mega holiday gift guide

polka dot elephants serving us pie

Hey! It's getting to be that time of year again when we are looking for gifts and nice things for the people we care about (including ourselves). So I thought I'd put together a roundup of some of the many things I've got available around the internets.

SIGNED PRINTS at SHOP.MARCJOHNS.COM

They're 8x10 inches, $20 each, and signed and packed by the artist (that's me).
Lots of new ones and plenty of old favourites. Over 70 different prints available.

To receive signed prints by Christmas, please order before...
Canada: Dec. 13th
USA: Dec. 12th
Africa: too late, I'm afraid :(
Rest of the world: Nov. 30th 

Check out my wrapping paper backgrounds...

 

Jeffrey was fed up

don't forget to play

 

TOTE BAGS at SOCIETY6

BONUS!! Free worldwide shipping on almost anything from Society6 until Monday Nov. 26th.

IPHONE CASES + SKINS at SOCIETY6


PILLOWS at SOCIETY6


T-SHIRTS + HOODIES at SOCIETY6


FRAMED PRINTS + ENLARGED PRINTS at SOCIETY6

See my review of the quality of Society6 prints. They're really nice!


TEMPORARY TATTOOS at TATTLY


A NEW BOOK!

Okay, that's plenty. Happy shopping!

Society6 review

I've been offering many of my drawings as iPhone & iPod cases, prints, t-shirts, and more through Society6 for a little while now. I've ordered a few things myself, so I thought I'd share with you a little review.

A quick summary: the iPhone & iPod skins and prints are terrific. The t-shirts are good, but might not be what you expect.

society6-screen.jpg

You can get prints (some as big as 28x34 inches), stretched canvases, framed prints, iPod & iPhone skins, iPhone cases, laptop and iPad skins, t-shirts, hoodies, and even greeting cards. I haven't ordered from every category, but here's what I've seen so far.

iPhone & iPod skins

I ordered one of these as a gift for my father-in-law's iPod (4th generation). They're $15 each. When you receive it in the mail, it looks like a glorified sticker. Once it's on your device, it looks slick:

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I haven't ordered an iPhone case, because, well, I don't have an iPhone (or any smartphone, for that matter. I'm pretty low-tech. See VHS cassettes below). But loads of people (like 60 or 100 or so) have ordered one, and they tell me they like 'em.

Prints

I ordered the 17x20 inch print of one real antler, one imagined. Society6 adds about an inch of space all the way around, so I had to trim it to fit it in a 16x20 frame. This is especially handy if you live outside of North America, and your standard frame sizes are probably different and measured in centimeters. The extra space gives you flexibility to trim down to whatever frame you have.

The print quality is amazing. It's terrific. I know my artwork very well (obviously) and I can tell you that their prints are accurate and crisp. And the paper is lovely and thick and soft and lightly textured.

Here's some pictures. The large prints come shipped in a big tube, so they are curled a bit and need to be flattened, hence the VHS boxes holding it down:

society6-print4-470.jpg

Here's some close-ups:

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I put it in this simple 16x20 inch frame:

society6-print3-470.jpg

I tend to make small drawings, so it's fun for me to see my work enlarged. I often get asked for larger reproductions, and Society6 has been a great solution for this.

(If you want a signed print, you'll have to order one from my own shop: http://shop.marcjohns.com)

T-shirts

I ordered the fish with beard t-shirt, and I like it. However, if you like your t-shirts to have that crisp, plastic-y screenprinted quality, you'll be disappointed. The print on this shirt is soft, and almost has a slightly faded quality to it. Maybe bolder artwork would read differently. I don't mind this soft quality, and I think it's appropriate for my watercolour drawings. I hope I'm describing this properly; I just want you to know what these shirts are like, so that if you order one you'll know what to expect.

beard-fish-tshirt-470.jpg
beard-fish-tshirt2-470.jpg

Society6 recently announced that you can print your artwork on dark shirts (you couldn't before), which means they'll print a white undercoat before laying down the artwork. I haven't ordered one yet, but I bet this will make shirt prints that look a bit more like screenprinting.

Okay, that's it. Now go shopping.

custom drawings of objects reading books

UPDATE: I'm not doing these anymore. It was super fun for a while, but it wasn't sustainable. I hope to develop another custom order format, so stay tuned!

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You pick the object and the book, and I'll draw it. That's right. I'll draw whatever object reading whatever book you want, and I'll paint it too, all on a nice 8x10 inch piece of acid-free watercolour paper.

Order one here.

After I made the original series of objects reading books, I started thinking about creating custom versions. Books are such a personal thing, and if you get to choose what the object and the book is, well, you end up with a bit of an interesting portrait. It could be a nice gift.

This is the first time I've offered to do personal commissions. I've stayed away from doing them in the past, mostly because I simply haven't had the time or I'm worried they don't work out as well as I'd like (I worry a lot). But making them in a format like this works for me.

More details about ordering custom drawings

See more drawings of objects reading books.

 

All this stuff, I made for you

In the spirit of Holiday gift guides and such, this is pretty much everything available for sale with my drawings on them. I made it all for you.

Original Drawings

Selection varies, as the drawings tend to sell rather quickly. Check the shop often, sign up for the shop newsletter and/or follow me on twitter to get the latest updates. (I've been busy with some commissions and upcoming exhibitions, so there hasn't been much in the online shop. I hope to remedy that very soon)


Signed Prints

8x10 inch signed prints, just $20 each. This is one of the first things I ever sold on the internet. If you haven't visited the shop in a while, you should, right now. I've got some new ones available, including I'm a bit shy, if you were a chair and if you can read this it's probably windy. Yes, I really do sign them all myself, and I pack and ship them too (sometimes with the help of my 9 year old son).

Books

Not many of these left, so get one or two while you can. Most online booksellers are out of stock, but The Book Depository has it, and they ship for free internationally. Find out more about the book, or just buy in here.


T-shirts

Printed and fulfilled by the almighty Spreadshirt. There are some new designs, including stop the bad music and what to focus on, as seen below. See all the t-shirts available.

Temporary Tattoos

By now you've probably already heard about these fun little non-committal tats from Tatt.ly. Because they're so darn fun! See all the designs available.


iPhone and iPod skins and cases

I get asked for iPhone skins on a regular basis, so I finally set up shop on Society6. They do iPod and iPhone skins and cases, as well as prints. I'll get to their prints in a moment...

Framed prints, large prints

I've been wanting to offer larger prints, and framed ones as well, and now they're here. For example, you can now get a 28 x 34 inch print of Beard Octopus. That's a pretty big beard/octopus. You can also get nice looking framed prints too, like the ones below. Shop for (unsigned) prints, framed and unframed. (they do stretched canvases too! I know, it's all quite overwhelming.)

MiniCards

MiniCards from Moo.com - they're like little calling cards. They're smaller than a business card, so they stand out in their own little way. Get a set customized with your own contact information from the US or UK sites.

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Well that's it. Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to produce in the comments below, or send me an email. I'm always open to suggestions.

I used to be against the idea of offering merch with my drawings on it. I just didn't want it to become my focus, and end up makng drawings specifically for t-shirts and such. But I soon realized that for many, it's a preferred, and possibly intimate way of bringing art into one's life.

new prints

If you haven't visited the shop in a while, well you should, because there are a number of new prints to see. Here's a sampling:

Complicated bicycle. Framed prints look more sophisticated when they are on top of a stack of art books.

 

Rainbow types. Vintage housewares add credibility. Choose something colourful to compete with the six rainbows.

 

The spherical bear. The light was quite lovely on the dish rack, so I just couldn't resist.

 

You anchor me. And a stack of art books. Sexy.

 

Fuck art, let's be hedge fund managers. Looks extra edgy on our dilapitated brick chimney.

Have a look at all the new prints in the shop.

This charming message in the last print above of a post-it note drawing was inspired by the boom times of the art world, shortly before the great 2008 Wall Street crash. I kept reading articles on C-Monster about the frenzy at art fairs where the nouveau riche (mostly hedge fund managers and other grossly compensated folks from dodgy professions) were chomping at the bit to invest their newly amassed fortunes in contemporary art. The galleries and artists seemed all too keen to cater to them, to the point where I thought, why bother being an artist if the main goal is to make money from hedge fund managers? Why not just become a hedge fund manager?

It also echoes that doubt we all have as artists, where we ask ourselves, why am I doing this? I could be making waaaay more money doing something else. But of course the alternative, e.g. being a hedge fund manager, when we really think about it, isn't really an option. (By the way, if you're a hedge fund manager and enjoy what you do, I am thrilled. I'm glad there are people who are willing and able to do those kinds of jobs so I don't have to. And you should buy this print too).

Time to go print shopping

T-shirts!

T-shirts of my drawings are now available! I am super excited to finally offer some of my drawings on shirts in a little shop set up using Spreadshirt.

Below is my 5 year old son, wearing his favorite slingshot shirt. It's been washed at least a half dozen times, and the design has held up really well.

Visit the t-shirt shop and have a look around. Everything is just on tees for now, but I'll add long sleeve things and such. Let me know if there's something in particular you'd like to see.

(I tried out a number of different t-shirt services, and there are actually a few good ones out there, so it was hard to choose. Spreadshirt is working out pretty well.)

Prints are available again!

Finally! Some of my favorite drawings are now available as prints in my shop for $20 each. That's right, 20 bucks gets you a fine reproduction of one of my drawings, signed and everything. Even some of my post-it note drawings have been made into prints.

I was so excited to finally offer prints again, that we thought we'd do a photo shoot of sorts. I say "we", because it was mostly my wife's idea. Full credit goes to her for the fine details around the house. After taking these pictures, we both decided that if this art thing doesn't work out, we might have a future working on Restoration Hardware or Anthropologie catalogs.

Go get yourself some art for 20 bucks.

I used to offer prints, but I quit about 9 months ago. So why did I stop? Because it became one of those things that took up all my time to maintain. Too much packing and shipping, and not enough drawing. But enough people kept asking for prints, that I decided to bring them back. Not everyone can afford to buy original drawings, and I'd like to keep my art accessible. I know there are other ways to offer reproductions without having to do all the work, through various partnerships and providers. And I may still explore that route — there are some good people to work with out there. But for now, I want to keep a direct connection between me and you.