Space Art by Christopher Doll

Category: Space Art Store

  • Fine Art Prints & Weekly Livestream Giveaways

    Fine Art Prints & Weekly Livestream Giveaways

    Hello everyone, and I hope you are all doing well during our ongoing pandemic battle wherever you are. We have been making the most of our time in isolation, making improvements in the art studio so we can offer you more SPACE ART!

    The Latest Addition to the Space Art by Christopher Doll Studios

    Last October we found a great commercial-grade printer for the studio. We are now offering our own line of archival prints in-house. This is a capability I have wanted for a long time, and I am excited to now have the ability to run large prints on multiple mediums.

    It’s also a fantastic tool to help me with my own artwork and illustrations.

    The New Printer in the studio (please pardon the mess)

    The printer is very large and it took us a bit more effort to physically move it into our studio space than we’d expected. Once in place, and after the expected fiddling with network settings and color profiles I manged to run the first test print.

    Test Print – John Berkey’s The Visitors

    Some of you may recognize the John Berkey painting, The Visitors. It’s long been one of my favorite paintings by John Berkey and I chose this one as the first test run. A while back I happened to find an excellent image of it and while it required a bit of careful up-sizing to match the original size, the print is phenomenal. I once saw the original on display at Paul Allen’s Science Fiction Museum in Seattle (around 2002 or so) and I always wanted to see it up close and at its original scale – for my own study only.

    NOTE: Just to be clear, this is a test print for studio use only. I will not be printing or selling any other artists’ work, just my own.

    I will be adding print options to many of my pieces in the Space Art Store. And if you are interested in a print of my work that isn’t posted, drop me a line!

    Livestream Giveaways!

    To celebrate the new printer I will be giving away a free full-size print of some of my artwork on my Twitch Livestream. To enter the giveaway, just join me this coming Wednesday 6pm PST. One of the lucky viewers will win a print of my painting, Approaching a Derelict.

    Approaching a Derelict – 16″ x 20″

    This painting was done live on my Twitch stream and was well received as one of the fan favorites. Click on the link below to go to my Livestream. Hit the Follow button for notification on when I go live.

    Join me Live on Twitch, Wednesdays 6pm PST

    No purchase is necessary, just join me on the stream.

    It is free to sign up on Twitch, and once you have a Twitch account you can follow my channel there.

    The print is roughly a $50 value and will be shipped in a tube.

    Thank you all for your support and I hope to see you online!

  • New in the Store, and Site Changes

    New in the Store, and Site Changes

    Welcome back to Space Art by Christopher Doll! Earlier this summer I switched hosting providers for the first time in almost ten years. This meant moving three sites – this one, Doll House Baked Goods, and Breaking Fitts’s Law. And now, after over two months, they are finally back to operating somewhat normally.

    The new hosting provider has been superior but the move wasn’t entirely painless. For all of my sites I’ve had to rebuild the themes from the ground-up. Fortunately the core themes I used functioned just fine so it was merely a matter of remembering the changes I made years ago, and then implement them in a better fashion. This involved far more days of behind-the-scenes coding than I’d anticipated, which was irritating at best. Bit it was worth it, all of my sites now have full-on SSL security, unlike those on my previous server.

    New in the store

    I’ve added a lot of new paintings to the store, and improved the experience overall from my previous version. Mostly I’ve added recent works, and almost all of the paintings from my Livestream on Twitch. This Fall there will be a bunch of new things just in time for the holiday so stay tuned!

    Fracture – Recurring Dreams

    New Galleries

    In addition to the store changes, I’ve added two new galleries – As Seen on Twitch.tv, which features all of the paintings from my livestream. There’s more to be added each week so stay tuned!

    I’ve also added a separate gallery for all of my Folksbier Brauerie paintings. They feature a number of fun, dreamlike explorations and I felt they deserved their own corner.

    Painting from “As Seen on Twitch.tv”
    Painting from “Folksbier Brauerie”

    Continuing Fixes

    While the site has been updated I’ve noted that a lot of older pages have lost their image links. I am fixing these as I find them so if you run into a page that is just blank with some text, please bear with me. Mostly this seems to have occurred on my oldest entries. I will try to fix them as I find them.

    Project Updates

    While that pandemic has caused a lot of serious problems, and far too many unnecessary deaths, I have been fortunate to have seen my art business grow. To all of my clients and patrons, thank you so much for your support. I do hope to continue making fun paintings for book covers, personal commissions and more. Thank you.

    I am thrilled to see that my Livestream is taking off nicely as well. As of this writing I have been streaming for six months. Each week I see more followers and subscribers so I remain optimistic that I will be able to continue painting fun scenes for everyone. It’s been a lot of fun painting live, making up stories about these fantastic science fiction scenes. Thank you to everyone who has dropped by. If you’d like to see my next stream, follow me on Twitch.TV. New streams every Wednesday evening, and I will be adding new days this Fall. There’s an exciting big project, thanks to a new commission, that I will be painting live for everyone to see.

    Visit me on Twitch!
  • New Prints and Market Recap

    New Prints and Market Recap

    The holiday market at Lake Forest Park last Sunday was a huge success, and I want to thank everyone who was able to visit in person. It was great to see familiar faces and so many new ones! Looking to 2020, I’m adding more to the schedule and I’ll be updating these as I go.

    One of the biggest requests I’ve been getting recently are more prints. As much as people love owning original artwork, I am going to be adding more print options for a number of paintings, starting with these three that I had at my booth last weekend:

    These will all be signed archival prints and are going to the printers this week. Unfortunately I cannot guarantee that these will be ready for the holidays, but they will remain available in my store as long as supplies last.

    These will be a limited run, and I will be adding more as I go in 2020.

    Thank you again for your continued support. Here are some photos from the last events at Lake Forest Park:

    Ornaments were the big hit this year! I’ll be working on some more fun things for 2020!

  • Art Prints from Becky Chambers’ Novels in the Store

    Art Prints from Becky Chambers’ Novels in the Store

    For those of you who enjoyed Becky Chambers’ science fiction novels, I have made prints of the cover art that I made for her and Harper Collins US. They are available in my store, and will be on hand at my upcoming local events.

    And my congratulations to Becky Chambers for winning the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Series. I am thrilled to have met her and I wish her the best.

    Science Fiction Art Prints in my Space Art Store
    Cover Art Prints for Becky Chambers’ Novels

    If you haven’t read her books yet, I highly recommend them – especially if you enjoy science fiction books. She’s done a great job and I am honored to have participated in a small way.

    Head on over to my store, or click on the image for a direct link. Thank you!

  • Original Art on Sale, Country Village Prints Now in Store

    Original Art on Sale, Country Village Prints Now in Store

    I have marked down a selection of my original artwork in the store. This sale will be up for the next week. I would love to find a permanent home for some of these pieces.

    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    New pieces will be added soon, stay tuned!

    Country Village Art Prints Now in the store!

    We offered these art prints from my Country Village series in our shop. They are now available to order in my store. There are two sizes, 9″ x 12″ and 5″ x 7″. Options for print-only or framed are available.

    Country Village Art Prints Now in the Store

    These were originally painted with casein on illustration board, and depict the Country Village in Bothell where we had our bakery for three years.

  • Watercolor Paintings

    Watercolor Paintings

    Milky Way At Night
    Milky Way At Night

    You may have noticed a number of new watercolor paintings lately. Why all of a sudden have I moved to a new medium? Partly, it’s from the portability. Last summer I picked up a great little travel watercolor kit from Windsor Newton’s Cotman line. The kit fit nicely into my travel bag and I brought it with me regularly to the Doll House Baked Goods’ Farmers Markets.

    I started painting some of my #spaceshipaday drawings while hanging out at the markets. One of the images was used for the cover of my Coloring Book, Coloring Space 1. I liked the simplicity and speed. And the Windsor Newton Cotman Watercolors were a lot better than I expected.

     

    I have to credit James Gurney’s blog with a great series on Plein Air Painting techniques. He’s got� great tips on making your own portable art setup. Definitely worth the time to go through if you have any interest in Plein Air Painting – plus he has great dinosaur paintings.

    Photo Aug 07, 5 17 16 PM
    Photo Mar 16, 2 00 09 AM
    Photo Aug 28, 3 54 48 PM
    Friends in Fantastic Worlds
    Friends in Fantastic Worlds

    Once I got the hang of the basics, as with any paint media, I started trying out a few other subjects including some of my favorite lighthouses and scenes. Not only is watercolor a fast media to use, it’s quite unforgiving. That forces you to commit to your painting faster than usual. It’s a good exercise and with the right touch they can look fantastic.

    Cape Disappointment and Starry Sky
    Night Sky – Original Watercolor 4″ x 6″
    North Head Lighthouse
    HMS Surprise Ambushed By The Acheron
    Pioneer Building, Seattle, Washington

    I am by no means a master at this, and I don’t claim to be. This is merely another chance for me to explore color in my artwork. As much as I enjoy the digital experience with my iPad, Procreate, and a stylus, there’s something more visceral and rewarding about working with traditional tools.

    Artist Travel Kit

    These sketches were fun but I was finding that I wanted a few more options during some of the longer market sessions. Then we packed for a long RV trip to Michigan and I wanted to bring some of my paint supplies with me.� I was limited to a few pens, pencils and smaller 4″ x 6″ cut sheets of watercolor paper – my basic drawing package that I bring with me almost everywhere. But back home I had a lot more tools and supplies that I often used in my studio. To get things a bit more portable I started gathering my essentials into a larger kit.

    Wine Box To The Rescue
    Wine Box To The Rescue

    I started with a fine wooden box from Chateau Ste. Michelle, a perfect size for my kit. It would be a bit larger than a sling-bag but it gave me a few more options while on location.

    Now I have a bigger container of pens, including my ink-well style pens from ages ago when I drew my cartoons by hand. They still work very well. I also have a small Prismacolor Colored Pencil set, a new box of Pentel watercolors that I’m just starting to try out, my old design pastels, Golden liquid acrylic paints, a jar for water, erasers, and several pencil sharpeners. It all fits nicely in the box and it even leaves enough room for a wider variety of watercolor paper sizes.

    My Travel Art Kit
    The Kit
    Portability Achievement Unlocked

    Sure it’s a bit more to carry than my sling bag, but it also acts as its own tabletop when I don’t have a lot of flat surfaces. Later I’ll figure out an option for mounting a tripod and maybe re-work the lid into a drawing table with optional angles, who knows. The existing hinges are more decorative and won’t hold up well� with repeated heavy usage.

    I’m looking forward to doing a lot more of these, especially once we open our new shop. There I’ll have the room to work on paintings in the public full-time.

    Now Available In My Store

    A number of these are already available for sale in my store. I’m offering the originals right now and will be offering prints once I decide on a proper avenue for producing them. As much as I hate to turn this into a giant sales pitch, the purchases do help me continue making these. Thank you all

    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store
    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

     

  • New In The Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    New In The Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    I’ve just added a lot of new items to the Space Art By Christopher Doll store and here’s the latest plus a few previews.

    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    Original Art!

    I’ve been painting a lot of new images recently and I am making these available to you now! A number of these are smaller watercolor paintings which you may have seen if you’ve been following my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts. Thank you all for the wonderful comments, by the way, your feedback is appreciated.

    HMS Surprise Ambushed By The Acheron
    HMS Surprise Ambushed By The Acheron
    Night Sky - Original Watercolor 4" x 6"
    Night Sky – Original Watercolor 4″ x 6″
    Solar Eclipse - Original Watercolor
    Solar Eclipse – Original Watercolor
    North Head Lighthouse - Original Watercolor and Ink
    North Head Lighthouse – Original Watercolor and Ink
    Friends in Fantastic Worlds
    Friends in Fantastic Worlds
    North Head Lighthouse
    North Head Lighthouse
    Pioneer Building, Seattle, Washington
    Pioneer Building, Seattle, Washington
    Cape Disappointment and Starry Sky
    Cape Disappointment and Starry Sky
    Jupiter - Original Watercolor
    Jupiter – Original Watercolor
    North Head Lighthouse with Starry Skies
    North Head Lighthouse with Starry Skies
    Milky Way At Night
    Milky Way At Night

    Along with my traditional space and science fiction themes I’ve been exploring some more traditional views like some of my favorite lighthouses of the Pacific Northwest, and sea battles.

    Sea battles, really? I’ve long been a fan of the Patrick O’Brien books featuring Jack Aubrey, and the movie Master and Commander – which is probably the best Star Trek movie in ages.

    All of these are available now in my store at the link below

    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    Still Available

    I still have some of my hand-painted planet globes in the store, and once these are gone it will be a long time before I offer them again. These were a special gift item for the holiday season last year and I’m not yet certain what will be on the agenda this year. So if you’d like one of your very own please let me know soon!

    Planet Globes, Hand Painted
    Planet Globes, Hand Painted
    Earth and Moon
    Earth and Moon
    Mars Globe
    Mars Globe
    Jupiter Globes
    Jupiter Globes
    Moon Globe
    Moon Globe

    About Prints

    I’ve explored a few options for offering prints of my work through my site, and there are a few of them available now in the store. The prints I have are quality prints, and a fine affordable addition to your own collection. They have been sourced from a variety of vendors and based on the numbers it will make more sense for us to create our own prints going forward. So we are in the process of securing a quality Giclee printer and materials to offer more prints, and we’ll let you know once they are available.

    COMING SOON

    As many of you know, my wife Stephanie and I are opening our own bakery near our home. To do so it means that we’re going to need a lot of equipment, and that means we need to build up some cash reserves. I’m going through my collection of scale models and collectibles, and a number of these will be hitting the store very soon. Some of the models will be build-ups that I’ve already completed, some will be kits, and there are a few collectible items that I’d love to see go to a new home. Look for details soon!

  • Planet Globes Are Now On Sale!

    Planet Globes Are Now On Sale!

    UPDATE: OCTOBER 2019

    Updated note – this post was originally intended for my original planet globes, which are no longer available. At the moment I am working on a new line of planets, which are not yet ready for sale as of this writing.

    My apologies for any confusion. You can follow my progress on my blog, and as soon as the new globes are ready to order I will post them.

    Thank you for understanding – Christopher Doll

    Original Post:

    Planet Globes are now available in the Space Art Store! I am making these available now after the wonderful feedback I’ve received from everyone about these little planets that I’ve been painting.

    Painting Jupiters
    Painting Jupiters

    I am starting with three planets – Jupiter, Mars, Earth  (with a small moon in scale) – and the Earth’s Moon. Each is 2 1/2″ in diameter, painted with artist-grade acrylics and sealed. The core is a hardwood sphere that adds a nice weight to it.

    Mars_Size
    2 1/2″ Mars Globe (Click on Image to order) $24.00 – $35.00 USD

    Each globe comes with a small ring for desktop display, and I’m offering two additional display options – an eyelet for hanging the globes, as well as a larger deluxe display.

    Earth with Deluxe Base and Moon
    Earth with Deluxe Base and Moon (Click on Image to order) $30.00 – $40.00 USD

    I have a number of these ready to go now, but I’ll also be taking pre-orders over the next few weeks. Be advised that once I run out of the globes that I have on hand it may take up to two weeks for your order to be completed.

     

    Jupiter Globes
    Jupiter Globes (Click on Image to order) $24.00 – $35.00 USD
    Moon Globe
    Moon Globe (Click on Image to order) $24.00 – $35.00 USD

    What’s Next?

    I am working on several variations of these globes, different sizes and a set that will be roughly in scale with each other. These will be posted to my various social outlets as they are finished so be sure to follow me on Space Art by Christopher Doll on Facebook, Christopher Doll on Twitter, and Christopher Doll on Instagram for updates.

    And to give you a hint:

    Coming Soon?
    Coming Soon?

    Visit my Space Art Store now, while they last!