The Internet Famous Artist

September 29th, 2008 Daryle Dickens

 
Have you dreamed of being a famous artist? While your alive? It has been done. And it can be a good way to make a living. This post is part of a series of posts discussing artists and fame. What defines fame for the artist living in 2008? Is fame a good goal? How can an artist become famous? Please join the conversation as we discuss fame for the 21st Century artist.

 

When talking about internet fame the first thing an artist must do is change how they think about "fame." Throw that word out and most people will jump right to globally known actors and musicians. Fame like most things has a various levels. An artist might want to think of it terms of fans. Fans being people who always want to know what your doing and are always interested in new work from you. An artist’s first fans are usually their parents or significant other. The people close to you who have an interest in you and your work. But as you create and show your work you begin to build you fan base. The more fans you have the more famous you are.

How many fans do you need to make a living as an artist? One thousand seems to be the magic number. If an artist has at least 1000 loyal fans they will be able to make a living as an artist. One thousand is not a big number, it is a very reasonable and reachable goal. But how do you make it happen? Let me introduce you to Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 is a relatively new term that is used to describe how people are using the internet to create, connect, share, and enhance their lives. The term is credited to Tim O’Reilly, a huge supporter of open source and free software. Though the term is relatively new many aspects and web sites that are considered part of Web 2.0 have been around since the early days of the internet. Web 2.0 has more do with how you think about and how you use the internet than any technology or web site.

A blog and blogging is one of the more dominate aspects of Web 2.0. A blog is a tool an artist can use to connect with people all over the world. A blog is a way for artists to earn fans. Many artists have already done this with such blog as the popular "a day" sites. The many painting a day blogs artists have created are a great example. Though there are many more such as Skull-A-Day, Photo-A-Day, and 365 Masks.

I’ve also come across artist’s blogs that contain constant updates of their work in progress either through photos or video. Through comments and emails readers discuss and help the artist work through their piece. This adds interest because everyone benefits and that interest creates fans, and those fans create demand. And demand is what creates cash flow and continued work. Web 2.0 has been very good for musicians. YouTube especially. Guitarist Trace Bundy has developed quite a following based on his YouTube videos. Any artist working in any medium can follow his example.

YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and countless other avenues of social media are all part of Web 2.0 and all available tools for an artist to use in developing a career. And we will get to those. But for now we are going to stick with blogs and blogging. The next post in this series will continue to the exploration of how an artist can using blogging to further their artistic career.

Until then feel free to leave a comment on your experience as an artist working in a Web 2.0 world. Or any questions you have in regards to it.

• Post 1 is this series: Do You Want To Be Famous?

Posted in Artist Life, Business of Art, Resources for Artists | 2 Comments »

Do You Want To Be Famous?

September 15th, 2008 Daryle Dickens

Have you dreamed of being a famous artist? While your alive? It has been done. And it can be a good way to make a living. This post is part of a series of posts discussing artists and fame. What defines fame for the artist living in 2008? Is fame a good goal? How can an artist become famous? Please join the conversation as we discuss fame for the 21st Century artist.

Fame can be a profitable for anyone. Rich and famous seem to always go together. This is also true for artists. Andy Warhol was obsessed with fame. For Warhol fame was not a byproduct of his art but a goal in and of itself. He wanted to be famous. And he was. He pulled off something few artists in recent times have. He was famous and well known while he was alive. A visual artist that was also pop culture personality.

Did it pay off? In classic terms of success it sure did. Even while he was alive his art had a high demand and fetched rediculus prices. On the downside some would say his fame also helped him get shot, but we’ll get to that side of the coin later.

I think Warhol was ahead of his time and would feel right home in the pop culture landscape of 2008. Because these days we have a new kind of fame. A Do-It-Yourself, or DIY, version of fame that goes by many names. Niche celebrity, micro-fame, or Internet famous. These are people who have built a large fan base mostly because of what they have put on the internet in one form another. Most can be found on YouTube or some other video platform.

What does this mean for you the artist? An artist with a large enough fan base will be able to make a living with their art. Taking the steps to become Internet famous could be a route for you to do your art full time. So how do you do it? Can an oil painter, or a sculptor become Internet famous? What do you think?
If you have not already subscribe to Art Palaver’s RSS feed or email list and stay plugged into the conversation.

Posted in Artist Life | 2 Comments »