Home Decor

Showing appreciation for Art can go further than just hanging pictures on your walls. Now you can spread Art throughout your home by printing my original images on useful things. Each item is individually printed on demand and shipped to you. You won’t see these in stores or all over the internet, you will have a unique item to use and enjoy.

 

And remember, you can customize any of these images and products. Many have overall size options, some have material options, most have sliders to adjust the image size on the product, and if the image size is smaller than the product size you will be able to pick a background color. So play around with an image and a product. Make the image larger or smaller, compare vertical vs horizontal images, change background colors. No obligation to buy and if you totally mess it up just close the tab and start over fresh. It’s all in fun. Enjoy…

 

 

 

 

 

Throw Pillows– Six sizes (14×14 to 26×26) and two shapes (square, rectangle).  100% polyester with concealed zipper, pillow insert optional. Image printed on both sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fleece Blankets– Two sizes, 50×60″ and 60×80″; two styles, sherpa (plush on bottom, shorter fleece on art side for sharper image) and plush (plush fleece on both sides), 100% polyester.

 

 

Duvet Cover– Available in Twin, Full, Queen, and King sizes. Hand sewn microfiber, with hidden zipper. Inserts available elsewhere.

 

 

 

 

 

Shower Curtain– 71″ wide, 74″ tall, 100% polyester with twelve holes across the top.

 

 

 

Bath Towels– Three sizes; hand towel, bath towel, and bath sheet. Image side is brushed microfiber, back is white, 100% cotton.

 

 

About the Prints

Lifestyle

Stationary

Phone Cases

Beach

Coffee Mugs

Face Masks

Apparel

 

 

 

 

About the Prints…

I have partnered with Fine Art America and Pixels to expand the function and availability of my drawings and paintings. They are a world-wide print on demand service with a good reputation. I have now had the chance to order some of their products and to communicate with family and friends who have also ordered. Everybody’s been happy with the quality that they received, and I am now pleased to be able to confidently offer my Art on a wide array of functional and decorative items.

Thanks for your support and appreciation of my Art.

Mike

 

Traditional prints of original artwork to hang on your wall. Each of the prints are scalable and available at different sizes and prices.

 

Framed Print, same frame and mat but different size prints.

30×40″ print, 37.7×47.5″ overall dimensions

6×8″ print, 13.5×15.5″ overall dimensions

 

Framed Prints– many options… Choose from as many as eight kinds of paper to print on; archival matte, glossy, luster, rag, velvet, watercolor, metallic, and more… There will be a range of sizes available, the print I’m looking at can be many sizes, from 8×6″ to 40×30″… More options are frames and mats, many colors and styles available if you want something ready to hang on arrival. Or, you can just get the Art Print shipped rolled up much cheaper and frame it yourself or have your local frame shop do it for you. Posters are similar and usually are rolled up and shipped in a tube.

Prints on Canvas– the print is made on canvas and wrapped over wood stretcher bars, just like what originals are painted on. You can have the sides black or white, or mirrored, which mirrors the parts of the prints close to the edges around the sides. They are usually hung without a frame for a modern, casual look, but framing is an option, if desired. Prints on canvas can look very much like an original painting.

 

Prints on Metal– “Bring your artwork to life with the stylish lines and added depth of a metal print. Your image gets printed directly onto a sheet of 1/16″ thick aluminum. The aluminum sheet is offset from the wall by a 3/4″ thick wooden frame which is attached to the back. The high gloss of the aluminum sheet complements the rich colors of any image to produce stunning results.”  I recommend metal as a very good way to print my paintings that were done on a hardboard or birchwood panel. The very fine texture of the panel allows fine detail which might get lost in the texture of canvas. Metal is great for photos, too, and seems to shine through the print a bit.

 

Prints on Clear Acrylic– “Your image gets printed directly onto the back of a 1/4″ thick sheet of clear acrylic. The high gloss of the acrylic sheet complements the rich colors of any image to produce stunning results. Two different mounting options are available.” Prints on acrylic show the fine details like metal prints do.

 

Prints on Wood– “Your image gets printed directly onto a sheet of 3/4″ thick maple wood. There are D-clips on the back of the print for mounting it to your wall using mounting hooks and nails (included).” Similar attributes, but priced lower than acrylic or metal.

 

 

 

Horizontal Tapestry.

Sizes:

50×61″

68×80″

88×104″

 

 

Vertical Tapestry.

Sizes:

61×50″

80×61″

104×88″

 

 

Prints on Tapestries– These can fill up some wall space relatively cheaply. Nice microfiber fabric that prints well, many background colors optional. Many uses.

There’s lots more, here’s where it gets fun…

Home Decor

Lifestyle

Stationary

Phone Cases

Beach

Coffee Mugs

Face Masks

Apparel

Process Pics-Shellfish

As I learn “painting”, I am intrigued by how this simple concept of representing something on a surface of some sort becomes so complex and spreads out from all sides to show that it really has no borders unless someone tries to impose them. This began as the second painting I did in a series of private lessons designed to teach me the craft of painting.

 

This is the shell of a Shark Eye Moon Snail, a mollusc that lives offshore of much of the US east coast, where I have found their washed up remains many times since early childhood. They are a favorite of mine. Here, it is set up on a white surface with a single point light source to give it simple light and shadow, for basic drawing or painting.

 

First step was to paint the 8×10″ canvas board a neutral grey color. Then the sketch began, lightest areas represented by white, and darkest by the neutral grey.

 

Finished sketch, expressing the values seen in the shell and it’s shadow, called a tonal underpainting.

 

A simple palette is used, all colors will be mixed from red, yellow, and blue paint. Shades will be lightened with white, darkened with neutral grey.

 

Even though there’s not a speck of red, blue, or yellow visible on the shell, the mixtures of these colors represent the shell very well.

 

This is the completed lesson painting. Although there are flaws, I’m happy with it as a fledgling endeavor.

But, wait a minute… the realist in me knows I will put this in a pile, or box, or drawer and may never look at it again. So, let’s take this further. It’s a couple months later and I have several paintings under my belt.

 

I have imagined a natural setting for the shell, where it’s just washing up on a Beach. My initial thought of waves in the background won’t work because of the lighting on the shell being from the wrong direction, so we’ll be wading a bit out in the Surf and looking shoreward when we come upon our Treasure.

 

Not happy with my initial effort, I painted it over. Painting purely from imagination is tough, and beyond my present state of development. A sketch of my idea is made. Drawing the shell is getting easier, since I’ve made several by now.

 

We have the Surfwash in the fore ground and a sloping wall of sand up the Beach and some sky in the background. But I’m not happy with how the bubbly foam looks, so I paint it out again for a fresh try.

 

Back to the Teacher for enlightenment, another lesson. Paint what you see. We set up a shallow tray with sand and water, place the shell and carefully adjust the lighting. “Do you see the reflection?”, he asks innocently (he knew it would be there). “Oh crap, now I have to paint a reflection, too?”, I moan, but with some trial and error, figure out how to do it. Painting wouldn’t be such fun if it was easy.

 

Back home, I have a decent reflection and some bits of foam.

 

And again, your imagination will betray you on the details, so I took some pics of the foam in the Surf for reference.

 

More detail in the foam and some light and color reflections on the water, I think it’s almost there.

 

I signed and varnished it and stood back to admire the finished painting. And that’s when I saw it… Maybe it’s because I’m a Fisherman, but I couldn’t deny it… From a certain angle, the reflection became the lower jaw of an open mouth, the shadow a darkened gullet, and the conical origin point of the shell was a fish eye. It couldn’t be unseen, it was there. I came to think of it as a Snail Eye Sand Guppy, a rare species that fed on Surf Foam, look, he’s gulping some now!

 

So, I learned you could still paint over the varnish and filled in a sand-sculptured tail, with a red bucket and shovel to further the illusion. Now, it’s really done and I put a modest frame around it. Thus, the Title of the painting became, “Shellfish”.

 

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