tips: I love this drawing. I tried
out adding a little blur to the hair this time and I think it worked
really nicely. With the blue in the hair, if I increased the
brightness level of the shade it started to look like a neon sign.
Though didn't want that for this drawing it's good to know for the
future.
Also, sign of the times alert. In the
original drawing, the faint hatch-marks on her shirt and socks were
made by a silver glitter gel pen. She who had the most gel pens back
then ruled the school.