12/14/12

Dexter #3, 6x6

"Dexter #3" 6x6" Oil

It's been a difficult day with all the tragedy in the news, I nearly felt guilty for painting today.  But painting was the only sanity I had to help me escape the talk online and on the news channels.  Here is my escape..."Dexter #3" a fun little portrait of Dexter the pencil sharpener with his sidekick to keep him company.  Dexter kind of looks a bit like R2D2, don't you think?

The other day, I visited Artists Helping Artists.  Have you heard of them?  It is an online radio broadcast by Leslie Saeta who offers discussions on how to market artwork and other very helpful topics for artists.  Leslie lists several shows from which to listen to and so I clicked on the topic "How to Create an Insanely Popular Blog".  With all the great suggestions I hope to change out a few things to make my blog more "sticky".  I started off with playing around with my Blogger layout and a few other bits here and there. So with that, I'm going to make the effort to give my blog some extra attention this coming year.  If you have a blog, what do you do to create interest and dialogue?  Is it the art, or the story? Do tell!

Stay safe and hug your loved ones more often.

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10 Comments:

Blogger Casey Klahn said...

More sticky. I like that phrase.

BTW, I looked hard at that pencil sharpener because it is a very fine painting. NICE!

My small contribution to your questions:
Blog regularly. Daily is very powerful, but nearly daily works well, too. I do one month a year where I blog daily, but otherwise just try to be frequent.
Good art. Readers like that.
Be yourself. Have a format or theme to your blog. Soft sell. Use good grammar. Be brief - use no throw away phrases when you write.
Link much, but make them for a reason. Readers don't want to be led around and disappointed.
Be not about yourself. Be about topics and ideas. However, be generous about yourself, because people will come looking for you and information about you in your blog.
I'm listening to the radio show and enjoying it.

Lose the WV, too. It doesn't help, but drives comments away.

I read Dusty Fingers because I value your artwork, and I haven't met you, but I feel like I know you a little bit based on your good blog posts.

Cheers!

KC

12/15/12, 8:46 AM  
Blogger Brenda Boylan said...

Thanks Casey for your tips on blogging and the kind compliment on Dexter. Always wondering how to juggle frequency of posts with my busy family/art life. Will have to see how that one pans out. What does WV mean?
Again thanks for your readership Casey. I truly appreciate it and someday we will meet as we are both in the NW.
B

12/15/12, 11:48 AM  
Blogger Sergio Lopez said...

Yea this one hit me harder than the other recent senseless tragedies of late, something about the innocence of the victims, ugh. hurts to even think about it. Don't feel guilty about painting, it's your job. Everyone has different reasons to paint, dealing with negativity in the world is a part of it.

I listen to AHA all the time, and I've done a lot of the things. There's always at least one good piece of advice per show I end up using.

As far as blogs go, my blog has evolved over the years to go from just a place to post a picture here and there, to start writing more about the work, going from surface level to more in-depth discussion of my ideas and techniques. Consistency is key, but I try not to blog just for the sake of it either. I find blogging once a week or two to be sufficient.

I disagree with losing the word verification. Yea it's annoying but you'll get way more spam if you don't use it.

12/15/12, 11:48 AM  
Blogger Brenda Boylan said...

Spot on Sergio. I guess I'll have to put time aside for blogging more. OK, I got wV. Will have to consider that one a bit. Sergio, i just realized that I need to follow your blog! Ok, are there any more voices out there who are willing to share their blog tips? Bring it on!

12/15/12, 11:59 AM  
Blogger Sergio Lopez said...

Yea I try to have a unique reason for someone to follow each of my social media outlets. I try to do at least one thing different on each network that they wouldn't find on my other ones, and encourage people to follow all of them.

12/15/12, 2:59 PM  
Blogger Arty Quin said...

Brenda, love your little "Dexter"! Was really great to see you and paint with you. As usual, your positive attitude and sense of humor made they day even better. Keep up the blogging! (I've just started and I'm hoping also to share more general thoughts but for now, photos and shows. We all love to see photos!)

12/15/12, 4:37 PM  
Blogger Brenda Boylan said...

Thanks Quin. . Sergio, I'm curiuos to know ow many social outlets you manage?

12/15/12, 6:09 PM  
Blogger Sergio Lopez said...

Oh man just go to my website and look at the links. Too many!

12/16/12, 4:48 PM  
Blogger Nora MacPhail said...

Wonderful painting! It's nice to see an original subject in a still life. Happy Painting in the new year.

1/1/13, 5:01 AM  
Blogger Brenda Boylan said...

Thanks bunches Nora. I plan on painting more of these old, antique, our of use items during the winter season. Been venturing into antique stores for some good still life subjects. Oh the new year!

1/1/13, 9:40 PM  

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