Formula artists are very, very good at what they do. It may have taken decades of hard work and perseverance to arrive at their brand, their formula. The formula is the secret sauce, it generates the “viable market”. It’s so good, it’s recognizable, its brandable, its consistent. Those in a position to buy art, not only desire the formula, they are willing to bid up the price. By way of contrast, I was always in awe of series artists, able to crank out dozens and dozens of variations of the same thing. There is a lot of bad series artists, they think doing series is the secret, but left out the formula.
My brain is just not wired that way, I’m not very patient, but every time I try to conceive said formula, any formula, and then stick to the script to establish a recognizable style, I fail. It’s Extremely Difficult, which is the point of the conversation. First, you have to develop an elixir, a signature, a quality, which creates a feeling, a message, a mood that touches something deeper, subconscious, immortal. If you follow art, you know these artists, those that made it and those that may be close, there are not many. Second, you have to have even more talent and skills to duplicate the magic with enough variation so that each piece is unique, often each successive work better than the last, and there has to be enough of it to prove you are real deal.
Your brand then has to be discovered and promoted by the art establishment gods. The work, the formula, is not enough. On top of that, successful galleries, the ones that have survived and thrived, most often choose artists who have more than a strong and cohesive body of work. They also have:
- previous exhibitions in respected venues
- a track record of sales
- press reviews
- awards
- solid curriculum vitae
- MFA a plus
If you were wealthy, would you go to a Hyundai dealer to buy a car? To cut out the riff raff and ensure that the product has been vetted, you stick with specialized agents, brick and mortar galleries, fairs, auction houses and museums that verify the above credentials. Instagram is the mass self publishing alternative, its not even the B league or the farm team. Once you ascend to the top tier galleries, you no longer have to post. Someone else will do that for you. Tens of thousands of artists are trapped in social media, they don’t have the formula.
Sometimes its not what you need to be worthy, its what you have to give up. For most of us it means giving up comparisons, excuses, perfectionism, feeling selfish, the need for praise and my favorite – working all the time. https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/9-things-you-should-give-up-to-be-a-successful-artist Yes. I can’t tell you how many times I have trudged down to my studio, trying to force something to happen when I wasn’t present mentally, over tired or just in a bad mood. Total waste of fn time. My best art work happens when I’m spontaneous, in the moment, not thinking. Almost happy.