It’s amazing how often I have found that the reason why people don’t have confidence is simply because they’re not willing to take the risk to learn something new. And learning something new can come about simply through learning from the most obvious of accidents that are happening in your studio in your normal process of working.
As such you can never find a simple formula to building confidence in your artwork. You can be aware of being too careful in your approach. Watch how you draw, watch how you apply paint, watch how you choose whatever material it is that you’re working with and how you then go about working with those materials.
In this post, I’m addressing the (lack of) issue that many artists and aspiring artists have about self-confidence. For without a certain amount of self-confidence you won’t have the required ability to put your self out by marketing your art.
If you have never written out a marketing plan, the task most likely sounds daunting. A sound marketing plan however, is a great way to increase the success of your business and helps you to make informed decisions around purchases, networking, events, and promotions throughout the year.
You’ve run the numbers, and hopefully removed any lingering fog around your money. Now it’s time to decide if you’re making enough of it. If you think your bank account could use a boost, set aside a few hours to ask yourself some serious questions.
No business operates well without a budget. Your budget should be a realistic set of spending parameters. The more control over and security around your finances, the freer you’ll feel when it’s time to be creative.
Part I: Funding your practice.
Supporting your practice can produce emotional fits. Money is a delicate subject no matter what field you are in.
In addition to sending press releases, the media’s attention is also grabbed by a strong, concise, convincing pitch in their inbox on or their voice-mail. The pitch is a two-three-sentence idea for a story that you are feeding to one editor at a time.
How do artists negotiate deals with corporations?
A corporation wants to me to reproduce one of my paintings as a series of limited edition prints for their various office locations. How do I negotiate this deal?
What do I need to know about contracts?
Legal issues will arise during your career. You might face disputes with curators who may have agreed to cover expenses for an installation but who later remembers that conversation differently.
Your creative work is immediately copyrighted the moment you make it. Any author of an original work owns the copyright to that work. Only you have the right to derive works, such as prints, from your own work. This right remains with you even after your work is sold. The new owner has bought your work but not its copyright, unless you have transferred it via contract.
1. Ask yourself what your goals are before you go to an event. This will help you pick groups that best suit you. Some meetings are based more on learning, making contacts and/or volunteering, rather than on strictly making business connections.
In order to show at notable gallery you and your art have to be a total match. The quality of your art is only one step in the process. There’s also your resume, your reputation, your profile and standing in the art community, how you are to work with, your previous sales history, the quality of critical reviews of your past shows and much more.
I just graduated from art school. How do I break into galleries?
As I any profession, you have to begin at the beginning, and in the art world that means showing your art pretty much anywhere anyone will have you.
Should I make limited edition inkjet prints of my art?
Generally no, unless you’ve got significant name recognition and your art is in such demand that you can’t make enough fast enough to satisfy buyers – or that your originals have gotten so expensive, hardly anybody can afford them.
A budget doesn’t come our of thin air, so before you start you must be clear about exactly what you’re going to do and how you intend to do it. That will help you create a list of project expenses.
With proper planning, your anxiety about the outcome of your goal will be replaced by directed activity. Practice developing an action plan for a single short-term goal.
There are entire books dedicated to the science of getting press coverage, all of which are subject to obsolescence with every passing day due to the chaotic and ever-changing media landscape.
Know the points you want to make before the interview.
Your website is your most important outreach tool to market your art. It should be a place where you can send clients, potential clients, and reporters to get exciting images of and information about you and your work.
