Julie T. Chapman - ArtBlog

Does anyone else get these emails from Kennedy Publishing?

Dear Julie Chapman,
As you may know from our previous emails we visited your website and are extremely impressed with your body of work. Our new Best Of Books have been a wonderful success featuring some of the most oustanding artists from around the world.

Our Best of Worldwide Genre art book competitions are coming up. Figurative / Portrait, Landscape, Still Life, Animal and Abstract. We would be honored to include you in one of them.

If you decide to enter you are guaranteed a Two Page Full Color Layout of your artwork (a total of 2-4 images) along with your contact information and/or gallery Representation, plus more.

The book does require an entry form and the $55 entry fee, which allows you to submit up to 10 images. You will receive two preview proofs of your pages, a jpg followed by a full color paper proof.

…etc.

I think I once did a little poking around on the web to see if these folks were legit, and it didn’t seem like their books were carried in any ‘real’ bookstore (brick’n'mortar, Amazon, anyplace I’d like to buy a book), nor is it clear how many galleries and museums get these. They mention “470 collectors” on their mailing list, which didn’t overwhelm me (based on the number I have on my own mailing list), nor can I recall having seen this book advertised anywhere. Has anyone else seen the books?

I’d also like a little more clarity on what they mean by “our books…have been a wonderful success…”. Call my cynical, but I’ve worked as an engineer and in marketing long enough to question this sort of thing.

Or am I missing out on a cool opportunity by not sending the Kennedy folks $55 and some images? One question I had was whether there were further fees if my images were accepted to whatever book - unclear.

Whatchall think?

I wouldna thunk it, but I’m in the pet portrait biz. I mean, OK, I’ve done commissioned portraits (mostly horse, some dog, even a couple cats) over the years, in oil or pastel…but here I’ve jumped in with both feet to something new. Even set up a new website.

Why? because it’s so damn much FUN. The scratchboard work has drama and mystery in it that doesn’t come with any other medium. I’m personally fascinated by watching an image emerge from the black surface. Once I get rolling, it can be hard to stop! but of course there’s no going back on a scratchboard, so I hafta be crazy careful about each mark I make since it can’t really be undone.

The other reason is that it’s gratifying beyond description to hear the client reaction. People love the results!! The jolt of happy stuff that comes with your client raving about your work just can’t be beat - and it’s one thing the artist often doesn’t get from gallery sales, since we’re a level removed from talking to the client when the sale actually happens (unless it’s from a museum show or opening we’re attending).

Anyway - new website at www.artfulk9.com. Another new scratchboard below.