makingamark is now in a bluer place

Yesterday evening, I turned to the new kid on the block - Bluesky Social - and registered 'makingamark' for an account. 

Those currently joining Bluesky Social seem to be very much either 

• those wanting to reject the swaggering "Leon" for what he's done to date - and going to do in future. Hence the massive numbers (millions) who all joined last week. 

The platform said on Thursday evening, that an additional one million people had joined within 24 hours. BBC News

• and/or to go back to the days of "good old Twitter" (pre Leon) - which, for me, is actually what it feels like - a lot!  (I've always been one of those who has kept calling it Twitter - because we dislike Leon so very much)
• and/or those who can't cope with the pervasive and very intrusive adverts on Twitter. There are no adverts on Bluesky Social - and I assume this will continue to be the same until they've worked out how to monetise it in a way which keeps people rather than drives them away

This was the new account last night

If you want to find me, you can find me at @makingamark.bsky.social

Below is a bit more about what's involved with joining.

In the last week or so I've heard about a lot of people rushing over to BlueSky Social post election (as in millions!)  

I'm now on Bluesky Social - as makingamark

So by way of making myself visible

• I've claimed my makingamark "brand handle" - you can see it just under the account name in the pic
• I've started posting pics on there.
• plus maybe drip feeding pics I liked at the ING Discerning Eye? (see note at the end).

So, if this is a really good time to get back to your more "interest oriented" social media (I just clicked "art" as my interest) now is very definitely the time to investigate.

Plus get your handle that's the one you're known by elsewhere - BEFORE anybody else gets it.

Account Name

Warning - they don't like long names so for my second account, I could not have the name for my very popular botanical art website "botanicalartandartists" (#1 in the world)  - which is what I wanted. 

But I have got @botanicalart.bsky.social instead and that will very certainly do! :)

I'm going to have a third account for my "watching everything else I'm interested in" but this won't be one I publicise.

Interest Focused

You can have multiple accounts - and since this model of social media is emphatically interest oriented, I'd suggest considering one for your art - and another for everything else

You can post short messages, photos, and videos and send direct messages. Just like Twitter.

If your serious about your art, I'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you keep an account focused on just art. I know I only follow those accounts which are going to deliver to my own "defined interest" account what I want to look at.

Follow back

There's no harm having an account which is about multiple interests. However, just don't be surprised if not everybody wants to know EVERYTHING you're interested in and do NOT follow you back.

My other personal rule for following back is I only follow back:

• people I know - so makingamark will be following artists whose art I know or people I have met and know
• people who are posting (i.e. I don't follow back those who haven't yet posted) - and whose art looks interesting. Nobody has to like all the art that is out there

Overall, I'm not looking for lots of followers. I'm looking to develop a carefully curated set of posts. Of those I follow, I will be reposting stuff I like. 

I also UNFOLLOW those who are posting too much about stuff I'm really NOT interested in. (So maybe reread the last paragraph of the preceding section?)

Verification

You are verified via your email address and one of those picture puzzlegrams - which hopefully will keep many of the bots at bay - which would be very good news.

Decentralised 

The defining difference between Twitter and BlueSky Social is that the latter is constructed to be decentralised, which basically means users can host their data on servers other than those owned by the company.

Now I've not really investigated what that means - but for those owning their domains and buying their own hosts, you might want to investigate this aspect. Or maybe move over to it being decentralised in future if it takes off for you....

Get the app / FAQs

You'll need the app to use it on your phone or tablet and can otherwise access it via the website https://bsky.social

This is the Bluesky User FAQs

NOTE: My next blog post has been held up. I've been sat around since Friday waiting for my photographs of the ING Discerning Eye on my iPhone to turn up on the Facebook Interface with my Macbook so I can write about the exhibition and I'm still waiting. Looks like I'm going to have to export them. 

Does anybody know why the macOS Facebook sometimes cannot read Apple Photos? It's extremely boring when it happens.

The LinkedIn Services Page - for Artists, Art Societies and Art Teachers

I've just created a Linked In Services Page associated with my Linked In Profile. 

• It's not yet finished as I think need to do more 
• plus it could do with a few reviews from people who've experienced my writing, teaching, talks etc

I'm very much still feeling my way around this aspect of LinkedIn and hence this is by far from a comprehensive expert commentary on the topic!

However it got me thinking about how artists can use LinkedIn to develop their career paths and business income.

Why I developed a Service Page on LinkedIn

I have to say

• I'm happy to say I provide services 
• BUT I'm not into aggressive marketing 
• because all current activities must be fitted in around 
• the exercise I need to do on a daily basis to keep the arthritis from getting worse and 
• yet more surgery for those joints which have already failed 
• plus I'm now semi-retired (and 68!) and slowing down following my initial early retirement and heavy duty blogging / website development career about art.

However I'm not averse to taking on clients - both organisations and individuals - with new assignments. (see my Would you like me to help page on Art Business Info for Artists - which explains how it works and provides a form for contacting me)

Katherine Tyrrell - some media examples on my NEW Services Page on Linked In

BELOW I'm going to discuss and comment on

• What is a LinkedIn Service Page? - which is mainly a commentary on me trying to find my way about!
  

PLUS what are the benefits for

• Artists on Linked In
• Art Societies on Linked In
• Art Teachers on Linked In

and later this week I'll highlight MORE about:

• Some Do's and Don'ts about Linked in - or how to make the most of it!

What is a LinkedIn Service Page?

I can do no better at the moment than highlight what the website tells us about the service page. As I said I'm still finding my way around and opening a new tab for each useful looking page and then trying to work out how they relate to one another

This is the link to 

• the Services Page - information
• Create a LinkedIn Page - note it's about a business not a person (it's a bit the same as the way Facebook works)
• Get started as a service provider on LinkedIn

Service providers can create a Service Page on LinkedIn. Service Pages are free dedicated landing pages that showcase services and businesses, and operate on a request and proposal model. Potential clients can contact providers for free, regardless of connection degree.

In general, the steps to work with a service provider on LinkedIn are:

• A potential client searches for a provider on LinkedIn or through the Services Marketplace. When the client clicks on a provider, they're directed to the provider’s Service Page.
• The client submits a project request (request for proposal) to a provider.
• The provider responds with a proposal to express interest in the project. Your response time average from the past 180 days will be displayed on your Service Page if you respond to inquiries within 24 hours, and your response rate average will be displayed if you respond to at least 80% of inquiries.
• Once the client receives a desirable proposal, the client and provider agree on the terms of the project and the provider completes the work.
• Payment for project completion happens through the service provider’s preferred process, outside of LinkedIn.com.
• The provider can invite the client to write a review.

These are links to the tasks involved

• Create a LinkedIn Service Page
• Access your LinkedIn Service Page admin view
• Add media to a LinkedIn Service Page
• Link your Service Page and LinkedIn Page

plus maybe you're in the market for a service from somebody else

• Get started shopping for services on LinkedIn

So this is my LinkedIn Page BEFORE THE SERVICE PAGE

The red line highlights the offer - to showcase services

This is my LinkedIn Page BEFORE THE SERVICE PAGE.

It invites you to click on the link to see the Service Page - however while signed in I can only see the Admin version - and I want to see the version that other people see!

Artists on Linked In

You may be surprised to know that there are lots of artists on Linked In.

Social Media - Recommended Images Sizes in 2023

For all those using social media for their art - particularly those who use it for social media marketing - it's absolutely ESSENTIAL to know what are the best images sizes for use on the different platforms. 

It's simply NOT a case of one image fits all!

I always look out for the posts which provide this information on an annual basis and Hootsuite provides one of the best.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you read and bookmark/file Hootsuite's 2023 Social Media Image Sizes for All Networks [CHEATSHEET]  by Karin Olafson and Tony Tran - as I will be!

The most recent image size specifications for different social media networks, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more.

It provides:

• this quick summary image for different types of format and different platforms 
• PLUS infographics with much more detail for individual platforms.
• AND detailed written information and advice and tips for every type of image possible

Source

As it highlights - and as I have found out from bitter experience over the years - trying to find the "best" image sizes for different uses is very far from easy. As they say.....

It doesn’t help that information about official dimensions and image sizes is harder to find than a civil discussion on politics on Facebook.

The post is comprehensive and provides the following

• Quick social media image sizes
• Instagram image sizes
• Twitter image sizes
• Facebook image sizes
• LinkedIn image sizes
• Pinterest image sizes
• Snapchat image sizes
• YouTube image sizes
• TikTok image sizes
• Why is it important to get social media image sizes right?

Their infographic images for every platform are excellent and provide detailed pixel sizes for every format on every platform.

Plus they provide lots of detailed written information - for each platform - about;

• what size to upload - including recommended sizes and minimum sizes
• what resolution to use
• maximum file sizes
• how different platforms will resize your image 
• what image size will display
• PLUS lots of additional tips for making your social media marketing more effective.

It's very much one of those articles which is worth printing off and pinning up next to your desk - or at the very least bookmarking for reference.

One cautionary note

Following the advent of AI, I'd caution it's even more important than it has been in the past to only post images of your artwork at a size you are comfortable with.

Plus ALWAYS keep the original of your image at its original size and filed away as a record of your art-marking. That way if you ever want to get into a "discussion" with somebody who has nabbed your image and used it for their own benefit outside the fair use / fair dealing copyright conventions then you have a basis for disputing that it was their image in the first place. 

For more about what to do in the event of copyright infringement - see my page What to do about Copyright Infringement - for Artists on my website Art Business Info for Artists

__________________________________________

NOTE: Hootsuite is a social media management platform which has been around for a long time in social media times. It was created by Ryan Holmes in 2008 and is based in Vancouver. It's commonly used to manage social media messages to multiple social media platforms. It's no surprise to me that it is now regarded as an industry leader and is used by 25 million customers! 

Hootsuite provides a suite of social media tools is built to simplify your marketing, accelerate your sales, and streamline your customer service

Twitter Chaos: Is it time to close our Twitter accounts?

One of the phenomena associated with the 17 years since I started blogging has been the move of artists into social media. 

First through blogs, then Twitter and latterly via Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

However the only thing that is certain in life is that things CHANGE over time.

A lot of artists gave up blogging. Too much writing, too much effort seemed to be the reason. I had multiple blogs at one time dedicated to different art-related topics. Nevertheless I enjoy writing about art and want to keep the long form and now retain and post regularly to two blogs.

Once upon a time I always tweeted my blog post after publication - and now I post it on Facebook instead - where the comments now reside after I had to close down comments on the blog due to the ineffective control of spam by Blogger. 

(Incidentally I have thought of creating a Facebook Group for proper commenting on various topics in order to create a much better environment. At the moment I'm still having to block people on comment on my Pages)

I've grown to like Facebook - despite the many awful irritations as it keeps changing! 

I particularly like the photos and albums aspect which allows me to share more images from exhibitions I visit. It also offers a very speedy and effective resolution to spam and nasty comments and I've blocked more than a few accounts from seeing and commenting on my Pages.

Artists took to Instagram - and Facebook liked it too. Me not so much - since I can't leave links to where my words and pics are. However I do see the benefit of Instagram although I still think it's a lopsided bargain. However a lot of artists can sell via Instagram and do.

Tiktok has never appealed to me - I think it's a generational thing. I'm sure if I were 50 years younger I'd think it was great!

Twitter - challenge and change

The changes which have occurred in the last few weeks since Elon Musk bought Twitter suggest that it's time to consider closing down Twitter accounts or maybe deactivating them.

The Twitter "About" Page - it never said a truer word!

My reason for thinking like this is:

READ: The Age of Social Media is Ending

For any artist who is active on the internet and/or social media and/or thinks they ought to be, I have a recommendation for an article which I think is a "must read". 

The Age of Social Media Is Ending is by Ian Bogost and it's the first article that I've read which makes cogent sense of the last 20 years and how both the internet communication, social networks and social media have developed - and now appear to be declining. 

It may well make you pause for thought about how you might proceed in future. At any rate it provides context for the future - as well as the past.

It’s over. Facebook is in decline, Twitter in chaos. Mark Zuckerberg’s empire has lost hundreds of billions of dollars in value and laid off 11,000 people, with its ad business in peril and its metaverse fantasy in irons. Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has caused advertisers to pull spending and power users to shun the platform (or at least to tweet a lot about doing so). It’s never felt more plausible that the age of social media might end—and soon. 
Introduction to The Age of Social Media Is Ending is by Ian Bogost

You can find the article online in The Atlantic Magazine (which I recommend in general anyway!)

In terms of whether it's written by somebody who knows what they're talking about

Ian Bogost is an American academic and video game designer. He holds a joint professorship at Washington University as director and professor of the Film and Media Studies program in Arts & Sciences and the McKelvey School of Engineering. He previously held a joint professorship in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication and in Interactive Computing in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Chair in Media Studies  Wikipedia

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp down - what did it mean for artists?

Is it time to think about whether your art business is independent of social media - or too dependent on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp?

Facebook Outage on Downdetector

I'm guessing that quite a few businesses around the world are reassessing how they do business on social media after the major outage for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp yesterday. 

3.5 billion people/companies were left twiddling their thumbs - and inspecting Twitter and Downdetector on a regular basis!

hello literally everyone

— Twitter (@Twitter) October 4, 2021

Of course once upon a time, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were three separate entities - but if anybody needed telling they all belong to Facebook, they'll know full well after yesterday. (Instagram was acquired in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014).

For lots of people their whole business model lost its profile on the internet - and associated sales.

Bear in mind previous outages lasted not much more than an hour. As we went past the two hour mark, it was very apparent that what had caused it was really serious AND they didn't know what hd happened and how to fix it. The corollary of this is that next time it could be days.....

There's quite a few artists reappraising how they use social media to market their art on the internet after yesterday. 

Such as Jim

Plus there's quite a few articles pondering on what happened and whether it was a bit of a wake-up call.

Here's some of them - which you can read at your leisure.

• Are the arts too reliant on socials? | ArtsHub (Australia) - which HIGHLIGHTS the Pros and Cons of the different social media platforms - and why you need a presence if you want to promote your art online.

As the internet went into panic and outage memes showered Twitter (one of the only social platforms still working), users were left re-thinking their daily reliance on social media accounts.

Over the past decade social media has transformed the way artists interact with each other and their audiences. It’s opened a wealth of opportunities, and platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become essential spaces for emerging artists to share and sell their work.

But this relationship between art and social media is complicated. Why? Because art pushes the boundaries, and social media enforces them.

• Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Suffer Worldwide Outage | Billboard - which highlighted the implications for whether this mega social media group can be allowed to continue. Right on top of allegations that Facebook has complete disregard for the harms that some of its products can do to some of its users. My expectation is that this incident will have rollout and repercussions which Facebook might not like....

It also showed that, despite the presence of Twitter, Telegram, Signal, TikTok, Snapchat and a bevy of other platforms, nothing can truly replace the social network that has evolved in 17 years into all but critical infrastructure. Facebook’s request Monday that a revised antitrust complaint against it by the Federal Trade Commission be dismissed because it faces vigorous competition from other services seemed to ring a bit hollow.

More generic (non-art specific) comments on the outage came from the better known publications - in print and online.

• Gone in Minutes, Out for Hours: Outage Shakes Facebook | New York Times - which comment extensively on the much wider implications for how the lack of the platform impacted in very many different ways

“Today’s outage brought our reliance on Facebook — and its properties like WhatsApp and Instagram — into sharp relief,” said Brooke Erin Duffy, a professor of communications at Cornell University. “The abruptness of today’s outage highlights the staggering level of precarity that structures our increasingly digitally mediated work economy.”

• Facebook is back online after a massive outage that also took down Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus | The Verge - which comments extensively on what happened to employees INSIDE Facebook!

Inside Facebook, the outage has broken nearly all of the internal systems employees use to communicate and work. Several employees told The Verge they resorted to talking through their work-provided Outlook email accounts, though employees can’t receive emails from external addresses. Employees who were logged into work tools such as Google Docs and Zoom before the outage can still use those, but any employee who needs to log in with their work email was blocked.

• Facebook is down – but you can still get your misinformation fix | The Guardian - some truisms and some good jokes!

and finally......

• Facebook down: Zuckerberg apologises for six-hour outage | BBC News

Facebook has said it is working to understand what happened so it can "make our infrastructure more resilient". Tech experts have described the issue as being akin to the social media giant falling off the internet's map, so it could not be found.

The company said there was "no evidence that user data was compromised".

The outage comes at a particularly difficult time for the company, which is finding itself increasingly under pressure over its reach and impact on society.

What is an emerging artist?

Do you know the definition of an emerging artist?

"Emerging artist" is a term which is often used by various art competitions which, one would like to think, are serious about helping to develop the careers of those who are starting out and beginning to 'make their mark' and be recognised.

Today's post was prompted by a message sent to me via Facebook by an artist querying the definition of an emerging artist. It struck me that:

• a lot of would-be artists are confused by the term "emerging artist"
• I know a lot of people get puzzled about who/why certain people get selected for competitions
• The points worth making probably would benefit from a wider audience than just the young lady who asked the question

So first the question, then my view as to the definition plus other views on the definition and finally some comments about art competitions.

The Question

Hello Katherine,  

First of all, thank you so much for creating Making a Mark - it's such a valuable resource for all artists!  

I actually wanted to seek your thoughts on something I noticed in the world of art competitions as it seemed a bit odd. 

Recently, a UK competition titled "[sponsor name] Emerging [deleted] Painter Prize" announced its finalists, and I was surprised to see that amongst those selected was an artist who has in fact been practicing art for at least a decade and gotten a major commission (for the Olympics back in 2012) as well as winning first prize at major international art competitions in previous years (these were not geared towards emerging artists). 

I'm still new to the world of art competitions so I was wondering if this is the norm, where clearly well-established artists are generally accepted as fair game at such emerging artist competitions? I understand that all competitions value quality, and in that sense those with years of experience would have an advantage over emerging artists. But to my mind, these competitions (especially if titled as such) are aimed to spotlighting artists who are relatively inexperienced and could really benefit from some extra attention on their work.  

If in your experience as a critic/judge/curator, the above situation (established artist selected in emerging artist competition) is in fact quite acceptable, then perhaps it is I who need to adjust my thinking about art competitions for emerging artists. I really hope you can offer some thoughts on this.  

Thank you in advance! 

Warm regards etc

I comment further about this particular competition - and how it fails emerging artists at the end of this blog post. 

DEFINITION: What is an emerging artist?

My definition

Here's my definition of an emerging artist. (E) means essential; (F) indicates happens frequently

An emerging artist:

• aims to be professional artist - having gone well beyond 'hobby artist' status while not yet an 'established' or 'mid-career' artist (E)

• is committed to his/her practice and has worked seriously over the last 5 years (or less) to develop and promote a career as a professional artist  (E)    

• has developed an original body of work with a clear identity and/or one (or more) theme(s) (E) 

• is not defined by age - because people develop second careers and take up art at various ages (E) 

• demonstrates potential AND has had some notable success - in terms of sales or awards/prizes and/or getting their art noticed and/or selected for significant exhibitions (E) 

• has a career on an upward trajectory (E)

• may operate on a semi-professional basis - but has another job which helps pay the bills (F) 

• graduated with an art degree within the last five years (F)

I require emerging artists to have demonstrated some level of success because otherwise they are what I call "aspiring artists". Some might call them "wannabes". (Think 98% of the people who turn up on TV talent shows)

An "established artist" for me (in the UK) is no longer "new" and has gone beyond "emerging". He or she is somebody who has been writing "Artist" as their main or one of their main occupational activities on their self-assessment tax return for 5 years or more AND paying tax and Class 2 National Insurance from their profits (i.e. because they're generating enough profit to be required to do so - because people have recognised value in what they do).

If you're not doing either then from my perspective you may well be an 'aspiring' or 'hobby' artist.  (However see below for what others have to say on this topic!)

A "new artist" / one just starting out is also to me distinct from "emerging" in that

• there's LOTS of artists who are new to competitions and the art market - 
• but very few will become recognised as "emerging artists" (according to my definition) and 
• even fewer will become "established artists".

One might debate the number of years. I have a very clear view as to why I use 5 years as a benchmark. In my opinion, if - within five years - you're

• NOT making some significant progress in creating a unique identity and body of work 
• NOT getting noticed 

I'd begin to doubt whether you ever will or whether you really want to be an artist as a career.

Some other definitions

Here are some others who have commented on what an emerging artist is

Art Instruction Books: 10 years after

Ten years ago I wrote two very long posts about Art Instruction Books. I posted one to my Making A Mark Facebook Page this morning and it seems it still has a resonance with my followers.

The two posts are:

• Art Instruction Books #1: different ways of learning
• Art Books #2 - the economics of publishing (the one posted to Facebook this morning)

This post is about what they're about - and what I think has happened since and what may well happen next.

a small section of my Art Book Bookshelves - before I rearranged them again.

Different ways of Learning - in summary and since

The first post Art Instruction Books #1: different ways of learning summarises some of my thoughts back then on:

• the way people learn
• the way people learn about art
• how this all relates to art instruction

It took different models of the way people learn - and extrapolated this into how this applies in relation to art instruction (but not art instruction books)

It strikes me as interesting that over the last ten years

• in some ways art instruction has remained the same (for some) in terms of how it works
• in other ways it has changed hugely.

For example technology has well and truly arrived :

• Lots of artists now teach students remotely - as a matter of routine
• Lots of artists now control their own websites and online learning schools / video output / podcasts - and are not beholden to other publishers / platforms etc to deliver their content and generate their own followers in terms of students
• It's normal to have art students who don't live in the same country as you

In order to do that art instructors have had to become good at making videos and/or podcasts and/or modular instruction.

What I find very interesting - as somebody whose first degree is in education and who has initially formally trained as a teacher - is that most people are doing this with no idea about how to teach.

So we have 

• on the one hand - democratisation around publication of art instruction; and 
• on the other - there's an awful lot of utter [expletive deleted] out there - because there is no accreditation and there are absolutely no quality controls. Anybody can produce complete rubbish!
• not forgetting that some artists are proving to be excellent instructors despite no training 

For the most part, people have not been so much into writing art books as they are about writing content - of a chunked up modular kind, which sometimes has - but often doesn't - an underpinning structure of what needs to be learned. No matter what kind of art.

The Economics of Publishing - in summary and since

I think I was absolutely spot on with Art Books #2 - the economics of publishing! However it's difficult to summarise briefly - so read the post!

 In fact I'm somewhat amazed that I was quite so prescient. But for the fact that I used to have a boss who periodically used to roll me out in front of the management team peers and ask me to perform my party trick - which was to tell everybody what was going to happen in the next 5-10 years. Based on the fact I seemed to have developed an uncanny habit of being able to tell what was going to happen over a strategic time period. In fact I was only ever doing what on any sensible R&D set-up would do - which is keep both eyes and ears open and read around to see what everybody else was doing and what new developments were getting underway and building traction. That way you assimilate the clues that are out there and sooner or later they begin to make a coherent story which either becomes even more convincing or morphs and changes into something slightly different.

Which is why I always knew the UK would vote for Brexit if they ever got the chance!  But that's a different story....

In terms of publishing what I predicted would happen has happened. 

• publishing hit the same buffers as the music industry due to the changes technology and the means of production - and a lack of experience within the industry about how manage change and how to cope with new ways of working. For example see 
• Owner of Artist Network, Wet Canvas & North Light Books files for Bankruptcy Protection and 
• F&W Media Bankruptcy Protection UPDATE re SALES of Artist Network, Wet Canvas & North Light Books
• even if some of the same publishing names exist, they've often been bought up within a global conglomerate which retains the name as a brand 
• others have gone bust or no longer print art books
• more or less all printing is now done in India or China and timelines have to accommodate the time for shipping books actually via a ship!
• the entry level / amateur hobby market continues to obsess publishers
• so much so that many books are printed now with very little instruction and lots of blank pages so that people can fill them in like a workbook. My jaw dropped when I saw one of these for the first time. I couldn't believe people were actually buying them - but they do!
• colouring books took over the world - a bit like 'paint by numbers' did when I was a kid - and totally invaded every known category of art instruction books on Amazon. Apparently a colouring book is now to be regarded as an art instruction book!
• books seem to have more pictures and fewer words - because that's actually cheaper and suits an audience which has become image obsessed and text light
• people are publishing small quick guides online
• more or less all art instruction books must now be made as ebooks as well as the printed version
• which has implications for both content and how they are formatted if they are to work well as e-books (but not all the authors have made that change!)
• publishers now LOVE authors with major online followings - half their marketing can be done for nothing by the artist!
• those that stick with conventional publishers now understand the real financial benefit comes via the workshops which can be sold off the back of the book rather than through the book itself - when you take the opportunity cost of taking time out to write and produce a book into consideration 

When I wrote my book it was made very clear to me that the only way to make it economic to publish was to sell the international rights around the world. The spin-off was that the content had to be capable of being acceptable to different audiences around the world - which accounts for why no brand names appear on the art media in my book - because not all art media exports around the world!

So what happens next?

What I'm doing next is buying up second hand versions of older books on the basis that "text on paper" is a disappearing commodity. 

The future will be more of the same for the time being

• rather less artists having a bread and butter job as an art teacher in schools and colleges - as their second job - and rather more running an online art school
• too many untrained people teaching others despite the fact they only have a partial grasp of some of the basics of art
• fewer experienced people creating art instruction books
• too few decent art instruction books - unless lovingly produced by an artist who cares deeply about passing on good art instruction in relation to his or her specific area of expertise
• more and more publishing companies going under - unless small independent operations which are resistant / immune to the overtures of the corporate big boys flashing their wallets!
• much more art instruction via video and online modules and much less via art instruction books

I have hopes though that we may also see an emergence of the in-depth manual for advanced artists by those recognised to be expert in their craft - and a re-emergence of a high regard for knowledge about the craft of making art - in different media.

I know of one in the offing - being published by a specialised art society in the USA. It occurs to me that in fact art societies are excellent vehicles for creating specialised texts for the future. Maybe we shall see more?

Maybe I'll write another one of these posts in another ten years. The scary bit is I can include a reminder to self on my iPhone!

Do let me know what you think! Comments on my Making A Mark FB page please. 

Which video platform gives you the best views for your art?

More and more artists are using videos to generate traffic for their website, blog, Facebook Page and their ART! 2017 is very much the year of the video...

Some of you may even have noticed I've been posting a few videos recently - with some significant impact on my Insight metrics on Facebook!

But which platform gives you the best video views?

I've been thinking maybe Facebook is the best medium - but I learned something today that's worth sharing.

Did you know that YouTube and Facebook count views differently? No? Nor did I!

Apparently their video metrics are VERY DIFFERENT:

• YouTube counts views after 30 seconds of viewings (ie it eliminates all the flybys)
• Facebook counts all the views after just 3 seconds.
• That's a difference of 27 seconds or a factor of 10!!!

Bottom line Facebook might look like it gives you the best views. However since it's counting views in a very way and views which are wholly discounted by YouTube you cannot easily draw a conclusion as to which is the best platform for video views.

I'm guessing the reason why the views are so short in Facebook is that Facebook encourages people to video live - and given most people are going to be out and about with (maybe) an uncertain connection such live videos are more likely to be short.

Me - I video while out and about, download when I get home, edit the clips together and top and tail them in iVideo, then upload to YouTube.

Then a few days later I upload the same video to Facebook - which is how I got comparative data on videos.

So there I was, looking at the numbers and being very impressed with my Facebook views - and thinking the place to put videos in future is Facebook - when actually if we were talking apples and apples (as opposed to pears) the figures might be very different.

Viewing videos on Facebook | Photo by William Iven on Unsplash

I found a very useful article about how videos views are counted on What Counts As a Video View on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat? The Buffer Guide to Video Metrics (dated March 29, 2017)

This provides

• an analysis of different kinds of videos
  Facebook video
  Facebook Live
  Instagram video
  Instagram Stories
  Instagram live video
  Snapchat Stories
  Twitter video
  Periscope
  YouTube
• an infographic which lines up the various metrics and compares
• what counts as a view
• when counting starts
• whether auto-play is involved
• whether there is an auto-loop (that thing which keeps playing videos even when you don't want it to!)

Bottom line it all boils down to money and metrics for advertising and metrics are the basis on which people get paid.

I RECOMMEND that you take a look. 

YouTube in contrast offers a TrueView advertising format whereby consumers have to watch at least five seconds of an ad and advertisers don’t pay a penny until they’ve watched at least 30 seconds. 
The Guardian | Facebook’s inflated video metrics signals a need to define what a 'view' is by Jerry Daykin

In terms of artists going forward there's another quote from the Guardian article which is worth taking to heart

The right approach to video measurement will always depend on specific business objectives – for instance do you need lots of people to hear a little from your brand, or would you rather fewer people really engage and understand a message?

So the question you need to ask yourself is WHY are you using videos - and are you using the best platform for your end objective?

I'm in the spotlight!

Vuelio recently rated my blog as one of the 10 top art blogs in the UK and has now also done a blog post about me.

See BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: KATHERINE TYRRELL, MAKING A MARK

As it says

In this spotlight, Katherine chats to us about how she measures the success of her blog, how she likes to work with PRs, and how she uses social media to promote the content on her blog.

I'm really not at all used to having two "much larger than I would normally use" photos of myself in a blog post. You can have too much of a good thing! ;)

Can I go back to blogging in my PJs now?

See also Making A Mark is a Top 10 Art Blog in the UK 2017

Art Collecting in the Digital Age

I came across a report about a survey of art collectors - Collecting in the Digital Age - done back in 2014 - which I'd not seen before. It's worth highlighting the key messages.

The survey was done by AXA Art who insure art and collectibles

• The survey was done online. 
• 972 people from around the world were asked questions between January 28 to February 25, 2013
• The questions asked were based on several dozen long, face-to-face interviews with collectors.  The purpose was to check out themes raised in the conversations.

It should be noted that the survey was obviously directed at people with serious wealth.  While a third of respondents stayed silent on the size and value of their art collections, of the rest....

only a minority of respondents own small collections with less than 25 objects (15%) or a value of less than 100,000 US $ (22%). 

There again who wouldn't want to know more art collectors who have serious money for art collecting!

Particularly if you've gone professional and are now pricing your art accordingly.

Art collectors: who collects what, how, why and where?

Who is the art collector?

• the typical collector and Internet user is a man
• 80% have a college or university degree,
• 73% of collecting is done by people aged between 40 and 70
• most collecting is done by people with no children at home
• nearly half are self-employed or entrepreneurs
• only 25% are employees

What do people collect?

People like things which hang on walls.

• 89% collect paintings
• 63% collect works on paper (drawings / prints etc)
• 60% collect sculpture
• 49% collect photography

People collect a lot of other things - read the report!

Preference for the type of art collected varies with age

• everybody likes contemporary art
• young people like new art
• older people like more traditional art 

How do people collect?

The survey report came up with a typology of collectors. The described them as follows

• Young collectors: 8% of the collectors in our sample have "just started collecting recently".
• Active collectors: only 45% of respondents state that they "have been collecting continuously and for a while".
• Sporadic collectors: 18% buy collectables "every now and again in phases, with long intervals in between". 1 in 10 collections is worth more than $1m
• Mature collectors: 16% are already beyond the peak of their collecting activities – they "have been collecting for a while, but not as intensively as before"
• Non-collectors: A noteworthy minority, 11% of respondents, say they "would not regard themselves as collectors".

Interesting when asked about their collecting strategies....

• most (65%) said they did it on "gut instinct"
• 30% collect items of high quality

Why do people collect?

Three common reasons were

• "I love to own beautiful things and to surround myself with them" (80%) · 
• "I enjoy occupying myself with art and developing a comprehensive knowledge of art"(79%) 
• "Collecting is a passion of mine" (72%)

Where do people purchase?

Collectors research before they purchase. 77% want to know about one thing - the artist.

(Anybody thinking they need to do a website / social media review of the information the put out in the morning?)

The think the best place for getting the information they want is art fairs.

• 64% use trade fairs, exhibitions, events, presentations 
• 62% find out via galleries
• 58% read printed media, trade journals, newspapers, books 
• 58% like to have discussions with artists 
• 52% use their personal contacts to find out what they need to know
• 51% use the internet - via online media, websites, internet forums, social networks 

The survey then asked "Where and how do you buy your works of art or collectable items?"

• Most (73%) buy via galleries
• However - and very importantly - 63% buy direct from the artist (now you know why galleries don't release details of who buys your art!)
• 59% buy via auctions

For the rest of the places see the chart on the right - or the report.

Interestingly although 95% of art collectors visit art fairs only 39% purchase there.

Plus art advisers are a LOT less important than they may think they are!

Clearly the art fair is the place to meet galleries, find out who does what, see what interests - and find out about the artists!

There is a divergence of opinion about the importance of the internet

• 95% use the internet for communication and researching art they're interested in.
• However:
• only 34% had bought artwork online
• BUT 42% did not contemplate ever using the internet for purchasing art.

Which means that another 24% might do so in future!

All those thinking that serious art collectors do not use the internet need to do a rethink!

Different types of art collectors

The rest of the report - which I recommend you read then focuses on the different types of art collectors

I'd suggest you read these sections in detail to try and understand the sort of people you are dealing with when it comes to art collectors.

These are

• Type I: art aficionados – collecting out of passion - typically people who like contemporary art; like their collection to express their personality and value the social contacts and friendships they get through collecting art. They often have a plan for how to develop their collection.
• Type II: traditionalists – collecting over generations - they collect because their family has always collected - it's what they do!  They also like to own and surround themselves with beautiful things and preserve them for future generations to enjoy them.  Two thirds collect on the basis of gut instinct.
• Type III: investors – collecting for the portfolio - these are people who read auction results and prices paid for an artist the way others would read stock market changes. They collect for investment and enjoy speculating on whether an artist's work is likely to move up or down in value.  Their purchases give them status and express who they are in society.   They are more likely to buy via auctions or on the internet. They are less likely to visit the artist's studio.

Conclusions

For me, the different types of art collectors will remain stable over time. The motivations are similar irrespective of the sector of the art market we are talking about - although I think the Investors are probably more important at the high/expensive end.

My guess is the internet has become much more important since the survey was done.  As I indicated recently in Art Collectors and Instagram, social media has proved invaluable to many collectors for being able to survey what's on offer and just browse.

The imperative for artists is to:

• make sure you present both themselves and your art in the best possible way - on websites and through any social media that they use. (see Marketing and Communication for Artists)
• make sure that art collectors can find out 
• what they want to know from you
• how to buy or commission art from you. (check with independent third parties whether your website makes that easy or difficult).
• make sure that any art gallery that sells your work knows how to promote art and artists on the Internet!

Who's made a mark - 18th September 2016?

A round of some of latest posts on this blog and my various Facebook Pages (see the side column)

Art Competitions

• The Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition opens this week at the Mall Galleries. I reported last month that Kathryn Maple wins Sunday Times Watercolour Competition - for the second time in three years!

Gridlock (Manhattan) by Janet Kenyon
winner of the Smith & Williamson Cityscape Prize
at the Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition

• The Jerwood Drawing Prize Exhibition opened last week at the Jerwood Space. Jerwood Drawing 2016 (Part 1) - Solveig Settemsdal wins First Prize is about the prizewinners.
• The Derwent Art Prize 2016 also opens tomorrow at the Mall Galleries (until 24th September). Its aim is to showcase the very best artworks created in pencil by British and International artists

Art Exhibitions & Collections

Art Exhibitions

• I wrote about All the mistakes you can make when submitting work to an art exhibition and a number of artists came up with a few more - so I'll be highlighting a summary in the near future
• Guerrilla Girls at the Whitechapel Gallery this Autumn - opening 
• The Columbia Threadneedle Prize Winner Solo Exhibition Beer and Guns: Lewis Hazelwood-Horner is the solo exhibition whuioch formed part of this year's prize. It runs 19 September 2016 to 24 September 2016 at the Mall Galleries.

Botanical Art

• Flora Japonica opened at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew yesterday. I'll be writing an introduction to the artists exhibiting and then reviewing it shortly.
• 'Florilegium: Sydney’s Painted Garden' at Museum of Sydney until 30 October 2016. Associated with this was a post about one of the artists painting one of the paintings in the exhibition which has proved to be one of my most popular ever posts - it's a totally fascinating Video: Painting a Norfolk Island Pine for the RBG Sydney Florilegium
• 'The Artist & the Botanical Collector' at the Museum of Sydney continues until 20 November 2016
• "Enchanted Forrest" Exhibition by the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists continues until Sunday 16th October 2016 at Callander House in falkirk
• I wrote about RHS Botanical Art Shows in 2017 - the FAQS
• This is a review of 13th Florum Exhibition in Sevenoaks - a review of art and artists which closed yesterday - and sadly won't be happening in 2017 although we hope for a resurrection in 2018.

Art Collections

• Who knew Richard Attenborough loved Picasso's ceramics? Or that he probably had the best collection in private hands?  Although Richard Attenborough made a lifetime loan of their Picasso ceramics to the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, the Guardian reports that Richard Attenborough's beloved Picasso ceramics to go on sale via auction

Art Business & Marketing

Art Studios

• Will artists need to move out of London in future if they want cheap space to rent now that every last inch of brown field sites are being rezoned, refurbished and rebuilt? Read the article on Apollo Magazine about Where will London's Artists work?

Art Galleries & Fairs

• Galleries can't always dictate terms to artists - however in order to call the shots, an artist must be commercially successful—particularly when it comes to art fairs. Read As artists play the field, galleries are having to adapt in The Art Newspaper
• Read An Art Fair Primer with Ilana Vardy for exhibiting artists on Artbusiness.com
• Will the successor to Sir Nicholas Serota as Head of the Tate Galleries be a woman? There's at least three strong contenders... in Six candidates who could be up for the top job at Tate galleries

Selling Art & Social Media

• Cory Huff (The Abundant Artist) on selling art via Facebook - How to sell art on Facebook - a 60 minute training video (keep scrolling) or download the pdf of this webinar Click here to view on Dropbox
• Have you ever been asked to donate art to charity? Have a read of this article (or bookmark it for reference later) about The Career Benefits of Boycotting Charity Art Auctions if this has happened to you. It's old but the points are still relevant and worth thinking about

Instagram and Videos

• 'The Working Artist' website has an infographic about selling art online that summarises key points 
• Social Media Examiner has a REALLY USEFUL article for all those aiming to market their art or artistic services (eg tuition) using YouTube videos. 5 Ways to Enhance YouTube Videos for Marketers is not aimed at artists but the principles are the same
• Art Collectors and Instagram is an overview of information and statistics about how art collectors use Instagram and who some of the art collectors are who use it
• More about how Instagram is changing the art market

Tax

• As my series of articles for The Artist Magazine wind up, I start to write about matters you have to deal with after you start to trade and sell art in How to keep on the right side of the tax man in the September edition.

Time management

• 3 Distractions that can Derail Your Art Business is an excellent article by Carolyn Edlund of Artsy Shark

Art Education

Bursaries

• Applications close 30th September 2016 for the The John Busby Seabird Drawing Course & Bursaries

Insurance

• Do you have to have insurance to run an art class? could have been listed under Art Business as the target audience is art tutors who are independently providing tuition to students

Art on Television

• Art History: JMW Turner and the Industrial Revolution is about JMW Turner and how he came to paint the Industrial Revolution in the UK.
• We had another art history film on television last night - this time it was Schama on Rembrandt: Masterpieces of the Late Years (28 days left to watch it)

Botanical Art

• This is about The making of the Highgrove Florilegium
• I continue to develop my resources about The Best Books about Botanical Art History, Artists and Illustrators

Art Collectors and Instagram

Art collectors love Instagram.

• In terms of posting - it's a place where they can show off their own art collections - but don't need to write anything much beyond a few relevant hashtags
• In terms of browsing - it offers an excellent opportunity to find art they like and art they want to buy.  

Art Collectors on Instagram

Do you know how art collectors use Instagram?

You might find it surprising that according to an Artsy Survey

Over 50% of collectors have purchased works from artists they discovered on Instagram

This relates to a survey done by Artsy about how art collectors use Instagram. It targeted known art collectors - some with collections of 100+ pieces - who were known users of Instagram.

Results were reported in two articles.

How Collectors Use Instagram to Buy Art RECOMMENDED READ

Key findings from the collectors using Instagram who were surveyed are:

• 73% like Instagram as they believe it makes the art market more transparent. Certain galleries have always limited images and the data that collectors have access to and encouraged mystique - and this is blown apart by Instagram!
• 87% check Instagram more than twice a day 
• 55% open the app 5 or more times a day
• more than half (55%) post on Instagram multiple times a week (I'm left wondering whether these are the same people who actively check and buy using Instagram)
• 30% post about works they're thinking of buying
• 64% said the majority of accounts they follow are art-related
• 61% consistently look at an artist’s hashtag
• 51.5% have purchased work from artists they originally discovered through Instagram
• 31% have bought art they originally saw on Instagram. That's a staggeringly high hit rate!

Charts of Artsy Survey Results

7 Ways to Win Over Collectors on Instagram

This article looks at how artists can seek to engage with collectors.

Key points to note are:

• collectors are more likely to follow the individual account of a gallery owner than the generic account of the gallery
• collectors like to search for an artist by hashtag (the survey speculates that some 94% do this at some point). The hashtag has the advantage of bringing together items from different sources - managed and unmanaged!
• collectors need to know the addresses and hashtags that tell them how to find/reach artist and/or gallery
• collectors like a response to their comments
• collectors like browsing in the evening - between 6pm and 11pm
• collectors unfollow those who post too much - or too much of the same thing (it's just plain boring!)
• collectors love the stuff which goes on behind the scenes - so not just the unfinished product but the story of how it came about.

Note: The articles were written by Elena Soboleva (@elenasoboleva) is a contemporary art Specialist at @Artsy.

Who are the art collectors?

You might like to take a look at two posts that Larry's List published towards the end of last year about their perspective  on the Top 50 Art Collectors on Instagram. I'm guessing it's probably due for an update....

• Top 50 Art Collector Instagrams Part I
• Top 50 Art Collector Instagrams Part I

Note: The choice is as per Claire Bouchara - who used to be content manager for the site.

More about artists and Instagram coming up in the near future.....

(Meanwhile I continue with my staycation with himself / getting ready for an art exhibition!)