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Thing #15 is:
It's good to know what you're good at, but don't make it a shtick.
I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: the artist that paints the same thing (with minor variations) over and over. Usually these artists are quite successful; in fact, it's what they paint that plays a major part in their success. It's not just a signature style, but a signature subject.
I once heard a tale of an artist who was starting out in his professional career and landed a solo show at a prestigious gallery. He liked to paint landscapes and particularly enjoyed painting winter scenes of rural villages in Québec, Canada with a church and a group of kids playing ice hockey on an outdoor rink. This is quite a common and popular theme in Québec where the church and sports play a big role in a lot of peoples' lives. About half of the work in the artist's exhibition were scenes such as these and they sold out. The other half of the show did quite well, but didn't sell out.
The gallery owner was obviously very pleased and told the artist to keep producing the church/hockey paintings, in fact he refused to accept anything else from him. Before long the artist had a reputation as the church/hockey guy and "the public" expected it of him.
Fast forward a decade or two and the artist has made a comfortable living out of church/hockey paintings, but the enjoyment evaporated years ago. It's now a job like any other - they very thing he was trying to avoid all those years ago by becoming a professional artist.
This is a trap I'm very wary of. Clearly I like cars, city scenes, trees in snow and skies...but that's four things and none of them as specific as the scenes in my story. I'm trying to concentrate less on the subject matter and more on the technique: tight cropped composition, high contrast, contemporary treatment, the still life aspect of the landscape. Less recognizable as a shtick, but still enabling me to focus on what I like to do.
Admittedly I've never had a gallery or buyer only accept a particular type of scene from me, so it's kind of easy for me to advise against a shtick. It would be a tricky situation and by keeping my options open I hope to avoid it. The "comfortable living" part may be harder to come by, but I don't think many people get into making art for the money...
Thing #1: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #2: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #3: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
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Thing #9: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
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Thing #14: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Why am I posting this stuff? maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Take a look at my Facebook page...if you like it, please "Like" it! www.facebook.com/MontrealArtis…
It's good to know what you're good at, but don't make it a shtick.
I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: the artist that paints the same thing (with minor variations) over and over. Usually these artists are quite successful; in fact, it's what they paint that plays a major part in their success. It's not just a signature style, but a signature subject.
I once heard a tale of an artist who was starting out in his professional career and landed a solo show at a prestigious gallery. He liked to paint landscapes and particularly enjoyed painting winter scenes of rural villages in Québec, Canada with a church and a group of kids playing ice hockey on an outdoor rink. This is quite a common and popular theme in Québec where the church and sports play a big role in a lot of peoples' lives. About half of the work in the artist's exhibition were scenes such as these and they sold out. The other half of the show did quite well, but didn't sell out.
The gallery owner was obviously very pleased and told the artist to keep producing the church/hockey paintings, in fact he refused to accept anything else from him. Before long the artist had a reputation as the church/hockey guy and "the public" expected it of him.
Fast forward a decade or two and the artist has made a comfortable living out of church/hockey paintings, but the enjoyment evaporated years ago. It's now a job like any other - they very thing he was trying to avoid all those years ago by becoming a professional artist.
This is a trap I'm very wary of. Clearly I like cars, city scenes, trees in snow and skies...but that's four things and none of them as specific as the scenes in my story. I'm trying to concentrate less on the subject matter and more on the technique: tight cropped composition, high contrast, contemporary treatment, the still life aspect of the landscape. Less recognizable as a shtick, but still enabling me to focus on what I like to do.
Admittedly I've never had a gallery or buyer only accept a particular type of scene from me, so it's kind of easy for me to advise against a shtick. It would be a tricky situation and by keeping my options open I hope to avoid it. The "comfortable living" part may be harder to come by, but I don't think many people get into making art for the money...
Thing #1: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #2: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #3: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #4: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #5: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #6: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #7: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #8: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #9: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #10: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #11: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #12: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #13: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Thing #14: maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Why am I posting this stuff? maccski.deviantart.com/journal…
Take a look at my Facebook page...if you like it, please "Like" it! www.facebook.com/MontrealArtis…
Things I Learned as an Oil Painter: Thing #22
After a long hiatus the TILAAOP series is back (at least for one post). Thing #22 is:
The more you do it the better you get at it.
Yes, it’s obvious, but it goes a little deeper. The reason I’ve chosen this “thing” is because I have been and continue to be working very hard to produce art for a solo show coming up next month. For almost a year I’ve kept an aggressive schedule of putting paint to canvas. I’ve been keeping count of my paintings while keeping my eye on the calendar.
There have been some dogs in there, but in general I feel the quality of my work has improved. My confidence has been booste
Web Site and Social Media News
I just completely updated the look of my web site to a cleaner, simpler, more "now-ish" design. Please go take a look: http://www.montrealartist.com/
I also started to look more seriously at using social media as a way of getting my work "out there". I created accounts specifically for my artwork on Twitter and Pinterest:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DavidKelavey
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/montrealartist/
I'd be interested in hearing any comments/advice from anyone that has used these sites for their art.
I'm still plugging my work on Facebook - if you haven't already, please head over and take a look: http://www.facebook.com/Mon
If You Go To Etobicoke...
If you're around Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada in the next few weeks I have a painting on show as part of the Society of Canadian Artists Members' Show. It's at the Civic Center, 399 The West Mall from today until August 27. The reception's on Sunday July 27th from 2pm - 4pm (but I won't be there because I'll be on a beach in Maine!).
I have re-resurfaced again...
I'm one of those sporadic deviants that lives & breathes dA for a few weeks before dropping off the face of the Earth...only to reappear and redisappear (rinse & repeat). But hey, I'm back and that's what counts, right?
My time away from dA has not been idle - here's a run-down of what I've been up to:
I started the process of organizing my first solo exhibition at a gallery (Viva Vida Art Gallery in Pointe-Claire, Quebec) in October. More info to come.
I gave my first ever demoI gave my first ever talkI got accepted into Oil Painters of America
I got myself a purpose-built art studio. Previously I was working in my basement, next
© 2013 - 2024 maccski
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i don't know how artist can paint the same thing over and over i would go nuts with the tedium of that. and yet every time i try to find a gallery all they want is for me to paint a certain thing all the time i can't and won't do it my. subjects are varied even more so than most artist i do landscapes, figurative, portraiture, still life, animal, technical and florals painting its the variety that keeps me painting. plus i like to stretch my skills its all so why i use multiple styles of painting too. i refuse to do abstracts though many of my realist paintings have abstraction within them. its a good point and one that needs to be covered with new artist.