Joanna Barnum Illustration

Just a quick reminder to let you know that if you're within the US, I'm still accepting orders for Darwin t-shirts and prints of any (well, most) artwork on my website through this Friday, for Christmas delivery.

Here's the tally of what I currently have left in the shirts:

Brown:
S- 3, M- 1, L- 3, XL- 6

Blue:
S- 4, M- 2, L- 4, XL- 3

Ordering details are here in a previous post.

Ordering details for prints are here on my website.

Etsy user Fata just included my Charles Darwin print in a treasury of Darwin and evolution themed items. Awesome! The treasury will expire in a few days, so go take a look.

Here are a couple more illustrative portraits I've just finished that will be at Artdromeda.

(Click on either image to see it larger)

Carl Sagan:



The imagery in the background is based on the photograph taken by Voyager 1 of Earth which inspired Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.

As reference for Sagan, I used a public domain photo from NASA.


Ray Bradbury:



The likeness of Bradbury is based on a Creative Commons licensed photo from the Miami Dade College archives. As per the terms of that particular license, my painting is also available under the same CC license.

Both images are available as prints. Please see the print section of my website for sizes, pricing, and ordering information.

Click on the image to see it bigger.

Based on a public domain photo of Poe, one of very few in existence.
We love Poe here in Maryland. 2009 marked Poe's 200th birthday, and Baltimore, his resting place, has been celebrating him all year. The roses in the portrait are a reference to the "Poe toaster," a mysterious figure who leaves roses and a bottle of liquor on Poe's grave every year on his birthday.

See the original, along with Darwin and Wilde on my wall at Artdromeda in Pigtown, Baltimore from December 3-6.

The holiday portrait commission deadline this year is December 15th for domestic orders.
If you're located outside of the US, I recommend getting your order in ASAP so it can be shipped out soon. I can't provide any guarantees about international shipping times.

Below, you'll find a review of some of the portrait options I have listed on my website, as well as a $5 holiday special and free domestic shipping. These offers will only be available until December 15th, but are good for anyone who finds their way to this public blog entry, so feel free to share the link.

$5 PORTRAIT SPECIAL

(click thumbnails for larger images)



*$5 for any photograph.
*Based on your provided photograph of people, pets, houses, vehicles, etc.
*4" x 6" quick black and white drawing in pen & ink and graphite on heavy weight paper.
*Style is somewhat realistic, but expressive and energetic. These aren't caricatures, but they're a bit exaggerated and funky.
*This is a one shot deal- there's no sketch/approval process. You pay $5 and get my interpretation of your photo. If you want more control over the process, or are looking for something more traditional, take a look at the watercolor options under the cut.
*A single color highlight can be added to the black and white drawing for no extra cost.
*A name or short message can be added in hand lettering for no extra cost.

( Continue for more options and ordering information )

My husband and I were Max and one of the Wild Things (my interpretation, anyway):


The monster sweater and hood were crocheted without a pattern. Max's suit is an adaptation of Simplicity 2853, an adult gorilla/bear/lion/cat suit. Helpful hint: if you ever buy this pattern, don't buy it as an online download, unless you enjoy the prospect of taping together 83 letter sized print outs.



( more )

Thanks to Sophie Begonia for the photos. By the way, she has a really cool Where the Wild Things Are knitted sock pattern on her blog.

Quick black and white illustration of an essay by Roy Yehudah Ringel, for North American Review literary magazine. Lately, we've been working together every month. It's nice to have repeat clients.

Preorders that need to be shipped are going in the mail first thing tomorrow.

If you're local and ordered a shirt, I've put it aside and will bring it to you next I see you, unless you're antsy, in which case let me know, and we can make specific arrangements to do it ASAP.

I'm still accepting orders, and currently have S,M,L and XL in both blue and brown available. I'll update you if I run out of anything.

Shirts are $20 US, + $4.00 shipping (no matter where you are located). US shirts will be sent via USPS priority mail, international shirts will be sent via first class mail. If you order more than one shirt at the same time, you still only need to pay the one flat shipping rate.

To order your shirt, Paypal your total to me at joanna at joannabarnum dot com with "Darwin shirt, SIZE, COLOR" in the comments. Be sure that your up to date shipping address is included.




Shirts were printed by Vacord Screen Printing. I'm very, very pleased with the results, and they were also very easy to work with- highly recommended if you need shirts printed.

I expect to have the printed Darwin shirts in hand by Wednesday the 14th. I haven't seen them yet, but my printer says they came out great, and it's the coolest thing he's printed in a long time. Woo!

Well, obviously there are a lot more than five species of mushroom and fungus in Maryland, but these are the ones I painted today.

Acrylic used as watercolor, homemade walnut ink. Originals are 5" x 7" and will be available for sale at PumpkinFest.





8 1/2" x 11" prints ($10) are available, as are note card sets.

Actually, you can order just about any piece from my website as a note card! A single card is $3, a packaged set of 4 cards is $10, and a packaged set of 5 cards is $12. They can be all the same design or you can mix and match. If multiple designs are included in a set, an insert will be included that shows all of the designs in the package through the back window of the package. Photos coming soon!

Multi-Cultural Festival at the Orthodox Church of St. Matthew
Saturday, October 3; 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
Sunday, October 4; 1:00 - 7:00 pm

Kings Contrivance Village Center in Columbia
7271 Eden Brook Drive, Columbia, MD 21046

Quick portrait drawings only. I'll probably only be working until dark each day. I'll be located in the children's area. The festival will also have crafts vendors, children's activities, performances, and food.


PumpkinFest at Irvine Nature Center
Saturday, October 17th; 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sunday, October 18th; 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
$10 admission for children; Adults and children under 3 are free

I'll have an assortment of nature themed originals, prints, note cards, and Christmas ornaments. There will be other arts and crafts vendors, and lots of kids activities.

I was recently commissioned by Christina of Sihaya Designs to paint an illuminated title page for her Book of Shadows.

We decided to do an art trade for the project, since she makes beautiful jewelry.

I received this in the mail last week:


(Christina's photo)

Me wearing the necklace, with bonus shot of my messy studio:


Definitely check out the other pieces on her website. She also does custom work.

Here is the page I painted for her book:



I always love the chance to play with lettering and ornamentation. I've also used this style of work for logos with an organic handmade feel to them, invitations, and posters.

Doing trades is a lot of fun because I like collecting the work of other artists and crafters, but try not to spend a lot of money shopping for myself.

This pair of paintings is a private commission for a local couple I met at a festival. They were interested in commissioning two pieces in the same venue as some of my other paintings of deities.

They wanted two allegorical goddess figures representing dawn and dusk. They'll be keeping Dusk, and Dawn is being given as a gift. They mentioned that the recipients liked reptiles a lot. They also liked the idea of some elements symbolizing decay and renewal. The greenish and purplish hues to the figures themselves were also suggested, as was classical nudity instead of costuming.

Aside from that, they told me that they really liked my work, and did not want a lot of control over the project. They explicitly requested not to see any sketches or progress photos. Fun!

As always, prints are available.



( Full images are under the cut, since they contain classical nudity. )

I found out that my screen printer will allow me to mix t-shirt colors in my order, which I did not think was possible.

That means I'm also making the Darwin shirt available in "khaki brown":



I'm updating the original pre-order post to reflect this. If you pre-order a shirt, please specify your color along with your size.

If you already ordered a blue shirt, it's no problem to switch colors if you'd like, just let me know before the deadline.

Let me start out by clarifying that there WILL be T-shirts shipping out during October, no matter what. This isn't an "if I get enough orders" kind of pre-order. I'm doing this to help me determine how large my initial batch of shirts should be, and which sizes are most popular.

If you know you definitely want a shirt either way, pre-ordering will ensure that you definitely get one, and that it will be in the size you want. Depending on demand, the batch of shirts available for general orders may be fairly small. Also, if you need a 2X or 3X shirt, pre-ordering is the only way you can get one of those. I will only be ordering general stock in sizes S-XL.

If you're not comfortable purchasing a shirt without seeing a photo of one of the actual printed shirts, or without knowing exactly what date the finished shirts will be shipped out, then you should not pre-order.

I will be working with a local (Baltimore-based) screen printing company. The shirts will be screen printed in black and white ink on a unisex T-shirt, in either "light blue" or "khaki brown." The shirt is Jerzees brand, 5.6 oz, 100% cotton.



Pre-orders will be accepted until September 28. ETA of the shirts is the 2nd week in October. I will update with more specific information when I place my final order with the screen printer.

Shirts are $20 US, + $4.00 shipping (no matter where you are located). US shirts will be sent via USPS priority mail, international shirts will be sent via first class mail. If you order more than one shirt at the same time, you still only need to pay the one flat shipping rate.

If you're local and want to pick up your shirt from me, then you don't need to pay shipping.

To pre-order your shirt, Paypal your total to me at joanna at joannabarnum dot com with "Darwin shirt- SIZE, COLOR" in the comments. Please also be sure that your up to date shipping address is included.

If you need to pay with check or money order, please e-mail me for my mailing address. Please, if at all possible, mail your payment so that it will arrive before the September 28th deadline.

Let me know if you have questions!

Last month, between other projects, I spent some time experimenting with some fun artistic jewelry pieces. When my parents were in town, they gifted me with a package of little wooden tiles that are essentially tiny scratchboards, so I put those to use in a couple of these pieces. I'm looking forward to figuring out what else I can do with them. I also experimented with creating my own unusual embroidery surface by punching holes in shrink plastic.

Click on each image to see more views of the piece in my Etsy shop.

As I was standing in the art supply store last week picking up some other necessities, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and replace my 5+ year old watercolor palette.

The old one was a small disposable student grade tray I bought my sophomore year at MICA, when I first began painting with tube watercolors. It only has one large mixing area that I need to continuously wipe down as I work, and the rest of the tray has become incredibly filthy.

I am definitely a creature of habit. When I develop a routine for something, I don't like to change it, even if I'm making things unnecessarily difficult for myself. Behold:



Here is the new larger, sturdier palette:



I fished the old one out of the trash to show it to you, but then it occurred to me that I should save it for painting in the field, since it is small and has a lid. Then I promised myself I would only save it until I make it back to the store to buy a new clean $5 student palette for field work.

Here is the tentative artwork for the Darwin t-shirt. It would be printed as two layers, black and white. Alternately, I could do brown and white as the two ink colors. The blue represents the t-shirt color, so that could change, although I'll probably just do one shirt color for the first run.

Feedback is welcome, because I'd rather re-do the source artwork several times than end up with t-shirts everyone finds disappointing.

I'm still in the process of researching which screen printer I want to use.

The new group show at Positron Gallery is up now, until early October. It includes two mixed media portraits of belly dancers in my troupe. Unfortunately, I put the final touches on the pieces the day they were due for drop off, and it was raining outside, so I don't have good photographs of them right now...you'll have to go see them at the gallery!



The opening for the Towson Arts Collective show "The Art of Illustration" is on Friday, September 11, from 6-8 pm. The show runs from September 3rd until October 23rd, and includes my Darwin and Wilde portraits. My former MICA professor Warren Linn is also in the show, and was one of the jurors.

(Click to see the card blown up)

I have no prizes for you this time, but I have a couple of questions for anyone who feels like answering:

-What would you consider to be a reasonable price for a screen printed t-shirt that you are purchasing from an artist/small business? Would you pay more for something like this than you would for a printed t-shirt from a chain store?

-Does the brand of t-shirt the design is printed on matter to you? Would you pay more for a certain brand? (Say, American Apparel vs. Hanes)