marrael: Staying In

Janet Chui (

marrael) wrote,
@ 2008-02-02 12:09:00

Current mood:	sick
Entry tags:	art, maad market, work

Staying In
Since starting to do Portrait Days on Saturdays at the Maad Market since October/November last year, this is the first month I'm going to miss out because my allergies are bad, I'm tired after the last hectic week, and a little bit worn out at the format of the portrait drawing/painting thing.

I dunno if this journal is read by anyone who's been at Portrait Day at the Maad Market -- if so, have you seen my work there before, and why do you or don't you think my work is worth paying for? It's just 8 Singapore dollars a pop, and that's very, VERY low. Even though the entire exercise is fun, the $ reward for the time spent there is very little, and quite a blow to the ego, esp when some of my best watercolor work is done there.

(If anyone does want to comment here to take me down a notch, go ahead. It doesn't matter.)

(Post a new comment)

	vivian2112 2008-02-02 05:34 am UTC (link)
	If I had $8 singapore to spend, I'd get a portrait. :hugs: (Reply to this)

	ellenmillion 2008-02-02 06:00 am UTC (link)
	I just looked up the conversion rate and DEAR HEAVENS. Your work is worth much, MUCH more than that. I'd think four times that was unreasonably cheap. (Reply to this)

bardofawen
2008-02-02 08:46 am UTC (link)

*hugs* Your work is worth way more than that. It was worth way more than that eight years ago, and you've improved tremendously since then.

Are you actually having trouble convincing people to purchase your art? A couple things come to mind. Size may be an issue. The fact that you are doing watercolors rather than pencil/pens/charcoal/pastel might be an issue because of the perceived "messiness" factor (and don't ask me how watercolor is inherently messier than charcoal or pastel, but there is that sort of stigma). It might be style: people looking for caricatures rather than portraits, and the fact that watercolors don't particularly grab the eye from a distance the way a bolder medium does. It could even be that your pricing things too low compared to the other artists and that is devaluing your art in the minds of your prospective customers.

These are just guesses, though. I obviously don't know the market in question. I don't even know whether you're actually having trouble selling your artwork.

However, I promise you that if you are, it has nothing to do with artistic skill or talent.

I hope you feel better soon.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

marrael
2008-02-02 09:56 am UTC (link)

Thanks, and unlike my earlier days I actually know it has nothing to do with my talent. Which can be a bit frustrating because it means my sales numbers are mostly out of my control.

Here's the Portrait Day format:
http://organisationofillustratorscouncil.blogspot.com/2008/01/oic-portrait-day-maad-feb-2-saturday-2.html

All the portraits done, regardless of artist, are priced at $8 each. I'm not even going to give my opinion of how I feel when the portrait includes up to 3 people in it, and the sitting is still kept at 15 minutes, for the artists to capture everyone in it. $8 for a portrait of 3 people is almost slave labor.

Granted a lot of people who sit for portraits actually just walk away with one or two. Sometimes you get people who buy the whole lot (just not very often). But the times when my work gets passed over I VERY often get WTF moments that I think even kind sympathizers can only properly understand when they see ALL the portraits to choose from, and what is actually chosen by buyers. There's no way for me to go into detail without coming off as rude or full of myself, but I am VERY often FLOORED, not just for my work but for a couple of other artists as well. And I have shrunk my work in size (the buyers like small) and the colors I use are the boldest among the artists. In the end, it makes nary a difference.

Oh, and I get people filming me as I work. It still doesn't mean my sales are good. I just have to throw up my hands. I have no idea what goes on in the minds of shoppers. Which is why I'd love someone to tell me.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bardofawen
2008-02-02 10:46 am UTC (link)

I maintain that peering into the minds of shoppers is an exercise in Lovecraftian horror and ought not to be taken lightly. These are the people that fill their homes with paintings of quaint little cottages and lighthouses and sailing ships... unless of course they're the people that fill their houses with knockoffs of Roy Lichtenstein, or perhaps nonrepresentational grids and paint splatters.

So these things like Portraits 101 classes? Everybody sits in the same place and draws the same person and then that person buys the pieces they like? That seems like a bizarre waste of the artist's efforts/materials if you ask me. Definitely a for-the-love venture.

I know. It's a conspiracy. The other artists have their friends and family come down and purchase their work so they look good. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

ngakmafaery
2008-02-02 04:26 pm UTC (link)

...earth is pretty stoopid, sad to say, and good things are not often valued properly...and my allergies have gotten very very much, better, after decades of suffering, with a few things: 2 grams of vitamin c per day, and more might be too much, based on body size, etc.; avoiding wheat products, which I lived on for decades as a vegetarian, and now switching to a lot of vegetarian protein and vegetables and good fats; and having omega-3 oils, from olive, flax, canola, as opposed to omega-6, from other kinds, which they found made a big cause in allergies...what else? Stuff like acupressure at the base of nose, side of nose, and third eye, done bottom to top three times, as per a taoist book...good luck with them!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	marrael 2008-02-02 05:15 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks for the allergy tips--the accupressure sounds promising. Avoiding wheat sounds tough for me though, but I think it's worth trying. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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