I Make People Cry, and I Like It

I have made dozens of people cry in my lifetime and felt really good about it. Felt proud, as a matter of fact. Many of them were total strangers, but some of them were friends, and some were even people in my own family. I've made my sisters cry, my dad cry, and even my brother-in-law. Made 'em all cry, and it was wonderful.

What am I, some kind of sadist? How come I like making people cry?

Well, what I am is actually a portrait artist, and what makes people cry is joy. The joy of seeing a beloved family member or pet who has passed away immortalized in a piece of art, to live on forever in a way that a photograph can't really capture. I've done many memorial portraits over the years, and I have had the joy of presenting people with them and being there when they get struck by that sweet pain that causes happy tears to cover and soothe the feeling of loss. I consider it a wonderful honor to be able to do this.

So yes, it brings me a lot of joy to make people cry!

Image is my own artwork

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Figure Drawing 101: So You Wanna Be a Portrait Artist

So, here's the thing: I am a working portrait artist-have been for quite some time-and yet, in my portraiture course, I devote a class to teaching my students how to become successful portraitists themselves. Why would I teach classfull after classfull of talented people how to compete with me? Am I nuts? Do I not need the business? Um, "No" on both. The world market is not glutted with portrait artists, and is never likely to be, for this particular reason: Everyone wants a portrait.
 
Think about it: Wouldn't you like a portrait? If not of yourself, than of your kids, or of your adorable shih tzu, or your beloved Grandma who passed away last year? And if not for yourself, wouldn't a portrait be a wonderful gift to commemorate an event like a wedding, an anniversary, Mother's Day or Father's Day, retirement, a new baby, or just because a portrait is a unique present that has the potential to become a family heirloom, treasured and passed down for generations?

Well, now, you see? EVERYBODY wants a portrait. I personally cannot produce portraits for everybody, so by all means, feel free to step into the gap. And to get you started, here is my advice on marketing yourself to the portrait-hungry public.

Okay, so now you know the big, secret fact: Everybody wants a portrait. Here's the second part of it: Not everybody knows a portraitist. That's why you have to promote not only your talent, but also your availability as a working portrait artist. You can do this in a number of ways, which I will organize here as People, Places and Things (just think of the definition for 'nouns' to remember).

People: Family; friends; coworkers; customers; classmates; fellow members of clubs/ churches/ organizations/ groups. Think about all the people you know-friends, relatives, people in your book club, members of your church, etc. Maybe you are taking classes or belong to an organization like Rotary, a volunteer group or a social club. Maybe you have coworkers at a job, or your own clients through another business, like interior design or real estate. The point is, you know a lot of people. How well do they know you? Your family and friends probably know you are an artist, but do they know you want to accept portrait commissions? Make sure they know, and that everyone else does, too. You don't need to be pushy; just let people know you are a portrait artist, and they will file the fact away for future reference.

And, hey, don't just say you're thinking about being a portrait artist or trying to become one, say you are. Have some confidence! People will be fascinated, and it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now, think again about all the people on that list that you may know, and think about this: Every one of those people has a list, too. Your friends have coworkers; your relatives belong to churches and clubs; your neighbors have family and friends and clients.

So if your brother's boss or your friend's Sunday School teacher is thinking about getting a portrait done and asks if anyone can recommend an artist, your brother or friend can pipe up, Yes! And you end up getting a commission from someone you may never even have met. And once that commission is filled and hanging proudly in their home, think of all of their friends, family and so on who might see your artwork, compliment it and end up referred to you. So, if you want to end up with an order from your son-in-law's boss's best friend's minister's gardener's neighbor's manicurist, make sure your son-in-law knows about the whole portrait thing in the first place, okay? It might be nice to sweeten the pot by starting to do portraits as gifts for your friends and family; that way they'll have something to rave over and send your name on down the line.

Places: Retail (yours and theirs); public spaces; galleries; shows and expos; the internet. Presuming that you have produced some sample portraits, there are a great number of places you can show them off. If you happen to own a restaurant or store or know someone who does, these can be great places to display your artwork. Include contact information that people can remove from the pieces and take with them (I usually make a little business card holder out of card stock, which can be stuck to the glass on the portrait itself). If you don't have your own store but you're feeling intrepid, ask around. Many local restaurants hang art for sale, and you might get stores interested by matching your subject matter to their clientele: Put wedding portraits in bridal shops, pet portraits at pet-supply stores and veterinarian's offices. You could overcome some resistance by offering a small percentage of the proceeds on commissions resulting from the displayed work.

Shows and expos offer similar opportunities. You can rent a booth or table at a bridal expo or at a cat, dog or horse show, displaying your portraits and even having one in progress to work on while you man your booth. One caution: People do not come to these events armed with photos and ready to place an order, so these shows should be viewed more as a networking opportunity than anything else. If your want to make your booth rent back, you should take some small things you can sell off the table, such as note cards or magnets featuring your artwork.

Working in public spaces is a great way to get exposure. People cannot resist the magnetic pull of an artist at work, so take a sketch pad to the zoo, park, mall, or even a museum, and get ready to chat with admirers. Have some finished samples of your art to show (I usually have some nice finished drawings in my sketch pad that I can flip to), and have your business cards ready to hand out.
Obviously, the internet is another powerful marketing tool. There are quite a few turnkey companies that will allow you to build your own website with step-by-step guidance, like Wix or Squarespace, if you don't have experience in web design. If you don't feel ready to invest in your own website, you can get your work seen on other websites at very low rates, or even free!

Check out Etsy (click here to see my shop!) or other art-sales websites, your local Craigslist, or make an artist page on Facebook Click here to see mine, Instagram, or other social media sites. You can also create a page on subscription sites like Patreon or KoFi so that people can view your work and support your art with subscriptions or tips. At the very least, you should create an email address to use solely for your portrait business. You can email samples to interested folks without ever having to bother with a website.

Things: Business cards; "leave behinds"; direct mail (flyers and postcards), magazine or newspaper ads. Business cards are indispensable, a must-have. They can lead to many opportunities, and are a relatively inexpensive investment-these days, you can make them on your own printer at home. But be careful about what kind of information you put on them, because they might end up in the hands of a scammer or a creepy person. Your business card should have your name and/or your business name, a phone number and an email address, at the very least; maybe a website and a mailing address, but none of these things should be your personal information.

Get a PO box or private mailbox and use that instead of your home address. It's nobody's business where you live! I never meet clients at my house or theirs, and nobody has ever had a problem with that. Along the same lines, never put your home phone, only your cell phone. Even if you have been careful not to use your home address, it can be easily found out by entering your home phone in a search engine like Google or Superpages. So, name; cell number; PO box, and your business, not your personal, email.

Another handy tool is the "leave behind", a kind of 'super business card' for artists. It gets its name from being what commercial artists leave behind with an art director to keep on file after they have shown off their portfolios. This usually consists of a card in a standard size, usually 4"x 6" or 5" x 7". One side features a sample of the artist's work (one image or several), plus the artist's name and contact information, just as on a business card. The reverse side can be set up as a postcard, with spaces for address, message, and stamp, so your piece can serve double duty as a mailer as well as a handout.

If you try to secure commissions using direct mail or print ads, try to keep it local-shipping photos and artwork back and forth can get expensive, and loss or damage can occur. Some of my portraits have ended up in France, Mexico and Ireland, but they all started from local contacts.
As you can see, there are many ways you can get your artwork in front of potential customers. The best part is when your portraits start to sell themselves. I personally do not spend a penny on advertising at this point in my career; all my clients or either repeat business, acquaintances, or referrals, and they all contact me. It's a pretty nice setup, really. Well, now that you know how, go out and drum up some business!

If you'd like to read my other Figure Drawing 101 articles, click here:

Figure Drawing 101: Is the Human Figure Really Harder to Draw? 

Figure Drawing 101: Wacky Secrets of Proportion

Image is my original artwork, soft pastel on Canson pastel paper. Click to enlarge! 

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Get to Know Rembrandt

Those of you who only know Rembrandt as a brand of whitening toothpaste should get to know the very talented artist and portraitist Rembrandt van Rijn, after whom the paste was named. As a matter of fact, he was so famous and successful that his name has pretty much become synonymous with being an artist, which is why you might hear someone gushing about their child's painting, "He's quite the little Rembrandt!"

Rembrandt was born on July 15, in 1606. He died in 1669, and during his somewhat short life, he became one of the most renowned artists of the Renaissance in 17th-century Holland. He is widely regarded as the most important Dutch painter of all time, and is one of the most commonly referred-to artists when speaking of "the Old Masters". He has painted many subjects, but is perhaps best known for his portraits, many of which are self-portraits. His portraits make good use of dramatic lighting and brushwork, and they do not usually feature anything other than the sitter (I hate painting backgrounds, too).

I will be back soon with some fun facts about Rembrandt that you may not have known!

 Rembrandt's self-portrait from Wikimedia Commons en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_van_Rijn_-_Self-Portrait_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

"The Miracle of Completion" - A Christmas Poem

'Twas a week before Christmas, and I sat here, amazed;

I thought I'd be busy; I thought I'd be crazed!

But if you can believe it, all my stuff has been done!

Not one thing's unfinished! Not one single one!

The cards were done early,

Shopping was a breeze,

The gifts are all wrapped up as neat as you please.

But the thing that amazes and shocks me the most

Is--well, I don't want it to sound like a boast--

But: The portraits are done! Every single last one!

And that last one--a pastel--it really was fun!

There was one of eight people--aunts, cousins and nieces

(I worked from a pic that was falling to pieces)

There was one of six ladies who all work together

From three different photos; I wondered if whether

I'd get them all finished-it made me perspire!

I figured I'd run it right down to the wire

(I've done that before, and it's really not fun.)

But I'm happy to say that MY CRAP IS ALL DONE!!!




Image is of the pastel portrait I did--and yes, you got me--I wrote this years ago (you can see the date in the corner of the picture). Still a nice seasonal bit, innit? It's all accurate, anyway--the falling-apart family photograph and the group portrait from three different photographs were done for the same Christmas as this bridal picture and are very typical of things that I have to deal with...you can see why I enjoyed doing the pastel bridal portrait the most, but even that one was consolidated from two or three different reference photos! 

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Portrait of a Mad Woman by Théodore Géricault Shows How to Use Definition as a Focal Point

In painting composition, the relative amount of definition, or enhanced detail, can be used to home in on a focal point, much like one's eye focuses naturally on a subject of interest and lets the other stuff blur out a bit.

In Portrait of a Mad Woman, shown above, Géricault renders the face of his subject with incredible sensitivity to detail, capturing the rough, age-spotted skin of her face, her red-rimmed eyes and her querulous expression perfectly. Her white cap (a framing device--another way to draw the eye to the focal point) is shown in slightly lesser detail, and the farther one travels from her face, the less focus there is: Her brown mantle is barely indicated in loose brushstrokes, and the background is featureless black. This lets the viewer know clearly what the most important part of the painting is. You can use this same technique of increased and decreased definition to draw the viewer's attention to the most important part of your painting, as well.

 For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart


Image is from Wikimedia Commons and is in the public domain http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_mad_woman-Theodore_Gericault-MBA_Lyon_B825-IMG_0477.jpg