THE PERPLEXITIES OF BEING AN ARTIST
Dan Cohn-sherbok
Chapter 1
Being an Artist
Recently I joined an artists website. !ere are many on the web, and I thought it was the best. It advertises itself as the premier artists website which can transform photographs into museum quality reproductions. In addition it provides a community of visual artists who are able to communicate with one another. It is free and remarkably easy to use.
Once I joined, I logged in. !en I began to upload photographs of my drawings. My college, Williams College, in Massachusetts is celebrating the 50th reunion of my class—I thought I would put on cartoons of my classmates in the hope that they might be interested in buying various products. Within just minutes, a
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number of drawings were on my personal website with pictures of a wide range of products. !ese gi s included prints, greeting cards, pillows, duvet covers, tote bags, iPhone cases, and shower curtains. It was all totally amazing.
But would anyone actually want a pillow?
Or a duvet?
e
Perplexities of Being an Artist
Dan Cohn-Sherbok
Or a tote bag?
I had my doubts. And what was the point in the rst place of trying to sell these objects? I can’t imagine I would ever earn very much money. And how would I advertise them? Who would ever look at my website? It was a great mystery.
Artists today are bombarded with encouragement to become professionals. !ey are urged to submit their paintings to exhibitions. Advice is freely given how to market artwork. Daily blogs enthuse about the rewards of selling. In essence, artists are told that they should become professionals.
But do I really want to be regarded as a professional?
Am I a professional? And what for that matter is a professional artist? Presumably a professional artist is someone who earns his or her living through artwork. !is would include ne artists, illustrators and art teachers.
But there is no doubt that the vast majority of artists do not earn their living in this way. I certainly didn’t. I am a retired university professor. I have a pension. I never earned anything from my artwork, and it is inconceivable that I could now. I would have to sell literally thousands of pillows, shower curtains, duvet covers, greeting cards, prints, etc. to gain any kind of meaningful income. It will never happen. And I don’t need the money.
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So why should I be a professional artist? I am an amateur. I draw and paint for fun. It gives me enormous pleasure if people like my cartoons. But it is essentially a hobby.
But...no one likes to say he or she is an amateur artist. At dinner parties it would be an embarrassing confession. Far better to say one is an artist and leave it at that.
!is book is written to celebrate the amateur. It is designed for amateur artists like me to be proud of what they do. We don’t have to exhibit or sell our work to enjoy art. It is enough to draw or paint for its own sake.
Chapter 2
art school
Should I have gone to Art School? !is is a question that plagues amateurs. Looking at the curriculum vitae of professional artists, most amateurs are embarrassed by their lack of quali cations. When struggling with perspective, composition, tone and a wide range of artistic dilemmas, those who have had no formal training inevitably feel ill- prepared. We amateurs have the illusion that such problems would have been sorted out at an early stage if we had received formal training.
Advertisements for degrees and diplomas at art colleges suggest that art school is vital. But is it really necessary? For the amateur, the cost of such instruction is daunting. A three year degree at a British art college would cost over £20,000. An American four year degree would be even more. Short courses are costly too. And they require attendance. Is it worth it? Is it necessary? For retired amateurs like me, there seems little point. It would be nice to say I have an art degree, or even a diploma. But who would ever notice? Who would care? Would I really learn that much? Who can tell?
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But what about short courses? !ese are on o$er too. Art magazines are full of advertisements. But they are not cheap. And it is di cult to determine how much they would help. And they too require attendance. !ere are also courses o$ered abroad in Italy, France, Japan and elsewhere. O en they last a week, usually in the Spring or Summer when the weather is good. !e advertisements are enticing. Beautiful surroundings. Glorious accommodation. Delicious food. But would they help? Would one really like it? Would one enjoy the company of fellow artists? Who knows?
But it is unquestionable that art teachers have something to o$er. Improvement is always possible. As an artist, one should try to get better. !ere is, I believe, a viable alternative to art schools, art courses and classes abroad.
On the web there are excellent courses taught by professionals that one can watch at home. !ey are remarkably cheap and easy to nd. As an example, one of the best is Cra sy (www.cra sy. com) which o$ers a wide range of fascinating classes. Each course is a$ordable (averaging less than $30) and taught by a professional artist. Students are able to learn at their own pace with easy-to-follow HD video lessons that can be accessed on a computer or tablet anytime and anywhere.
Once one has enrolled in a course, it can be watched and repeated at a later date. Each course is divided into lessons, which themselves are subdivided. At any point students can submit email questions to the teachers who answer questions one line. !is means that all students enrolled in courses are able to read students’ comments and the teachers’ answers. It is all incredibly simple and stimulating.
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Courses in drawing include:
* Realistic Textures in Coloured Pencils
* Sketchbooks: Drawing the Everyday
* Expressive Picture Book Characters
* Travel Sketching in Mixed Media
* Sketching the City in Pen, Ink and Watercolour
* Radiant Portraits in Coloured Pencil
* Sketching People in Motion
* Pet Portraits in Coloured Pencil
* Picture Book Illustrations
* Pen and Ink Essentials
* People in Picture Books: Developing Your Main Character
Courses in Painting Include:
* Realistic Watercolours Step by Step
* Pet Portraits
* Simple and Stunning Watercolour Techniques
* Landscape Essentials: Skies
* !e Oil Painters Handbook
* 10 Marvellous Mixed Media Techniques
* Oil Painting: Sand, Sea and Sky
* Watercolour Flower Bouquet
* Painting Realistic Watercolours
* Painting with Colour: A Contemporary Approach
* Painting the Nude
Why go to Art School with such a wealth of courses to download at home?
Chapter 3 equipment
Art instruction books inevitably begin with a description of the equipment artists need. First there are tools for drawing; these include various types of pencils, di$erent kinds of erasers, pencil sharpeners, and types of pen. !is is followed by detailed descriptions of paper. !ese include ne-art paper, drawing and cartridge paper, cheap newsprint, and pastel support. Some books
go on to explain di$erent paper surfaces including rough, cold press, hot press, laid paper and woven paper. Paper weights are also listed from 180gsm to 640gsm.!en there are pictures of such items as blending and burnishing tools, and masking uid. And, importantly, most art books explore at length the di$erent types of media: pen and ink, charcoal, watercolour, acrylic, gouache, oil, etc.
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For amateurs, this is all quite confusing. Should one stick to graphite pencils? Or pen and ink? What about colluded pencils? Or is watercolour better? Or pastels? Perhaps oil? How can one possibly decide? And how much equipment is necessary? If it’s a lot, then possibly one should have a studio. But how big should it be? And will it need a sink?
You can see that one question leads to another, leaving the amateur in total confusion. How then can one make a start? !e primary question to ask oneself before embarking on any purchases is: Why am I doing art in the rst place?
!e common assumption in the art world is that all artists want to sell their art to the public. !is is why there are artists websites, exhibitions, and galleries. All are means whereby artists can show their work and nd customers. But, if the central aim of drawing and painting is for pleasure, then selling should be irrelevant.
So where to begin?
Let’s start with the assumption that we amateur artists are doing art for pleasure. In that case, one should choose the medium one likes best. You may want to be like Rembrandt or Gainsborough or Rothko and paint in oils. It is certainly a challenge and you will need lots of fancy equipment. But if that’s what you want to do, you should do it. You might be more modest and want to do watercolour. It’s quicker than oil. Why not? Perhaps you’d like to use pastels, or charcoal, or maybe just pen and ink and coloured pencils. Or perhaps just graphite pencil. It really makes no di$erence. You should choose what you like, what
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is most rewarding. But in each case you should bear in mind that each choice has implications for what equipment you will need to buy and what you’ll need to take with you if you work outside the house. What you want to avoid is something like the following: You see an advertisement in a magazine for a week’s artist holiday in Florence, Italy where you will be staying in a small hotel. !ere is room for 12 students on the trip. !e course will cost $2500 and includes ticket, accommodation and food. You decide to paint in oil and buy lots of equipment including a portable easel. You lug your suitcase, a bag full of painting equipment plus easel to the airport and then to the hotel. You nd you do not like your fellow students much and with 12 people (two of whom are very demanding) you do not get as much attention from your teacher as you had hoped. A er a week’s frustration you manage to do two paintings of the Italian landscape that are praised by the teacher. Triumphant you return home. Your family admires your paintings.
You get them framed at a cost of $200. You enter them in the local show and pay $100 entrance fee. You price them at $250 each, thinking this is a bargain. !ey are passed by the jury. You are thrilled. For a week they are on exhibit. You go every day to see if anyone has bought them. Nobody does. You are dejected and discouraged. You put the paintings in the closet and resolve never to touch a paintbrush again.
Chapter 4 size
Ok, you have decided what medium you are going to use. !is is the fundamental rst question.
If it’s oil, you will be tempted to rush out to an art shop to buy paints and brushes. !e same applies to watercolour. Or pastels, or charcoal or pen and ink. If you decide to use colour pencils, you will be tempted by a wide range of pencil boxes. And you will want to consider various kinds of bags to put everything in. And there is also the question whether you need an easel or a folding chair. It’s all exciting and enticing. But before buying anything, you need to ask yourself what you are doing in the rst place. Assuming the main aim is to enjoy drawing or painting for its own sake, there are a range of options:
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1. Let’s say you decide to paint in oil. !e temptation will be to choose a sizeable canvas. You will then need an easel. And tubes of oil paint, and a pallet for mixing paint. You’ll also want a rag. And a bag to put everything in. If you paint at home, you’ll want a studio where you can leave everything. But do you have space at home for a studio? And do you want to lug all this equipment with you if you paint out of doors?
2. Rather than oil, you might decide to be a watercolourist. If you decide you want to use sizeable paper, you’ll need a board to hold the paper as well as masking tape plus a watercolour kit and brushes, not to mention a jar of water and a bag to hold everything if you want to paint outside. Ideally you’ll want a studio at home to store your equipment as well as paintings. It would be useful if the studio also had a sink since you will need a jar of water and your brushes will need cleaning. !ere probably should be linoleum on the oor for when you spill things. Can you envisage taking all this equipment with you if you want to paint outside?
3. Rather than carry around a mass of equipment, you might choose to draw with a pen and coloured pencils. !is is a handier solution since pencil boxes come in a variety of sizes, pens are small, and the paper size can be small as well. You also don’t need an easel. Art shops sell bags of various sizes, and you should be able to nd one that is easily transportable.
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Size is a critical issue for another important reason. Not only should you think about the purpose of drawing and painting. A critical additional question is what you plan to do with your art. Do you want to mat it? Or frame it? Do you have enough space to display it? If you give it away to family or friends, are you sure they would really want it? !ey would feel obliged to exhibit it (at least when you come to visit). Would they really want to do that?
One solution is to choose post-card size paper so that it is easily transportable. It could be sent in an envelope, and kept unframed (or possibly framed). It doesn’t take much space. And there would be no obligation for family or friends to display it. But then your drawings or paintings would have to be very small.
You may want artwork that is much bigger. Your decision about size, however, should not be determined by the demands of the market: don’t forget, you are not trying to sell it!
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Chapter 5 studio
So you’ve decided to paint in oils or be a watercolourist. !at means you’ll need quite a lot of equipment. Even if want to be like the Impressionists and paint out of doors, you’ll need to have somewhere at home to put your stu$. Your easel, board, paints, jars, rags, canvases, etc. will need a home. You will inevitably make a mess. So...where will it be?
Ideally you should have a separate room of the house with an adjoining bathroom or shower room that contains a sink. But is there space in your house for this? Possibly every room is taken
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up. Will your family tolerate having one of the rooms in the house (plus bathroom) given over to your artistic hobby? Let’s say it’s impossible. !en you will have to nd space in one of the existing rooms for a studio. Where? You will want to leave tubes of oil or watercolour paint scattered about; the same goes for your paintings, brushes, and jars. Do not underestimate the chaos. Will family members tolerate it? Would a spouse? Would you be setting a good example for your children if you insist that they are tidy?
Art books and magazines that deal with this issue o en suggest that you could store your art material away in a chest of drawers or somewhere similar. But is this realistic? Would you do it? !ink of the pictures of artist studios that you have seen in books. Normally there is a picture of the artist with paint smeared all over his or her clothes standing in front of a canvas, surrounded by half used tubes of paint on ever surface. Paintings are everywhere, hanging on the walls, on easels or stacked up against a wall. Would you want your living room to look like this?
One solution would be to build a small cabin in the garden if you have one which could be used as your artist studio. Separated from the house, this would be your private space. You could stack all
your canvases there as well. But it would cost a lot to build. Can you a$ord it?
Speaking of canvases, there is the question of where you plan to put them. !is is a bigger issue than you might think. If you are an active painter and frame your paintings, you’ve got to put them somewhere. !is is not a problem if you have an indoor or outdoor studio. But if you don’t, you’ve got to think where they could go. !ey would be inconvenient stacked up in the kitchen, or
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a bedroom. Where exactly do you plan to leave them? !ere is always the garage if you have one. But where will you put the car?
!ere is a way of solving this entire problem. You could decide to do away with the idea of having a studio altogether. If you resolve to use pen and ink and watercolour or coloured pencils, you can draw or paint anywhere. You could do it in on the kitchen table, or in an armchair, or on the sofa.
You won’t even need a jar of water if you get a watercolour box that has a container for water. And you can also carry your equipment and paper anywhere in a bag. Just hang it up or put it on the oor somewhere, and you are set to go.
Chapter 6 audience
Dan Cohn-Sherbok
Here’s the big question: who is the audience for your work? If you are trying to sell your drawings or paintings, the answer is obvious: the general public. !at is certainly what artists websites tell us. We are encouraged to put our work on websites that automatically transform our images onto a wide range of surfaces. A pillow.
A shower curtain. An iPhone case. All bearing our artwork. But is it realistic to think that anybody other than our friends or relatives will actually buy such things? Do you really want to
og art to people you know? Can you honestly believe that the general public will ever nd your personal website and order such things? !e artists websites promote an image of you as a successful artist earning quite a lot of money. But in most cases, this is a fantasy. Remember that most of these websites charge a yearly subscription. So they will make money even if you never sell a thing. So, then, who exactly is your art for? Well, certainly for yourself. You are the primary audience. A er all you are drawing or painting because you enjoy doing it. But you will want others to see what you’ve done. !is will include immediate family members: a spouse or children or grandchildren or parents. Aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces. Possibly even in-laws. And then there are your neighbours and friends. Anybody, really, who might enjoy it. You could give them the originals or photograph them and send the pictures by email. Nobody need pay you anything. But there is a tricky aspect to giving away your art. No problem if it’s just a photograph. Pictures sent by email can be kept or deleted.
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attic or garage, and then put it up if you visit. But they’ve got to remember to do it. And it’s crucial you don’t discover what they’ve done by accident. Do you want to put loved ones or good friends through such an agonising process?
!e obvious solution is to paint small and give away only the paintings.
But what about the originals? If they are large paintings either in oil or watercolour and framed there is a potential problem. Family and friends will think they ought to hang them. But if they don’t, you might be annoyed. Or insulted. But what if they don’t like what you’ve created? And they might not! What are they supposed to do? !ey could store your painting in the
You could say something like: ‘ !is is my latest painting. I thought you might like to see it. But, look. You don’t have to keep it. I won’t mind. If you want to keep it, great. But you don’t have to. Just throw it away.’
Admittedly this is a rather awkward thing to say. It could cause quite a bit of embarrassment.
One way around the problem is to email a picture of your
painting. You could attach a note and say: ‘Hey, I just did this and thought you might like it. If you do, you could print it o$ and even frame it. But you don’t have to. I won’t mind.’ !is, too, looks rather strange. It’s all quite tricky.
But that’s the penalty of being an amateur artist.
Chapter 7 editing
You now will have decided what medium you want to use and the sorts of equipment you need. Or you may have concluded you want to try out a variety of media. And for that matter, you may also want to vary the type and size of paper. Whatever your decision, you should photograph your artwork so that you can keep a record of what you’ve done. And more importantly be able to send pictures of your drawings and paintings by email.
To do this, you will need a camera. !e best--though not the easiest way to photograph your work--is to use an SLR camera. !is will give you high de nition pictures. But there is a simple alternative approach. Mobile telephones, such as iPhones, have excellent cameras ideally suited for this purpose. !ey are handy and e$ective. And this has the great merit that images can be sent speedily without fuss. Another advantage of using the camera on a mobile telephone is that images can be edited and enhanced without di culty. !is is particularly important if your artwork is being used for illustrations in newspapers,
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magazines or books. !ere are a variety of apps that are currently available. !ey are cheap and easy to download on your phone, and are truly outstanding. What you will discover is that these editing apps allow you to do a variety of things with your pictures. You can enhance them, bringing out their intense colours; you can eliminate red eye in portraits. Some apps enable you to focus on parts of the picture and blur the rest. !ey also provide a means of sharpening them. Most editing apps also provide a series of frames for your artwork.
If you are unhappy with what you have done, you have the option of reverting to the original photograph. Mobile telephones can hold all these images, and generally allow you to store thousands of them in the Cloud. !is means that you have access to all your drawings and paintings which can be sent anywhere using the phone itself. !ese images can also be uploaded to artists websites
easily at no cost. In this way you can make your work available to anyone even if you have no intention of selling it.
!ere is one further advantage to handling photographs of your work in this way. On the web there are a wide range of businesses that specialize in using artwork on such objects as mugs, tote bags, pillows, etc. Normally these websites are designed to sell artwork. But you yourself can design such things as gi s for family and friends. What could be nicer that receiving a co$ee mug with your painting as a birthday present.
Chapter 8 exhibitions
As an artist you will be tempted to exhibit your paintings. !e aim will be to sell your work. !is means you will need to get your drawings and paintings matted and framed. You will then have to determine the price of your work. For the amateur artist this is rather bewildering. How much should you charge? Less than $100? Or more than $250? Or over $1000. Who knows?
In many cases artwork is judged by a jury to determine if it is worthy of a place in the exhibition. !e assumption lying behind all these activities is that you are a professional artist. But there are di culties at every turn. It is costly to prepare your artwork in this way. Matting and framing pictures can entail a considerable expense. You can recoup the money you’ve spent only if you sell your work. Your paintings may well be rejected by jurors. !is is a profoundly upsetting experience. If you have
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to earn money by being an artist, then you have no choice. But if the purpose is to enjoy drawing and painting for its own sake, why take the risk of rejection?
!ere will be art exhibitions wherever you live. As an amateur artist you should go whenever possible. It is always fascinating. But inevitably you will have various reactions. In all likelihood you will think that your artwork should be on display too. But what would be the point? It might provide a degree of satisfaction. But there is the danger of getting caught up in the commercial aspects of the enterprise. You may well think some paintings are terrible, far worse than your own work. !at would be encouraging. But conversely you might feel rather dejected if some paintings are far better than what you can do. But, if you are at all empathetic, you will feel an overwhelming sense of sadness that so many drawings and paintings have not been sold. You will know that the artists who painted them will be distressed to take them home. !ese apparently unloved matted and framed works of art will be stacked up in a studio, or garage or closet and no one will see them until the next exhibition.
Art museums are a di$erent matter. You should de nitely be a regular visitor. Here you will see paintings of real quality from a wide range of periods. In large cities like New York and London and Paris it is possible to view priceless works of the greatest quality. If you are interested in the ancient world, you will nd Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. !ere will be sculpture and paintings from the medieval period, rooms of Renaissance and Impressionist paintings, as well as modern art.
As an amateur artist you should take advantage of these opportunities. On your travels you should seek out museums and galleries. At home you should go to whatever special exhibits are available. !e same applies to talks by art experts. You will be inspired. And your art work will get better.
Chapter 9
books and magazines
You are an artist. Art adds a critical dimension to your life. It is done for its own sake. !rough art you are able to express yourself and gain a deeper appreciation of the world. Art takes you out of yourself. Worries and concerns dissolve as you put pen to paper or take up a paintbrush. Time evaporates. !rough art you can nd depths of apprehension. Art is a creative mediation on the world. In book shops you will nd a wide range of books that can deepen your understanding of the history of art. Some books survey art movements; others are devoted to individual artists. As an amateur artist, it is not enough simply to create. You need to learn from others. In every city-- no matter how large or small-- libraries are there to widen your artistic horizons. Books can take you out of your surroundings and place literally at your ngertips the greatest paintings ever made. In the modern world, we take all this for granted. But the opportunities to learn and appreciate are astonishing and endless.
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!ere are numerous books that also provide art instruction. Written by experts, they explain the fundamentals of drawing and painting. In terms of drawing basics, you can learn the following:
* How to see
* How to draw what we see
* Mark-making
* Measuring
* Shape, form and volume
* Space and proportion
* Perspective
* Tonal values
* Balance and harmony
* Rhythm, repetition and pattern
* Movement
Books can teach us amateurs how to draw
* Still life
* People
* !e natural world
* Domestic animals
* Wildlife
* Plants and owers
* Interiors and Exteriors Magazines too can supplement this process.
!ere are a wide variety of art magazines for beginners and professionals.
!e more basic magazines are designed for the amateur. !ey explain fundamental principles and provide detailed information how to draw and paint, including examples from experts. !ere are numerous magazines that explore the contemporary art world, providing accounts of the most recent exhibitions. Some are local or national; others are international in scope. !e Internet has facilitated this process by providing an easy means of obtaining books. All you have to do is to go to Amazon, type in the subject that you are looking for (or the name or author of a book). If you
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want a paperback or hard copy, you can order and pay for it in minutes. Kindle and the Apple Books store have made the process of reading even easier. All you have to do is nd a book, purchase it, and download it to your device. When you obtain the Kindle app or the Apple Books store app for a tablet, such as an iPad, you can begin reading the book within minutes. Such e-readers are truly astonishing. Art books lled with illustrations can be read easily, and drawing and paintings are clear and luminous. You can even zoom in on paintings to get a closer look. !e opportunities for amateur artists are greater than ever. But we must be careful not to be seduced into thinking we are professional artists. !e commercial world will try to persuade us that we are, and that we should sell our artwork. It sounds so much better to say one is an artist, rather than explain that one is an amateur. But there is no shame in this. As amateur artists, we are the ones that have the fun.