Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Art and Site Questions
Purchasing and sales Questions
Image Usage Questions

Can I link to your site?
YES. No need to ask us, you are welcome to link to us. There are banners available for you to use if you like.

Can I use your art on my product?
Only with a valid licensing agreement. If you are interested in proposing a licensing agreement, please do contact April to discuss the details.

Do you take commissions?
Not right now. I'm still building up the business and art gallery. I may take commissions in the future when I am in a better position to be able to.

What kind of paint do you use?
I use the professional series of the following brands: Daniel Smith, M. Graham, Yarka and Windsor Newton. I use both pans and tubes for watercolors. The Yarka watercolor paints are what I have been using most lately. As far as acrylics, I like Golden Fluid acrylics.

What kind of watercolor paper do you use?
I use either Arches 300lb hot press watercolor paper, hot and cold press Arches blocks or Crescent hot press illustrator/watercolor board.

What kind of brushes do you use?
Well... I would love to own sables, but I don't have the budget for those yet. I like the Robert Simmons synthetic sables. I really don't have a 'favorite' yet. I'll be sure to update this when I do. ;)

What programs do you use for your digital art?
I typically use Photoshop now. I used to use Painter a lot more, but find myself working more and more in just Photoshop.

Do you use a tablet or mouse?
I use a wacom intuos III 9x12 tablet.

I don't think digital painting is as good as traditional.
Well, we each have our own opinion. ;) I love painting digitally because there is no mess nor cleanup! I understand that there have been a lot of "fakes" in the digital art field, I have run across many on my own. However, I treat each painting as a traditional painting, and the only thing "digital" about the art is the fact that I do it on a computer. I do not cut steps nor 'cheat' by using filters etc. I sketch it out by hand on a blank "sheet" of digital canvas, then start blocking in the colors, then refining my forms. Just as in traditional mediums.

What are the prints like? Are there any visible lines in them?
Prints are printed with a professional grade Epson printer using extremely light fast pigmented inks on heavyweight matte paper (open edition) or 100% rag archival paper (limited edition prints). With proper care, the prints should not fade for up to 100 years. I scan and do all the post work on the art myself, so you can be assured the colors and quality are that of the original painting. The professional grade Epson printer makes ultra fine dots of ink which creates a superior high quality print with absolutely no apparent lines. For proper care of all prints, it is recommended that the prints stay out of direct sunlight, display them under glass and keep them in a low humidity environment and away from heat.

What method of payment do you accept?
I accept credit cards (mastercard, visa, American Express and Discover) via PayPal or Google Checkout or money orders (US dollars). You do not have to have a PayPal account to pay with your credit card.

Please make money orders out to "April VanSickle".
Please mail your payment to:
April VanSickle
P.O. Box 357515
Gainesville, Florida 32635-7515

Shipping & Handling charges
Shipping is based upon weight with minimal handling charges for packaging. You may view the shipping charges by adding your items to the cart; you can see the total before actually buying your items. Orders to the USA ship either First class or Priority mail. In certain cases, UPS may be used for heavy or expensive items. You will receive an email with a tracking number once your item has shipped. Items usually arrive within 5 to 7 days, but please do allow 2 to 3 weeks for your item to arrive. International orders ship via global priority mail in almost all cases. Orders heavier than 4 pounds will ship Airmail Parcel Post. Please allow up to 4 weeks for your item to arrive, although it should arrive within 5-10 business days. Customs and duties are the responsibility of the buyer to pay.

Returns and Exchanges
All sales are final, so please double check your order before committing to buy.

Your order is carefully packaged to reach you safely, but sometimes packages do become damaged during shipping. If your item was damaged in shipping, please contact us immediately upon receipt and please save your packaging materials! This is for the shipper to inspect when processing claims.

• UPS: If shippied via UPS, please save ALL packaging material so that UPS can inspect the package for the claim. Call 1-800-PICK-UPS to report the receipt of a damaged package.
• US Postal Service: Please save all packaging materials and contact us to let us know so we can arrange a return and replacement.
• International: Please save all packaging materials and contact us to let us know so that we can help you with the return and replacement.

Replacements are for the same items originally ordered. Items that cannot be replaced are insured against shipping damage.

If I buy your art, do I now own the copyright?
NO. I retain the copyright on all my art. You are purchasing the artwork itself, not the rights to the artwork.

Please note, that we reserve the right to refuse an order at any time at our sole discretion.

Image Usage Policy
The art on this site cannot be modified, redistributed or reproduced in any way. An image may only be removed and displayed in a personal, non-commercial family friendly website if it remains unaltered in any way, including all watermarks and text. Also, you must provide a link back to my site and state that the images may not be removed from your site. A good rule of thumb: if you have to edit it, you cannot use it. If you try to make money off of it (without a licensing agreement), you cannot use it.

A note on copyright watermarks
An image is copyrighted the moment it is created. The Digital Millennium copyright act of 1998 makes it unlawful for anyone to remove or tamper with technological measures used by copyright owners to protect their work. I.e. you cannot remove the watermark or copyright text as it is against the law. My images are not in the public domain and all images, unless otherwise noted, are © April VanSickle.

Permission is DENIED for the following:
tubes, siggies, collages, cut outs from background, animations, blinkies, websets, stationery, globes, awards, wallpapers, avatars, any sort of method that involves modifying my art, and any situation where you want to use my image for selling items (UNLESS you have a licensing contract with me).

Permission is APPROVED for the following:
(as long as you provide the © April VanSickle and link back)
If you do a pixel doll, please let me know so I can post it. :)
pixel dolls, creating a real OOAK doll that is based on a character in my artwork, displaying the image in its unaltered form on your website (limited to 5 images).

If I buy your art, can I use the image or reuse the item itself to make stuff and sell it?
NO. That would be a derivative work or a modified work, and unless you have arranged a licensing agreement with me, then this is illegal. I retain all rights on making derivative and modified works of my art. The work I sell is in a specific format (i.e. a card or calendar), buying that item and then using that item to create a different item (like a box with a card glued onto the top and varnished) is a modified work and is illegal. Reselling of the item in its original form is legal. For example, if you buy a card, and then resell it in its original, unmodified form as a card, then that is fine. I retain ALL rights to my artwork, even if you buy a print or the original, unless you have a signed legal contract from me where I have signed over certain rights to you. For more information on copyright laws you may visit: What is Copyright?, US Copyright Office or 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained.

Can I use your art to to make stuff and sell it?
ONLY if I have licensed my artwork to be used on your product. I am always happy to consider new licensing, you are welcome to contact me and propose your idea. Under NO circumstances are you allowed to create items with my art on it unless we have signed licensing contract.

Are tattoos allowed?
YES. However, I do not provide the stencils needed to make a tattoo. Tattoo artists are not allowed to sell my artwork, as I have not licensed any stencils. However, they are welcome to create a stencil for your tattoo, PROVIDED that you inform them that they must then destroy that stencil, AND they do indeed destroy the stencil. It would be very considerate of you if you were to buy a print of the image you want a tattoo of. This way I get some sort of compensation for my artwork, and you get a quality image for the tattoo artist to refer to when making the stencil. If you do get a tattoo, please send me a picture! I would love to see it, and display it here for others to see. :)