MAKING A LIVING AS AN ARTIST

 Some thoughts on being an artist

 Artists generally are just born to produce art, it is in their DNA and they have to follow that calling. Some artists start at a very early age, some discover their talent later on in life. I started drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil, at about the age of two and then everything became my sketchbook and I drew on anything and everything, especially down the edges off all my school books! I was never bored and everywhere I looked became my inspiration.

 From school I went straight to Art College at the age of fifteen and after this I started painting professionally at the age of twenty, juggling bringing up a family with making a career from my art.

In doing this it sometimes has to be a compromise between painting what inspires you and painting what is called for.

 Most artists paint subjects that inspire them, and this often means they paint these chosen subject several times in different ways. Look at Monet for instance and you will see his series of paintings such as the haystacks or water lilies. He was obviously excited by his subjects and wanted to portray them in different lights and ways.

 However, a lot of artists that hit upon something that is an instant success then have then got to go on repeating this. When you are in the commercial world and having to produce art to make a living, pay the mortgage etc., it is tempting and sometimes necessary to go on producing popular pieces of artwork. Very few artists have the luxury of just being able to paint what inspires them.

 Artists run the gauntlet of producing fine and innovative art against painting for a living and not being on repeat to produce popular art that will sell easily. It is a juggling act.

 When painting purely for commercial reasons and not inspiration, the excitement is not there and you can turn yourself into a factory artist, which is certainly not good for artistic talent.

 I had a studio and sat right opposite another gallery for many years which sold the work of so called “famous artists” and on first glance some of these paintings were brilliant and sold for quite large sums of money. The public bought them over and over again, literally so. For the moment the customer had left, another practically identical painting was put back in its place on the wall. The artists had become factory artists in order to please the galleries and to make a decent living. I think this must be quite soul destroying.

 Getting the right balance is hard. Luckily I love painting a wide variety of subjects and I am constantly inspired to paint different things in several styles. I can also turn my paintings into prints which are more affordable and stop the necessity of having to repeat popular subjects.

 But, painting in different ways and many different subjects makes it hard to promote your artwork to other galleries as they like to have artists that paint in a regular style, size and subject.

 

It is certainly not easy making a living as a working artist, and I am forever climbing a ladder where the rungs keep breaking beneath my feet!