YouTube Videos
Howdy folks, my hard drive crashed, my travel plans got postponed and my gigs got canceled. It’s the middle of a global pandemic and shizz is getting pretty weird!!
Gotta smile through the crazy though and find ways to stay distracted :D
3.20.2020
…And how to make sure you’re not saying them!!
Hi-ya folks I sure did have fun making today’s vid for you! It’s a lil silly, but I’m sure my artist pals know exactly what I’m talking about and have gotten most if not all of these sayings tossed their way.
Feel free to share this vid in a sweetly passive, yet hopeful, step towards politely telling your friends and fam the 411 on how their "artist advice" can sometimes come off...
But if you’re the one who has accidentally made an art comment faux pas in the past… fear not! We artists are not here to hold grudges, we are here to learn and grow together! So we all good folks, and forever onward you’ll know just how to communicate your appreciation of our works all the more sensitively
Has anyone else ever said anything that seemed complimentary but kind of was not about your art? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
3.13.2020
This latest 3D oil painting features plenty of my favorite plant life media: ferns! There are four different kinds in this work collected during my hikes in O'ahu and while strolling around the grounds at my Artist Residency at the Highlands Art League in Florida. In order to use plants in my work I first press and dry them for at least a month, and I'm always delighted when they keep their color for so long.
The 'orange' part of the 'Orange Daggers' is a certain type of bird of paradise flower that I saw abundantly on da 'aina, however this one that I photographed and painted I actually found on top of a yard waste refuse pile while I was on a morning run. I love the way their super solid petals cup up to form teeny ecosystems of collected rainwater and delicate insects when found in their natural environments.
Last but certainly not least, there is one beautiful and stately French preying mantis surveying the scene. And how do I know this particular preying mantis is French? Well because he unfortunately expired in my apartment while I was staying in Argenton-Chateau for an intensive figure painting atelier in 2015. This lil guy was collected three years before I even began creating my 3D paintings! I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time, I must have just known a perfect specimen such as this would play into my art one day.
Yes! This piece is available for purchase here
3.7.2020
You've got questions, and ya Birdie's got answers.. Enjoy this figure drawing demo while I answer two questions asked by my lovely YT viewers.
This original drawing along with many others are available for purchase in my shop.
(Any purchases through my special links helps to support this channel - thank you!)
Prussian Blue Stablilo Carbothello
For more info on getting your own handmade-with-love toned (or white) paper sketchbook pop over here to be kept in the loop for my next sketchbook release.
If you've got a question for me, please feel free to leave it in the comments! I super appreciate my viewers reaching out to me:)
2.29.2020
Vaughn the Adventure Van is really starting to shine! Today I'm sharing my minivan to camper bed build (plus a front seat desk) using components we already had around the house - so satisfying!!
Then I made a custom memory foam mattress and matching couch cushion for a serious snuggle factor of 10! I'll be adding some shelf units and hammock nets for storage when I go back to Florida in a few months but until then I'm feeling pretty content and organized either way.
So enjoy these early vanbuild stages and adventures through Florida and onto Tennessee!
2.22.2020
Yaay!! The final piece of the 'Drawing Portraits Realistically' series is here for you friends, ‘Placing the Features Correctly on the Head.’
During a few of the weeks I was filming these tutorials for YouTube I was actually fortunate enough to teach this entire series as part of a ‘How to Draw Portraits from Photographs’ workshop in person to a small class. I asked the attendees for feedback and heard and saw great results.
I even got photos of two final portrait drawings from ladies who said they had never drawn portraits before. I’m so floored and excited to see such amazing results from my first time teaching this particular lesson!
And if you didn't catch the rest of the series grab a bowl of popcorn and your sketchbook and get comfy 'cause I'm 'bout to drop that knowledge bomb on ya!
2.14.2020
I've got a super simple artist hack to help you make a cleaner for your paint brushes out of an old wire clothes hanger and a glass jar. I use mine in my transportable oil painting kit, so I have solvent in mine, but you can use them for really any kind of paint.
The art store wants to charge you $15-22 for a piece of war in a jar, but we're not going to play that game ;)
wire clothes hanger
glass jar
pliers
wire snips
eye protection
PS. If you need to grab some oil painting thinner and you want to support lil Birdie's artistic journey, any purchase thru my special links helps my YouTube channel thrive. Thank you!
Gamsol: https://bit.ly/2H4VUTg
Odorless Mineral Spirits: https://bit.ly/2vhDrA1
2.7.2020
Woo hoo we are doing this people!
Welcome to Part 4 of my Drawing Portraits Realistically series, How to Draw Ears. And as with all the features in this series, I'm showing you from the front, the side, and three quarter view.
If you didn't catch How to Draw a Nose or How to Draw Lips or How to Draw Eyes check those out and make sure you pop that Subscribe button because I still have how to place things properly on the head coming in the next two weeks, which you definitely do not want to miss.
Enjoy and tag me on Insta if you're practicing! @caleighbirdart
1.31.2020
Aloha friends (I can still say aloha, right? Wellllll, I'm gonna;) and welcome to my newest studio!
Today I'm sharing my latest artsy venture, being a Resident Artist with the Highlands County Art League! Are you familiar with that term? It's a really amazing way to ingratiate and teach within tight knit art communities all over the country, and probably the world. I've got another one coming in Feb-March too all the way in Tennessee!
I've already been adventuring and camping and going to art exhibits and painting so much since arriving back on the mainland not even two months ago and I could not be more grateful for this creative and happy life:) If you like to see behind the scenes pics and stay abreast of my travels, make sure to subscribe to my weekly blog posts full of my latest adventures and artwork delivered right to your inbox.
I also wanted to briefly touch on some issues with my YT comments. I recently discovered that there was a hidden spam folder but this past week thankfully I've gotten things all figured out and have replied to each and every comment I could see. However sometimes a funny thing happens where I can only see a teaser of your comment and then am unable to respond due to some weird setting on the viewer's account (I think) so if you have not received a response from me, check out this vid and hopefully I'll be able to fully view and respond to your comments in the future.
If you wanna support this artsy Bird's great adventures pop over to my Shop and snag a few stickers + buttons to help get a lil gas in the ole spaceship ;) Thanks so much!!
1.24.2020
You've sold a piece of artwork - Hoorayyy!! ....now what?
Today we'll talk about what to do for your new collector as well as how to document the sale of your original or high quality reproduction. These tips are super simple and not only will following them help you stay organized, but they may even turn those one-time buyers into repeat clients!
Celebrate!! Woo hoo! Congrats on your art sale!
Give your collector a Bill of Sale or Certificate of Authenticity
Get the collector’s email and sign them up for your newsletter (if you don’t have a monthly newsletter yet you absolutely need to check this out)
Get the collector’s address and contact info to write them a Thank You note
Organize all the sale info into a spreadsheet
Lowkey contact collectors about once a year
You can find and download a copy of my Sales Log here:
1.3.2020
