Markers for fine art look.

Afternoon dreams of spring is my latest artwork for my print on demand portfolio.  Done in about an hour and a half.  I did this time lapse video to show the drawing process.

I used a small sketchbook and crayola markers that I picked up for under 20$ for a 100 colors.  I started with a simple doodle and just went till I had the whole page colored.  Virtually no forethought. After I photographed it, I ran it through legacy topaz software called impression to give it paint stroke effects and texture.  Then i saved it at the print size.  Photographing artwork really frees up your material choices.  You are not worried about lightfastness or longevity so you can use the more affordable materials.  I am on a tight budget so 100 pack of fine art markers would be way more than I can afford right now.  Paper can also be small, I'm using a 5x7 sketchbook.  If you put the options on preserve details 2 in photoshop when adjusting the size, it does a good job interpolating it up to print marketplace sizes nowadays.  five or ten years ago you needed a separate program for enlargement.  It helps i start out with a large photograph image from a newer phone.  I use iphone 12.  This method gives a product good to be printed on fabric up to 60 inches, and prints on paper, metals, acrylic, canvas at about 24x36 without really getting fuzzy or pixelated. 

All the print shops used to rage against enlarging your images, but there is really no camera out there taking them at the size requested for blankets for instance.  Running the base image through a textured canvas, or paint stroke filter adds micro level details before it gets blown up and helps you to avoid fuzzy patches.  There are a few places that reject almost any fuzziness.  So be careful not to go so large you get blurry.  Its hard to tell because they want images much larger than our screens for duvet covers and yoga mats.  Nine times out of ten it will look fine and intentional once blown up.  Just dont plan on releasing a 40x40 inch metal print of a phone photograph without using a real enlargement software program form somewhere like Topaz or Exposure. I rarely sell huge prints, but i do occasionally sell a 24x36.  I have purchased my own work at this size and it turned out beautifully.  The fabric items like curtains, duvet covers and such, really allow the flat patches of color to look intentional. So get out there and try different mediums and don't be afraid to photograph and enlarge. 

For uploading compress at 8 or 9, the highest lossless compression for jpg.  Then you will almost always come in under the file size limits at all the print houses.  Remember to set the dpi to around 200 before you resize by unchecking the box in the size dialogue and retyping 200.  This will help you maintain a print ready portfolio as well as help you remember what sizes you can go up to when reading the pixel number. Remember to easily remove photograph shadows by selection with lasso and area; feathering by about 75px and then adjusting the brightness.  Get a good even lit image even with quick photography.  Get creative with your print on demand images.