An experiment

The artistic side of my brain works in spurts. Sometimes, new works pour out at a rate that I feel guilty doing them that fast. But most of the time, I go through a methodical approach to making my art that takes time, often a lot of time. I often get asked when showing at festivals, “how long does it take you to create that piece.”

I most of the time give a stock answer that goes some thing like, “Because I work in layers, the finished piece might be made up of a dozens or more layers, which combined, make up the fractal.” I then go on to say, “depending on the complexity of each layer, it could take as little as 10 minutes per layer or over an hour. If the piece is say 20 layers deep I could literally be on it for a few days. I normally don’t sit in front of my computer working on the same image from start to finish so I might be working on several different fractals at once to keep each new piece fresh while I create it.”

My art career has become so busy with traveling to art festivals, gallery openings, website and blog work etc. that in order to find time to make art I’ve needed to implement a more strategic approach to being creative.

I’ve read about artists that do a piece of art a day, everyday and offer it for sale on sites like eBay, Etsy and a variety of other online art auction sites. They promote each piece through blogs similar to mine. The common denominator of these types of sales is that usually the painting, photo, collage or whatever is small. Typically these pieces of art are post card size or possibly 6” x 6”. Here is an example of an artist that has taken this art marketing to the extreme. His name is Duane Keiser and his art can be found on his blog at,

duanekeiser.blogspot.com

Take a look and you’ll have a better idea of what I’m proposing for my own art.

Starting soon, along with my regular articles, I’ll be posting a “new” never before sold fractal on this blog. I will give details on each print such as size, matted or not, whether the piece will be framed, if it will be an “open edition” or “limited edition” etc. I’ve decided NOT to include each print in my gallery website www.dennisbradystudios.com until after this “original” is sold.

My goal is to debut between 3 and 5 different fractals per week. If the experiment works, I’ll continue with it. If it becomes too much work for too little return, I’ll kill it. You’ll determine which path I take.

In any event, at least I'll be making art in a very regular cycle.

Websites, blogs, festivals & art

Not necessarily in that order but being a successful artist, especially a digital artist that wants or needs to sell your art in order to pay the bills, requires a presence that gets you out of the studio and into the real world where your clients live.

There are many ways to do that. You could gather some of your best works and drive around to local and regional art galleries hoping that the proprietor decides to place you art there, all the while relieving you of 40-50% of the profit once and IF one of your pieces sells. Now don’t get me wrong, the art world needs galleries. Without them, a great deal of the art buying public would not connect with you. Those types of collectors are conditioned to doing it that way. Some don’t know that there is, in my opinion, a better way to buy and own art.

There are 100’s of ways to sell art. As an artist it’s your job not only to create the art but also to sell too. The aforementioned gallery outlets are one way but you could also reach out to potential prospective buyers through your own website or possibly a blog. You could also launch auctions on eBay and hope that the 180211 (current as of today) other auctions selling art don’t drown yours out. EBay auctions can and do produce art sales for the artist but in ways that I’m sure your not thinking about now. More of an unconventional way than just placing one of your pieces up for bid. I’ll cover this topic in more detail in a later post.

You could also participate in the world of art festivals. There are tens of thousands of art fairs held all around the world each year in every conceivable venue. This means of marketing your art places you directly in front of the buying public. The direct connection between the buyer and the artist is by far more rewarding for both parties than simply clicking on the “Buy it now” button at eBay.

On the surface, this method seems perfect, but there are many pitfalls with art festivals too. Way too many to go into detail here, but I am planning on a whole series of articles based on my life as a traveling artist through out the year. I set up and sell my art at approximately 30 festivals a year, which generates 90% of my income so you see, I have a great deal of experience with this marketing method.

My festivals normally start in early March each year and ends in mid December. This schedule works for me. It allows the greatest exposure to my buyers plus it gives me a much needed wintertime break. That break is quickly coming to an end and I’ll be packing up my art, canopy and displays into my truck and trailer and heading out, to what we full time traveling artist call the circuit. Here I will reconnect with old friends and new buyers and hopefully make 2008 another profitable year.