I decided I would try and do some testing with teespring. I’m testing out some of the wearable products and a tote bag. I did order one of shirts and found it was fine after washing. When I first got it I was concerned about the white ink that was not part of the design that was on the shirt. Once I washed it, it was fine.
Here is link to check out the products I’m testing. You do need to mark up from from what they have for starting price. I think personally their prices are a bit high.
I decided to take an animation course for an elective while working on my MFA. Best thing I could do and boy did it make more work hard! Animators work so hard. Here are 3 animations I posted on my Youtube Channel. I also have video tutorials for Adobe Software we used in class. Met some really nice fellow students in my class. They were so encouraging and provided some great tips! Stay tuned I interviewed some of them for my podcast. See below for the videos and please like and subscribe to my channel.
I worked on a cut paper illustration of a dragon reading to some kids and thought I would turn it into a coloring sheet for kids that are stuck at home and want something fun to color. I would like to make some other fun PDF activities in the future. Stay tuned!
Here is the link FUN STUFF. Click Download file to get your PDF to download.
I have used Teespring with my students to create their tshirt designs in graphic design class. I did not have access to screenprinting in my classroom. With virtual learning for many teachers this might be an option to include so students can purchase their designs and have it shipped to them. I find that as a graphic designer it is a good idea to vet the vendors you use.
Some things to consider with POD (Print on demand).
QUALITY
I never had time in the past to order a tshirt from Teespring before. I wanted to check their quality. The shirt was a black tshirt. I have a link for the Youtube video. There were stray marks of the white ink on the sleeve. I was concerned initially in my review. Once I washed it the white ink washed away. It was a bummer when I first took it out of the bag. I ordered the premium black shirt unisex. The ink on my logo design held up from the first and a second wash.
TURN AROUND TIME
How long did it take to get my order? 3 weeks. If you are ok with that then that is fine. If it is for your students that will be ok. If you have a student that wants to start it as a side business they should be aware of this. Then they understand if they get a customer complaint about the turn around time.
TEESPRING USER INTERFACE
The interface of Teespring is pretty simple to use. They have an option to buy for yourself or make products for sale. I was attracted by the ease of set up and that is why I used it with my students. I would make sure if you have them set up accounts during class space them out. I’m guessing their site wondered why are all these new users coming from 1 IP address. Are they bots?
In the end some of students did order tshirts and they told me they were pretty happy with the results. They do more then shirts I had a student order a phone case with their design.
#teespring #pod #printondemandsites #graphicdesignlesson #messyartteacher
Over the past several years I’ve been doing interviews of creatives about their art journey. It’s been a great learning experience and I’ve found out some great tips and resources. Season 5 is starting this Jan. 3, 2021 with Jamie Zollars, children’s book writher and illustrator.
Listen to the past interviews at My Creative Life Podcast. I have over 50 interviews.
I posted this Freebie on my TPT store for the holidays. If you are an elementary teacher and want your students to draw and tell a story this worksheet provides them with lines and a start of their drawing of Santa. Santa Story Worksheet.
PDF file is ready to use! Happy Holidays! Thanks for all of the support through the year!
Sincerely,
Messy Art Teacher
I just found a site that allows you to generate free Favicons for your website. If you aren’t sure what that is, it is the little icon that shows up in the tab in your browser window. It’s a mini logo for your website.
Here is a link to it. https://freefavicon.com/
Make sure you read so you don’t end up click on an ad.
I’m on wordpress and noticed they updated somethings here. Hmm. Ok so I made a pop-up card and this was fun! I used to do pop-up cards with my elementary art students. I wished I had done this with my graphic students. This could be a great lesson for illustration, elementary art. With elementary grades you have to do templates. It’s really easy, and I made them from cardstock. If you have volume of kids that is the way I would do it. I had a limit to the copies I could print in elementary. It just depends on your situation. It’s challenging and you get to cut stuff up. Here’s a video on the process I came up with after doing research on pop-up book artists.
Here’s videos from Matthew Reinharts Youtube Channel. Can I say he is amazing at pop-ups. So complex and fun! He’s channel has really easily used templates and shorter videos for the young ones. If you are an art teacher or you have kids at home these are great to do.
I’ve shot photos of all my students work or even my own art pieces. I’m not a photographer by trade, but I’ve had to teach the topic. Finding good video tutorials are really helpful. I recently invested in a DSLR camera for shooting images of my work. I’m posting this video tutorial that I found to be really helpful for tips for shooting the work. THIS IS NOT SPECIFIC TO A CAMERA BRAND. To learn how to use the specific Canon or Nikon etc you can find video tutorials separately from that. I used presets on my Nikon to try different White Balance settings. This video is pretty through and they have the challenge of shooting resin art pieces, so lots of glare. I think this tutorial gives you some wonderful tips for how to avoid glare. I was getting glare on some of the acrylic based pieces I was shooting. Happy photographing!
John Jensen in his studio working on a piece inspired by Japanese mythology.
I had the opportunity to visit the studio of John and Linda Jensen. They are two generous art professors and fine artists. I have to say the put the “FINE” in fine arts. Truly fine people. Both are highly prolific creators in their own discipline. John Jensen is a ceramic artist. During my art education classes at Armstrong Atlantic State University I was required to take ceramics. Armstrong is now know as Georgia Southern University (GSU). I am so glad I did. He not only taught me a great deal about ceramics, but as teacher creating a great classroom culture. When you walk into his class you see a diversity in the age and abilities of the students and he encourage and teaches in a way that connects with each person. That’s really hard to do as a teacher. His classroom had a zen like quality to it, and it made you want to spend as much time as possible in the studio learning. Mr. Jensen ceramic pieces vary from thrown pieces that are delicately carved to full-size sculptures memorializing his friends and family members. He is constantly experimenting and even motorizing movement in some of his pieces.
Ceramic pieces by John Jensen.
Linda Jensen in her studio and one of her pieces in progress.
Mrs. Linda Jensen is a photographer and retired art professor. She has taught art education and photography classes at GSU. I can only describe her work as beautiful ethereal photographic mixed media pieces. She has a collection of beads in every imaginable color. She has carefully experimented and perfected her materials and techniques to create these icons of her former students, family, and friends. My photographs do not do justice to the colors in the original pieces.
Mrs. Jensen’s piece Theone Karatassos a portrait of a student,
and photos of inside her studio space.
I decided to release both their interviews, because I couldn’t decide who to go with first. They are both such facinating artists in their own right. Their journey to becoming artists and teachers was amazing to listen to. Looking at their work gives the viewer a glimpse into their minds and hearts, and this is something I feel like I would want to explore more in my own work.
Here is his webpage on the Savannah Clay Community to see more of his art.
Savannah Clay Community John Jensen
New Georgia Encyclopedia
To see more of Linda Jensen’s work visit
Lens Culture
Article about both their work.
Inkwell
Listen to their inteviews on My Creative Life.
Thanks you for listening!
I finally finished this video that shows you a basic overview of using the IPEVO Cam and their Visualizer Software. I used this quite a bit for teaching my classes.
I noticed in the FB group I’m in that there were some questions about this. It’s relevant to know these terms:Â trim, bleed, live area, and gutter. It’s really important as an illustrator that you provide your client with the correct file size. I created this video to help explain the terms.
Mrs. Miller - Messy Art Teacher Blog 