Hi everyone

After passing by, done a bit of lurking and clicking here and there, I've decided to join in. I've been doing art for the past 20 years, even had exhibitions that sold pretty well and I've tried a lot of different kinds of art. However, drawing is something I always keep coming back to.
Guess it's in the back of my spine or something

I also believe that you never stop learning, so I'm here because I'm always open for ideas and more knowledge to improve.

I also do 3d and photography when I get a chance


Christa

Welcome, you have beautiful work!

Hi there And thank you

Welcome Christa,

Have fun and don't hesitate to share some of your photography.

Hi

nice work, I prefer the hands, they are so real, and your avatar. Have fun in the website.

Oh...I didn't know I could upload photos as well
Some sites like this are restricted to one form of art only...and I even hesitated to upload a couple of watercolors last night

Can anyone tell me how to create categories in my gallery btw? There's no button for it, but in the overview the category shows as empty.
I don't want to mix my art with my photos...even though they sometimes merge in other ways.

And hi everyone


Christa

I've browsed through your work...it is stunning!

Do you have an art rep, and if so, how do you get one?

Nope...I don't. I've never been anxious to get my work out in galleries, and whenever I've done exhibitions I've arranged everything myself.

Art reps tend to be expensive and since I'm not doing this for a living it's simply not worth it. In the past I've had one or two exhibitions a year and that's usually been enough to find new contacts and to get more commissions than I've been able to accept.

These days I haven't had an exhibition during the past 4-5 years. I've been swamped with work (I do graphic design) and I have plans on starting a photo studio this spring.

A fair warning though:
If you want to go professional I suggest that you are being careful with galleries. Galleries usually buy art for profit and nothing else, and there are those who are hunting down talents, buy their art for almost nothing (in their book anyway), create a name around that art by selling it with sky high price tags and then they dump you.
The business world around art can be very dirty.

However, if you can get a good art rep, he or she will know these things.

Good luck, and thank you for the kind words

Christa

Hello!
Your photos get loaded into the inspiration gallery and then are available to everyone to draw. Go to gallery, inspirational and then add new image.
For separating albums, go to My drawspace, add/edit gallery albums, then create album (under your albums, middle).
I see your joining in around the forum, thank you for jumping in!

You know, that's very good advice. I think you are right though, about going "professional." I loathe the corporate world with a passion, and I can see how limited I truly would be. I tattoo for a living as it is, so most of my art is what the customer wants; not always what I want to do...

Any suggestions on getting my name out there a little more wide spread? I don't actually NEED to make money off of it; I am not a "starving" artist...LOL What do you do, just take your stuff to a local art gallery and see about setting up a booth or something? I don't know how well my personal style would be taken to here in the southern states, and let's face it...people sneer at us tattoo artists; we're not considered "real" artists. Do you think that would hinder me, or am I just lacking confidence?

Okay, maybe I need to lay off the coffee when I'm posting, LOL. Don't mean to take up all your time with petty questions.

Paulette - thank you I created new albums in my profile like the first one And I don't mind jumping in and post in the forums. It's interesting

Matronmedusa - don't worry about asking questions. That's why we're all here

The business world connected to art is always tough to handle for any artist. The two were never meant to meet, if you ask me
However, that is how we sell.

From my experience there are certain kinds of artists that are not valued in the same way in general art circles no matter how much talent there is behind. Which is something that is just rubbish if you ask me.
We all had labels on everything and that's how people feel comfy with themselves and what they have around them.

I've seen your gallery and your drawings are stunning. I like the darker subjects around horror since I rarely do it myself.

The difference in tattoo art and the kinda art that people hang on their wall is that when you do tattoos you usually focus on one thing in your creations. You don't necessarily have to place a dragon or whatever creature it might be in a proper environment unless your customer request that.

As a general artist you compose pictures differently, and the only thing I can think of that you might need to fine tune a bit would be composition. There are a lot of easy ways to make a drawing or painting pleasant to look at, and that won't give away anything about your tattoo profession, if that's what you want.

I'm not sure if this makes any sense at all....but here's an example:

The drawing that you have in your gallery here called "Sinner"...you could easily put her more into context and put together a scene that includes her as a part instead of being the main subject. The drawing is great in itself, but if you are worried about not being accepted as a "real" artist, that's the only thing I can think of that you might need to change a bit.

As for how to spread the word and your art....well, the exhibitions I've had I've arranged myself, sometimes in places that are not even suited for that purpose. Right now I have the permission from English Heritage to put up either art or photos in an exhibition in the old ruin that is located on the other side of the road from where I live. It's nothing but old stone walls and the ground...but together with a sunny weekend, it will attract a lot of visitors in the summertime doing picnics etc.

Look around you where you are. I'm sure there's some place that you can rent for a weekend for a low fee. Get an add out in the local paper.
I don't know if you work for someone else or if you have your own tattoo studio, but that would also be a great place to put an ad that you have an exhibition coming up.

You don't necessarily need to lose the reputation you have as a tattoo artist, but if you feel that you want to do something different from what you are use to, practise composition and make some great surroundings for your tattoo subjects. That way you might even attract more than just one kind of art lovers

Hope that answer some of your questions

Christa - who pours Matronmedusa another cup of java