Artists: Paint for Yourself or Paint for Sales?
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Artists: Paint for Yourself or Paint for Sales?
Do you ever find yourself trying to make art that sells rather than making art that makes you happy? I know there are many artists who struggle with this issue. I hear this from my students on a regular basis. They will say they are thinking about doing what they see others do because that particular thing or style or whatever is selling.
The first question I have is, what is it that sells? Is there a single thing that sells? is there a sure thing that always sells? The answer is that there is no one thing that is a sure bet to sell - NOTHING is a sure bet to sell. Sure, there are more landscape paintings that sell as a whole, but there are many more landscape painters than any other type of painter. People buy many different types of art, so there isn’t one thing that you can count on to sell.
Here’s the way I look at it. If you paint for sales, and that type of painting doesn’t align with your inner spirit, then you will be miserable. You will not be fulfilling your role as an original creator. You will be depriving yourself and the world of your original work that is a reflection of you, and only you - work that only you can make. Most people paint because it makes them happy, so if you take that away, there will be no visible joy in your work.
What you can do however, is make your original, authentic work that is a reflection of you, and that only you can create. Build up a cohesive body of that work. Then go out and find a group of people who love it. Find the buyers for YOUR work. Find your tribe. Communicate with them online and offline and they will buy your work. What you are doing then is turning this whole thing around. You are making work and then finding your group of buyers, rather than painting something that may not be authentic to you just for sales.
With this new approach you will have the best of both worlds - the joy of making work that is authentic to you, and having people buy the work. Bingo! I think we may have something here.
If you'd like to learn about abstract painting and making your own authentic work, then please join me for a painting workshop: (You can view a list of 2020 workshops HERE)
March 26-28 Franciscan Life Process Center, Lowell, MI. Contact Kathy Bechtel, Email: kbechtel@lifeprocesscenter.org. For information and registration Click Here.
April 3-4 Greenville, SC, Greenville Center for Creative Arts. Contact: Liz Rundorff Smith, Email: liz@artcentergreenville.org. For information and registration Click Here.
April 22-24 David M. Kessler Fine Art Studio, Winston-Salem, NC. For information and registration, Click Here. Only 2 Seats Left!
May 1-3 Tubac School of Fine Art, Tubac, AZ. For information and registration Click Here.
May 20-22 Hill Country Arts Foundation, Ingram, TX. For information and registration Click Here.
June 12-14 Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, Fort Smith, AR. For information and registration Click Here.
As always, thanks for your support!
David
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