- Joined
- Sep 18, 2008
- Messages
- 6,087
- Reaction score
- 413
- Location
- Michigan
- Website
- keskedgell.blogspot.com
This is kind of a rant/discussion post.
I was having a conversation with my mother last night about my art. I write and draw, graphite pencil art my preferred medium, and lately I hadn't been doing much writing but got back into drawing again, and currently I'm working on a drawing of Theda Bara, of which I've created an album on Facebook open to the public showing my progression. I told my mom I wouldn't mind doing commission work to make some extra money on the side, but I needed to create a portfolio of some more recent work and put up on a simple website showing those examples and what I would charge, etc. Portrait work seems to be the thing I'm good at right now, and I can draw both animals and people. Lately I've been drawing people from the past, Oscar Wilde, Theda Bara, and I would like to start on a collage on Charlie Chaplin.
She says to me, your art work is really good, but nobody knows who Oscar Wilde and Theda Bara are. You should draw people in our times, people that others will know and care about. Like Beyonce. This was after I had said that there are people out there that collect memorabilia and art of certain celebrities and pay good money for this kind of stuff. So I sat there just wanting to get up and leave, but instead I remained in my seat and was silent. She says there would be more people wanting to buy my art if I drew stuff people wanted.
There's been discussion here and in other places about drawing/writing what interests you, and your audience will come to you and to not chase trends. Of course, one must get their name out there to do so, but why, with writing or drawing, would one want to create things one is not passionate about with the hope of chasing after an audience? It would be like telling a writer, don't write in that genre though you're good at it. I don't care that you have had good response to your work and maybe even made money from it, you could do better if you wrote in this other genre and go after that audience instead since that genre is more popular than the one you're writing now. Which reminds me of an art piece I did for a fundraiser auction last December. I drew a picture of an old mill that no longer exists in my town, and wouldn't you know it, that thing sold for $500, not because I knew someone was going to buy that drawing no matter what because it meant something to them, I drew it because I wanted to, and I enjoyed drawing it.
So I sat down at my table last night, my mother's words still in my mind, and pulled out the drawing. I looked at it for a bit, then put it away and decided to go to bed early instead of working on it. Nothing like having the wind knocked from your sails. I will go back to finishing it up, I'm about 3/4 of the way done with it. But it sure stings when you have someone close to you tell you how to do your art instead of appreciating the things you create. Like a bee sting, it is temporary and I'll go back to creating as before.
How about all of you? How do you cope with people telling you how to do your art instead of supporting you?
I was having a conversation with my mother last night about my art. I write and draw, graphite pencil art my preferred medium, and lately I hadn't been doing much writing but got back into drawing again, and currently I'm working on a drawing of Theda Bara, of which I've created an album on Facebook open to the public showing my progression. I told my mom I wouldn't mind doing commission work to make some extra money on the side, but I needed to create a portfolio of some more recent work and put up on a simple website showing those examples and what I would charge, etc. Portrait work seems to be the thing I'm good at right now, and I can draw both animals and people. Lately I've been drawing people from the past, Oscar Wilde, Theda Bara, and I would like to start on a collage on Charlie Chaplin.
She says to me, your art work is really good, but nobody knows who Oscar Wilde and Theda Bara are. You should draw people in our times, people that others will know and care about. Like Beyonce. This was after I had said that there are people out there that collect memorabilia and art of certain celebrities and pay good money for this kind of stuff. So I sat there just wanting to get up and leave, but instead I remained in my seat and was silent. She says there would be more people wanting to buy my art if I drew stuff people wanted.
There's been discussion here and in other places about drawing/writing what interests you, and your audience will come to you and to not chase trends. Of course, one must get their name out there to do so, but why, with writing or drawing, would one want to create things one is not passionate about with the hope of chasing after an audience? It would be like telling a writer, don't write in that genre though you're good at it. I don't care that you have had good response to your work and maybe even made money from it, you could do better if you wrote in this other genre and go after that audience instead since that genre is more popular than the one you're writing now. Which reminds me of an art piece I did for a fundraiser auction last December. I drew a picture of an old mill that no longer exists in my town, and wouldn't you know it, that thing sold for $500, not because I knew someone was going to buy that drawing no matter what because it meant something to them, I drew it because I wanted to, and I enjoyed drawing it.
So I sat down at my table last night, my mother's words still in my mind, and pulled out the drawing. I looked at it for a bit, then put it away and decided to go to bed early instead of working on it. Nothing like having the wind knocked from your sails. I will go back to finishing it up, I'm about 3/4 of the way done with it. But it sure stings when you have someone close to you tell you how to do your art instead of appreciating the things you create. Like a bee sting, it is temporary and I'll go back to creating as before.
How about all of you? How do you cope with people telling you how to do your art instead of supporting you?