Tumblr Anniversary

Time flies. Today I was reminded from Tumblr that LITDigitalArt turned three today. It’s hard to keep track and maintain all of these social media sites. I use most of them primarily for my artwork, and it can be a full time job. I remember waiting at the window for my first iPad to arrive in the spring of 2010. I knew it would be a really useful gadget then... but I didn’t realize the impact it would have on my art. I started creating pet portraits and it snowballed from there.  Since that time I opened a shop on Etsy, have a “gallery wall” at the Wagtime shop on Capitol Hill, a Facebook business page, Fine Art America website, Zazzle, Twitter, Pinterest, a wordpress personal  website, Instagram, a google blog, and a few that have come and gone in between. I was religiously keeping up with all is them on a daily basis. Since I retired two years ago I became a little less consistent. Now I do daily updates on a few rather than all - this daily blog is one of them. But I actually started this long before I got that first iPad, and it’s more inclusive than just art. All in all it is more of a hobby than anything else and keeps me occupied. So thanks for the reminder Tumblr. It kind of reminds me of the ones I get from the dentist office on my birthday. 

iPad Five Year Anniversary - What A Difference It Has Made - For Me!

I can't believe it's been five years since the iPad changed my life! Since that April day in 2010, so much has happened because of it. I waited by the door for it to be delivered and things have never been the same. I had a feeling about it like no other gadget before it. Now I have three iPads - the first one is now my husband's - and the other two are used exclusively for all my art - and maybe a few games! I downloaded Sketch book Pro and my love for art was reignited. It started with doodles and sketches, and became three children's books - as apps in the Apple Store published by StoryChimes, a New Yorker Eustace Tilley win, self published children's books on Amazon, and commissioned pet portraits from all over the US, Canada, Australia, and Puerto Rico. I even have a "gallery wall" at the Wagtime Shop on Capitol Hill. Along with all the art is the social media that ties it all together - this blog about living in the Capitol City, Facebook business page, tumblr, Pinterest boards, krrb ads, my etsy shop, twitter, a Wordpress personal website, and the most recent Rebelmouse that pulls a lot of it in to one place. The iPad makes it so much easier to coordinate all of these things. It has become my mobile studio - which is a lot cleaner and neater than watercolor and pastels - that I take with me whenever we are out of town. Yes, some of this could have been done without the iPad, but not to the same degree. Thanks Steve Jobs for having the vision. Happy Anniversary IPad!

Digital Art Trending on Tumblr - check out #litdigitalart

A few weeks ago I started using Instagram and Tumblr - two MORE social media sites to update every day. Tumblr keeps in contact with you by providing positive feedback via email about a lot of things. They also let you know what happens to be trending. Yesterday digital art was on the list so I naturally had to take a look since I have been religiously updating my LITDigitalArt presence. Every day I add the link to this blog, add ten photos of whatever is going on around the DC area, post a pet portrait, and add a five second "movie" of a digital artwork in process from sketch to finished product. Then I always add a food item, flowers, a real pooch, and something pleasant from somebody else's blog. I'm starting to get followers and likes. So I was happy to see my "movie" on the thread from yesterday, even if it was just getting captured because I just put it there. Tumblr is very visually appealing and great for this hobby of mine. Who knows what might happen next? Just check #litdigitalart and see what pops up. Who would have ever thought a # would have so much meaning. 

Rebel Mouse - I Need Some Help!

I'm usually pretty good about getting connected on a variety of social media applications. On my google blog I figured out how to get them all linked. On my business Facebook page - it took awhile - but I got YouTube and everything else attached. Within the last month I added Instagram and Tumblr to the mix. It's a full time job keeping these things updated. I only do it because I actually enjoy it and I like to share not only my digital art, but whatever I happen to come across daily in Washington DC. I get no help from anyone, and just work at it until I think I get it right. So when I stumbled across Rebel Mouse, it sounded like a great way to get all this junk on to one site. Since Thursday I have been trying to figure out how this thing really works because all I'm seeing now are items that are tweeted and not much else. It's not a very intuitive site for me and the frustration is building. As with all the initial set ups and transactions, an email verification is typical. But with Rebel Mouse, they keep sending frequent emails to invite friends. But I can't even get the thing to look or behave like I would like it to. I'm not inviting anyone to look at it until it at least does what it should. Maybe this is one item I will eventually dump simply because I can't figure it out. Maybe that's not such a bad idea. 

Tumblr Open Arts, Eat Sleep Draw, Artists onTumblr, ArtistsDrop.com

I keep stumbling over them. Every time I think I'm connecting to the right websites and social media, another one pops up. Since I started painting again about four years ago, it's sort of a hit and miss type of thing. I use my iPad to paint rather than water color, pastel or pen and ink. It's a lot neater, and it is just as difficult - or fun - depending on the project. Most of my work is commissions from all over the US, Canada, Australia, and Puerto Rico. About a month ago I started using Instagram and Tumblr to round out the already eight or so sites I'm already trying to keep up with. Every time I explore them more, I find new hash tags to add whenever something is posted, but also new sites within the sites to submit work to. One is called artistsdrop.com. The idea is to upload a work of art, people vote on it, then they post the winning entry on Instagram. Tumblr has several - #tumblropenarts, #eatsleepdraw, #artistsontumblr. And those are the ones I found. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to just use the hash tag or find the actual site. Some of the apps don't have the same ability as the actual website to upload items. Luckily I like all of this stuff, but it can be difficult to navigate through it all by myself! And as long as I have another real job, I can't pay as much attention to it as I would like. I often think about all the artsy people out there who didn't have these great ways to exhibit their work unless they knew someone or were discovered. At least everyone is sort of on the same playing field, and have a chance to share their work. I just wonder if anyone is looking at it!

LIT Digital Art Tumblr encouragement

I write this daily blog on blogger comparing life in Milwaukee to living here in DC. It's been going on for four years. I don't miss a day and am constantly on the lookout for photos, ideas, and events to share - even when we are on travel. Mobile technology has made it all the more easier. So to add to the mix, I started a blog on Tumblr specific to my digital art. I link this blogger blog to Tumblr because i am too lazy to rewrite it, then mix it up with DC photos, share a custom pet portrait to two, add a video of a sketch to portrait, and insert images of other people's blogs that I find appealing. This sort of thing takes a considerable amount of time if you are really serious about it. What I found interesting are the frequent email updates Tumblr sends that inform you of benchmarks that were reached...after the initial welcome, the achievements of reaching 25, 50, 100, etc likes or posts or whatevers. This site seems to be the most difficult to attract followers to even though I have been giving it a lot of attention. Maybe that is why they try to be so encouraging. I can say that the site itself makes everything look really nice. But it is hard to complete with all the known entities out there. I suppose as long as I enjoy doing it I will keep it up, even though the end result may not be what I had hoped for. 

Imovies and You Tube Videos

I've always liked gadgets and photography. Early movies were interesting to make, but the equipment was unwieldy and finding the right set up for play back could be tricky. I've used a lot of work arounds to create little snippets to put on You Tube to highlight my digital art work. Then Imovies came around and I started to experiment with that. Everything is self taught so I know I am missing out on a lot and don't know the shortcuts. But whatever I'm doing seems to do the trick - especially for six second movie lengths. They show the progression of a portrait from start to finish, and easy enough to upload to Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook business page and just about anything else. My biggest issue is not having a reliable  internet connection when I want to publish this blog! I like to get it out right after lunch, but if I'm not at home it doesn't always happen. My hobby is becoming a lot like work with self imposed deadlines. But I really like it whenever things work the way they are supposed to.