I guess it is time to get serious with my Napkin Art blog.  I have 110 hits now on it, so somebody must be looking at it.  Or maybe it is just counting the number of times I have viewed this blog, I don't know.  That is probably the case, but it doesn't matter, because all I need is that little number at the top of the blog to keep going up.  It doesn't matter to me who looks at it, even me.  Over time, hits on all of my blogs may translate into real world cash, and that is all I care about.
     Anyway, it is a good day.  I went to the cafe, had my coffee, did some painting, got ignored by everybody there, did some writing, and had a good time.  Now I got more coffee being brewed here, I got a full day ahead, and life is good.
     One sec, brb,...I'm checking on how my coffee is....

     Ahhh...my coffee is awesome.  I love coffee, and I drink it all day.  I guess I am a coffee achiever.  I really didn't start being prolific until coffee came into my life.  It gave me the buzz I needed to get going.  I guess my grandmas got me into coffee.  They both drank it, and it smelled so good, I would go out and buy coffee ice cream.
     I wish that I had started drinking coffee in high school, that would have been rad to sit there in class with coffee all day.
     I made up for that in college.

     What a life I've had, but that is another subject.

     I might as well show some napkin art, since that is what this blog is about.

     Here is another typical example of a napkin art set-up at the cafe.  I use all the available space that I can, and fill up the table and seating area with my work.  I paint them, then I wait for them dry, and then I pack it all up, and go home.

     Here is a picture of some of my Star Wars napkin art...

     This could be the subject of a whole blog in and of itself, since everybody loves Star Wars,....well,..most people do.  I certainly do, so fuck it if other people don't.  I like what I like.  Anyway, Star Wars napkin arts have been one of my biggest sellers.  I can't make enough of them.  I've sold three Yodas, Darth Vaders, and Death Stars, so I have my work cut out for me.  I will do all the characters that I can.


     Anyway, here is the story of my napkin art...On December 31, I was sitting there at the bar on New Year's Eve wondering how to make this year different.  My job at the ballpark wasn't going well, and it was seasonal, and I needed a job I could do every day, and make money with every day.  So I just said, "Hey, I'll do napkin art.  It's portable, and I'll do something different...I'll slap acrylic paint on it."
     I immediately began drawing on the napkins, and I drew people at the bar, and I made money right away.  So the next day, I began, by bringing in my paints, and it's been history ever since.  I've had some good sales over the last eight months.  Who knew that I could make a living doing napkin art?  If I knew it would have been this good, I would have done it twenty years ago.  I didn't know.
     Anyhow, that is basically the story.
     They are painted on cocktail napkins, which already have a little bit of plastic in them to make them sturdy and strong.  Then, I start with thin layers of paint, and I build up the paint over time.  Some of the pieces I can produce in ten minutes by just 'going for it'.  Others I work on a little bit at a time, over a long period of time.
     The pricing took a while to decide on what it should be.  $5 a piece came out to be a good figure.  I tried having different prices for them, but it just didn't work, and made it all complicated.  It is so much easier just to have one price, then I don't have to haggle with people, which is a pain.  Plus, most people only have an extra five bucks to spend on art...so that is how I work it.



     Anyway, some nights are good, some are bad.  I go out every night.  Last night I made $0.  My best night was $185 in one night.  I will go out tonight, and try again.  I honestly don't know how it will be, it just depends on who is there, and if they are in the mood for my work, and if I'm in the mood to sell to them.  There are lots of factors in a bar.  My whole napkin art situation is a crap shoot to begin with.  It is a risk to put myself on the line like that, but if I don't do it, who will?  Trust me, there ain't nobody looking out for my ass in this town.  Regrettably, I have to do the whole she-bang myself.  It would be nice if I had a pretty girl sitting there to help me sell.  I'm not always the most pleasant person to deal with, since I'm usually in work mode.  I've been told that I look pissed off when I work...haha.  Well, that is just because I'm serious about what I do, and I've been at this art business for a long, long time.



     Well, thanks for reading.  If I see that people are interested in this blog, I'll put up more entries.  Well, actually, the truth is that I will put up more entries whether people look at my work or not.  Sometimes people don't know what is good for them until they see it, especially with art.  It is an ego move, but if I don't put my work out there, nobody will ask me to.  I've been ignored for most of my life about my artwork, so I'm at the point now that I have to shove it in people's faces, otherwise, they won't look at it at all.  That's just how the world is.  Sad, but true.


     Ideally, it would be great if people said, "Hey David, how is the artwork?  Got any new stuff I can buy right now?"
     It just doesn't work that way.