As an artist, I like to be able to sell my works. Not because I need to necessarily, but because it is a pleasant experience to know that what I do is appreciated enough for people to give me some of their hard-earned money, and also because if I don’t sell some of it, I will have to find a bigger house! Selling art, as I have said before, is not easy. It is not, like most goods or services, a question of finding what “problem” my “product” solves, and pointing out to my “customer” how well it does it! Selling art is an art in itself! I have been researching and trying various ways to market art, with not much success so far, but I am having fun trying! I have learned a lot and I like learning, so all is well. Of course, I would like to understand why people buy art. What attracts them to this or that piece? I have often asked the question, but few people have answered it. I suspect that’s because most people simply don’t know the answer. Buying art is often done with the heart, not the head! This week I had a very unusual experience. After many weeks away from my studio, I finally finished a watercolor painting I had started over 2 months ago. It was a bit larger than what I usually paint, and was a painting I had already done in a small format, as part of the daily challenges of World Watercolor Month in July 2021. It was an image I really liked, so I had decided to redo it in a much larger format. It turned out very well, and I posted a photo of it on my social media pages. It got a lot of very positive attention and comments, more than anything else I have ever posted! This could be because more people saw it because of my ongoing marketing efforts, but I can’t know. To my surprise, one of the first people who commented on it, who also happens to be one of my collectors, decided to buy it, within about 24 hours of it being up! Wow! That was a first! I was frankly astounded by the reaction to the painting. I wanted to know what it was about this painting that caused such a reaction, not hoping to find the “Holy Grail” that would cause all my future paintings to jump off the easel onto collectors’ walls (although that does have a certain appeal!!), but just to try to understand what people are looking for in a painting. I did ask the question and the most common answer, which matches the most common comment, is “It looks so real, I thought it was a photograph”. When you think of it, that is a strange reason to like a painting. Why not just get a photograph? But I guess (hope?) what people are saying is that they admire the ability of the artist to reproduce the details of an image accurately, because it is something they feel they themselves could never do. I assure you that nothing is further from the truth, as everything can be learned. I did, and there is no reason why you couldn't! It’s a good thing for me that people like the realistic style, because that’s what I like doing. It is also a mystery to me then that a lot, if not most, of the art that I see for sale (and selling!) at shows I participate in is not realistic, but abstract or impressionistic. I have tried to paint more like that, but it just does not come naturally. Perhaps it is something I can learn, but for now, I think I will stick to my own style and continue to paint what I like, hoping that I can find a collector who will like it too! What do you think?
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AuthorMy name is Claire Bureau. Archives
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