Artist collaboration tips (for solo creatives)

ARTIST COLLABORATION TAKES PRACTICE

I typically avoid any type of artist collaboration. Working together with others when I feel strongly about the results has never been my forte.

In school, I was always secretly hoping the teacher would pair me with the lazy students in class, so I could complete the whole assignment by myself unbothered. They appreciated my heavy lifting and I appreciated their apathy.

When it has my name on it, I want it to turn out exactly how I like it. I’ve always been picky to a fault.

At the same time, I’m often too nice to speak up when I don’t like someone else’s work. Everyone has their preferences, and I can’t expect anyone to have the same preferences as me. I don’t want to insult anyone’s work.

As you can piece together, this clash of attitudes has resulted in a lot of unsatisfying group projects.

So how can you navigate an artist collaboration or creative group work when you’re used to flying solo?

Here’s a few tips I’ve found over time give you the best results and experience during an artist collaboration.

REALIZE ARTIST COLLABORATIONS ARE VITAL

Going into the venture with this simple mindset shift helps a lot. You need to know working with other creatives is necessary!

At some point to grow, you’re going to have to support others and be supported by them. You’re going to have to close deals and compromise. Especially if you plan to become a full-time artist. 

That’s how I got my experience working with others, even when I tried to avoid it. 

You kind of just HAVE to collaborate.

There are certain tasks that can’t be done alone – like carrying a 1980’s couch down the stairs. Either you drag it, denting the walls, scratching the floor and damaging the couch, or you ask someone to pick the other end up. 

It would be foolish not to ask for help.

“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.”

— H.E. Luccock

After a while, I realized artist collaborations weren’t only vital but they were also pretty rad. 

An artist collaboration means you don’t have to learn EVERYTHING yourself. Whether it’s working as an apprentice under a creative business owner who’s further along, taking a class to get your art style just right, or partnering up on a specific project, other people teach you a lot. They bring a whole other brain to the table. And so do you!

They also bring a whole other set of experiences, skills and connections. Artist collaboration has been the catalyst for so many of my achievements. 

After you sink your teeth deep enough into the artist community, I’m sure you’ll say the same.

Learn to recognize how vital teamwork is early on, and you’ll be better off.

STATE YOUR EXPECTATIONS IN THE BEGINNING

Alright, someone has suggested a team project and it sounds like something you want to get in on. What is the first thing you do?

Before the collaboration even starts, make your expectations known. 

It’s easy to be vague during the planning process because the possibilities are endless. But don’t agree to participate if the project seems unclear or you’ve left a few wishes unsaid. Being clear upfront squashes the possibility of conflict later on.

• State the results you hope to have. What do you want it to look like in the end? 

• State the role you hope to play in the process. What supplies will you provide? How much time can you spend on it? When will you be unavailable?

• State how you plan to use the project after it’s completed. Where will the final piece (the original) be stored or displayed? Will you make prints and sell them? Will it get donated? Are you going to destroy it at the end in some kind of dramatic performance art?

• If it’s a financially impactful artist collaboration (aka you’ll be making money off it) you’ll want to get the plan in writing and sign it together. I’m not a lawyer but I’ve seen a few “casual” projects turn into profit machines and when no expectations were set in the beginning, it gets messy.

Make sure everything is crystal clear up front. 

Don’t assume they know certain preferences you have and don’t assume anything on their end, either. Ask their opinions on everything. Ask what they expect to do and what results they’re hoping for.

WORK AS HARD AS YOU EXPECT THEM TO WORK

Work ethic can make or break a relationship, especially when building, painting, or crafting in a group setting. Everyone should pull equal weight. 

There’s nothing worse than admiring another artist’s work, finally scoring a collab with them, and then finding out they are the least cooperative person alive. Don’t be that guy. 

Communicate clearly, pick up the phone when they call, and hear them out when they run into issues. Hard work isn’t always about the project. Sometimes it’s the interpersonal skills that take effort.

Don’t let them do all the heavy lifting and don’t do all the work either. The goal is an artist collaboration, not one person doing everything and the other merely signs their name on it after.

Their contribution should shine through the finished project just as much as your contribution does. 

Sometimes an artist collaboration is as simple as, “Let’s hang out at your place and paint, I’ll bring a box of supplies and you bring a box, we’ll drink wine and chill all day,” which is the absolute best. In that case, you don’t expect a lot in terms of collaboration and it’s mostly good company you require. The result can be all for the sake of practice, nobody is working that hard, and it’s all fun and games.

Those are always agreed upon beforehand too. And they’re always an equal effort affair. 

Work as hard as you expect them to – even if you’re both hardly working. 

VET YOUR TEAM AHEAD OF TIME

My best advice is to know the artist you’re collaborating with to a certain extent. Know their work ethic. Know their art style. Know that you don’t despise their entire personality.

Don’t agree to creative collaborations when you don’t like the person’s work (or don’t know what it looks like). 

Once I agreed to an artist collaboration with someone I met at an art show because I really liked them as a human being. The time we spent together was awesome, except for the artwork we made, which I hated. I didn’t take the time to vet their artwork at all before agreeing to make a painting with them. It came out bad. I let them keep it. Lesson learned.

Maybe get together for a low-expectation paint and chill session before you commit to an extensive project plan together. Check out their portfolio. Take a peek at their art-related work history. 

When you’re a full-time artist or you make art for money, vetting becomes more important. Artists only get paid if they provide value. The time you spent working doesn’t matter. So spending 16 hours on an artist collaboration that flops because you didn’t check to see what their art looks like is two days you clocked in and didn’t get paid. Ouch. 

If you’re a hobbyist, like I was when I did that collab with the lovely human being whose art I hated, it doesn’t hurt as much. I still had a good time and I had a day job for my paycheck. For hobbyists, vetting their personality is probably a bigger factor. 

RELAX AND LET GO OF THE OUTCOME

I know we set cut and dry expectations, but the results are never exactly how you think they’ll be. Even when you’re working solo, things happen. Paint spills, artists get sick, families have emergencies. Creative projects can quickly take a different route. In some cases an artist collaboration is ruined, and sometimes it’s better than you hoped. 

So relax. It’ll turn out how it’s meant to. 

Letting go will be the most important part of any artist collaboration, especially if you’re used to crafting solo or you’re “type A” about everything. This is their project too. 

If your artist collaboration includes kids or teens, you’re gonna have to let go of the reigns. Like completely. 

It’s another area where art can turn into a therapy session! Art and business have spurred personal growth like no other for me. Creative collaborations played a big part. Learning to set boundaries, communicate clearly, and let someone help: all skills I can attribute to working creatively with other artists in a group setting. 

It’ll grow you too!

THE BEST ARTIST COLLABORATIONS 

You can be the one to propose a team project, too. It’s a great way to make artsy acquaintances into artsy friends. But who to ask?

In my experience, the best collabs are done when both have separate mediums or the same medium but totally different styles otherwise. Art styles that are too similar don’t create the same visual impact. You need a good sweet to sour ratio. Spicy and tangy. Not a crust-filled pie. Ya know? So find an artist who has a visual style that looks different than yours but compliments it well. 

A good example is a watchmaker and an illustrator. The watchmaker is already making watches. The illustrator is already making illustrations. But wouldn’t it be cool to put an illustration in the face of the watch? Each creator comes from a different angle but compliments the other perfectly.

Community-oriented collaborations will operate a little differently, as they sometimes need a leader or coordinator. The coordinator will design the project in such a way that 100 people can equally participate. 

I used to help coordinate murals in Detroit – have meetings, plan, sketch the wall, and then on the event day, we’d help tons of little kids paint the mural. We coordinated it to be easy for kids to understand. Essentially for them, it was paint-by-number. Everyone helped. But a team of college-aged artists were the leaders.

Talk about a multidimensional team effort. Those were some of my favorite artist collaboration experiences. The murals are still there and when I’m in town I drive by with pride. 

An artist collaboration can come in any shape or size. You can craft together with your family and be the creative coordinator for your kids, attend a paint ‘n’ pour where one person comes up with the idea and everyone makes their own version, or pass a drawing back and forth with a friend. 

What ideas will you come up with together?

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