June 3, 2016
Every Friday we have a Q&A more appropriately titled “Fan Mail Friday” for you here on Rockstar Mentor. You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers! This is the time where you can ask us questions and with our suitcase of knowledge and we’ll address your inquiries.
The question today is from Alison in Baton Rouge, LA., she writes: “I am all over the place with my art style, which style do I pick that will “sell well”. She includes images of her paintings; a heart with coffee cup, sunflowers in blue vase and the third are Jazz musicians on a downtown street. I will say off the top that all three of these pieces are amazing , however they’re completely different and they look as thought they were created by three different artists. This is not a bad thing while developing your style and seeing what feels good and starts to resonate to what feels true to you and what feels natural to you in your creation process.
The key when starting out is to create from your heart and through time develop a voice and style that is completely yours. Now, I am not saying that being inspired by others work is a bad thing, this is great when you are starting out, however you want to be sure to hone in and start developing your own style over time. Your collectors want to acquire art from you that is part of a large consistent body of work. Galleries will consider you most when you have a body of work that is marketable and can be sold in groups of 2-3 pieces. This goes for not only paintings, this goes for most artwork, sculpture, wearable art jewelry etc.
Art collectors will gravitate towards you work because it’s yours, another facet to the building relationships mindset. They want to know what makes you tick, they want to hear your stories and experiences to why you created these works, what inspired you, where the ideas evolved from etc.. Look at the long term goal of this, the passion and energy that you have poured into these works will be significant when you have pieces that can play with one another. My artwork is definitely a body of work that you know are created by me, they all have the same flavors, of course different messages, but my voice, colors and energy are all me. 🙂
You will build a stronger collector base if you have a consistent offering as well. I never realized that several of the folks who were buying my art would turn out to be the greatest friends that I could have ever imagined. I consider this in itself a gift.
Look at the longterm goals of the selling of your art, don’t treat the client/collector as if this is it, this is the final sale and you will never see them again. NO NO NO! This is your chance and opportunity to shine and showcase your personalty and offer a sincere friendship to them, you will be surprized at the benefit of the positive transaction and knowing that someone will be cherishing a little (or bug) piece of your works.
I hope this will help you in tuning into your inner genuine artists and this will help you market your art and find your own voice. Be artful, be creative, be adventurous. Create from your inner ROCKSTAR self and crush it in this business!
Stay tuned for more Fan Mail Friday episodes (aka FMF) and be sure to contact me to ask questions and I will address them on these podcast programs!
Thanks so much for tuning and everyone have a great creative day!
Rock on everyone!
~Sonya
