If your goal in art is to be accepted. Maybe the world of art is not for you. Rejection never ends . You have to be immune to hearing NO. It takes work , it takes time and sometimes being in the right place at the right time. So many different avenues to explore in the art world. Your advice is always inspiring and helpful , THANKS AGAIN 💥
Hi David! Good to see you again! Good point - be ready to hear a lot of NOs, a little of MAYBEs and very few YESes… it’s like in the startup world, in the dating world… one YES is plenty! 😉
Gatekeeping can come in so many forms, and while rejection is inevitable, my (maybe counter-intuitive) guidance that always seems to help is in those moments of frustration, and let's face it, sometimes despair--uplift others. When you offer assistance or help someone else out of any kind of jam or problem it transforms your attention and gets you focused on solutions and next steps from a place of generosity and strength. It's a powerful thing!
I don't care how you look at it, requiring someone to study art to get into the art world is everything that art is actually against. It's not unfair, it's down right moronic. The vast majority of exceptional artists throughout history did not have degrees or master's degrees or PHDs. Those things are nothing other than a money making scheme.
Thank you for sharing! You have a valid point in outsiders wanting to get in. It might not look fair, but you're right about people that went to art school. They put in many years to build themselves up, so it's only fair they get a bigger chance. I would recommend if people (outsiders) want to get into the field, do some volunteer work for art studios/museums. That definitely gets you known and gets one foot in the door.
Very good idea! I met a 23 year old boy working for a big international art gallery. I asked him how he got into the job, he said he had been volunteering at local museum since he was in high school.
I think that the biggest struggle for me is that entering the art world requires a large financial investment. I graduated from an art school in Europe which was free and attended a course in London which was paid, but I am constantly asked to pay a huge amount of money for exhibitions. I also do other marketing investments such as sourcebooks and art books, press coverage, professional web site etc. It helped me to build a certain level of acceptance of my work, but it is still very hard from the sustainability perspective. I am based in Slovakia, where the value of the artwork tends to be lower than in other parts of Europe or the US.
Hi Petra, thanks for sharing! It’s great that you already have done the academic work and start building your career. Paying for promotions could become expensive with time, because it adds up. There are ways to cut down your business costs, such as doing communications based on organic searches via SEO, using social media to make content marketing, and using template to make website by yourself.
I made the mistake of transferring from an unpaid academy in Poland (MA level) to a costly academy in The Netherlands (BA level), and I am still in depth from study loan. I can't pay it back and can't even dream of investing in my art the way I need to. Can't afford to do an additional master's either. If I had the choice I would stay in my country. The level of education and quality of art in Eastern countries speaks to me more than the prices of the West and the closed doors everywhere.
I entered the art world by being a fan of comic books. At 19, I befriended a well known Filipino Comic book illustrator, Hal Santiago way back 1971, and learned from him, about figure drawing. Later on, I was an apprentice in a silk screen shop and learned the trade. Most of my experiences were through apprenticeships and they were more than the usual classroom lessons. In college, my Marketing degree lead me to Advertising. To me, Art is a lifetime investment. You can be in any field and you'll see that Fine ARTS or Commercial Arts are in demand.
My own acceptance is what I would first have to have. I am a beginner and as an older person, I don't have much expectation of success. Doing work that looks good to me consistently would be my first goal. Maybe little art shows or fairs along the way would also be fun, especially if a few pieces could be sold to help with cost of supplies. Having worked in other artistic disciplines, rejection is normal. If you can create something that stands up to what you consider good work by other artists, then maybe it would be time to get serious about putting yourself out there in the competitive market. Until then, learn, grow and have fun getting to where you'd like to be, talent-wise.
Very Informative.I think its very important for the ones that can't/didn't go to fine art school to remember that an equivalent history can be created by starting your own art business. Art fairs, Street fairs, online presence and selling to family&friends will build that history needed to be considered for a gallery. Simply put, get to creating the art you want to create, then go sell it at any/every opportunity you can find. After a while of being an artist you may want to elevate your art career into the gallery world or not.
Do you believe that someone can realistically translate their career from etsy to art galleries? And are we even talking of a similar audience/ art style? I feel commercial mass market art is a different genre and transiting won’t be that easy..
@@Palmpalm111 They are two totally different audiences so an artist must grow in new directions if they feel the art gallery is where they want to be. Nothing is easy, especially getting into art galleries. Remember this, one doesn't need to give up their path on etsy but grow into a the art gallery path. An artist can keep putting out material for one audience while creating a totally new voice for a new audience in the art gallery scene.
Very good points here! I totally should make a in-depth video on this topic. When I give my personal recommendations on whether an artist should do Etsy, I would ask this before: did your family pay for your art school? If you get family support, don’t sell on Etsy. Use the time on a different strategy. If you don’t have any financial cushion, run to make some money. Etsy or Artsy, be proud to make an honest living. But it’s true that a commercial art career doesn’t translate into fine art career. Like obtaining a lawyers license in Europe doesn’t allow you to practice in China. Sometimes there are even biases from other art professionals. In this case you might want to “hide” this Etsy part in your communications.
Hello : I went to a university that required one to take so many liberal art courses with your art studio courses. It gave me time to see if I wanted to manger in art. I received a BFA in drawing and painting. I ask a art instructor is that all I need to enter the world of art, and he said you really need to look into graduate school which will prepare you to become a better artist. Besides the art school had lots of studio equipment to work with, which I couldn't afford. Thank you for the youtube.
In the US, we are encouraged NOT to use journals that require payment for publishing. There is a ranking system to assess the quality of academic journals. In our university tenure guidelines and in our annual review process, both publishing in an online journal or in a pay-for-publication journal is discouraged. Granted, all schools are not as rigorous as Tier One research universities tend to be.
Hi Dr. Koch, thanks for your message. I am aware of the “paid to publish” journals are not the best choice. But I see most of the journals in my domain have a small fee to publish once peer reviewed. In film studies, especially Asian film studies, taylor and francis is dominant. They ask for a small fee as I read on their website. I don’t mind paying but I had to admit I was surprised by how things work in the academic world!
The thing about "finding the gap" is kinda not very clear to me, or it just doesn't make sense if we assume artists must be true to themselves. Why would I change the style and the subject that make me express myself in the medium I chose in order to fill any "gap"? Wouldn't I be faking it and deliverying bad art?
I think school is an institutional approval for the seriousness and dedication for the candidates, more than curriculum per se. It is like that in other sectors as well. You can be self-thought translator or architect etc. but it would be very difficult be hired without a diploma.
Yes, totally! It’s possible to acquire the skills on RU-vid, but harder to get into the industry. Students spend time, effort, and money that are tokens of sacrifice. I remembered when I was at Uni, a prof always reminded us to be grateful for the opportunity to be in school: “Someone made a sacrifice so you could be here.” It is very true. We are lucky to have those resources and supports.
sounds like what some of my artist/professor friends did. cheerful presentation. yes,it is hard. and requires work besides talent. and art .... not as important to most.....
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! As usual value loaded content! Really helpful.I’m struggling a bit myself standing on the threshold of design and art. Would love to know your thoughts on the same.
Thanks! In my note for this video, one of the things I was going to mention is “design vs art”. You can be both designer and artist, but in your communications, you separate them. It’s like the same company would make different products (and campaigns) targeted at different markets. Make two websites and two business, that’s what I would do.
Hmmm.. so it's all about system or rules, not about work. If somebody make good art and don't fullfil that so-called criteria he is not an artist. His artwork is not an artwork. Very unfair, isn't it??
Haha I’d love to learn how to code, and repair mechanical things. I have a dozen friends who just “retired” at the age of 35 coz that’s the age big firms tend to lay off. It’s better to have your own thing, may it be business, coding, or art.
Art is disruption. The art industry is a financial system. There would be no art industry without artists. The artists are the ones who make the rules. No offense but not PhD students or critics. Eventually it will be the artists who take over.
