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01. Aidata UM003B Mouse Platform Under Desk

A common problem for many digital artists is not having enough desk space, especially for those who have 2+ monitors, a drawing tablet, mouse, and keyboard sitting on the desk. Well this mouse platform helps clear up some of that area. It clamps and sits right below the desk, giving the mouse a new platform to rest on.

($15) Aidata UM003B Mouse Platform Under Desk  

Buy it here: https://amzn.to/2MC8NpS

02. Monitor/Laptop Stand with 4 usb ports and a tray

Here is another gift that clears up desk space. Not only does this stand create more desk room, but it also includes 4 usb ports, giving the artist more ports to plug in their devices.   

($22) Cyanics i-Bridge MC-300 Monitor Laptop Stand 

Buy it here: https://amzn.to/2S84yrl

03. Anker USB 3.0  4-Port Portable Hub

Having multiple usb devices plugged into the computer (keyboard, mouse, tablet, webcam, etc.) , digital artists have little to no slots available for use, especially when working on a laptop. This USB hub contains 4 usb ports, giving the artist extra slots to plug in more devices. It is a simple but very handy device!  

($19) Anker USB 3.0 4-Port Portable Aluminum Hub with 2-Foot USB 3.0 Cable 

Buy it here: https://amzn.to/2ToORsY

04. Artist’s Model for Figure Drawing (Female / Male)

This is perfect for anyone who is trying to learn and improve their figure drawing. It is anatomically correct and has over 30 points of movement, allowing it to be posed in numerous positions.  It makes a great reference for studies and personal work.

Max Factory Figma Archetype Next Female / Male Action Figure

($45) Female | https://amzn.to/2TgtUAp    

($38) Male: https://amzn.to/2t0eo09

05. Anatomical Skull Model – Life Size Human Mold

Give this to a friend who loves drawing portraits. One of the first steps in learning how to draw heads is understanding the anatomy of the skull. This life size mold will serve as a perfect reference and study tool.

($40) Maad Scientific Medical Anatomical Skull Model – 3 parts – Life Sized Human Mold 

Buy it here: https://amzn.to/2WmLrZQ

06. Toshiba Canvio Basics 1TB Portable External Hard Drive

Another struggle that many digital artists share is the lack of hard drive storage. These artwork files can be huge and eat up a lot of disk space. No need to sweat though, this problem can easily be fixed by using an external hard drive. Once the hard drive starts to becomes congested, simply transfer all the files to the external hard drive. This light and portable drive makes it very easy to move around and travel.

($50) Toshiba HDTB410XK3AA Canvio Basics 1TB Portable External Hard Drive

Buy it here:  https://amzn.to/2WnDq73

07. Huion Inspiroy H640P Graphics Drawing Tablet – 8192 Pressure Sensitivity

If you are new to digital art and looking to buy a quality and budget friendly tablet, the Huion Inspiro H640P is the one to get. This 6.3 x 3.9 inch tablet holds 8,192 levels of pen pressure sensitivity, making it a very precise drawing tool. Also the size makes it easy to carry around for travel. This tablet is definitely the best bang for your buck.   

($50) Huion Inspiroy H640P Graphics Drawing Tablet with Battery-Free Stylus and 8192 Pressure Sensitivity

Buy it here: https://amzn.to/2Sf8ial

08. Anker Power Bank, Portable Charger

This gift will be really useful for those artists who work on an ipad / mobile tablet and travel a lot. When it comes to portable chargers, the Anker PowerCore 26800 power bank is a beast. This baby can charge a mobile tablet up to 3 times, 0 to 100%. To put that into perspective, it can charge a phone 8-10 times! Also it has 3 usb ports, so 3 devices can charge at the same time.

($60) Anker PowerCore 26800 Portable Charger, 26800mAh External Battery, 3 USB Ports

Buy it here: https://amzn.to/2DJBHBG

09. Imagine FX Magazine Subscription (Digital Download)

ImagineFX  is loaded with step-by-step workshops, interviews, news, and products reviews. It is a great source to discover artists and also learn how they work. A digital subscription includes 13 issues per year.

(4.62 per issues – $60/year) https://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/design/imaginefx-magazine-subscription/ 

10. Skillshare Subscription

Skillshare is an online learning community that is filled with thousands of courses taught by professionals working in the industry. Skillshare has courses on almost everything: art, animation, video, photography, website design, software, and much more. With a subscription, artists can get unlimited access to all classes.

($36/3 months,  $60/6months)  https://www.skillshare.com/gifts

The post 10 Affordable Gifts for Digital Artists appeared first on YOG JOSHI ART.

Selling Art Online

When it comes to selling prints of your artwork/creation online, there are two routes that can be taken.

1)DO IT YOURSELF. Print, pack, and ship. It’s all on you! (which I have not experimented with)

2)GET SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT FOR YOU. Take the load off and submit your work to a marketplace for print-on-demand products (My preferred method).

Option 1 – Do it Yourself

While Option 1 ***COULD*** yield the highest profit, there are a few factors to take into consideration. First being time. Getting everything printed, packaged, and shipped is a task that will undoubtedly rob your time. This is the main reason why I chose not to go this route. But if you have a wife, husband, friend,  or dog who is willing to give an extra paw, this may be the way to go.

Second factor  can be clustered into resource and cost. Do you have access to the right equipment and supplies to produce everything? If prints are being made, this means that you either have to go to a local print shop or buy a high-performance commercial printer, like an Epson Expression Premium ET-7750 . And don’t forget about the ink and high quality paper. And what about all the supplies needed to package everything and get it shipped out safely? Is it worth going through all of this and putting in the money?  Long term it could be beneficial, once you break even with the cost of the materials. And this can only happen if there is demand for your merch.

Which leads to the third and probably most important factor: traffic and demand. Are you bringing in enough traffic to your store? If so, is there actually a demand for your product? It is very common for newbies to get excited and stock up on their product when in actuality there isn’t much demand for it. This only leads to a waste of your time, money, and supplies. However, you can gauge the demand for any given product  by offering a small survey. So if you want to do it on your own, these are all the components that need to be taken into consideration .

* ** Transactions can be handled via a plugin or embedded code for your website/blog. Some popular options are Shopify, Gumroad, and Woocommerce. These services act as a payment solution, taking a small commission for every sale you make. You could also use paypal but the mentioned services make it easier to display your product and offer variation in selection and price. I only have experience with selling digital products on Gumroad and I absolutely love it. It is free to use but they charge an 8.5% +30¢ commission per sale. Whereas shopify has a monthly fee of $29 + 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.

Option 2 – Get someone else to do it for you

Option 2, in my opinion, is the best way to go for anyone who is starting out. Just upload your work and let someone else handle the hassle of printing, packing, and shipping. There are numerous online marketplaces that offer print-on-demand services and majority of them are free to list on.

The only catch is that you make around 20-50% of each sale. Now this may seem a little unfair, it certainly did to me. But once you take into account that the company is handling everything for you, including customer service and marketing, it starts to seem like a more viable option. Not only does this save time but also gives you peace of mind. Let them take care of all the customer questions, concerns and returns. And with the help of their marketing and a combination of the right #tags, your work could certainly gain a lot of exposure.

Another benefit is the variety of products that these services offer: T-shirts, canvas prints, mugs, cases, stickers, home decor, etc. This broadens the consumer market and allows for more sales.  Now imagine offering as many selections on your own, without the help of such services. To even think about it hurts my head.

Some Websites I use

Redbubble

I recently started to use Redbubble (check out my store) . The default artist margin is set to 20%. This means that for a $40 sale you will earn $8. Or for a $10 sale you will get $2. Users should note that sites like Redbubble have a base price and anything additional is considered the artist margin. So the base price + artist margin = retail price (what you customer will pay).

*You could increase the artist margin but that would also increase the retail price and most likely steer away any potential customers. This is why you should keep it at the default 20%. It’s a better to gradually increase the margin as the demand increases.

You may think that 20% is not much but once you have several, if not, hundreds of items to sell online, things could start adding up. Especially if you are uploading your work across other marketplaces (mentioned below).

Save yourself some cash and also support this website by getting the Ebates plug-in for your web browser. Earn up to 25% cash back from your favorite online stores (Amazon, Ebay, Best Buy, Target, Barnes&Nobles, etc.)  + Get a $10 Bonus by using this referral link!  It’s completely free to signup. There is nothing to lose, only cash to gain! 

I would like to say my experience with Redbubble has been wonderful so far. I love the huge selection of products they offer: wall art, greeting cards, apparel, home decor, and stickers.  Uploading and adjusting your work is fairly simple and straight forward. My advice is to make your work available on as many products as you can. More options = more chances of sale. Yes, you might spend an extra 10-20 minutes making sure everything fits properly into each product, but in the long run it’s totally worth it. And if the format of your work does not fit a certain item, don’t try to force it, just disable it.

If you have any questions about size/format, please refer to this guide .  For the most part I keep my files in a square format, 4260 x 4260 pixels (about 60×60 inches) fairly large, so it can fit most of the selections they offer.

Inprnt

Inprnt (check out my store) is another website that I have experience with. So far I have had the most success here, mainly because I have been on it for the longest time. Out of all the websites I have seen so far, Inprnt offers the best payout: 50% artist margin. Can’t beat that! And let me tell you, after ordering 2 prints, I can’t stop preaching about the phenomenal quality of their paper and ink. Simply the best prints I have seen in the business. Other than wall art, they also provide cases and greeting cards. But I believe most people go there for the high quality art prints.

Four other marketplaces that I am looking into are Printful, TeePublic, Society6, and Merch by Amazon. Once I gain a some mileage with these sites, I will give you guys an update.

So if you decide to go with option 2 for selling art online, the goal should be to make a lot of quality work and have it available on multiple marketplaces. This will maximize your audience reach and sales. I know that managing accounts across various platforms will be painful and time consuming, but once everything is up and running, think about how rewarding it could be…

The post E-Commerce : Selling Art Online | Tips appeared first on YOG JOSHI ART.

Lately I have been using google calendar to make my daily art schedule. I feel like some sort of structure is needed in order to be very productive and get the most out of the day.

I really enjoy google calendar because:

1) it is free

2) easy and intuitive to use

3) wonderful desktop, in-browser app

4) awesome mobile app that syncs with the desktop calendar

So what are you waiting for? Start using Google Calendar to plan your day! Down below let me know what you think of it or what program you use for planning.

The post Google Calendar for Productivity appeared first on YOG JOSHI ART.

If you are someone who likes to watch movies/videos, have multiple windows open (reference images), and/or monitor chats as you work but are frustrated with your limited desktop space, consider this a birthday gift. Before we get started, I just want to make it clear that the following program (OnTopReplica) is only available for PC.  For MAC users, try Helium 

Okay let’s get started!

#1 DOWNLOAD the latest version of  On Top Replica (FREE!)  / install and open the program

#2

#3

***IN ORDER TO MAKE VIDEOS / CONTENT TO STREAM LIVE IN THE HOVER WINDOW, DO NOT MINIMIZE THE WINDOW!!

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

The post How to add a hovering window over your work area! appeared first on YOG JOSHI ART.

The post 360° Panoramic Painting (Process) appeared first on YOG JOSHI ART.

Hey everyone! It’s been forever since I made a blog post and it’s about time to get back into it. I was long delayed because I was caught up with finishing my final year at the School of Visual Arts. And I’m finally done!! I was also busy with client work over the summer so I did not have much chance to update anything. I have decided to stop taking work for the moment so I can focus in on my personal work. Now that I have more time, hopefully I can keep consistent with blogging.

Anyways, recently I changed the layout of my website…AGAIN!!! I wanted a design that would require the least amount of clicks to navigate around. Before, my landing page was a full screen slideshow, highlighting recent work. I decided that it was unnecessary and required an extra click to get to my portfolio. After getting insight from a few professionals, artists and directors, I figured it would be most convenient having my landing page be my portfolio gallery. Your audience, especially art directors, may be really busy and not have the time to hunt for your portfolio. Thus, there should be minimal effort required in finding your portfolio or your loss. The website should also be fast loading (although I would say mine isn’t the fastest but fast enough). The average person can only tolerate 4-10 seconds of load time! So make sure you hold their attention! In my old design I had a few sub categories for my work but I didn’t have enough pieces to fill each section, so I decided to take them out until I have enough images for each category. I also made a new logo, which was not necessary, but I figured it would give more of a professional presentation. Most likely this logo is not permanent and will change as the years pass. Finally, I picked this website theme because it works well with mobile devices and also looks sleek. As a side note, if you are curious, I built my website using wordpress with godaddy hosting. The current theme I am using is called Photon, which can be found here http://photon.apollo13.kinsta.com/ . Overall the theme has provided a lot of flexibility and a great support forum. With the help of the support team, I was able to tweak the theme a lot and get it close to what I want. Overall I am quite satisfied with the results.

So yea Its been a long journey in building a website. Finally I have found something that meets most of my needs. Through this voyage I have come to learn that most likely your website layout will change a few times before you find something that works best for you. Based on my experience and knowledge, if you are looking to build or update a portfolio website, here are top 5 things to keep in mind:

1. Fast Loading Website (No Flash)
2. Easy and Simple Navigation
3. Minimum Clicks to Portfolio
4. Great Mobile Functionality
5. Easy Maintenance

I hope you find this of some help. If you have any comments or questions, please leave one below.

Cheers!

~Yog

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