24th August 2008 - Who's made a mark this week?

What's the main way you sell your art - poll results as at 23rd August 2008

There's just six days left to vote in my poll What's the MAIN way you sell your art? The most popular ways of selling your art are set out in the above chart and the poll in the right hand column.

In terms of 'what works' this is how it currently breaks out in percentage terms for all those categories achieving 10% or more

• 26% sell online - through their own blog (13%) or personal website (13%)
  
• 24% sell in conventional places where you find art sold - bricks and mortar art galleries (11%) and art fairs (13%)
  
• 17% of artists achieve sales due to word of mouth and friends and family

What seems to work rather less well in terms of getting sales? The following have attracted less than 10% of responses to date. They're either less effective or less popular or maybe just just lack evidence of how they generate sales.

• art society exhibitions (9%)
  
• online auctions (7%)
• online art gallery sites (4%)
• online group blogs or online group websites (0%)
• B&M 'rent a wall' art galleries (7%)

It rather looks to me like those hosting group blogs and websites need to work harder at their stats. as this isn't looking very persuasive in terms of achieving sales.

Of course it could be that artists aren't checking how people got their blogs or websites..........

I'll be doing a detailed review of the poll results - with a commentary - very soon after the deadline for this poll which is 31st August. You're very welcome to leave a comment to indicate whether you find any of the results to date surprising or not and whether you agree or disagree - with reasons please!

Also please vote if you're selling art and haven't voted as yet. The poll closes next Sunday.

Art Blogs It's a bit of an 'animal art' start to this week's links to blogs.

• I've only had one brief reference to Art Helping Animals before now. This is
• this is the Art Helping Animals website which comprises artists dedicated to making a difference to animals' lives
• Art Helping Animals Blog which includes and highlights work for sale which benefits animal charities. To date it has raised over $50,000!
• Art Helping Animals News is the blog about animals in need
• I discovered via the blog of Sheona Hamilton Grant (Black on grey on white ) that the Canine Art Guild holds virtual exhibitions of work by canine artists. I'm not entirely clear from the site how this happens - but I'm assuming the lack of information requires a canine artist to join to find out! The current show is the Pot Luck Show. These are the archives The Artist's Best Friend | Dog's Just Wanna Have Fun | Black & White Show.
• More stimulation for those who draw animals and birds from life - here's a John Singer Sargent drawing of a seagull

Elsewhere

• Harry Bell (Boogie Street ) highlighted Seth Apter's 'The Pulse' which is "a project designed to bring together the online artistic community, introduce you to new artists, and help you get to know some familiar ones better." You can find out more about it on The Altered Page blog. Interestingly The Pulse: Show & Tell 1 demonstrates how much some artists are natural born collectors!
• Charley Parker (Lines and Colors ) has done yet another round-up on daily painting blogs - and in Round 7 he's focused on plein air painters who have daily painting blogs.
• and I took some time out Sketching the Olympics in Trafalgar Square - and afternoon tea! (in the National Gallery). The sketch is of the medal ceremony for our local athlete who won the womens 400m at the Beijing Olympics. I've just been watching Boris wave the Olympic ceremonial flag in the Closing Ceremony to mark the Olympics coming to my local patch in 4 years time.
  

The medal ceremony in Trafalgar Square
11.5" x 17", pencil and coloured pencils in sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Artists

• I found a new source for information about British Artists - and that's The Art Collection website of the British Council. I'm guessing that the range of artists represented on the website actually relates to all those artists whose art is in the collection of the British Council and/or artists who have participated in exhibitions sponsored by the British Council.
• The artists section lists artists alphabetically and provides links to both the artist's website and the main art organisation they belong to.
• The site also lists art by portfolios (which can also be listed by artist).
• Going to the main website which relates to the activities of the British Council, this is the British Council's Art, Architecture and Design page and this page relates to the Visual Arts. It links to an amazing amount of resources about different forms of visual art and artists, works, activities and exhibitions (which in turn links back to the collection website). Do not start looking without suitable sustenance and refreshment close to hand!
• The Times Online yesterday reported that Portraits by the artist as a very young man: early Lucian Freuds discovered.

Art Business and Marketing

The gallery business is not in the best of health at the moment. Lots of artists are reviewing their strategies for selling art and lots of artists still want to try and get into galleries if they can.

• Above you can find the results of this blog's poll about the main way people have success in selling their art
• Linda Blondheim (Linda Blondheim Art Notes ) also provides advice in her response to readers' Questions about galleries and exhibitions.
• The Times had an interesting article about Art galleries: and what brings you here? It's quick interviews with people in various art galleries finding out the reasons why they're there.

Real art, like real jeans, never goes out of fashion. You’ll never hear anyone say: “That Mona Lisa. She’s so last week.”
Jeremy Clarkson

• Jeremy Clarkson (Jezza to his pals) commented We have the galleries, but where’s the art? It's certainly the case that there is more art sat in vaults than there is on the walls of art galleries and museums. What a difference it would make if art was loaned out to commercial galleries to display alongside that of artists trying to sell their art. Would it raise the game - and would it bring in more collectors? (I wonder when Jeremy Clarkson is going to make the ING panel - there were rumours it was going to be this year)

Art Competitions

Anthony Green RA with
The Heaven and Earth Machine
his shortlisted entry
for the Threadneedle Figurative Prize.
He's also a judge for this year's Lynn Painter Stainer Prize for representational art

• This is the inaugural year of the brand new Threadneedle Figurative Prize. It rather took over on my blog this week with four posts in total. This new prize is unique insofar as the MAJOR cash prize is decided entirely by the public - and you can vote online.
• Threadneedle Figurative Prize (part 1) - view the entries and vote!
• What is Figurative Art? (plus some figurative sketches)
• Threadneedle Figurative Prize (part 2) - Green, Mills, Murdoch and Schierenberg
• Threadneedle Figurative Prize (part 3) - Brandford, Shaw, Williams and the DVD
• Yesterday I had a post to remind people that the ING Discerning Eye 2008 - deadline is 6th September
• A reminder that all entries for the Pastel 100 Competition run by F&W Publications must be postmarked 1st September. The top cash prize is $5,000 and is awarded by Jack Richseon/Unison. You may submit your entry, for the different subject matters categories, online or via mail. All entries are $12.50 per slide or image.
• I've got a post coming up next week about the Lynn Painter Stainers Prize which is open to living artists residing in the UK. This prize focuses on representational art and the top prize is £15,000.

Art Equipment and Supplies

• Charley Parker (Lines and Colors) has a hugely informative post about pochade boxes - where he takes a look at the different makes and their various pros and cons.

Art Exhibitions

• Last Monday I wrote about the current exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art - Vilhelm Hammershøi - a curious mix of Vermeer, Hopper and Wyeth? (and I'll be writing more about Wyeth next week)
• A Continuous Line, Ben Nicholson in England is an exhibition which is currently touring the UK. At present, it's in Kendal until 20th September at which point it moves to Bexhill until the end of the year and then moves to St Ives in the new year. You can read more about it in this article in the Independent - A Continuous Line: Ben Nicholson in England, Abbot Hall, Kendal
• The Tate continues a spendid year of exhibitions and now has the websites up for the next two major exhibitions:
• Francis Bacon opening at the Tate Britain on 11th September. The Tate has now published the Francis Bacon exhibition website
• An exhibition about Mark Rothko opens at Tate Modern on 26th September 2008. 53 people (so far) have commented to The Times' invitation to say what you think about 'Untitled' by Mark Rothko, 1960

Tips and techniques

• This links provides insight into how a group of botanical artists frame their work Today’s Botanical Artists On Framing
• You can find out more on the AtPlantae blog in this post Today’s Botanical Artists Answer Your Questions
• artdemonstrations.com provides links to the videos and demos found on the Internet by

Websites and blogging

• blogs.com is supposed to be a big new cutting edge blog directory - and yet again it's a Directory that's not got an art and illustration category.

and finally.............. Just to show that creativity is not dead in government, this is the 10 Downing Street response to the 'Clarkson for PM' petition (that's Clarkson as in the aforesaid 'Jezza').

[Apologies to those who looked at this twice and felt confused - I decided to rearrange items after publication!]