Category Archives: Art Help & Info

Art Help & Info

Artists: Scam Alert!

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"The United States of Consumerism" by Amy Guidry; Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to further my art career.  Unfortunately, there are some losers out there who are looking to take advantage of that.  I did a little research online concerning an opportunity I came across that sounded too good to be true.  Apparently that’s because it is.  ArtistGrants.org is promoting their Biennial Competition with a $10K first place award- yes, 10,000 dollars.  Aside from the fantastic prize money, I had to wonder about this since I’d never even heard of them before.  I’ve heard of many artist grants organizations, but never this one.  So I kept an eye on their site…  interestingly enough, I discovered that their entry fee kept changing (increasing, of course) over the past couple of months.  And the deadline has been extended three times so far (at least since I’ve discovered this “competition”).  And who the hell are the jurors?   

Well, further investigation has dug up some more interesting tidbits…  According to Art Opportunities Monthly, ArtistGrants.org tried to get their Biennial listed in their classifieds.  Turns out AOM discovered their domain had been registered for a matter of days before they were listing their competition. AOM also states that the address provided to them for the listing “was a private home which had been bought for well over the asking price just a short time ago (arousing a newspaper’s suspicions that a kickback and finagling with mortgage money was involved). And now, the house just appeared on the market as a HUD foreclosure, meaning that the extra money the buyers had borrowed will not be paid back.”

In addition, AOM also asked about their organization, judging, funding, etc. and never received a response.  I found the same to be true for others’ attempts to contact ArtistGrants.org.  So, after finding out all of this, I am steering clear of this “opportunity” and passing on this information to everyone in the blogosphere!  Just goes to show that unless you are already familiar with an organization, you should always look into them before entering or sending them money.  Many artist listings sites have a disclaimer that they are not responsible if it turns out a listing is a scam and that they do not do background checks, so to speak.  So be sure to do your homework!

www.AmyGuidry.com

Art Help & Info, Sold

The 411 on Donating Your Art

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"New Realm" by Amy Guidry- Sold at Auction

I get asked to donate my artwork fairly often. And this topic has been broached with me before in the art marketing class that I have conducted. So I thought it might be helpful to offer some insight into donations. First, you won’t be able to do them all- and please don’t feel bad about it. I get letters and emails requesting my work, sometimes several in one month. If I donated to all of them, I’d be out of paintings. And a girl’s gotta eat, so I have to have something left to sell. Next, you should decide who you’d like to help. Some charities hold the same art auction every year, so if it’s one that you would like to help on a continual basis, you can go ahead and plan on that and mark your calendar for it in the upcoming year(s). Or, you may like to alternate who you help and plan on donating to a different charity next go round just to even out the playing field a bit.

When deciding on who you would like to donate to, there are a few things to take into consideration. What does your donation do for this charity, organization, etc.? What will you be supporting? Does this follow your personal beliefs? What type of venue will hold the event? Who are the other participating artists? Would you be honored to have your work seen in such an event and amongst the other artists’ work? What kind of publicity will you gain from this experience? Will your donation conflict with another obligation, be it an exhibit, juried show, etc.?

I know this is a lot to consider and may even sound selfish, but the truth is, there’s much more to consider when donating your art than just simply writing a check to support a cause. This is about more than just money because it also involves time and labor- lots of it. You’re an artist, you know that it wasn’t easy to create this piece you’re about to give away. It took time, supplies, energy, creativity, willpower, and probably involved a personal sacrifice ranging anywhere from sleep to your family. So yes, you should consider what you get out of this. And if you decide that you can’t part with your work for whatever reason, but would truly like to help, simply write a check for this organization, charity, etc. You’ll directly help them without feeling guilty. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with just stating the truth- “I’d love to help, but I have [fill in other obligation here] and won’t be able to. But please add me to your mailing list, I’d love to donate next year.”

Thoughts? Questions? Let me know, either here or at www.AmyGuidry.com!

Art Help & Info

How to Be an Art Star 2.0

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Recognize this blouse? Answer at www.AmyGuidry.comOkay, that may be misleading since this is not the second edition, but a second time around for this class. For those of you who are not familiar with my Art Marketing class from last fall, this is your opportunity to to take part. As part of Frederick l’Ecole des Arts in Arnaudville, LA, I will be teaching another Art Marketing and Self-Promotion course. The first class was quite a success and a great, interactive opportunity to get together with aritists and gallery owners. In addition to my course outline, we had a group session covering individual questions and sharing ideas.

So if you missed out the first time, or are new to this blog and will be in the area, please sign up for Art Marketing and Self-Promotion. The class will be May 2nd (a Saturday) from 10AM-12Noon. Of course we did stay late last time because people had lots of questions and ideas to share, but if you need to leave at noon, feel free to do so.

To give you an idea of what the class is about, here is a general course outline. Overview: Risk assessment; getting out of your comfort zone. Changing your mindset. Goal-setting. Portfolio Development. Gallery submissions and approaching galleries. Alternative exhibition opportunities and juried shows. Marketing Materials. Pricing. Sales. Some of the additional topics discussed included shipping work, Ebay, vanity galleries (just stay away- that’s a free tip you can get from me right now!), and what else, but blogging, of course.

Some of these are very basic principles, and some of it boils down to good old-fashioned common sense, but for many artists, their expertise is in their medium and not in marketing. Unfortunately marketing is not a course requirement when getting your art degree, and quite frankly, it’s just plain scary to people (not just artists!). In addition, to succeed at ANYthing requires goals, planning, and organization. All skills that most people don’t think of or skip when trying to succeed at anything. How many people do you know who blame things on bad luck or lack of luck? Or think the only way they can do what they truly love is if they “win the lottery?” I can think of many.

Okay, ready to sign up yet? Go to http://frederickarts.homestead.com/Classes.html to register for Art Marketing and Self-Promotion. Sign up early to ensure your spot in the class. And it doesn’t matter if you are in high school and planning on your future career as an artist or if you’ve been an artist all your life. If you want to improve your marketing skills, ask questions, or take your career to the next level, this is your opportunity. And meet some great people, too!

www.AmyGuidry.com

Art Help & Info

Rejection Stinks- Here’s What You Can Do About It

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Amy Guidry with her work at the Acadiana Center for the ArtsYes, rejection from a gallery stinks. So I thought I’d post some ideas on what to do about it that don’t involve burning down the gallery or hate mail. I should preface this by saying I got the idea for this post from Art Calendar magazine. Jack White wrote an article called “Rejection Hurts” for the May issue. While I sometimes disagree with Mr. White’s ideas, I did find this article to be “spot on.” I would like to give my own two cents, though, so that’s the great thing about having one’s own blog. 😉

Okay, so you get a rejection from a gallery or a museum. Now what? Well, as Mr. White stated, it’s best to build a thick skin. True, but also look at this as an opportunity to get a referral. If a gallery rejects you, fine. Ask them if they can recommend a gallery that would suit your work. They may know of a new space opening up that is looking for artists. Or they may just give your name to another gallery themselves. (Yes, hard to believe, but that has happened for me.) It’s no skin off their nose to give you another name. In addition, you can then contact said gallery and use the name game to your advantage by saying ‘so and so from Gallery XYZ recommended your space to me and thought my work would fit your gallery.’

As far as reasons behind the rejection go, one of the more common reasons that Mr. White does not mention is that gallery’s have, in general, 12 exhibits a year. So that usually boils down to only 12 of their artists being shown in one year (except in a group show, of course). So it is not surprising that galleries, museums, and art centers usually have a full calendar for two years in advance. Sometimes 3 years. Just because a gallery isn’t interested at the time, doesn’t mean they won’t in the future. Perhaps they will keep your information on file. Perhaps they would like to stay in touch with you. It would be wise to maintain some type of relationship with these people. If you truly love the space, then it’s worth the time and effort. Not that you should do this anyway, but if you are randomly sending your work to any and every gallery, then it’s impossible to maintain relationships with all of these people. But if there are a few spaces you would give your left arm to be in, it would be in your best interest to stay in touch. And I don’t mean in a looking-to-get-a-restraining-order sort of way, either. Just get to know everyone on a personal basis. Learn their names. Go to their exhibits. Show a true interest in their artists’ work. THEN you can fill them in on what you’ve been doing.

I liked that Mr. White ended with saying to use rejection as a motivation to move forward. Aside from moving on, though, look for ways to turn rejection around into something positive. There may be another opportunity there, you just have to dig a little.

www.AmyGuidry.com

Art Help & Info

20 Questions…Okay, Not Really 20, But A LOT

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Page Excerpt from Craig\'s ComicAs promised, I did an interview with my comic book artist brother, Craig. You may (or should) recall a recent post of his work on here. Okay, I’ll stop blathering now and get to the questions with this interesting artist…

Q. What’s the premise behind your comic?
A. Well, the idea came from a sketch I had done a long time before starting the comic. I just drew a couple of anthropomorphic lizards with primitive/tribal clothing and always kept them in mind. The idea for the comic’s story is inspired by my ideals concerning the planet and its inhabitants, human and non-human. I want the story to be extremely visually interesting and epic.
The lizard-man shown is one of many…a society that is in competition to dominate the life and land that surrounds them. The story will show that this is not an easy task because there are protectors of the forests who will not let their land be stolen.

Q. Do you have a title for it yet? A. Nothing as of yet…I think I just had the idea, being “lizard man,” for the character and went from there. Personally, I think “Lizard Man” would be a horrible title…the book is about more than that.

Q. Will there be any text? Is that a first in comic history or are there other comics that are sans text?
A. I had the determination to NOT put any text whatsoever in my story. I’m almost positive that I can accomplish my goal to create a comic that is all visual and interpreted through framing panels and choosing the right way to convey thoughts of the characters with expressions.
I’m not sure if there are any (successful) comics that contain no dialogue. It’s definitely not a trendy way of presenting a comic book. I feel that my idea will work well without text because of it’s content. It’s animals and a tribal society that has a language we wouldn’t understand. So rather than write text and the reader just pretends he/she can understand what they say while hearing lizard gibberish in their minds, I’ve just omitted the language barrier completely.

Q. So far all the artwork you’ve shown me is b+w, will you be sticking to this or adding any color?
A. I’m not at all against using color…I like to paint with vibrant colors, but I feel my comic is bolder with the dramatic contrast of pitch black and bright white panels and the “gray” tones that emerge from lighter pen strokes.

Q. What other comics and/or comic artists influence or inspire you?
A. I am a fan of a select few comics…I enjoy fantasy art and creative ideas in general, but haven’t really developed enough of a comic book knowledge to compete with “true” comic book fans. I am a fan of such comics as WATCHMEN, V FOR VENDETTA, MOUSEGUARD, HACK/SLASH, THE WALKING DEAD, HULK: PLANET HULK, some of the PUNISHER: MAXX series, and the original TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES omnibus (which is B+W, as well), HELLBOY, WE 3, I really like Todd McFarlane’s artwork itself, and Jhonen Vasquez’s work.

Work in progressQ. What do you think it is about comics that have such a huge following? They’re highly popular, more so than some books even?
A. Well, I think that comic book artists/writers/creators and the characters and stories that are popular are so probably because they deserve to be. I am a huge fan of movies…and was extremely excited to see certain comic book adaptations hit the big screens as of late. I enjoyed the Watchmen adaptation a lot, as well as V for Vendetta, 300, 30 Days of Night, Batman : Begins, and especially The Dark Knight. It works only when you get a director with some talent and credibility. There are a lot of hack directors out there who may as well have filmed the flushing of a toilet rather than attempting to make a decent movie.
As far as audiences is concerned, I think a lot of people may read certain comics or see the movies without really have an genuine interest in the creativity and hard work involved. A certain character may be popular and children may drag their parents to see the latest Spiderman film, while the children are attracted to the images shown, they probably have not read a single Spiderman comic and the parents are mildly entertained.
I just like it when people who appreciate art and comics and have knowledge of those kinds of things are the ones who see the movies/read the comics and can use discretion when stating which films are good and which are not, as well as which comics deserve their success and which are popular for a character with a flashy costume and no depth story wise.

Q. Who would win in a fight? Superman or Batman?
A. Hmmm…a question that I know has been pondered over by many-a-nerd. I can say this…Batman definitely has more money than Superman. But when it comes to blows, I’m afraid that Superman would most likely win. I think they’ve done a comic with that…I’ve never read it if they have. It’s not really a fair fight if you ask me…but at least Batman doesn’t have to work some crappy job and dress like a nerd.
I think if it were about “smarts” then Batman would win. He’s the best detective around…his costume is cooler…the story is dark and interesting…overall, I prefer that Batman win. I don’t think he would, though, since Superman is the “man of steel” and can stop a bullet, locomotive, and anything else. Maybe if Batman had some kryptonite it would be fair…I’m sick of this question.

Q. If you could be a comic book character, who would you be and why?
A. I would probably like to be Rorshach from Watchmen because I think he is a great character because he’s a loner with convictions who doesn’t tolerate the world and its inhabitants’ selfishness and greed. He is a very violent character…but only against those who in all honesty deserve to be treated in that way.

Q. What is your favorite comic?
A. Probably “Bone,” which is what I’m currently reading. It’s funny and epic and is like Calvin and Hobbes meets Lord of the Rings. The art is amazing…it’s cute little cartoon characters in detailed forest scenes with creative characters and plotlines. The story is huge and I’m only about halfway through it.

Q. Do you have any info on future comics your’e working on that you’d like to share or is that top secret?
A. I’ve got some ideas…one was a story about mice, but not like Secret of Nimh mice. More realistic.
Another idea was a dog that is abducted from its home and put in an animal testing facility. That actually does occur in reality.

Q. For all your female fans out there, are you single?
A. Yes. Not married or crazy…or both.

Art Help & Info

How To Be an Art Star 2.0

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Recognize this blouse? Answer at www.AmyGuidry.comOkay, that may be misleading since this is not the second edition, but a second time around for this class. For those of you who are not familiar with my Art Marketing class from last fall, this is your opportunity to to take part. As part of Frederick l’Ecole des Arts in Arnaudville, LA, I will be teaching another Art Marketing and Self-Promotion course. The first class was quite a success and a great, interactive opportunity to get together with aritists and gallery owners. In addition to my course outline, we had a group session covering individual questions and sharing ideas.

So if you missed out the first time, or are new to this blog and will be in the area, please sign up for Art Marketing and Self-Promotion. The class will be May 2nd (a Saturday) from 10AM-12Noon. Of course we did stay late last time because people had lots of questions and ideas to share, but if you need to leave at noon, feel free to do so.

To give you an idea of what the class is about, here is a general course outline. Overview: Risk assessment; getting out of your comfort zone. Changing your mindset. Goal-setting. Portfolio Development. Gallery submissions and approaching galleries. Alternative exhibition opportunities and juried shows. Marketing Materials. Pricing. Sales. Some of the additional topics discussed included shipping work, Ebay, vanity galleries (just stay away- that’s a free tip you can get from me right now!), and what else, but blogging, of course.

Some of these are very basic principles, and some of it boils down to good old-fashioned common sense, but for many artists, their expertise is in their medium and not in marketing. Unfortunately marketing is not a course requirement when getting your art degree, and quite frankly, it’s just plain scary to people (not just artists!). In addition, to succeed at ANYthing requires goals, planning, and organization. All skills that most people don’t think of or skip when trying to succeed at anything. How many people do you know who blame things on bad luck or lack of luck? Or think the only way they can do what they truly love is if they “win the lottery?” I can think of many.

Okay, ready to sign up yet? Go to http://frederickarts.homestead.com/Classes.html to register for Art Marketing and Self-Promotion. Sign up early to ensure your spot in the class. And it doesn’t matter if you are in high school and planning on your future career as an artist or if you’ve been an artist all your life. If you want to improve your marketing skills, ask questions, or take your career to the next level, this is your opportunity. And meet some great people, too!

www.AmyGuidry.com

Art Help & Info

Speaking of Gustav… and I Don’t Mean Klimt

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"United Isolation" by Amy Guidry; Copyright Amy Guidry 2008

During the panic of preparing my home for what surprises Hurricane Gustav would bring, I was also concerned about what to do with my artwork. Thankfully, I have pieces that are in galleries far away from the hurricane’s path, however, I had to then deal with the artwork currently in my possession. So I thought it might be helpful to post a blog on how to prepare your artwork in the event of a hurricane. Of course, anything could happen, and following these ideas may not prevent all damage from occurring, but it’s sure worth a shot.

First, you should already have this on hand, but make sure you have good photographs of all your artwork. This will be important for insurance purposes. Whether you evacuate or not, you should keep these photographs, digital files, what have you, in a safe place- air-tight container perhaps- or take them with you if you leave. Now, I’m gearing this towards paintings since that is my experience, but this can apply to other media as well. Move all artwork away from windows or vents- anywhere water or debris can get in due to strong winds, etc. Keep everything up high and off the floor in case of flooding. If you have a closet with high shelves, move pieces there if they will fit.

All pieces should be covered to protect from moisture- not just flood water, because even a small amount of water in your home will cause mold and mildew to grow when there is no power (i.e. no air conditioning to keep air circulating and control humidity). I would recommend covering pieces with a sheet of paper over the face of the piece, and wrap in glassine. This will help ward off any condensation (just as you would when shipping a painting, especially to any area with a significant climate change from your location). To further protect the work, wrap in Mylar or polyethylene. Since you never can be to sure, I would then place the work in some type of airtight, heavy plastic bag.

As soon as you can get back to your home in the event that you evacuated, remove all plastic wrapping, etc. from your work. If your power is out, it may be best to leave the work wrapped in Mylar since you will still have to deal with humidity in your home. Or if you have a friend, neighbor, etc. whose power is on, I would ask to leave the work in their home, unwrapped, so it can breathe. If your work has any debris on it, you can gently wipe that off with a soft, dry cloth. Don’t use any type of cleaning products, though, as this will ruin your paint. If there is any mold, which hopefully Mylar would prevent that anyway, you will have to bring the piece to a professional art restorer. I would not recommend trying to remove mold yourself.

Again, none of this is a guarantee, but it should for all intents and purposes protect your work. Even without anything crashing into your work, the possibility of water damage in some form or another is pretty high. My brother’s work had mold growing on it even though Hurricane Katrina only brought about an inch of water into his home. It was the lack of electricity for several weeks that allowed the humid conditions needed for mold to spread. (His work was also hanging on the walls, unprotected.)  So you just never know. If you really want to be safe, I’d say rent a U-Haul, pack your work in there, and leave!

–www.AmyGuidry.com

Art Help & Info

Where Everybody Knows Your Name, and They’re Always Glad You Came

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"Was It a Dream?" by Amy Guidry; Visit www.AmyGuidry.com

I wanted to take a moment to write a review of sorts of a local gallery in Lafayette, LA. I’m always interested to see what others are up to, especially when they do their own thing as opposed to just following the mainstream. So when your gallery has its own artwalk and is situated away from the “usual suspects” (i.e. downtown gallery circuit), then it must be Visions Art Gallery.

There is a variety of artwork on the walls at any given time. Some of the artists are well-known in the community, while some are just starting out. There is pretty much something for everyone since the work ranges in style and medium. I recently purchased a Tom Ladousa ceramic piece from there (on sale) and have been eyeballing some de Kooning-esque pieces by Dutch Kepler.

Another quality about the gallery worth noting is the overall atmosphere. This is not a stuffy gallery. If you are in the witness protection program, you may not want to go here because these ladies will know your name before you leave. Bonnie Camos (the director) knows everyone and freely introduces everyone as well. Put it this way- if Bonnie has a myspace page (I have yet to look) then she must have a billion friends. And she genuinely takes an interest in them.

Visions hosts its own artwalk every third Saturday of the month. This falls after the usual 2nd Saturday Artwalk held downtown in Lafayette, and also allows Visions to spotlight its own exhibits. Having only one exhibit to attend makes it easier to take your time and meet the artists as opposed to rushing through to make it to the next gallery before closing. (Although I do love the downtown artwalk as well.) But even if you can’t make it to an opening reception, you can always go during the day, enjoy the art, enjoy the coffee, and make plenty of friends. And maybe add them to your myspace page…

www.AmyGuidry.com

Art Help & Info

Beautiful Art for Free?

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Amy Guidry with her work at the Acadiana Center for the Arts

I thought I should address this issue even though it seems like common sense to me, but maybe others fall prey to this.  I’ve seen an alarming number of art opportunities that ask artists to give up their work for free in exchange for publicity, a percentage of the royalties, etc.  These are typically illustration jobs or graphic design jobs which promise to “provide you with good portfolio pieces.”  Or they expect their book to get published, thereby making the artist “famous” and they will receive “royalties.”  If you are an artist, no matter how desperate you may be for money or exposure, please don’t go for these “opportunities.” 

First, you should already have a portfolio, which means that you already have 8 or more of your best pieces to show.  So when a job promises that all you get in the end is a great sample for your portfolio, well, you’ve already filled that void.  You can find a paying gig that will do the same.  You should be keeping copies of your work for your portfolio, personal records, etc. anyway.

Next, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the overwhelming majority of potential authors looking for an artist do not have a publisher lined up.  So when they ask you to do free illustrations, you are probably doing this work so it will end up lining their cat’s litterbox.  More than likely these are half-baked ideas that these people *may* intend to follow through with, but won’t.  In the end, there will be no book, screenplay, collection of poetry, etc. therefore your artwork will never be seen. 

I know there are exceptions to every rule, but more than likely requests for free artwork are nothing more than that- free work.  Time is money, so please keep that in mind before you consider forking over your valuable work to strangers (or even family members!).  Unless someone has already shopped around for a publisher and their deal is a “sure thing,” then you can discuss your payment and get it in writing.  And unless you know that your work will be heavily marketed (and this is still debatable), don’t even consider hoping for publicity from the use of your free illustrations, etc. 

Don’t get me wrong, pro-bono work is great, but the jobs I’m talking about are not for a good cause.  They are simply a means to an end for someone else looking to line their pockets with your free work.  Before you give away your comic book art, maybe you should just write your own comic.  Or get a gig doing graphic design for an actual design company that pays you with money and not empty promises.  There are plenty of paying opportunities for artists, you just have to look for them.  Let’s put an end to the starving artist concept.  You’re a paid professional, and should be treated as such.

Let me know if you come across any other questionable opportunities.  Comments?  I love comments.  Questions?  I love questions. 

www.AmyGuidry.com

 

Art Help & Info

Been Caught Stealin’ (And not in the Jane’s Addiction way)

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Grrrr.  I just found one of my paintings posted on the internet by someone.  Without my permission.  And not even a credit to my name!  What’s worse is, it was posted amongst a slew of stolen images of cute kittens and whatnot.  Just randomly pasted onto a page, as you often see this phenomenon.  You know the ones… pictures of cats making weird expressions or those god-awful sparkly, animated fairies in goth outfits that barely cover them.  And now my work of art, art being the operative word here, is now being associated with these lame images.  And they didn’t even mention the artist behind the work.  Yes, that’s right- me!

You know, I’m never super happy to see my work stolen- yes, it is stealing, folks.  Remember Napster?  But if the theives at least have the common sense to put my name there with the image or better yet, put a link to my website, then I feel a little better.  At least then people are aware that I own the image.  I created it.  You get the picture.  But to find my image(s) blindly posted without my name attached, just allows more fools to take it and do the same.  It will spread like a virus then.  Think about it- no one knows who created those kitten photos or goth fairies (although I’d want to remain anonymous for that last one…) and no one cares.  They think those images are just there for them to use.  No worries.  Wrong.

So let this be a lesson to you.  If you think you can post my work without my permission, you are sorely mistaken.  And if you think I won’t find out about it, again, you are sorely mistaken.  I’ve found people halfway across the globe that I’ve never met.  And this applies to my work and that of other artists as well.  We work hard to create these pieces.  So give us our due.  And stop stealing! 

www.AmyGuidry.com