Ali J Art & Illustration

How to create a lightbox for almost nothing & in less then an hour

Ali J/Planet Lime resin pendant leaning against a vintage gardening book

Well as you may have already read, I'm currently working on my new online store.  I wanted something brand new, something under my identity, and one of the most important parts of selling online is getting your photographs right.  So I've been sitting down and photographing every single one of my items in a brand new photograph, sometimes multiple times, ready for my store, a future catalogue and even press releases. 

I'm not a professional photographer.  The best I ever did at photography was take some lessons at school, and then work on a few exercises as part of my art class many years ago.  Photography doesn't really interest me, and whilst I'm not bored by it, it isn't something I'd race out to do tomorrow.

You don't have to hire a photographer to take good photos.  You don't even have to have a professional photoshoot to do a catalogue.  To take good photos there are four things you need

1. A Camera (preferably digital)
2. A light
3. A lightbox
4. Your products

You can also add additional items to your photoshoot, but these are the definite 'must' haves.  In my current photographs I've included props of a vintage gardening book and a martini glass for atmosphere, branding and a bit of character.

Today I'm going to show you how to create a lightbox at home for under $3.  It is so easy and simple, and doesn't have to break the bank account!


Ali J Hairpins, Necklace, Pocket Mirror and Ring with a Martini glass as a prop

How To Make A Lightbox

What you need:
Foamcore Board / White board at least 5mL thick (it must be white, light and sturdy)
Stickytape
Tracing Paper
Stanley Knife
A2 sheet of standard paper

Cut out pieces of foamcore board with the following measurements as a guide -

1 piece @ 29.7cm x 42cm with the middle cutout measuring 25cm x 25cm
2 peices @ 29.7cm x 42cm
2 pieces @ 29.7cm x 29.7cm with the middle cutout measuring 25cm x 25cm










Now that is done you can set up your 'scene' inside the box.  I set up a light on top of the box, but you can also have additional lights on the sides.  The white of the paper stops the light coming through as a yellow tinge - which is what most light globes have to them.  You can get special white globes, but our aim here is to do everything simple.

Here is the setup -






Nothing fancy - but it does its job!  I have a wide lamp that I choose to lie on top of the paper - but I wouldn't recommed this.  I also would never leave this unattended, especially as some lamps can get very hot.  A simple spotlight at the top and sides would work perfectly!

Let me know if you have any questions.  It sounds far more complicated then it is, and have fun with your new photographs.

My new studio space LOVES me

This is my fabulous chunky wooden desk with drawers full of supplies, a desk covered with research material and walls covered in images to inspire me.  I've got a little dream-catcher hanging from the roof to make sure that none of my crazy thoughts disappear whilst I work!

I have little bookshelves scattered throughout the room.  Upon this one I have little glass jars full of bits and pieces such as buttons.  Beside them stands a wise owl watching.

Here sit two fairies from the other realm.  They were a present from my brothers for my 21st birthday, and I treasure them.  Behind that my dog from my childhood Shadow watches over me.

I love to have a pile of books to read constantly.  I believe that all professionals continue to research all of the time in their chosen field.  Researching keeps me inspired and helps me to grow as an artist.  These are from my local library and I have a never ending addiction to books of any sort.  These books center around graphic design, fashion design and website coding.

I always have a stack of fantasy & science fiction books lying close for those moments I need to escape into my own world.  As you can see from the creasing on the spines many of the titles have been read and re-read plenty of times.  This is only a snippet of my collection.  My favourite authors are Juliet Marillier, Raymond E Feist and Anne McCaffrey.

We always need companions beside us when we create.  These are just a few of the characters watching over me, ensuring that everything is just perfect.

Oh - and this is a reminder that I need to get back to work!  I'm finishing off a commission right now, and this is generally how I work on the sketches.  I surround myself with reference images, and just create!

So with that, I'm off to create.  Enjoy your day!  xox

Independent Designers & Style

Style.  It is an important word and a vital one to the survival of an independent designer.  Their is no limit to what that word may be worth in value in regards to a designers work.  It could be a few dollars, it could be millions.  Every designer will have a specific style to their work which will set them apart. 

Style is not something that can magically appear from a hat.  Style needs to develop through exploring ideas, experimenting with a variety of techniques and time.   Then, in time, the style of a designer can be start to be recognised in their work.  This is the time you can recognise a painter from the artwork (think Pro Hart), or a fashion designer from a garment (think Alannah Hill).  However the journey of developing style doesn't stop there, and will never stop.  Throughout a designers lifetime their style will constantly be altering and adapting in relation to their own journey, quite often cycling every five years.

So where does one start?  Well that is easy.  You just need to start!  Remember you can't have style without the journey.  I'm going to share some images (primarily artists & illustrators) to show you their development of their style so far.

THEN - Audrey Kawasaki (USA) "Blueroom" - 1999

NOW - Audrey Kawasaki (USA) "Karasaki" - 2008

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View love pad's map

 

       Taken in                         a place with no name         (See more photos or videos here)

THEN Eveline Tarunadjaja (AU) 2004

NOW Eveline Tarunadjaja (AU) - "Cactus Heart" 2008

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THEN - Stella Im Hultberg (USA) "Jolie" 2005

NOW - Stella Im Hultberg (USA) 2008
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THEN - The Black Apple (USA) "Boy Meets Girl" 2005

NOW - The Black Apple (USA) "Snow, Rose and Bear" 2008

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THEN - Lilly Piri (AU) "At The Gallery" 2004

NOW - Lilly Piri (AU) "Monkey Arms" 2008
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THEN - Kat McLeod (AU) "Bird" 2002

NOW - Kat McLeod (AU) "Cocktail" 2008? (not sure)
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As you can see from these examples that the journey each artist & illustrator has taken is quite apparent.  They've started off with some fantastic works which have developed into something completely different.  The early works are by no means the first artworks any have created, but they are a stepping stone in what is a life long journey.  Most of the comparisons have a few years of distance between the creating - and a lot can happen in that time.

No designer can plan what their future work will look like, it is just a matter of experimenting to see what will happen.  Just remember that you can't plan your style, over time it will find you.

So what are you waiting for?  Let us create! 

Inspirations, events, painting and workspaces

I'm feeling rather inspired today.  I've been 'tagged' by someone to share with you 7 things you don't know about me.  As I've done this plenty of times in the past I've decided to take a bit of a different approach to the task.

So I bring you........... my 7 reveals of the week!  I've been inspired by other bloggers, scenes and events around me so now it is time to share some things about me.  The only condition is that everything had to happen this week to be able to share it.  :)

1. The Wedding Bouquet

Two of our friends were married on the long Easter weekend and I was the lucky lady who caught the wedding bouquet!  I've never seen my partner Chad turn so red in his life.... ;)

2. Vintage War Date Stamps

I have a keen interest in the second world war and imagine my surprise when I found a vintage library book for 50 cents complete with its original date stamps from during the war.  I've used this page as a background detail in an upcoming artwork, although I'm not quite sure yet how I'm going to tie this feature in with the concept.  The detail inspires me so much!

3. Where the Magic Flows

Every artist needs a workspace. This is one of mine.  This is a nice chunky wooden desk with plenty of drawers crammed full of half used paint tubes, paintbrushes, pens, textas and pencils.  It enables me to give the impression of a tidy workspace even though it is a disaster zone.  I love to cover the desk in images when I work.  I had to move my desk around this week and this is the new spot.  I love being able to open the blinds and look outside at all the birds searching for seeds.

 

4. This Is The Modern Age

Where would an illustrator be nowadays without their computer?  Here I catch up on e-mails, get my daily fix of inspiration from websites and blogs as well as take some time out on forums or chat rooms.  I also consult with clients and negotiate primarily through the computer - so it is absolutely essential to my business. 

The next image is my new computer desk.  Only $115 from a secondhand store!  It is huge, but works perfectly for my needs.  I've put up inspiring images around me, I have all my filing and folders on hand as well as my books.  I also have some new toys this week!  I've got a webcam and headphones so I can finally chat through the computer.  I can't wait for my first official phone call.  :)  I've also setup skype - so feel free to 'call' me.  My username is alijart.  Considering I have clients all over the world I hope that this will enable me to participate a bit easier in interviews as well as meetings and consultations.  It's amazing how much time this frees up (and finances) as we no longer need to travel, we can do it all from the comfort of our own homes.  It would be impossible for me to travel to New York for a client meeting, so give me two minutes and I've got a virtual meeting setup on the computer.  Skype enables you to call people for free (if they have skype too) or call any landline phone for a minimal fee.  That works perfectly for our home and business as we don't have a landline phone, only mobiles which can be expensive to call from.

5. Hard At Work

Here I am preparing the background to three canvases that will be part of the Perth College Art Exhibition next weekend.  The first two canvases have been covered in vintage books pages and I've intentionally chosen pages with minimal script on them.  I'm not sure how much of the paper I will leave exposed, I'll just have to start the works and see what develops.  The big canvas that you can see me working on is 40" x 40".  I like to work on the big canvases on the floor before I put them up on the easel, then I take them back down on the floor to refine the details. 

I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing for the works, I'm still refining the concepts.  Although I do know all of the subject matter will be seaside themed, and I've sketched out plenty of ideas as well as titled the works.  It is just deciding on a clear direction to move into.  The titles of the paintings will be  "Whispers Of The Water", "Cockles and Mussels" and "Passion Pop"

6. My Blythe Watches Over Me

I live a quiet life inside my workspace.  Most of the time my iPod plays a variety of music as background noise and I escape into my imagination.  I like to surround myself with characters and creatures that continually open up more paths to that world.  In the next image I have my Blythe doll seated on a wooden peg rocking chair made by my nan with some plush girl cushions.  I also have some artwork up on the wall.

7. Artwork Around The Home

I don't think anyone creative cannot have images that feed their juices up on display.  I'm in a rented house so I have to be careful about how I display the imagery I have and cannot just put up hooks where I please.  So I've just blue tacked these up to the wall.  In this image there is artwork from Catherine Campbell, LaMaga, Erin Paisley Stueber, Bec Winnel, Alexandra Lening amongst others.

The next image is on the other wall beside my computer desk.  I have a pinboard for important paperwork, although my aim when we get a new house is to have an entire wall as a pinboard because I always have too much going on in order to fit it all on a tiny board.  The images here are from The Black Apple, postcards from Frankie magazine as well as some favourite prints of my own and other bits and pieces.

I studied art at college and specialised in realistic charcoal drawings with a heavy conceptual outlook.  There was another student at the time who worked with charcoal and ink, and I fell in love with her work.  At the end of the year she sold me one of her major drawings for $15 (crazy!!).  At the moment it is just clipped up to a board on the wall, but I hope at some stage to have it framed because I love it.  Her name was Eloise, and I haven't seen any of her artwork since college.  I hope one day she exhibits or I can find an opportunity to purchase more.  Although I'd definitely pay her exactly what her artwork is worth - and not what she is willing to sell it for!

Growing up I hated being girly.  I had two brothers and wanted to be the sporty girl who was willing to take on anything.  Nowadays I'm tending to accept some of the 'cute' and 'pretty' things in life, and surrounding myself with them.  I don't care what people think of me, I just surround myself with what inspires me and gives me joy.  Here is an artwork by Kendra Binney which I've placed next to a vintage bag hanging off the wall.    Oh, this wall is in my bedroom and it is a hot pink feature wall.  I love it and the colour just bursts with joy!  Who wouldn't want to get up in the morning?

Behind The Scenes

Putting something up on the internet to sell sounds like an easy job.  From the comfort of your own home you can upload a picture, a description and a price, then sit back and watch it sell.  We'll all be millionaires one day.  Right?  Wrong.

There is so much more to selling on the internet then just uploading an image and a description as I've learnt over the past few years.  Even now, after 9 months on Etsy I'm still reworking my images and learning how to photograph them right.  Selling on the internet is ten times harder then selling at a craft fair or a store.  Automatically you are disadvantaged by the fact that you are selling that item with only an image.  Your customer can't feel the item or even smell it.  In addition they can't gauge how big the item is, what it will look like on, how heavy it is, how thin it is, how big it is.  There are so many things that you need to disclose to a potential customer without overwhelming them and scaring them off with too much information.  So you need to try and take the best pictures you can, and write simple (yet useful) descriptions.

I'm not a master at taking photographs but I am I'm constantly evolving and improving as time passes.  This past weekend I've been working on my images and trying to get a picture as close to the original as possible.  How many times have you come across a dark photo?  A bright photo?  A blurred image?  Too high in contrast?  Too much photoshop?  (You know the images with the pretty borders and soft focus so they look like they are from an episode of Days of Our Lives).  Anyway, I'm very happy with the direction I'm moving into.

This is my new love.  This is my lightbox.  It cost me $3.20 to make, and about 20 minutes to put it all together.  I used foamcore board and a sheet of paper to sit in the inside (to block out the heavy corners of the joins).  The intention of the box is to filter light into it and then allow that light to bounce off the walls and onto the item.  It has a hole at the top to give me the ability to take pictures from above.  You can use a detachable flash to light up the box, natural light or a few desklamps.

So now I'll show you the huge difference my new lightbox has made to my products.  I'm actually very surprised with the quality of the images and how much quicker it all takes.

Before                  ------------>                         After

Before                  ------------>                         After

In addition to these improvements I colour calibrated my monitor.  I had absolutely no idea how bad my monitor was with its settings of colour and contrast.  Originally when I uploaded the image to the computer I would edit it to ensure the colours matched the original artwork.  Well as you can see in a moment my monitor was way off the mark.

Before                  ------------>                         After

So take a moment and look at the images on your computer screen.  If you are selling products, make a note of what part of your photographs may be inhibiting sales.  Realise that you'll never be perfect and you can always improve.  If you are a customer, or just someone who enjoys browsing the web - is your monitor calibrated?  Are you really seeing what you think you are seeing?