Episode One: Let's Build Your Art Career!

More resources for this podcast: Lesson Page Blog Video Checklist _________________________________ Phase One is the often overlooked step in creating an art career. When starting out, artists often try to compete with established professional artists who are well into Phase Two or even Phase Three of their careers. It's all too easy to compare yourself to these artists and try to replicate their efforts. However, this causes an artist to become frustrated by a lack of results and their inability to create art at the scale and speed of professional artists. Stopping to master the four steps of Phase One will allow an artist to launch themselves into Phase Two prepared for success both in their sales and in the creation of art. Phase One Objectives: Build your artistic skillset Develop a creative process Create a 100+ piece inventory Foster a local community. Phase One is 60% about mastering your technique. Mastering your technique means that you have practiced art concepts so much that creating art is now muscle memory and subconscious actions. You no longer need to think about creating. It's second nature. This takes time. Remember, phase one should last at least two years for the artist who has not mastered traditional art concepts. However, mastering technical skills alone is not enough to ensure you will be ready to grow your business. You also need a solid creative process to help you create regardless of external circumstances. A creative process is a ritual that helps you begin creating so that you are able to create whether you are having a bad day, good day, or the world's gone to hell in a handbasket. This process is vital to your success because as a professional artist you will have to create when you do not feel like it. After you have completed honing your creative process, you will need to create inventory. This means creating over one hundred pieces so that you enter the art market with credibility and variety. This is just a bare minimum and many artists actually suggest creating upwards of 400-800 works ready in your inventory. We'll talk about that more in-depth. Once you have created your one hundred plus pieces, you are ready to begin putting your work out both online and in person. It's time to foster your community. This is where you will begin working with local businesses to display art, begin participating in art events, and working with your local community.