The Most Important Thing in Making and Selling Art

I was so blessed to have the sweetest established artist reach out just to encourage me when I was first starting out selling my paintings, Gwen Duda, and what she said to me has encouraged me so much throughout the years. I hope it can encourage and bring clarity for you in your art journey as well.

The vital instruction, from the culmination of all her decades of making and selling art, was this:

“The most important thing — love the art you are doing, do what you love, paint what you love. Create what you love. That will give you what you need to deal with everything else.”

What and how we create is always the foundation of an art business no matter how many other details come into play. This centers me to paint the art that comes to me instead of trying to contrive it.

So, my action items are then to consider what I and how I love to create:

What I love to paint:

Crystal clear tropical water
Light sparkles and “pool reflections” on water
Birds, dolphins, butterflies, corgis, collies, horses, sea turtles, and fish
Coral reefs
Small coastal wildflowers
Flower arrangements
Quilt patterns
Ombre sky, clouds, colorful sunsets
Water lilies, palm trees, strawberries, lemons
Stone and rocks in water
Structures (signs of life and design)
People living and playing
Bright fresh pastels, aqua, and teal
Highlights, light, and glow
Real places
Depth (Foreground, mid, and background)
A strong sense of poetry, peaceful emotional intensity
Painting the emotions, experience, significance of the place

How I love to paint:

With a mix of music (full albums one at a time that go with the piece), podcasts (sermons and scripture), and silence.
With present moment enrapturement and breaks to let it settle it and fill myself with fresh inspiration.
With a good, strong warmup of my mental focus, the emotional goals for the painting, and prayer.
Using photo references only sparingly.
Making detailed, written and sketched thumbnails beforehand.
Using the grid method to translate the thumbnail to the canvas.
With tea or matcha.
With people giving unsolicited input at least every now and then in the process.
For about an hour or two chunk at a time.
With scripture, psalms, and poetry in my mind.
With high quality paints, mixed in bright not muddied ways.

And, then I can also slowly work on the “everything else” she mentioned—from the motivation of painting what I love and loving painting.

Her starter list of the “everything else” included:

Keep growing in your artwork.
Make sure you use the best artist materials you can afford and paint for longevity.
Organize your studio.
Take GREAT photos of your work – most important.
State clear information (Cost, shipping, return policy).
Get shipping supplies ready for when you DO get your sales.
Make the shipping cost as low as possible with great packaging. Paper in tubes are easier to ship than boxes for large pieces.
Design self-promo materials (Business cards, letterhead, thank you notes).
Get yourself on social media.
Explore multiple avenues to sell your work.
Tweak your tags to increase views on art websites.
Price accordingly to the going rate for similar skill level, subject matter, and size.
Increase your prices gradually as demand grows.
Think about if you want to make prints down the line.
Read books on how to be a selling artist.