Friday, May 16, 2025

Post 568: Photographing Your Artwork To Make Prints

Photographing Your Artwork To Make Prints

by Tom Payne

Photographing artwork is done for many different purposes.

One purpose is submitting images to be juried for an art show. This can be done with some practice and minimal equipment after watching a few YouTube videos. In this case, the quality of the image and the size of the file may not be very important. Here is a good video to watch for this purpose: https://youtu.be/WIe-KuDAkkc

Photo by Heshan Perera on Unsplash

Photographing your artwork for the purpose of making and selling high quality prints is a worthwhile venture. Many artists pride themselves on selling individual, one of a kind, artworks for customers who have the financial wherewithal to afford that kind of purchase.

In addition to offering original one offs, artists may also want to provide more affordable print products for customers to consider (such as artist note cards and frame-able mat prints in different sizes). For this purpose, good camera equipment, lighting, and image editing software are needed in order to create high resolution images that show your paintings accurately, whether it’s for a pop up show or for your website. Here is a good video that shows this process: https://youtu.be/zsqiPscQQCE

As a photographer, I have the high resolution camera equipment necessary to shoot artwork in a studio setting and would be happy to chat with PWAS members who are interested in learning, with me, how to photograph their work.

If you’re serious and would like to sell note cards and mat prints, I recommend that you spend what you can afford and buy a good photo printer. Stick with Epson or Canon. Go to B&H Photo and shop around and look at videos for a printer that meets your needs. B&H is the best place to buy. Trust me. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/

You can purchase quality photo papers and note card stock from B&H Photo as well. When purchasing photo paper you might wish to purchase a sample pack that includes examples of different finishes, mat, glossy, premium luster, watercolor etc… There are a ton of different types of papers to experiment with.

If you don’t have or don’t want to buy a printer, you must choose a good professional printer. My advice is to use the printers trusted by professional photographers. My favorite printer for paper prints is Mpix. Visit the website and spend some time familiarizing yourself with the various options and products available. You will not be disappointed in the quality of their work. www.mpix.com.

If you are interested in making canvas, acrylic, or metal prints, I highly recommend ProPrints. I get all my big canvas prints from them and they stand behind their work. https://www.proprints.com/

When selling your prints, it is important that they be matted, suitable for framing, and in sealed clear bags. I get my mat boards, backer boards, and clear bags, in standard sizes from Matboard Plus. Purchase supplies in bulk, mat your own prints and you will be good to go. Check them out here: https://www.matboardplus.com/conservation-mat-board-show-kits/

Photo by Jonny Caspari on Unsplash

If you’ve never made a mounted print, don’t worry, it is easy. Here is a good video showing the CORRECT way to do it with acid free products. https://youtu.be/VYUVC8cc838

I hope these references and tips are helpful as you explore the world of photography and how you can create fine art prints to augment the sale of your artworks. Contact me anytime! Make some art and enjoy today!!

Tom Payne Relief Artworx

Author: Tom Payne, PWAS Member-at-Large

Author: Donna Liguria
Artistry Spin Blogmaster and an artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Esty site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

pinterest-site-verification=3ad32cc9cfeae507ba5a382d62fcee17

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Post 567: PWAS at the ARTfactory, Tall Oaks and More

PWAS at the ARTfactory, Tall Oaks and More

Prince William Art Society has had a lot going on this year! The art group and members, also called PWAS (pronounced p-whaz) have been to the Three Fox Vineyard, went to the Bluebell Festival and had a bluebell challenge, have been to a Manassas Park Community Day, appeared in several libraries around PWC, some of our members have art at little art show over in Milwood, VA, been to a Monastery, had a Tall Oaks show, had several Art Calls and have been plein air painting here and there. And there is more to come.

PWAS Member Exhibition May 15 - 30, 2025

Drop off art for the PWAS Member Exhibit at the ARTfactory was on Sunday, May 11. The Prince William Art Society members and/or spouses were steady bringing in their art between 12 and 4. The current ARTfactory show was still up in the pictures and there were PLENTY of those little red dots all around on the artwork! A big congratulations to those artists!

If you don't know, a red dot on artwork means that it is SOLD! That was an excellent show, the artworks was awesome.

The ARTfactory is located at 9419 Battle Street, Manassas, VA. The parking garage is located directly across the railroad tracks and the entrance to the garage is from Prince William Street

Artwork incoming! It was great seeing everyone bringing in their artwork. What a variety of works we always have from our members. You can see all of the art for this exhibit here, with the show opening May 15, 2025: https://pwasatartfactory2025.artcall.org/pages/web-gallery

This art piece from the current show that ends May 11th, everyone was admiring as it was a sheet of wood cut from a tree trunk and painted with watercolors. Note the red dot on the card too. Fascinating artwork!

The PWAS Member Exhibit will run May 15-30 with the Artist Reception held on Saturday, May 17, 2025 6-8pm. The public is welcome to attend and the visitors can vote for People's Choice - their favorite art in the show.

PWAS Member Exhibition Web Gallery https://pwasatartfactory2025.artcall.org/pages/web-gallery

And by the way, the ARTfactory tries to have the buyers leave the artwork up until the end of the show to maintain the look of the show throughout its run. Occasionally they have let the buyer take the artwork, especially if they do not reside nearby.

PWAS Members: If you go see the show, get a picture and post it on Facebook!

The Best of the Region Fine Art Show and Sale is coming up following the PWAS Member Exhibit at the ARTfactory. The 'Best of' will run June 3-15 with the Artist Reception on June 7, 2025 6-8pm. Our juror will be in attendance, Catherine Hillis - so be there to meet and talk with her too!

Our juror will also judge the show and we have ribbons (and $) for first, second, third place along with some Honorable Mentions! We'll also have a People's Choice awarded so when you are there, vote your favorite art.

Put on your 'shiny shoes' and come on out and enjoy both of the shows and Art Receptions.

*From what movie is the reference put on your 'shiny shoes'? Answer at the bottom

Best of the Region Web Gallery https://bestoftheregionexhibit.artcall.org/pages/web-gallery

Spring Tall Oaks Art Show in Lakeridge May 10, 2025

PWAS had their biannual art show at the Tall Oaks Community Center (where we have our monthly meetings) on Saturday, May 10. We had a very nice turn out and some wonderful art sales for our artists. The art group shows their art at Tall Oaks in the spring and again in the Fall every year.

I didn't get many photos of show - I used my phone to play the background music. We had 8 artists showing on Saturday and we saw a lot of PWAS Members pop in to visit and some members from years ago too!

The Tall Oaks Community Building 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Woodbridge

Ana Quispe was face painting. David Dillon and Richard Tyler were plein air painting. Nicole Goble, James, Staci Blanchard, Maria Briganit, Eric Ndofour were manning the battlestations.

Maker Faire and Friends Sale and Bull Run Library Shows

PWAS members getting tired yet? Some of us are! We've had a busy year already in the art world! So of course, here are MORE opportunities to show off your art!

The Bull Run Library is located at 8051 Ashton Ave, Manassas, VA 20109 and there are TWO art events there.

Upcoming June 7 from 10 until 3 at the Bull Run Library is the Maker Faire and PWAS Members can contact Bettie Sperty if they want to be a part of that day's events. Space is limited so get in early.

June and July at the Bull Run Library - contact Bettie Sperty if you want to be a part of this event. Art delivery is scheduled for Sunday, June 1 from 1:30-2:30pm. This show will also appear in our PWAS Online Art Store https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/category/all-products. Please follow up by reviewing this PWAS Artistry Spin blog page on our Art Store

IMPORTANT: The Bull Run Library does NOT handle the art sales for the June and July art shows. If a person wants to purchase your art, there is a QR code that when opens, goes the the PWAS Website Art Store and purchases can be made directly on the website. The Artist is then contacted to make arrangements with the Buyer to hand over art.

See this post when we were previously at the Bull Run Library

Beyond July

There will be the annual Arts Alive! show at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas and the Fall Tall Oaks Show at the Tall Oaks Community Center. In the meantime, stay tuned to this blog and the PWAS website for meetings and updates.

On our agenda for the end of the year are of course our monthly meetings with various presentations and speakers and our Board Elections too. We've to plenty of irons in the fire - I should say paint brushes in the varnish, here at the county's oldest art group, the Prince William Art Society. Come by and check out a meeting and jump onboard!

*Movie Reference is from the movie Dodgeball when White Goodman says, "There's no resisting when White Goodman puts on his shiny shoes."

pinterest-site-verification=3ad32cc9cfeae507ba5a382d62fcee17

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Post 566: What's on Your Easel PWAS Members?

What's on Your Easel PWAS Members?

The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) asks the members various questions each month to see what they are up to and want to share with you. This month's question asked about their in progress artwork with "What's on Your Easel?" Let's go see the show...

PWAS Member Zee Berrios

The working title is "Commended Spirit". It's part of the "Sacro" series. It is acrylic on canvas, 12" X 20" (smallest acrylic I've ever done).

PWAS Member Tom Payne

Tom Payne is our Prince William Art Society Member-at-Large and he's also taken on the management of the workshops and classes for our art group too. He created this video of the Art in the Garden at the Benedictine Monastery this past May 3, 2025:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/wpjtd2k7opgfu48cip0lb/Art-in-the-Garden-May-2025.mp4?rlkey=gysjlh1emzrnqdihymm19b1aj&e=1&st=jb4mlf7u&dl=0

PWAS Member Donna Merchant

I just wanted to share a drawing that I’ve been working on. This photo was taken at my son Ben’s graduation from VCU last year. He’s the class of 2024, I’m the class of 1992! This hug represents how proud I was, AM and ALWAYS will be of my one and only “Son-shine”. I’m finishing this drawing this weekend as a Mother’s Day gift for myself..but he will get this drawing eventually.

PWAS Member Otis Stanley

"Daddy Sent For Us" Acrylic 16"x 20"

PWAS Member Kathleen Gates

I've been working on this 20 x 20 canvas. I'm not sure if it is complete.

PWAS Member Patty Gulledge

Although I still have a lot of work to do on this painting, it's coming along. We're renovating two bathrooms, and this piece is meant for the entrance to the one that has a coastal feel (think colors of sea glass and bleached wood). This is the first time I've painted something for a specific room in my house, so I'm hoping it says "this way to the beach!"

PWAS Member Donna Liguria

The working title is "Art Delivery to the Mill" and its a 14x14 canvas in acrylics. The story behind the painting is on my blog Donna's Cave Paintings. The painting in its finished state will be there too. Art Reception at Art at the Mill

I'm a big fan of the biannual Art at the Mill art show held in the Spring and Fall in Milwood, VA. Do a search on this blog Artistry Spin too for more stories and pics about Art at the Mill. I highly recommend that artists at least go see this show if they haven't answered a Call for Art to it yet.

I agree with Kat Gates, I always question if a painting is done yet....don't you? I may spend a couple of days tweaking, tweaking...turn it upside down and look at it that way for awhile and tweak some more.

And I love Patty's idea to paint an artwork for a specific room. Why in the world would we ever use generic artwork to decorate our own homes!!!???

PWAS Member Mark Murphy

This rendering of a fish was created using Yupo (plastic paper), a pour of acrylic paint, and details in watercolor. This fun, colorful, and more abstract style was a fun departure from my typical art.

PWAS Member Katharine Owens

40x60" No name yet.

Thank you to all the artists that participated in this "What's on your easel" - I look forward to seeing the finished works.

pinterest-site-verification=3ad32cc9cfeae507ba5a382d62fcee17

Saturday, May 3, 2025

Post 565: PWAS Board Elections Coming This Fall

PWAS Board Elections Coming This Fall

Every two years at the Prince William Art Society, known as PWAS, the 2 year term for the PWAS Board of Directors comes to a close. Member elections take place and the outgoing Board is replaced by the incoming Board. With PWAS having started back in 1971, that cycle has made for a long list of people stepping up to volunteer for this nonprofit art organization. Let's take a look at what and who we need to help find our new Board.

I voted!

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

Nominating Committee

Great people with great ideas and a willingness to serve help make up not only the Board of Directors (BoD) for every nonprofit, but for any committee within that group as well. A Nominating Committee is a sub-committee to the BoD that helps to identify and nominate the persons best suited for each position on the Board. The PWAS Board elections will occur later this year, at the PWAS November meeting on November 24, 2025 with the new Board being seated in January 2026 and run until the end of 2027. This being the beginning of May, its a GREAT time to serve on this committee and begin the search!

Positions to Fill for the Board/Vote on:

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

Member at Large

PWCAC Liason

Each of these Board Members having voting rights within the Prince William Art Society, setting goals, mission, policy; they are all making decisions about the ultimate success of the art organization. Not all may be leaving, some may desire to continue their roles but the positions will still need to be voted on.

Consider becoming a Nom Com member to help find people that would fill each of the very necessary Board positions. This committee can be a few people or not more than 5 and you will be researching and recruiting your potential PWAS Board members from the PWAS Members!

For the Nominating Committee, you will develop a team of PWAS people that will serve over the next few months or so with the goal of finding those hidden gems within the membership that have the skill sets, the willingness, are active, are respected, have strong decision making skills and its always good to have some great diplomatic skills.

You will need to get familiar with the PWAS By-Laws, especially if they have been updated in recent months. Basically, the Nom Com will prepare the Election Process to be ready in November. We have previously used this time to do some polling with the PWAS members to get ideas from them about art topics they are interested in as well.

And WHO do you contact if you want to be ON the Nominating Committee? Your current Member at Large, Tom Payne. See https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/board

About the PWAS Board

Several of the current 2024-2025 PWAS Board members have served in their position or in multiple positions, for more than this 2 year cycle, and thank goodness for that. This Board has stepped up and developed some wonderful partnerships and opportunities that have really gotten PWAS better known throughout the area and opened up more areas for PWAS members to share their art, learn more about art, and have FUN with art. And definitely a lot of research has been done with the goal of trying to find our next gallery space.

But as most of them have said, it is time for some new blood, some fresh faces, perhaps those with new and exciting, energetic personalities to take the potential 2026-2027 Board into Prince William County's art culture future. Nothing happens without someone volunteering their time.

I may not have this quote exactly right, but I think you'll get the gist of it... from our current Interim PWAS President, Sandra McClelland Lewin and it goes along these lines..."If you want to make a change, put yourself in a position so that you can be there to help put those changes in place." It may not be word for word, but doesn't it make sense?

I have some previous Blog Posts about the PWAS Board Positions, Elections, Committee Stuff, Benefits. All worth having a look at.

PWAS Group: Something to Think About

Get Involved With Your Local Art Group

NonProfit Art Group Committees

What I Would Like to See at PWAS

Getting Involved With Your Local Art Group, Benefits to Volunteering

Board Shadowing, Be a Board Stalker

The best thing though, if you are considering a Board position (or a Committee) is that you have time to learn about the position from the persons currently IN those positions. And those Board members are more than willing to answer questions, explain the agenda items, share the contacts, any of the things you need to know. There is time to get a foot in the door and think about how you can volunteer.

The outgoing Board members will be back in the general pop of PWAS in 2026 and will still be available to answer questions along the way too. You don't have to do it on your own!

Have your potential nominees do a trial run by shadowing the potential position they may be considering!

The Prince William Art Society is 54 years old. I'm not sure about you folks, my fellow PWAS'rs, but the benefits of being part of this art group have far exceeded my expectations in not only what I have learned, but the friendships made. And for getting me as an artist in Northern Virginia, the ability to put my art 'out there'.

Volunteer to be a part of the Nominating Committee today! And grab a friend to help!

pinterest-site-verification=3ad32cc9cfeae507ba5a382d62fcee17

Friday, May 2, 2025

Post 564: Updates to the Display Page on Artistry Spin

Updates to the Display Page on Artistry Spin

Did you know the Prince William Art Society Artistry Spin Blog has been around since 2021? There is a lot of info on this blog on all things Prince William Art Society (PWAS), including upcoming events, announcements, photos from various member's art, lots of info about art shows and meetings. There are art tips, art opinions, art comics...it goes on and on. And on the Artistry Spin Blog, you will find the very important PWAS Display Art Requirements Page.

PWAS Artistry Spin Blog Home Page PC View of Top Navigation

PWAS Display Art Requirements Page

The Display Page on the Artistry Spin Blog is by far the most viewed page of the blog. For any art show, popup show, any art event that PWAS does, we direct the members to the Display Page because that is how we expect - how we require artwork to be made ready for display in any of our art events. We have recently updated this page and we need all PWAS members to be aware of these updates.

See Display here https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/p/display.html

Other Artistry Spin Blog Pages

There is also a lot of other information Pages available to the artist, whether a member of PWAS or not, on our Blog in the top navigation...as well as in the past Blot posts. Our PWAS Blog intends to be considered as a resource for our members to find what's going on and be a valuable resource of data. The Posts and the Pages are a wealth of history, how tos?, what is?, when did?, and who are? - about the art group. Obviously, you can't read them all but, we've tried to help you by consolidating some important topics on the following Pages.

Membership Page - About being a member of the Prince William Art Society but on the PWAS website itself is where potential members go to join and to manage their annual memberships due every January - as well as their PWAS website Gallery Page. https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Volunteering Page - As a nonprofit art group, no member is paid to do any job, duty, consulting, Board position, whatever. This is typical of most art organizations in their By-Laws. Thus, the absolute NEED of persons willing to help in any way they possibly can.

Call for Art Page - Basic Tips for a Call for Art

Local Art Shows Page - A page of a few years of art shows from around the area. TBD if this page will continue. The page did help with upcoming art show themes in various show locations.

Lessons Page - Lessons Learned from an outdoor art show, or really any show you do as an individual or as a group.

Pricing Page - True, you can put as many 0's on an artwork you like, but here is a look at pricing your artwork so that it is fairly priced.

Commissions Page - The 2 meanings about Commissions.

Art NTK Page - Art Need to Know list. If I only had known these things before I started...an ongoing page.

Blog Gallery Page - Current and Former PWAS Members with blog post interviews, Spotlight Artist posts.

Art Reception Page - A suggested check list of items to help when you are setting up an art reception.

How to Art Show Page - PWAS Artistry Spin second most visited page. A suggested check list of items to help manage your art show.

NOVA Art Page - An ongoing attempt to capture the Northern Virginia art groups, organizations, studios, and galleries.

How to Use Blog Page - Exactly that. Mobile view is different from a PC view so there are features you may not see. Using Search and other features.

Comments Page - How to drop a Comment on a Blog Post. We LOVE reading comments, but they must be monitored to prevent spam.

Schedule Page - Blog posts that YOU can help with (to help YOU) and various other Blog Topics to blog about.

Art Page - Blog post series on art topics like Tips, Perspective, Art Organizations, and more.

Art Store Page - About our Art Store on the PWAS Web Site.

FAQs Page - Frequently Asked Questions

Blog Admin is me, Donna Liguria. And yes, I would love to know if you write about art and want to share Blog ideas. This email is for Artistry Spin Blog inquiries pwas.art1@gmail.com. To contact the Prince William Art Society, please use the appropriate contact from this page https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/board

Blog Writers, Illustrators volunteers - your help would be very welcome! Got ideas, let's discuss! Contact the Blog Admin of course if interested

By the way, periodically check the pages above for updates!

pinterest-site-verification=3ad32cc9cfeae507ba5a382d62fcee17

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Post 563: PWAS Meeting with the Todds

PWAS Meeting with the Todds

Monday, April 28, 2025. The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) had their monthly art group meeting at the Tall Oaks Community Center in Woodbridge. PWAS meetings cover the ongoing projects that the art group is up to and there is often a featured artist. This meeting focused on two artists, a husband and wife team - Charles and Holly Todd.

Special Artist Guests

Read the about our guests, Charles and Holly Todd on this Blog Post https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/2025/04/post-pwas-monthly-meeting-and-guests.html

You know a presentation is really, really good when a roomful of people are as quiet as church mice yet they are all straining their necks to see what the artists are showing. This was so very interesting! Their artwork was exquisite! And I agree with Larry Burch who said, "I want those socks!"

Click on an image to enlarge

I wish I had gotten a close up of those socks too!!

Thank you so much to Charles and Holly for showing us your work and telling the stories behind the pieces. That was so very fascinating! What do the other PWAS members think? did anyone else capture any pictures?

Photography/Video Credits: Donna Liguria

pinterest-site-verification=3ad32cc9cfeae507ba5a382d62fcee17

Pages

Friday, May 16, 2025

Photographing Your Artwork To Make Prints

by Tom Payne

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

PWAS at the ARTfactory, Tall Oaks and More

PWAS Member Exhibition May 15 - 30, 2025

Spring Tall Oaks Art Show in Lakeridge May 10, 2025

Maker Faire and Friends Sale and Bull Run Library Shows

Beyond July

Saturday, May 10, 2025

What's on Your Easel PWAS Members?

PWAS Member Zee Berrios

PWAS Member Tom Payne

PWAS Member Donna Merchant

PWAS Member Otis Stanley

PWAS Member Kathleen Gates

PWAS Member Patty Gulledge

PWAS Member Donna Liguria

PWAS Member Mark Murphy

PWAS Member Katharine Owens

Saturday, May 3, 2025

PWAS Board Elections Coming This Fall

Nominating Committee

About the PWAS Board

Board Shadowing, Be a Board Stalker

Friday, May 2, 2025

Updates to the Display Page on Artistry Spin

PWAS Display Art Requirements Page

Other Artistry Spin Blog Pages

Thursday, May 1, 2025

PWAS Meeting with the Todds

Special Artist Guests

Search This Blog

Total Pageviews