What’s Next for Your Art? 5 Steps to Move Forward

Beyond the Small Talk

When customers come shopping at our stores, the small talk that happens is deeply enlightening to both sides.

From our side, these quick across the counter chats reveal several aspects of the artist: their genre, style, level of art education, years of experience and their buying habits. It helps us understand where they are in their practice and what support they might need. Guidance on materials, help finding tuition, or advice on developing and presenting their work.

From the artists’ side, they sometimes seek answers to further their art interest. They check if we can sell their paintings in our store or if we can connect them to potential customers. We don’t currently offer either service, although helping artists find an audience is something I would love to explore. But yes they do show us pictures of their art captured on their phones, which they share with extreme pride. Some are confident about their work; others hesitate, unsure whether what they have created deserves attention.

The Ultimate Tightrope Walk

Often there is a fear of rejection, they wait for my assessment-as if I were the ultimate judge of their art, skill and creativity. This is a tricky part for me, in fact it’s a tightrope walk balancing diplomacy, objectivity and sheer necessity of commerce. Sometimes, what they need is encouragement and help identifying their next step.

Over the years, I have developed a mental checklist. I look at values, perspective, proportions, blending, technique and originality. But this is only a checklist, which can hardly do justice to a work that has been fleshed out with a lot of care. I share my reading of their art with a disclaimer that my comments are a shade above a layman’s perspective. It is never a verdict.

If you are an artist seeking a path in this world of creativity and yearn to follow the footsteps of  Husain and Gaitonde or just hold a solo show on your own to sell a few of your works, then what you read in the next few paragraphs may perhaps throw light on what lies ahead.

Art is a journey. Milestones along the way are poorly defined and the road has more potholes than Panathur Main Road in Bangalore-which is notoriously under repaired all the while. 

This journey of art begins with many small and big steps.

Step 1: Find Relative Clarity, not absolute clarity!

You need to have clarity on your journey. Clarity isn’t always absolute, you can course correct as you go along. Questions that you may need to ask yourself include:

• Can I sustain a regular practice?
• Can I finish a coherent group of works?
• Have I sought specific feedback? Have people outside my immediate circle of family and friends shown interest in buying?
• Should this become my main career? Is there money in this? Should I quit my job and take up art full time?

The Reality Check: You can take your art incredibly seriously and begin selling it without immediately making it your sole source of income. Keep your day job while you build your foundation.

Step 2: Seek Professional Assessment

Once you have some clarity and a sense of purpose, try and assess your work professionally. Show it to a few art teachers, artist friends, artists, take a few to a gallery or meet a curator. All these give pointers on what’s good and what needs improvement.

Look for consistency: Try and assess if your output is consistent, has a semblance of originality and identity across works and time.

Test your flexibility: If commissioned works interest you, see if you can put a prospective client’s idea on to a canvas. Answers to these may not come forth immediately.

But these questions have to be asked.

Step 3: Change Gears and Build a Portfolio

Focus on the following:

o   Building a small, cohesive portfolio of themed works.

o   Carving out a distinct artistic voice.

o   Actively seeking out small commissioned projects to refine your work style.

If you have the required clarity and honed some level of proficiency, then it’s time to push the pedal and change gears. Confidence and creativity are the two fuels that will push you to the next phase.

These are basic building blocks of you as an Artist. Keep building on them.

Step 4: Go Public via Communities

Time to go public. Now that you have a portfolio, approach art groups and communities to showcase your work.

o    Start with group shows: A solo show involves substantial investments and organizational effort-a large catalogue of work, space rental, networking, and heavy promotional costs.

o    Collaborate: Teaming up with other artists for a group show allows you to share both the financial costs and the logistical experience. Many hands make light work. Simultaneously, leverage online platforms as an accessible channel to promote and sell.

Step 5: Stay Ready and Keep Networking

Keep going and stay ready. Start documenting your work. Give each piece a title or reference number, photograph it clearly, and record its dimensions, medium and date of completion. Add a few lines about the idea behind it, along with the price and availability if it is for sale. These records make it easier to assemble a portfolio, respond to enquiries and trace how your practice develops. Align yourself with likeminded artists.

The next time you show someone a photograph of your work, don’t ask only, ‘Is it good?’ Ask, ‘What could I develop further, and what should I do next?’ You don’t need a final verdict on your talent to take the next step. You need a willingness to work, listen and keep going.