Post 111: Save Your Art Work!

Save Your Art Work!

What if your computer or phone stopped working? The dag-on machine just goes kaput. And wouldn't you know, all of your images of all the artwork you ever created are on it.

Technology Will Fail at some point, Fact

I have had computers, phones and other technology die in the past and if you haven't yet, at some point - you will too. Smart phones and other technology isn't so smart at that point, is it? That's when I call my smart phone, a smart--s phone.

 

Not that long ago, a friend was telling the story of how his computer had gone to its untimely death and all of the images he had accumulated over the years were on that PC. He was able to recover some images from various places, but some things were lost forever. Think about that, images of artwork you used for prints, templates, advertising, promotion, besides all your documentation - GONE.

Cue the "uh-oh". Talk about a heart attack...

Save yourself the panic, the stress, your spouse's ears, and the loss by saving your work. How?

Back up your computer, each computer at least every 6 months (or other device). If you create a lot of artwork, do it more often. Images on your phone? I have my Android connected to my PC so I move the images I want to there, so its easy for me to organize the art photos. 

Where do you back up your data?

External Hard Drives and USB Memory Sticks

The reviews on the Western Digital My Passport Hard Drive were good, see LINK so off to Amazon I went (currently $69.21 for 2TB, and the next day I had the WD My Passport. Thank you Mr. Bezos.

 

Image files are big, so get the biggest one you can afford though, especially if you take a ton of photos.  While a hard drive of 3 or 4TB is bigger, a lot more expensive, but definitely a business expense, in my humble opinion. All of those art images must be preserved.

I also have a SanDisk Cruzer USB 2.0 Flash Drive that I plan on backing up my main photos to ASAP.  Those will be for the ones that may go to a print shop.That's the plan anyway.

There are other options though, so explore those. There is Cloud Storage, One Drive, and there are other free and paid services too. But it comes in handy to take the backup hard drive and put it in your fireproof safe or bank safety deposit box so you KNOW you can get to your artwork images if and when disaster happens.

How do you save your artwork? Or are you going to start now?

 

"Mysteries of the Deep" 11x14 Acrylic on canvas by Donna Liguria - sort of the way it might look if you have to try to FIND all your images after technology failure.

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Local Art: Visit us at Clearbrook Center of the Arts at Tackett's Mill in Lake Ridge, VA on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.