All about my Zazzle and Society6 journey, including graphics design hints and tips, effective promotional tools and showcasing some great products from me and other storekeepers.
Trying to pin down exactly what makes these urban landscape paintings by British artist Nathan Walsh (previously) so unusual is difficult, in part because of the variety of techniques he employs to get from a vision in his mind to the final, exacting artwork.
Starting with his own photographic references, Walsh first draws an elaborate blueprint of sorts by establishing a horizon line and a host of perspective strategies that varies from piece to piece. This is followed by several months of painting with oils to achieve the final landscape that appears to be a strange hybrid of both illustrative and photorealistic styles. Photography, architecture, and painting converge to create a “painted world which in some ways resembles the world we live in,” says Walsh. “The work aims to create credible and convincing space which whilst making reference to our world, displays its own distinct logic.”
Walsh is currently preparing for a group show titled “Cityscape Paintings: Looking from the Outside In” at Bernarducci Meisel Gallery in October, followed by a solo show during the same period in 2016. You can follow more of his work in progress on Facebook.
Almost the last day!
While yesterday we looked to the future to build a plan to find readers, today we’re going to dig into our stats to find out what kind of effect the last 29 days have had on our sites. What can you see is different after the changes you’ve made?
Some of you will be seasoned pros at looking at your stats, but if you’re newer to blogging and want some starting points, these are the metrics I recommend you keep track of regularly as you go on with your blogging.
In the show notes I also link to a post I published recently that gives you an overview of how I use Google Analytics to do this kind of investigation, and I’ll describe how and why these are the metrics I choose to keep tabs on.
Every month or so I go through each of these and compare them to the previous month (I give you a quick tip on how to do this easily), and also think about how I can recreate successes in content, on social, and how well other types of traffic are doing.
Today we’ll also go a little deeper into channels to look for trends, behaviour, and other hints that will help us keep the trend on the up.
If you are indeed in the newer camp, please don’t fret about stats. It can be easy to get disillusioned in the early days, but we all feel small when we start out! Most successful blogs go for 2-3 years before they hit a tipping point of sorts. We discuss that a little more in today’s podcast also.
So open up Google Analytics and take a little dig with me. Feel free to share your most popular post from the month in the comments too – you might be surprised what has worked better than you thought it would!
See you tomorrow for the wrap up of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Podcast.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
The ProBlogger Podcast: Digging into Statistics
The post The ProBlogger Podcast: Digging into Statistics appeared first on @ProBlogger.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
The ProBlogger Podcast: Digging into Statistics
The post The ProBlogger Podcast: Digging into Statistics appeared first on @ProBlogger.
Hey it’s Friday and it’s summer, so here’s Italian sculptor Valeriano Fatica carving an awesome dragon head out of a watermelon. I especially love how he accomplished the details of the scales that seem to gradually emerge from the flesh of the melon. You can explore a bit more of Fatica’s fruit and vegetable carving here. (via Laughing Squid)
Designed by blacksmith Toru Yamashita in Japan’s Kochi-prefecture, these high carbon steel knives are designed in the form of five different whales, the blades forming the baleen mouth of each species. The Kujira blades were originally made for children as a tool for sharpening pencils or cutting paper, but have since been marketed abroad as a general purpose utility or chef knife. At about $50 each the knives aren’t cheap, but it appears the whale shape is strangely perfect for small hands and with the right care they would probably last a lifetime. Some of the models are available through Hand-Eye Supply, but it looks like a few are sold by Yoshihiro Cutlery on Amazon. (via Core77, Attics of my Life)
We’re going on a link hunt, we’re going to catch a big one!
Today’s the day to check everything that might be turning readers away from your blog, but don’t be overwhelmed – it’s not as onerous as it sounds.
Over time, you’re bound to have some broken links. The sites you link to shut down, change their link structure, move their URLs… anything can happen. It can be bad for readability, but also for SEO.
In this episode I will explain how best to find the links that are broken, whether you are a beginner or have an established blog. Small steps in this instance will help you tackle what might be a huge task (but worth it in the end!). I also go through what to do when you find the broken link, and what you can do while you’re there on an old post
I also go through a few tools that will help you on your expedition. Check the show notes for links to each, and happy hunting!
Click here to listen to day 27 of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog series on the ProBlogger Podcast. Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Update Your Blog’s Archive Pages (including Broken Links)
The post Update Your Blog’s Archive Pages (including Broken Links) appeared first on @ProBlogger.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Update Your Blog’s Archive Pages (including Broken Links)
The post Update Your Blog’s Archive Pages (including Broken Links) appeared first on @ProBlogger.
For Guillaume Amat's “Open Fields” project he placed a mirrored stand in various landscapes, reflecting the opposing environment back within the image to create a double interpretation of the surrounding scene. These reflections contain dark figures against bright fields, homes in barren landscapes, bits of foliage contained within stretches of industry, and even a horse that pops into the frame.
Each image is taken with a 4×5 inch camera, the included mirror measuring 31.5 x 47.2 inches. Amat wanted to concentrate on the double interpretation of the landscape seen outside and within the mirror, working on the concept of territory as space.
Independent curator and writer Paul Wombell compared this series to the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice saying, “With the use of the camera and a mirror Guillaume Amat has made photographic images that simultaneously look forward and backwards. They create a strange dreamlike landscape where buildings and figures float in the center of the picture and suggest that he has two sets of eyes, both at the front and back of his head. Orpheus would have been impressed.”
Amat lives and works in Paris where he mostly focuses on long-term projects to produce cohesive photographic narratives existing somewhere between documentary and poetry. (via vjeranski)
Making-Off Open Fields /#2 Le Calvaire des Dunes.
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A very easy and enjoyable task for you today: read a magazine!
Old media has the potential to help you improve your “new media” blog in any number of ways from marketing ideas to design ideas, to content ideas and more. I give a few areas to look out for as you’re browsing, but for the most part, in that first flick-through, just see what jumps out at you. What piques your interest, what makes you reach for your notebook to jot down a few things?
I give a list of items you’ll need for today’s challenge in the show notes, and some tips and questions to ask yourself to help you get the most out of this session.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
31DBBB Day 24 Challenge: Use a Magazine to Improve Your Blog
The post 31DBBB Day 24 Challenge: Use a Magazine to Improve Your Blog appeared first on @ProBlogger.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
31DBBB Day 24 Challenge: Use a Magazine to Improve Your Blog
The post 31DBBB Day 24 Challenge: Use a Magazine to Improve Your Blog appeared first on @ProBlogger.
