Weekly Wrap-Up #3!

Welcome to my 3rd weekly wrap-up! Thanks so much for following along and keeping up to date with everything that's going on my with artwork. This was a wonderful week! It's getting even colder here and the leaves are starting to change into brilliant shades of red, orange and gold. This time of year just makes me so happy! I spent most of my week working on my commissioned piece, but I have several things to tell you about below!

New Stamp Set From Sweet Pea Stamps

Sweet Pea Stamps is the company that licenses my artwork for rubber stamps and they have released my second set! This set includes Arden the forest fairy, Valencia the gothic mermaid, Neva the Christmas angel and Kiandra the harvest mermaid. This set is available for pre-order and guess what...it's on sale! The whole sheet (all four images)is on sale for only $14.50 (regular price is $18.00). The set will begin shipping on November 3rd.

The rubber stamps are sold on one sheet, unmounted. Soon they will be available individually. My first set, Cassia, Telsa, Ryla and Elana are now sold separately as well as together on one sheet.

I just love these rubber stamps! I just got my first sample set in the mail and the quality is amazing. The best thing about these rubber stamps is that you can sell what you make with these! My full angel policy is listed on the Sweet Pea Stamps site.

Dryad Commission

I am all done with my latest painting! This was a commissioned piece from a super sweet client who wanted a dryad. No prints or products will be available of this piece, nor will I be submitting it to any of my licensing companies, but I thought you all might enjoy seeing the finished creation!

This was my first ever dryad. I have been wanting to create one for a long time, but I just haven't been able to find the time, so this was a fantastic opportunity! This was a very challenging piece for me. I try to push myself to try new things on each painting that I create. For this piece I tried out some stippling foliage techniques in the background. I also tried a new wood grain pattern on the tree. The tree terrified me at one point because I didn't think I would be able to pull it off, but in the end I am very happy with how it turned out! I got to a point where it looked good, but wasn't quite there yet, but I was afraid to make anymore changes to it because I had spent hours and hours painting tiny lines. But I finally got brave enough to add some darker colors and I'm so glad that I did! I hope you all enjoy this piece. =)

I also wanted to take this time to tell you all about my commissions! I love doing commissioned pieces, because I think it's so fun to make someone's vision come to life. I create all different sizes (from ACEO all the way up to 11x14) and can also alter the rights of the image to suit your needs. I paint mainly watercolor, but also have experience in acrylic or digital if you prefer those mediums. I have custom paintings listed on my website which are three different basic sizes (ACEO, 5x7 and 8x10). But you can always contact me if you have any questions or if you have something else in mind.

Vacation - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Lastly, I wanted to let you all know that I will be going on vacation next week!! My husband and I are going to celebrate our one year anniversary (and Halloween) in Orlando, Florida at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! It's probably no surprise from all my witch artwork that I LOVE Harry Potter! I've read the books multiple times and I've watched the movies more times than I can count (mostly when I'm painting!), so to be able to walk around the world of Harry Potter is an opportunity I would never pass up!

That means that I will be putting both my eBay and my Etsy stores on vacation mode starting the morning of Wednesday, October 27th until we return on Monday, November 1st. So if you'd like to purchase anything before then, make sure you do it by Tuesday night! Wednesday will be the last day that I'm shipping, so make sure that you have your payments in by then. Feel free to purchase from my website while I'm gone, but orders will not ship until Tuesday.

I'm sure I will have lots of pictures to share with you all when I get home!! Have a wonderful week and a Happy Halloween everyone!

Weekly Wrap-Up #2!

Hello everyone! This is my second edition of my weekly wrap-up. This week has been a wonderful week! I have been enjoying the beautiful fall weather and working on my latest commissioned painting.

The commission is taking up a lot of my time, but I hope to have it finished next week. I've completed the background at this point and I'm ready to move on to the foreground. It's a dryad piece, so I really pushed myself on the background to create fun textures and foliage effects...something I've never really done before! My customer has purchased full rights to the painting, so unfortunately there will be no prints available, but I hope to be able to show you the final painting when it's all finished.

Unfortunately, due to the commission, I don't have as many things to show you as I did last week. But I still have lots to tell you about!

CILM - Image Packs

CILM (Creative Image Licensing and Management) is a company I'm licensed with for tubed images. For those of you who don't know, tubed images are digital images of my artwork with the backgrounds removed. This allows you to create really fun graphics that you can use on Facebook, Myspace and give to friends as e-cards...all sorts of things!

CILM has released 3 new tube packs of mine and they are all Halloween related images...just in time for the holiday!! These packs are available for only $5 each. You can also buy them individually or buy them all together in a combo pack at a reduce price!

Package 10 - Kalei, Morissa and Rowenia - Available here!

Package 11 - Adrianna, Kamaria and Kiandra - Available here!

Package 12 - Leah, Rhea and Calista - Available here!

Below is an example of what you can create with these image packs. This is a tag created by the very talented Claire. She has taken my Telsa image and added other lovely elements to create this wonderful piece!

Sabrina Products are Now Available

I also wanted to let you all know that Sabrina products are now available in my Etsy store! Sabrina is a very fun mermaid piece that I told you all about last week. Now you can purchase many different products with her image on them!

Sabrina Prints (ACEO, 5x7", 8x10") - Available Here!

Sabrina Stickers - Available Here!

Sabrina Magnets - Available Here!

 Sabrina Buttons - Available Here!

Sabrina Pocket Mirrors - Available Here!

 

Sabrina Printable Coloring Page - Available Here!

New Witch Sketch - Naming Contest

I have also finished my latest sketch! She is a really cute witch inside a pumpkin. She's in a pumpkin patch surrounded by jack-o-lanterns, spooky trees, an owl and an adorable kitty. I will be working on this piece after I wrap up my commission.

The most fun thing for you all is that I'm having a naming contest! Every time I finish a sketch, I host a naming contest. Everyone can suggest names (as many as you'd like!) for my new sketch. Meanwhile, I'm usually working on creating what I call the "clean line" version. This is when I take my sketch into Photoshop and clean up the lines using the pen tool. This version then gets transferred onto my watercolor paper. Whenever I post the "clean line" version, I will announce the name I selected! The person who suggested that name will win a 5x7" print of the finished piece.

Feel free to post your names here or you can also visit my Facebook page and post them there.

I hope you all like my new sketch! The original sketch has already been sold, but the original painting will soon be available for purchase as well. I can't wait to start working on it!

Weekly Wrap-Up #1!

Hi everyone! I am going to start doing weekly wrap-ups to talk about all the new things that I have going on each week. I will try to post them on Saturday or Sunday and highlight everything from the previous week.

This past week was a very exciting week! I have two new paintings to show you, brand new art supplies to talk about, a new sketch I'm working on and a new licensed product: rubber stamps!

Sabrina - New Mermaid Painting

First off, I want to show you a brand new painting that I finished last week. This was commissioned by someone who wanted a fall mermaid, sitting by a pond with a German Shepherd. She wanted a lot of fall details in the background. I had so much fun working on this piece, because fall is my favorite time of the year, so I tried to put in so many fun fall details like the mushrooms, pumpkins and leaves swirling in the background.

I tried out a lot of new techniques on this piece (new for me anyway!). I used a new technique on the fence to make it look more like aged wood. I did this by painting light brown first, then I took a very dark brown (almost black) and painted it on top and quickly removed some of the pigment with a napkin. I tried to leave most of the pigment on the outer edges. I also tried a new technique on the scales to make them look more shimmery. I used many different shades of orange to create the final look. This was also my first attempt at making actual fur. Of course it is supposed to be somewhat stylized as my overall "look" to my paintings is stylized realism. I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out!

The original is not available, because it was a commissioned piece, but I will soon have it available on prints and products including coloring pages! So stay tuned for that.

Lilith - New Fairy and Frog ACEO

My next new painting is a cute little treasure! Her name is Lilith and she's an ACEO. She measures only 2.5x3.5 inches. Her face is about as big as a dime! She is a fall fairy in brilliant shades of green, yellow, orange and red. She is painted with her little frog fairy friend who flew into her hand. I'm sure they will be best friends from now on. There are also cute little mushrooms in the bottom corner to finish the piece.

The original Lilith is available for purchase on Etsy here!!

Purchase My Original Sketches

Another fun thing I decided to start doing is to sell my original sketches! I have a whole collection of these from my very first painting up until my latest one. I have always loved sketches. I think they have such an energy and life to them that finished paintings sometimes do not have. Because of this, I have started to list my old sketches for a very low price! Most of them are going to be available for $15 and will even include an ACEO of the finished piece. But keep in mind, they are sketches not finished drawings! They definitely have smudges and messy lines. I have two currently available:

Original Lilith Sketch + ACEO is available on Etsy here!!

Original Rosalie Sketch + ACEO is available on Etsy here!!

New Licensed Product - Rubber Stamps

My artwork will now be available on rubber stamps through Sweet Pea Stamps! I'm very excited about this new product and I hope you will be too!

Sweet Pea Stamps will be releasing several new images of mine as rubber stamps every month and she's taking pre-orders for my first set right now. You can pre-order them here! They are scheduled to ship on October 12th. The first set includes Cassia, Telsa, Ryla, and Elana. They are sold unmounted on one sheet approx. 7"x9".

The best part is, you can sell whatever you create with these! You can make cards and all sorts of other crafts! My page has my complete "Angel Policy" listed.

I hope you all will enjoy these as much as I do!! As always, if you any questions, please let me know! =)

New Witch Sketch

I have started a brand new witch sketch! It has been a loooong time since I've painted a witch and I was hoping to be able to find the time to get her finished before Halloween. Halloween is my favorite time of the year and I tend to paint Halloween related paintings year-round. This new sketch is going to be a cute little witch inside of a pumpkin. There will be various jack-o-lanterns around, a barn owl and a few cats and spooky trees.

Make sure to follow me on Facebook (just search for Nikki Burnette - It's just a normal Facebook page - not a fan page). I will be posting my updates with the sketch and once the sketch is finished I will be having my naming contest. I do these for every sketch! I post the sketch and have people come up with name suggestions. After the painting is done, I choose a winning name. The person who suggested it wins a 5x7" print of the finished piece. So make sure to come join in on the fun on Facebook!

 

New Art Supplies

I also wanted to tell you all that I got some new art supplies last week! I actually ordered them a few weeks ago and were anxiously awaiting them to arrive. I ordered them from Cheap Joes, my usual go-to online art store. I got two new sets of Yarka St. Petersburg watercolor pan paints. I purchased the original and the sequel set. I am in love with these watercolors!! They are so creamy, smooth and vibrant. Just the smallest amount of pigment creates such a beautiful wash. Lilith was my first creation with the watercolors, but I hope to create more soon! I also purchased a set of Faber-Castell watercolor pencils. I haven't tried these out yet, but I'm excited to do so!

Below is a picture of my old, very used, messy palette, and to the right of that are my brand spankin' new, clean beautiful sets!! I just love them. =)

Well that's it for this week's Weekly Up-Date! Thanks so much for stopping by and reading. =)

Hello and Welcome!

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog! My name is Nikki Burnette and I'm a fantasy artist! I paint all sorts of fantastical creatures in watercolor. I mostly paint witches, fairies, and mermaids, but I have been known to also paint dragons, vampires, unicorns and more! My art is licensed with a variety of companies and I also have my own line of products that I create myself and sell in various places.

I am going to start doing a weekly wrap-up in hopes of updating you all on all the fantastic things that I have going on each week. I'd like to post everything in one place, so that it's easy to find out about all my new paintings, products, sketches, releases, licensed products, updates and more!

Thank you so much for stopping by!