VioletRosePetals

The absolute number one cause of rejection of DD suggestions for most Artisan Craft CVs is poor photography. There is nothing worse than seeing an otherwise brilliant piece ruined by a dodgy photo. But even beyond DD acceptance, if you want to people on dA to be able to appreciate your skill you need to be able to show your work off to advantage. Sometimes I'll tell a self-suggester that I can't feature their work because of the quality of the photography and they'll inevitably reply, "Oh, I'll have to get a better camera." Repeat after me: the tools never make the artist. You don't need a $9000 sewing machine to stitch a dress, you don't

So. I'm sitting here nibbling on brownies that I am supposed to be mailing to my friends, staring at a list of work to be done tomorrow and pretending like I'm not supposed to be asleep at this very moment. While I sit here, I'm reading emails and someone brought up the inquiry as to why I'm even an artist. You know. I never really sat down and THOUGHT about it. It's something I have literally done my entire life. I'm pretty sure my dad was stuffing crayons in my hands while I was still in the crib. I'm the girl who started at school at *six years old*, six people. The concept of NOT doing art at some point in my life simply was not even en

I'm saying this as selling at conventions, though many of my thoughts would apply to fairs, expos, etc. just fine. But this little bit is purely about selling at art shows in sci fi/fantasy conventions. This is what I do to sell, and my thought process that goes into it. I hope a little behind the scenes insight will help others who are selling or looking to sell.. or hell, even buying art. So let me take you step by step through selling at conventions the derpyjess way! Step 1: Finding a convention to sell at This part is a mixture of easy and frustrating. The easy part is googling conventions. Just google 'science fiction conventions'

Hey guys. I'm talking pricing, selling art, etc again because it's on my mind. I'm just rambling with some thoughts and opinions, so feel free to speak up with what you think. But there's something on my mind when it comes to selling art. Selling art is not hard, at least not to me? But I think it's all in how you view it. I don't hang my expectations on OMG I MUST SELL THIS PIECE IT IS DONE AND IF IT DOES NOT SELL IN X AMOUNT OF TIME I MUST REDUCE THE PRICE TO LURE A BUYER IN. Selling art has never really been my end goal. I mean I need to pay the bills, obviously, but I found when I did art with the end goal of 'make money', the art crashe

Hey guys. So in this exploring art series I've talked about how to price your artwork, and how to value your artwork. But did you know that YOU are an intrinsic part of your art's value?  Everything you are, everything you do, and everything you have experienced in your life is key to the art that you make. You need to recognize that and take care of it! You are important, even if it doesn't feel like it. One of the things I noticed about artists is that we all, for the most part, seem to suffer from a deplorable lack of self esteem and self confidence and sometimes even depression. I've watched some of the most incredible painters of our ti

There is a person who has said this to me every single time they've met me. I feel awkward and unsure whenever they say it, and sometimes I even feel angry, with no clue why. I mean it's a lovely compliment, and I should feel happy and wonderful about it, so why does that phrase bother me so? I've been sitting here working on a top secret amazing project with Sarah, thinking about it as I poke about. Then I realized why it bothers me so. I dislike that phrase for a few reasons. And to understand why I hate that phrase and wish no one would use it, you need to understand what I think about art and how I learned to art. Let me start with a hi

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic day! This question has come up a few times for me lately, both from friends wondering how much to charge, and from people asking 'how do you price your work and why are you able to do those sales you do?' It can be a bit rough sometimes, as an artist... Knowing the right path, knowing what to charge and what would be fair for  both you and your customer. Pricing work is a really unique experience for each artist. Remember, only you can really know what you feel comfortable with selling your work at, so don't be ashamed of the prices you set! But when you do set your prices here are some t

Sometimes I think in answering that question, we will be able to conquer artist's block. If we knew where our creativity came from, we could always tap into this font of inspiration whenever we need a painting done. Sometimes I think we spend so much time looking for our muse, we don't notice when we walk right past her. Sometimes I think we get lost in our lack of knowledge about our creativity that we  become scared of touching it. We treat it like some mythical force that we can never, ever, ever influence. Creativity is there somewhere but we don't know how to access it so we have to wait to stumble on it accidentally. Let me tell you a