jmcd art blog
PRACTICE / PROMOTION / INSPIRATION
Disclaimer: Links shared are affiliated. A small commission is made upon clicking and if you further wish to make a purchase of a featured product. Please ensure you have ad blocker disabled for the duration of your visit and clicking of links. This helps in the efforts of writing and maintaining this blog. Your patience, understanding and participation are appreciated, thank you. This is the first in a series to come of How to be a successful Fine Artist today by taking wisdom and inspiration form Fine Art Masters both past and present. Each part in the series will feature an Artist from either past or present for their Artistic legacies, examples and personal philosophies. So let's get into it How to be a successful Fine Artist today? For each of us this can indeed be different, indeed subjective. It can perhaps mean to improve one's Art practice, be a better draughtsman, maybe become skilled and accomplished in many mediums or just one. Perhaps to become a better communicator with potential fans and customers in Art Marketing in order to sell art online, and so on. As stated in my 2020 update post Art as a business nowadays is a double edged sword, with many opportunities to making money, as well as challenges to Artists. With as many websites for selling art to suite one’s style of work as well as the tools and information available often completely free to promote oneself. The irony being that there are so, so many other artist out there looking for an audience, the competition is no doubt high. The question is, how many know how to self promote and market effectively enough. The thought of how to start and where to start can be very overwhelming. Researching online and becoming drowned in a sea of information perturbs even further. Perhaps you're a complete beginner in Art, perhaps you can paint well but have no self promotion or marketing savvy. You may be an Artist who have a steady gig teaching at a local library or community centre but would like to earn more through your Art, or you may be part of a group or club and hold shows in your locality. Whatever your personal circumstances, the internet and social media paradigm look to be here to stay as part of the one's promotion plans as an Artist. What Sell's ArtWhat we can all agree on is what makes us stand out, indeed what makes us unique and that’s truly what sell's Art. If you've read my article on Modern and Contemporary Art a feature common to that market, as highlighted upon, is the need to be as unique - albeit of often questionable taste - as possible so as to garner attention against our modern entertainment culture, as well as there being the reality of a demand and interest for such Art, who often appear to be wealthy investors because of the tax benefits afforded, indeed to collect any highly priced work of Art. Again see the Article for those more interested in that aspect of the 'Modern and Contemporary Art Industry' as it can rightly be called. For those of us not of the Modern and Contemporary Art predisposition, and who are contented or artistically inclined to emulate a Monet landscape over a Cubist period Picasso, can rest assure a market and appetite for painterly, figurative and fine art is thankfully alive and well. One can indeed survive and thrive to some degree with producing this kind of Artwork, you just need to find an audience, or have them find you through uniqueness of talent and an action plan for self promotion and marketing, but above all a dedication and commitment to one’s endeavours that is unwavering, no matter how big you feel the competition is. Social Media is a MarathonA lot of wish-to-be Artists have social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, myself included. These are good starting points but many often feel they are being told to constantly add new and updated content. Suddenly that spark of enthusiasm burns out with the advent of drudgery and the common site of social media accounts not updated for weeks, months and even years become the norm, simply because of the lack of likes and shares. Not enough of these Artists understand the proper use of social media as an asset, quickly discarding it for the lack of instant appeal. Social media is a marathon not a sprint. More will be covered on effective, long lasting and healthy use of social media in future posts. One platform it seems however can be the cap stone to the above triumvirate, and that is Youtube. This brings us to the first case study, of one Fine Art Master in particular having their talents, commitment, focus and endeavour of late be brought to a global audience in thanks to their unwavering efforts in self promotional. He is Andrew Tischler. Let us now look at his life, work ethic and successes to date. Early artistic influences and tutelageAndrew was born and lived until the age of 10 in Texas. After which his family moved to Perth, Western Australia. Growing up with a Sculptor for a father saw lots of encouragement for their natural artistic talents. Early on they became drawn naturally to the figurative and realistic school of Artistic style and thinking. Being the son of a sculpture whose forte was animal and wildlife subjects helped hone Andrew’s talents tremendously through access to his father’s library of realist animal painting masters, as well books on human and animal Anatomy. Andrew understood early on the need and worth of diligent and focused practice to produce quality work. This guidance and passion for consistent practice saw Andrew progress rapidly, holding their first one man show in 2002 at just 21 years old. Working out a methodologyAndrew understood as a young man the power of focus and the benefits of commitment and sacrifice, almost to the point of obsession. Stating the case in the opening paragraph of their website’s home page - “ I am striving to understand the laws of Nature and how Light works”. They paint a variety of still life, portrait and landscape subjects in the realist style saying - “My goal for every painting is to achieve a convincing sense of reality and break the constraints of the two dimensional surface”. Andrew displays a clear branding vision in using the video medium as an extension of their work, you only need to watch their outdoor painting videos to witness what such high quality production is being put on display, both enjoyable and rewatch able for it's instruction while engaging you in Andrew's life and work. In short they know what they’re trying to achieve in brand recognition. The results of which take their output to another, and very unique level. Learning from the PastAndrew can be rightly regarded as one of the living masters to be carrying on the high standards of realist artistic practice, indeed continuing a legacy. Among his library are the works of past masters they turn to as a constant source of encouragement, inspiration and guidance: Educating the worldLooking back on his success and endeavours so far, Andrew has become passionate and dedicated to sharing their hard won skills and practices with the world, and in 2016 created a Youtube channel a step that would launch them on yet another career trajectory. Since then it has become one of the most popular Art themed channels on Youtube. With an estimated 295,000 + subscribers while being watched by millions around the world. In the time since creating their channel, viewers have been able to follow and look over the shoulder as they teach, explore and reflect on their artistic journey. As an accompaniment to this they have also gone a step further and created a Podcast called 'The Creative Endeavour' where they interview fellow Artists from around the world on their careers and work. Of late in 2019, saw Andrew open their own Gallery, a dream come true for any artist. Mastering Social Media and Affiliate MarketingAndrew, while having become an accomplished Artist, Teacher, Youtuber, and Podcast host and now Gallery owner have much to offer to the fellow Artist with social media aspirations, in their demonstration of utilising the power and reach of Social Media. Their Youtube channel coupled with the unique visually based benefits of Instagram, ideally suited to the artist in achieving immediate exposure to an audience, have been a key strategy to their meteoric rise to recognition and fame. For Andrew both platforms have served them in building and exponentially doubling brand recognition. Where Youtube can become a platform of ever green video content, where Andrew offers value in the way of free tutorials, tips and insights as well as FAQ fan and student feedback. Instagram offers the advantage of daily contact and updates on current work to their audience available instantaneously. They also use their Youtube channel to generate extra sources of income through affiliate marketing for learning platforms, such as Skillshare. Maintaining Brand longevityAs an Artist and a Brand Andrew convey an ethos of quality in execution, beauty in representation as well as consistency and integrity in practice. They successfully represent ideals of what the successful modern day fine artist can aspire to also achieve, through a synthesis of one's Art practice and the utilising of modern and free tools and means in the form of the internet, Youtube, social media and if we're so inclined a podcast. All at our fingertips. Last but not least, is the importance of a personal platform, of which Andrew are not unawares to, in all of their Youtube videos they will always ask the audience to visit their website and subscribe to their newsletter. Youtube as well as Social Media platforms in whatever form could change policies or disappear tomorrow. It is therefore essential to have one's own website and furthermore, newsletter, a crucial self promotion tool for any individual or small business owner. The benefits of which will be explored in up coming posts. Please comment on, like or share this post it would be really appreciated. See you on the next one Jay My E-Store My Social Media ~
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorFine Art Painter and Author from Dublin, Ireland ArchivesCategories |