Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christamas-Giveaway

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas,

I truly hope you are enjoying your holiday with your family, friends and loved ones. 



My family and I had a wonderful Christmas. My kids and dogs make it so much fun. In fact, my children are also creative in music and received some new cymbals, guitar stands, books and amplifiers. Meanwhile, I created some special gifts out of my art for my kids, and was extremely happy with the quality of work my suppliers produced with my art. 





Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Commissioned Christmas Gifts and Art For Home Decor

I know, I know, I know it's been forever since I've posted work, but I just finished the last of 3 secret commissions for Christmas gifts. One of them couldn't wait until Christmas, so I'll be posting soon. Meanwhile, I've been creating some digital art that makes some great home decor during times I haven't had to break out the oil paints. You can find them on Society 6 and Cafe Press which I may move to Zazzle due to very slow server issues with Cafe Press. 



Also, I have a great new Google Plus page that showcases unique Art products from all types of artists. You can find works from Jewelry to sculptures, to totes, home decor and paintings. I hope you will take a look from time to time. After all, you may just find that special little Christmas gift you've been looking for. Just see this link to take a peek. https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/101214767266215352448
There you will also find links to my accounts.








Yin Yang Rug




Keep an eye out for paintings to show up after Christmas. There will be museum quality canvas prints available.

Next I'm doing a painting for my son's room that I promised a long time ago and another commission. I'm going to try to get another original complete in between.

Monday, September 8, 2014

How A Seemingly Harmless Share Can Get You Sued Under Copyright Infringement

Social Media is exploding and so is the increasing popularity of sharing gorgeous photos and artwork. Just take a look at Pinterest, Google Plus, Facebook and Instagram (and that's just naming a few) and you will see virtually a never ending supply of photos and artwork. After all, who doesn't like to see beautiful photos?

But wait, a seemingly innocent click to share something beautiful may have its repercussions under Copyright Law resulting in a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit. This post relates to United States Copyright Law which seems to be in line with the Copyright Laws in the UK. Most countries, but not all have copyright law, but US copyright law does not apply to other countries. See below for information about International Copyright Laws.




So what applies to United States Copyright Law?

  1. A work is automatically protected by copyright when it is created.
  2. Anyone wishing to use the work of another must have permission from the owner of the copyright holder
  3. Buying a piece of art or a print doesn't dismiss copyright.


What About International Copyright?

While according to Copyright.govthere is no such thing as International Copyright, protection against unauthorized use rather protection depends on that country's laws. Also, most country's offer protection on foreign works under certain conditions by the  two principal International Copyright Treaties: Berne Convention and Universal Copyright Convention (UCC). Clicking on the link above provides much greater detail.

IMPORTANT: 
Copyright Infringement is not excused by

Linking back to the work
Reducing the size
No Profit
Sharing
Including a Disclaimer
Attributing the Creator




With all due respect, these regulations need to be taken more seriously by society. In fact, just imagine, you are an architecht, inventor, salesperson, or any other business person. How would it feel if someone stole your draft, idea, sales strategy, plans, etc... Even worse is if they took it and took the credit for your idea/work. I'd wager that most would be raging mad. After all, the images and works produced by Artists and photographers are their livelihood and often their sole source of income.  

How do you find out if it's okay to use a photo?

1. Ask the Photographer
2. Search for Creative Commons Licensed Work
3. Search for Open Source works


On that note, with proper attribution included, anyone is free to share my photos or artwork on social media.


Below are some useful links. 

Wikipedia on Copyright infringement

Professional Photographers of America on Copyright

Copyright infringement Lawsuit covered by Forbes

http://blog.kenkaminesky.com/photography-copyright-and-the-law/

by Tina A Stoffel

sources: Copyright.gov, Wikipedia, Professional Photographers of America, Clip art provided by Creative Commons Open Clip Art

Saturday, August 2, 2014

How To Care For Your Original Oil Painting


Caring for your painting is pretty easy. It has a varnish on it that will help protect it from dust, dirt, sun damage and elements. However, do try to avoid direct exposure to sunlight.




  1. Dust your painting as needed with a soft dry cloth. Never use cleaners, furniture polish or any other chemicals on your painting.
  2. Your painting will take 6 months to 1 year to dry. There are debates that it could take longer, but this is the standard amount of time, so let your painting breathe. Do not cover in plastic.
  3. If you will be moving or need to store your painting, Loosely cover the painting with release paper. Glassine or wax paper is okay if you are not in a warm, humid climate. Wrap with bubble wrap and store in a box marked fragile. Do not pile heavy objects on top.
  4. Avoid direct sunlight that can cause cracking and fading.
  5. If your original painting is damaged by smoke, fire or water, it could be restored. See a professional art restoration company for an evaluation.
  6. Protect your painting from water. If it should come in contact with water. Dry immediately with a soft dry cloth.

Written by Tina A Stoffel












Saturday, July 5, 2014

New Studio

It has been way too long since I've updated my blog. Since taking my family on Spring Break, and taxiing my children to swim team, I've fallen terribly behind on my blog which is something I never intended to do.

The big news is that during this time, I have also fully moved into my art studio. I'm so excited and happy about having a wonderful dedicated space for my art. I'm at complete peace in my studio. I get lost in time while listening to my favorite music and  painting.


BEFORE



AFTER






Speaking of painting, currently, I have 3 commissions that I'm working on. With the exception of one piece that needs some final details, once the commissions are finished, I plan to create some new works. Look for more beach scenes, wildlife, and equestrian coming off of my easel soon.

Tina A Stoffel

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Reference Photos

It's been a while since I've posted and for a good reason. I was on vacation with my family and took over 1500 photos. I'm so excited because I have a huge database for reference photos now. 

I was just asked by a photographer from an online social networking site, "What are Reference Photos?". 

Reference Photos are photos are photos that are used as a reference for derived works of art for artists with proper credit given to the photographer. Reference photos are not for duplication, reproduction or computer generated images, but rather for drawing, painting, whether it be pastels, colored pencils or another type of media. In the case of reference photos, for either a nominal fee or free the photographer grants permission to the artist for derived works of art, but still holds copyright of their images. 

Please see The U.S copyright office and Wikipedia for more details on US copyright and international treaties to protect photographs.  Here are the links:



Where to find reference photos on the Internet
I have a wonderful Free Artists Reference Photos community on Google Plus. In an effort to protect photos from abuse, you must request to join. Here is the link:
More links:

That wraps up reference photos for today. Look for new artwork and a final synopsis about the High School Senior I just mentored. 

Written by:
Tina A Stoffel

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Artist Goals and Progress

Believe it or not, I'm thankful that some of my goals I set around the New Year are a bit delayed due to some commissioned requests, and that is a good thing. Around the time of the New Year, I started with some goals to stay on track. I had to minimize them to be realistic on how many projects I could complete. One thing for sure is I'm not lacking for inspiration.  With my love for Nature, Music, Animals and Art, I have a huge list of paintings I want to accomplish. If only I didn't need sleep. My plan is to focus on Nature and wildlife, but I love the excitement and emotion I feel and put into a painting that is commissioned. I always feel excited for the client that requests a painting because it means something to them or a loved one.

Meanwhile, It's been a couple of weeks since I posted anything and about a month since I posted a new painting, but rest assured another one that is a commissioned piece is about to be revealed. Here is a photo of the Work In Progress.




Two primary factors that cause delays between my paintings: One is that I do have two young boys that are very active in extra curricular activities which takes a lot of time, and the other is my approach to my art.

My approach to my art is one with integrity. I have always put integrity into my work, and the most on my creative work. Just ask anyone that was my client when I was a hairstylist. So, outside of an occasional abstract related work, such as the recent Caring Angel painting, I work slow and work on detail. I want to give you the best that I have.

As you can see in the Lily Pond painting above, I could just be finished with it as it is, but I see more that needs to be done. Also, I see color in a unique way. I have notice subtle differences in colors since I was a child. I love color and you will see it revealed in my paintings. Some are bright and vibrant, some are soft and subtle and some, such as the commissioned Lily Pad painting I'm currently finishing are full of color variations.

If you are a collector or enthusiasts, this is something that you will enjoy in my paintings. If you are an experienced artists, you probably know how there are so many different variations of color. Just look at this example of my pallet filled with greens, and there were more variations I added in the next session.



Lastly, I'm also wrapping up a volunteer project mentoring a High School Senior. Here are a few photos from our last practice session. When not doing a formal painting, we just tape primed canvas sheets to a plastic wrapped canvas and practice right on that. Looking forward to finishing our paintings this weekend. Here is a peek of our practice for  our next painting.



As Always, you may find prints of my works on http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/Tina+A+Stoffel/all

Just a couple of selections on Society 6: http://society6.com/TinaAStoffelArts

and several items for my Caring Angel painting which is raising funds for cancer at Cafe Press: http://www.cafepress.com/tinaastoffelarts

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaAStoffelArt
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TinaAStoffelArts?ref=hl
Google Plus: https://plus.google.comTinaAStoffelArts

Authored by: Tina A Stoffel

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

How to Block out Areas of a Painting


Sometimes when doing a painting you will need to block out an area. Here is a very simple method I learned from artist Darrel Crow.





Items you will need:
Contact paper-sticky type of shelf liner
Cutting surface
Exacto knife
Scissors
Tape
Tracing Paper or a projector

Steps:

1. Project or trace  your image onto the contact paper. Remember to do this in reverse of the way you want your image to appear on your painting surface.

2. Trace your image onto the surface

3. On a cutting mat/board or surface that won't be damaged, Cut away around your image to tape to the cutting surface. Cut your shape out with an Exacto knife. 

4. Peel the backing off

5. Place it firmly onto your painting surface making sure paint does not seep into the sides.

6. Paint the rest of the background of your painting.

7.  Peel off your image asap and make sure there are no demarcation lines. I just use a soft scrubber brush or small paint brush to flatten this area.

8. Now block in your image. Make sure to fill it in entirely. Here is an example where I used this technique while creating my recent painting, Beach Dreams: 


  





Here is the final outcome: This is an 11x14 commissioned original painting. Due to the small size of this portrait, prints are available in limited sizes to preserve quality. Check my Fine Art America page also known as Pixels.com for more information: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/tina-adamsstoffel.html


written by Tina A Stoffel



Friday, February 14, 2014

Caring Angel for Cancer Benefit

It's been crazy busy around here. I'm still mentoring a High School Senior, doing some commissions and the big news this week is I just released my special Caring Angel Painting inspired by a dear friend that is absolutely beautiful inside and out and battling stage 3 cancer. I've decided to donate 50% of my profits from any Caring Angel product sales to Cancer Charity. After doing careful research on the best rated foundations, donations will go to one of the following and likely in an alternate manner: National Foundation for Cancer Research, Cancer Research Institute, adn the Circle of Care for Family Members with Cancer.


This is an abstract type of impasto painting. You can see the up close details of the impasto on my Fine Art America Page: Caring Angel Fine Art America Prints.

Also, I did get some backlash of those who were expecting paintings only, but due to the nature of this painting, I wanted to offer it in other forms therefore, I have offered it on not only prints but tons of other merchandise ranging from Pendants, necklaces, Coasters, Pillows, Clocks, Shower Curtains, Duvet Covers, Baby products, Auto Products, Pet Tags, Device cases and more.

Amazing Clocks and throw pillows are available on Society 6 http://society6.com/TinaAStoffelArts,

and tons of other items available on Cafe Press:

http://www.cafepress.com/tinaastoffelarts

Please help me spread the word and consider the next time you need a special gift for someone, please consider purchasing from this page. I think we can all agree we known someone affected by cancer. Who knows, maybe I will offer some other things this way in the future or do the angel in some other colors.

For those of you looking for my other works. They are coming, I promise. Two are coming really soon, keep watching and thanks so much for reading and following my G+, Twitter and Facebook pages.

Tina A Stoffel



Monday, January 27, 2014

Lending a Hand

Recently I was asked to mentor a High School Student in Oil Painting for her Senior project. Although I have so much work to do and this caught me completely off guard, I didn't hesitate one bit. It's an honor to be helping someone with such an important project. I love being able to share my knowledge. I've already been asked to teach a few times which is another honor in itself, but for now, I plan to paint for many years to come, and maybe, just maybe, one day, I will do some teaching.  One of the many important things I've learned in my life, you never know what tomorrow brings.

Here are some pictures from our first session yesterday. I thought we would just be doing one painting, but I think we are actually going to be able to complete two. We will share our final works with you.



I'm really enjoying my time with this sweet student and having fun teaching her the basics. We are using a reference photo from a Wet Canvas member James Baldwin. Tune in for our finished paintings and we will see how I did teaching.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Drying Phases and Autumn's Golden Glow

Did you know it takes approximately 6 months to 1 year for an oil painting to dry? Some professionals claim it may take several years. Most oil paintings will take a week or two to dry to the touch, but caution must be taken because the layers below the surface layer will still be drying. Oil paints dry due to the oxidation that occurs when pigments bind to air.

Factors that effect the drying time are:
1. Humidity
2. Pigments
3. Technique
4. Medium

Techniques such as impasto, heavy bodied paint will take longer as well as the type of medium used. For artists, there are different types of mediums such as alkyd mediums and cobalt driers available to accelerate the drying time. Some I ran across a tip from, if my memory serves me correct, William F. Martin had made a suggestion on the topic to simply place some books next to your painting on a flat surface then simply stack a piece of foam core on top which will trap most of the dust while still letting the air circulate. For me, I just used another canvas on top as you can see in the photo. 



This happens to be my most recent painting, titled Autumn's Golden Glow, just finished a few days ago. You can watch this painting coming to life by clicking on the link below. 


Here is the final painting which will be oiled out as needed and varnished when dry, as it is very important to wait until an oil painting dry before varnishing to avoid cracking and peeling. 


This painting was inspired by the gorgeous glowing Fall colors which never seem to last long enough. This beauty has now been captured on canvas to enjoy all year. When this 24x30 painting is dry, it will be available for purchase. Meanwhile, prints are available on my Fine Art America page:
or at Pixels.com

By Tina A Stoffel Arts








Saturday, January 4, 2014

Happy New Year

In with the new, I'll be finishing this gorgeous painting soon. The beautiful glowing colors of the fall gets my wheels spinning as an artist. The colors are so beautiful and bold that I want to capture them on canvas. Fall is such a beautiful season, but the bold glowing colors seem to fade away all to soon. Now, this beautiful yellow glowing tree is almost completely finished and captured forever.

Unfortunately with a couple of bouts of rough colds set me back on top of holiday festivities with my two young children. I managed to get one painting session in over their two week break. One more session should do the trick. You will be amazed at how far this has come along and how much it's come to life just since this picture was taken.