Reddit mentions: The best business of art reference books

Getting into galleries is not easy. They are usually looking for several specific things. You might want to have him read this book to give him a sense of what galleries want.

A few things that I notice is that there is a somewhat similar style, but the subject matter is all over the place with nothing that seems to connect it too well. Just look at your favorite compared to the majority of his work on his site. I think he would probably have the best chance with his dreamscapes, specifically #2, #3, and #5. If he started doing more like that, more consistently, he might have a solid portfolio to take to galleries. The other thing is that his oil techniques need improvement. They just look a little amateurish. You might have him look into taking workshops or classes with artists whose technique he admires.

He should keep doing the descriptions of his work, however. The message in his work is a little hard to understand without it, so it's important that he explains it. An example is your favorite piece. One might think that it's promoting Marxism (which would turn away a lot of people who could afford his work), but upon reading the description, one would understand that it's not the case.

I think he has talent and I think that with more work on his style and technique, he could do quite well for himself. It just seems that it may be a few years until he reaches that level.

That said, galleries may not be the best option for him anyway. If he's good at self-promotion and marketing, he could do it all without galleries and sell directly to buyers. Then he could paint however he wants, as long as he makes up for his weaknesses in marketing strength. I've seen plenty of artists that weren't gallery material do quite well for themselves.

Hey, just here to comment on School of Motion, I did their Animation camp, and am currently doing their design camp and it was great. I've used after effects, photoshop, and illustrator but besides knowing my way around the interface, I couldn't do much besides watch tutorials.

Animation boot camp was great. Teaches you a lot of principles, and if you stick with it you have some decent projects for your reel that can get you some basic freelance work.

Design Bootcamp is a little underwhelming compared to Animation, but I have to admit my photoshop skills have vastly improved. In animation I was learning why to do this, and here I feel like I'm just learning how. Although, 3 weeks in I already have a few projects for my design portfolio that I'll add to my site/portfolio when I'm done.

I actually plan on taking Mograph Mentor next, which I've heard a lot of people rave about. It's more expensive (2k for 12 weeks each section. there are 3 sections total, totaling 36 weeks.) but if my work keeps paying for it, I'll keep taking it.

Joey, who runs SoM and teaches the design camp, also just came out with a book about freelancing that's pretty good. Makes you excited to get into mograph.

If you have more questions, I'm more than happy to answer them.

I'm not a web designer, I do motion design. But a lot of this advice is universal for any visual creative freelancing field:
Start collecting inspiration pieces. Stuff you like, stuff that catches your eye, colors you like etc. Websites that "work" Annotate why you like them. Go back through them when starting a project and building mood boards. Always keep expanding. Pinterest can be a good resource for this.

Read. Trade magazines, Communication Arts, etc. Hit up the library and get some books on design fundamentals, composition, grid systems, typography and color theory.

Also, get some books on freelancing. I'd recommenced Creative, Inc. by Meg Ilasco & Joy Cho. This will help you clear your head and get in the "mindset" of freelancing.

Make an account at Adobe's Kuler this is my number #1 color theory cheat sheet, and helps me find color pallets that work.

Flash is going on the wayside, at least from an animation standpoint. Some knowledge might be useful, I rarely touch it anymore. Granted I'm a motion designer and stick primarily to AE, C4D etc. I'm not a webdev, so take that with a grain of salt. (Look into HTML5 maybe?)

Lastly, build some thick skin on taking critique. Knowing how to show your work to people, and work their suggested/requested changes to improve your design (and not take it personally) is very, very important.

I'm sure other people have better advice, as I only went "full time" this year, but, here's some stuff I've used:

I e-borrowed this book for free https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Inc-Ultimate-Successful-Freelance/dp/0811871614 through the Libby app with my library card. It's written for freelance artists, but the info is relevant for writers too.

My two biggest clients I got through Upwork.com. I watched a LOT of YouTube videos learning the ins and outs of how Upwork works before writing my first proposal, so I wouldn't get blindsided or look like a newb who didn't know how to work the platform. I also went ahead and paid for the membership, so I can see what other people are bidding and make sure I'm within range. I factor the cost of membership, Upwork's cuts, and taxes into my pricing.

Did a lot of reading on Self-Employment tax: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes and how to pay quarterly estimated taxes (US). Also registered as a business with my city, and I file monthly sales taxes with them (they always come out to zero since we only have to pay on in-state sales, and none of my clients are in my state...yet).

I set up my bank account to "auto save" 35% of any large payments that come in, so I'm ready for any tax surprises and to pay an accountant next year.

I started writing the kind of things I want to get hired for on medium.com; it acts as a functional and presentable portfolio, and I make some pennies off of it. I also created a website and use the blog on it to cross-post content, but I get less activity through that; it's more of a way of looking professional to people who inquire. I used WordPress and only paid for the $50/yr site since I didn't think paying for the most expensive option would be worth it just yet.

Make a portfolio, determine what your absolute bare minimum pricing has to be, pitch a little higher than that if your portfolio is any good, and good luck!

As a fellow newbie to the freelance world, reach out if you wanna knock ideas back and forth.

And I'm also watching this thread for myself.

Professional studio artist here, maybe I can help.

Here's a good place to start.

Start looking around for local fairs, bazaars and shows in community bulletins and similar publications (often these are associated with whoever provides your local community education programs) so you can pick up a booth and put on a mini-show. Regularly search for local/state/federal RFQs and design contests. If you have a local university/community college, start making regular visits to the art department to hang out and pick up the gossip and see whatever broadsides or fliers have been posted. Where I'm at there is a program called "Gallery Stroll" where all the art galleries downtown extend their hours and provide snacks to make sure the general public can come see what they have to offer. It's a good time to hobnob, network, and generally get to know people in the industry, so see if your area has something similar on offer. The more people who know you, the more likely you are to pick up commissions.

Put together a "me in 30 seconds" artist statement so you can tell people about your best selling points really quickly when someone says "tell me about yourself." Mine goes something like

>I am an artist who accepts commissions. I am accomplished in portraiture and landscapes, but I specialize in abstract expressionism, monuments and large installations.

>I create objects and areas that generate emotion.

>I have a BFA from <University> and over thirty-five years' experience in creative expression. I am represented in several private collections throughout <local areas> and am on permanent display at <Universtity>. I have excellent design skills and a deep understanding of the emotions behind color. When you need art, I'm the guy to think of."

Otherwise, get your portfolio together, get a decent professional looking website together, and start the online networking (linkedin, etc.).

Know what your time, effort, materials, and education are worth; stay away from those stupid sites where people try to get you to sell yourself for cheap. Very rarely does anything good come from those idiots who try to get you do do stuff "for the exposure." Required watching for everyone who works in the creative industries.

Remember: in this business, inspiration is the child of perspiration. If you're not doing any work, you won't be inspired.

Good luck, my friend!

Are you looking for exhibitions, selling to collectors, or something like that maybe? I don't have any personal experience, but I've read a few books on the subject and would definitely suggest borrowing/buying Starting Your Career as an Artist - they have a number of chapters on the subject. However, the focus is on 'word-of-mouth', i.e. networking and brick-and-mortar institutions like galleries or art fairs. There's passing mentions of online options I believe, but I only glossed over them.

If you're more interested in exposure, I'm pretty sure they go over that as well. It seems to be the typical route is submitting to juried calls for entry and grassroots-type activities. I think Chapter 15 might have what you're looking for :)

Illustrator here - Decide if you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to freelance as an artist, because the honest truth is that you might never be able to freelance professionally full time, even if you are INSANELY talented, because convincing people to buy squiggles you make is very difficult to do.

Anyway, everything you need to know to starts with this question:

Who are you selling your work to?

From there, everything comes into place. Selling illustrations to businesses is a DIFFERENT business model than selling to consumers. Selling your illustrations to children book companies is DIFFERENT than selling to Tech companies. Selling your illustrations to old cat ladies requires A TOTALLY DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM from selling your illustrations to metalheads.

"But I want EVERYONE to buy my illustrations!"

HAHAHAHA! Forget illustration, you should be a stand-up comedian, kid!

Read these:

Inside the Business of Illustration, by Marshall Arisman and Steven Heller

Breaking into Freelance Illustration, by Holly Dewolf

2013 Artist's & Graphic Designers Market

For anyone trying to find work, I've found the best way is real life networking. Find your local relevant network (ie digital, web, creative - keep it broad), go to events. The other way is mass emailing, as described in The Freelance Manifesto (it's targeted at motion designers but lots of it is relevant to others). Introduce yourself, tell them what you do, show your portfolio and suggest meeting/chatting. This is how I get all my work and it's great.

In terms of managing work, that's just down to organisation. I have all the folders organised on my computer so I know what work is in progress and what's done. I contact my clients via email/phone, or Slack if they use it too. I only tend to have a couple of jobs on the go at a time so it's never too much to manage, but I guess some sort of spreadsheet would help, or something like Mindly or the millions of other project management platforms out there. The difficulty of having all clients in one place with an IM, file manager etc is that clients don't all use the same thing. Especially actual clients that pay; they're not looking on Upwork.

You will discover what specialization you want to choose after you start studying history more. There is really no other way. And as RedPotato mentioned, there are various curators in larger institutions that have pretty specific specialities, and Roman history could fall into one of those curatorial specialties. You could have a PhD in something like Material Culture of Ancient Rome, but it will be extremely specific. With that being said, having such a specific specialty is also limiting. You may have to move across the country to fulfill a job, or be very patient until something opens up. I also want to stress again that there are numerous other positions in the museum field other than curator and director and if you're interested in museum work you may find that something else suits you better. But you won't know until you do more research, meet people who have jobs in the museum world, and try out museum work for yourself. Get a hold of the book Museum Careers: a Practical Guide and read through that. I think it will give you a better sense of what to keep in mind going forward with your interests.

I have a fair bit of art in my home.

Favorite artist is definitely either Granville Redmond or Erte

Edit: Oops forgot to answer your last question.

The only part of my background that got me into this was a lifelong love of art. I didn't know anyone and had no way into the industry. If you're interested I'd recommend reading this book which helped me a fair amount.

I have a pdf of South Asian Technospaces if you want it.

As far as I can tell Techno-Orientalism tends to deal mostly with perceptions of East Asia more than South Asia but there might be a few excerpts that are helpful.

Have you looked into Subaltern Studies at all? A friend of mine has recommended the work of Dipesh Chakrabarty
. I would look through the bibliographies of the theorists associated with the movement.

If you're interested in critical accounts of South Asian immigration, I can recommend Vijay Prashad's texts The Karma of Brown Folk and the more recent Uncle Swami. You can PM me for both.

It depends on the space. The short answer is ask the people who are running the space. If you're walking in cold, don't shove your portfolio in their face, and don't drop it off expecting it to be looked at. Find out what their policies are and the best time to speak with the manager (or who ever is running the space), and go from there.

Another way is to put on your own show. Find a space, get some artists (or do it yourself), and you can do all the promotion & take care of all the details.

as for how I've done it... Yeah the best way is to just dig for information. Every major city (and many smaller ones) has an art scene. Find them, talk to people, get involved. There is no exact right way/wrong way to do this.

As to going to school, what galleries want is good art. There are some spaces dedicated to outsider (not professionally trained) artists, so don't let that stop you. Going to school will help with technique, but most of the job related stuff I learned after I graduated from college.

I'd say, look at your art and your experience history. Some galleries won't be interested in someone with no show experience (there are exceptions to every rule), but some are. Look at the artists who are showing there, not just their work but their resume or c/v, and see if they are somewhat similar to yours.

Expect rejection, it's part of the game.

Good Luck!

this book may help

Wat? What are you arguing? Is this another attempt to bring up the analytic vs. continental debate? Why not just argue why mac is better than windows in there too, just to make this more exciting.

Where did I argue that continental philosophy has superior tenets to analytic philosophy? All I said was accusing a philosopher or his/her work of obscurantism or not understanding his work isn't a valid criticism. It's like saying quantum physics is based on too much obscure theory and because I can't penetrate it, it's a waste of time.

And, mind you, philosophers on both sides of the 'aisle' for a lack of a better term have been accused of obscurantism including Plato and his Noble Lie, Kant, Wittgenstein and Marx who accused German Idealist of being obscurants but was later accused of the same by Popper and Hayek. Basically it's become a political term that's akin to politicians accusing each other of not telling the whole story or hiding the facts, which is a telling a sign in philosophy to say the least.

Personally speaking I'm in no way wishing to disparage the methods and rules by which analytic philosophy is conducted. But at the same time I'm very thankful that my university at the undergraduate level through political theory (not the philosophy department) introduced me to continental philosophy and pointed out how truths need to be examined post-hoc. Many postmodernist philosophers whose works I currently admire are Judith Butler at UC Berkeley, for her studies challenging gender relations, and Gayatri Spivak a 'follower' of deconstructionism, who teaches at Columbia, and who speaks of the subaltern of the former colonial world addressing Chomsky's point that intellectuals in the third world are shut out of philosophy, but she blames it on the metaphysics of Kant and Hegel in A Critique of Postcolonial Reason: Toward a History of the Vanishing Present. Here's the pivotable essay one can use to introduce oneself to Spivak's post-structural interpretation on post-colonialism: Can the Subaltern Speak?. Based on the current continental philosophers' work I believe post-structuralist philosophy is inherently subversive which makes analytic philosophers defensive about their own work. But that's just my opinion.

And I still say Macs are better.

I didn't counter anything (impressions based pop history, like the kind in your comment, are very hard argue against). I was merely observing that your comment was very out of place until I saw where I was.

If you are interesting in learning more, I thought this book was pretty good. I gives an overview of a bunch of revolutions like the French, Mexican, Cuban, Iranian, and Russian revolutions, the 1919 Germany uprising, and Japan's Longest Day.

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Revolution-Reign-Terror-Khomeini/dp/B0009YAXG8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1373565573&sr=8-3&keywords=blood+revolution

This is the first seminar being offered by my company. For information on the teacher visit the following links. He is a best selling author for artists and has had much success mentoring artists in the past.

http://www.conceptualguys.com/creative-arts.html
http://www.amazon.com/Making-It-Art-World-ebook/dp/B005WKM6EQ
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1581159137
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fKFpOaE7rY

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

This is more what I was thinking of, but that looks like a good source too!

Its not that simple. There are thousands so you must do your homework. First, out of those thousands, you must determine which ones are accepting artist's submissions. A good starting place is the Artists & Graphic Designers Market. It's published annually, and includes complete, up-to-date contact information for more than 1,700 art market resources, including galleries, magazines, book publishers, greeting card companies, ad agencies, syndicates, art fairs and more.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping you haven't read this book. When I stumbled upon it via some art blog article, I thought, well, I should read that. And it was worth the time I spent (I got it from my school library).

It's a collection of essays from artists the author (also an artist) knew or knew of. They all talk about essentially what it's like to live after undergrad/grad. The one thing they all have in common is that there is no average career.

This book is decent for learning about freelance (I own it myself): https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Inc-Ultimate-Successful-Freelance-ebook/dp/B00440D1TO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1538241565&sr=8-6&keywords=freelance+business+books

I cannot testify to this one, but it looks like a new release on the topic: https://www.amazon.com/career-fork-How-thrive-freelance-developer-ebook/dp/B07DF62S1V/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1538241624&sr=8-2&keywords=web+dev+industry+book

​

Get and read this book as soon as you can: How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist: Selling Yourself without Selling Your Soul. It's highlighter worthy.

The articles at artbusiness.com will offer some insight into the "game" of the art industry as well. They're the folks behind, "The Art of Selling Art."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0811871614?pc_redir=1411696993

Bought it just for the chapter on pricing. Was not disappointed.

On managing a gallery

http://www.amazon.com/How-Survive-Prosper-Artist-5th/dp/0805068007

I haven't freelanced yet but I'm thinking about it for the future. The main obstacle, besides getting my skills up, is learning to manage stress because apparently I am terrible at that. Every time I'm going good with anything long term like studies or a personal project, I can rock it for about 10 weeks but then stress builds up more and more until I'm literally sick from it and can't do anything. In order to heal I have to stop doing everything that feels like work for weeks.

Every time this happens, it's very disheartening, because despite being somebody who works hard I also make my health a priority and I regularly exercise, eat healthy, and take breaks. I researched my problem online and it seems maybe what's going on is my breaks simply aren't relaxing to my brain. I am the kind of person who can lay around doing nothing for an hour and feel really stressed the whole time--but I don't notice the stress until it's gone on for many weeks and is already making me sick!

From what I read, I guess I need lots of deep breathing sessions every day, in addition to all the stuff I already do like the exercise.

I hope this works. I'd really like to be able to work 30-40 hours a week consistently, instead of only being able to go 10 weeks before I have to take several weeks off. It's really frustrating.

By the way have you ever read the book Creative, Inc.? It was written specifically for creatives who freelance. I read it once and it seemed good. Maybe it would help you plan your freelancing?

https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Inc-Ultimate-Successful-Freelance/dp/0811871614