Marketing yourself?

[Chris Saper]

I have never, ever had a client who wondered or cared about whether I had ever won a big award.

However, several years ago, I realized that someone, sometime MIGHT care, so I developed a credentialing plan. I sought out venues and organizations I considered prestigious, mainly because artists I admire are part of them. So I chose carefully how and where I would submit entries, and it has worked out quite well (notwithstanding some very funny interactions).

Of course now that I have started this, I feel that I need to add something each year to my resume, which can be a little stressful....

I think that credentials matter to a higher extent in a number of different realms: teaching, public speaking, articles, books (I don't think I could have realized my contract without any credentials), yet even so, I think that clients relate to committing to commissions in one of two basic ways: first, they like your work; and/or second, their friends have hired you. In the latter regard, I feel that there may be a very strong "prestige" interaction ("I paid $25K for this painting, by X") I have seen it here.

So, I think that your credentials, how you pursue them, and how you utilize them are different for each painter, depending on the components that find their way into your career path.

It would be valuable if the SOG painters who have received the big awards, could describe how their careers have been impacted.

Regards, Chris

[Peggy Baumgaertner]

An interesting question. In fact, I have been telling my students and other portrait artists for years that entering competitions is a fun, if stressful, enterprise. It gets your face out there and is noticed by your peers, but does not make much difference with your clientele. As Chris says, you are hired based on if the client likes your work, not on your list of accomplishments. This is what I thought.

However....I just returned from my first "art party" since winning the "Best of Show" in the PSA competition in 2000. I don't think that I received any additional commissions based on the win, the clients still buy based on the quality of the work, but a very interesting thing happened. Commissioning me gave the client "bragging rights." Suddenly, it was not just the "Best of Show" for those entering the PSA competition in 2000, I was the "Best in the United States," and the "Best in the World." It all became embarrassing to me, and the more I tried to correct the overstatements, the more "humble" I was accused of being. This may have an impact. I do not know as yet. I will tell you why I think it is valuable to enter the competitions.

1) It teaches you to learn how to take good photos of your finished portraits, how to prepare slides, how to follow entry rules. This helps you to understand how to present your work in a professional manner.

2) If you are striving to create the "work of the year" for the competitions, you are pushing yourself to paint better this year than you did the previous year -- to constantly improve.

3) You learn to honestly evaluate your work. You see who is below you and who is above you in quality of work. You can chart your learning progress and find ways to improve.

4) It places you in a position to take criticism in a safe atmosphere, to be evaluated by your peers. A scary place to be, and not for every artist, but I learned a tremendous amount from kind and honest artist judges who truthfully judged my work.

5) There is nothing like waiting to see your painting up there on the big screen. The anticipation is overwhelming. I give the PSA and ASOPA credit for picking the ten finalists before the competitions. It was unbearable to wait in the dark, crowded banquet hall while the finalists were chosen from 200 (or 600) entries. With the ten finalists chosen before the conference begins, there are only ten people in the banquet hall who are too nervous to eat, instead of all of the 400 artists who entered the competition.

Bottom line, is it necessary to enter competitions to have a successful portrait art career? No.

Will you get more commissions if you win a competition? Probably not.

Will you have a better chance of getting the notice of the Art Agencies and Galleries? Yes.

Will you have a better chance to teach? Yes.

Like a chilly swim in icy water, is it good for you even if it's uncomfortable at the time? I think so.

So go for it. Gambaro!

Peggy Baumgaertner

[Steven Sweeney]

there are only ten people in the banquet hall who are too nervous to eat

I'm trying to lose 15-20 pounds before summer. (Don't ask -- I have my reasons.) Please tell me which competitions to enter to be nervous enough.

"A Friend"

[Stanka Kordic]

Peggy,

Could you please explain to me the benefits of being "noticed" by Art Agencies and Galleries who take at least 40%?

Steven,

You are so good for a laugh. Oh my goodness I roared at your last comment..

[Tarique Beg]

Steven,

Remember some people are too nervous to eat, whereas others EAT (indiscrimately) WHEN NERVOUS (like me). If you are a member of the latter species, you'd GAIN!! 15-20 pounds before summer.

Peggy,

I see your point about the process of entering competitions serving the purpose of getting practice presenting yourself. So, I do agree that at least doing the work to enter competitions keeps your marketing skills sharpened I guess.

However, the thing that struck me, was that there were 600 entries from whom which eventually 1 was the winner. That means a portraitist has a 1 in 600 chance or so on average of getting selected. This works out great, if you win, but what about the remaining 600? Would that indicate that a very small number of portraitists actually benefit. Also, there could have been several portraitists whose work might have been so close in quality that the selection of the winner might have depended on the subjective notions of a single judge - art, I've always thought, is highly subjective, although I guess the judges must use some kind of excepted judging standard.

[Peggy Baumgaertner]

What a plethora of responses!

Steven,
The big gut wrenching competitions are the Portrait Society of America and the American Society of Portrait Artists Competition, because....

1) They are the largest in the United States.
2) The top prizes are substantial, both monetarily and career wise.
3) The finalists are up and center in the banquet hall, much like the academy awards, needing to look like good sports if they win and good sports if they lose. No dancing around in glee or cursing of the judges.

As I've told Steven in the past, I am a political animal and there is much in this business to excite beyond painting pictures and getting commissions. The question asked was if winning the top awards were important to the client, which I tend to think it is not. However, if you are interested in teaching, writing, publishing, producing videos, judging, critiquing, being active in the portrait societies, being on television or in magazines, being noticed and being heard, this is the fire that winning the competitions feeds.

Stanka,
I mention being noticed by the art agencies because there is still a not insubstantial portion of the portrait making population who see being with the agencies as a major goal.

Tarique,
There were 8 years of competitions before I started being recognized, then another 10 years where I was a finalist, merit award winner, Miss Congeniality, etc., before finally receiving one of the top awards. Why did (do?) I enter? I like for my peers to see my work. I want my friends to see what I am doing. I want to see if my work is accepted (relevant) outside my expertise. (Entering landscape or still-life competitions.)

There are many competitions to enter. The Artist Magazine Portrait Competition was always a favorite, and of course the ASOPA and PSA competitions. I like the Portrait Society of Atlanta competition. I've also entered the Oil Painters of America Competition -- to be recognized as a painter by that group is something to be prized.

I guess for those of us who do not have initials before or after our names to show that we are professionals and ready to take this show on the road, winning the competitions is a way of showing ourselves and our peers that we are contenders.

I have found the judging of these portrait competitions to be fair and reasonable. I usually agree with the choices of the judges. The criteria I look for in judging a competition are:

1) The drawing, being anatomically sound, confident line, edge control.
2) Value control and composition.
3) Interesting subject matter.
4) Quality, assurance, and facility of painting.
5) Overall effect.

It is the non-portrait competitions that can be frustrating in the somewhat arbitrary criteria of the judging. (....although I was once in a "portrait" competition where the top prize went to a painting of three pears....anyone else remember that one? ).

Peggy

[Patt Legg]

Stanka,

I hope I am not out of bounds here so late in the comments but I wanted to tell you that I am about to attempt to put your idea into action at a function that I was asked to give a donation. Mind you, rather a small town affair but, I shall try anyway. I will display a previous portrait and offer a "gift certificate" with X amount off a portrait commission with a particular 2 sizes offered. Wish me luck, that is if this is approved by the person on the board.

One more question, although quite different. You say you are very motivated and focused. I find that so difficult for some reason, more than likely for many reasons. How does one learn this or is one born with it? Ha Ha, I feel rather overwhelmed many times as I try to keep up with it all. The group (local artists) will have a show and I feel pressure to enter because I've always been there, I receive probably 6-8 brochures a year of various competitions to enter (not that I do) but this is the pressure. Thinking I am trying to "get my name out there" so I feel I must DO IT ALL, so to speak.

All the above not counting LIFE, FAMILY, GRANDKIDS, BILLS, FUNCTIONS TO ATTEND and oh yea, there's the 10 room farmhouse that still needs vacuumed and back to square one. The studio was left in a mess as I scurried out to the next meeting and can't work in a mess, so clean that first.

Honestly, sometimes I really want to "Escape" into a place to paint or at least FOCUS without any interruptions at all.

Had to vent, whew. Do we have a venting section?????

Thanks

[Patt Legg]

Peggy,

You certainly have summed up all that I have been trying to formulate into words but couldn't seem to speak.

As in my previous post, I have been trying to enter competitions and have for many years (local mostly) within the state. Why? Well, I do like to see where I rate on smaller scale and yes, I like my peers to see my work and be accepted. In my small town, if you cannot keep producing some sort of "proof" of yourself, well...you disappear. I have worked long and hard and yes, maybe beginning later in life but still have that need.

I constantly want to enter on larger levels (many of which you mention) as I am member. But each time, I find myself saying "I will as soon as I have a great painting to offer, so back to the drawing board and in some way, that seems to create fear in me and I fall into the same tracks locally to get that "atta girl" pat on the back.

Do you think this is common?

[Chris Saper]

Dear Stanka et al,

There are many painters who are interested and able to handle their own marketing, but there are also some wonderful artists who cannot...and for these painters, it may make great sense to hire an agent to do this work. The major problem, as I see it, is in the transition from a market and price structure that was never built to accommodate the finder's fees that are required by agents/brokers, to one that can. No one can essentially double their prices overnight without risking the disenfranchisement of the local market they have worked to build. If one so chooses, then there exists the threat that you become a painter who works at the mercy of another, since you can no longer work your own market at the new rates. It's a very, very, tough call.

It's a decision that is uniquely personal to each painter, given their temperament and desires.

Chris

[Stanka Kordic]

Hello again everyone..

Patt,

I understand the feeling of being overwhelmed.

An odd thing happened to me AFTER I was married and started raising 2 boys (really 3 counting my husband). I wanted to be in the studio as much as possible!! (maybe its not so odd) However, like you, I couldn't always go. I work around my 6 yr. old's school schedule and in between managing the household. My big fantasy is to have a spa vacation, get massages, etc. then go paint. AHHH...

Now that my time at the studio is at a premium, I am much more motivated than when I HAD the time.

Chris, Peggy and all,

I do understand the motivation behind acquiring representation. Its a big thing to market. My beef is WHY the HUGE commission? Who decided that, and why do we artists accept that? Does anyone know what actors pay their agents?? I would be more than happy to give them 25%. Unless they are standing at the easel with me, paintbrush in hand, 40% and up is NOT RIGHT!