Just returned from San Diego where I attended a healing workshop with Christian Mickelson. What a great workshop with fabulous people. Love making connections with those whose mission is to help others grow into their greatness.
Time for another Art Question:
If one has abilities in Portrait Sketching, Cartoon and Caricature Illustration, Conceptual character-creature design – both 2D and potential 3D, and Creating Graphic Visuals, but the ideal is to focus in just one of these; How does one choose? That is without basing it purely on market potential etc. As I believe if one’s work is good enough it will forge a market.
Great Question….this applies to all artists. We all have different painting styles we prefer and spend most of our time doing. Let me use myself as an example. I love painting abstracts, flowers and dog portraits. Artists get bored easily so doing just one style is not enough.
With this said in order to get into a gallery or get known via the internet, etc one has to specialize in one thing….people get to know you for that “one thing”.
I am known for my abstracts but I equally love doing dog portraits. Here is the key….I am known for my abstracts. After I established myself as an abstract artist I could then branch out into another style and become known for that style as well.
People and Galleries need to, as the saying goes, hang their hat on something. So how does one choose? Which do you love the most? If you by chance love them equally then select one that brings you the most pleasure.
However, this is when you also look at the market. If your intent is to make a living with your art it would be silly not to take this into account.
As to believing when one’s work is good enough it will forge the market… True and not true. Yes, good work stands out from the crowd. However there are many fabulous artists whose paintings will never see the light of day because the artists never considered themselves to be an entrepreneur.
Artists need to promote and market their work.
If after reading the last sentence you find your stomach has turned into knots join the artistic crowd. Artists don’t like to market for many reasons….the main one being FEAR. We usually fear what we don’t know or understand. Actually marketing isn’t hard. It doesn’t require you to attach yourself to your computer with a ball and chain but it does require you to think in a different way.
It also requires that you know yourself and what you stand for. It requires the willingness for growth. It also requires that you are able to talk about yourself and your art in an interesting way.
People don’t remember “normal”, they remember interesting.
Now comes the question many of you will be asking yourself….how do I do all of this by myself? You don’t. Like me, you need help. I grew tremendously when I got a coach…and I still have one. It makes all the difference between staying stuck and becoming the artist you always dreamed you could be. Since I have been through all this myself I decided to share my knowledge and I have started a mentorship program.
It is exciting to be able to watch artists who never thought they could grow their art beyond a just a hobby but now are in galleries and selling their art. We all need a mentor/coach…even the greatest sports stars, actors, top CEO’s, writers and want-to-be anything need a bit of a boost in their chosen field.
