Make Art That Sells, Week 2

Week 2 in Lilla Roger's e-course, tackled the housewares market, specifically, ceramic plate design. This is certainly not an area that I ever thought about pursuing. The mini assignment, given out at the beginning of the week, was to draw all sorts of pod-like botanicals, leaves, etc. and to leave the tulips and daisy types back on the drawing board. This was a far more intimidating topic than the prior week that focused on patterns. There are a lot of wonderful floral/botanical artists out there and I am not one of them. My usual approach is to try to define the problem and then a solution... well, there was no obvious answer here other than to draw a lot. My first design was the one on the right. Not sure there is a market for sleeping birds on pod houses holding flower umbrellas in the rain, but at least this was more in keeping with my general style. I then tried my hand at a more traditional approach and attempted to modernize a typical vintage style floral plate. After  much mental debate, I ended up submitting the more traditional version. Poor little birdie! On to week 3, and the topic I have most looking forward to, children's books!