REJECTION Part 1.

‘Yes’ and ‘No’ are the two most powerful words in the art world, and I suspect in everyone else’s lives. Just one word can mean the difference between success and failure, a dream or a nightmare, the will to continue or to simply give up.

Everybody loves a ‘winner’, especially here in Australia. The word ‘loser’ is often employed as a ‘put-down’, a sign of defeat and loss. If you don’t come up to the mark you can often be labelled as a failure.

Life is full of risks and challenges and art is no exception. If artists want to be ‘seen’ they must step out of the comfort zone of commercial fine art and take an individual approach in the way they ‘see’. Most artists though are happy to work ‘safely’, being more concerned with producing art that pleases the majority of  patrons,that in turn will equates to steady sales. But what if your work isn’t popular or doesn’t sell? Does a ‘No’ equate to being a failure? Are those artists who sell their work a success?

To be a practising artist is one thing, to be a practising artist who shows their work in the public domain is another very different matter. It takes bravery to show one’s work in public, because it’s where opinions are shared, decisions made and judgements are cast.

Artists need to have thick skins especially when it comes to entering their work in art awards, big or small. This is where they are at the mercy of selectors and judges who make decisions behind closed doors that may change an artist’s life forever, for better or worse.

One should never enter an art award ‘blind’. Research is required into every aspect of the ward in question. It is during this time of ‘research’ that you should get some ideas of what (historically) the judges are looking for. Very few awards have the same judges year after year, but the criteria are usually fixed to some degree.

This doesn’t mean that you paint what is ‘required’, but that you paint with each award’s criteria in mind. Most awards encourage ‘cleverness and uniqueness’ and being ‘different’, will often mean being noticed by those in authority.

Why do artists enter awards?

Richard

THE RED DOT

The red dot is the most powerful and influential symbol that artists know and respect. Its presence symbolises success, while its absence can easily arouse feelings of rejection and at times, despair.

There is so much emphasis on ‘selling’ one’s art these days as being they key to a successful career. Artists who continually sell their work are deemed to ‘have arrived’.

But what about those (many) artists who sell very little work?

If one isn’t concerned about selling, then the arrival of a red dot next to your painting should be seen as a ‘bonus’.

There is though another side to the ‘red dot saga’.

Does a red dot really mean that you are a successful artist? If 100 people like the painting next to yours and it didn’t sell, and only one person favoured yours and bought it, does it mean that your painting is the better of the two? There’s no accounting for taste. What is popular may not be good, but more often than not, opinion should be taken seriously.

The art market is very fickle. If you paint what people want, then you expect to sell. If you paint what you want, then you are taking a greater risk if you are relying on your art for your income.

Personally, on nearly all occasions I paint what I want to paint, and paint it my way.

Money isn’t everything, and neither are red dots, but they do look nice next to your paintings don’t they?

Richard

CP WARRIOR

I used to be quite competitive in my early years in most things. I have mellowed somewhat over the decades, but one thing that still “drives” me is my passion and competitive spirit when it comes to coloured pencil art versus “the rest of the world”.

CP art doesn’t receive the respect it deserves and every chance I get to enter an open medium art prize, means another opportunity to tackle the “big guns”; oils, acrylics and watercolours. I’ve had my successes, but I’ve struggled to match my record in art prizes with sales of my work.

The art market is fickle and at times rather naïve when it comes to taste. Attitudes have changed little. The established mediums have always attracted patronage sufficient to remain economically viable. Any art in pencil is usually labelled as drawing or sketching, with no thought that in the case of coloured pencil it could gain the status of being a form of painting.

What can be done?

Changing attitudes can take decades, even centuries. I can’t wait that long!

Time for action!!

I need a plan (or many)…

1. I should invent a crossbow that shoots coloured pencils, so I can stand near my artwork in galleries and “persuade” people to like (and buy) my work. I’ll need to wear body armour and a helmet. Na, too radical and extreme. Anyway, it would get very hot, very quickly in such a suit. Galleries are very hot sometimes!

2. Wear a T Shirt that says, “Coloured pencils artists are for real”, or something along those lines.

3. Change my name to” CP Warrior”.

4. Have all art mediums except coloured pencil made illegal.

More thinking needed…

If you believe in a cause, then you must persist.

I’d better get back to painting……… with coloured pencils.

This weekend I’m in Hobart conducting a 2-day CP workshop. A report later next week.

MONDAY: The value of a website.

Richard

PRISMACOLOR PENCILS

I’ve taken delivery of 2 sets of (150) Prismacolor pencils that I ordered from the US. Each box is adorned with an example of the wonderful cp work of my good friend, Ester Roi. These sets look so good that it will be a shame to use them! One is destined for my next 2 cp classes, the other for myself.

Don’t you just love boxes of new pencils! Having to choose from 150 colours is a real treat, and I’m looking forward to trying out the 18 new colours that have been added to the Prismacolor collection.

I work with Prismacolors because they are the best I have ever used and they offer such a great range of colours, but that’s where the association ends.

I have received no support from their website. I am not allowed to post examples of my work, as I understand are any other artists outside the US. Why?

My emails have had the standard replies, but I’ve never been sent an explanation to my requests to have my work featured.

If I could find a better product I’d use it without hesitation. I understand Luminance pencils are highly regarded, but they aren’t available in Australia.

In my cp classes I use and praise Prismacolor pencils, and I’m sure that I have helped increased sales in Tasmania and Far North Queensland. I get no support from the manufacturers, but I recommend what I use and that’s Prismacolors first, Polychromos second and Coloursoft, third.

It’s obvious that there aren’t enough units sold in Australia. We are a small nation and cp art isn’t as popular as the painting mediums. The funny thing is that if people like me had more support from manufacturers, there would certainly be an increase in the sales of their products.

Saturday: More examples of my digital art.

Richard

MARYBOROUGH

Last Tuesday we visited the town of Maryborough, about 40 klms from our cabin at Hervey Bay. What a delightful place! I would like to highlight two of the businesses we visited.

WIDE BAY GALLERY

228 Adelaide Street

One of the best art shops I’ve visited during my travels. Syd Collins and his staff offer an impressive range of art materials and artworks for sale. Their framing is first-class. I was particularly taken with their website: http://www.artmaterialsupplies.com    This is one of the best sites of its kind that I have ever seen. It’s highly detailed and easily navigated. Their online business is very popular, so much so that many of their clients are from overseas. Check them out, you won’t be disappointed!

JANET’S ART

264 Kent Street

This shop specialises in art books and coffee (a great combination), and it’s the best art book shop I have seen in Queensland! I was over-whelmed when I entered the store. It even has a coloured pencil section! I made a purchase and wished I had more time to spend there. What a wonderful shop!

If you can’t visit in person you can visit online: http://www.janetsartbooks.com.au

I was not paid to mention these businesses. When I find something this good I like to tell others about it.

Wednesday: Details concerning my latest drawing.

Richard

THE ART MARKET

In the late 1970s I painted quite large landscapes, usually on canvas up to 180 x 120 cm. People bought large work for their homes but alas, there’s little demand for such large scale work these days!

Today’s featured work is a painting (120 x 90 cm) of The Eldon Range in Tasmania.

How well is art selling in your town?

In Tasmania all is not well with the art market. One is doing well here if they sell 25% of their work at exhibitions. The last exhibition I curated realised sales of 15.5%. The Water Ways exhibition in Hobart than ran for four days and closed on Monday sold 25% of its paintings. One recent exhibition in Hobart sold only one painting.

Times are tough.

Art is one of the first casualties of any economic downturn.

Let’s face it art is considered a luxury item. This situation has seen artists having to be more careful with what they paint, how they frame  and where they sell their work.

Some artists have resorted to using cheap framing and have lowered their prices. Cheap frames are never the way to go, they only cheapen your work!

Is there a solution?

There’s no ‘magic wand’, but artists need to be more aware of what is happening around them. You should never drop your standards, indeed, if there was ever a time to lift them, then, it’s now. Do less work, but better work. Stick to your prices and paint what you want to paint, not what you think the market wants. Don’t frame everything you do.

Join an art group such as an art society where you can be part of large exhibitions for far less cost than holding your own.

Why not try and market your (unframed) work on the Internet? Join Redbubble for instance and market your work to a broader audience.

Have you ever tried selling your work as greeting cards?

It’s not all gloom and doom!

Tomorrow: The problem with digital art.

Richard

PAYING COMMISSION 2.

The historic Lady Jane Franklin Gallery in Hobart, Tasmania.

Art galleries are the most popular places to sell your art. There are auctions and agents who provide the same service, but it’s the galleries that are responsible for the greatest number of sales.

Work is now being sold on the Internet, but not is as a great a quantity as artists would like. Selling artwork this way will be the theme for a future post.

‘Word of mouth’, often dubbed as the best why to advertise may get you some sales, even commissions, but this is not a reliable way of selling one’s artwork.

And speaking about commissions … these can be either a blessing or a millstone. I only take on a commission if I’m happy to draw what the client wants and I have some ‘freedom’. The best commissions are those where you have the freedom to do what you feel your client wants without any specific instructions.

It’s important to agree to a price before you start. Commissions are worth more than your ‘normal’ work, and should be priced accordingly.

If galleries are going to charge you a commission, what are you getting in return? What are the galleries’ responsibilities?

More tomorrow.

Richard