Besides creating art, the most important step in developing your artistic career is taking action! You can enter or relaunch your run either randomly or with a plan. Which one you choose will likely determine how long you stay with him and if there is a happy ending to your story. If you enter (or re-enter) the market with a plan, it means you’re tuned in. Your tools are in order, your strategies are in focus, and your attitude is set.
As an artist, your mind is often flooded with ideas, but great ideas will never reach their potential if they are not put into practice. There are often too many ideas running around in your head; that’s where your action plan comes into play. Once created, you can identify the priorities of your plan and focus on your creative path. Your priorities will give you a direction of where and how you need to spend your time. The other areas of your art career that don’t involve creation can seem like a chore. Activities that involve marketing your art, writing your biography, uploading images, applying for shows, are part of expanding your business. If you consider them an extension of your creation, you will find them more valuable as these activities begin to offer you more freedom to create.
Well, maybe this is not news to you. He thought to come up with a plan, his supporters suggested it, maybe he even wrote a sticky note and put it on his to-do list, yes? Hey good for you! Unless you really have, I’m guessing the personal note has transferred across your calendar with each passing day, and may in fact be losing steam. Do not look for guilt or shame here, there is none, just the opportunity to do it now, as if there is no tomorrow.
So whether you need to switch things up and relaunch your career or you’re just starting out for the first time, grab a notepad (a big one) and a pen and jot down a few notes as you read this article, quick before you panic. in!
First, let’s address a couple of areas before we get started. Write your own list on your own paper. It’s okay to print this list here for reference, but to keep it real and yours, write it in your own words. This article is geared toward painters and illustrators, but it’s a good starting point for any creative career. Adjust it to fit your own creative approach.
These listed steps below are quick and basic and are meant to spur you in the direction your inner artist already knows to take, so add to the list as ideas come to mind, but keep it simple and small. I’ll put some resources at the bottom of this page to take you to more detailed steps than are here. These are steps you can start right now that will lay the groundwork for planning and setting long-term goals for your art. The idea is not to make a super-detailed plan etched in stone; instead, you want a flexible plan (like Gumby!) that moves and stretches with your evolving goals and your path of exploration as an artist.
If you want your artistic creation to flourish and grow, you must treat it like a living thing: nurture it, nurture it, and release it. Once created, it is something external: your seed flourished!
Whether you like it or not, your art is a product, a thing that you have made. To free it, you either give it away or sell it. Selling it and making money from it is not selling. Receiving money for your art is part of the circle of giving and receiving… and giving again. The unique way you produce your art, your story about your process, and the methods you choose to sell it will set the tone for the integrity of your work. If you just want to create for yourself, then you wouldn’t be reading this far, so trust your instincts and move on to create and share your unique vision.
Do you have your pen, paper? Write your title:
(your name) Amazing Action Plan for Artists
- Evaluate your skills. (eg, artistic, commercial, sales)
- Research and learn.
- Write down your philosophy, mission or statement. Make a note to review later.
- Set up a workspace.
- Schedule time to create.
- Create a budget.
- Create 10 or more finished pieces.
- Put a price on your art.
- Have your art professionally photographed and saved digitally.
- Put together a portfolio.
- Get a bank account for your art and a PayPal account.
- Select and build a home base for your online presence as an artist. (e.g. website, blog, online store)
- Select and create one or two places to connect and share your story and build your community. (e.g. blog, YouTube, Twitter)
- Select and create where you will display and/or sell your work. (e.g. Etsy, Flickr, Zazzle)
- Select the sources you will go to to meet other artists, get inspired, learn what’s new, and find resources and opportunities and schedule daily or weekly visits. (e.g. Twitter, art magazines, art business blogs, art forums, Facebook groups)
- Make a list of your favorite artists that you think are working successfully and see how and where they market their work.
- Find experienced artist mentors you can talk to.
- Decide how you’d like to show your work in person and get applications and contact information. (eg open studio, gallery, festival, alternative space)
- Determine your audience and buyers.
- Create a dedicated calendar or planner for your office work.
- Make room for balanced downtime to exercise, meditate, eat healthy, whole foods, and rest. A healthy lifestyle supports sustained creativity.
- Make a note to review this list in a week or two and revise as needed.
- Find your rhythm.
- Do #7 over and over.
- Go ahead – Repeat.
Now, take a look at your work and let’s quickly go over them together. Do you have the 25 scored? Cool. Program #1-3, 5 and 6 to be done within the next 10 days.
#4 can be a small corner in the kitchen or area of your house where you don’t have to move it. It doesn’t have to be a big space yet.
#7 It’s good to plan a minimum of one painting (change to fit your art) per month. I highly recommend more than that depending on your style and the speed at which you want to enter the market.
#8-10 will take a bit of time to get organized. Decide how you want to archive your images. Just digital photography or film? I still have my work shot on large format film (4 x 5) which takes a few days to process, then I scan and create digital files. If a piece is late for a show or in a hurry, going directly to digital works well. It’s a good idea to have a portfolio in more than one form, but I don’t recommend an expensive print product at first. Over time you can select your best work and create a showcase, for now an image (with description and price) on a single 8.5″ x 11″ white sheet of paper and organized in a folder is a great start and something you can easily and cheaply duplicate and edit. Organize your digital files by series and file size and create backup copies on CDs or external hard drives.
#11 can be done in a morning. #12 can be started while you are working on your art. Get everything you can on your home site right away: home page, biography or about page, a blog page or space for news and events, and a page for your online portfolio. Check what you have learned from points 16 and 17 and apply it here.
As soon as you have your focus and philosophy, you can start with #13. #14, you can wait until your startup website is complete. Once you have your first targets, issues 15-18 will be an ongoing grind to keep a feel for what’s going on and where your art is in the mix and that will take you to #19.
Start the business planner today (#20). It can be a lined notebook, a bullet point or an agenda with a calendar and a place for notes. You can grab this digital if you’re more comfortable with it, but a plain old notebook encourages spontaneous doodles and sketches, so that’s my choice. As you find your groove, you can update and personalize this vital piece or your art business.
I can’t stress enough how important #21 is. You may have the idea that if you are a happy artist, you are not a true artist. The stories we’ve all heard or maybe even a friend or two you know, where artists are tortured, depressed, or have bouts of dementia to create can seem like a prerequisite for creative genius. Sadly, states of depression, gloomy moods, and illness are more prevalent today than ever. If a person creates within these states of illness, self-loathing, or altered states of consciousness, brief moments of creativity can emerge. A better path to longevity in all areas is to support your whole person, which sustains your creative spirit. The key is to find the balance of mind, body and spirit. If you do, you’ll be rewarded with unhindered access to your inner space where true creativity lives. You will then be able to bring out your truth and communicate meaning with clarity and passion that will have the power to positively transform yourself and your community in ways you could never do with less.
Do #22 often. Numbers 24 and 25 are for life, they will change and grow over time, but you will never cross them off your list.
Before I leave you here, are you glassy-eyed or are you panicking? Okay, try this for a quick refocus. After a deep breath (always the first step), take a break and ground yourself. Go outside if possible and put your bare feet in the grass or on cement or stone for about 15 minutes. Add your own special touch as you do this (eg deeper breathing, standing stretches, close your eyes and do peaceful visualizations, let all that tension flow to the ground) It sounds silly, but it works. When you go back inside, read your list with your renewed calm and just start.
