Poor artist

[Nanette Breer]

Yes that is what I am.Any suggestions? I think I have tried them all.

[Chito Salarza]

I can relate with that. Many artists say that you can't make a living being an artist unless you are famous. Interestingly,
I am in the middle of reading a book by a Dutch writer I can't remember his full name Han's entitled WHY ARE ARTIST S POOR? It's very interesting book. Yes, if you rely only on the sale of your art, you will definitely starve unless you're very succesful. You need to have a job to survive and make art as a hobby. I am the living proof to that so as my other artists friends.

[JL Fawcett]

I work as a nurse... and have a schedule that allows me to be off for ten days at a time twice a month... so that is when I do art things..... and also... the sales come in spurts.... one month a couple..... then none for a month or two... but I ALSO have realized that when i DO sell anything, it is because I have pounded the pavement and the internet highway marketing.... on months when I let up, nothing happens.......

[Tony Murray]

Unfortunately One has to veiw the selling of art as a form of prostitution. Unless you are out there showing "what you got" all the time you almost certainly can not make a living from it.

[Mark Sheeky]

Rejoice! You have no pressure from critics, or investors, or managers. You have no contracts to give a % of your income away. You have no deadlines or schedules. You have no responsibilities to stick to one type of art. All of those benefits, yet you can still be a great artist.

[Evelyn]

Your statement was very positive and inspiring. That is the way I need to continue to think in order to prosper in this world as an artist.

[Alan Lawson]

Like most of you, I can't quite live off it. I teach Philosophy as a regular income and Paint during my four months annual holiday. I find I can get quite a bit done then, but alas it may not sell. I don't worry too much about it. Portrait commissions create probably the most regular money, but landscapes and the rest are very hit and miss. I just do what I want and somehow it seems to work out. Overall I think it's probably better to be the poor artist than the rich prostitute, but I may be wrong.

[Carson Collins]

With the caveat that I've never been what anyone would call enormously successful, I do have a 25-year international exhibition history, in a few dozen commercial galleries:

If anyone is interested in the possibility of showing their artwork in a commercial gallery, here are a few things I've learned in the past 30 years, for whatever it's worth:

Most galleries have a web site. Go there first. This will tell you what their submissions policies are (which, in this era of rapidly changing technology, varies greatly from one to another); also, it will tell you whether or not they are interested in reviewing new artists at all. Most established galleries are already committed to a stable of 12 to 20 artists, and are not looking for any new ones.

The only kind of galleries that are likely to pick up new artists are new galleries. And here's the sad truth about that: Nine out of ten new galleries (and new small businesses in general) fail during the first 2 years. If you're lucky enough to get a show, get a written contract, and insist on being paid promptly. If you let them put you off, odds are the gallery will go bankrupt and you'll never get paid at all.

Don't make "cold calls"; this is a pure waste of the gallery's time, and yours. Further, 19 times out of 20 they are going to be extremely rude as they show you the exit. This, you probably don't need.

Be sensible. Look at the kind of art and artists the gallery exhibits. If your artwork is vastly disparate, they aren't going to be interested. You have to fit into their niche.

Be consistent. You need to show the gallery a cohesive body of work. People who sell art are looking for artists who reliably produce an easily recognizable, consistent product. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being prolix, it just isn't what commercial galleries want.

Be aware that nowadays, in general, the gallery finds the artist, not the other way around. For example, all of the galleries that have exhibited my paintings during the past 7 years found me via the Internet. This is why you need to have your artwork on line, in as many places as possible.

Be persistent. Nobody is going to stumble into your studio and "discover" you. Nobody is going to market your artwork but you. Yes, if you have the money, you can hire an agent. I've had a few, and here's my advice: someone who asks an artist for money up front is admitting that they have absolutely no confidence in their ability to get you sales. If they were confident, they'd work for a percentage of those sales. In general, artists' agents make their money from the gullibility of artists, not by selling artwork.

If you can't learn to write "spider food", one investment you actually might want to make is to pay someone to optimize your primary web site for search engines. If your web site is on page 15,000 at Google for the relevant search terms, you might as well not have one. Trevor could probably do that for you. If not, I can recommend someone if you're interested.

Be prepared for a lot of rejection. In most urban areas there are about 1,000 artists competing for every one opportunity to exhibit their work in a gallery. The odds are not good.

Know Your Market.

What follows is a review that was written about me and published by Online-Art-Revue.com several years ago, when I first went on line. It isn't flattering, but it's accurate:

"Ocean Art Posters is the website in which the artist Carson C.T.Collins sells art prints of his originals of the ocean, you can either get a print in poster from or in a fine art print form.
The ocean art that Carson C.T.Collins makes is very salubrious and ethereal and the colours he uses very subdued and relaxed.
These Ocean paintings are very nice and quite cool but are quite limited in the interior they will fit into, the only rooms and dwellings I can see these pictures fitting in would be in beach side condos in Miami or Malibu strewn with leather sofas and chrome fittings if they were not set into a similar type setting I'm sure a poster or print from Ocean Art Posters would look a bit out place, so to sum up Ocean Art Posters I will say that the paintings are nice and quite sleek with a slightly neon edge to them and I would advise buying something if you own a beach side condo."

I didn't like it when I first read it, but I soon realized that they were telling the truth, and had actually done me a good service. Knowing your market will save you a lot of wasted time, money, and energy.

Be aware that, even if you do get a gallery or galleries to show your work, this is no guarantee of any kind of decent income. All of the artists I know personally either have inherited money, a pension, a working spouse, or a part-time job.

[DrayeArt]

Do you still have a soul?


SELL IT!

[Evelyn]

I am an artist by profession. I have been so for the last five years. Prior to that, I worked over 30 different jobs. It is very hard but through trial and error and refusing to "get another job" and do the "right thing" I have discovered that it is a process of finding My own Audience. Also, to survive solely as an artist, you have to have a lot of faith in God and belief in yourself. I have survived being homeless, living in hotels and I am still struggling but I have seen God work for me when I don't worry and I keep working. I have had many so called miracles, where I will land a commission a few days before rent was due or my lights were about to be cut off. I am sure it is easier if you get a regular job as a back-up plan, but for me, it takes away from the energy I could be using to create or market myself as an artist.

[Monika Macken]

I've worked full time all my life, so I can manage...I'm retired now and I can paint as much as I want. But you really have to be very famous to live only with the earnings coming from your art...Vincent Van Gogh never sold a painting of his whole life (only one to his brother...)But if your name is Botero or Luc Tuymans (very famous Belgian painter) you can have a very good life , believe me!

[Evelyn]

I feel like giving up so many times. But something within me makes me keep trying. There is no feeling like the freedom of being able to devote my life to something that I have wanted all of my life. I got in trouble at every job or school I have attended because I would draw in class, at work, wherever I have been all of my life. The funny thing is, I usually find a way around every road block that I encounter.