7 Swans a Swimming

On the 7th day of Christmas My true love gave to me...7 swans a swimming, 6 geese a lay-n, 5 gold rings... 4 calling birds, 3 french hens, 2 turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree! (I hope you're singing along!)

Today Im dog sitting in Greenville, SC and last evening we had freeZing rain and a dusting of snow that has already disappeared...I may actaully get to take the dogs for a walk later!! I will be here until Monday night! Its been harder than I thought to keep up the 12 Days of Christmas but I am enjoying the whole idea of doing something different!...Hope this weekend is working out for everyone of you! I got myself a new P&S camera! If the sun ever comes out I may try to take a few photos!! lol--maybe the duck pond later if the sun stays out!!

This week

We have rain, no complaints here 'cause we can never get enough rain...The dogs are sleeping on the screen porch since they cant run and play and I think they need to spend more time outside!
I'm working on a new line I hope to be able to sell...Gotta make money for the "kitty"
Ive been all morning trying to get images on my design website of my latest work a new line.

I sell my designs to fabric manufactures...if they license the work Im credited as the designer...I saw on Studio E they didnt have my bio up so I wrote to them and they said..HMMM where is it--so Ive been told they are working to get that rectified. So if I sell a design rights with no license it becomes the property of that manufacturer and my name will never be associated with it..So thats the 2 ways I can earn income as a fabric designer. The other hard part is getting the design to repeat properly! Fabric is created in repeats--every so many inches the design repeats. Many times my designs are sent back to be reworked because the repeat is off by as much as a hair and that wont work!! It has to be perfect! Thank goodness for Photoshop. I use 7.0 to do my work.

The rights buyout gives me money immediately but is not always the way to earn the MOST money...a license gives me 5% of the wholesale price so if you have a real good seller I can earn more. Either way I still have not earned enough to call this my main source of income--I know people think if you are getting royalties you are getting rich..WRONG! Now if you sell millions yes--but most of the time it doesnt work that way. Anyone who has ever published a book will tell you that too. My first royalty check from the proceeds from the sell of my book was $3.85 LOL...

Anyways thats what Ive been up to this week...WORKING-- In a design like this one that has many elements scattered around --they like to say tossed--I have to create many small designs and those become stand alone images linked by layers of color. Each Color has to be on a separate layer. So in the image above its made of about 9 layers and 9 colors! The max I can use is 16! There are a lot of parameters I have to keep in mind when creating a design. Some simple designs will have only 1 color used in various %Opacity.

So thats the image I created as Main character up there-- Cleopatra!
Here is link to Cleopatra's Court for those with curosity--

I may be adding some solids later to the collection if I get any interest from a buyer!

I have started my Vacation Countdown...20 days!

Ancient Art Connection

                            Ute Panel Thompson Springs

Last year I took a trip to Utah. Prior to that I was visited by the desire to create art that reflected what I thought I would see there. In my mind I thought of the wide open spaces first of all and secondly the red sandstone. Thinking more of the history of the west I thought of the anicent civilizations that once lived in these areas, the natives and their early attempts at communication, mainly the Rock Art. Thinking about all this got me excited about the art petroglyphs and pictographs. One is carved into the stone then colored and the other is simply drawn onto the rock. I did get an opportunity to see this art up close and personal...and honestly It felt good. The land is so spiritual that it gets into you right away or at least it did me. I must have taken over 800 photographs!..I was just as excited to visit a rock shop in Moab and the Arrowhead Motel where my hero John Wayne stayed when he was in the area working on one of the many films he starred in that were filmed out on the huge range. The two big parks there...Arches, and Canyonlands are vast and wonderful...so much to see there. This is the collection of drawings I created with the Ancient Civilizations of our own South West in mind. After visiting these areas up close I realized I had connected in some with an ancient artist guiding my hand.

My art below was inspired by Ancient Drawings left behind for us to find and decipher!

  

                                                     Thompson Springs, ghost town

I finally made it to Hancocks and purchased some of my fabric!...IT is so pretty...they did a fabulous job of printing it. I got enough to make and line this new bag for myself...my old one is worn out!..The ladies in the store were excited to learn about how fabric is made, the design process and what all is involved!..This shot is a bit fuzzy, but that's me with 3 of my designs spread out there...and thats the bag I created using the one I call Wild Spirits!..Soon CHI CHI will be in stores. I did some free lance work on a Christmas line, this is not a license item so it wont have my name on it anywhere...It will be part of a fat quarter for the next season. I hope to be making more designs for my lines soon.

Lines on a page...

Art reflects life. I always enjoy creating from the bottom up. I love to draw but it has to come from inside...sit with pencil and begin. I have never sat before a sight and tried to draw it. Most of the time my art tells a story. There is always more behind the pencil than just lines connected on paper to create an image. Art reflects whats going on inside my spirit and soul. My drawing pad looks more like a scribble pad...I never did enjoy 'Painting' or adding color...too messy and took so much time, If I had a stuido maybe yes. But with no place to leave things out and having to clean up behind myself every time I painted I never really got into that. (my son did, and I cleaned up behind him..lol ) I did use acrylic pens at one time, and that was pretty easy, just put the pens away...but the pens are expensive as are oils and acrylics, and supplies. So I began to use software to complete my art/drawings. This one pictured here was inspired by my feelings or spiritual connection to Machu Picchu. I call this print the Lost Ponies of Machi Picchu. The main problems I had with this print was getting it to repeat, so it could be used for fabric designs. I did however after 3 weeks of work on this one print get it to repeat and it looks wonderful...its currently under consideration for development by Fabric Editions, I sent them some 2nd draft samples last week. So that drawing was the inspiration for my newest line called Chi Chi...(Chi Chi is the central market where all goods are brought to be swapped or sold in the villages of old like Machu Picchu) Here is the final draft of the Ponies of Machi Picchu.

For the color I went about creating my pallett of colors that jumped out at me many of which are new for me, like the purple...not a color Im comfortable with but it works very good here. I call it Regal due to the Royal-ness of it. The other lead pattern for his collection is the Masquerade. Masks were used/worn in ceremony in the Myan and Incan Civilizations.

"All rights belong to S. Hickman all artwork is the property of S.Hickman any reproduction or use is prohibited without permission or license."

Do you believe in Magic?

Today I'm working on a print for Christmas. Its part of the current project Ive been commissioned to do. I do freelance design work for a company in Greenville, SC. They send me a lead piece they plan to purchase from one of those very expensive design houses in New York City, and I have to come up with 4 patterns that will compliment that lead pattern. I'm very happy to get the work, although I know I could also create that lead pattern. Im sure they pay a lot of money for it. I get paid well for my part too. I did one project for them last month also a Christmas patterns. I came up with 4 really cool looking designs. You can see them here in my Christmas Collection. Just click the Holiday button. Ive started to work again on a project that has been on the back burner for over a year. Together with someone I met while working a job, I got involved in being the part owner of a children's book project. She had this story all in her mind but had no idea how to get it on paper or how to do the illustrations.., so she asked me to help. At first I was not interested...but when she told me the story I was hooked. So she had one connection and they turned us down. So now Im going to try again, but first I have to get the artwork finished. Its really a fantastically fun project especially for me. Here is the one I would love to see on the cover...The name of the book is Once Upon A Time There Were Unicorns, written by Darlene Martuak and Sondra Hickman. I will be doing all the illustrations and submitting it to various publishers. Right now I'm working on finishing up the artwork. The whole venue is something I love so its not like work its like PLAY... I have to do about 10 pieces. I have 4-5 done...they are so cute and fun.

"When he saw his image in the water he knew what it was they wanted. . . he saw what they saw.. . . now he understood, his beauty may cost him his life, once upon a time there were Unicorns."

 Note: all artwork is the property of S.Hickman Designs all rights reserved 2008. Although I would love to give my art away, there is the wee problem of food and shelter. So please dont copy, save or duplicate my art. Thank you. If you wish to purchase, or license my art contact me at dusteerhod@gmail.com 

Proud Warriors

This piece is called Proud Warriors its part of my collection Desert Legends

it is made of 3 seperate pieces of art, the first is Tribal Rust, then there is Run Free, and lastly its War Paint

Today I browsed the art of Tatiana Cardeal and I'm still in amazement. She is most talented and If I could chose to be "like someone" it would be her. She has passion and she shares it via her photographs and her words. Her cause is social acceptance of the indigenous people of world and fair and equal rights for all. Her voice is for the ones who have none, and her message is the right one. I too am passionate about life, about injustice, whats happening to our planet. If I could change my life I would...that's so hollow because if YOU cant change yourself then who can? I feel chained in place most of the time, and I feel that my Life Clock is ticking away and yet I have left no mark of my being here. I want to leave my mark... Maybe my art is a way. Ive always loved the American Southwest and the permanent images that have been imprinted on my mind from my travels to that part of the world. If I could be transported through space, I'd wish to go there each day and enjoy the dry heat while watching a herd of wild mustangs play over the plains. Yet here I sit at a keyboard trying to make a living with the vivid images that come from that inner place where my spirit lives. With these images I find a sense of peace and comfort. If you happen up on this blog it will be by pure chance and I hope you too will see what my art is saying... Freedom is the most important right we have and we should all embrace it, and shout if out from the tops of the highest mountains, lands, or courts. Freedom is our right of passage on this earth. Note: all artwork is the property of S.Hickman Designs all rights reserved 2008. Although I would love to give my art away, there is the wee problem of food and shelter. So please dont copy, save or duplicate my art. Thank you. If you wish to purchase my art contact me at dusteerhod@gmail.com Have a day of peace and freedom.