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Reviewing your art: 3 tips to get clarity
LOOK BACK TO MOVE FORWARD Everyone critiques their own artwork — or at least they spend a lot of time criticizing it. Any rough review can be discouraging. Adding a pinch of strategy when reviewing your art will take it from negative self-talk to constructive ideas. Today I’m gonna give you three big tips for analyzing your work so you can move forward and progress instead of wallowing at your current level of artistry. It’s time to move forward. It’s time to make better art. 1. ASK BETTER QUESTIONS Your brain is like a computer. When you ask it a question, it will answer that specific question. When you ask,…
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3 reasons you still don’t have a creative voice
BE HEARD Finding your creative voice. Adding your touch. Building a visual brand. Having an art style. Whatever you want to call it, you know what it means to look at an artist’s work and they just have it. The thing that makes the painting look like their painting. If you’ve been struggling to get to that point with your own artwork, there could be a few reasons why. Here’s the top three. 1. Not developing observational skills Observing the world around you is a skill. It’s a skill that will advance your art style by leaps and bounds because it will help you see your art more clearly. The…
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5 tips to tackle the artist’s busy season — the holidays
GIVE YOURSELF THE BUSIEST SEASON YET Colder weather might signal a slow season for some professions and trades, but not for artists. Right now is our busy season. Let’s do what we can to make the best of it. Here are five supreme guidelines to follow for making your busy season the best few months of the year in your art business. 1. Focus on one special thing that you offer during this time I know as a creative, you probably have all types of different paintings, ideas, sales and schemes in mind. If you’re like me, you’re already plotting your new year’s resolutions. But right now the name of…
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Art style and what it can do for your creative business
I talk a lot about art style because I think it’s the most important thing for an artist who wants to sell their art. Creating my art style meant honing in on qualities I loved in my paintings, and when I perfected my style, I fell in love with art all over again. What is an art style? Your style is made of choices you make consistently in your artwork. Line and shape, color palette, subject matter, composition, and texture all play a role. If you paint with thick outlines consistently in your work, that’s part of your style. If you never use the color gray, that’s part of your…
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Picking color schemes: psychology, strategy of color
COLOR IS POWERFUL Did you know that color can influence the way you taste your food? It can increase the effectiveness of placebos. Color schemes can make women look more or less attractive to men. It can draw your attention to danger and effect your emotion just by looking at certain hues. As artists, color is a powerful choice. Color can influence how people feel when they look at your work. Certain colors encourage different buying patterns in your customers. Consistent color can increase brand recognition. What colors are you using and how are they affecting your business? PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOR Whether or not you stick to a definitive color…
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Build a personal brand and make real connections
IN YOUR OWN IMAGE There’s something in your creative business that will bring you success in all the ways: more sales, a bigger following on social media, a more deeply committed audience, more opportunities in your local art community, etc. Are you ready to know what it is? A personal brand. Now it’s easy to talk about a visual brand. This is something I specialize in. Picking colors, fonts, textures, filters, and every aesthetic detail is fun and it’s easy for other people to see if you’re doing it well or not. A personal brand is similar, but it goes deeper — and the average passerby may not be able…
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A mood board is the secret to consistent artist branding
BUILD YOUR BRAND WITH BOARDS Mood boards are the perfect way to begin building your artistic business brand. You can keep them for reference when making decisions on the look, feel and message of your brand and truly personalize them. Before we get into how to use them, let’s talk about what it is, exactly. WHAT IS A MOOD BOARD? Sometimes called an “inspiration board” or “vision board,” it’s basically a collage of images, text, and whatever else that expresses a particular vibe or goal you’re striving for. Traditionally they were made with foam panels or cork boards and you could pin things to them manually. Anything from magazine clippings…
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How to brand yourself as an artist people will remember
BRANDING COVERS A LOT I preach about making a brand for yourself a lot because I think it’s so important for kicking off your career. But many artists question how useful it is or ask how you even go about “branding” yourself. (Hint: no hot metal is required for this one.) Every company has a brand, and if you want to elevate your own business, essentially you have to have one. Branding as an artist is about: PERSONAL brand, which involves your personality traits, your interests, and who you are as a human being art style, which is the visual aesthetic of your work messaging, which is the way you…
