Supposing you studied art and its history in a formal setting, then you probably learned the proper way to describe your artwork. If you're in that category, think seriously about hiring a professional writer or editor to write for you, preferably one with an art background, to help you say what you want your statement to convey in language that ordinary everyday people can understand. I write for artists all the time-- statements, essays, explanations, descriptions, whatever you need. Change your statement based on the opportunity, Include unnecessary but pretentious references, Include biographical information (this should be only used in a bio or CV), Use statements starting with âI hope toâ¦â , âI willâ¦â or âI am trying toâ¦" instead tell say what you do with confidence. Instead of saying "You will experience angst when you see my art," say "This art expresses my angst" or "I express my angst through my art.". This will help moving forward as I’ll be starting to do more shows and being that my price points have moved up. Perhaps it creates a serene atmosphere.
If you need help, find someone who writes or edits and have them fix the problem. 2 0 obj * Avoid comparative or evaluative comments that have been made about your art by third parties such as gallery owners, critics, collectors, or curators. Make sure they get what you're saying and come away understanding what you want them to understand. Now sure what questions to ask yourself? 0000015798 00000 n 3 0 obj Infuse it with your own unique perspective. Rest assured that those who read your statement and want to know more will provide you with ample opportunities to get technical, metaphysical, conceptual, academic, philosophical, personal, emotional, moralistic, socially and culturally relevant, historical, political, autobiographical, anecdotal, or twisty with jargon-- LATER, NOT NOW. Describe the mood of your artwork as well as the visual characteristics. Humans are emotional creatures and as we go around, doing our things, we get carried away by our thoughts and feelings. Sometimes, we edit until we realize that the whole piece of writing needs reordering. In other words, your potential audience and fan base is huge. First, take a break, go for a walk, or take a nap. I thought I would share my answer to these questions in the hopes it might help you define your practice as well. One thing about art description, don’t get me wrong I suck where it comes to describing my work than selling it, most of the time people walk away. Need help writing, editing, revising or expanding your artist statement? Each statement should consider the context for the statement. Every artist will have a different answer, and that’s okay!
If you apply for an opportunity at a print studio but your artist statement doesnât shine a light on your interest in 17th century etching, you should slice something out and add this information. All rights reserved.
Talk for all the time you are given. The average person knows little about art and your art-making process.
I work for a small Arts Council and would love to reproduce this article in our next newsletter. * Be specific, not vague. It will evolve over time. I am a New York Artist living by the amazing Hudson river. They don’t have a lot of money to spend on art. This was very helpful because I had to describe art for a project for my art class at school and this really helped me a lot. People have short attention spans, especially these days, and extra especially online where most of them now go to look at and read about art. These belong in your bio, resume or curriculum vitae (CV). Red is the color of blood, roses, and hot chilis. I’ve found that the only art style that’s universally understood is realism.
Put yourself in the mindset of the average person. Hereâs a starting list: When youâre working with big ideas, it can be tempting to slip into abstractions. Before you go public with your statement, get feedback. They have a lot of bills to pay. It can greatly dictate how people view your work, whether you like it or not. For many artists, itâs a difficult challenge to explain their visual work in words.
As you know, the visual characteristics of artwork are lines, colors, values, shapes, textures, space, and movement. First you need to get an overview of your work. How does it connect? Never pressure them or attempt to dictate outcomes. What is your mission? How do you see your art practice? If I wanted to write to express myself I would have been a writer. I found that defining my practice for others became easier once I clearly define it for myself.
Spark Box was taking up a lot of time and getting into the studio to work on my own art was becoming increasingly difficult. Nobody likes being told what to do. She’s a nail-biting, Southern Comfort-loving, poker-playing, adventure-seeking, animal-adoring, tattoo addict who has a way with words.
I would not put in the whole article – leaving them with a taste of your article so that they would log in to your site to see more. I’m in the process of writing a blogpost about the process of creating a painting and felt that it felt very bland, compared to the painting which uses very vivid colors and is infused with energy (see- this article helped me already!) 0000016142 00000 n You must describe its features and benefits to make a connection between your art and the average person in order to make a sale. What repeats?
Green represents growth and healing. Going through this exercise can lead to new ways of thinking about your practice and can propel you towards positive changes. Don't bog readers down, but rather entice them to want to know more. Before handing the writing to an outside reader you want to sharpen the writing as much as possible. Remember-- your statement is about expanding your audience, about welcoming NEW people to your work, not keeping things static. To learn more about the value of good art writing, go here >>.
It will also provide a conversational tone to your writing (i.e. Why can't people just look at my art and take away whatever experiences they will? The good news is that learning how to write an artist statement is easier than you think. There are several types of grammatical moods including indicative, interrogatory, imperative, emphatic, subjunctive, injunctive, optative, and potential. In addition to this skill, it is equally important to understand when it’s appropriate to start selling and how your body language affects your chances of a sale. Artists are often guilty of using unnecessary and fanciful words. Instead, you must talk about these characteristics using much more descriptive adjectives. trailer <<062126CF6C874E779B5387CDC7C14614>]/Prev 94757/XRefStm 1173>> startxref 0 %%EOF 398 0 obj <>stream Describe your artist works and what your work means. Use words such as lustrous, shadowy, radiant, glossy, and saturated when describing colors. Thanks! The more jargon used the more the work appears insecure. As an artist, you’ll want to grammatically describe the mood of your artwork using the indicative type. This article struck a chord with me as I had a lovely email from a lady last month saying how much she loved my work. Practise the useful language below so you can explain which part of the picture you are talking about.
Start your free 14-day trial today, no credit card required. This can be a fantastic way to avoid using complicated language, and keep your ideas clear and simple. Talk about what your art does for you, not what it's supposed to do for the viewers. kyle@sparkboxstudio.com, *General inquires may be address to Chrissy by email.
endobj - Influences (cultural, historical, theoretical, art historical, personal, biographical) - Form of work (materials, processes, tradition of work –e.g. You can use it for galleries, press mentions, portfolios, applications and submissions. What is the most unique?