How to Make a Living as an Artist
You have been told that it is impossible to make a living as an artist, but it is not!
It is already being done. I'm a full time artist and I have been doing it for many years, and so have my inner circle of friends and colleagues. We share our secrets here with you how to make a living as an artist.
Facts:
* You could be a full time professional artist.
* You could be published worldwide.
* You could have regular exhibitions of your work in many countries on five continents.
* You could have international sales of your work grossing about half a million dollars a year.
* You could be your own boss, as an artist, and enjoy the good life.
* How do you think about it?
To every serious artist, I say - "practice, practice, practice". In the long run, it is worth your time.
I have to admit that I was really lousy! But all the while, there were wheels spinning in the background of my consciousness -- because by the third class, I began to think of this new experience as ... "kind of interesting". Today, nearly twenty years later, I often think back to the night when my best friend, Cham, said If you want to be an artist you need to do this every day.
I am happy because I am now at my easel just about every day, and every day I feel better about it. I just took a series of private oil painting lessons to learn to paint like the Old Masters. Now I'm really getting serious, and I'm definitely hooked!
Still after hours and hours of practice, the search for excellence keeps me ever moving forward. To just "paint a picture" is no longer enough to satisfy me. My desire is to convey the emotion -- the "something" deeper; perhaps the feelings of the person depicted, or the mood of the landscape. This quest to portray, and thereby communicate emotion in my work has nearly become an obsession.
The process of conveying my thoughts and feelings with paint is a work in progress. I haven't quite reached it yet, but I can feel it working within me. It brings me joy to see myself move daily toward this goal. And I move forward faster with practice. It is all about practice. It is about showing up at the easel every day to pursue excellence.
When I blog every single day, I find that I have many more topics rolling around in my head about which I want to write. The more I write, the more I have to say. However, after the weekend, or, especially after a vacation, my mind feels like mush. I feel like I have nothing to say and I just sit here staring at a blank monitor.
What does this have to do with art?
Plenty.
If you're not painting every single day, you may be hurting your creativity. I ran across a blog post Finding Time to Paint on the Corinne Galla Studios blog. She writes:
Set aside time to paint every day. And if you're thinking, "Oh, easier said than done," I have the just the guru for you: Check out Jerry Lebo's blog, Sixty Minute Artist. He leads the pack in chronicling what every "working" artist should be doing to get the ends met.
She (and Jerry Lebo) are absolutely right. It may be difficult, but it's extremely important not to get "stale." I would suggest reading Jerry Lebo's blog and gleaning some ideas on how to work in a little painting (sculpting, photography) time into every day.
In the movie, You've Got Mail, Tom Hanks has a mantra, “It's not personal, it's business”.
Because I am a creative type, the business of finding a market for my artwork is entirely personal. It doesn't make sense to half-wittingly adhere to someone else's business plan for my life and art, and it does me no good to accomplish a plan that won't satisfy my goals and desires. Rather, it is imperative that I have a crystal clear understanding of what the word Success means to me.
Success often means different things for different artists. A few years ago, I conducted a personal survey using 6 of my professional artist friends as subjects. I asked this simple question: What is your personal definition of Success? Although, each would admit that making money was near the top of the list, the most common answer had to do with the quality and subject matter of their artwork.
While some portraitists adore painting their subjects, many of them get swept up into a market that they later regret having entered. Commissions are really about painting for someone else's taste and vision, but the money is so good.! Now I am willing to bet that if these artists were willing to risk a temporary drop in income, that each could be making an equally good of a living painting subjects that move them emotionally.
Taking this into consideration, it seems logical that before I design a marketing plan for myself, that I keep my personal definition of success in mind – because it just doesn't make sense to design my plan around someone else's concept of what it means to have 'made it' as an artist. First and foremost, I must be clear about what will make me happy in the long run, or else I'm wasting my time on my business plan. Here are a few questions I ask myself throughout the year – to keep me on my own track.
What are some of the things that I'd like to do during my lifetime, aside from my art career, that I'd feel sorry about if I didn't get to do?
If all my dreams came true, what would my artwork look like, how would I sell it and where?
How many hours a week would I like to spend in my studio working?
How can I combine my life's dreams with my art career? Am I currently good enough to compete in my “dream's come true” arena?
These questions, like their answers, are personal. If you were to list your answers, the results are likely to be different than mine, but I'll give at least one of my answers here.
When considering the last question listed above, I'd have to honestly admit that I don't feel quite ready to take on my “dreams come true” gallery. This would probably be Trailside Galleries in Scottsdale. You might be asking, Well, why doesn't she think she's ready for such a place? For one: I don't have a large enough body of work at this point to submit to a gallery for consideration. Why not? Because I don't spend enough hours in the studio to produce 50 or more dynamite paintings a year. I'm just not ready for this venue, and I'm not at all sure that I'm cut out to spend 40 hours/week alone in my studio.
But does that mean I'm not ready for any venue? Not at all. I also would be very happy selling on my own through studio shows and my web site, and with these kinds of outlets, I'd have the freedom to paint what I want – when I want.
Now if I continued answering all my personal questions on this page, you'd be yawning pretty quickly. So perhaps it's a good time for you, the reader, to start brainstorming – come up with your own questions, answers and personal plan and definition of success. Design a business plan to make all your dreams come true... and remember, the fulfillment might be in Scottsdale or it might just be in your own backyard.
Let's just suppose for a moment that you have been granted to make a million dollars next year working at whatever you want. Now there are a couple of strings attached to this statement: One is that you would have to work hard at it, and two - it could only be one thing.
Now, please don't pick the question apart -- it's hypothetical, and I have a good reason for presenting it -- to help you discover what is your true motivation for making the artwork that you do.
I've observed that some successful artists have built their careers with income as their highest motivator, while denying themselves the pleasure of doing what they love to do. I personally know a few portrait artists who enjoy the income but not the process. A couple of them even feel trapped. But I also know some portraitists who adore their careers, so an artist's satisfaction really depends on where his or her motivation lies.
We artists, who are currently emerging, are in a great place because we are yet free to chose our aesthetic paths. How wonderful it would be if we could make a decent living at something we love doing rather than just for the money.
So... if I were offered a guarantee that I would make a million dollars in 2009 doing whatever I wish to do - as long as it were one thing, and I worked very hard at it, what would that one thing be? How I answer this question will make all the difference in how much I enjoy my career and life in the long run.
For those of us who consider ourselves to be Fine Artists, and not Commercial artists - taking time to think about the answer might determine where we are along the "fine" or "commercial" continuum. After all, doesn't the very definition of "fine artist" mean one who follows their heart, paints for themselves. develops their work according to their own vision rather than at the request of a potential buyer or art director? I'm not at all saying there is anything wrong with being a commercial art - my father was a commercial artist, as was my grandfather, and they made very good money at it. However, don't most of us here - reading this now want to be successful as Fine artists?
Too often, we artists get confused about what to focus on because of our need to make money. I know I do. In the back of my mind, I'm always wondering about some would-be collector, putting myself into their shoes,(even though these people are figments of my imagination) and speculating as to why or why not they'd want to buy the painting I'm working on. In economic downturns, some of us have a tendency to fall into more of a commercial mindset - trying to guess at what is sure to sell.
There is one thing that I have observed about art collectors - especially those who take it seriously. They buy artwork that is beautiful - no matter the subject. The subject matter is often secondary to the fact that it is exquisitely made. I've never heard any collector say, "I only buy paintings that match my sofa", or "I don't buy landscapes unless they have flowers in them".
So next time someone advises you by saying, "If you'd just put some flowers in your landscapes, I know they'd sell faster" - first determine if putting flowers in your painting is what you want to see there. Andrew Wyeth never listened to anyone but his internal artistic voice. He didn't even paint like his father. How much guts did that take? He gained a wide following by painting his friends - who were homely and eccentric. He revealed his heart in his paintings. If he made a great living doing that, then what is holding us back from being our true artistic selves?
Getting back to the original question: You're guaranteed to make a million at anything you work at for the next year. How would you answer? Of course, I can't answer for you, but this I can say - loving what you do will get you through the tough, dry times - because being able to solve difficult problems - is a bitter, but essential part of the recipe for success. You can and should expect there to be times when you feel like giving up... even when you love your job.
If you're just doing it for the money alone, you may continue to succeed, but at what price? It is so much more satisfying (and healthy) to succeed at doing what you love.
Today, by considering some thoughts about great writing, I propose three elements that provide a simple definition of great painting.
I must start by admitting that I'm not a painter....and, in my opinion, a fairly pathetic writer (but I try, fellow art patrons, I try). Therefore, it would seem that I have no right to address the subject of how to create a great painting (or writing).
However, I ask - Do you have to be a musician to recognize great music? Do you have to be an athlete to understand conceptually what is required to perform?
Therefore, since I'm stubborn enough to tread in waters that rightfully belong only to painters, let's push onward.
The idea for this essay hit me while reading a newletter, Early to Rise. The author, Michael Masterson, was discussing the subject of what makes great writing. Mr. Masterson says:
I've been trying to answer the question for at least 20 years. For a long time, I had nothing. I came up with definitions that would do a good job explaining one sort of good writing but fail miserably to explain another. Then, about a year ago -- and I think this came about after a conversation I had with BB and PS -- I had a revelation. Good writing is good thinking with everything else -- all the ornamentation -- cut off.
I am very happy with that definition. It pretty much explains and clarifies just about every sort of non-fiction writing I can think of. I've used it 100 times since then to analyze the writing of others and to figure out what was sometimes wrong with my own writing.
If good writing is good thinking unembellished, the trick to writing well is twofold:
1. Don't start writing until you have one good thought.
2. After you've written it down, edit the hell out of it. Get rid of every sentence, phrase, and word that is not necessary.
This is, if I say so myself, excellent advice. But it begs the question: What is good thinking?
It struck me as I read his words, wouldn't these ideas apply to painting as well? Shouldn't a painting begin with a single, unifying good thought? One might even say a theme or idea. I'm reminded of a quote I read in the April/May issue of International Artist Magazine. Bart Lindstrom when asked "In your opinion what is the most important facet or element that needs to be in a painting for it to be successful?" answered (in part):
Great paintings have a mystical quality that I call "compelling." When I walk into a museum, I often pause at the door and ask myself which painting is the most compelling. Ultimately, one imape will stand out from the rest." It seems to me that starting with a good thought and eliminating all extraneous elements takes a painting far down the road the goal of being compelling. (emphasis added)
Mr. Li is saying much the same thing - start with a compelling idea. Then strengthen the idea by only including elements in the painting which support the idea. By definition, if an element doesn't support your compelling idea, then it detracts from it and should be eliminated.
Further in the Early to Rise Newsletter, Mr. Masterson delves further into the related topics of, "What is Good Thinking?" and "How do you come up with good ideas?":
I've been thinking about the process . . . and also wondering why so much of my writing ends up being such drivel . . . and I haven't been able to come up with anything brilliant. But the other day, BB said something in a memo that was a breakthrough.
We were talking about what was wrong with the writing in several publications we have in England. By most standards, it seems "good" -- the expression and style are fine and even the ideas are OK (ordinary but not "bad"), but, overall, the quality is mediocre. We had made suggestions about improving it in the past, and all our suggestions were dutifully observed. Yet, the bottom-line quality of the publications had not improved. There was something deeper than anything we'd yet been able to describe that was still wrong here. And, finally, my partner, BB, figured out what it was.
In a memo about a writer we both admire, he said, "What I like best about his writing is how unique his ideas are. His view of how things work in the world is very different from mine. But his view is authentic . . . and that's why I like it."
BB had struck gold, I thought. Authenticity is the key. Good writing must not only involve good ideas but also be authentic.
This is what gives it its relative value -- it doesn't matter what the subject is so long as the ideas and the expression of those ideas are authentic . . . that they honestly and truthfully reflect the thoughts and feelings of the writer . . .
Now, re-read the sentence above and replace the word "writer" with the word "painter." Wouldn't it be just as valid? In fact, let me do it for you:
This is what gives a painting its relative value -- it doesn't matter what the subject is so long as the ideas and the expression of those ideas are authentic . . . that they honestly and truthfully reflect the thoughts and feelings of the painter.
For those who have suffered through this exploration so far, let's get to the crux.
What makes a great painting?
1. Start with one good compelling idea to convey
2. Depict the idea without any unnecessary elements, colors or brushstrokes
3. Be Authentic - Be true to yourself, your inspiration and your style
You Can Actually Make Money from Your Art
And Feel Good About It!
The good news is that most artists fail NOT because they lack talent but because they have not been properly trained in how to represent themselves, build a customer base, and actually sell their great artwork.
