Why I Paint My Own Orders

Yesterday, I finished painting an order for a shop.  The piece is one that is no longer being featured in my line that is distributed by Sundance Designs.  But, when someone remembers a piece and requests it, I am happy to oblige!

When I got ready to paint, I first had to find the master copy.  There in the pile, in the box, under the bed, along with the master, was a second canvas already painted.  This one had been painted by a copy artist, back in the day when I tried to use them.  The reason this canvas was never sent out is the subject of my blog post today.

But first, a little background.  I am not opposed to any designer using copy artists.  I would gladly join the ranks of successful designers who use them:  Lani, Melissa Shirley are just two who come to mind!  I am also thinking of Leigh of Leigh Designs.  Love you Leigh!  Your work is amazing and astonishing and wonderful, and that only taps the surface of my admiration for your talent!  Leigh explained to me one time, how she has a staff of copy artists that she personally trained, and oversees while they work 'in house' on her property.  I envisioned  Leigh standing over them with a bull whip, snatching the brushes out of their little hands when they screwed up!   LOL!

At one time, I also envisioned that if someone else could paint my designs, that would free me up to design more and more and more canvases, and also to stitch them!  Thus began a series of unfortunate and miserable events in that quest.  I won't go into the gory details but I'll show you what I mean.  Because it was expensive and I didn't have time to keep experimenting with different people, I decided to just stick with doing it myself.   And I'm happy with that decision.  I do enjoy the painting process, even though it can be tedious sometimes.  But those times give me moments to reflect on many things, listen to audio books or music, and sometimes watch tv..or at least, listen to it also.  And when one is 'in the groove' of canvas and paint, it can be very enjoyable.

So..here is why I paint my own orders.   This is the order I completed yesterday.  One is the Master and one was done by a copy artist.  If you click on each image, you can see them enlarged.  But before you do that, they both look pretty good here, don't they?

Or do they?  Let's take a closer look........Click away....I'll let the images speak for themselves.

 So...the verdict is yours.  It was mine too, along with the conclusion was that I will paint my own orders.   UNLESS..... someone hands me a bull whip and builds me a big studio warehouse and I see a big long line of talented copy artists on the horizon, all anxiously awaiting to do my work for me.  LOL!!