Category: the business of art

Accepting the Challenge

Mr. Put-My-Parents-In-This-Picture also wanted to discuss price and size of his commissioned oil painting. Since I am tuned in to the business of art, I have a price list based on size. It doesn’t include added surcharges for rush jobs or requests to put one’s parents in the picture. Instead of negotiating for a price, the decisions are in the hands of the customer. How big? Then it is this much. Easy!

Mr. Put-My-Parents-In-This-Picture (PMPITP) pointed to a painting in my studio and said, “That’s what, $200? You can do it that size, right?”

Umm, no, it is $500.

Mr. PMPITP: “Well, could you do it for $300 if I paid you cash up front?”

Am I selling used cars here?? Umm, no. And I’d only like half down, thanks.

Mr. PMPITP: “What size can you do for $300?”

First, how about if we settle the issue of putting your parents in the picture? I’ve never painted a face, and when I accept portrait commissions, I charge a TON of money because it is REALLY REALLY hard to capture a likeness. And, I NEVER draw a face smaller than an egg.

Much discussion ensued. Here is the result so far:

This is after 2 days of fretting and sweating. Things always look terrible the first several passes over the canvas. More will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Have you ever regretted accepting a challenge? (I’m not saying I regret this. I think.) Want to share here?

commission oil painting

Only From The Back

Commissions are a challenge. They are a main component of the business of art, so unless you like a good challenge, you may want to rethink a career as an artist in a rural place like Three Rivers.

Back about 6 years ago, a man asked me to draw his parents house in pencil. No problem. That’s what I did (and still do). Then he asked me to paint it in oil.

Since I’d been painting about 10 minutes when he asked, I thought it prudent to refuse. But, being helpful and knowing lots of people, I referred him to a well-established artist.

He was happy with the drawing. I never heard from him about the painting until the Redbud Festival in Three Rivers in May. He said he “hated it”. I asked if he discussed it with the artist, and he said he hadn’t because he figured it was a done deal.

Being an opportunistic artist, I told him I could paint the house for him now. He liked the idea.

A week later, he came to my studio and laid out 6 photos. He wanted to know which I wanted to paint.

I said, “umm, well, I need to look and absorb and think a bit”.

He wanted an immediate answer. I felt pressured. I picked one, and he said, “That’s the view you drew, remember?”

Actually, no, I don’t. It was 6 years ago and a few drawings and paintings have passed through my hands since then. “A few?” More like several hundred!

Then, he pulled out a photo of his parents and said, “Will you put them in the painting?”

I almost fell over. Or, as they say in the South, “I like to died!”

I explained that my experience in painting people is limited to the back views.

To be continued. . .

Walk This Way, oil on board, private collection

One With the Stream, oil on wrapped canvas, 36×24″, $800

Would you allow yourself to be painted or photographed from the backside?? Tell me the truth here!

commission oil painting

Random Comments About the Business of Art

This list of comments was started just after Mother’s Day weekend, when I was recovering from the Redbud Festival. Now that I read them after a snowy Memorial Day weekend, I’m slightly climatically confused. Just sayin’ (which is the popular vernacular that means “I talk to hear the sound of my own opinions”)

It is hard to do weekend festivals and really hard to do shows when it is hot and REALLY hard to do shows with low attendance. But I’m merely commenting, not complaining.
Kodak’s online gallery is going away and I have to learn how to use Shutterfly. I’m trying to keep this in perspective, but am really in a state of semi-despair. All the of books, cards, calendars, and other cool photographic projects I’ve made will be gone. GONE! I can recreate cards in Shutterfly, but they don’t put any info on the back. Shall I order anyway and use a rubber stamp?? That is kind of tacky. I might have to do it that way. Perhaps that is fitting for a Regionalist from Quaintsville.
When an artist does a show, there are more benefits than the immediate sales. Here is a list: new friends, new customers, potential commissions, potential new drawing students, seeing old friends, meeting other artists, sales that happen after people go home, new blog readers.
A long time ago, I did a variety of shows. Had to do them all to learn which ones worked. Redbud Festival has been here the longest and is now the most enjoyable and best organized. They have generous booth sizes, good food, good music, and are kind to their exhibitors. (Even when it is hot.)
Doing shows in the heat and then painting 30×40″ commissions with an unaccustomed style of Loosiosity is most exhausting. But I’m merely commenting, not complaining.

Any comments (not complaints) you’d like to add?

commission oil painting

6 Answers to Where Do You Sell Your Work?

In addition to my studio, website, and at various shows, I sell my work in 6 places in Tulare County. Each one has its own hours, style and personality. (The area code is 559 for all these places.)

The Mural Gallery is a little Exeter gallery showing and selling the work of the mural artists. (I am very proud to say I am one of the mural artists, and hope this is not the kind of pride “that goeth before a fall”!) I just took 12 paintings to them. The Mural Gallery is open 7 days a week from 11-4 and is chock full of mural mementos and original art at Tulare County prices. (read “VERY REASONABLE” or “SHOCKINGLY LOW FOR ORIGINAL ART”) It is next door to the Wildflower Cafe on E Street, but the address is 204 Pine Street. Phone is 592-3160. There is new work by several artists now!
Colors Art Gallery in Three Rivers is under new ownership. The hours are Thursday – Sunday, 11-5, and the address remains 41763 Sierra Drive, phone 561-4993. This store is chock-full of art by Three Rivers folks, and it is a delightful explosion of color. Sounds redundant. (What is a synonym for color??) Jeremy has years of experience at Pier One Imports, and it shows! He sells my 6×6 fruit paintings and my cards.
Red Barn Gifts in Three Rivers has prints of my pencil drawings ~~and paintings of Sequoia trees~~. This is another great little place for local art in Three Rivers. It is a big red barn (duh) behind Creekside Yarns, just upstream from ~~Quality~~ Comfort Inn and Suites. 40838 Sierra Drive, 561-1031.
Arts Visalia at 214 E. Oak is open Wednesday through Saturday, 12-5:30, phone 739-0905. They feature regular rotating exhibits by fine artists. In addition, they have a store which sells my pencil reproductions and cards.
Tulare Historical Museum carries my cards. Their summer hours are Thursday through Saturday, 10-4. They also feature regular rotating art exhibits along with a superb historical museum. Great folks at 444 W. Tulare Street in Tulare. 686-2074
Reimer’s Candies and Gifts has carried my cards longer than any other current location. They also have some of my very earliest oil paintings in their ice cream shop. If you buy a box of candy to ship as a gift, it comes with a gift card that has my drawing on the front. They have seasonally changing hours, and currently they are open 7 days a week from 10-6. Their phone is 561-4576.

Private Studio Tour

For nine years my studio was also a gallery, open to the public in downtown Exeter. When I closed that space and built a studio at home, people weren’t sure when or how to see my work. The answer – – –

By appointment!

Just call or email and we can set a time. You can ask any question, see whatever suits your fancy, learn about whatever piques your interest. You can have a private Three Rivers Studio Tour when you are in Tulare County.

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Sophia and Max who are home schooled by their Mom, the jewelry maker of Plumage.

[Time out – I went to her site to link it to this blog post and I got sidetracked and bought a pair of earrings! I NEEDED them. They are navy abalone teardrop shaped, and you just can’t believe how exactly they fit my idea of a perfect pair of earrings. I love navy blue. I love teardrop shaped earrings. I love abalone. L O V E these. If you are lucky, maybe Liza (pronounced “Lee-za”) will make a pair for you. Then we can be twins. But remember, I got mine first, so there.]

Where were we?

In my studio!

We were supposed to be learning about art, but there was a scorpion on the floor. After squishing it, I put it in this bag and gave it to Max. He looked at it under the giant magnifying light, which is normally used for drawing fine detail in pencil. Max thought all the grossness that is a scorpion was cool.

Sophia tried out my pencils after we talked about the different hardnesses and blacknesses and the different erasers.

You can see Max’s blue head here as he looks over Sophia’s shoulder.

I’ve never met a home schooled kid that wasn’t terrific. These two were no exception to that rule.

Thank you Liza for bringing Sophia and Max to my studio!

Man oh man, you are gonna love those earrings! Let me know when yours arrive so we can wear them on the same day!

Three Rivers Three Rivers Studio Tour

2012 Redbud Festival

The Redbud Festival will be Saturday and Sunday, May 12-13 at the Lions Roping Arena in Three Rivers. Saturday is 10-5, Sunday is 10-4.

Redbud Festival is named after this flowering tree which grows wild in Three Rivers. It blooms in March, so the name of the Festival doesn’t correspond with nature. However, it does coincide with Mother’s Day, so here is something to do with your Mom this year.

My space looked like this 2 years ago. (I didn’t participate last year because all my work was in the Tulare Historical Museum for a solo show.) It will look different this year.

As I continue to read art marketing sites and blogs and to interact with other artists, I continue to make changes to the way I display my work.

The changes won’t be huge, but the hope is that my work will look better.

If my work looks better, you will stay in my booth longer. If you stay in my booth longer, you will study the work more. If you study the work more, you will get attached to something. If you get attached to something, you will want to buy it. If you want to buy it, I will sell it to you.

Oh great. Now you will be afraid to come see my booth at the Redbud Festival because you will get sold! No, I won’t sell to you unless you want me to. I don’t know how to “hard-sell” stuff, much less my own art. If I did, I’d, ummm. . . no, I love my life. It would be the same as it is now!

There will be a new painting of the Kaweah Post Office, 2 of fields of California poppies, a Sequoia painting in a new shape, and maybe, just maybe a new painting of the Kaweah River. And there will be oranges, of course. And some small paintings of California poppies that sit on easels on a table top.

See you at the Redbud Festival?

California poppies Kaweah Post Office oranges Sequoia painting Three Rivers upcoming event

Four Things Artists Don’t Explain

Maybe they don’t explain these things because they don’t know. Maybe they don’t explain because there are too many conflicting opinions. Maybe they don’t want new painters to know the secret information. Maybe they think that no one cares, or everybody already knows.

Whatever the reason, there are many things I’ve wondered about in the past 6 years of oil painting.

1. Why is the word “medium” used to mean so many things?

It can mean that your painting is neither small nor large.

It can mean the stuff you are using to make your painting. “What medium do you use?” “Thanks for asking [see how polite artists can be?], I use oil”.

Finally, it can mean the stuff you use to mix with oil paint to make it flow better. “What medium do you use?” “Good question – I prefer linseed oil”.

2. Why are you supposed to use expensive artist’s linseed oil instead of a big can from the hardware store? Let me guess – it is a plot to keep art supply companies in business.

3. Does anyone truly wait an entire year before varnishing a painting? I’m not making this up – it is what the books and websites and varnish cans advise. A YEAR?! The customer wants the painting now – you think he’s going to mail it back to me from Illinois in a year so I can varnish it??

4. What are you supposed to do when your box cutter slips as you are unwrapping a new unpainted canvas and it cuts a hole in the canvas? I asked Mr. Google and came up with multiple answers from just do an easy patch to NEVER TRY THIS AT HOME!

We used to write to people to ask them for answers to questions before Mr. Google came along.

Kaweah Post Office

Signed, Sealed, Delivered. . .

. . . it’s yours!

Some artists don’t like to do commission work. Maybe they don’t like to eat, either. Or maybe they aren’t very good at understanding what other people want. Maybe they are rebellious adolescents trapped in the bodies of adults.

I like commissions.

It is a fun challenge to make a visual representation from a person’s verbal description. It is very gratifying to have a happy customer at the end of a job. It is a wonderful thing to have a sale without all the will-she-won’t-she.

During the Three Rivers Artists Studio Tour Ten, several folks asked me to paint specific things for them. As a California artist, naturally I was thrilled to receive confirmation that California poppies and giant Sequoias are always a popular subject.

These poppies were unfinished, sitting on the easel, looking like little butterflies when Amy spotted them. She asked if she could buy it before it was completed. I think I said, “Um, sure!” (Hopefully I was more polished that that.) This was painted from a photograph that my very generous mailman brought to me; he’s just thoughtful like that.

Christine asked me if I thought I could get inspired to paint a Sequoia in the snow. I said, “I’m always inspired if someone wants something.” (Hopefully I was a little more polished than that.) I went through my photos, picked one, and happily dove in, well inspired and eager to do my best for Christine. She now has it and is very happy.

That’s the goal of commissions in my little business.

California poppies commission oil painting oil paintings poppies Sequoia painting Three Rivers Studio Tour