2017 Art Year in Review

I spent a lot of time on my art this year - and accomplished a lot of cool things!

• Eight large format colored pencil drawings, five 8x10 drawings, and ten 5x7 drawings were on display at the Village Theater in Canton, Michigan throughout the month of November as part of a two-person exhibition "GRRRLS Like Us".

• I was commissioned to create eight custom watercolor bouquet paintings through this listing on Etsy, from people as far away as Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Washington D.C., and the United Kingdom. I also added a "Rush Order" option, which promises a finished custom painting at your doorstep in five days.

• I had artwork available for sale at the Paint Creek Center for the Arts in Rochester, Michigan all year - including original Michigan-themed watercolors, original floral colored pencil drawings, and lots of boxed notecard sets.

• My Great Lakes Notecards have been selling well on Etsy, with several orders places around the holiday season.

• I reached over 630 followers on Instagram (and received lots of great comments!) by posting pictures of artwork in progress.

• I was commissioned to create a large acrylic triptych (a painting on three separate canvases), which I'll be working on soon in early 2018. (More on that to come in future blog posts!)

• And I finished lots of exciting artwork (including the aforementioned colored pencil drawings and the custom watercolor bouquets)! Here are some of my favorite art pieces I completed this year:

"Anticipation" - 8"x10" Colored Pencil Drawing on Tan Paper (SOLD)

8"x10" Custom Watercolor Bouquet commissioned by Blake (SOLD) 

8"x10" Custom Watercolor Bouquet commissioned by Brent (SOLD)

"Great Lakes in Rainbow" - 8"x10" Watercolor Painting

"28 Years" - 22"x30" Colored Pencil Drawing on Black Paper

"Religion Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - 19"x25" Colored Pencil Drawing on Black Paper

"Shame" - 8"x10" Colored Pencil Drawing on Tan Paper

8"x10" Custom Watercolor Bouquet commissioned by Mark (SOLD)

"Great Lakes in Metallic Copper & Red" - 8"x10" Watercolor Painting

"Gender Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - 19"x25" Colored Pencil on Black Paper

8"x10" Custom Watercolor Bouquet commissioned by Michael (SOLD)

8"x10" Custom Watercolor Bouquet commissioned by Paul (SOLD)

"Sexuality Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - 19"x25" Colored Pencil Drawing on Black Paper

You can find many of these pieces for sale at my Etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/ArtworkbyAndreaArbit. I will be adding more inventory soon (including the items that didn't sell at the GRRRLS Like Us exhibition!) so definitely check back to see what new stuff gets added in 2018. :)

I hope you continue to follow me on this blog as well as my Twitter and Instagram accounts as I keep creating into 2018! Happy New Year, everyone!

Pattern Coloring Pack #7

We finally made it to the last "mini-pack" of my Pattern Coloring Book Series on Etsy. Today's post is all about Pattern Coloring Pack #7, which has six more unique coloring page designs.

Each six-pack is for sale on Etsy for $1.99. As soon as you buy them, you will be able to download the PDF (1 PDF with 6 pages), store them on your computer, and print as many copies as you want. I also have a mega pack available which has all 44 of my coloring page designs together in one set - the 42 designs found in each of the 7 mini-packs, as well as 2 bonus designs not found in any of the other packs.

Here are the six designs in "Pattern Coloring Pack #7" (available for purchase here).

The patterns used in this set are Jayda, Crinoline, Organza, Zehra, Leander, and Juliet. I grouped these six together because they all have some amount of "dangling lines" - lines that jut out or loop without necessarily closing into shapes, making them great for more "advanced" colorers. Experiment by coloring outside the lines, extending the lines yourself (or not!), using multiple colors blended together or an "ombre" style within a larger white space, or invent your own technique. These designs are intended as a jumping-off point to let your creativity fly. As with all my groups, there is a variety of complexity among the different pages.

I would classify this is as "expert" level - because of these "dangling lines" and the complexity of small detail on some of the pages.

Here are detail photos of the first two patterns - Jayda and Crinoline:

The next two patterns are Organza and Zehra:

And the last two in this set of six are Leander and Juliet:

I also made a "digital example" of how the Pattern Juliet page could be colored:

I've used some of these patterns in my watercolor paintings. Here's a look:

Pattern Organza in Blue-Violet (4"x6" watercolor on paper)

Pattern Juliet in Blue, Green & Yellow (5"x7" watercolor on paper)

(Pattern Juliet has already sold. My other 4"x6" and 5"x7" watercolor paintings are currently for sale at the Paint Creek Center for the Arts in downtown Rochester, Michigan. Any that do not sell there will be back available on Etsy when I get them back.)

I love using my patterns in watercolor paintings - and now I'm sharing those digital designs with you, so you can experiment with them as a coloring page!

Holiday Art Market - Recap

The Paint Creek Center for the Arts in downtown Rochester, Michigan included several of my 8"x10" watercolors with Michigan themes in their Holiday Art Market in November and December.

I'm pleased to say that three of them sold! The rest are still there, available for sale at the Art Market. Each 8"x10" watercolor comes with a 11"x14" white mat suitable for framing and goes for $49.

I also now have several other watercolors for sale at the Art Market - my 5"x7" and 4"x6" patterned watercolors, many of which I've posted on this blog before.

My 5"x7" watercolors come with a 8"x10" white mat and are $39 each.

My 4"x6" watercolors come with a 5"x7" white mat and are $29 each.

All of my pattern watercolors have unsigned fronts so that they can be hung horizontally or vertically in any direction.

If you're in metro-Detroit, definitely swing by Rochester to check them out! The Art Market also has lots of other great gift items, including jewelry, greeting cards, pottery, paintings, and ornaments.

They are located at 407 Pine Street, Rochester MI. The Art Market is open Mon-Thurs from 9 am - 7 pm, Friday from 9 am - 5 pm, and Saturday from 9 am - 4 pm.