Busy week

Coffee and Cream - Prints available at www.livefunky.etsy.com

This week has been flying by! I wanted to let you know that I've added prints to my livefunky shop. They are hand signed, packaged in a cello sleeve with a backing board and great to give as gifts (wink wink). Take a look at www.livefunky.etsy.com. Thanks!

Custom Framing on JCT Prints

Sketch 4 by Jessica Torrant by livefunky
View other fine art prints From zazzle
Browse other Fine Art Movements Posters

Sketch 19 by Jessica Torrant by livefunky
See other posters On http://www.zazzle.com/?rf=238755544182948794
Browse more Fine Art Movements Posters

Orange Sun by Jessica Torrant by livefunky
posters At http://www.zazzle.com/?rf=238755544182948794
See more Fine Art Movements Posters

Here are just a few examples of what you can do with the custom framing options in my Zazzle shop at www.zazzle.com/livefunky - mousepads are also available.

New ArtFire Shop!

Earth and Sky 1

Check out this print and many others in my new ArtFire shop at http://www.jessicatorrant.artfire.com/!

New and Improved Website

In the last few days and nights, I've been steadily working on revamping my website. I have to say, it's my favorite version to date. The design concept is simple and I hope that it is easy as well as interesting to navigate. There are still some things I need to add (like tags and page titles) but for the most part, it's complete!

Please check it out and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your comments and suggestions. http://www.livefunky.com/

What I'm most excited about is my new Art Prints of the Month feature. Each month I'll be offering three new print designs to be purchased directly from my website. Check out the August collection HERE!

A few updates

First off, I'm officially declaring 365 Sketch is a great idea, but it just isn't going to work for me, at least not right now. I've got so many things I want to get done in a day, I feel like even if I participate, it will just be something I throw together because "I have to". That isn't the spirit of that flickr group, so I'd be doing a disservice to everyone else participating as well as myself. I think it is hilarious that I only got to 7 days. I guess it just wasn't meant to be for right now - maybe in the future it will fit right into my creative patterns.

Onto other updates.... you may have noticed that I used to have a ton of prints in my shop and then they all of a sudden disappeared. I decided that I'm only going to offer prints on Etsy of paintings that have sold because otherwise it can be a little confusing to look through and see the same pics coming up for prints and originals. I am listing each print as having 10 available and once those sell out, I probably won't renew the listing to keep things fresh in my shop. This doesn't make them limited editions, just "limited to Etsy"!

Portrait of Now - Limited Series of 3

Yesterday I came up with this idea to do hand altered prints in limited sets. It came after a very long and very inspiring phone conversation with a friend. The kind of conversation that gets your heart pumping and positive ideas are eagerly bounced back and forth across the miles. After the phone call, with a hot ear (you know how it goes), I sat back in my computer chair staring at my Etsy shop and it came to me. I know other artists have done this before, but I thought of how I could do it in my own voice and style. I quickly got to work.

To share my process with you... I begin with a sketch on paper (usually with a Sharpie marker) which I scan and then save as a bitmap file. I bring that file into Illustrator to convert it into a sleeker lined design. I print out three prints of this Illustrator image and then sit down with my watercolor paints and oil pastels to make each one an original work of art!

I made a new set I will post after this today. I'm excited to do lots of these limited sets and I've created a new category in my Etsy shop especially for them called Altered Limited Editions

Rediscovering Older Work

Two Has a Dream by Jessica Torrant

Prints available at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/



Yesterday Rob and I went up to the studio in Indian Orchard to make our first of two trips clearing out all my stuff. After packing my Suburu to the brim, we brought it all to our new storage unit right in our own hometown. (Unloading was so much easier than loading! My sympathies with anyone that has to move any time soon!). As much as I may miss some parts of having a studio in the mills, this new "system" is going to be so much easier for me. Now I can paint at home and when I'm done photographing, I can take a canvas five minutes down the road to our storage unit. No more 45 minute drives just to pick up a painting! Yipee!



Part of going through all of my things at the studio meant finding my binder with all of my watercolor and ink illustrations from 2004/2005 (such as the piece above). I'm going through them looking for my favorites to list as prints on Etsy. There are also some drawings that I plan to scan and color in Illustrator (including one on an old envelope! My best drawings were always on scrap paper - there's got to be some psychological reason for that, which I won't look into now - hahaha).



At this point my Etsy shop has 237 items. Is that ridiculous? Too much? Should I put some of the older pieces that haven't sold in edit mode just to make my shop more user friendly? I am inclined to put it ALL out there, but there is A LOT and it just keeps coming! What are your thoughts on this, fellow artists? I could use your expert eyes and input!



(Oh by the way! I just got accepted by Trunkt - woo hoo!)

Annie The Cat With Stars

Digital illustration by Jessica Torrant, 2007
Prints are available at www.livefunky.etsy.com

An ode to my parents' wild and wonderful cat, Annie.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Me and You

Me and You - art print available at www.livefunky.etsy.com


This drawing colored in Illustrator is a silly/sweet version of my husband and I. Sometimes I feel like we're mirror images of each other! Can you tell I love him?


Holiday Sale!!!
From now until the new year, I'm offering a buy two get one free sale on all of my art prints!
Just purchase the two same sized prints and include the title of the third print you'd like in your order (or just email/convo it to me afterwards).

Sizes and Prices:
5" x 7" - $10
8" x 10" - $18

All reproductions are printed on matte finish, archival Epson paper that is 8.5" x 11". The images are centered on the page leaving a white border. I ship worldwide and shipping is combined for multiple purchases. For more information, and a list of my prints, please visit the Art Prints category of my Etsy shop.
Art Prints on Etsy