MARKETING AND ART STRUGGLE

Marketing and Art Struggle

(What if I’m not good enough?)

This is probably the number one fear of any creative professional.  After all, we are not creating necessities but luxuries for the most part.  As much as our art enriches our life and the lives of others, it remains something that we (at least as consumers) could probably live without. 

When money is tight, luxuries such as purchasing books, music, tickets to performances, and artwork are often the first to go.  We are not doctors, teachers, or even farmers–we don’t create or provide a service that people can’t live without. As artists, we are well aware of this fact which only seems to fuel our sense of self-doubt. At times we can’t help but feel well. . . expendable

The cure for self-doubt is surprisingly not success. The world is filled with famous and successful artists, writers, and musicians that are still riddled with depression and feelings of self-doubt.  Unfortunately, for the majority of us, this is not something that ever completely goes away.  Instead we have to find a way to live with this doubt and value the creative process as much as the work itself.

I’m not original enough (someone else is doing it better)

While it may be true that all the great themes in art and literature have already been done before a thousand times over, it’s always possible to bring something entirely new to the process.

Let’s face it, writers and artists have been borrowing from their creative ancestors since there has been a thing called art. Even Shakespeare borrowed almost all of his work from other writers, but in the end, there is little question that he made them distinctively his own.

" Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing." 

~Salvador Dali

 Trying to constantly reinvent the wheel.  Instead use it, we learn from it, model it, and then create our own version of it. Don’t worry about being seen as an imitator.  We have all learned our art from those who have come before us. Embrace it and create a version of it that is true.

People won't take me seriously as an artist

"Art is a hobby and not a real job"

“I’m afraid that my friends and family will be disappointed in me”

The truth is that your career as an artist is only as serious as you take it.  Do you work at it as your “job” or do you only work at it occasionally as your “hobby”?  How much work do you really put into it daily?  If you were your boss, would you pay yourself for the effort that you are currently making?

Having to deal with you friends and family (especially parents) can be particularly tough when it comes to them seeing you as a working artist.  The bottom line however is that they will take you and your art as seriously as they see you taking it.  In other words, if they see you putting in 10-15 hours day after day working not only on your art, but marketing your art as well, they will begin to see you as a “working artist” rather than just their kid who does art.

People will steal my work or my ideas

One of the biggest fears that artists have when I ask about them selling their work online is that they are afraid that people are going to steal their work or their ideas.  While there’s no doubt this does happen, far too many artists are using this as an excuse to stay out of the online marketplace all together.

Yes, people steal ideas all the time.  You do it, I do it, and every artist under the sun has done it at some point.  We look for ideas that speak to us and then we use them to spark our imagination.  We’re not talking about these people, however, we’re talking about the real thieves who simply take stuff off the internet and pass it off as their own.

Although this is certainly a real problem, you also have to realize that these artistic parasites are a very small minority of the online population. 98% of the people looking at your work online have no intent of stealing your work, they are simply enjoying it and maybe, just maybe, they might be interested in buying it.

My work is never as good as I imagined it would be

No artist is ever completely satisfied with their work.  Some pieces you will always like better than others but the pursuit of perfection is only a mirage that keeps you from moving on.

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.” ~Leonardo da Vinci

At some point, however, you have to let it go and move on.  You have to accept the fact that even the greatest authors, composers, musicians, and artists were still unsatisfied with their masterpieces in some way.  Perfection is an illusion that will eventually consume you if you let it.  Think of each piece that you create as a stepping stone on a much longer journey.  You will never get to the next stage of development as an artist unless you are willing to set that piece aside and move on to the next.

Just let it go,    Live your art.

       “Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.”  ~Salvador Dali



LIFE IN A PHONE BOOTH

A feeling like your space is closing in on you when you are on overdrive in the studio.

You’re here but you’re not.

 

 

 

 

 

Art and Creativity bring with it a certain sensitivity and emotional package. After all, to be able to bring things you imagine to live there’s a toll.
 

We pay for the privilege with passion, emotion, sometimes even tears and intense drain on the energy. In reality everyone who exists pays some sort of toll in life, good or bad or a mix of both.







Spending too much time in the studio and a feeling of being alone

 

 

 

 

Sometimes feeling overwhelmed with art demands and right brain not working....

 

 

 

 

 

A feeling that I'm not producing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A feeling I need more space when I don't

 

 

 

 

some long nights in the studio when it's just not working

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    When I'm away from the studio, it's still there

 

 

 

 

 

When the right side of the brain is in full gear, I need to take advantage of my creative side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes when the inspiration is not there, we need to find it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 When the left side of the brain hits, the art is just not working at all. I take advantage on computer work, such as writing, bookwork and marketing.

 

 

 

 

 

Finding the balance to produce art is a must, as not for the art, I would not have customers, galleries, commissions, and my profession as a fine artist would end up in the ditch.

 "The stress part of any job is it took you a long time to get there , it’s even harder to stay there…"

 

Over all... I love my passion for being an artist, it's just a job like anyone else and we just happen to love our job.

 

 I love my "Phone Booth"

 

Cheers.......

 

 

 

MY ART PASSION AT AN EARLY AGE IN LIFE

  MY ART PASSION AT AN EARLY AGE IN LIFE

 



    My passion for art has always been deeply rooted when I was young, at the age of 4.

I can still remember sitting down with a pack of crayons, and bursting at the seams to fill
that blank white paper. I also found that by blending them together I could create a color that I did not have. That was a very exciting thing for me.

     I was always doodling with sketches and I spent many hours over the course of time in grade school sitting outside the room in the hall for not focusing on my studies.  I did learn, but my passion was always focused on art.

    I continued to sketch only in my art classes during high school. I did not want to waste my time with having to take beginners art classes or intermediate, so I told them I had taken these classes so I could get into the advanced art class.

    While in my senior class in high school I had painted two paintings and entered them in the fair and won 1^st and 2^nd place for both paintings at the age of 19.

 

"Old Iron Sides"

Painted Feb 28 1974

1st place ribbon won August 1974

 

 

"Homestead"

Painted May 1974

2nd place ribbon won August 1974

 

 

     My parents were very supportive of my art, but in hopes I would grow out of it, and focus more in business during college.

    I then later went to college at Evergreen State for Commercial art business and advertisement while working at the Credit Union.

After I finished college, my first job was the K2 ski company on Vashon Island in designing ski tops.

     The art design that was created for the ski tops, were all done by hand as we did not have computers then. After the image was created by hand, it was all hand cut out and transferred to a silk screen for printing. Each color was done on a separate screen.

I helped designed the“mids”and the “comps” during the late 70’s and early 80’s.

 

 

      

 

    I continued to paint paintings while on Vashon and sold them local in restaurants and offices.

    After getting married, then moving to Port Orchard I went back into the banking business, as the graphic art industry was not an easy time to get a job. There I worked in banking using the left side of brain for next 25 years while raising a family, but my right side was always my passion so I continued to study art and take more classes while working at the bank and continued to sell art.

 

     After kids were older I started to have open studio art shows from my home once a year in May. I had my original art sent to New Jersey and had prints done. I was now able to sell numbered prints during my open studio show.  I continued to do that for 10 years. Until commiting to more galleries.

     Today I paint in the mediums of watercolor, acrylic and oil and I work in an office and studio from home. I continue to study watercolor, acrylic and oil. I invested in a giclee printer a few years back, image my own work and now print from my home.

     Running an art business from home, I spend more time doing bookwork,  imaging art work, photo shop, marketing, and still I have to make time to paint. Keeping up on my art productions to maintain good with the galleries in providing new works and to maintain my artist clientele is very important for an artist career.

    I find my art business,  going to work a 9 to 5 job and sometimes longer, I get up at 6am in winter and 5am in summer. Hours can be long depending on orders, commissions and galleries. I also take advantage of travel and focus on getting photos for my next inspiration for new works. I go to bed and wake up sometimes at 3am and have an idea of a painting I want to paint or when I’m stuck, I have the plan on what to do to make it work…..

 

For more information check out my website at martigreen.com

  “Passion in life” … do your passion as life is short.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GICLEE vs LITHOGRAPH PRINTS

What are Giclee Fine Art Prints?

The Giclee printing (pronounced "ghee-clay") process was born in the early 1990's as rock musician Graham Nash & and his associate Mac Holbert uncovered a new capability of the Iris inkjet printer called the 3047. These early machines had been developed for digital graphic proofing but it had not occurred to the manufacturer that its equipment would be adopted by artists as a digital method of fine art printing. In 1991, thanks to Mr. Nash's vision, the world's first digital fine art atelier opened its doors. Since this early beginning, the technology in equipment, media, inks and craftsmanship have advanced immeasurably.

Hence the French term" Giclee" which means to spray and that more like a mist, each droplet is the size of a red-blood-cell.

 

Frist IRIS giclee printer 1990

 

In 1990 a photo exhibition for Grahan Nash of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Nash was so impressed with the quality of the IRIS prints, he purchased his own IRIS Graphics 3047 ink-jet printer for $126,000 to print further editions of his work and eventually set up Nash Editions, a digital reproduction company based on the IRIS printer.

 

Inkjet technology is little more than a decade old. That's nothing when you consider it was over 500

years ago when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press and artist such as Albrecht Durer, Martin Schongauer and Lucas Van Leyden began printing engravings.

Now artist are turning to the once-lowly inkjet for fine-art printing.

It's called "giclee"

 

 

 

Todays Epson Giclee printer

 

 

Giclee vs Lithograph Prints

 

As a giclee printer we are aware of differing choices an artist has regarding making prints of their artwork. The most popular choices today are either giclee prints or lithograph prints. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. An artist may want to decide which option is right for them based on a printing company’s production time, efficiency, quality and cost. A decision can be made once the artist understands more about each type of print.

 

First, a giclee print is made by the same process as used when someone prints a photo on an inkjet printer at home. Now days most giclee printers use the same name brands people are familiar with such as Canon, Epson and HP. The printers are wide format printers will typically have 8 or more colors which are used to render the printed image onto a variety of materials from textured art papers to canvas. These media types usually are on rolls which automatically feed through the printer as the printer lays out ink in a horizontal motion. The process has become advanced enough many photographers also use it for printing large photographic prints. People order giclee prints are also able to take advantage of a growing range of paper and canvas types which might not be available in other forms of printing.

Unfortunately because the process uses inkjet technology, the time to print a single image can take up to a minute or more depending on the size of the print. It is not unheard of for a 24x30 inch image printed at the printer’s highest quality setting to take up to 20 minutes. As the technology improved, the speed of the printers has also increased cutting down on production time of each print. While the printing may see to last a long time, so too will the print. Manufacturers of ink, canvas and papers have invested a lot into making sure giclee prints will last allowing giclee producers to boast longevity of 100 to 200 years.

 

Unlike the slower printing process a single lithograph can be printed in less than a second however the cost to setup a lithograph print is the same regardless if you are going to print one or many copies. For this reason lithographs can be produced at a lower cost per print and have more room for volume discounts. Since the papers usually in sheets, more care has to go into making sure each sheet is consistently fed. This might limit what the lithograph company will want to print to. When it comes to actual total cost, the lithograph process makes sense if you are going to have 100s to 1000s of copies made at a time. When it comes to how long the print will last, much is dependent upon the paper and inks used. Most should retain their quality for about 30 years but after that like any printed item, it may start to yellow and fade.

                                                                 

Giclee

Pros of Giclee:  ......  Able to keep up with the current advances in inkjet technnology.

                                     Able to use more colors to match the tones of an original work.

                                     Uses archival grade inks and media such as printing on quality paper,

                                            such as Arches watercolor paper, Somerset Velvet.
                                       Best quality for longer lasting color and light fast inks that are archival.

                                      Can be printed on an as needed basis

                                       No inventory needs to be stored

 

Cons of Giclee: .........Slower to produce each print.

                                       More costly per print, even with high volume runs.

 

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Lithograph

Pros of Lithograph.....less expensive per print

                                        Quick to produce higher volume runs

 

Cons of Lithograph......Not cost effective unless producing 100's or more copies

                                          Usually less accurate in color with an original

                                           Fades and yellows sooner

                                           Requires inventory space

 

 

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All my prints for Marti Green fine art are Giclee prints and are on 140lb watercolor paper and Somerset Velvet paper for the best quality. 

 All paper is 100% archival.  This is the best quality for my customers and a much better investment for an archival print.

 Any print or an original painting , should  never be displayed in "strong ultraviolet  radiation",  such as direct sunlight, hang over a fireplace that will be used.

 

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MONET AND VAN GOGH PAINTING STUDY AND HISTORY

..............I have a profound love for the old artist, especially the impressionist.

One way to get a small glimpse into their world is to study the brush strokes in detail and

imitating one of their paintings. This gave me a better understanding, and much more respect for their work..............

 

 

 

"Waterlilies" by Claude Monet oil on canvas, Giverny, France 1919

 This is a reproduction painting by Marti Green August 2012

Oil on Canvas 20x40

 

Monet (1840-1926)

 

Monet found subjects in his immediate surroundings, as he painted the people and the places he knew best. His landscapes chart journeys around the north of France and London. Monet moved first to Argenteull, just fifteen minutes from Paris by train, then west to Vetheull, Poissy and finally to the more rural Giverny in 1883. His homes and gardens became gathering places for Manet and Renoir who often painted alongside of their host.

 

In the 1910's and 20's Monet focused almost exclusively on the picturesque water-lilly pond that he created on his property at Giverny.

His final series depicts the pond in a set of mural-sized canvases where abstract renderings of plant and water emerge from broad strokes of color and intricately built-up textures.

Shortly after Monet dies a wealthy and well-respected man at the age of eighty-six, the French government Installed his last water-lily series in specially constructed galleries at the Orangerie in Paris, where they remain today

 

*****A must to read....."Claude and Camille"  A novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell. This book was published in 2010. What his life would have been like during the times.... I would have to say, the best historical fiction and incredibly well-crafted atmosphere. This book took me back to 1883... Well written... enjoy.

 

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Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

 

In 1880, at the age of 27, he decided to become an artist. He moved around, teaching himself to draw and paint. Van Vogh joined and met many artist including Degas, Toulouse-Lautref, Pissaro and Gaugin with who be became friends. His style changed significantly under the influence of Impressionism, becoming lighter and brighter. He painted a large number of self-portraits in the period.

 

In 1888, Van Gogh moved to Provence in southern France, where he painted his famous series "Sunflowers"

 

The Starry Night, painting depicts the view outside his sanitorium room window at Saint. Remy-de-Provence, located in southern France. At night althought is was painted from memory, during the day. It has been in the permament collectiom to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

 

The movie I watched was Vincent & Theo, filmed in 1990. Story of Vincent Van Gogh and Theo was his brother.... Great bio of the life of  Vincent Van Gogh. 

"The Starry Night" Vincent Van Gogh oil on canvas-1889

 This is a reproduction painting by Marti Green June 2012

Acrylic on canvas -18x24