Some Success

Indian Corn

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

I've had a mixed bag of results from my new microstock activities. I've actually made some sales on Graphic Leftovers. Although I've had lots of views at The 3D Studio, I've made no sales. I'm hoping this is simply because they are letting their inventory build up before doing some marketing. I'm debating their offer of a higher commission by locking all my images into a 5 year loyalty (but not exclusivity) program. I'm not sure I want to lose control of my work for that long, especially if there are no sales. Something to think about...

Change in the Air

Sunny

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

Autumn is my favorite season of the year and this morning it finally felt like it is on the way. Since I consider autumn to be a season of change, it seems appropriate that my business is changing as well. After seeing my microstock income fall over the past year, despite uploading regularly, I have decided to try a couple of different things.

First, I have signed up for 2 new up and coming stock sites. I hope they will be successful. I chose these because the first one, Graphic Leftovers asked me to contribute. Once I got past the initial thrill that a new site personally asked me, I took a look and I like the site. It is small but well designed, and even better, they charge a flat rate for each image rather than selling credits or requiring a subscription. I think small sites like this will help the microstock industry stay competitive and keep the giants from controlling it all. This can only be good for the contributors as well as the customers.

The other site I am now contributing to is The 3D Studio. This is a website that has been around for 13 years but only recently started expanding into stock photography and images. Their main focus is the 3D market and they already have an established client base to work from. Like Graphic Leftovers, they charge per image but also change the price based on the size of the image. I like the idea of expanding into a market with a different focus.

In fact that leads to another thing I am working on. I have downloaded Blender and am going to try to teach myself to make 3d objects. This has a dubious chance of success as I am totally overwhelmed with just the workspace. But I'll work on it and hopefully learn to make more than the initial box that the program opens with. My main instructor is an online tutorial site called lynda.com where I've had good results learning other programs in the past. In addition to my virtual learning, I'm doing some other art related activities in the real world, but will comment on them later.

2000th Image Celebration

Polar Bears on Vacation

copyright (c) Joan Kerrigan

It’s been just over 2 years since I signed up with Dreamstime and started uploading pictures. Although I haven’t sold as much as some, I’ve learned a lot and improved my skills. The point of my first Dreamstime blog is to celebrate my 2000th image upload which also happens to be my first assignment image accepted, and my only exclusive image with Dreamstime. I hope to build on this modest success by improving my skills in order to create more attractive and salable images.

Summer Almost Over

Seamless Heart Background

copyright © Joan Kerrigan

As I finish up my project for BCC's 40th anniversary celebration, I'm looking forward to autumn and concentrating on my own art. Tomorrow, I'm exhibiting at the 1st Annual Riverside Artisan Marketplace. Unless it rains, in which case it will be Sunday.

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!