Portrait Artist Forum - View Single Post - Looking to get back to painting portraits.

Tarique Beg · 10-12-2001, 06:52 AM

Hi Everyone.

I feel like the prodigal son, wanting to return to art, after 18 years of being a computer geek immersed in 9 to 5 corp life of which I'm quite fed up. Besides, this downturn has hit us computer geeks worse than ever. Especially in Silicon Valley. Just about no one is hiring for maybe another six months. I am now getting quite desperate since I need some cash flow.

I was thinking of going back to my on the spot portrait sketching that I used to do 25 years ago. Over the years, I've kept drawing people from life and am still able to get a likeness in about 20 minutes. I used to do that on the streets of Katmandu and India whenever I needed an immediate cash flow. We used to charge only 3 rupees a quick sketch and made about a 100 rupees a day (between my friend and I). The cops would bug us sometimes but we'd bribe them, and they'd stop harassing us. The Nepalese people never tired of having their pictures sketched. Sometimes when I tired, I would be sketching one guy but the picture would begin resembling the guy standing next to him. So we'd have a vote and whoever the crowd around us thought it looked like would get to buy the sketch. Sometimes, fist fights ensued. Anyway, I don't know if people in the US are that enthusiastic about on the spot portrait sketching. I believe there are many strictly enforced rules in the US, which may prevent me from working on the streets. So, I went to a mall and found that they want $10,000/mnth just to put up a few Conte A Paris portraits, an easel, and a couple of chairs. That is, for Nov, Dec. For other months, the rent is about $3000/mnth.

I did see a lady in one of the malls sketching portraits on the fly, and it intriqued me that she would be able to do that and also pay what I thought was an extortionist rent to the mall. Does anyone here have experience in this on the spot sketching business to give me some guidance as to whether I should risk paying the rent up front. I don't know if I will ever recoup that amount. I was figuring if I finished 3 drawings/hour at $20/drawing, I would have to work at least 10 hrs continuously to do about 20 drawings (including breaks and no customers). I have no experience in this area, since is is not Katmandu or India. All I know is that I don't see people fighting over portrait sketches in the US. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

10-12-2001, 06:52 AM	#1
Tarique Beg Juried Member Joined: Oct 2001 Location: Morgan Hill, CA Posts: 38	Looking to get back to painting portraits. Hi Everyone. I feel like the prodigal son, wanting to return to art, after 18 years of being a computer geek immersed in 9 to 5 corp life of which I'm quite fed up. Besides, this downturn has hit us computer geeks worse than ever. Especially in Silicon Valley. Just about no one is hiring for maybe another six months. I am now getting quite desperate since I need some cash flow. I was thinking of going back to my on the spot portrait sketching that I used to do 25 years ago. Over the years, I've kept drawing people from life and am still able to get a likeness in about 20 minutes. I used to do that on the streets of Katmandu and India whenever I needed an immediate cash flow. We used to charge only 3 rupees a quick sketch and made about a 100 rupees a day (between my friend and I). The cops would bug us sometimes but we'd bribe them, and they'd stop harassing us. The Nepalese people never tired of having their pictures sketched. Sometimes when I tired, I would be sketching one guy but the picture would begin resembling the guy standing next to him. So we'd have a vote and whoever the crowd around us thought it looked like would get to buy the sketch. Sometimes, fist fights ensued. Anyway, I don't know if people in the US are that enthusiastic about on the spot portrait sketching. I believe there are many strictly enforced rules in the US, which may prevent me from working on the streets. So, I went to a mall and found that they want $10,000/mnth just to put up a few Conte A Paris portraits, an easel, and a couple of chairs. That is, for Nov, Dec. For other months, the rent is about $3000/mnth. I did see a lady in one of the malls sketching portraits on the fly, and it intriqued me that she would be able to do that and also pay what I thought was an extortionist rent to the mall. Does anyone here have experience in this on the spot sketching business to give me some guidance as to whether I should risk paying the rent up front. I don't know if I will ever recoup that amount. I was figuring if I finished 3 drawings/hour at $20/drawing, I would have to work at least 10 hrs continuously to do about 20 drawings (including breaks and no customers). I have no experience in this area, since is is not Katmandu or India. All I know is that I don't see people fighting over portrait sketches in the US. Any suggestions will be appreciated.