We already talked about the “DO’s” when it comes to becoming a successful artist but here is what you shouldn’t do. A lot of artists I’ve heard of and know self-sabotage their art careers pretty early on or just make it harder for them to actually get anywhere. Sometimes it might not even be THAT obvious to them that they’re doing that or actually think they’re doing the RIGHT thing. So to prevent you from doing that, here are some things that .. you maybe shouldn’t do or at least think about twice .. (or a dozen times) before doing.
So, here is what you SHOULD NOT do .. or well should do if you want to fail or just make it hard for yourself.
(I’m not joking please don’t do any of these, this blog post is very sarcastic and basically just a guideline of what you definitely shouldn’t do just displayed in a fun way. Just thought I would mention that again, JUST IN CASE.)
RESPOND 4 WEEKS LATER
Don’t respond to galleries, customers & co. in a hurry, make sure they wait and forget about you and message them when you’re about to clean out your email folder 4 weeks later. If they want you they will wait for you, no matter how long it takes you to form a sentence.
PRODUCE A PIECE ONLY ONCE EVERY 6 MONTHS
Make sure to take a 3-month break after every single piece and be quiet, the success will come to you. There is no need in practice, no need in promoting. Especially at the start of your career, you need your breaks.
It is guaranteed that if you follow this that someone will just walk past your studio or accidentally type in your website and discover you and then you’ve made it.
HEY, PAY ATTENTION TO ME! I AM SPECIAL
Tell everyone, especially if nobody asked, that you create art and make sure to interrupt conversations at gallery openings to voice your opinion and to talk about your art and how great it is. Make sure that they understand that you are amazing and that everyone else that is showing in the exhibition is way below you.
Ask them all what they think about your work and definitely do not pay any attention to how interested or disinterested they might be. Talk about yourself and your work in a very loud and obnoxious manner as that is what real artists do.
CANCEL LAST MINUTE
Another very important step is to cancel exhibitions or projects last minute. First, agree to something and then make sure to let them know you won’t do it. It keeps the galleries on edge and will make sure they remember you in the future which is exactly what you want.
SEND TWO EMAILS PER DAY
Why would you send only one email a month when you could send 60 emails per month. It is way more efficient and your collectors and galleries won’t be able to say no to your artworks if you promote them that way, how could they. Make it very impersonal as well and just write “To whom it may concern”. It saves you a bunch of work and it makes the reader think that you are so big that you can’t even remember their name.
That makes them feel very special that you would even bother to send them anything.
SAY YES BEFORE RESEARCHING
A gallery from Italy wants your work? Yes, you are taking part in that one! Only 250 Euros, excluding shipping, seems like a reasonable price I would say so what are you waiting for, go for it. Look for callouts and make sure to apply to everything you can find. $100 for one little print in a book? Yes!
DON'T SHOW UP TO ART SHOWS
Nobody needs to see you if they can see your art in the gallery instead. Connecting with other artists or collectors is not important. If you have an art show make sure to stay as far away as possible, don’t share it anywhere, don’t promote, taking part in the exhibition is all you need to do.
PAY PEOPLE TO DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU
Artist doesn’t have anything but creating art in the job description so it is not up to you to learn how to create websites, how to deal with SEO, social media, promotions and other admin stuff. This is where other people come in to create anything besides the artwork.
IGNORE FEEDBACK
Do not pay attention to what other people have to say about your work. You are the artist and the creator of your pieces and whatever you’re created is perfect and there is nothing that anyone could possibly say about that would make sense.
Disagree with anything they possibly have to say and don’t take any of the feedback you’re getting on.
I think that is enough for today but now on a serious note, be respectful to the people you work with, make sure you interact with them on a personal level, don’t spam them multiple times a week, learn other things as well and take on feedback from other people.
Comments