How to sell your paintings?
Шрифт:
There's another way of making decisions. When you have 120 coins in your wallet, and you buy a dress for 10, and spend the rest of the money on cafes and movies. I smile. Tell me, who has been in similar situations, no matter from which side? What do you think this mindset is called? Why does it arise? What feelings are actually involved?
Here's the translation of the second part of the text:
Geniuses, Dilettantes, and Professionals
Now let's talk about those who declare in their creative endeavors the idea of 'I'm an artist, this is how I see it.' I'm also an artist. I also see. And here's what I see. All discussions and critiques of the works of novice artists are dedicated to. I smile.
Genius
It's unique and inexplicable from the point of view of logic and the set of your knowledge and experience data to date. They are bright. They are easily recognizable. What's the complexity here? You can't replicate their path. Copying their actions will yield the opposite effect or zero at best. Therefore, it makes no sense by definition to repeat the path of a genius. Even if you do the same thing, just green or with pearl buttons, it won't be interesting to viewers and buyers. I'll repeat. it won't be interesting. Because viewers have already seen it from someone else.
Why should they watch the same thing again, now from you? Let's say you like the creativity of Lev Leshchenko. And you are offered to listen to songs of his clones instead of him or after him. How do you feel about such a situation? Another Salvador Dali. Another Van Gogh and Picasso. Have you grasped the idea, yes? Then let's move on. If suddenly you're not a Genius (for example, I'm not a genius), then you have 2 options left: dilettante or professional. It's going to get tough now.
Dilettante
To loudly declare "I'm an artist, this is how I see it" and simultaneously demand recognition and income, you need to have basic settings. First, learn to draw properly, and then create works with your own vision, handwriting, and style. And you can learn to draw properly and become a professional.
And what is a good work? There is an opinion that a good work = an inspired work, done with love. After all, the main thing is love. Very ambiguous. Not a fact. Therefore, I have a number of questions. Inspired by whom? With what love? To whom? To what? The main thing is where, in what, when, for whom. In what time frame and space? How will you understand that this is love? And how does the viewer consider it?
In reality, this is an excuse for not wanting to learn and a demand to become a mommy for the author of the masterpiece, admiring and sighing with each curl and spot. I've already mentioned a couple of times about the requirements for the quality of execution, in the context of watercolor. A good work equals productivity plus quality. This is closer to me, of course. I don't discuss the quality criterion by default.
But what about productivity? Well, the main glitch of the dilettante is a fairly large number of works, all of the same level. There are many of them, and they are not needed by anyone, primarily by themselves. And at this stage, I usually hear that you just need to draw a lot, and then… Who gives these pieces of advice and why? It's a mystery to me. Then it will never happen. There's a joke. When a person is asked at an interview how many characters per minute he types. And the answer is 2500 characters, but it turns out to be complete nonsense.
So it is in creativity. The process of drawing itself is not an end in itself. It should result in a clear and high-quality work. It's very desirable that it reflects the original and nature. And it's very desirable that it reflects as accurately and without errors as possible. And not just me doodling here. A lot of low-quality work is meaningless. Accept it as a fact. This is the stage of the dilettante. And we smoothly move on.
Professional
An artist who produces and creates quality works. And this can be learned at any age. I'm very glad about this and I know a lot of inspiring examples of wonderful artists. This is the artist's labor.
Artist, Give Me a Discount
"Give me a discount." This topic is as old as life itself. Our song is good, let's start over. And what's there to draw, think of a brush on paper. And why are you tired, just give me a discount. And why not draw with a pencil, it won't cost you anything. Do you recognize it?
Usually, I joke it off. Of course, I'll give you a discount, and you'll come to my house and do the dishes and clean up. Or yes, sure, here's a stack of my bills, go to the bank and please pay them. It's a great idea to suggest they buy groceries for me at the store and bring them home for me. They might as well cook while they're at it.
– "Give me a discount!"
– "Of course, I'll give you one. Will you pay my bills, at least for the phone or gas? Would you like that?"
Oh, and this phrase works! Try it! Or answer like this:
– "Of course, I'll give you a discount. When's payday? I'll come by, and you'll give me a portion of your salary."
– "Why is that?"
– "Because my profit is included in the price of the painting. If I share my profit with you, then you'll share your salary with me."
Clients quickly come to their senses. Tested. You can add: will you buy medicine for my mom, here's the prescription, and also the bill from the clinic.
Sometimes they argue that someone else is giving a discount. And what's that got to do with me? Why should I do what they're trying to impose on me? I work for money. The watercolor is fantastic, the price is excellent.
Here's where attention comes in. For some reason, this client came to me instead of staying with someone else. Why? There are clients who try to bend you to their will. So what? That's their problem, not yours. Usually, they just don't want to pay for your work. They value their own. Art is not milk or bread, or medicine.
The client is a specialist in their field, and I am in mine. For those who have their own website or paintings published on social media profiles with prices, it's convenient to do the same. I ask: "Have you seen all my works? Have you checked the prices? So you're aware of the prices, right?"
Here's another one of my stories. When a lady tried to explain to me that the price was too high. And the arguments: "As if anyone buys this. Look at the painting by a famous artist, his winter landscape costs several times less! Who is he, and who are you! Is this what you have? Watercolor?? A painting, miss (she addressed me), is done in oils, but yours is who knows what!" In general, she came to me with these texts for a week. Just a common troll. Clearly not my client.