Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Art Career by the Numbers

Recently, I needed to revisit a guest blog I wrote for AbsoluteArts.com titled, Art vs. Marketing - Making Hazel Dooney Cringe. Rereading the post reminded me it mentions Andy Warhol's "Do It Yourself (Seascape)."  It is an example of how many believe his best work was expressed in the form of clever jokes on high art.

Warhol is oft-quoted for his pithy and spot-on sayings regarding the art business. Obviously, he had no problem connecting business and art. 

In my most recent AbsoluteArts.com guest post, titled Welcome to the Wilderness, I comment that an art career can be quantified.  While such a thought may be anathema to some artists, I'm sure Andy Warhol would not have been one of them.

Visual art careers can be successful with fewer patrons than other arts

One of the points regarding quantifying an art career in my recent AbsoluteArts.com post was, of all the arts, visual artists require the fewest patrons to enjoy a successful career. For the most part, authors, playwrights, actors, musicians and performers require large numbers of paying customers to make a successful career. Not so for visual artists. There are obvious reasons, such as differing consumption rates and price points between art forms. As an example, for the price of original works and higher priced prints, one can buy opera season tickets, boxed sets of The Beatles and Bob Dylan, or see lots of films, et cetera. 

By comparison, a successful visual artist arguably may only need a thousand, or fewer, consumers to purchase their art in the trajectory of their career. Of course, those who end up in the mass market with posters may end up with tens of thousands of buyers of their art. Posters and open edition prints aside, by most standards, a visual artist who gains 1000 collectors would be considered very successful.

What is your projected body of work?

I speculated in my piece on AbsoluteArts.com that a prolific artist might make 100 paintings a year, which over a 30-year span would create a 3000-piece body of work. You naturally would adjust the numbers to your situation. Regardless, you can ask and answer these questions. What would it take to sell all my work? How many collectors? How many shows? How many galleries? If you have been making and selling art for a while, you have the data to plug in a spreadsheet. The raw results will you a good indication of how your current marketing stands up.

You can use such quantified information to help create a marketing plan for improving your sales. It will help you create "What If" scenarios. If a gallery gets 50% and your additional costs to ship and work it are say 5%, you net 45%. If you sell direct, (I recommend to never cut your direct sales prices. Doing so has nasty implications on your work's value and your worth to a gallery.) your net is 100% less your marketing costs. A figure of 25% - 30% for marketing on average is conservatively reasonable, as it could easily be much higher.

Although you may have symbiotic relationships with galleries, dealers and designers, you are still looking out for number one. As such, you need to get a finger on what is working regarding how you get your art to market. The question you ask is can my galleries move my inventory faster than I can? Or, should I go it alone and sell direct through shows, Web sites and alternative spaces?  You have, or will gain through experience and exposure, enough information to guide your decision.

You can turn raw numbers into actionable plans

The above is just one example of how you can think through what works best for you. Here is another one. I worked in gallery in Scottsdale that, while open to the public, primarily catered to the design trade. Its best artist was a very pragmatic fellow. His work was impeccable and he was very productive. In his 60s, he still painted with a passion. He told me his work had sold for 3-5 times greater prices than ours in higher end galleries. He wasn't in them any longer because he had found our gallery would pay in full on delivery. He was happy to trade $4000 - $5000 far in the future dollars now for $900 today. Because his work was so good and priced so right, it never stayed on the floor for long.

Would such a deal work for you? It doesn't matter. What is important is this artist found a way to work steadily and be paid regularly. He was not worried about his legacy. He figured it would be what it would be and decided after he was gone. He had run his own numbers and found this distribution system suited him. For others who paint slower, or whose work is less accessible, this may not make sense. But, there in the numbers somewhere is a way for any artist to quantify their career in ways that can help them make smart informed decisions about how to enjoy a successful calling as an artist.

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Visual Artists Experience Change Getting Art to Market

For visual artists who rely on sales of their work to pay the bills, times are precarious, difficult and unpredictable. Sales are hard to come by and often only through painful negotiation. If you are still able to generate sales in this market, you have to feel just as fortunate as those who have a stable job with decent benefits. Things we took for granted not so long ago are precious today.

I have a new guest blog post on Absolute Arts titled Welcome to the Wilderness. It explores how changes in the economy and within the industry are affecting visual artists and the way they do business. One thing is for certain, nothing is the same, nor is it likely to be that way again. To a degree, we are all wanderers in the wilderness seeking to find our way. For those intrepid souls who continue to soldier on against tough conditions, they will find encouragement and suggestions in it.

Here's what one business person had to say upon reading it:

Got your blog... and of course the first thing I had to do was read it!!! Very encouraging for the artists... not so much for us business folks, but often the hard truth is better than veiled hopes.

Among the reasons I write this blog is to be able to tell it like I see it, even when it is the hard truth. Getting a reality check is not as much fun as a slap on the back with an "attaboy" thrown in. But, not facing reality is the cause of much of the difficulties we face now. This includes previous owners of media properties the industry relies on, financial managers asleep at the switch and politicians who over-promise and under-deliver as in "Mission Accomplished."

If those who should have known better, the ones we trusted to make the decisions, in our personal and national best interest, had not been deluded with everything's going to be okay pie-in-the-sky vision and logic, or driven by greed and monumental stupidity, we might not be lamenting our predicament today. But, as the saying goes, "Don't bother closing the door when the cow already has left the barn."

Since we are left to lament, we can choose to be miserable and do nothing about our circumstances, or we can find a way to make things better for ourselves. I am a believer that having a positive attitude can lead to abundance, but only when measured action leads to abundance. Not because I said or wished it to be so. Frankly, I am weary and leery of what has become a near national delusion where masses of people appear to be replacing hope with action.

If you don't like your circumstances, get out of your rut and change them. If you can do this with a smile on your face, great. Just don't think the sunny attitude was the thing that led you from the wilderness when it was smart planning, tough decisions and decisive actions that truly made the difference.

Does Free Art Make Money or Sense?

Yesterday, I retweeted an article from ArtDaily.org. Its title, 50 Acclaimed Artists Give Away their Works for Free in the Last Ever Free Art Fair is a grabber. The idea gives one pause to contemplate fine art should be something greater than the product it becomes in commercial art fairs. I like the thought on any meaning you can take from it.

The show is aimed at taking art out of the commercial realm, at least for the moment, so it might be appreciated for the sheer beauty, imagination or message the artist intended rather than assigning it a dollar value. The goal, like timeless great art, is noble and is a concept all but the most cynical mercenary souls surely can value.

The Times They Are A Changing

Whatever your feelings, the notion of free, or giving something of value away, spotlights one of the fundamental, monumental paradigm shifts we, as a society of consumers, are experiencing. That is, we've come to expect, damn near demand, things be free. This is exemplified by the oft-repeated phrase, "Information wants to be free." The aphorism's genesis, pursued by Aussie scholar, Roger Clarke, makes for interesting reading on its own.

The simple truth is you can't separate art from commerce, even when you give it away. This is the point of the aforementioned paradigm shift. Artists are being shown they can give away their art and leverage the response to the offer to gain an audience and create a cash flow in some other ways. This requires getting out of one's way and accepting things are different.

Get on Board with the Band(s)

The music business offers the best example of how this works. The Grateful Dead's practice of freely allowing, even facilitating, taping of their live shows fostered the trend. Rather than destroying their business model, it nourished a steady and impressive revenue stream for the band from other sources. It has since become a path well-trod by many recording artists.

The idea, like The Grateful Dead, was radical, rebellious and well ahead of its time. The Dead's way of doing things foretold the future as their "far out" model became a widely used practice. For example, here's a paragraph from a lengthy Art Print Issues post from the fall of 2007:

We need to start looking at new ways of doing things. I had a blog post a while back titled, “Prince and the Art of Monetizing Free Stuff.” It described how he gave away 3 million copies of his new CD in England through newspaper inserts and more than made it up on concert ticket and merchandise sales.

The band, Radiohead, which currently is perhaps the best band in the business, is selling its latest album exclusively through its Web site rather than through traditional distribution channels, i.e, record companies, Wal-mart, iTunes, etc.

What make things far more interesting, the band is letting its fans choose the price they wish to pay for the download. Yep, you can pay nada, zip, zilch if you so choose. You can be sure players from every aspect of the industry are watching to see how this paradigm shift plays out. (Ed. note 9/14/09 The group abandoned the experiment after distributing millions of downloads. Whatever the cost, the publicity value had to make up for any shortfall.)

There Are Some Free Thinking Visual Artists Tossing Breadcrumbs

I recently tweeted this article: Surviving and Thriving as an Artist and I commend it to you again here. The author, Spryos Heniadis, is a visual artist who references Trent Reznor, yet another cutting edge recording artist who touts the practice of giving away high-quality mp3 downloads of music as the basis for building an audience, and thus a business. Heniadis has given the idea serious thought and has proposed a unique multi-part program to put the idea of building his own clientele by giving away his art. See if you can follow his logic, or improve upon it.

The debate over "Free" has Spilled into Business Headlines and Blogs

There is an ongoing debate about the real value of free by some notable marketing and trendspotting heavyweights. Chris Anderson is the editor of Wired magazine. He has written a book titled, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. It has spawned a debate between Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell who are two of the most influential authors on business and marketing these days. They don't agree at all. Just Google these three words: free godin gladwell. The results will bring you up-to-date on the debate.

I have written about how well-known visual artists such as Hazel Dooney and Banksy have been giving downloads of their art away. In an Absolute Arts guest blogger post titled Art Vs. Marketing – Making Hazel Dooney Cringe, I took Dooney to task more to make a point than pick on her. Besides that she is controversial and makes great copy, one can read her Self Vs. Self blog and know she is capable of taking and giving a jab with ease.

In this case, she took good natured umbrage at my suggestion her free downloads were smart stealth marketing with a retort titled: Google-eyed. Dooney is far from being naive, she understands it takes presence and awareness to make art important, and to sell it. To wit, she describes herself as a total media tart who takes any opportunity to promote her art and herself.

That she is smart enough to freely give her art away while taking its creation and the meaning behind with serious intent puts her full square with the organizers of the Last Free Art Fair mentioned in the first paragraph above. It also means she is understands and is running well ahead of the paradigm shift described in Free: The Future of a Radical Price. She gets it and uses it to her advantage. Bully for her.

Take Advantage of Low-cost Production & Distribution to Build Your List

As always for success, possessing the ability to create compelling art is essential. However in this new economy, compiling a sizable and viable emailing list arguably is your best asset when it comes to getting your art to market . Since Web hosting costs are nominal, it makes high quality downloads of available and previously amortized digitized art nearly free to distribute. Doing this brings to fruition visionary Marshall McLuhan's timeless maxim, The Medium is the Massage. He presciently wrote this book in 1967 and it remains a top seller and more relevant today than then.

I am not advocating giving away stuff to cost you money. I am advocating giving away stuff to make you money. If your emailing list were 10x, or 100x, or 1000x, or 10,000x larger than it is, you must agree you could leverage it to promote your art and yourself. I believe the results you would achieve would be far greater than you can imagine reading this post. 

That's What I'm Talkin' About!

Let the idea of your very own large email list marinate. Then ask yourself what is keeping you from getting your hands on one.  When you come to realize it simply is not already having employed a well-exectued plan, I trust you will be motivated to act on it.

Some things I know for certain and they are why I write posts such as this one. I know you cannot lose building a list. Repeat: You cannot lose building a large email list! Start now. Pay it forward; pass this post on.

25 Tweets about Art, Business & Social Media - plus one just plain funny one

1. "Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up for work" - Chuck Close #quote ~ I love this guy! http://ow.ly/l0bt  
2. Thieves snatch Wyland art worth $700,000 from gallery ~ Didn't realize any he made carried that value http://ow.ly/ozFb  
3. Artists - Read & heed ~ Sexy Isn’t Easy: Being a Career Artist http://ow.ly/ozSI
4. Art as business as art http://ow.ly/ozJ9
5. Social Networks & Blogs 4th Most Popular Online Activity. Facebook is ahead of personal email! http://ow.ly/od1Z
6. Selling Art on the Internet: 3 Things You MUST Have to Sell Art on the Web http://ow.ly/nZOS
7. How to market yourself as a speaker http://ow.ly/o61U
8. Jasper Johns: Gray at the METROPOLITAN MUSEUM From - http://ow.ly/o5YN  
9. RT @NancyMcCarter: Why we need art education in school: http://bit.ly/8FXHO
10. 10 SEO Tips For Maximizing Facebook Visibility http://ow.ly/neM7
11. Want to rank high in searches? 10 things NOT to do http://ow.ly/mtHD
12. TEN MYTHS ABOUT ARTISTS #4: Artists Are Not Business People http://ow.ly/moiD
13. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Artists ~ @makingamark2 hits the mark http://ow.ly/lBuC
14. Joan Beiriger's free videos on art licensing http://ow.ly/lvRx
15. 'Ringling Will Be the Preeminent Art and Design College Worldwide...hmmm, quite a boast with some validity. http://ow.ly/lyS2
16. The Best Online Art Galleries, Auctions, and Stores of 2009 from escapeintolife.com http://ow.ly/lvJu
17. ARTISTIC LICENSE: How to be a more prolific artist ~ some practical advice here http://ow.ly/lvGT  
18. Surviving and Thriving as an Artist ~ wrap your head around this thinking. He's onto something. http://ow.ly/lrGq
19. Printmaking grows in popularity as artwork Style thrives in economic times http://ow.ly/lrea
20. You already knew Santa Fe was one of the best art towns. Here's another reason to love it. http://bit.ly/QIEya
21. Good stuff @clintavo 12 Steps to Get Your Artwork Noticed by Galleries http://ow.ly/lkh5  
22. Creative Art Marketing Idea - Bookmarks ~ this is a nifty idea! http://ow.ly/l0bB
23. Does an Artist Really Need An Agent? http://ow.ly/l09l
24. WorkBar Opens as Boston's Newest Contemporary Art Gallery ~ I like this idea for mobile workers and artists! http://ow.ly/lrnh
25. EBSQ Spotlight on Hand-pulled Traditional Printmaking: Paul Helm http://ow.ly/kSiW

And, the funny one, especially for those who have had the pleasure:

RT @RoamingArtist I laughed till I cried! How to prep for a colonoscopy - hilarious!... http://bit.ly/f06eL

Pursuing Style and Success as a Visual Artist

Many of you have read my book, How to Profit from the Art Print Market, so you know one of it main tenets is to have the ability, temperament and willingness to paint thematically. While this is true for artists seeking gallery representation for the their originals, I believe it is crucial for artists who wish to have a successful career in the print market. Basically, you have to be known for something.

Robert Genn's recent post in his Twice-Weekly Letter reminded me of this with his topic, A Methodical Pursuit of Style. Here's the first paragraph that gets the ball rolling for him:

"In 1947, the eclectic French author and theorist Raymond Queneau wrote a small classic called 'Exercises in Style.' It tells a simple fictional story over and over in 99 literary styles. Introducing writers to an almost mathematical formula for creating style, journalism and authorship hasn't been the same since. Queneau's demonstrated styles are loaded with fun. The concept may have benefits for visual artists."

I don't know about you, but as a writer, that sounds like a fun, challenging and stimulating exercise to me. But, only if I got to do it my my time and terms. Standing over me waiting for results would kill the fun.

Expand your style, just not at the expense of your audience

What Genn is getting at is to try different styles to expand an artist's talent and ability. He is suggesting pushing oneself to grow as an artist. This is laudable and I commend the idea. How boring would The Rolling Stones have been if they stuck to covering the blues instead of venturing into rock, country, reggae and more? Yet, despite their shifts in sampling other forms of music, they always were undeniably recognizable for their unique sound or style. When they did get to far out of bounds as with some Middle Eastern influences, their fans did not follow.

Painting using various styles is different than painting thematically, but it is closely related. It is hard to imagine getting gallery or collector attention if one is noted for painting graffiti art such as with Banksy, or marine-based art as with Christian Pierre Lassen, or even Thomas Kinkade's cottages if each piece came out as an experimentation in style with a succession of realism, impressionism, primtivism and so forth. Can there be significant influences of style on an artist who steadily mines a vein? Absolutely, the hallmark of successful artists is they manage to change, but do so in a way to bring their collectors and dealers along with them.

There is no shame and lots to gain by sticking to your knitting

Perhaps those at the pinnacle can do whatever they want and still have success. The reality for most artists working to make their art pay is they don't have the luxury to not feed the beast. The beast being their own creation of a marketing machine comprised of eager dealers, galleries and collectors who have their own expectations.

For most artists, this is not really a burden. They got into the business because they enjoy what they do. Having to paint yet another beautiful still life, landscape or portrait is not a chore. If it has become one, then paying attention to Genn's thoughts on expanding a methodical style will be the respite from the mundane they seek.

Different theme, different name; a time-honored practice

More than one artist has found the way to beat being pigeon-holed by painting under a "Nom de Brusse", if you will. I've known poster publishers who had artists with a range of talent paint widely different styles using another name. A gallery where I worked in Scottsdale represented several artists who were also in other local galleries, just under a different name and style at each. So, if your yen to stretch your creativity is there, you need not despair; just be as creative in pursuing different distribution points as you are in making your art.

Gratitude and Abundance - Playing for Change

Turn it up and enjoy!

When my brother sent me the link to the video above, I had to watch it several times as once was not enough. It put me in touch with so many thoughts and feelings as it reminded me how we all need someone to stand by us, how small and intertwined our world is, and how influential artists, even unsung heroes playing for change, can make an impact on our lives. It also is a powerful example of how the Internet and technology add dimension to our lives. Thanks to Jimmy for sending this video my way. 

There can be lots to like about a day job

Many of you reading this are likely like me. That is, you may toil away at another job that gives you sustenance, stability and benefits so you can also work away at creating art, or in my case, creating a blog about the art business. While I can't speak for you, I don't mind saying I enjoy my day gig and get more from it than just a paycheck and benefits.

I work in sales and support for the world's largest domain registrar. I rarely mention it here because it generally is not germane to thoughts on the business of art. Plus, no mention means no obligatory statement that my thoughts posted here are my own. With a growing list of more than 50 products to understand how to sell, setup and service, Go Daddy presents a challenging and fast-paced working environment.

Diversity offers perspective and brings balance to my art marketing pursuits.

Besides fueling the part of me that is intrigued by all things techie, particularly as they relate to art and commerce, it puts me in touch with a unique cross-section of the population as represented by my fellow employees and our customers. Employment there requires a higher than average ability to juggle different types of tasks equally well. So being smart helps in getting hired, but so does being able to move from math, to logic, to verbal challenges simultaneously. The resultant mix is an eclectic group of people working in a wide range of ages and backgrounds. It makes for interesting observations for an inveterate people watcher.

While the bulk of the business comes from North America, it is a global business. Today, I fielded calls from New Zealand, India, Scotland and from a soldier in Iraq. What never ceases to amaze me is the unending enthusiasm I encounter from folks seeking to better their lives by jumping into a business for themselves. Calls come from neophytes looking to find a way to make some money on the Internet, or just to get more business for a landscaping business. They come from really skilled operators who are already using the Internet to make a full-time living through e-commerce, or in some cases, by buying and selling domains. Others are seeking to use the Internet not to make money, but rather to share a dream, create a memorial, or help a cause, as with the Playing for Change video above

A spirit of abundance and hope is pervasive, prevalent and widespread

A common thread I encounter among our domain, hosting, ecommerce and email customers is the undeniable, though most often unspoken, spirit of abundance that is in the voice and plans of callers from around the globe. I can't tell you how uplifting and heartrending it is to speak to a 78-year-old grandmother making a Web site to honor a grandchild fighting a terminal disease. I wish you could hear the lilt of the happy Scotsman, a self-professed man of God who called. He also is an author and speaker seeking to get the word about his work out. Were it not for this job, I would never have spoken to these people and they have touched me in some small, but special, way.

A touch of humanity, a grand dose of gratitude

When I ended the brief call from the soldier in Iraq, I told him take care and godspeed and I felt a lump in my throat and my eyes got wet just for having a moment in his life. I am a Vietnam Era vet, but did not go there, so I don't know firsthand the experience of war on foreign soil. But, nevertheless, I was reminded today of the mostly unfelt price our soldiers overseas pay to fight our battles for us.

These things make me so appreciative of the chance to sit at a computer, with my favorite music playing the background, and pass along these thoughts to you. I am reminded nearly daily that my efforts to help artists makes a difference. For that acknowledgment, however it arrives, I am grateful and humbled to know I have made a useful contribution. Just as I'm certain readers of this blog are thankful for the talent that gives them the means to create beautiful compelling works of art, I'm am grateful for an ability to turn a phrase and communicate meaningful messages.

Though times are tough, there is still much we have to be thankful for

We are undeniably going through a very rough patch with our economy. Although we may be dinged financially, or be suffering from job losses and real estate setbacks, we largely all are all right.We still have it better than the majority of this planet's inhabitants. While it may seem there are artists every where one turns, the truth is only a small percentage of people have the aptitude to make art on a level that attracts collectors.

What a wonderful feeling it must be for those artists who regularly receive kudos and warm thoughts from collectors and admirers ... and get to get paid for their efforts, too! Had your art in some large or small way not touched your collectors, you wouldn't be getting that kind of feedback from them.

Like me, I'm sure you are abundantly grateful to have the talent to make something from your own imagination, the drive to find others to appreciate it and the freedom to pursue both in a democracy designed to protect your rights and encourage the best from you.