TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

By now you should have enough information to begin setting up your own Mobile, Independent, Artist Business. Last post I looked at pricing your art , this post I'll look at some of the pitfalls that can bring you unstuck or just slow your business down. This list is by no means exhaustive but it does cover issues that I've personally had to navigate running my own Artist Business.

Now that you have options for where to sell your art or make money from it ( Part A and Part B ), the question is how much do you charge for your art? Working out prices is one of the first questions new artists moving into a career often ask. There are many different approaches to pricing your art with many different factors to take into account. In this article I'll look at, what I think, is the simplest method to get you started with setting your prices from the point of view of running a business and earning enough to live on.

Last post I began describing a few Opportunities to make money from your art. This post I'll continue on with a few more ways. As mentioned previously this list is by no means exhaustive. I do not recommend any particular opportunity over another. Some I have personally tried whilst others I have discovered in the course of writing this article. You should do your own research to see if an opportunity is the right fit for your goals. The main purpose of presenting these opportunities is to simply broaden your knowledge of the many possibilities online for making money from your art. Just remember, whatever path you take is going to require hard work and dedication. There is no choosing an option and then sitting back to watch the money roll in. If there were such opportunities, those would be the only ones I'd recommend.

In my last post I looked at What to Create and Finding Your Market. This post is something of a natural follow on from finding your market as many of these money making opportunities include their own market places that you can research to see what kinds of themes and subjects sell best. It's worth doing this research to find out if the art you're already creating is a good fit for that market place - which is ideal - or if you may have to consider expanding your interests to cover popular themes in order sell in a particular market.

Fringe Benefit. Art by TET Last post I discussed legal issues and looking after you and your future. In this post I'll look at deciding what kind of art to create and give you ideas on how to find a market for it. In both areas there is no hard and fast rules for success. Much of the time it's just a case of testing the waters to see if what you create sells and then, if something seems to be taking off, capitalizing on it with follow up art that is similar. The good news is, successful sales are not a random occurrence. There are things you can do to help you find a market for what you create.

Last post I showed you how to get the most out of your artwork through creating variations. Now it's time to get back to the business side of your Mobile, Independent, Artist business. I'll be looking at some legal and personal healthcare items that you should consider. Please note that this article serves only to remind  you that these things need to be considered and is not intended to be legal advice. Laws and options vary from country to country so I will not be covering anything in too much detail. Do your own research in each area to see if it has relevance to your business.

Last post I showed you how to reproduce your traditional 2D art as a high quality digital file. Using the digital file you can create variations of that artwork with very little effort. For example, The Cage Monster artwork I created in previous posts was intended to be reproduced on the bottom of skateboards. With a little bit of color replacement magic in my photo editing software I can create versions of the same image with different background colors should a potential buyer not be a fan of the original color scheme.

Photographing Your Art Traditional artists need to be able to photograph their work, so it looks its very best, in order to sell it online. More than that, once you have a high quality digital image of your art, you can begin to use it as a basis for more versions of the same art. If you're a digital artist, you already have your work in digital format. Skip this step and move down to the heading  Preparing Digital Art for Print where I'll talk about image resolutions for printing.

The Cage Monster. Art by TET. Now that we've been through all the set up it's time to do some actual Art for your Mobile Independent Artist business. Once you've set up your equipment ( Part 1 ), Business Software ( Part 2 ), Creative Software ( Part 3 ), Website and Social media ( Part 4 ), you're ready to start creating art. There are still more business things to cover but that doesn't mean we can't start creating art now. In this section we'll look at documenting the creation of your art to share with your buyers as a way of keeping your audience engaged.

Now that you have all your Art Equipment ( Part 1 ), Business Software ( Part 2 ) and Creative Software ( Part 3 ) organised you're going to need a way to get your artwork online and seen by potential buyers. Selling your work over the internet is my main focus because this can be done from anywhere at any time. If you're producing traditional, hand made art (physical works such as a painting) and have always wanted to see your creations in real world galleries, by all means explore that option too. We'll look at this in more detail in a later post.

Creative Software In the previous post we looked at the less interesting but extremely important business software requirements of a Mobile, Independent, Artist Business. This post we'll look at the creative software that you'll need. This is not a definitive list. You may like a lot more tools at your disposal however I consider it to be the bare minimum. Note that a lot of creative software is sold bundled with other useful graphics software. It's worth taking a look at these deals to see if you can get the type of software you need, cheaper, as a package deal.

Software Last post I looked at all the essential hardware you'll need to start your mobile, independent artist business. Over the next three posts we'll look at all the software you'll need to familiarise yourself with in order to run your business and get your art online starting with business software. Following that I'll look at creative software and then social/marketing software.

The Mobile, Independent Artist Business Toolkit. Introduction Welcome to a new series of blog posts I'm embarking on that gets back to the roots of what this blog was first created for, discussing my own arts practice. A kind of behind the scenes look at what goes into creating my art. More than that, I'm planning to write a new book based on this series of posts, which are about how to set yourself up as an Independent Artist, able to work from anywhere with an internet connection. This series will look at what you need, how to set your business up, what opportunities there are to earn money, and how to keep it all going.

I'm certainly not the first person to predict the idea of immersive virtual worlds. Movies like Tron (1982) and The Lawnmower Man (1992) are two of the earliest popular culture references to the concept I can think of, off the top of my head. Then of course there is The Matrix (1999) where the VR world idea really hit the mainstream big time. However, back in early 2005, the practice of online shopping, with real money, for digital products in virtual worlds like Second Life  (which was more cutting edge back then) began to meld in my mind with the idea of corporations controlling that experience through marketing and advertising.

Julian Checkley in his record breaking Bat Suit. If anyone should hold the world record for most functional gadgets in a cosplay suit it's Batman. Not the actual Batman, whose suit is actually his work clothes and not cosplay, the honour goes to Batman Cosplayer, Julian Checkley.

It's been almost a year since I last wrote about my not so successful attempts at getting back to something that resembles my peak skateboarding abilities of the mid 1990's. I can say I've improved a bit but my confidence level is still pretty low. However my confidence has started to improve since I purchased Skateboarding Made Simple Vol 1: Master the basics of Skateboarding by Aaron Kyro.

Suicide Squad was marketed as a fun, fast paced, dynamic film and I think this may be part of the reason it hasn't done well with critics. It doesn't quite match the tone of the trailers, with exception to the the very first teaser trailer shown at San Diego Comic Con last year. That trailer matches the film's tone pretty closely. The actual movie, whilst it does contain some funny moments and some fast paced action, moves along at much slower pace than the trailers suggest, with a fair distance between each laugh. Whilst it does try to maintain the comic book style of the trailers as the main players are introduced, it kind of drops away into more conventional story telling as the film progresses.

We need a Jedi Temple in the Outback. August 9th is Australian Census night, the Australian Bureau of Statistics survey that, every five years, takes a snapshot of the country, finding out who we are, how old we are, what we do for a living and more... including what religion we identify with. The Atheist Foundation is running a social media campaign discouraging Australians from marking down their religion as 'Jedi' , a practice that started as a kind of joke but, since 2001's census has had over 70,000 (2001), 58,000 (2006), and 64,000 (2011) like minded people show their support on the census.

If you haven't seen Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice click the link to my spoiler free review . Then see the film before reading further. This isn't so much of a review but more of an addendum to my original review with some extra thoughts on the Ultimate Edition version of the film. Without a doubt the Ultimate Edition is the better cut of the movie over the theatrical cut. The extra 30 or so minutes do clarify some of what was missing in the theatrical release and generally helps the story flow a little better.

The 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters is probably best enjoyed if you take it as a movie that really is its own thing. Sure it has all the key elements from the original 1984 Ghostbusters in terms of logo and Ghostbusting hardware but overall it has a different feel that is less cynical with lead characters that aren't just female versions of their male counterparts. To draw an analogy it's kind of like Tim Burton's Batman (1989) compared to Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever (1995), both were pretty good movies but Joel's had a lot more neon and was more cartoon like. It had elements of Burton's style but clearly wasn't a Tim Burton film.

A giant tank of Chemicals for growing a drone plane. Technology Company, BAE Systems , believes that it'll soon be possible to 'grow' complete electronic systems like drone fighter planes in the lab using something called a 'Chemputer'. Some think that, if this technology becomes available, we're one step away from machines growing their own liquid metal, Terminator II style, robot armies.

Last Saturday (July 2nd) Australia voted for who they'd like to govern the country for the next four years. Apparently the eight week campaign leading up to polling day was one of the longest in Australian history. Media outlets complained of being tired of it but me, I barely noticed they were even campaigning. I mean, I saw all the TV ads and watched segments on the news shows I still watch but all of it was little more than background noise after the first week. Neither party had anything interesting to hang their platforms from.

Me Before You is not quite your average romantic drama given that the leading man is a quadriplegic. Which is only unusual in that there aren't too many films, if any, that spring to mind, where either leading character is completely dependant on others just to get through their day. Based on the book of the same name by Jojo Moyes. Me Before You sees former cafe waitress, Lou Clark (Emilia Clarke) hired to look after Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), who used to have the ultimate carefree and successful life before an unfortunate accident that left him a quadriplegic.

The Nice Guys  movie from writer/director Shane Black is a laugh out loud, comedy, crime, action drama that showcases its two leads, Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling not exactly against type but perhaps a little left of centre from what you might expect of them. Both play private detectives who are initially working opposite sides of the same case (kind of) but eventually come together as things become more complex.

I feel like I should review Stan Lee's graphic novel, Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir , with a couple of comic book pages rather than a wordy blog post... if only I had the time! Stan Lee is creator and co-creator of some of the most identifiable comic book characters on the planet and has probably had as much influence on the world (or even arguably more) through comic books and movies than Steve Jobs .

I'm neither an Apple sycophant nor a devoted fan of Steve Jobs. I've never personally bought an Apple product, though, over the years I have used or tried nearly all of Apple's most iconic products from the Apple II and the original Macintosh personal computers through to the various versions of the iPod, iPad and iPhone. So when I received Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson, a paperback tome of 568 pages, as a gift, I was some what sceptical that I'd make it all the way through.

Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Report. The Australian Government is currently searching for a location to build a nuclear waste storage facility where it can centrally and properly store the country's low and intermediate level nuclear waste. Presently it's eyes are set on South Australia as a possible location. The South Australian Government recently released the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission report looking into the feasibility of building such a facility within our state but going further and also looking at creating a commercial nuclear waste storage facility able to store spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants (High level waste).

I wasn't always on board as a Meryl Streep fan but these days, that's all it takes for me to go see a new Meryl Streep film. She's just that good, and is choosing roles that are clearly challenging, even for an actress with her experience. Not only that, she's also choosing interesting characters to play. Her title role of Florence Foster Jenkins is no exception.

Early reviews had many people saying that Captain America - Civil War is Marvel Studios best movie yet. Having only seen the film once I'm not sure if I would call it their best but it is certainly up there, in the crowded space of trying to draw a fine line between what makes one Marvel film better than another. If one of the things you liked most about Marvel's The Avengers movie was seeing superheroes going head to head with each other then Civil War is that turned up to eleven. Walking that other fine line between high stakes and humour in a way Marvel movies seemingly have perfected.

If you remember the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada, you may also remember Eddie the Eagle Edwards, Britain's only entrant in the ski jump event. You didn't particularly need to be an avid watcher of the whole games because Eddie made quite an impression at the time as someone who had no chance of winning but whose enthusiasm and determination was quite infectious. The movie, Eddie the Eagle is very loosely based on Eddie's life and the events leading up to the 1988 Winter Olympics.

ANZAC Centenary Memorial Walk, Adelaide SA. Australian's love to honour their war heroes and so they should. South Australia is no exception, with memorials to fallen soldiers in almost every town and city. Adelaide even has road bridges named after famous battles from the Vietnam war. ANZAC Day (April 25th) is the one day where we put all those war memorials to use in memory of all who served from World War I onward with parades and dawn services attended by thousands. Arguably, ANZAC day is more popular than it ever has been in Australia, with pilgrimages back to Gallipoli in Turkey now a thing that many Australians hope to do at least once. To see and attend services where it all began.

If the animals in The Jungle Book didn't speak like humans and simply acted exactly as you'd expect animals to act you'd be hard pressed not to believe you aren't actually looking at real animals. The CGI is that good. If that wasn't impressive enough, all the jungle environments are CGI too, however, to me at least, none of it felt like CGI at all. Everything feels very real - other than the fact the animals all talk like humans.

This book was given to me as a gift and I imagine that's how most people acquire their copy of How to Have a Very Bad Dog: 8 Proven Methods To Help You Raise and Ruin Your Pooch Deliberately and With Skill . Knock Knock is a publisher of witty books on various subjects and that is how I would describe this book's intention; witty. You'd expect this book to be filled with humorous cartoons, funny stories and crazy lists for how to have a very bad dog. A fun read to pass the time over a few lazy hours perhaps? However...

I first became aware of Flash Forward by Robert J. Sawyer  as the ill-fated  TV show of the same name, which I was enjoying immensely back in late 2009 until the first season went on hiatus for the televising of the 2010 Winter Olympic games. I  don't even recall if the remaining episodes were aired in Australia, I just heard that the show had been cancelled. I know I didn't see all 23 episodes and I really wanted to know how it ended so when I stumbled across the novel that the series was based upon in a bargain variety store I had to buy it.

Go and see this film. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is not deserving of the many negatively focused pre-release reviews it received. The movie will leave you wanting to see more of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in this particular incarnation - particularly if you were a fan of Man of Steel , which BvS is a direct continuation of. Let's start this review by reminding ourselves that this film is a history-making piece of cinema. It's the first time that not just two but three of the (arguably) most well known superhero comic book character icons on the planet have featured in the same live action film.

Sophia - friendlier than Trump? Hanson Robotics specializes in creating human-like, fully automated robot heads with their latest model, Sophia, looking more life-like than Donald Trump. Seriously, that's her in in the photo on the right (do I really need to say she's the one on the left?). Of the two which one would you trust more? Before you answer check out Sophia in action in the video below.

If you're a Maggie Smith fan then The Lady in the Van should not disappoint. This 'mostly true' tale tells the story of the time real life writer, Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings), crossed paths with a transient, homeless van lady, Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith), who eventually moved her van into his driveway for a number of years.

My partner, Enigma, and I recently decided to try Light n' Easy to replace all our daily meals in an effort to eat healthier (and not have to think at all about cooking evening meals). Enigma is about to embark on her third week of their full menu but I caved after one and opted just to get the dinners.

Boston Dynamics better not install lasers on their next generation Atlas, bipedal robot because that guy with the hockey stick is likely to be the first human toast of the predicted robot uprising.

I saw Eamon Evans book, Great Australian Urban Legends whilst looking for things to spend my Christmas gift vouchers on in a local department store and thought it might be a good purchase to help inspire some possible animation ideas with a more Australian flavor. I didn't really have time to give it proper consideration however the blurb on the back sounded promising so I decided to give it a go.