by Keith Bond
This article is by Keith Bond, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews.  You should submit an article and share your views as a guest author by clicking here.

It can sometimes be difficult to sort through all the advice we receive about marketing art.  Some of the information seems contradictory – even when offered by the same person.  I have probably given such contradictory information.  Personally, there is a topic which has been causing me some frustration for a while.  I am referring to writing your bios, artist statements, blogs, newsletter articles, press releases, etc. – really any written statement about you and/or your work.  Perhaps some of you are also a bit bewildered about them.

Here is where I find contradictions in what everyone is saying:

Tell Your Story

Firstly, you are told to tell your story.  Why do you create what you create?  Why do you use your chosen media?  Why do you paint your chosen subject matter?  Why do you use certain techniques?  What is your motivation?  What do you want to say with your art?  Etc.

Also Tell Anecdotal Stories

Every work of art has a story.  Some of these stories may emerge when answering the above questions.  But often there are additional anecdotal stories that add even more to the work of art.  Perhaps while painting en plein air, a gust of wind blew your easel over and carried your painting away.  You finally retrieved it 100 yards down the hill.  Click here for other examples of this type of story.  You’re told to share your stories.

What’s In It for Me (WIIFM)?

This is where I find the contradiction.  We are advised to write from the collector’s point of view.  Put yourself in the collectors’ shoes and ask “What is in it for me?”

I recently read an article on the topic.  Unfortunately I can’t remember who wrote it right now.  The point was made that every landscape artist is inspired by the landscape.  Every figurative artist is inspired by the figure.  Don’t write a statement that simply states, “I am passionate about the landscape.”  I am guilty of doing this.

So, What Do I Write?

So, how do you write your story and make it unique and interesting when it is the same as everyone else’s story?  Or how do you tell your story, share your inspiration, and even add interesting anecdotes, but do it all while addressing WIIFM?  This is the challenge.  I am slowly figuring it out.  Maybe you are quicker than me and have it all figured out already.

I think that there are different levels or classifications of written material for marketing.

Formal

The more formal written material is where I think the more carefully crafted writing is found.  I include Bios, Artist Statements, and Press Releases here.  Make them interesting.  Write them in a way that makes the viewer want to look at more of your work.  Make them compelling.  Consider the WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) question.  If you are careful and creative, you can write a statement that includes your story and addresses the collectors’ perspective.  Take enough time to write and rewrite these.  Revisit them from time to time and update or change them as you grow as an artist.

Less Formal

These may include your blog or newsletter.  You don’t always need to craft these as carefully.  There are times when it is important to address the WIIFM, but there are also times when you simply can’t share your story in that way.  If you write enough blog posts, you have the freedom to move back and forth.  Some blogs focus more on you, some more on the viewer.  Don’t neglect the audience’s perspective.  Give them reason to come back.  But you can insert a bit more of yourself here.

What about Twitter?  Alyson Stanfield recently wrote a great blog about using Twitter.  She suggests that only 5% of your tweets should be self promotional.  If you want to compel your followers to visit your website, these 5% need to consider WIIFM.  Don’t simply write, “Visit my website to see my latest work.”  This isn’t compelling enough.

So, To Summarize

You need to write your story, but wherever possible consider the WIIFM.  If you are creative enough, maybe you can add it into almost every written statement.  At the minimum, the most important statements need to address the WIIFM.  The less formal statements should include it wherever possible, but don’t force them into areas where they simply don’t work (such as anecdotal stories).

Happy writing,

Keith Bond
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Ta da!!! Finally, a solution that makes sense.

The problem:
Too cool overall. I lost that wonderful orange color that made this piece interesting at an earlier stage. Contrast is what makes a painting interesting—contrast of size, color, shape, texture, value, or temperature. The missing ingredient was temperature and color contrast!

The solution:
So I decided to take a small chance and add a very bright orange, sunlit sky. My light source is from the right (see the tree shadows). So I made up a time of day scenario that was different from what I initially intended. Instead of late afternoon, I decided on light from moments before sunset. That meant not only creating the lush orange sky, but decreasing the intensity of the foreground by pushing down the chroma on the river banks.

So now, rather than the viewer focusing on the foreground, the first point of interest is is in the far distance. The eye travels away toward the back of the picture plane. Or in other words, the focus is the top of the painting and the illusion of distance. The viewer feels more as if they are shooting over the tops of the trees to the distant bluffs at the horizon, reinforcing my title.

Whew! Now I can relax… There is nothing worse to me than a paining left unresolved (failed). Thank you for taking the time to go through these lessons with me. I hope you learned as much as I did!

Problem of the trees on Center Island being out of proportion has been solved. I increased the height of the trees at the banks of the river to match better the island.

I am very happy with the way the trees reflect against the dark shadow. I used a very dull green painted directly over the blue of the water. Then I simply added a bit of lighter value green to give the illusion of highlights from the tree leaves. This is somewhat new territory for me. The only other painting I have done with reflection in water is “Landscape #2.”

At this point I should have been done with this painting. But after leaving it in the studio overnight I came back and was dissatisfied. Something was wrong. The painting overall lacked dynamism. It felt wet and dead and cold. Leaving it over the weekend didn’t help. When I came back to the studio it still wasn’t ‘working.’

So back in I went to add a higher chroma green in the foreground. My thinking was that there wasn’t enough contrast overall. And I went further, adding bright highlights to the foreground trees. But still it was a failure in my mind.

Find out how I solved the problem in the last lesson!

Perspective is coming together now. I’m liking how the trees coming together pretty well.

The burnt sienna wash is screaming through the complementary green in a way that is very pleasing. Problem is, the plan I have includes covering most of the sienna with opaque greens. We shall see how well this works out. I nearly want to leave it as is.

There is a drawing problem that is driving me a bit batty. The center island has trees that appear much taller than they should be relative to all the others. I missed that until now. Grrrr. What to do. Come back again to find out!

The dark shadow value of the blue is in place and now it’s on the the trees.

Starting at the back (top) I work my way forward with very muddy green colors with a light value, creating atmospheric perspective. I got a little impatient and decided to rough in some of the green of the foreground river banks. I have all this paint on the palette mixed in order to get to the background greens. So I decided to use them because they were kind of close to what I am after.

I’m really happy with the pattern of the river in the foreground. I’m always amazed when something comes up “correct” the first time around. Usually it takes a lot of reworking to arrive at the perfect solution. Well, at least I think it’s a perfect solution now. As the painting progresses things will probably change. Every stroke has an effect on every other stroke. It’s a fine balance that is easily destroyed. In other words, just because I like something in the painting doesn’t mean it will survive to make the final cut. Each color and shape and value has to play well with it’s neighbors.

Tune in again to find out what happens!

The underpainting is serving me well as a map at this stage. I’m painting the trees a mixture of ultramarine, white and a bit of raw umber to give it a more organic flavor, which will become the shadows behind the trees once they are completed. Remember, in this piece I am working from dark shadows under the trees and later will add the lighter values on top. Also just blocked in a neutral green for the open areas along the banks.

Labor day, I spent the day with my wife and our dog driving down highway 35 (which follows the river) in Wisconsin and then hiking the Iowa side of the Mississippi. It was a perfect day for some photography, so I shot a few pics from an observatory. Really great, awe inspiring views!! So of course, I have to paint some of what I saw using my photos as reference.

I am probably going to title this piece “Landscape #5 (your magic arrow flies with precision).” Titles are always subject to change as the piece progresses. It depends on what the painting is saying to me by the end. Is this how it would feel to be an arrow shot from the bluff? Makes me wonder. I listen to music a lot when painting. And sometimes a lyric is just the right title for my painting. Sometimes titles just pop into my head spontaneously, or from something I heard spoken, or from something written. Inspiration comes from everywhere!

The first step, always, aside from building the stretcher and stretching the canvas and drawing, is underpainting with burnt sienna. It warms everything up nicely. Underpainting color has a huge impact on the overall unity of the painting; even if you can’t see the underpainting color. I use this to make sure I have the values correct. First I draw with pencil directly on the canvas. Then I use my brush to enhance the sketch and begin blocking in values.

As you can see, I am already into the finish layers of the bluff and sky.

The sky is just dioxazine purple and titanium white, with just a touch of raw umber to dull the chroma a bit and warm it up. Remember, start darker at the top of the sky and then gradually move to lighter at the bottom. This is what gives the illusion of receding space.

Next, I mixed ultramarine, raw umber, and titanium white to get the deep blue shadowy color of the bluff. I thinned the blue with turpenoid so it would dry pretty fast. But I still wanted it to be a bit wet to mix color into it. The blue was also used for the bluffs farthest back. I added just a small amount of blue to titanium white. I also used a bit of stand oil mixed into it. Stand oil keeps the colors vibrant and makes the paint look wet, even if it is dry.

Next, I added a bit of cadmium yellow to the blue mixture along with some titanium white to get the trees covering the bluff. This gives the trees the cool, greenish blue. In this painting, illusion of space is accomplished by using cooler, duller colors on parts that I want to move back visually. This is called atmospheric perspective.

I’ll be posting more as I move along. Please check back!

That’s right
A full term of introspection and detection
Formulation and consternation
Review and renew
The finish line is in sight at last
A true end to the woods
Uncovering sky-less darkness
License to run fast from the past
Blessings to me and, anyway
How was your day?

I’ve been hemming and hawing for months about teaching high school art. My brain races in circles when it realizes there is a real possibility that I will carry through with the threat and get my certificate. Hundreds of scenarios fling themselves harshly and relentlessly against the inside of my cranium in response to what teaching would “really be like.” Terror? Yup. Shear joy and fulfillment? Uh huh! Strong desire to hang out with kids and tell teach them what I know? You betcha. Feelings of powerlessness and paralysis? Sure thing! What if I can’t get a long with my boss? What if I can’t deal with parents? What if I go to school for another year and my job completely sucks?

See what I mean?

So what’s my problem? Maybe I have been free to set my own schedule for too long. I have been my own boss for many years, after all. I have scratched along creating paintings and selling them. Sort of make a living at it, too. I’ve heard that there is a lot of paperwork and extracurricular stuff that has to be done all the time. And that the hours are really long. And that vacations are rarely just vacations because you still have to get ready for when vacation is over. All these things make me wonder if I am cut out to teach in such a structured environment. According to my cousin, my problem is that I hate authority—still, after 43 year alive.

Expect to be overwhelmed for the first three years of teaching. If you can make it to five years, you will feel comfortable. That will make me 45 by the time I start to teach, and 50 by the time I feel comfortable. The clock is ticking.

The bureaucracy of  a school district is staggering. I would have to answer to assistant principles, principles, curriculum coordinators, superintendents, other high-ranking school bureaucrats, school board members, politicians, parents, the students! Oh my. Right now I answer to me with regard to my career. One level. Easy. As stated before, I have a problem with authority. Could spell disaster for me.

So, what do I have to lose? Two years of preparation and $10-15k in tuition. No money in the mean time. Pretty much where I am now for income unless the art market picks up soon.

What do I have to gain? Maybe the best place I could be in my life. Lots of new experiences. And a steady income for a change.

Every piece you do needs a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Each sentence should contain no more than one idea.

When you finish writing, get up from your desk, print it out, go for a walk and read it out loud. If it is confusing, it is. If you run out of breath reading a sentence, it is too long.

Generate a large quantity of ideas. Don’t worry about the quality of the idea. Don’t edit your ideas too early or you’ll miss the best ones.