Lots of new things going on this week in the studio. This past month a visitor to the studio was looking for a larger journal and plan book. She liked the idea of having an original painting as the cover for the journal. After thinking about her suggestion, I decided to try painting on a new hard bound journal with lots of pages to be used either is a sketchbook, a journal, or even a daily planner. The first sample is below.

I have included in this month's reading recommendations two books covering Paint Pouring. This is the newest technique that appears to be taking the art world by storm. Let me know if you would like for me to include some additional books on this topic for next month.     Sue

If you have been following me this past week on Instagram @sannaart you will have noticed that I have been working on new 12" x 12" pieces on paper. One of the final touches that I have been adding to these new pieces is "mark making". These are circles, squares, outlines, things that focuses attention on a specific part of the painting. Most of this months supply suggestions are things that are specifically designed for this type of art process.

All of this months supplies can be found at most art supply stores. They are all able to be shipped from online art stores like:
Blick Art Supply
Plaza Art Supply
Jerrys Artarama
Amazon

Sennelier Oil Pastel
These oil Pastels are my go to favorite. They are so buttery and the colors are extremely rich. I have shown this set of colors just to give you an idea of the possibilities. They are purchasable as individual stocks at most art supply/ craft stores.


NOTE**** Always use Oil Pastels in the Final Layer when covering over acrylic or watercolor paints. You will need to seal the final layer with the fixative listed below.

What is gesso?
Gesso is an important art supply that is used to get your canvas ready for painting. It is very similar to white acrylic pain, but has a much greater versatility.   It works as a primer for any surface, making it slightly textured.  providing the needed “tooth” so that paint can “stick” on your surface.

Gesso is traditionally white, but nowadays you can also buy black or clear gesso readymade. 
Using the Clear Gesso you can mix it with your favorite colors to have a tinted version that goes with what ever color palette you are working with.

There are two different grades of gesso: Artist(Professional) grade and Student grade. The primary difference between the two is the ratio of pigment to filler. Artist(Professional)  grade has more pigment, will be more opaque and higher in priced. The student grade has less pigment(more filler), does not cover as well and is cheaper in price.
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I have found the consistency and texture of the gesso will vary from brand to brand. he The consistency and texture of gesso will vary from brand to brand. Some are more liquidy and others are more thick. Some apply more smoothly and others leave a more textured, toothy surface. Your choice of brands will depend on what you are using it for. 

Final Thoughts:  You will have to experiment with different brands gesso to decide which consistency and opacity best meets your needs. I have found that the Professional level best meets my needs for high opacity. Have fun experimenting.

Thank You for visiting with me today.
I hope you will check back often.
Suzzanna

If you’re like most business owners, you probably feel like working on your marketing activities is an endless task. Every time you think your finished, you realize there are more things you have to do. One of the social media platforms that you use has gone and changed it”s algorithm or added new, updated tools that changes everything. I’m sure you can relate to all of this. 


One of the bast ways for you to get a better grip on your marketing is to setup a schedule. Now, I know you have heard all of this before, and like me, felt like there was no way to handle all of the things that needed to be done, let alone set up a daily schedule. I have tried this a number of times in the past and Have Failed. I would sit down and create this grandiose schedule, filling my day with marketing task, time for painting in the studio, squeeze in family needs and…, you get the idea.

This never lasted more than a week or two and I simply shut down. I was on over load. That was when I realized I needed to prioritize my most important aspects of my marketing plan. I selected my top 5 task and focused on them. Hey, if I can handle 5 task, and so can you…Right.

Step 1.The first step is to prioritize what are the five most important things you need to do each week to further move your marketing goals forward. We both know that there is probably more than 5 marketing task you need to accomplish, but this is like learning to walk, baby steps first. So Pick your Top 5.

Step 2. The second step is to designate One Hour each day to work on your goals. It doesn’t matter when. You just want to make sure that it is during a time when you aren’t going to be disturbed. Select a time when you seem to be most productive, after all you want to accomplish as much as possible in this one hour.

Step 3. This third part is fairly simple. Assign a single task to each of the five days of the week you are going to be working on ( you pick which five days work best for you).
NOTE…Don’t be tempted to schedule more than one task on any given day.  This process works best when it is a one day-to one task schedule.


There you have it. In one hour or less per day you will be able to work towards accomplishing your top 5 marketing goals.

Below are the original top five goals I selected to focus on, along with examples of some of the different task I did/still do accomplish. You will notice that most of my original goals/task are focused on writing my Blog Post. Like many of us, I was struggling to find the time to research and prepare a weekly Blog Post. There were always so many little things that needed to be accomplished just to get one post sent out and trying to accomplish them all at once was…Way Too Much.


Here are my First Five….


#1 RESEARCH POSSIBLE TOPICS AND KEY WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.
For most us, when you start blogging you have loads of ideas for things to write blog posts about.  Then you find yourself having to really look around for inspiration before you write your next post.  Finally you stare at the screen(blank) with the cursor staring right back at you. Now What…


a)Change the direction or scope of the post
b)See if you can make it a tighter timeframe
c)Reach out to your social media or email list
d)Look at experts and industry leaders for inspiration
e)Pinterest is a great resource for both ideas and keyword research. Start with your niche and go from there.


#2 CREATE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GRAPHICS FOR  YOUR UPCOMING BLOG POST
Check out your favorites on IG, Facebook, Pinterest and you can’t help but notice all the great  eye-catching graphics. Thankfully, there are so many amazing tools out there, so anyone can create their own social media graphics quickly and easily. 


This includes:
a)Cover photo
b)Profile photos
c)Blog post graphics
d)Social Media post/announcements


Canva is my tool to create my social media graphics for all my marketing activities. I love the ease and versatility of this platform.


#3 CREATE A QUICK OPT-IN/CONTENT UPGRADE
One of the best and quickest ways to increase your followers for your Blog/Social Media Post/Newsletter/Email List is to offer what is called opt-ins. By creating a simple checklist or template you are providing your readers with a simple way to refer bak to your post without having to read it again.
Here are some ideas for your opt-in or content upgrades:

• Worksheet
• List of tools
• Script of a recent pod cast
• Responses to a recent survey
• Quiz

There are so many possibilities. Remember keep them simple when you start.


#4 WRITE A BLOG POST
Not every Blog Post can be written within an hour but there are many ideas that lend themselves to that possibility.

• Write a list post (10 of the best ways to do XYZ)(supply lis)
• How to do something
• Compare two or more products.
• Favorite Books on a specific topic(remember your research is already done)

Always remember who your writing to,(your audience)


 #5 SEND OUT AN EMAIL TO YOUR LIST ANNOUNCING THIS WEEKS BLOG POST
The weekly email/letter that I send out every Wednesday always takes me 30 minutes or less. All of the work has already been done in the prior 4 task/goals. Now it is a simple process of putting it together.


THE GOOD NEWS… 
After working on this daily schedule for a little more than a month I discovered that the time needed to complete many of these task was less than the original hour that I set aside. Since then I have been able to add on a few more of my marketing goals to my schedule. I have increased my allocated hour of time, but do not feel so overwhelmed. Nothing like see SUCCESS to keep us moving forward.