This last year, my beginning students began showing up with Artist’s Loft brand of supplies. I’m so sorry, but they are the absolutely worthless and a total waste of money.

The brushes are limp, lose hair with every brush stroke and fill the cleaning medium (water or thinner) with hair. (think of a shedding cat)

The kneaded erasers crumble to pieces (a good kneaded eraser becomes more pliable with stretching).

Their stretched canvases are loose and droopy and cannot be salvaged. I haven’t had anyone show up with paint yet, but I’m sure to see it because everyone wants to save money.

A beginner will fail miserably with these supplies and not knowing the difference, will blame themselves (rather than the supplies), give up painting because they believe that it is they who cannot learn!

Give yourself the advantage of having decent supplies. There are plenty of good, quality student grade suppliers that are worth your hard earned money.

“i dont think people would buy your work”, “none of it is very creative or original”, “I don’t think you art works are sell-able yet. Keep practicing your art.”, “Either you teach someone or sell your art at a famous art gallery. Start out at a little one”, “i dont think u r quite ready yet. your drawings have no structure ”

SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!!! As fellow artists, you *should* be encouraging her creativity; not simply bashing, using vague comments that don’t offer any constructive advice that she can actually USE! Geez, you guys… Don’t you have anything better to do?..

Hetty, I think you have a lot of great stuff! Some tips I could give you are as follows:

1) First of all, decide who you would like your target market to be. This sounds a bit overwhelming and will probably require a bit of homework on your end (it sure did for me) but will be SOOO worth it in the future. Do you envision your art on products in stores (such as t-shirts, stationary, mugs, etc)? Hung in galleries? Displayed in hotels, restaurants?… Where do you ideally see it? Do you ultimately want to get hired as a cartoonist? Game designer? Muralist? Spend some time with yourself and write every juicy detail down. Having a clear idea of what you want (and WHY you want it!!) is half the battle to finding a path to get it.

As a side-note: People generally LOVE helping other people accomplish their dreams if they know the why. It’s true for any type of business.

2) Decide which type of art (I noticed you do quite a bit of different things like myself) you would like to specifically market, then create at least a dozen or so pieces of that particular style. You have a lot of really awesome things in your deviant art gallery, however I think that many people get overwhelmed when they look at the page because upon first viewing, it just looks like a large collection of random subjects and mediums. People tend to like repetition; don’t ask me why. Variety is the spice of life right? lol..

So for the sake of the masses, I think designating different spaces for the different types of art would be greatly beneficial. A specific example of this would be: creating a website or blog specifically tailored each style of your art. You can add links to the other ones, of course, but it leaves it as an option to those who only wish to see one certain type. If they want to see your cartoons, great! But if not, at least you have the option there.

Think if of your art (marketing terms) as something very similar to applying for a new job. If you were applying for a nursing job, you wouldn’t have a bunch of accounting information on your resume. Likewise, if you’re trying to market your highest quality fine-art pieces, you wouldn’t want to put quick sketches or graphic-design elements in your online “portfolio” or gallery. Does that make sense?

You did a good job by creating different categories on your deviant art profile. Use that as a guide to help you figure out what you would like market the MOST, and make a separate entity for that type.

3) If you are unsure of pricing, you have a few really great tools for helping. For starters, look around other artist profiles/websites and see what they charge for the same type and quality of art. Ebay is great for finding examples. You can narrow it down right to the genre and materials used! Also, take into account how much it actually COSTS you to make, print, and ship. How much do your materials cost? Do you make prints yourself, go to Kinkos, OfficeDepot or other, or do you get them professionally printed at a giclee specialist? How much does it cost for packaging? Postage? US only or worldwide? How much does it cost to maintain your website or online store, if any?

If you’re thinking this is a lot to think about, and should probably have a journal or something to put it all down so you don’t forget… well, you’re right!!! I’m telling you, it’s a very valuable tool and I would definitely suggest in going to the store to invest in one if you haven’t already! Your ultimate goal here is clarity: KNOW what you want, where and how you want it, who to sell to, for how much, and steps to take for how to get there! Us creatives are very visual. We like to *see* things. Writing it all down is one of the most valuable tools you can gift yourself.

4) I’m note sure where you live, but here in Tacoma, we have an artist community. I’m sure there’s one in your community as well. Find it and get involved! Go to your local chamber of commerce and find out what fairs, festivals, showings, etc go on through out the year. If they have an online community guide, that would be a really great place to start. Sign up for what you can, and volunteer for the others. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising! Don’t take my word for it though; ask any multi-million dollar business or firm, and they’ll tell you the same.

5) Another great way to get your name out there in places other than your own community is participating in art contests – yes contests. They’re all over the country! A lot of them don’t cost anything or charge little for the application fee. Most don’t require your originals unless you’re actually selected, a simple digital copy usually is sufficient. Make sure you read their instructions very carefully though! If one thing doesn’t follow, your entry won’t be accepted into the contest.

The purpose of these contests, silly as they seem, is to build your “art” resume. Galleries (why “Dwayne Wade’s” comment was totally useless) tend to pay more attention to what you’ve done in the past then the actual art itself. Most won’t even LOOK at your art unless they see that you’ve whored yourself out to enough showings and contests. Why? They are investing in you by having your art there. They want to know it’s marketable just as much [if not more] as you do. Because if your art doesn’t attract clients, it affects their livelihood as a business.

6) If you haven’t already, I would suggest making some business cards or maybe bookmarks (I like things that I can actually use, and most other people do too), magnets, or stickers with your art and contact information relevant to the art you’re trying to market. Make a new friend? Give ‘em one! When someone introduces themselves to you at a community gathering or other, you get the chance to exchange information by giving them something tactile and useful to remember you by! Instant marketing without being pushy.

7) Don’t listen to those negative comments. Every artist hears them throughout their life. You’re not alone. Know that there will ALWAYS be people better than you, and there will always be people *worse* than you too. That is true for any skilled trade. Most often, it is tenacity and audacity that makes a successful artist; not their talent. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Yes, it’s a little scary at first. But it is a dirty necessity that helps you break out and expand your comfort zone. Just make sure you’re smiling and having FUN while you’re doing it! Yep, it’s possible. Try it and see!

Those that like to bash usually aren’t very good either – they spend more time being negative and hurting other people then they do spending time on their own art, thinking they “could” be better “if only” they would sit down and do it! You just take care of the quantity, and the ‘Ultimate Creator’ (who or whatever that means to you) will handle the Quality.

Good luck and happy creating!

You could also reason through it this way:

Acrylic paint is water-based. Drying means the water is evaporating, right?

So, if you use plain water, how fast does it dry on each of those substances?