Why your works may not be liked

 

Here’s a little insight on reasons why people may not like the art you create. I hope it can give a glimpse into how to approach your works to appeal to the art world. It may not be the things one wish to hear but the objective is to help you come away from this with another perspective of how you continue your development as an artist

 

I am, myself, guilty of some of these points but I choose to keep an open mind and push on tirelessly in order to grow stronger as an artist.

 

Here I go!

 

1. Present your work well

 

Do take care over the presentation surrounding all of your work. This means a well thought out piece and a portfolio that demonstrates meticulous care and pride has gone into it. Half the battle is won just with good presentation.

 

2. Give yourself enough time and practice

 

Don’t expect to become a brilliant artist in a short time. There’s no shortcut around improvement through putting in the hours to practice  honing a style and a skill. It will be time well spent. Know this, and enjoy the journey. It will pay off and you will be on the way to develop a style unique to you.

 

3. The work lacks care and skill

 

It is important that time is taken to hone your skills and techniques, this will translate into strong works as you develop. There is a fine line between unique and experimental work and poor skill, but if you are genuinely not putting everything you have into taking care over your creations, it results in giving a shoddy piece done and  work that is not created to its full potential. This may result in customers losing interest quickly.

 

4. It lacks emotion

 

This means your art either fails to convey any of your own emotions through the work, or it fails to evoke any emotional response in the person experiencing your art. Both are important.

 

5 Be passionate about your work

 

Don’t create for the sake of wanting to be labeled as an artist or someone who is cool. If you are genuinely enthusiastic and passionate about art and for what you do, the work will speak for itself and without doubt be felt by others. If there none, it will show, so find something to get passionate, ideally obsessed about. The passion you feel will help you get the work done more easily too.

 

6. Organise your portfolio well

 

Cut out the stuff that drags down the quality and excellence of your portfolio collection. Don’t include weak pieces and keep work of different mediums, or entirely different styles in separate portfolios.

For example, keep your photography portfolio in a single collection and your pastel drawings in another so that you do not detract from keeping your portfolios clear.

 

7. Don’t spread yourself too thin - think less is more

 

The best art springs from a determination to remain focused on making more with less. Taking on too much will inevitably result in less concerted effort placed on more pieces, and the quality of your work suffers as a result.

Get really good at one thing. Excel at one thing, before moving on to the next, if you choose to. 

 

8. Keep abreast on what is happening in the world right now

 

Ignorance stalls progression in your development as a creative professional. Keep in touch with the happenings in the world by reading the newspapers, magazine articles, books, online posts etc. This helps to add depth to your art works as more information translates to more possible idea. It gets the creative juices flowing faster due to the increased knowledge you have gathered.

 

9. Get exposure for your works

 

You’ve put in the time to create your works of art, now put in effort to get the right exposure in order to be known as an artist . It could be via the newspapers, website, exhibitions or art galleries. Don’t just stop at promoting your one favourite piece, include all your best works because if no one knows your other works, you will not grow in approval. People will remain unfamiliar to you as an artist and your works, no matter how beautifully executed they are. People tend to respond more positively to things they are familiar with and this will translate to a good exposure to your art.

 

Finally and most importantly....

 

10. Don’t take it too seriously – enjoy the journey

 

I’m sure by now you are thinking, this is easier said than done, especially when developing as an artist with strong works is very important to you. However, often most important thing in improving the quality of your work is to change  the way you see your creative journey.

 

Make a conscious decision to enjoy your progress ,your business, your audience and your customers.

 

Always remember this: - being able to create art that is liked and loved is not restricted to those deemed born with natural talent. I wish to emphasise that anyone who makes the concerted effort to work on improving and creating WILL be successful.

 

Now stop procrastinating and get down to work! This includes moi!

 

Posted by: Desiree