What did the eyes find restful? On proper proportions. On skillful color solutions. On techniques that work for the idea and are fully justified. And on realism. Yes-yes. Among the fashionable abstractions, realistic works attract. This is what I wanted to look at, and I wanted to get to know the authors.
And it turns out that these authors not only have decent paintings. But also decent graphics and drawing. Even if they have different themes and genres and subjects and fantasies. I am all for good taste. In both abstraction and realism. And for respectful treatment of the human body. And you, as you browse through the works of other artists in large numbers, what do they exhibit? What are your overall impressions? Please share.
Communication in social media posts
Why do I ask for a description and make a request when posting your paintings as separate posts? Description in the post with the painting: it's the author, technique, size, year of creation, country (city), preferably the title. This description is also called "cataloging," meaning the method accepted in catalogs.
The rest is a request. What is a request? It's either a question or a plea. A question that can be answered and then discussed. A plea is similar. From the series: advise, help, what do you think, all questions go here. Responding to a post without a question is not a very good reaction. So, the artist wrote something. And? There's no question. Here are also the expectations from participants that they will write something about the painting, and then the complaints about not being recognized.
Firstly, these are your personal expectations from others. What are they based on? On your own individual reasons.
Secondly, you don't even voice your expectations and needs. What should people comment on in this case? No question, no answer. And that's it.
And a normal reaction would be to write without a question on another topic, if you feel like it, of course. Phrases without anything, just talking about everything and nothing, and then sighing that nobody responded to me, I'm so tired, I thought it would be different, and so on, are also in this category. And what do you think, colleagues?
Sell yourself, the rest will follow
Tell me, who do you usually trust 100%? That's right, people who are authorities to you. That's your brand. Let me explain. I build my image in such a way that people, seeing and hearing my name, know what to expect from me. It may seem impossible, but it's much simpler than you think.
You need to promote yourself everywhere and always. Promote yourself wisely and cleverly. And for this to work well, I try to showcase my skills in the field where I'm promoting myself. Choose what you like the most. Is there something that "hooks" you? Develop that theme.
So, how do things usually unfold? Here's the standard scenario of what I'm actually selling. Let's break it down step by step.
Firstly, why should I interact with people in real life, offline, if there are millions of potential clients on the Internet and ready-made websites-galleries?
After a month. If someone had told me about free advertising methods earlier. Oh, and by the way, can someone explain to me why advertise your website and page?
And another month later. Why am I even trying to sell my paintings independently? There must be another way! And what am I actually selling?
And after several months of such actions, I finally understand. Here's what I understand. Maybe the main product for sale is not the paintings? Not drawing lessons? Not courses on art history?
So here's the thing. I don't want you to spend half a year before you come to this rare thought.
My Most Important product is ME.
Your Most Important product is YOU.
Yes, many have heard about this. Few understand it, let alone apply it. You can clearly see in your genre's niche that there are artists who effortlessly sell a couple of works every day and even get commissions. And then there are those who can barely sell 1-2 paintings a month. Or there's a huge difference in the price of their work, hence the artist's profit. Why? My paintings are not bought because I have an incredible storyline or my watercolor is more "watercolorish" than other artists'. It's because they like me. So, the question is different. How do you establish yourself in the target market? How do you make clients come to you? It's a great question. And almost no one teaches the answer. Usually, they suggest painting more. How does all of this work on the Internet? Through content that meets the needs of your ideal clients. Start sharing experiences, cases.
I feel like many members of the group are tense right now, especially newcomers. I'm not commenting on the level of artistic mastery. In this group, I'm dealing with something else. Your education and biography interest me at the "who you are and what you do" stage as a fact.
But what really matters to me is what you create as an artist, what your art is about, and why you create it. I share the approach to painting, drawing as a profession from art therapy. The approach, attitude, and your subsequent actions matter. It's important. In short, a professional has ongoing development and continuation in the theme, technique. And discipline. If something needs to be done by a certain date, they will do it well and on time. They won't wait for inspiration and conditions. This is the approach to a profession.
Unexpected Moment
An unexpected moment you may not even be aware of when you want to sell your paintings. Any sale involves communication, interaction with the buyer or dealer. When you post your paintings in our group without any identifying text or request, it's your habit of communicating. And you're most likely behaving the same way elsewhere. What's wrong with this situation for you?
Well, you have a whole bag of problems. You don't want to read the group rules. So, you're not even interested in knowing where you've been accepted. You read how things are done here, but you don't care. You're special and unique. Who cares what anyone else says? So what if there are over 4000 other members in the group besides you? People? Who are they?
You think it's okay to steal other people's time and attention so they can look at your work without a description, questions, or relevant requests. You're incapable of learning because learning means reading, learning, and applying immediately. Everything else just flies over your head, connections, and money.
Selling paintings requires learning a lot of things. And applying them immediately with manic persistence. That's when you're really learning, not just consuming information like popcorn at the movies, and there's a chance you'll meet at least 30% of your expectations and ambitions. If it's 50%, even better. Then you're being bought on a regular basis.
If you lack brains and respect, that's your problem. Admins delete silently and immediately. Start with the fact that you and your paintings are unknown to anyone in general. And people generally don't care what streams of consciousness you poured onto canvas and paper. Harsh? Offensive? Your problems.
When you come to a popular online store, a platform with services, a website, and a gallery for selling paintings, you have to abide by the established rules. Rules that the platform operates on. Rules set by others long before you decided to come and bless everyone with your ingenious, unique, and incomparable paintings in your signature technique with a masterful composition. You'll have to consider that there are people around you. Surprising, isn't it? But you're not just interested in everyone, not just anyone, agree.
You need those who have resources that you don't: knowledge, practical experience, money, time. Because you want something in return for your publication. An opinion, consultation, advice, problem-solving. And here's more bad news for you. There's always a queue for such people. Always. There's a big crowd of people like you, wanting to get something. And you're one of them. Unpleasant? Your problems.
And now the question. One you'll definitely encounter when showing your work to buyers, viewers, dealers, curators, producers, patrons. And you'll have to answer it. Why should time be spent on you as an artist and your work?
When does good art become great?
Good art becomes great only when it creates a unique and personal connection between the artist and their audience.
This statement comes from a famous art fair that recently generated significant revenue and entered the top 20 leading global platforms of contemporary art. And they are right. Why? Because you create art objects paintings, sculptures. You embody your feelings on paper, canvas. You pour out your imagination in creative realization.
This is a rare gift. A sparkling gem. Have you ever wondered why these ideas, feelings, thoughts, desires come to your mind? Have you ever thought that the painting, sculpture, photograph you create is just an intermediate step? Not the final result of creativity? Have you ever thought that you create art not to hide it, but to act? To show, demonstrate, share, talk about it. As soon as you start to act, opportunities for promoting and selling your paintings come to you.
And the next series of ideas and feelings come wave after wave straight into your hands. This is my favorite involvement. Interaction. Between you as artists and viewers. You and buyers. Between you as a person and your feelings, desires, thoughts. From which you create art.
And all this comes to you to become accessible to others. Present your creativity. Reveal yourself to others. Publish. Share. Sell. Act. Otherwise, this gift goes away with the opportunities. And you are left with nothing. Good art becomes great only when it creates a unique and personal connection between the artist and their audience.
Artists on Results
These are reviews and some results from artists who have benefited from thematic learning and the application of recommendations from posts in the general group, starting from 2017. We continue to collaborate closely to this day.
When did it all happen? In late July and early August 2018. It was a small real-time experiment, lasting 2 weeks, at the request of the artist Alexander H. The format of communication was video, live streams, and posts. Each time a separate theme and homework. Sometimes such a format is called a marathon. Then the analysis of the completed task and again a new topic. Finally, feedback. Often they ask, "But how many paintings did he sell?"
See the message from the messenger after some time:
"Galina, hello! Do you remember me? Last summer, I painted one picture, large and quickly. Recorded a video process. Did it in 2 days. No more. And left it to finish later, if necessary. Well, those are the details. In short, I put it up for sale on the Masters Fair. I priced it at 34 thousand rubles. It seemed excessive to me. And what? It was bought. First. Just like that. Much of it is your support and knowledge. So thank you for explaining the inexplicable nature of the buyer and the inexplicable pricing! In short, you have to work hard to understand them! And that's heartening!"
Alexander H.
Two weeks Galina taught me how to sell my paintings. Selling them online, and that's important. I tried. And here, briefly, what I learned for myself. Look. Two weeks ago (July-August 2018), we organized an experiment. It was organized by Galina, she created the group "How to sell your paintings?" I found it interesting, and she invited me to participate in this experiment.
And the essence is this. She gives me recommendations, I follow them, and I must have a result. 2 weeks have passed, and I am giving feedback on what I learned and what it gave me. And generally, what I came up with myself, what I learned from her, and how useful it was for me.
What did I learn? First. When Galina started looking at me on the internet, looked at my profile online, she said that I have about 200 friends, which is very few.
This surprised me. This amazed me. Because I thought that friends are those friends who are actually friends. And I thought, "Wow, 200 friends that's a lot!" But it turns out that on the internet, friends, online friends, or somewhere online these are not friends. They are not really friends.
It may sound cynical, but it's Target Audience. And you need your friends to turn into your Target Audience. And what is Target Audience? These are the people who are your potential buyers. Well, how can you sell a painting if you don't have buyers? You can't. So you need to work on this target audience, you need to find those people who can buy this painting.
What friends did I have? I looked, found artists I liked, and added them as friends. I liked what they did, and maybe they liked what I did. But it's hard to imagine that an artist will buy from another artist. And indeed, why would I buy a painting from my colleague?
I realized that something needed to change. There should be many, very many of these "friends." And the quality of these friends is also important. That is, these should be potential buyers who are interested in painting, interested in pictures, they are busy with something: perhaps repairs, construction. Interior decoration, and much more.
You need to understand who needs this. And you need to spend time finding them. It won't just happen. Spend time finding them. And take it seriously. Imagine sitting in your studio, painting a picture and thinking that you're a great artist, and when you paint it, everyone will come to see it.
No. Actually, no one knows about this workshop, about you. And actually, you're not needed by anyone. Because there are plenty of paintings! And no one will remember you or think about you if you don't announce yourself! Now how to do it? How to announce yourself? I'm not talking about how to paint a picture, everyone can do that themselves, and it's completely uninteresting now.
Because there are many artists, and each one thinks they're a genius, and let them think so. It's very good. As soon as you paint a picture, it turns out that it's not even the middle of the process. It's not even half, what you painted. I've come up with a formula for myself: anyone can paint. But try to sell it. Try to find that person who needs it. And here the artist is at a loss. There are people who from birth, besides drawing, can sell themselves and successfully do it.
And most artists don't know how to do that. So you need to learn. There's one more thing. How does the internet differ advantageously from a store? The store's premises cost money. And every picture displayed there can hang there for months, years, who knows when they'll buy it, and it also costs money. And on the internet, it can hang and eventually it will definitely sell.
To live by painting, you need to paint many pictures and know how to present them. And attract as much audience to your store as possible. And then there will be success. That's what I understood for myself. And I am very grateful to Galina for this information.
I started painting pictures for this purpose. And Galina taught me how to do it. And that's all correct. She told me what texts to write. She told me how to shoot videos. You need to show that what you're drawing is not just copied, but you painted your own picture. You need to try to make this content, in addition to pictures. Write interesting texts and engage people. Because they won't buy right away, but they'll want, hypothetically, to come to your studio and see who you are. And if they find it interesting, they'll buy this picture from you. And if it's not interesting, then goodbye. That's it, I guess. That's all.