Turning Artwork into Stickers

Aloha artists! I’ve been making stickers out of my artwork for a few years now with great success so I figured with this latest batch it was time to share exactly how I do it.

With all these new sticker companies out now you can create fabulous vinyl stickers out of your paintings, drawings, illustrations, or digital art relatively inexpensively. People looove stickers, so they are an especially easy sell to folks just getting acquainted with your artwork, with the bonus that they then see your work IRL constantly - keeping you in mind as one of their faves! Yay!

Choosing your best art to ‘stickerfy’ should take some thought. It is wise to choose the boldest, most eye catching and easily identifiable images to truly stand out and appeal to the most people. You may even want to run a poll of your artworks to see what your audience will love sticking on their gear the most!

Before getting started there are a few things to keep in mind..

1. It’s probably best to use a white substrate for drawings or illustrations if you will want custom cutout stickers (as in not a square or circle shape). It will make your life much easier when it comes to editing the proof.

2. Think about the scale of the original art in proportion to the sticker. If the artwork has a ton of tiny details in it they may not show up in a 2 or 3 inch sticker. It’s often best to choose bolder, more simplistic designs so they come out bold and clear.

3. Shop around and check the quality of different sticker companies before going all in on a manufacturer. Don’t place a big order with a new company before getting some samples so you make sure that not only the stickers are the quality you’re looking for, but that your designs are uploaded at a high enough resolution to print out nice and clear.

How to Turn Art into Stickers:

1. Choose a clear, eye catching piece of art.

2. Take a bright clear photo of your art (help with photo taking here and here)

3. Upload, edit, and clean up your image (here’s free Photoshop Express and the Adobe version)

4. A. (optional) remove the background; B. (necessary) add in your name or logo (here’s free Canva)

5. Upload artwork to your chosen printer (Such as… Sticker Mule, Sticker Giant, Stickybrand, etc)

6. Wait like a kid on Xmas Eve!!

Pick up a set of all 3 Mushroom stickers here:

..and use code MUSH2023 for a special limited time discount!

3.19.2023

Mushroom Paintings in Gouache

Do you ever have a project idea just marinating on the back burner for months and then finally have the chance/supplies/time to finally do it and it feels sooooo satisfying!?!

That’s totally me with these new supa dupa mushrooms!

…which will soon turn into big bright colorful stickers!

I want the stickers to be as colorful and eye-catching as possible as good little impulse buys when hosting my art booth (yay, I am so excited to get back into craft fair vending!), and since everyone loves mushrooms I figured these would be a great subject to appeal to the crowds.

I’ll also have these stickers available on my website in two weeks when my next video comes out showing how I made them (and how you can make stickers of your own art too!)

The supplies I use today:

Gouache (not an affiliate link) https://www.amazon.com/HIMI-Gouache-Supplies-Professionals-Student/dp/B09QRKQJZB?th=1

Any purchases through my special Blick link helps to support this channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

Princeton Size 1 Round Brush: https://bit.ly/3gFb7cT

Princeton Size 0 Round Brush: https://bit.ly/3bb05v9

Da Vinci Size 2 Round Brush: https://bit.ly/3diLEEK

Watercolor Sketchbook: 10 X 7in https://bit.ly/3miKrXY

Make sure to tune into my next video too to see these transform into fabulous brilliant big stickers!

Which one is your favorite? Would you rock any of these as a sticker?

3.5.2023

Dealing with Trolls and Online Negativity as an Artist

Yikes! Dealing with trolls, haters, and just plain negative people online can be totally stressful and disheartening! Hopefully you haven't experienced much of it so far, but it never hurts to be prepared for the future.

The more we put ourselves out there the more susceptible we are to online bullying or harassment. Today I've got 7 emotional and actionable ways you can deal with any negativity that gets thrown at your artwork or content. And remember above all else, don't let anyone online get you down - they don't even know how awesome you are in real life!

Tips for Dealing with Online Negativity

1. See if the negativity is just a poorly delivered helpful critique. Believe it or not sometimes negativity does come from a place of frustration that gets aimed in the wrong direction. If there is a real and specific complaint, perhaps try to see what point the critic is making removed from the anger. You may even be able to address the comment in such a way that makes the critic feel heard, understood and treated with respect and then they will do the same back.

2. Have a few positive responses on hand to consult or reuse as necessary. Even if you may be able to win this person over, never allow yourself to negativity - it’s just not worth it because…

3. Realize you can't please everyone and that is OK!! You can never please everyone so don’t even try - it won’t work and you’ll just get frustrated. Realize that no one famous or otherwise has ever been able to please everyone. I’m sure you could even find critics of Mother Theresa so do not stress yourself out over it. Remember, you cannot control how others perceive you, only how you can carry yourself so just be and do things that you can be proud of and you’ll naturally stop caring about those who treat you as if you should be some other way.

4. If someone really wants to troll and hassle you, there are three emotional ways to handle negativity....

   4.1. Laugh it off. Literally give off a laugh and a shrug because this person took the actual time to get their whole panties in a bunch over some free content you posted online - what a loser!!

   4.2. Cry it off. Ugh every once in awhile someone either by chance or by seriously sick and specific proclivities knows just what to say to right under your skin to really make you feel bad/inept/stupid/unskilled so if that happens, allow yourself to feel your feelings for a few.

   4.3. Pity them! And feel relieved that you are not them and neither is your significant other. They may give you and unpleasant 15 minutes but realize that that person is way unhappy in their own lives, and they have to be around themselves 24/7! Yikes!

5. Know there is nothing wrong with simply block-report-delete. This person has disrespected you so you owe them exactly nothing in return. Do not allow this person to bully you into a response, especially if that response would require you to sink as low as their level - ew!

6. The very best way to deal with negativity online is to have a mantra ready so you have a swift and confident inner-dialog answer for any time some awful comment sneaks up out of nowhere and completely derails whatever awesome thing you were about to do. Do not allow those trolls any power over your mindset, goals, or accomplishments.

7. Above all else remember that H.A.T.E.R.S. are just losers who Have Anger Towards Everyone Reaching Success. They are not productive contributors, pumped on accomplishing their own goals - no. They are miserable little wastes-of-space without enough creativity to produce anything notable on their own. They’re succubi. They’re leeches. They are not worth any time and we don’t even know who they are. They know who we are, but they are so insignificant that we don’t even know who they are. Just understand that haters only come after those who are doing something noteworthy and interesting. Along with fame comes haters - it’s a very backwards compliment but trust me, it is one.

Gouache Materials

Any purchases through my special links helps to support this channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

Titanium White

Azo Yellow

Gamborge Yellow

Napthol Red

Cerulean Blue

Permanent Green Light

Payne’s Grey

Princeton Size 1 Round Brush

Da Vinci Size 0/2 Round Brush

Da Vinci Size 2 Filbert Brush

And yes, these gouache mushrooms are available for purchase in my Shop right here.

9.19.2021

First Mushroom Forage

I’ve always been slightly enamored and mystified by the myriad of funky fungi I’ve encountered throughout years of adventuring outdoors, but have never been interested in learning more about wild mushrooms due to my lifelong distaste of Portobello or baby bello mushrooms found at any random grocery store.

I’ve always hated that I hated mushrooms, but what can one do?!

So as you can imagine, going out to enjoy a lovely solo hike in Chattanooga to get some fresh air and coming home with a large sampling of one of Mother Nature’s most nutritious, sustainable, and, as I later learned, delicious offerings completely unexpectedly has really opened up a whole new world for me.

You’re probably wondering what possessed me to pluck a random, though beautiful, unknown cluster of fungus from the woods and take it home to eat with practically no experience in the matter, especially knowing how dangerous decisions like that could be….

Well, two things: for one I had just seen that amazingly edited and incredibly interesting documentary Fantastic Fungi with the world famous mycologist Paul Stamets who really explained just what miraculous entities mushrooms are and how truly delicious they can be, which reminded me of the only time I have ever foraged and eaten a wild mushroom previously, and made me yearn to try again.

My first time eating a wild forage was with my good friend Jimi who is an old pro and knew exactly what he was doing. We collected this lionsmane mushroom together, then sautéed it with butter and salt n pepper and it was EPIC! It literally tasted like a meaty, succulent cross between a squash and a shrimp.

Happening upon that perfect specimen and then eating it less than 3 hours later felt all the more epic because my whole life I always had to let people know that I didn’t like mushrooms if they were providing a shared meal.

I mean…. I’ll still have to let folks who prep my food know my tastes… but at least now I can sound like an elitist hipster and say, ‘I only like wild mushrooms.’ tee hee

But I digress.. the reason I even gathered this particular mushroom was because it was so beautiful I took a pic and sent it to my friend who watched the movie with me and he immediately came back telling me it was a delicious mushroom called Chicken of the Woods and I should collect it. I had a hand towel with me so I broke it off the decaying branch it was growing out of and kept on my hike. My friend and I continued to check with a few folks to be sure it was safe and good and I watched a few videos on YouTube too.

I brought it home, cleaned it off, and sautéed half of it in a little Bragg sauce then included it in a veggie Thai lemongrass meal (see me cook and taste it in this quickie video here>>). And wouldn’t you know it, the Chicken of the Woods was epic too, and so aptly named!! The next day I did a barbeque olive oil recipe I found online and yummmmmmm! The consistency is so spot on and it just the mushroom just really takes on whatever seasoning you’re trying to give it. I’m hooked!

All in all though, I am seriously grateful to have a new healthy food group to enjoy. So much so that I even took the plunge and included some oyster mushrooms in my Misfits Market box this week. I found a recipe for those with just olive oil, garlic, green onions, salt n pepper, and lemon juice that was quite delightful. I’d have to say I liked the foraged fungus better than the oysters, but they were pretty good and I’ll definitely eat them again. At some point I’d like to see about growing my own, I hear it’s not that difficult.

You see those lil brown dots at the base? They’re tiny mushrooms! My mushrooms are growing their own mushrooms - ha!

Do you like wild mushrooms? Have you ever foraged your own? How about grown your own? Let me know or share tips in the comments!

9.16.2021