Posts Tagged ‘Art Business’

An artist will generally spend a great deal of time in their art studio. When reading an inventory list of the contents of an artist’s studio you might expect to find a list of brushes, paint tubes and various papers. But revealing the true inventory of a studio can become quite personal.

As a digital artist I continue to work on canvas but a lot of work takes place on my computer. Since I work on a laptop that I carry with me my art studio is technically a laptop bag and its contents. With that being true it makes sense that a portable studio would be easier to keep organized. I like to make sure I have things that I might need with me.

But even though my laptop bag is really just a laptop bag- I was amazed at the amount of stuff I managed to cram in there.

As I was going through my bag I had to smile at the neuroticisms that I must admit belong to me. There is nothing more intimate than revealing your studio’s true contents. Here is what I pulled out of there:

Contents:
1 Toshiba Satellite laptop
1 USB retractable mouse
1 Power Cord
1 Ear piece with microphone
1 Digital Camera (substandard but it takes pictures for the web just fine)
1 SD Elite Pro 2 gig memory card (goes with camera)
1 USB cord for camera
4 Rechargable AA Batteries
1 USB cell phone charger
1 Cell phone head set
1 Digipro 4×3 USB Pen tablet and Stylus pen
1 pack of Juicy fruit. 3 sticks left.
1 Tylenol (or rather half of one)
1 8 1/2 x 11 sketch book
1 Bottle of multi-vitamins
1 5 subject notebook- yellow (for jotting down ideas and taking various notes)
1 1 subject notebook- green (I don’t remember what I intended to use this for)
1 Walmart receipt (from when I bought the notebook)
1 Highlighter pen
2 #2 Mechanical pencils
1 Ball point pen
1 Red pen
30 or so post cards and business cards collected from various art shows and businesses
1 Nature Valley Granola Bar wrapper -peanut butter- (don’t know how long I have been carrying this around with me)
1 80 gig portable hard drive (contains source files from images being worked on or that still need to be rendered- also Bryce objects, Poser poses, Photoshop extensions and filters etc. And videos created, things I have written)
1 case logic USB memory stick holder
includes USB SD card reader (I don’t need this- don’t know why I carry it)
1 1gig USB memory stick (contains invoices, spreadsheets, password files, letters, diagrams)
1 1gig USB memory stick (contains client files such as logos, letterheads and such)
1 4gig USB Memory stick (contains web site files and images)
1 1gig USB memory stick (there is nothing on this one)
1 2gig USB memory stick (I just use when I need to transfer files from my computer to someone else’s computer or when I am not carrying my laptop- rarely)
1 black zippered case that contains a little notebook for checklists that I use to try and keep organized- includes a pen
1 leather bound journal where I keep ideas- includes a pen
1 zippered cd case where I keep software cds and backup files for drivers and things
1 DVD case with about 30 DVDs of images already rendered.
1 flashlight?
1 red 8 1/2 x 11 1 subject notebook ( I use this when I take notes at meetings)
1 retractable ethernet cord for when I need to hook up to another computer for internet connection
1 Strawberry chapstick
5 Cinnamon disk candies and 3 empty wrappers
1 USB Hub with 4 extra ports
1 retractable USB cord male to male
1 retractable USB cord male to female
1 retractable USB cord that hooks up to a printer
1 Creatacolor art set (contains various pencils, leads, chalks, graphite sticks)
1 Pencil Sharpener
1 Pink pearl eraser
1 package of wet wipes.
1 book of stamps- 7 left
1 Hair brush
1 Toothbrush
1 Tube Crest travel size toothpaste
…wow- I think there is more in there but you get the idea.

…listing the intangible items would involve more than one post.

My apologies…if you came here with the hopes of getting tips on how to organize your art studio…I may be worse off than you.

No matter what type of artist you are the issue of copyright will come up eventually. It doesn’t matter if you are using image editing programs or just painting it is important o understand these issues and how they apply to you.

Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. Copyright gives you exclusive rights to an image allowing you to sell it reproduce it and make derivatives of it.

You own the copyright the moment you create anything in tangible form. The copyright lasts for your life plus 70 years. You cannot copyright an idea but as soon as the idea is executed into a work of art that copyright is owned by you. It is the way you execute an idea that holds copyright and not the idea itself. You do not need to register for copyright it automatically exists. But in the case of copyright infringement than registration makes it less tricky. You can register for copyright here:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl115.html

If you sell a work of art you still own the copyright. Unless the agreement is to sell the copyright with the work. A good way to make sure that this is clear is to include paperwork with your art sold that states that you retain copyright. That includes commissioned works. Owning the art is not the same as owning copyright. You can create prints and derivatives of the original.

A copyright symbol is not needed but it does make the copyright clear for those who are not familiar with copyright law.

In the case of derivatives; if you are using another artist’s work as a derivative you may do so and claim copyright provided that you could hold the two images next to each other and clearly see that they are different. Your end result must be completely different than theirs.

You may not use photos taken by another person as reference for a work of art that you are creating unless the photographer has stated that their image can be used in its entirety. However information within the photograph can be used as knowledge received and then used in your own work. For example: texture in tree bark or the shape of butterfly wings etc… Just be sure hat you are using the information as reference and not copying the image. In that case then your work is a derivative of the photo and not a copy of the photo.

You cannot create works based on copyrighted characters such as cartoons or superheroes. Those are owned copyrights.

Copyright law covers collage. The easiest way to stay out of copyright issues is to use elements created by you or purchase elements created for this purpose. If you were to purchase collage sheets from Michael’s you do not own the copyright to the sheets but you do own the copyright of what you created using the collage sheets.

In general if you can see it can become part of your art.

You are within your rights to make use of public building in works of art. This includes schools, churches, office buildings and such.

You can photograph private property provided that you are standing on public property. Privately owned venues such as movie theaters and concert halls are still public.

You can also include in your work public figures, people at the park, and cars in the street- provided that these are in public areas. If someone from a privately owned public venue asks you to stop taking pictures they can do so but they cannot ask you for what images you have already attained.

But publishing or selling is not the same. If you have a human figure in your work then you must get a model release to commercially publish this work and claim copyright. Newspapers are not required to do so but it is a needed step for artists to take as a lawsuit is possible with out a release. With that in mind it is a good idea to obtain a release when including private property in your work also. That also goes for painting/ drawing people. You may do so but if the work is intended to be sold then obtain a release from the person to avoid a possible lawsuit.

There is no international copyright that will protect you.

One of the main reasons that a dentist, lawyer, bank or insurance agent wants to hang art on their walls is because it helps their client to feel more comfortable by giving them a friendly environment to do business in. It also helps the relationship between them and the client become more personal by giving them a warmer image. Very often they would rather have the art from a local artist because it shows that they are active in the community and that they support the arts in that area.

These types of business that are already established will most likely already have art on their walls. But how often do you drive by a bank or office building that is in the construction phase?

Construction doesn’t take long. The building will most likely be up and ready for business within the year. These businesses already know that they will need art on their walls- that phase just hasn’t come up yet. If you approach these businesses before they are fully constructed you have a good chance of placing yourself and your work at the top of the list.

Before said business is left to their own devices and decides to go with Wal-Mart home decor for their walls, remind them that it will help strengthen their client relationships by having the work of a local artist on their walls.

These business and the president or CEO are public info and contact information is easy to find. Make them a good presentation. They will probably need more than one piece so this could result in the sales of prints, originals and commissions- possibly a combination of all three.

Approaching them early saves them the hassle of having to look for work later. Save them time and take the opportunity to make sales by being the first to approach.

They are going to have work on their walls- it might as well be yours.

Landscapes of the town that the business will operate in are always winners. And don’t forget to suggest a finished piece of the business itself.

Consider the new wings being added to hospitals and libraries as well.

The internet is a big place and it takes time to build up traffic. The Social Networking and 2.0 sites are generally pretty good for big bursts of visitors. And it is very easy to find artist discussion lists and forums to advertise your signature file. But those outlets may not be enough to capture the targeted traffic you need to make sales.

You need art buying traffic. It is not easy to find a large group of art buyers in one spot- although there are a few forums for this. it can be difficult to harness art buyers from the internet since art buyers come from all walks of life and professions. There art buyers in almost every internet niche which makes it hard to target these individuals.

Where then does the art buying traffic come from?

There are numerous ways to grow traffic to your site. There are search engines, forums, commenting, etcetera, so on and so forth. The competition is stiff as you have to make yourself stand out from other artists. What happens when these methods fail you?

The is but one avenue for exposure that will continue to work for you even when other methods don’t.

Your exposure and your money are in your list.

Do you have a mailing list of those who have purchased art from you before?  If you don’t- you should. This alone can increase sales and encourage return art buying traffic. Make sure you keep your list clean by consistently adding new names and removing names that are no longer deliverable. One of the worst things you can do to your professional career is fail to keep up your list.

And then…

When you are ready- jump directly into the belly of the beast! It doesn’t matter if your list is large or small. You can increase exposure by adding these professional to your contact list:

• Local and surrounding Interior Designers
• Local and surrounding Members of The Chamber of Commerce
• Local Government Officials

Many members of each of these groups spend time in Galleries. Interior designers sometimes need to purchase art for client spaces and the Government officials and Chambers members are educated and respected individuals who understand and appreciate the value of art expecially from a local artist. I am not telling you to load their inboxes with tons of marketing stuff. But it is perfectly acceptable and professional to send them a snail mail  catalog. postcard, or presentation CD.

These individuals buy art. How will they buy your art unless you introduce yourself and your work to them?

The contact information for these groups is public information and is easily found by searching through Super Pages

or for contact information for members of your local Chamber of Commerce Look Here: 2Chambers

and for Interior Designers Look here: Interior Designer Dierectory

As more prominent business owners begin to collect your work you will gain exposure from the art buying public and art world professional whose art oppinions matter. This is a really good start to increasing your exposure and making more art sales.