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"Advice for Artists"
It’s spring outside, and for some of us that doesn’t mean much more than leaving coats in the closet and maybe starting to think about ice cream and summer fruits. But the changing of the seasons is a big, important and dramatic event in the natural world – and it can bring new interest and meaning to your work and perhaps even your life if you start paying attention to it.
For some artists, this is obvious; landscape artists are naturally sensitive to the seasons and the conditions of the world because they have a direct impact on the scenes they paint and the images that are available to them. Even there, though, there may be something to learn. Often artists simply go out in search of a place that speaks to them, [...]
We’ve just about reached the point in the year where those New Year’s resolutions seem like a dim, distant memory, something that belongs to the far past when we were so much more optimistic – and perhaps a bit naive. The beginning of a new year often feels like a good time to make new resolutions, for a variety of reasons. It’s a memorable date so you’ll know how long you keep it up for, there’s something attractive about the idea of a fresh start for a fresh year, and, of course, everyone else is doing it.
However, the truth is that these sorts of factors can actually make it harder for you to keep your resolution once it has been made. As the year begins [...]
I’ve had a number of conversations with artists recently about the nature of creativity, how it works and what they can do to improve their own creative abilities. Often, it seems, artists have a burst of energy and interest when they find an idea that resonates with them on a number of levels, and they explore it for some time. Eventually, however, it begins to run thin for them, and this can be worrying and frustrating.
The first thing to remember is not to worry about it – annoying as it is, it’s a very common experience, one shared by many people and especially those who work in creative endeavors for a living. It doesn’t mean that you were a ‘one trick pony’ or that your inspiration is gone – it just means [...]
Most artists would rather spend time in the studio than make sure they have people to sell the results to – and this is understandable. No one becomes an artist because they love coming up with ways to persuade people that their work is worth buying: you become an artist because you love creating; because it is an important aspect of your life and your personality; because your world would be emptier without it. Nonetheless, also vital is sharing your work with the rest of the world – and as we’ve said before on this blog, however fantastic your work is, no one is going to know about it if you don’t tell them. And if they don’t know about it, they can’t buy it.
Artists often complain that they don’t have time [...]
The annual Chelsea International Fine Art Competition is just around the corner, due to start accepting entries on February 7, 2012. That’s less than a week! That being so, now seems like a good time to review some of the important things to bear in mind when entering a competition. A lot of these points may appear obvious, but often the nerves or excitement of entering can put these things out of an artist’s mind. Remember to stay calm and do your best.
1) Fill in all the details. Yes, this sounds absurd – but you’d be amazed how many artists leave out crucial information such as contact details or the medium of the work they have submitted. Fill in the forms provided carefully, and go back over [...]
Happy new year, everyone! As 2012 begins and we move out of the holiday season and back into a more normal working routine, it’s natural to be considering what you’ll be doing with the year ahead, how you want to use it, and what your priorities will be. Of course, much of this kind of thinking relates to your personal life, in a way separate to the part of your life which is involved with creating art, although naturally a connection exists between the rest of your life and your artistic process. But it’s also a good time to consider what you want to do specifically with your art in the coming year, identify some of the challenges you might face, and think of ways to manage them.
One aspect many artists worry about [...]
Around Thanksgiving we talked on the blog about all the benefits that having art in your life can give, and what it brings into your world to be thankful for. There’s certainly more to say on the subject, but with Christmas coming up it seems appropriate to look at another aspect of how art can influence our existence and consider how it can improve other people’s lives – and how artists can help do so too.
In many ways it is no struggle to try to imagine how art and artists can be an influence for good and use the beauty and talent that belongs to them to make people’s lives better. With some professions it can be harder to see obviously where the good might lie, but art seems to be [...]
Gallery representation is an important part of a professional artist‘s portfolio, and being represented by a spread of galleries in a range of locations, perhaps over a long period of time, is a good way to build both your reputation and your self-confidence. But you shouldn’t rely just on galleries to show your work – it will often happen that you’ll meet someone, either at an art fair or other art event, or perhaps in a context that isn’t so closely related to your field, and they’ll express interest in your work. Don’t be embarrassed when this happens, be delighted – it’s a sincere compliment. A good way to follow it up is by suggesting a studio visit to the interested individual.
Of course, this isn’t something you should do all [...]
With Thanksgiving coming up next week, it’s the time of year to be taking a moment to reflect and think about what we have to be thankful for in our lives. For many of us, it’s a wide-ranging list – from family, to friends, to hobbies, to chocolate! Everyone has a slightly different list, with varying priorities and concerns, and of course these change from year to year and month to month depending on what’s going on in our lives at any given time.
But there’s something all the readers of this blog share, and that’s a love for art. There is a particular value in the part of our lives that touches our artistic, creative side, and it’s worthwhile taking a little time to think about what this aspect of [...]
No one likes being criticized. And since most artists view their work as an integral part of who they are, criticism of that work can be particularly difficult to take. After all, if you’ve spent hours painting, photographing or sculpting a piece so that it finally reflects the image you had in mind at the beginning of the process, or you’ve just emerged from a fit of inspiration, having completed something you feel is just right, you’re not likely to take very kindly to someone pointing out its shortcomings. Moreover, there’s the time that goes into planning a work, consciously or unconsciously – it came sometimes be the result of years of thoughts, sketches and observations.
Artwork is enormously important to artists – and that’s just the way it should be. But that’s [...]
