Monday Motivation #6

"The only lifelong, reliable motivations are those that come from within, and one of the strongest of those is the joy and pride that grow from knowing that you've just done something as well as you can do it.”

- Lloyd Dobens - found on thinkexist.com

Monday motivation #5

"At school, new ideas are thrust at you every day. Out in the world, you'll have to find the inner motivation to search for new ideas on your own."

- Bill Waterson

found on thinkexist.com

Artist I Admire: Frank Frazetta

This week I'd like to focus on an artist I have never had the opportunity to communicate with but, one whom I admire greatly. That artist is of course Mr. Frank Frazetta.

Style: Mr. Frazetta's style is without a doubt realistic but taking liberties to veer towards the fantasy and & science fiction works that he is renowned for.

Bio: Mr. Frazetta was born on Feb 9, 1928. He was both born and raised in Brooklyn, NYC, NY. By the time he was eight his teachers were encouraging his parents to have him attend a formal art school. He attended the Brooklyn Academy of the Arts and once he graduated he began working in a variety of fields eventually settling in the comic industry in the 50's. In the 60's Mr. Frazetta had garnished enough attention to get the calling from Hollywood to design the art for movie posters.

Today he is best known for the work he's done related to the Conan the Barbarian comic series. His paintings easily sell for six figures on average with a recent auction netting a million dollars for a single painting.

Why I admire Mr. Frazetta: One need only look at his impressive work to see why I would admire an artist of such outstanding talent. His work is so realistic that allows us to become part of his fantasy world. His men are manly and strong and his women are womanly and curvaceous. He gives those growing up reading comics or admiring his artwork something to aspire to be like. He is definitely one of the great, living American artists of the past and current century.

My favorite Frank Frazetta painting - Against the Gods:

This is without a doubt my favorite Frank Frazetta painting and definitely one of the Top 5 painting I've ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. I don't like it so much in the sense that the hero is challenging the "Gods" but more so because it represents man struggling to conquer the difficulties and challenges set before him and facing them without flinching a moment. If I could own the original of this painting I would be a happy man.

Tips for Tuesday: 5 perspectives on how to profit from art

The following are 5 articles with differing views or how to start an art business and/or how to sell your art. They are all helpful but, I find the information found in 1, 4 & 5 to be particularly helpful to someone like myself. Hope you enjoy!

1. How to Start an Art Business by Alicia Bodine
2. Start a Freelance Art Business - from Internet Based Moms
3. How to Start an Art Gallery - from MySmallBiz.com
4. How to Sell Art - by Clint Watson
5. How to Sell your Art - from eHow

Monday Motivation #4

"People who are too concerned with how well they are doing will be less successful and feel less competent than those who focus on the task itself... Some psychologists call it a conflict between ego-orientation, or between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation... but in all cases, what counts is whether attention is turned away from the task at hand and focused on the self and its future rewards, or whether it is instead trained on the task itself. The latter attitude seems the more fruitful."

-Author Unknown

Tips for Tuesday - ...for Artists who want to sell

This is Tips for Artists who want to Sell - By John Baldessari (b. 1931). Mr. Baldessari is an artist who focuses primarily on text paintings and offers the great advice above is his aptly titled work to those who would dare to become artists.

Monday Motivation #3

“When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all. We all need some form of deeply rooted, powerful motivation / it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we can live our dreams.”



-Les Brown

found on thinkexist.com

Artists I Admire : Gabe Leonard

I like Gabe Leonard for a number of reasons but the main one is he convinced me that Artists can make good money doing what they love.

Gabe's Style: Gabe's style is mostly realistic with a tinge of cartoonish nature. His subjects are primarily human figures with a few mythical creatures thrown in here and there. It seems that he picks a theme and stays with that theme for several paintings. He's done fantasy paintings, paintings featuring classic Hollywood stars and his most recent vein has been the "Wild West" or cowboys, Indians and Abe Lincoln.



Gabe's Bio/Education: Based on his website bio, Gabe is originally from Wyoming but got his Art degree from CCAD (Columbus College of Art & Design) the premiere art school of central Ohio. He moved out LA after graduating hoping to become a background painter for a major studio. When he got there however, fate had other plans and he split time between "folding shirts" at Macy's and hocking his art on the boardwalk of Venice Beach. The sales in Venice Beach became more and more profitable until he was able to do survive from the sale of his paintings full time.
Today, he counts himself lucky that he did not get a background painting job with a major studio. Otherwise he would not have the freedom - both of his schedule and artistically - that he possesses today.



Why I admire Gabe: I admire Gabe because about a year and a half ago or so, I saw his work on myspace and started reading his blog. This was after doing a search of CCAD alumni who graduated around the same time I graduated with my Marketing degree. I e-mailed him about if he is surviving being a CCAD grad. He e-mailed me back saying not only was he surviving, he was thriving. This little bit of encouragement convinced me to start drawing again if only to see if I still had my gift. Before I could even try and shop some of my art to local galleries, my first customer "K" complimented me on my art work and asked if I could draw a certain church for her. When I remarked I already had, I shortly thereafter had my first sale. All because of Gabe's encouragement.


My favorite piece of Gabe's so far:

Thing She Saved

Tips for Tuesday - Great article from artbusiness.com

So I was planning on drafting a few tips about how to be a better artist and business person simultaneously when I came across this article - I believe by Alan Bamberger on artbusiness.com about how to become a better artist and business person.

I was struck by how much good information is all in one place! Although I've never attended art school full-time I loved the part about:

"These days, a decent art education runs around $100,000. Art schools need lots of $100,000's in order to stay in business. If prospective students had any idea how tough making a living as an artist is, how good they have to be to make those livings, and how hard art is to sell, art schools would get fewer $100,000's than they do now. So art schools don't talk about the survival aspects of being an artist, they offer precious little instruction in how to make enough money to survive, and worst of all, they appear to discourage their graduates from venturing outside the academic realm to learn survival techniques. Sure, they expose students to the formal gallery system and maybe show their art to local dealers and collectors, but that's not nearly enough ammo for confronting the realities of the marketplace. "

I guess my "role model's" prodding to back away from art inadvertently gave me a wealth of knowledge about Marketing, Sales and the like as I was going through several professions I did not care for.

In the article Mr. Bamberger explains how it is just as important for an artist (a not-so-hungry artist that is) to develop sales skills as well as their art skills. One cannot survive without the other.

He also, points out that randomly blasting art galleries or art professionals with unexpected requests to represent your art and to -

"rescue [you], and whoosh [you] away to fame, fortune, and scrillions of dollars"

Is something you might want to shy away from.

Anyway, again just an excellent article on how to really get by and hopefully excel in the art business. I highly recommend it!