Revving My Artistic Engine....!!!!

I think I'm more excited about New Year's arrival than I was about Christmas. I've spent the last month preparing for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge that runs Jan 1-30. (It's free and it's not too late to sign up.)

To prepare, I collected, curated, photographed and chosen shells from my beachcombing to serve as the theme for this challenge. (About halfway through, I'm adding a bit of a twist, which I hope to be moving and well-received.)

I've even taken the last few days of 2015 to paint ahead. This will hopefully enable me to post each day without staying up to the wee hours to get THAT DAY'S painting done as I have other times that I've done the challenge. I have also chosen a few complex compositions that I want to tackle and I hope to paint a little on each of those on days that go quickly.

The collage at the top of this post shows nine of my sketches, captured from photos of my shells. I'm hoping to work a bit on losing edges in the darkness and using hard edges to make the shells pop or glow on the paper. I'm sure every day will not be a success, but I'm really happy with the first three that I've done.

(IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE FIRST THREE PAINTINGS FOR THIS CHALLENGE, THEY ARE IN MY NEWSLETTER, WHICH I PLAN TO SEND OUT TODAY. SIGN UP HERE.)

All original paintings will be available for purchase. Sizes and prices will vary. The smallest will be 4" X 6." The largest will be somewhere around 16" X 20." Once a painting sells, the "click here to purchase" link will be removed.

Once the challenge is complete, I will make reproductions available of my favorites and/or those that are most enthusiastically received. I will also do a notecard set.

My daily painting will be posted here on my blog, which will also be posted on my Facebook page. I also plan to post on Instagram. If you would like to follow other artists on this journey, you can do that on the Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days webpage.

Wish me luck! And, Happy New Year!

All I Want For Christmas

Add me to your Christmas list this year, but most items that I would like are FREE!

1. "Like" - If you are my real life friend or acquaintance, please "Like" my art page, Nancy Murphree Davis Art.
If you are thinking, "But, I don't like art," or even, "Nancy, I love you, but I don't like YOUR art," then "Like" it anyway and then do this:

Hover over the thumbs up Liked button, click Notifications

AND THEN change "default" to "unfollow"

(Why follow and then hide? It improves my page rank and helps me find new followers/customers, including when I run ads, plus, it makes me look more legitimate and popular to people who do not know me personally.)

2. "Share" on Facebook - If you are a fan of my artwork, and can't buy a piece right now, "share" my art page posts on your timeline when you see one that especially like. You can do this as often as you like. Also, "Suggest my Nancy Murphree Davis Art page to your artist and art loving friends.

3. "Follow" on Instagram - I'm NMDARTIST

These posts do show up on my Facebook Art Page, but since Facebook picks and chooses what you see, you might like to do both.

4. "Pin" - I have a Pinterest Board called My Artwork. I'd love it if you re-Pinned some of these. Other artists claim to have sales from Pinterest. It would be great to see that happen for me in 2016.

5. "Tell a Friend" - Almost all my art sales are from people I know or friends of people I know. If you hear someone say that they cannot think of a present for someone special in their life, perhaps they would like to commission me to paint their house or a scene from vacation or something. Send them my way.

6. Sign up for my newsletter - it comes by email. Forward it to friends. :)

7. "Shop" - Visit my website to buy artwork or note cards. (Okay, this one is NOT free.) If you would like a print of one of my paintings, ask and I will see what I can do. I can get it on canvas (even a watercolor painting) or as a print (on paper).