I've been updating my website today so that instead of having a separate page for each painting I have one page that sucks the details from a SQL database. That makes it easier to update the layout in a flash, but it DID mean copying and pasting about 150 paintings worth of data. That was quite boring!
Things I'm thinking about!
1. I'm reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion at the moment and find it fascinating. Such details like making a public commitment to liking something means you start to like it more explain why Facebook changed its "Share" button to "Like" a few months ago.
2. The In The Real Art World Blog is proving inspirational again. That site shows so much quality. Could I leap to that standard in an instant? What do those works have in common? One thing is oil on canvas and about 200cm wide. Doable.
3. I've increased my prices by a modest 10%. I price per work and materials and my daily rate fits with local art prices. Local art prices vary and lot and are quite poor. I seem to sell successfully for higher prices than other artists I know which is good. I must focus on quality. I can imagine adding a zero to original art prices and selling only prints. Top artists do that, and collectors know it, so by doing that you can become a top artist. The logic is impeccable.
4. "Installations" give more to viewers. Most galleries now seem to specialise in installations. Often they have little to do with art, or if they do the art parts are not the reason why they are popular. Sculpture, being more "real" than 2D is also more engaging to casual viewers. As artworks, paintings need more work (and knowledge) by the viewer. Viewers that lack that knowledge and don't want to do the work (the majority) like paintings only if they are pretty to look at.
5. I've updated my digital pictures too and offer these as large format photographs. These are simple to produce, better value to buy and look much better. These are perhaps not as "archival" as other types of print, not that I've tested. I'm sure that archival prints are a new idea invented by ink-jet printer companies. Is the authenticity worth more than the image. Probably. A blurry old Leonardo, even a scrap of blank paper with a thumb print on, is probably enough to get into a museum.
