I frequent artist discussion websites and frequently see posts from midlifers looking to get into the "art biz".
Of course, think that's great. Many of us are finally tapping into the creative sides of our personalities that have long been pushed down by work and family demands. And selling art is a thrill. To know that someone parted with THEIR hardearned dollars to own something you created is an incredible feeling.
But it saddens me when I see the cart before the horse.
I see people with 5 year business plans, who work diligently on getting their "brand name" out there, who work on pricing like it's a widget (let's see, if it takes me 10 hours to paint, plus $20 in supplies, plus overhead, plus my salary per hour...I get $___ per painting!) who want to maximize the profit by producing the most salable art...whether they like it or not.
This makes for some very bad art.
If your heart isn't in it, it shows. Trust me. I've seen abstracts done by people who honestly believed that a monkey could do it...and don't sell.
I've seen landscapes by people who never go outside...how can you possibly capture the feel and mood of the outdoors if you never experience it? One of my favorite painters is Florida painter, Linda Blondheim, and I love her work because I was raised in Florida, spent a lot of time in nature with my parents, and swear I can smell and feel Florida outdoors when I look at Linda's work. Now Linda is not strictly a plein air painter, she combines both outdoor work with studio painting to make her magnificent paintings, but you can tell...she's been there, felt that and best of all, loves that and it comes through.
Same with animal art. I've actually seen people say they were getting into the pet portrait business, because they see that artists like me who specialize in pet portraiture have lots of commissions. But they always seem to fail. A few samples, and no customers. Why? Somehow their lack of genuine interest in the subject matter shows.
I can't tell you how, I can't tell you why. But artists who love what they do...who are drawn to the subject or genre they produce not by money, but by genuine interest, can't help but to let this emotion come through in their work.
I have an online artist friend who draws "portraits" of antique cars and has a ton of business. But his genuine love of old cars shows through. I might TECHNICALLY be able to draw a car, but his have that extra something that shows through and can't be faked.
And the funny thing is...the buying public sees it. Again, don't know how!
So "what kind of art sells" isn't the question. The question is "How do I sell my art that I love to create?"
If you are producing art and marketing it and it's still not selling, it might not be the economy, it might not be that nobody buys originals (untrue), might not even be your technical skills. It might be that you haven't found your art true love yet. It's certainly something to consider.
Want to see more of my art that I love so much? Check out my website http://robinzebley.com for animal portraits and my blog about animal art And if you happened upon this blog entry and want to read more about my rantings about the midlife artist, just click on the banner at the top of this post to access all of my blog entries.
