Making a Living at Art

What's a tripod got to do with making a living? Read on!

Several years ago, a student asked if I'd teach a workshop on the business of painting.  I declined.  At the time, I felt that I'm no expert.  I still feel this way.  On the other hand, I've been running my art business successfully for 20 years now.  I thought it might be time to write a few posts on how I do things.  But as they say, "Your mileage may vary."  What works for me may not work for you.

In this post, let's talk about making a living from painting.  It's hard.  It's very hard.  Despite all the helpful coaching seminars, videos and newsletters, you'll not be successful unless you have the drive and the creativity.  Drive consists of primal need and persistence.  You were hungry then, are hungry now, and will always be hungry.  The thought foremost in your mind, from sunrise to sundown, is to remedy that.   And that's where creativity helps.  Yes, you'll study the usual methods for hunting and trapping game and farming, but survival depends on your being able to invent a solution when a plague or blight comes along that's not addressed in the manual.

Did I mention talent or skill?  No.  Looking at many of the paintings that sell today, I'm not sure if these are relevant.  Did I mention a deep-set yearning to paint?  No.  Some desire helps, but it's not that important.  When I was a bartender, my goal in life certainly wasn't to make the perfect banana daiquiri, yet despite that, I got tips and a paycheck.

I am a hard worker.  I answer e-mail at 4 in the morning.  I draft a magazine article while the coffee is percolating.  I add a few remedial touches to whatever's on the easel before breakfast.  The rest of the day is more of the same, with longer sessions at the easel or computer, plus frequent breaks that include tea with Trina and walks with Raku.

But I don't just paint for a living.  I also write and teach.  Although my painting sales each year are respectable, they wouldn't feed me all year.  Also, I don't think it is smart to depend on just painting sales.  The Dow goes up, the Dow goes down, recession hits.  I like to have two other means of making a living.  Neither writing nor teaching by themselves would allow me to buy my pricey organic vegetables.  But together, these three things make the legs of a very stable tripod.  They make a living.

In my next business post, I'll share how I keep track of my paintings.

Photograph Your Paintings with a Polarizing Filter

Here's an oil painting that presents significant problems
when shooting photos of it in full sun.  It was painted with a knife,
which gives it a shiny gloss, and a gloss varnish was applied, making it even
glossier.  I've tilted this painting so it has maximum glare.

Same painting, same angle.  But I've used
a polarizing filter to cut glare dramatically.

Are you having a hard time eliminating glare and "sparkles" when photographing your oil paintings?  Professional photographers use a polarizing filter to cut down the glare.  Amateurs like me, on the other hand, will tilt and angle and swear until we get a decent shot.

I like to shoot my paintings in full sun.  The color is richer and the focus, tighter.  But when the painting was made with a knife or has had gloss varnish applied, glare is guaranteed. The little irregularities in surface texture pick up the sun and bounce it back like sun diamonds on water.  Some of this can be removed by Photoshop or GIMP, but not all of it, and the process can give an odd, pock-marked look to the image.

Tilting the painting or angling the camera helps.  But this introduces distortion in the image; suddenly, the painting is no longer square.  Again, you can use your favorite photo editor to fix this, though some parts of the image may end up without sharp focus.  It's still not an ideal solution.

For many decades, polarizing filters have been available for the traditional 35mm SLR (and now, the DSLR.)  I had such a filter, but I stopped using a DSLR some time ago.  These days, I use my handy point-and-shoot, a Canon SX610 HS for all my photography.  The auto-focus is better than my DSLR's ever was.  Although the Canon won't shoot RAW or TIFF images, I find it completely adequate for what I do.  I even use it to shoot images for my magazine articles.

But I couldn't find a  polarizing filter for it—until now.  The Magfilter Circular Polarizing Filter fits and works perfectly.  (Mine is 42mm; it's important to get the right size.)  A little metal ring with an adhesive backing fits on top of the lens barrel, and the magnetized filter snaps to this.  You remove the filter when not in use; the little metal ring with the adhesive stays on and doesn't impair the movement of the lens barrel.

The trick, of course, with any polarizing filter is that you must rotate it to get the optimal effect.  (It has to do with the fact that sunlight is polarized, and the angle of polarization changes with the movement of the sun.)  I shoot a few photos at different rotation angles until I find the one that cuts down the most glare, and then I keep it on that setting for my photo session.  If you don't rotate it to find the right angle, you'll think the thing doesn't work, so make sure you do this step.

The filter was $29.95 and comes with an extra adhesive ring, just in case.  There's no manual included to tell you how to install or use it, so you'll want to refer to the website.  And make sure you rotate the ring to get the right angle!

I got mine at Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/MagFilter-Circular-Polarizer-Carrier-Panasonic/dp/B06ZYWQMDP.

Some tips on using a polarizing filter.

The Painter as Salesman

Sometimes, it feels like this.

Whenever I have to slap on my salesman's hat, I cringe.  I hate having to sell.  I'm just not a natural-born salesperson.  Although there are books and YouTube videos to advise me on how to fight my inclination to shrink into a dark corner, it's still hard for me.  I'm lucky if I remember to restock my wallet with business cards, and luckier still if I remember to give you one.

Being a professional painter offers so many rewards.  I love my time spent outdoors or in my studio, poking away with a brush while the day's soundtrack plays.  I love the ordering and organizing of supplies and, yes, even doing the paperwork.  I love people coming to my studio so I can talk to them about the painter's life.

I love having sold a painting—but I do not love "selling" one.

This has nothing to do with parting with a piece.  Sure, I like to have a good one around for awhile so I can admire it and congratulate myself, but ultimately, it must go.  I depend on my art sales (and my workshops and writing) for income.  No, my "selling" a painting has to do with knowing that I am "selling" and not just having a friendly chat with a collector who's asked to visit.

Can I change?  If I'd tried working on this years ago, maybe.  But even back when I was younger and learning the ropes, it was hard for me.  I'll never forget what my mentor, Ann Templeton, said once.  While I was writing her 30-year retrospective book and staying with her, she invited me to dinner with some of her collector friends.  I'd been up since 4 a.m., poring over slides and transparencies of her work, writing captions.  It was late.  I was beat.  I declined.  Chastising me, she said, "Michael, if you're going to do this"—meaning, be a professional painter—"you're going to have to do this."

Ann was a natural.  She moved with cat-like ease in the social circle of collectors, and everyone who met her became her friend.  I'm not that way, and not every painter is.  Can painters like me be successful?  Yes—but perhaps we will have to do more than just paint.

(And please don't forget my Holiday Studio Sale! And that I'm giving 25% off on all the other Southwest paintings over $200!)

Working with a Clear Vision

Besides being a painter, I'm a writer.  Writing comes easiest to me when I have a clear vision of where the writing will go.  Though the analogy is an old and tired one, it's fitting; a successful trip requires a good map and a definite destination.  When I write a magazine article, such as a feature interview or a technical column, I know my destination and how I'll get there.  The articles follow an established format.

On the other hand, I have the hardest time with fiction.  Whereas writing non-fiction is like a drive down the road to a place I've been many times before, writing fiction is more like a backpacking adventure into the wilderness.  Although I always have a trail map, I'm often sidetracked.  Sometimes a secondary trail looks more interesting.  Sometimes I get confused when the trail forks.  Sometimes I wonder if the hill to my right might give a good view.  Sometimes—well, you get the picture.  The plot outline I so meticulously crafted gets tossed into the trash, or at least heavily revised, when a character does something unexpected.

But perhaps not surprisingly, taking a turn that's not on the route, or letting the character do something outside the outline, can lead to a richer end.

Need I say it's the same with painting?  Having a clear vision of where you are going will take you to a satisfactory outcome soonest.  But sometimes, not having that clear vision, despite the detours, obstacles and time lost, will take you to a place that is far better.

Painting New Mexico's High Desert

Find the Painter!
At La Ventana Natural Arch

Jack strapped on his backpack, eager to paint.  This 76-year-old rheumatologist, though he continues to practice medicine full-time, has a passion for painting, and he freed up a week to join me for last week's Private Painting Intensive.  On this day, under crystal blue skies, we made our way from the parking lot and down a single-track gravel road to a view of my favorite lake and its unique, candy-striped cliffs.  We stopped at the first scenic spot we came across and set down our packs.  Red willow and poplar edged the water, gently riffled by a breeze.  Coots croaked and squawked among the islands of pickerel weed.  A couple of mallards sounded the alarm, erupting into the air.  But otherwise, we were alone in that beautiful spot.

Later in the week, we visited other special places.  We painted the white cliffs of Inscription Rock; the butterscotch-colored outcrops near La Ventana Natural Arch; and on a private ranch nestled against the foot of the Zuni Mountains with a broad view of grassland and ponderosa-studded mesas.  Painting doesn't get any better.

Each week of the Private Painting Intensive has a different focus, depending on the student.  After a consultation, I create a plan tailored to the student's needs.  ("Needs" combines what the student thinks he needs with what I think he needs. These "needs" may be different or overlap.)  My job this week was to help Jack, who has a terrific color sense, get a better handle on values and to show him how to gather good field references so he could continue work later in his studio.  One day, we started off with a quick, grey-scale sketch (using Gamblin's Portland Greys) to help us understand what was happening with values, followed by a full-color sketch.  Another day, we did what I call "center of interest" painting, where we avoid the common practice of working the canvas all over but focus instead on the subject, placing color note against color note, striving to get the relationships correct right from the start.  In this post, I've shared some photos as well as images of my paintings from the week.

If you're an experienced painter and would like help in reaching the next level, I still have weeks available next spring.  In this customized program, you'll be working side-by-side with me and getting lots of attention.  I'll also be sharing my world, which sits among the piñons and ponderosa pines of New Mexico's high desert.  The program takes two forms—a tuition-only version ($700) and a version in which you lodge and eat with us ($1400.)  If you'd like more information, please visit http://paintthesouthwest.com/sched_int.html

And please don't forget my April 7-10, 2020, plein air painting workshop in Sedona, Arizona.  This is for any painter who has some experience in the studio but who is a beginner at painting outdoors, and also for experienced outdoor painters who'd like to fine-tune their skills.  Details are at http://paintthesouthwest.com/sched_reg.html

The grey study (top) and color study (bottom)
12x9 Oil

Charlie's Ranch - 6x12 Oil - Available

Near Los Gigantes - 9x12 Oil - Available

Raven Cliffs - 12x9 Oil - Available

Southern Cliffs - 9x12 Oil - Available