I’m having a sale in my Etsy shop through the end of March. Use the code “andyLovesYou” to get 50% OFF. Spreading the word, gets you extra karma points. I will also be adding new stuff over the next few days. Thank you and much love to you all. Here is a quick link to my shop, or use the button in the right side menu.

Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching. I’ve been thinking about designing some cards to sell and hopefully will get to them in the next few days. The little creature above has been a little shy, but would love to be somebodies valentine. Remember to tell the important people in your life how much they mean to you everyday, and not just on Valentine’s Day. If you want to be truly happy practice love and compassion towards others, starting first with those closest to you.

I’m pleased to announce my Christmas Coloring Book, a coloring book filled with Winter and Holiday themed coloring pages. The Book has printable Holiday Cards and Gift Tags to help you create unique Holiday gifts. The book is available as a Printable PDF download and also as a Deluxe Printed version. The Deluxe version includes an original drawing, just for you!!

I created a book slightly more winter themed than Holiday themed. I love the snow, mittens, hats, and scarves that make the winter fun. The lovely creations in this book celebrate both winter and the Holiday season.

My Christmas Coloring Book is an economical and creative resource for kids, parents, families, teachers, and people who love to color(your never to old to enjoy coloring). The book is appropriate for all ages, and it is filled with pages to color over and over again. Unlike traditional coloring books which you can only color once, my Christmas Coloring Book is a printable PDF file, so you can print the entire book or a single page as many times as you like. You can take a look at the book by clicking on the link under the book section on the right, or by clicking this link.

Once again, I need your help. It would be a huge favor to me if everyone could get the word out to any and everyone about the book. My goal is to sell 100 copies.  Here are two easy links to the book page:

full address:

http://www.andymcnally.com/holiday

shortened URL:

http://bit.ly/gme8YU

As always, I can never say thank you enough for all of your kindness and support.

Happy Holidays,
Andy

The lovely team of ladies from Art is Moving sent me one of their ART in your POCKET portable drawing kits(www.iheartartinyourpocket.com) to try out. Each Art in your Pocket comes with the 2″ x 3″ box to carry the 4 pieces of paper, pencil, pencil sharpener, eraser, sharpie, and 3 oil pastels(come in random colors). I was lucky enough to score the red and green oil pastels just in time for the Holiday season. This adorable kit fit perfectly in the outer pocket of my backpack and I’ve carried it everywhere with me. Now, I typically draw with a pencil, and there is one included, but the little Sharpie marker caught my attention and demanded that I draw with it. The pieces of paper are sturdy and have a shiny and matte finish side. I drew the little characters in the photo while having hot chocolate at several different coffee shop stops with friends. AIYP is both fun and inspirational. It inspires you to create art no matter where you are.

Art in your Pocket would make a fun gift for the artist, student, or yourself. Also, for every sale they make 10% goes to donating art supplies and Art in your Pocket(s) to those who cannot afford them. The Art is Moving team has a mission:

Make a world where EVERYONE has access to art and makes art everyday.

I think this is a wonderful goal. Get the full details on the Art in your Pocket page: www.iheartartinyourpocket.com .

If your interested in one of my mini drawings, send me an email (andy@calexstudio.com). They are $5 each and include shipping. Happy Holidays.

Capital Hat - original art by Andy McNally

It has been a crazy week, full of highs and lows. I did manage to get this painting finished. It is acrylic on canvas, measuring 6″ by 8.” I hope to have a few more paintings ready soon. You can own this little birdie, via my Etsy Shop. Have a wonderful day.

Zombie Tea Party Painting

The afterlife is anything but dead. The zombies get together regularly for a tea party. Get this one of a kind piece of art and celebrate with them.

Hurry and grab this one of kind Zombie Tea Party watercolor illustration, it won’t be around long, and it’s the only one. The actual artwork is approxiametly 8.25″ wide x 5.25″ tall. The paper is 6″ tall and 9″ wide. The artwork is signed and titled on the back of the paper. You can purchase the painting below, or if you prefer, you can find it in my Etsy shop.

Watercolor and India Ink on 140LB watercolor paper.
Only $30 +  ($2 shipping)

I’m pleased to announce my Halloween Fun Book, an activity book filled with Halloween themed coloring pages and activities. The book is available as a Printable PDF download and also as a Deluxe Printed version. I love October and Halloween, so I wanted to create something that reflected my love for the season. I also wanted to create an economical creative resource for kids, parents, families, teachers, and people who love to color(your never to old to enjoy coloring). The book was my first attempt to bring back some of the fun activities that the vintage Child Life magazines used to contain. The book is appropriate for all ages, and it is filled with pages to color over and over again. Unlike traditional coloring books which you can only color once, my Halloween Fun Book is a printable PDF file, so you can print the entire book or a single page as many times as you like. You can take a look at the book by clicking on the link under the book section on the right, or by clicking this link.

I need your help. It would be a huge favor to me if everyone could get the word out to any and everyone about the book. My goal is to sell 1000 copies.  It’s a lofty number, but I’ve never been one to dream small. I’ve put a lot of time in effort into the book, so it would mean a lot to both me and my family(financially) if you can do anything to help out in any way.  I can provide artwork or any tools necessary to help with promotion.  Here are two easy links to the book page:

full address:

http://www.andymcnally.com/halloween

shortened URL:

http://bit.ly/bYipEQ

As always, I can never say thank you enough for all of your kindness and support.

ps. A special thank you to Sara for helping me proof read.   Go check out her lovely artwork on her blog.

I wanted to share a very early peak at my Halloween Fun activity book. It will be coming out next week. It is a kids coloring and activity book with a fun, not creepy, Halloween theme. It is appropriate for kids(and adults) of all ages. It will be a digital download that can be printed as many times as you like, and the price will be $4. If you know any kids, teachers, or schools who might be interested I would greatly appreciate your help in getting the word out to them. Stay tuned for more details over the next couple of days and thanks again for all the support.

One of the most difficult things for an artist is making money.  It is true for almost anyone, but for an artist even more.  The term “starving artist” is often applied to artists.  It does not have to be the case.  I’ve had people tell me “you will never be able to live,” “you won’t make it,” and so on.  All of these statements are again not true, unless you want them to be true.  I’m not aware of any laws that say an individual has to work at a corporate job or work a set number of hours a day.  I’ve done both, and believe me I never had an abundance of money, and I certainly wasn’t happy.  Life has enough headaches without spending at least eight hours a day at a job that crushes your soul and most often your dreams and aspirations.

The internet has brought many opportunities to artists, which have never existed in the past, and many of them have very little cost associated with them.  It doesn’t matter whether you are an musician, writer, or artist, there are so many methods for getting your work out there and letting the world know about it.  Traditional means of distribution are changing and the middle man is being replaced by social media and web based tools.  My blog’s focus will be from the standpoint of being an artist, but the tools and techniques could apply to almost anything.  My goal is to make money at being an artist and sharing those tips and experiences.

The internet has provided artists with tools like blogs, Etsy, E-Junkie, Zazzle, Ebay, CafePress, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, yes even Facebook is a tool.  Some of these tools are for selling your products and some of these tools are for promoting your art.  In future posts, I will go into some of these tools in more detail.  My favorites tools for selling items are Etsy, Zazzle, and E-Junkie.  In terms of promoting you artwork, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are all important tools.  Again, I will get into more detail on each of these items in later posts.  The great thing about these tools, is that almost all of these tools are either free, or have minimal costs to get started.  There are small listing fees and auction fees on eBay or Etsy.  So the bigger question, is what are you waiting for?

One last thought and a resource that I would like to add in closing, is the need to create digital products and to reward the people that help you.  Everyday traditional analog items like books and magazines are becoming digital.   It is something to consider, but not  a deal breaker at this point, to create digital products.  I highly recommend Everett Bogue’s blog as a resource for creating a digital product and minimalist approach to both business and life.  The important concept is to reward the people that help you.  I’m not talking about a simple thank you, which are great by the way, but rather monetarily.  Digital products offer the possibility of affiliate sales, and giving part of your profit to those who are helping you sell it.  By rewarding people for helping you, they will be more inclined to do so, and you will be able to reach far more people than you could by yourself alone.  More posts will delve into this topic in the future, but if you would like to get started now, I highly recommend Everett’s eBook “Minimalist Business.”

The goal here is artistic, personal, and financial freedom.  Remember the only starving artists are those that choose to be, because there are no rules that say they have to starve.  I’m on this journey too. I intend to share my ups and downs, successes and failures along the way to living creatively.  Good luck to all of us.

PS.  Don’t forget to enter for the chance to win a free Dinosaur Grocery Tote, ends Friday, September 3, 2010.  Good Luck.

PSS.  I also have an original watercolor version of “Breakfast Pals”(below).  You can either buy it in my Etsy Shop or directly from me using PayPal(link below).

Breakfast Pals Original Watercolor – $30USD

The painting is available in my Etsy shop.

If you haven’t already, be sure to enter my Dinosaur Grocery Tote giveaway.

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