Jen Gagne's art journal

In case it isn't already obvious, I haven't used this "artjen" account for ages. I'm posting pretty much exclusively here:
http://jengagne.livejournal.com/

... including an art supply giveaway: http://jengagne.livejournal.com/127998.html

That's because I'm making most of my art these days in http://secondlife.com which has been fulfilling and successful for me. :D My SL-related journal is here, although I don't use it much:
http://jenshikami.livejournal.com

As you've likely noticed, I haven't made or sold any physical artwork all year. Instead I've been making virtual artwork in Second Life.

So, I'd like to redirect your attention from artjen here over to my journal at jenshikami.

I'll continue to post my personal news over at jengagne. Thanks!

grubbyfox, shadrad, nicci, lirazel, aoi_usagi, lneuman2, and ladyblue56, I just shipped (or in the case of magnets, ordered) your requested art. :)

For the magnetic-art folks, I ordered 'em to be shipped direct to you from CafePress -- the sample magnets I got from them were SO nice. It's a busy season, so their standard shipping means it will take a couple weeks. (E2A: They shipped out already, on 12/16!)

Wait till you see 'em though, it's worth the wait.

I plan to also start listing some of these products on eBay, but for now, here are my two shops of products I feel confident about.

My Printfection Store Use this shop to buy anything on fabric -- t-shirts especially! Many colors available even though the previews only show white.

My CafePress Store Use this shop to buy non-fabric items. Magnets (now in stock!), buttons, mugs, a clock...

I'll expand my offerings later, but here's what I feel good about selling so far. Yay! :)

Click each photo for a larger view.

Here's a comparison of the t-shirt print tests from Printfection (left) and CafePress (right). I'm happier with Printfection's overall print quality... the black lines on the CafePress white shirt are either doubled or blurry. The black CafePress one has weird semi-transparency in the fins which wasn't there in the original image (?) and the color fields seem less smooth. Still, I could make do with the CafePress shirts. Those differences don't really show in these comparison shots, not at this resolution -- no, what I'm trying to show here is the major difference in impact the image _size_ makes. I'm just plain happier with the larger images Printfection can print. This leaves me with something of a dilemma, as CafePress offers all the OTHER items I'd like to sell (magnets, cups, etc.) I guess I could set up a separate store on each site, and also use them to drop ship items I sell through eBay, or... something. Hrm. I think I'll stop by the Printfection forums for advice on how to have my cake and eat it too.

I'm starting to set up a CafePress shop. See the warning at the bottom of the post about shopping there, though! Right now I have it subdivided into 3 sections: Magnets, Clothing, Other.

But, I'm starting to think that -- considering the whole point is that people can pick an image they like, and then decide how they want it -- that I'd be better off slicing it up like so: Cats, Fish, Dogs, People, Other. Or I could further subdivide it, since I have multiple cat images, multiple fish images, etc. Opinions?

I'll probably also make some with text on them, like "I won't bite... much." and "Biting the hand that feeds you is underrated" and maybe some cat or dog mugshots accusing them of various crimes against humanity, and so on. Suggestions on that front are also welcome. :D

Warning: I haven't bought all these products yet to see how good they look in person, so this is not ready for shopping yet. ... well, maybe the mug and circular fish magnet. I've seen those. But otherwise, buyer beware.
(I've heard some inconsistent quality warnings from people like aoi_usagi who has very delicate art with subtle shadings... but in my experience thus far, the sheer boldness and brightness of my designs covers up issues like that.)

T-shirt print tests from Printfection arrived today! The CafePress ones will be here next week. Click for larger views...

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In other related news, I worked up some nice rectangular magnets in CafePress. Alas, they are out of stock... but the magnet previews look good! If I can get them in time, I'll send these to the magnet-requestors from my previous entry. Ve vill zee.

Here's an open offer to folks watching this journal, as a way to say "thank you" for your support! I'm making open edition signed reproduction art cards, 2.5x3.5 inches. I put them in a plastic protective sleeve so they won't bend in the mail.

All you have to do is reply to this post (screened for privacy) in December with your name, address, and which card you want of the designs below. If you want me to make your protective card sleeve magnetic so you can stick it to your fridge, tell me that too. :)

P.S.: I can't reply to you individually since that would unscreen your post, so here are my replies:
shadrad -- Will mail soon.
grubbyfox -- Noted RE: lack of magnet.
nicci -- Orange magnetic cat. Gotcha.
lirazel -- OK!
aoi_usagi -- Magnet kitty. Will do. Very welcome. :D Wait till you see this printer's quality!
lneuman2 -- Sure thing. :)
ladyblue56 -- OK. I'll wait till we work out exactly what I'm sending you.

(Edited later to add: I changed the search a bit. It might work better now.)

I found myself wanting one of these, so I made one.

Like it? Link back to artjen. Whee P.R...

Oh and... on a related note, here are some LJ icons you can use if you'd like!

Download a copy of the icon you want to your hard drive, then use this form to upload it to your userpics. In the comments field of the upload form, please put "from <lj user=artjen>" and it should create a link back to me.

I've been busy. These are the originals -- I've color-matched them to print reproductions, too. All are 8.5 by 11 and could also be framed to 8 by 10, depending on preference. I haven't listed these on eBay yet, but I plan to at least list the repros over the course of the week.

These have been added to my mixed media art page, and I archived the older canvas and CD-sized work.

Unlike my previous work, I plan to keep these as one of a kind instead of creating an edition of 12. We'll see how that goes...

Click for larger views.