Making Art In Tough Times

December 9th, 2008 Daryle Dickens

 
Has the economy hit home for you? Have your sales changed? It seems no artist is safe from the economy we have put ourselves into. Have you changed the way you do things? Are you thinking about it? Let me offer up a few suggestions:

1. Turn it up a notch. When times are lean it becomes survival of the fittest. This is a good time to focus on your skills and be more intentional about being a better artist. By focusing on improving your art you will be moving towards setting yourself apart from other artists. You’ll stand out in the crowd.

2. Kick over more rocks. Think about what is important to you. Is it more important to be making art in any form, or to stick to your guns and make only the art you want to make? Are there commissions you’ve passed up in the past due to your artistic integrity? Now may be the time to reconsider them. And now is the time to seek creative work in places. Craigslist is a good place to start.

3. Maximize Internet marketing. The web is full of free tools you can use to promote yourself and your art. Whether it be MySpace, Facebook, Deviant, or your own blog, commit time each day to using these tools to get your art out there. Sit down and draw up a strategy for doing this. These options only cost you your time and can be a very powerful way to sell your art.

4. Get out in the world. Get your portfolio in order and head out into the world and show to anybody who will look at it. There are restaurants, coffee shops, bars, office buildings, government buildings, and of course galleries looking for local artists to decorate their walls. Do they know you? Have they seen your work?

5. Don’t watch/listen to the news. Taking in too much of the media can be paralyzing. Hearing about the job losses, foreclosures, and bankruptcies can foster a "why bother" mentality. Don’t buy it. Put on the blinders and keep working and keep going for it. Discover your own reality and draw your own conclusions.

I wish I had a magic formula for you. A tried and true way to prosper as an artist and to continue doing what you love to do. I can only offer suggestions and ideas. And I am know there are better ideas out there. What are they? What are you doing as an artist in these tough times? Tell me about it.

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The Danger Of Internet Fame

October 8th, 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.

We have been discussing how an artist can use the Internet and social media tools to gain fans and become famous. This has been a strategy that has worked for painters, photographers, and musicians. But courting fame can be dangerous. It could be possible to earn the wrong kind of attention. Just ask Allison Stokke.

Allison is a pole vaulter. A pretty good one too. In 2004 she won the California state pole vaulting title, has broken five national records, and in her high school vaulting earned her a scholarship to the University of California. And she is Internet Famous. But not because of her achievements or her efforts to become famous.

In the summer of 2007 a popular sports blog posted a simple picture of Ms. Stokke adjusting her hair at a track meet. And that picture sparked a wave of Internet fame stalkers. Her MySpace page suddenly had over 1000 messages and a video interview of her on YouTube had over 200,000 views. And that was just the beginning of the unwanted attention she would receive.

Pole vaulting is not a high profile sport. Not a sport that the media flocks too, especially at the high school level. But mobs of journalists starting showing up at meets Allison was competing in. At first Allison attempted to control the attention but quickly learned that was not possible. All she could do was take measures like never leaving the house alone and have her father, a lawyer, patrol the Internet for potential stalkers.

Major life changes from a single image, and one that Allison did not even post herself. If someone who was not trying to become Internet famous gets this sort of attention those that are being intentional about it should beware. Fame has a price that must be weighed when thinking about using the Internet to broadcast yourself. Every word and every picture you put on the web will be there forever and will be available to anyone and everyone to use how ever they see fit.

Washington Post article on Allison Stokke.
CBS News version of the story.

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Speaking Of Fame And Art | Skull-A-Day

October 2nd, 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.

My last post in this series mentioned how a blog can be a tool for internet fame. One of the blog examples that I cited was Skull-A-Day, which is written by Noah Scalin. It is a blog that is just what the title suggests. Starting in June 2007 Noah began posting a skull he had made each day, he did this for one year. Now the blog posts skulls made by its readers. Simple. And it is a subject that some might find strange. But it is working for Mr. Scalin.

Skull-A-Day got a book deal. The blog to book is happening more and more these days. The book has gotten Scalin even more attention, including an article in The New Yorker. Which I am sure helped him pick up a few more fans.

His blog also won a Webby this past year. A Webby is a lot like the Academy Awards for the internet. Skull-A-Day won People’s Voice Award for Best Personal Web Site. The fact that Skull-A-Day won the award based on the People’s Voice demonstrates that Noah has built quite a fan base from his simple blog.

And oddly enough an artist who used a blog to publish a skull he made each day for a year is finding himself on the Martha Stewart Show. You read that right. No matter what you think of her Martha Stewart has a huge following and I am sure Noah is going to pick up some more fans after his show airs. Further building on his fame as an artist. (By the way the episode with Mr. Scalin airs October 10th if you want to tune in.)

The root of all this is a blog. A free blog at that. Noah uses Blogger which is completely free. And based on his web address Noah has kept using the free version even though he has gotten all this attention. So you can throw the excuse of cost out the window if that has been holding you back. If a guy using a free blog platform to post a skull a day can land himself an appearance on the Martha Stewart show I am sure there is hope for the rest of us.

Check out this video of Mr. Noah Scalin:

• Post One in this series: Do You Want To Be Famous?
• Post Two in this series: The Internet Famous Artist

Posted in Artist Life, Business of Art, Resources for Artists | No Comments »

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 | 3 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?
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