…or go home.
At a recent workshop, a young artist asked me what she should paint to get into a gallery in Jackson Hole. I was perplexed by the question; she was asking specifically whether she should paint a bison, or a bear, or something else.
Her question really needed answers in several different dimensions, so here goes:
- First, you gotta paint what you love if your work is to be exciting to both you and collectors. As we’ve talked about in this blog just recently, animal artists tend to be completely bonkers about animals, which is A Good Thing. I’m so inspired by my reference material every time I go through and look at all the beautiful horses, the big bison, the lithe cats, the pouncing coyotes, the corvids with chutzpah and the swans with grace, that I can hardly choose what to paint next.
- Secondly, doing one painting of a particular subject to get into one particular gallery almost certainly would not work. Galleries want to see a body of work with some consistency in style, showing knowledge of your subject. (They also want to know that you’ll be a good business partner with them - so be sure you know how to handle framing, consignments, collectors, shipping, paperwork, etc etc etc).
- If - like this artist - you’re very early in your career and still not sure what or how you want to paint, then take the time to develop and grow your skills. Compare your work to the best; be self-critical.
- And finally, we come back to something we’ve touched on before in this blog: have a vision, have something you really want to say about the subject matter, and pursue that with passion.
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November 11th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Oh I like this one. Having just killed myself and orphaned my family to get a piece done in time to apply to a particular auction. I was going to do this piece anyway because I was inspired to do it but I ended up focusing on the deadline. Long story short the auction did not accept the piece I killed myself over but instead another piece of mine that has been done for a couple years. I know better than to try to second guess juries and while I am happy with how the piece came out I could have taken my time and enjoyed the process more.
I totally agree with do what you love, what inspires you and ” have a vision, have something you really want to say about the subject matter” I’ve done some pieces that really meant something to me but I thought they would never sell…….I was wrong. The piece that I am thinking of I almost didn’t even want to show in my booth but every time I show it I get to see the people that are after my own heart who connect with it like I did when I sculpted it.
By the way……anyone know of any good auction in say Texas……I think this piece would go well in Texas ;0)
November 13th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Wow its quiet out there…………………………I think I can hear the wind blowing (0:
November 14th, 2009 at 6:22 am
It is not quiet inside my head.
For me painting is like breathing - if I stop I die.
And yes, I for one am bonkers about animals.
I did a small painting of a muskrat and a friend of mine said you are never going to sell that painting. Well the first time I showed it - I sold it.
The couple that bought it kept smiling and thanked me over and over.
Well, then I couldn’t stop smiling because they loved muskrats.
So paint what you love and love to paint.
November 14th, 2009 at 10:58 am
You have beautiful work Suzanne. Your love for it shows.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
It has been a bit quiet around here lately! hmm. Pre-holiday crazies already?
I once did a small painting of a raccoon on a mudbank. Sounds not very appealing, no? The effect worked, and I painted it because I really wanted to. Figured it would never sell - sold quickly once it got to a gallery. Frankly, I can never tell what WILL sell. There are paintings I’ve done that I think are superb - some of my best work - that still haven’t sold.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
We need food, shelter and paint. Oh and I need my horse and cats.
I would rather be a starving artist than a rich banker.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I still am working on where the market for my Mongolian subjects is going to be. The good news is I’m the only artist I know who is doing it. The “bad” news is that no one else that I know of is doing it, so there’s no existing market to plug into. But it’s the place and animals that have hooked me and I’ll just have to trust that my passion and enthusiasm will draw buyers in. No idea yet if any galleries will be interested. I’m waiting on that until the economy picks up.
I have sold some of the Przewalski horse paintings and am thinking that at least part of my market will be in the “horsey” world since I got into the AAEA juried show with a domestic Mongol horse this year.
No. 2, I think, is really important. It’s one thing to do some good paintings, but creating a consistent body of work is more challenging.
I also like No. 3 because when I started out, I looked at what the best artists like Bob Kuhn did. Some of the common threads were: drawing from live animals, getting out into the field to see the animals in their native habitat and shooting one’s own reference. None of this is a secret, but it’s amazing how many artists think they can pull it off without doing those things.
No. 4 is so important. The lack of that passion is usually evident and is one reason why it’s fatal to paint for the market. A related comment, from when I was in art school, was that you had to develop your own point of view and opinion about your subject, which would, by definition, be unique to you. It was often an answer to the common student question about how to development a “style”.
Suzanne- love the muskrat story! I have an artist friend who did a painting of a porcupine. It sold pretty quickly to a couple who had seen one on a backpacking trip and just had to have the painting. It was an useful lesson to me about why people buy what they do sometimes. You just never know.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Yes, but as we have learned recently, rich bankers are in the business of doing “God’s Work”
How many artists can make that claim?
As everyone knows, God does not “represent” world’s — as artists do–, but instead creates them — as bankers do (or at least claim to do).
November 26th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Nice Larry. I like your comment. I have often thought God was the Ultimate Artist and the rest of us were just trying to be copiers or “representers” of his work.