Babies look cute in costume. This is pretty much the foundation of Anne Geddes’ cute photographs. The babies in Anne Geddes prints play and pose in outfits that resemble flowers, ladybugs, and even bears. It’s very hard to look at her pictures and not at least crack a smile. Today, if you would like a way to make your personal bank checks stand out, you might want to think about buying bank checks with Anne Geddes designs.

Now making her home in New Zealand, Anne Geddes is originally from Australia. She is a businesswoman and clothing designer as well as a photographer. Anne works with her husband in her business and has a hand in everything from creation to marketing. Her photographs have shown up all over the world and on products ranging from posters to mouse pads.

Anne began her interest in photography while she was still in her mid-twenties. She is totally self-taught and has had no formal training in photography. Most of her photographs show babies dressed in cute costumes in fanciful settings. Her photographs have even been turned into books and to date have sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.

If you are interested in purchasing Anne Geddes checks, there are several designs available. Each series, of course, depicts an adorable baby. One particular series shows babies dressed as little bears, babies in a cabbage patch, sleeping baby bumblebees, babies emerging from tulips, and babies dressed as flowers on lily pads.

Another popular series contains four rotating designs of babies dressed as butterflies. Each check will be different from the one you wrote before it if you decide to purchase these checks.

Several Anne Geddes checks also permit you to have your own personal message adorned on them. There’s no better way to personalize your checks and show your individuality than to include a quote that is significant to you right there on the check itself.

The Anne Geddes checks are not only delightful, but they are stirring. Everyone loves charming babies! Just observe people beam when you hand them a check with an image of a baby dressed as a little bear. One thing is certain, you might have nervousness about your finances, but at least you’ll have an enjoyable photograph to look at when you’re signing your check!

Corresponding accessories are also obtainable with Anne Geddes checks. For example, if you wish to purchase a checkbook cover in order to protect your new checks, you might want to purchase the brown leather “ladybug” checkbook cover that contains an image of a sleeping baby clad as a little ladybug. There are also contact cards and address labels that you can purchase that will complement your Anne Geddes’ checks.

Don’t let the past high price of personal bank checks worry you if you would like to buy Anne Geddes checks. At this point in time, if you order your checks on the internet from sites, you can save as much as 50% off of what you might have paid at your local bank. All you need to know is your routing number and your checking account number.

Before you order Anne Geddes checks, go to AnneGeddesChecks.net to find coupons and to save 50% off your next purchase of Anne Geddes personal checks.

Some people can take a photograph and draw a cartoon me face. However, drawing a cartoon me avatar is not easy because you have to practice for several months. Some artists will just trace their cartoons or not make them very detailed because drawing a cartoon from just looking at a photo requires a lot of skill.

Drawing a caricature sometimes looks silly, but it it takes lots of work and skill to draw a carton me face of someone by just looking at a photo. When I use to draw cartoons in the beginning, some of them just ended up looking silly without me trying too hard.

To draw a cartoon use crayons and markers and just start brainstorming. Sometimes I will just blend and mix colors regardless of the pattern. I have drawn a cartoon me face of my brother and parents and they both thought it was funny.

My drawings have become more detailed as I grew up, but it is still very difficult for me to draw a cartoon me face avatar of someone in a short period of time. Sometimes I will spend hours drawing someone’s ears and mouth and if I can’t complete it I just leave it unfinished.

You can add lots of colors to your drawings to make them come alive. Drawing women and their eyes is much more difficult than drawing men. I like to draw a cartoon me face of men and then add a beard and mustache. They are easy to draw and really improve the definition of the cartoons features.

If you need to learn how to draw a cartoon me face you should consider taking an art class. These classes will teach you step-by-step ways to make your drawings look more real and lifelike.

Taking an art class is not expensive if you go to a community college rather than an art institute. Nowadays you can create a cartoon me face quickly by using drawing computer programs that you can download for free off the internet. It is easy to find all sorts of these programs online and they are free for the most part.

Drawing cartoons takes a lot of time and patience although it is still very entertaining. One of the most challenging things will always be to draw a cartoon me face by just looking at a photo.

A great gift for the holidays or someones birthday is to take a photo of them and draw a cartoon me face of that person to get some laughs. Several hours of practice is generally all it takes and you will be able to draw a cartoon me avatar of all of your loved ones.

Carmeline wrote another interesting and practical article that you can read before you download anything online, so make sure you check Carmeline Calvistacros post on creating a cartoon me face for the remainder of this article. For a limited time you will receive a free download. Visit us to get your free create a cartoon me avatar face software.

Assuming you are a competent fine artist or fine crafter, and that you create your art with an intention to communicate to others, art shows may be a way you can actually quit your day job and make a living as an artist.

Many people consider traveling around from city to city selling artwork at art festivals the ideal life for an artist. You pay your bills, support your family and you get to travel and see new places while doing what you like best – creating art. A sort of modern gypsy.

But don’t get carried away. It really is hard work. Traveling can take its toll and setting up a tent and display and tearing it down after the show is just plain slave labor. The trick is to make enough money to pay the bills, buy new art materials, pay for the shows and expenses of the road and still have time in between shows to create your art.

In this series of articles we will explore how to get started without spending a fortune on displays and show fees, and how to find some shows to enter to see if you really do want to follow this route.

If you know an artist who makes a living doing shows, apprentice yourself to him or her. That’s the easiest way to start. Propose to help that artist set up and sell and take down in exchange for showing you the ropes. You’ll learn that it is a business – you keep records and pay sales tax and get licenses, etc. You’ll get a feel for everything involved.

If you do not know an artist you can apprentice with, visit some art shows, talk to the artists who are doing the show and gather information from them. Most artists are very friendly and willing to talk to someone who is just beginning. And that way you can also see what kinds of artwork is selling and get the feel what an art show is like. Are you willing to stay outside for 2, 3 or 4 days in a crowd of people?

Compare what is selling at the art shows you attend to the art you create. Will the public who attend art shows be the right public for your art? Can you sell your artwork for a price that people at art shows will pay? Three or four years ago people were buying original art for a thousand or more dollars, but during the current recession, that is rare. Do you produce any prints or jewelry or whatever you create that could sell for $20 or less? Can you produce enough of them to sell a quantity that will make an art show profitable?

Read some magazines about art shows and check out information online. There are several different magazines that cater to art show artists – Sunshine Artist and Where It’s At come to mind, but there are some others. Www.zapplication.org lists hundreds of art shows and provides a way to apply to art shows online. If you know of art shows in your local area, look them up on the web and read all you can about them.

These things are your first step – get the feel of what it’s like to do art shows. The next step will be to choose an art show near where you live, apply and get accepted and thereby launch your career. But we will explore that in a future article.

Visit Help 2 Succeed to get tips, tools and downloads to help you with your art career.

Though landscapes are not his most common subject for paintings, Chuck Rosenthal excels. From Clearwater, Florida, the artist more often paints people and still life, but his landscapes are definitely worth seeing.

A Rosenthal landscape could light up a room. The scenes he paints are areas that he knows well, distinctively Florida. A principal characteristic of his paintings is the radiant Florida sun – not seen directly but reflected with glowing oranges and yellows against the grasses, trees, water and buildings that decorate his landscapes.

One painting of a building shows a dignified Florida villa, in Bellaire Beach, we assume, since the title of the painting is “Bellaire Beach.” Not only the building and walls themselves reflect the sun, but also the wonderful landscaping of palms and perfectly cared for grass. The colors radiate warmth.

“Florida Waterworld” portrays Florida wetlands and a sprawling white house in the background. The painting is very inviting, although many people would not consider a boggy wetland inviting. The warmth of the reflected sunlight makes the water and flora look like an enjoyable afternoon.

“Houses on the Marshlands” is another Rosenthal landscape with shining yellows and oranges. Typical white Florida houses in the background make the sparkling marsh in the foreground stand out.

“Water’s Edge” shows a reflective lake, autumn trees and again, white houses in the background near the edge of the lake. The colors again mirror the sun. The composition of this painting puts forward the beauty of nature, leaving the creations of man (the houses) in the background.

Most viewers will not be able to ask the artist in person what thoughts inspired him to paint these landscapes. But perhaps we should appreciate that the artist is inviting us to contribute to the artwork by creating your own ideas of what the painting communicates.

What was inspiring to the artist can also inspire you, the viewer.

View the Fine Art by Chuck Rosenthal

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In 1996 Matchbox 20 released their debut album. Since then front man Rob Thomas has branched out with a successful solo career. His first solo effort was “Something To Be,” in 2005. Thomas demonstrated his ability to masterfully write and sing great pop style music. The record was a smash success and became a platinum best seller. After cutting another album with Matchbox 20, Rob Thomas now offers up his second solo project.

The album is titled “Cradlesong.” If you haven’t heard of it yet, you’ll soon be listening to its singles on the radio. There’s a familiar quality and sound to the album that should please long time fans. Second albums are notorious for being albums of new creative directions for artists. That really isn’t the case here. What we get is a nice pop album that’s often reminiscent of 80’s music.

The album never gets into edgy territory. It’s filled with radio friendly music. Thomas retains his up tempo and positive style of music, with a few exceptions for some less positive lyrics. These mostly deal with love issues and dysfunctional relationships. The production quality and performances here are all top notch.

There’s a nice variety of ballads and acoustic tunes with a lot of emotion in them. A good example of this is the song with the same title as the album itself. “Her Diamonds,” is a single that will likely get the most radio play rotation. It’s destined to be one of the more popular tracks on the album. It’s certainly one of the most memorable.

The first single “Her Diamonds,” is one of the best songs on the album. You’re sure to hear this tune on your favorite pop radio station. This is an easy album to recommend to fans of Rob Thomas and music fans in general. It’s hard to say if it will attain the success of Thomas’ previous work, but it definitely is a worthy successor.

Chuck Rosenthal’s well known still life paintings in oils and pastels do not eclipse his other work. Indeed, some of his landscapes and paintings of people in local scenes may outshine his still lifes.

Do you ever wonder what the artist himself has to say about art? Conveniently Mr. Rosenthal has left us an “artist’s statement.”

Artists willing to let us viewers know a little bit about their thoughts on art write an “artist’s statement” and Mr. Rosenthal has done just that. The artist says,

“I believe that truly Fine Art encompasses every aspect of the visual experience, from dramatic, or at least, interesting placement of the elements in the painting to the truest atmospheric values within the capability of the artist. All of this is intended to create an impact on the viewer that is so real as to provoke an emotional response. Strong contrasts of form and lighting are an important component.

“Looking at the long view of the development of western art one would see that there is a progression of stiff, awkward drawing gradually developing, over time, into the most sophisticated and articulate forms imaginable.

“Fortunately, traditional values in art are undergoing a revival in our time and I am greatly pleased to be a part of it.”

In 1963 Chuck Rosenthal set out to become a commercial artist. He studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City. He wanted to learn how to draw in order to do illustrations, but three months of study caused the idea of commercial art to go out the window and he decided to pursue fine art. Part of this decision was due to his teacher and mentor, Morton Roberts, who was an excellent illustrator and fine artist himself.

He received many awards while at the National Academy. He was given a scholarship and a few years later he received the Dr. Weller student prize for fine art. Another of his teachers, Daniel Greene, procured him a membership to the esteemed Salmagundi Club, the oldest arts and letters club in the US, where Mr. Rosenthal was awarded an honorable mention in their 1968 scholarship membership contest.

During the intervening years, Mr. Rosenthal painted off and on, learning, but unable to devote the kind of time necessary to achieving a career in fine art. Progress toward the possibility of achieving a career was further delayed by illnesses in the family over a period of about 15 years.

However, in recent years, since moving from New York to Clearwater, Florida, the goal of working as a fine artist has come to fruition. A pastel painting he did of a local landmark, the Clearwater Memorial Bridge, was purchased by a corporation and donated to the Clearwater City Hall. He’s won several awards since 2000, in Clearwater Fine Arts shows, and his paintings of the bridge was included in an international juries competition.

Park Place Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri exhibits Mr. Rosenthal’s paintings.