My latest illustration is in response to the Illustration Friday theme, “immovable.” I thought about the theme for a while, and envisioned a robot seeking inner peace. The robot is so incredibly determined that he will sit in the rain, risking rust and corrosion in order to find inner peace. I could see the little rain droplets bouncing off his metal body, making tings and chimes like hundreds of Tibetan singing bowls.
I’m traveling this week to finish a contract teaching assignment for my former employers. The money is a blessing, but it does take time from my focus on my artwork. On another positive note, one of my students bought a painting from me on Etsy, so that really made my day.
Thank you all for your support, kind words, and positive thoughts.
You hate Paul Frank? My answer is most certainly not. It is easy to dislike someone who is successful doing what you think that you would like to do. So in that case, I would also have to dislike TokiDoki, Simone Legno, Hello Kitty/ Sanrio, Johnny Cupcakes, and even Shawn White(his kids clothing line). The truth is that I do not dislike any of these people or their brands. In fact I’m happy for them. I admire their creativity and success. Most importantly, I learn from them.
The world has more than enough for all of us, so there is no sense wasting my time being upset with someone for their success. What can we learn from all of these brands? What do they do right? What do they do wrong?
All of these brands have a fantastic sense of who they are and the audience they appeal to the most. I mentioned Paul Frank, so lets focus on Julius the monkey and company. Paul Frank doesn’t try to event a new character to make everyone happy, but rather sticks primarily to Julius the monkey and a few other core characters. You can waste a lot of time trying to make everyone happy and in the end you will most likely end up alienating everyone. Accept the fact that some people will not like your work. Look for the people that do like what you do, and focus on them. Those customers will be the ones that tell others about you, and they will find other like minded individuals. I also can not emphasize enough how important it should be to reward the people that spread the word and help you.
What else do they do right? Branding. You have zero doubt whether or not an item is a Paul Frank item. Does this mean you have to go to great lengths and have color tags and printed material? Branding can be simple, very simple. Put your website address on everything that you make or send out, and that can be your branding. If you have a logo use it, if you don’t, it can be as simple as your name, like say “Paul Frank.” See it was not as hard as you thought it would be.
What do they do wrong? Many people would argue that all of these brands do fine, and they have a very valid point. They are big, and sometimes can be to big. It is cool to have something that everyone else does not have. In all fairness, this is one of the things that Johnny Cupcakes does very well. When he makes a design, there are only so many, and when they are gone, they are gone. So if everyone is wearing the new Paul Frank t-shirt, then it loses it’s coolness factor. Your smaller brands size, might be just the thing. Focus on the exclusiveness of your creations. A limited time offer, should be just that, limited. Customers need to believe that it truly might not be around if they wait, or they might want to feel special because they were one of the first ones to get something and start the trend.
The one thing whether your are a small unknown artist or a large corporation, is to find your voice and stick to it. Let everyone know who you are. Find your crowd, and talk to them. Now, go be creative and good luck.
One of the most difficult things for an artist is making money. It is true for almost anyone, but for an artist even more. The term “starving artist” is often applied to artists. It does not have to be the case. I’ve had people tell me “you will never be able to live,” “you won’t make it,” and so on. All of these statements are again not true, unless you want them to be true. I’m not aware of any laws that say an individual has to work at a corporate job or work a set number of hours a day. I’ve done both, and believe me I never had an abundance of money, and I certainly wasn’t happy. Life has enough headaches without spending at least eight hours a day at a job that crushes your soul and most often your dreams and aspirations.
The internet has brought many opportunities to artists, which have never existed in the past, and many of them have very little cost associated with them. It doesn’t matter whether you are an musician, writer, or artist, there are so many methods for getting your work out there and letting the world know about it. Traditional means of distribution are changing and the middle man is being replaced by social media and web based tools. My blog’s focus will be from the standpoint of being an artist, but the tools and techniques could apply to almost anything. My goal is to make money at being an artist and sharing those tips and experiences.
The internet has provided artists with tools like blogs, Etsy, E-Junkie, Zazzle, Ebay, CafePress, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, yes even Facebook is a tool. Some of these tools are for selling your products and some of these tools are for promoting your art. In future posts, I will go into some of these tools in more detail. My favorites tools for selling items are Etsy, Zazzle, and E-Junkie. In terms of promoting you artwork, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are all important tools. Again, I will get into more detail on each of these items in later posts. The great thing about these tools, is that almost all of these tools are either free, or have minimal costs to get started. There are small listing fees and auction fees on eBay or Etsy. So the bigger question, is what are you waiting for?
One last thought and a resource that I would like to add in closing, is the need to create digital products and to reward the people that help you. Everyday traditional analog items like books and magazines are becoming digital. It is something to consider, but not a deal breaker at this point, to create digital products. I highly recommend Everett Bogue’s blog as a resource for creating a digital product and minimalist approach to both business and life. The important concept is to reward the people that help you. I’m not talking about a simple thank you, which are great by the way, but rather monetarily. Digital products offer the possibility of affiliate sales, and giving part of your profit to those who are helping you sell it. By rewarding people for helping you, they will be more inclined to do so, and you will be able to reach far more people than you could by yourself alone. More posts will delve into this topic in the future, but if you would like to get started now, I highly recommend Everett’s eBook “Minimalist Business.”
The goal here is artistic, personal, and financial freedom. Remember the only starving artists are those that choose to be, because there are no rules that say they have to starve. I’m on this journey too. I intend to share my ups and downs, successes and failures along the way to living creatively. Good luck to all of us.
PS. Don’t forget to enter for the chance to win a free Dinosaur Grocery Tote, ends Friday, September 3, 2010. Good Luck.
PSS. I also have an original watercolor version of “Breakfast Pals”(below). You can either buy it in my Etsy Shop or directly from me using PayPal(link below).
The theme for this weeks Illustration Friday challenge is “atmosphere.” I dreamed of a bird who was unable to fly, but found a way. Whatever, your dream may be, I hope you find it.
Limitations can be placed on all of us, especially for artists and creative individuals. “You can not be an artist, because there is no money in it. You don’t want to go into that field because it will be boring, and on and on it goes.” All of these statements will be true if you believe them. It simply takes a change of atmosphere to avoid the common trap of limiting yourself. It is not easy to push against what people believe, especially people who’s opinions you may value. People have various reasons for believing what they believe, but we each can choose to reject or ignore things that do not fit in with our own beliefs. You can create your own atmosphere and mood, and rise above the limitations that other people might want you to have. It is tough at first to distance yourself from those opinions, but with practice and perseverance you can create your own path, which is important as an artist, because there will be many critics and doubters along the way.
Here are few things that will help with negative atmospheres, whether they are created by someone else, or even your own inner voice.
Don’t ask for someone else’s permission on an idea you have. Try your idea and see what happens.
If someone starts to criticize your work or idea(see step one if you asked them), politely change the subject. If they don’t take the hint, thank them for their opinion, but tell them you would prefer not to talk to them about it.
Stay positive. Yes, I know, easier said then done. Remember, you can choose your own atmosphere. Choose to smile. Choose to be happy. Choose to be positive.
Here is a really important one, for creating revenue and income. The world is consuming more and more digital products, with little or no cost to try things out. If there is a way to create your idea, art, or project digitally, go for it. You don’t have anything to lose, but you might miss a lot by not trying. The beauty of digital products is that if they don’t succeed, it is inexpensive to try out another idea.
These are some steps that have been helping me over the last few weeks. You may have more ideas, and if you do, share them with everyone in the comments. Oh, by the way, see step one, these are my ideas and I perfectly happy with them. Good luck and be creative.
PS. Don’t forget to enter for the chance to win a free Dinosaur Grocery Tote, ends Friday, September 3, 2010. Good Luck.
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