Paul Klein on How to Succeed as an Artist 

This lecture is on point. I have no formal art education. All I have done is go to the best museums in Europe and the US, watch documentaries, read books, and ask artists questions. My first solo museum exhibition is happening in May among other recent successes. It’s mostly a question of motivation...

Summary of How to succeed as an artist  Success is about relationships  There are much more a lot of different art villages.  There are no obstacles. The only obstacles that exist are the obstacles we put in front of ourselves or the lack of knowledge. - Mentors and teaching convey a ton of knowledge about how the art world operates  3 key ingredients to having successful art career 1. Be distinctive - be yourself. Be who you are. Be honest. Dig down inside yourself. Reveal who you are. All of us on this planet as human beings are unique. - You have to fine what makes you distinctive from everybody else. 2. You got to get your ass in the game. - You’ve got to get engaged. - It is no longer sufficient to sit in your studio and expect the world to come to you. You’ve got to still give it the opportunity to get seen - Associate with people better than yourself. - Create opportunities where your work gets seen. - Hustle 3. Make good art - Good art means distinctive. - Can’t all of us name artists who are doing really well monetarily whose work we think sucks? Don’t we all know and maybe we could out ourselves artists who are making fabulous work that nobody’s paying any attention to? All of this stuff that makes the art world so wonderful is that all of the stuff is subjective. It’s not like its objective.  You need to adjust your strategy to your objectives. - What is succeed? On would assume that’s money. But that isn’t the case for everybody. Some people want to get attention for what they’re doing. Some people want to communicate. There are lots of kinds of objectives that an artist can have. You need to know what your object.  I believe that give or take 20%, 50% of an artist’s effort should be outside of making art. That means 30 to 70% of an artist time and efforts should be about focusing on their career.  More and more artists can benefit by having business partners the same way a corporation would have business partners.  It’s really important that artists apply the creativity that they bring to their artwork also to their career. ]  It’s wise to have a role model or several role models. You don’t have to follow their path but you can see what worked for them and what didn’t work for them. - Do not assume that you cannot pick up the phone and call. Say “hey, I am wondering hot it worked for you when you did.”  Somebody asked George Burn the secret to acting. He said sincerity. - The idea is that people want to associate with people who they think are upbeat, positive, successful. Have a good attitude. Even if you’re not successful today have an attitude that conveys my trajectory is rising and I’m going to be a success.  Spend at least 20 hours a week making art to have a chance an art career. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for going to openings growing your community.  Lots of personal art comes from powerful life experiences  Communicate and grow your audience over the internet.

As an artist in her sixties, your talk on how to be a successful artist is inspiring and lets me know that even at my age, I can still have a ten year plan with my positive attitude. Indeed.

1. Be distinctive, be yourself. “You might as well be yourself: everyone else is taken”. Vision is what distinguishes you from everyone else - write it down in a dynamic artist’s statement. 2. Get your ass in the game. Get engaged. Associate with people better than yourself. Hustle. Strategy is how you differentiate your art. Be affable. Be upbeat. Have your elevator pitch. 3. Make good art. Again, be distinctive. Recognize that art is visceral, emotional. Set real objectives, based on your vision, and let it inform your strategy.

It is so true about what you say about making oppertunities for yourself. If there are none- make them!4 yrs ago I had an idea to start teaching art and since no one was willing to hire me, I decided to create my own - renting out a space and teaching. I found a business partener-4 years on I am still teaching in my own studio and now get asked to teach at other places.I now have another idea and have started that.It's a lot of hard work but , I dont wake up everyday feeling miserable.

He's talking about creating an art career guys. Not sitting in your room "doing what you love". Honestly that won't get you far, you'll need a day job if that's the case. He is saying to be an artist, you'll need to be an entrepreneur, you need to make money so you don't need that day job. And why is that? Because you won't have the time it takes to make GOOD art. And yes to be good you need time, you need to be original. And how can you be distinctive without spending 6 days a week working your art business. Yes BUSINESS is necessary to have a career as an artist. Your human capital is your art, your career is your art, your sales is your art. There is no such thing as selling out unless you are committing forgery. And by the way what really well known, or truly remarkable artist did not embrace the business of art? Not many my friends. A Van Gough here and there maybe. Good luck, have a vision that includes capitalising your work 🤗

This is my FIRST exposure … I was Saddened To Read Of The Speakers Recent Passing - Thank you Mr. PAUL KLEIN, This is The Best lecture Of it’s Kind ( IMHO)… And THANK YOU to the Publishers Who posted it & The Other Resourses Available From Mr. KLEIN ☮️❤️👉🏼💪🏼🎨🎨🎨To all 🤺

What an EXCELLENT guest🎉🎉🎉 So many answers given to the most tricky issues for an artist!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

This guy is freaking brilliant. This is one of the best talks I’ve ever heard relating to the art industry. I’m going to look for sky up and follow more of his talks

When I enrolled in art school--1966--it was $300 per year for The Art Institute of Boston...5 days a week with nothing else but art.

Priceless knowledge that applies to writers too. Thanks, Paul.

the first question from the art student is a huge reason many artists do not succeed. The financial issue is ALWAYS in the forefront so the focus of needing money to pay off student loans and, well, to be able to live (including eating sometimes). So what ends up happening are two things - they become art teachers or they take day jobs which require time - both of which take away the time of their art-making and artist career building. As an artist working for over 20 something years, what I have seen of the ones who do succeed is some form of financial backing whether from their spouses or elsewhere so that the artists can then take the time to focus on their art career. As for me, I took a day job as an artists' model which does not give me an annual income of which I could live alone but it keeps me in the art scene and allows me time to work on my career. Luckily, I do have a roof over my head and a husband with a "real job". Still, as I get older, the reality of my bleak financial future becomes ever so present.

You gave a lot of very good advice. I have created my own career as an artist. I have worked as an entertainer drawing cartoons, not caricatures, for exhibitors at trade shows coast to coast for over 40 years. I have also been on the college circuit drawing on campuses.Two Presidents have sat for me. I have drawn Governors, Senators, Congressmen, and even Royalty.I have several companies that book me for all of their shows for over 15 years.

" It's all about relationships. Believing what you are doing is valuable"....I enjoy this talk very much and gave me some good insight...Thank you Paul!

I appreciated this a ton. I’d like to call myself a successful artist. There are a lot of bumps in the road, I’ve strayed away from these teachings Very good refresher of your vision. Thank you.

I say - Never LOSE Your Enthusiasm. We never stop living (until we die, right)… so the time we have can be used wisely, or spent frivolously. The worst thing in the world...is thinking it doesn't matter what you do. I think it does matter - even if all you want to do is play cards with fellow friends. But I tell seniors at this Center I work at - the only thing that holds you back, is You --- at OLD age. One gal, is in her 80's... she is starting to get on a treadmill to walk. She is up to 20 minutes. The excitement on her face, is the most Life I have seen in HER, for weeks!!! Yet, another woman who is 102, still plays piano & shows no excitement at all. For her, it's commonplace, she is almost robotic. Yet, she is so quick to criticize, what a spitfire! LOL At 67, I decided I wanted to go back to singing...took over a year to find local musicians who are playing (I live in a very isolated area). Finally, by chance, I met up with three GREAT Acoustic players, they were playing at a local poetry reading - the bonding was almost instantaneous! I'm now working with them *smile*. My brother critiqued me, saying that my voice as no identifying quality to it,... tho' it is good. I felt almost crushed by his opinion. I just told HIM, that he hasn't been listening to me long enough...and to STOP COMPARING me with others! While I like other women's music, and enjoying singing their songs...never did I want to COPY their Style. And short of starting an argument over his comment... I realized something for myself! I do have my own style - IF I don't compared myself. Just wanted to add this to the discussion - Comparison is the sure fire way to stop our OWN Journey & KILL YOUR OWN Speciality. We can always learn by the negative comments...but don't let it STOP YOU finding Your Way. Juliana

Had Frida Kahlo been spared that horrible accident she might well have been who she was: the daughter of a German photographer who welcomed her into the studio, the daughter of a Mexican mother who inspired her reflections on culture and ethnicity,spunky student who could stand up to the great Diego,and the free spirit who pursued international friendships with French surrealists and Russian Revolutionary with warmth and compassion. Art can surmount pain and poverty, Art does not require pain.

Wow I stumbled into this by accident, but it made me realize that I have not been working hard enough at all. Thank you so much for the opportunity to hear such a great discussion !

Just paint and draw whatever it is you like and do it. Don't give a hoot about what others think, and don't try to please anyone... if you're going into art to make money or become huge, you expect too much. To me, that's what makes a successful artist... recognition, money, or galleries aren't what make you professional, it's being able to translate your idea on a canvas and being satisfied with the result. Be a hobbyist and let the people find your work on their own. Otherwise, you're depending on people to like your work and you'll just be conflicted by whether to paint what you want or to paint what others expect from you.

"So much of what makes an artist significant is their life experiences more so than their formal education." I couldn't agree more Mr. Klein. Thank you for the very informative and enlightening talk!

About the blended career question--it's actually not that complicated. I'm a full-time artist now, but when I was starting out I worked twice as many hours as a 9-5 employee. I worked my day job, then I drove home and worked on my art until I fell asleep. I worked on art all weekend. I used Instagram to promote my work, and I cold called galleries to ask about opportunities. My cold calls led to shows, my work got better, I started making more money on art and then was able to spend 70% of my time on art, 30% of my time at the day job. Now I work full time on art, 60 hours a week minimum. It's not a complicated answer, it's just a challenging solution. You have to become a workaholic. Identify with it and be proud of yourself for it. It's a very fulfilling life if you can romanticize the process of it!

Even in 2019, your words have value. I'm a senior in high school right now and have been stuck trying to figure out what I want to do after graduating. I finally decided that I didn't want to go to college after all in favor of working on my art solo in order to build discipline and practice the skills I need to hone the most. However, I ended up doubting myself and didn't know exactly how I'd go about that plan. This helped me center my thoughts and regain my confidence. I'm certainly going to be looking at my plans again so I can fine-tune them, just to be sure I get the most out of my time fresh out of high school.

This is so inspiring…… over the years I have been more often in my studio creating artworks than out making relationships….. From now that has to change a great deal….

one of the most educational podcasts I've ever listened to

This is fantastic for musicians and actors too...stuff to take home, for sure....Great quotes all throughout!! ....Thank you Paul Klein!!

Life experiences ....oh yes that's the spice of art!

“If you believe that something in this you are creating is any good, you have an ***obligation*** to get it out into the world”. Beautiful thought. Can be said about any career not just artists. I am struggling to become a data scientists. I believe what I am creating does have something good for society. I will try to reframe my task as an obligation to get it out into the world. This is so empowering!

This guy is brilliant. He's so right about everything he talks about, he has a realistic view of how it works - and artists hate this, but it's a business….learn to work within that and you could have a real career. Awesome video.

Just watched the Paul klien video on becoming a success, it has given me renewed hope of something I was born to do as an artist paulanthony

i love this.. i appreciate the time that others who found success with their dreams, give to shine a light for those who are just finding their way around all this. It is encouraging and some good thing to come out of utube.

This is a really great share. Lots of wisdom and experience and offered freely and with little ego at all.

My goodness, where have been ...i have needed to hear these words for a long time....i love you for sharing this...thank you thank you thank you

"Every single artist can succeed. Everybody... *sip water" Okay, I'll watch the rest. That right there was already a huge confidence boost. I'm a long-time artist but a first-time seller of said art. Wish me luck.

like omg this guy is amazing he knows everything about art and stuff like that.

An education in art techniques (in your chosen field) is the only part that I think is really necessary. So you won't have to reinvent the wheel whenever you want to use a new medium or substrate or technology.

Love this quote, "Together we know a lot of stuff, lets find out."

At first I was mad that you weren't one of my professors while at NYU Paul ;), but then I realized at 20 I probably wouldn't have been ready to accept and understand most of what you're saying. I enjoy your frank advice and I learned a lot from this talk... Thank you so much for sharing with us your knowledge.

I'm an artist. Make that, I'm a successful artist. I have NO unsold art. All my art sells. I'm often asked. "How do you do it? What's your "Secret"? What is the "Trick" to being successful? Every art student wants to know this. I will tell you. it's simple. There is NO "trick" to being a sucessful artist. NO magic secret. Here's the big answer… ready? work. Hard work. Never stop working, no matter what happens. That's it. It's just hard work. Lot's of hard work. That's the "big secret magic trick" - the ultimate answer. I toil... full-time, nearly every-day, 8 to 10 hours day … I'm in my art-studio making ART. If I'm not at an art opening at a gallery, I'm in my studio, working. Every day I'm sketching, drawing, inking, working on the computer, but mostly standing before an easel... painting on a canvas. I guarantee 100% If you worked hard at your art, trying to make it the very best art your can ( no short cuts ) for 8 to 10 hours, every day for 1 year… by the end of that year you would be making a living selling in an art gallery. Period. The secret is 99.9% of people don't want to work that hard. So they never become successful artists. Kill your TV. Don't surf the net. don't waste time looking at clouds. don't have a elaborate social life full of parites. give up all your useless friends. don't have friends that do not emotionally feed you... even when you are not around for them 99% of the time. If they "demand your time" you need to get rid of them. If you are a real artist it's not a hard choice, because your art will feed you like none and nothing else ever can. It's them or your ART. CHOOSE ONE. The best music I found to work to is AMBIENT and Classical. The hypnotic rhythms slow the monkey-mind down, get the left and right side of the brain in sync, and that's when the imagination and the creative flow start to happen. That's when the best art is made…. after hours and hours and days and weeks and months and years of hard work. That's how ART is made. Now go and make art

Great lecture - thanks for posting.

What a great teacher. Thanks

Great speech and very important suggestions, ideas and solid information. Thanks so much for all the positive feedback. Blessings and be safe. Things have changed so much since the pandemic began. It has fir sure changed the course of life worldwide.

Thank you. You're word resonate with me. I'm a late bloomer and you've given me some hope.

Thank you for this talk about the business of art. It was very informative and helpful.

Cheers. The best lecture I have seen till now.

Thank you. Took all of the stuffiness out of ART! Be yourself! Be who you are. Make good art!

You just answered most of the questions that's been eating my head from years!!! Thank you so much for this video Paul!!!

It was a great pleasure to listen to this video. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for sharing this talk Paul. As an (aspiring) artist the three guidelines you mentioned, key to become a successful artist, felt like a recognition. You summed them out loud and clear in three simple sentences and it only confirmed my thoughts and ideas about what it entails for me to be an artist. For the past days I have been scribbling down my ideas and thoughts which I already started to transfer on canvas now. The three guidelines will not be an addition to my thinking but it will form the spine to the body of work I am about to make. During Covid time, I happen to listen and watch docs and lecturers about art and my favorite artists like Kahlo, Magritte, Dali, van Dongen, Klimt, Picasso, Doig, Ofili, Dumas. I was happily surprised you had mentioned Kahlo as an example. This phenomenal artist influenced me greatly, she inspired and empowered me to pick back up my canvases, paint and brushes to go on this new exciting journey to show and unveil my (inner) world to the world out there. Merci merci beaucoup! Be safe!

Producing and art is compelling to me. The problem is that the profit margins are not so good. I chose to do video/animation marketing to help businesses grow, and inject as much creativity as I can into this endeavor.

A good general approach. There as many ways to be a success as there are artists and you should choose your own

I've looked at clouds from both sides now From up and down and still somehow It's cloud's illusions I recall I really don't know clouds at all By nature, artists are curious creatures. There are so many things to be fascinated about. Life can deal us substantial challenges. Forget about the yellow brick road. Try to FOCUS on your mission while dealing with everyday obstacles as best you can, and create what inspires you. This talk from Paul Klein is gold.

Very good information for artists who really wants to make it in the business! 100% respect to people like you Paul Klein!

Tremendous talk here. I may be revisiting this as the years wear on.

I DO LOVE THE THOUGHT.......

After hearing this, i noticed a few things i need to improve.thanks Paul.

I really like this down to earth advice.

It seems to me that most of an artists success depends on nepotism. If you do not have those contacts, its a real bitch. Paul said a lot of accurate and truthful facts - thanks.- its always great to hear someone utter the things that one has been thinking about.

Thoroughly enjoyable, interesting, encouraging! Thank you. I regret not finding your talk 10 years ago, however now is great.

So many helpful tips here. I am an artist just starting out and I am grateful for your mentorship!

wish we had this kind of talk while at Uni...would of helped so much. We graduate and are forgotten, next intake...

Really appreciate the insight that you shared Mr. Klein. I am inspired to work harder on my art.

Are this all about marketing your work? Ok, I painted my art, but nobody wants it before I make my name popular in art world :) Like Andy Warhol created his style or Dali became "pop star", so people want just anything from them.

All the promoting of an Artist just comes to these conclusions: Buy it because you like it (emotional, inspirational), buy it because it matches the furniture, buy it as an an investment (whether a "masterpiece" or not), buy it as a write off for a large company. Not to mention if an Art Gallery owner (whom is highly respected ), makes an investment of your work, which makes that investment more lucrative to their own advantage. Being infamous helps also. Glue bits of trash on a large enough sized canvas, add some paint, and behold! A Masterpiece! Last but not least, I once visited an Art Gallery in NYC. As I entered, I noticed a box fan hanging up on the ceiling, facing a piece of canvas. I asked the gallery owner what the concept was. He explained to me that the box fan is blowing dust onto the canvas causing the dust "images" to cover the surface of the canvas. The dust would attach to the canvas which, in time, cause the dust particles to constantly change shape and density over time! Wouldn't that also be considered "Performing Art"? This is what is now considered "Art"! Vomit on some surface, and if the time is right, and the composition works, it may very well be considered a Masterpiece (regardless of the medium, blood, ect.)! Why waste money on paints, inks, pens, brushes and Art classes. Just express yourself with what's available! Right or wrong, it's just my opinion, nothing more...

At first I wasn’t sure about listening.. and boom, I listened.. I’m very happy and grateful for your video and honesty.. I appreciate ☺️🙏🏾.. Aloha and ThAnkyou ..

Thank you so much for this lecture Paul.

I have many International awards, and suffer insecurity at times, while believing my work must sell itself, knowing that the art world is truly subjective is a must to understand,this is the best advice I can give ......Enjoyed your lecture Paul (y)

Fantastic seminar, I've suggested to Facebook art group to give this video a watch. Top notch. Kudos.

Great talk! "Great artists have powerful life experiences." It is all about conveying your story on canvas.

I loved this. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you Paul for the video. I am always feeling guilty for spending a lot of time marketing, planning and looking for new opportunities and only spend about 30% being creative! Hopefully I am going in the right direction.

I have been doing a jobs for almost 20 years that I hate and have been trying to get started with my art and going back to school for Graphics again....this has really helped to keep my spirits up...Thanks!

Brilliant. Very inspiring. Thank you.

YES YES YES, the more we empower, enable and validate, support and sustain the artist's well being in every regard - the BETTER off the world will be - YES - because we are great problem solvers and we bring ATTENTION to the problems caused by the system, the psychopathic - narcissists who run and ultimately break the systems, and life support for everyone !!!

years of art schooling summed up in 40 minutes, this video has validated my view on art schools and i dont think ill ever need to go to one

I learned so much. Thank you Paul!!!!

What a fantastic talk, by someone who really knows what they’re talking about! Thank you thank you thank you 🙏😊👌🍿🎬🐟

thank you so much for this talk

AMAZING !!!!!!!!!! TRULY ENJOYED WATCHING IT, PAUL! Great important points mentioned, loved the viking excerpt, and so glad you support the idea of not having one body of work but "interesting" multi dimentional or multi-disciplinary art. Much love!

Great info & RIP Paul

Thanks dude. I feel the soul.

Thank you for great advice...

"how much is a formal art education important?" his answer literally killing all art school's business .

'What you need to train on is how to be yourself'

this videos has really helped me. so much. Thank you Mr. Klein!

Outstanding because it is interesting, honest, straight and concrete/valuable. Thank you so very much PK!

Thank you!

Some really great thoughts and advice.

I thoroughly enjoyed your video. Thank you so much for the words of wisdom and advice. These are all the things that are on my plate at the moment, deciding on grad school location and the career beyond. Enjoyed it all. -K.Anthony Lawler

love this! All the advice and wise words are good to hear!!

So helpful to me today, especially the pure simplicity of the ABC: Be disctinctive/be yourself. Get out of the studio. Make good art. Thank you.

Few thoughts: - let's start by defining the word "succeed" - 10 years ago I thought I "succeeded" now I'm not so sure. - I don't think the greatest artists are obsessed with "succeeding" as much as an average person does or at least I think they have a totally different definition of success - the "failure" makes you give up too easily if you are fixated on "succeeding" - what if your work looked like Sam's work long before Sam even thought about being an artist, but somehow Sam is the one who got the attention?

This was great. Looking up Paul Klein, I'm very sad to see that he passed away in October 2020, after a long battle with cancer.

Thank you thank you thank you

This was packed with great info! Thanks!

Inspiring! Thank you!

Very informative and practical. Thank you sir for sharing.

Profoundly useful. Thanks Mr. Klein.

very good, thanks for posting.

I really find this very helpful! Thank you so much for sharing!

Great talk! Thanks for sharing this video.