What’s the difference between one painting that mesmerizes and captivates, and another that barely catches a glance?
Some say it’s skill or technique, but if that were all that mattered, why would so many technically flawless paintings feel empty and flat?
The truth is that it’s not just about the precision of your strokes.
And it’s not just about the vividness of your palette.
The answer lies in the unique approach and bold choices that can’t be copied or replicated by anyone else.
Larry Moore, “Days of Future Past,” 40 x 40 in. oil on wood.
If some people seem more creative/innovative than others, artist Larry Moore believes those folks mostly just have a lot less fear. The key components of the creative process can be learned by anyone, he maintains, but overcoming the fear of applying them is the real challenge. It’s exactly this that isn’t taught in schools, although it should be.
Moore identifies seven key qualities that make good painters become great ones: Innovation, invention, inspiration, intent, connectivity, problem solving and problem finding.
“Don’t merely rely on the lessons of others for your skill or your voice,” he says. “Look in for what you already know and see what you can adapt to your work. Eventually, you may find that the years spent studying, say, the canons of the head, were but springboards to the real you.
By way of example, he points to the painting we’ve placed at the top of this page: “The river was my backyard and with it came all of the river critters. My father gained the trust of one blue heron whom he ingeniously named “Old blue”. Somehow he trained Old blue to come in the house to get treats.” Such quirky, seemingly odd details of life are precisely what are nagging us to get out in paint, whether we realize it or not.
We all have them, but we seldom realize it. Moore offers this practical exercise for accessing some of our own original content:
“Take some time to write your life down, bullet point your memories and experiences, not just the big ones, the little ones as well, even the out of focus dreams of youth. Include the things you spent years in; architecture, home-making, air traffic controller, football fanatic, for example, and see if there’s not something you can tap into. Pull at your threads a little to see where they lead.”
Larry Moore, “Background,” mixed media, collage, 36 x 40 ins.
There’s a video you might be interested in, if you’re eager to discover how to trust your own creative instincts and find an artistic voice that’s unmistakably hours.
Painter Larry Moore says, “If you’re tired of looking to others for your solutions, this is the class for you. It’s not a ‘how to paint something to look like something’ class. It’s a ‘how to be authentically you’ class. Museums aren’t filled with the same kind of work. The walls are lined with artwork created by rule-breakers and game-changers. I’m going to show you how to make your own rules.”
Check out his video, the Creativity Course, here.
Larry Moore, “Dinner for One,” 40 x 36 in. oil
3 Ways to Boost Your Art Sales With Instagram
Nathaniel Skousen @nathaniel.skousen.art offers an excellent example of visual storytelling.
Savvy artists recognize that the more popular their Instagram pages, the more valuable they are as tools for selling their work. Follow these tips to make sure you’re making the most of your IG posts.
The following three tips come from a longer article, accessible here By Reg Saddler.
We all start at the same place on Instagram, with no followers. So how do you make your page stand out so your artwork can be seen by more people? With all the differing advice out there, it can be confusing, but there are a few tried-and-true strategies I can share.
CAPTIVATING CONTENT
Everyone posts photos of their art, but do yourself a favor and add some video. A standard Instagram video can be up to 60 seconds, but yours doesn’t have to be that long. And it doesn’t have to be anything fancy — just grab your smartphone, zoom, pan, and you’re done. Don’t overthink it.
Also, don’t just share your artwork; people want a peek behind the scenes. It’s okay to share a pet photo, some snaps from a recent trip, or even, gasp, another artist’s work you find compelling. It’s a way to pay them a compliment, while possibly getting a few fans from their network.
Haidee-Jo Summers @haideejosummers lets followers get to know her better.
HARDWORKING HASHTAGS
Hashtags are key to reaching a wider audience. But tagging your newly minted masterpiece with the #art or #artist hashtag won’t do you a bit of good. The #art hashtag has an astounding 996 million posts, and in the time it took you to read this sentence, the hashtag got flooded with a few hundred pieces of new content.
Using a specialized hashtag that no one will ever see doesn’t do you any good either, unless it’s for a specific event or branding. For example, #yournameartstudio or #yournamefineart. If your name isn’t too common, like #bobsmith or #davidjones, simply go with #yourname.
So how do you find tasty hashtags? Well, there is one sure way: Borrow them from your peers. Find artists like yourself and see what hashtags they’re using. Don’t copy them exactly, but use them as a guide, a starting point, then adjust them for your audience. Use hashtags that reach between 3,500 and 500,000 people. Try to use seven to 10 hashtags to start off with and when you become more comfortable, use all 30 that you’re allowed!
How many times a day should you post? Once a day works well when you’re starting out. However, you can post several times a day to Instagram Stories. Let your hair down in Stories — share pics from a romp in the park or a video walk-through of your studio. Use Stories to share fun, lively content that might seem out of place on your Instagram timeline — just in case you don’t feel comfortable posting a picture of Fido next to your Picasso.
CUNNING CAPTIONS
Make your captions descriptive, fun, and not too long-winded. These aren’t blog posts.
Aaron Schuerr @aaronschuerr shares video of a plein air close encounter.
Editor’s note: I’d add, too, that the most interesting captions also “tell a story” rather than simply list dimensions, titles and prices (though that works too). If you can relate a “microstory” about the work or the process – something that happened while you were painting it, or why the subject drew you, how you came to create it, etc – all the better.
Read the rest of this article here.
