5 Ways to Give Yourself the Best As an Artist

Imagine if you could interact with an artist who has been in his craft for over 40 years. One who worked hard to master the art and achieved great success. What questions would you ask him to help your career? What advice could he give you regarding galleries, the art market and taking full advantage?

Well, we spoke to the famous artist and Artwork Archive artist about just that. This experienced professional has indeed worked for over 40 years and has sold millions of dollars worth of art in that time. He understands art the way an artist knows his brush or a ceramist knows his clay. He shared with us five smart art career tips that are critical to success.

"If you're going to be a successful artist, you have to be smart, attentive, productive, consistent, reliable, and completely professional." -Lawrence W. Lee

1. Don't wait for inspiration

As a professional artist, I couldn't afford to wait for inspiration. In the most prosaic sense, I was inspired by the fact that I had to pay my bills. I realized early on that if I was going to be an artist, I needed to approach art like a business and not wait for inspiration. I found the best solution is to just go into the studio and start working whether I feel inspired or not. As a general rule, the very act of painting or dipping a brush into paint is enough to get you started, and inspiration almost inevitably follows.

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2. Create what your market wants

Art is a commodity, and its sales depend on the market, if you are outside of completely unnatural cities of art, such as New York, Los Angeles, Brussels and the like. If you do not live in one of these cities or do not have easy access to one of these markets, you will be dealing with regional markets that have their own characteristics and requirements. Mine is the American Southwest. I quickly realized that if I was going to make a living there, I needed to consider the tastes of the people who were likely to buy my work.

I needed to figure out what people in my market area wanted and were buying to install in their homes and offices. You have to do a good research – now it is very easy. Part of doing research is not only searching on Google, but also observing you. When you go to the dentist, ask yourself what's on her wall. Also, keep in mind that a local gallery usually doesn't have items on the walls that it doesn't think won't sell. You can just create what you want and convince people they want it too. However, creating art for your market is much easier.

3. Pay close attention to what sells and what doesn't

I am currently working with UGallery to sell some of my work online. I recently spoke with one of the co-founders and discussed how best to analyze the buyer data that UGallery collects so that I have the best information to understand my market and meet its needs. I need to know what sizes sell, what colors sell best, whether they are figures or landscapes, realistic or abstract, etc. I need to know everything I can because I want to maximize the opportunity to find a market that is perfect for me. online. This is what you must do.

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4. Do due diligence on potential galleries

I suggest making a list of five to ten galleries where you want to exhibit. Then walk around to see what they have on the walls. If the galleries have good carpet and lighting, then they make money from paintings to pay for them. When I looked around the galleries, I always looked at the floor and looked for dead moths or dust on the window sills. I would take note of the behavior of the staff and whether I was welcomed. I would also like to note if they indicated they were willing to help and disappeared, or if they loomed over me and made me feel uncomfortable. I went from gallery to gallery, like a buyer, and then evaluated what I learned.

My paintings had to fit into the gallery's collection of works. My work had to be similar but different, and the price had to be somewhere in between. I didn't want my work to be the cheapest or the most expensive. If your work is good, but looks like an expensive piece, the buyer can get two of yours or one of the more expensive paintings. I have considered all these things. After I narrowed down the selection to about three galleries, I chose the best one, the one that was out of my reach and the one that I would be most proud of. Then I went there with my portfolio. I memorized the script and hand movements and always did my homework. I have never been refused.

5. Keep up with the times

It is important to keep up with the times and make it work for you. For many years I have known what the color of the year will be. Designers decide two years early and inform the fabric and dye manufacturers. Pantone's 2015 Color of the Year is Marsala. It is important to pay attention to what people use to decorate their homes. Give yourself every possible advantage, since not many people can make a living from creativity. Stay up to date on the best ways to use social media and video streaming. These tools give you the opportunity to advertise yourself and your work, but you have to be smart about it. I know an artist who makes ten paintings a year that are exceptional examples of technical skill and he can't make a living. He hasn't figured out how to get people to demand them, and he's not doing enough to convince most galleries that he's worth investing in. It's about being smart and setting yourself a goal and all the benefits.

You can find out how Lawrence W. Lee sold over $20,000 worth of art through the Artwork Archive.

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