Mmm. I love a good croissant.
When we took our kids to Paris a couple years ago, they marveled over the idea that people eat dessert for breakfast, like croissants and chocolate. What’s not to love? Rich, airy pockets of flaky goodness.
©2009 Sparky Firepants Images
As much as I love flakiness in my pastry, I abhor flakiness in the art business.
You know the stereotype of the flaky artist, right? It sounds kind of romantic in a I-live-in-a-one-room-Village-tenement-with-six-other-artists kind of way. A Bohemian Rapshody, if you will. In High School it sounded like heaven. Make whatever art you want, wear a beret, smoke brown cigarettes, starve.
In High School you can afford to be a flaky artist because Mom and Dad pick up the tab. When you realize that Somebody has to pay for the cigarettes, and that Somebody is you, you might want to rethink the flaky persona.
I do not mean to say that you have to give up your creativity and start dressing like a JCPenney model. Keep your thrift store chic and your nose ring, and by God keep your wildly creative mind flowing with whimsicality and nuttiness. Don’t get your kickers in a twist because you thought I said you should change who you are.
The reality is that the world of people buying art is a world of commerce. It’s a world of budgets and decisions. The Art Director you’re after to buy your stuff has a job to do. Part of that job is selling you to their boss. The boss has to sell you to the People with the Money, and those people have to sell you to the People Who Buy the Stuff for the Stores, and those people answer to their own boss, and that boss has to answer to your grandma who bought 10,000 shares of their store and wants to know why the stock is down.
So you might start to see why the Art Director does not want to work with a flaky artist. The Art Director wants to work with someone who communicates well, understands what they need, and knows what a gutter is and why you shouldn’t have the main character in it.
So wildly creative, yes. Flaky, no.
Here are a few things you can do to make yourself at least appear non-flaky:
Make yourself easy to reach
Respond to phone and e-mail inquiries within 24 hours (at least). You’ve been trying to get the gig for, like… ever. Why would you screw it up by letting that Art Director’s e-mail sit in your inbox for a week? Are you kidding me?
You don’t have to pick up the phone on the first ring or sleep with your Blackberry under your pillow, but for Suess’s sake, return a frikkin’ message, okay?
Learn about the project
Ask questions. If you don’t know, ask. If you’re stuck on why something is being asked of you, clear it up. You will look like a more of a pro than the bozo who just plows through and has to revise it later. Ask. That’s what the Art Director is there for.
Even better, think of a solution before asking. For example, if an illustration calls for an airplane, don’t just ask, “What kind of airplane do you want?” Rather, do your homework, try to understand the rest of the piece, and then suggest something. “I was thinking that a WWI biplane would work really well here, since we have that old Model T. Do you have a preference for airplane type?”
This is advice from one of my old bosses: Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.
By the way, this is another good reason for not working on spec. How can you possibly interpret the client’s need and offer the best solution if you haven’t even spoken to them? Working on spec is not a professional practice for artists. Writers, maybe.
Stick to the Plan
This goes hand-in-hand with asking questions. If you’re given an assignment that calls for cows in the upper left corner, don’t turn in a layout that has chickens because you like them better. That is uber-flaky.
If your rough sketch of the race car is approved, don’t turn in final art of a robot because you changed your mind.
Believe me, creative suggestions are always appreciated. Don’t be a robot, offer some input, be a part of the process. That makes it fun for you and makes you fun to work with. However (huge however coming up here), never alter the layout without discussing it first.
You just gave the Art Director more work to do. She either has to tell you no, then wait for you to change it, or she likes it but has to explain to her boss why it’s different and if the editor wants the original idea they’ll have to wait for it a little longer.
Does that sound like a fun day at the office to you? Make yourself easy to work with. The harder an Art Director has to work to get your project accomplished, the less likely you’ll be asked back.
These are just a few suggestions, but you hopefully get my drift.
To be a successful working artist, you can’t be a flaky pastry. It sounds fun and it’s a cool movie cliche, but it doesn’t keep you working.
Be like black coffee instead. Black coffee is no-nonsense. It doesn’t cloud things up with milk and sugar. It’s bold, strong, positive. It comes in many flavors, but it always delivers.
Oh David. This is SO good. There are very few artists I have ever met who have a marketing sense. They don’t know how to do it. They don’t LIKE to do it. They just want to be cree-A-tive.
I did meet one recently here in the Seattle area. She does these incredible lampshade designs. And she sells them at Rockefeller Center galleries! Bob and I put her in a lunchtime panel for a Saturday BizSchool we organize twice a year because she was such an awesome find. She talked about how to make marketing a regular part of your business day.
And I love your advice about helping your client solve problems rather than bringing more problems to her.
Most of all, your wonderful sense of humor makes this post zing. I could read your posts all day.
Aww, thanks Judy.
I’ve recently been learning about the world of art licensing. It’s actually very lucrative and you get to create art all day.
However – marketing and business sense are crucial to success, it seems.
The other interesting thing I’ve noticed in artists is that the better they are at marketing and business, the less competitive they feel.
i loved your post. Personally I pride myself on NOT being a flaky artist and have worked doubly hard to deliver on time, return every call and email, and be ‘professional’. I remember the art school days with stinky friends, and potatoes with every meal, and dang it all, I like showers and good food!
Ah, yes, the “art is my passion, my baby and nobody can tell me how to create my art” thing…. definitely leads to starving.
Personally, I like to eat. I’ve been a professional artist (of one sort or another) most of my adult life. A WORKING professional artist ~ why? Because I am black coffee (dare I say, at the risk of sounding full of myself ~ maybe even Starbucks? :-)). I smiled when I read this post because years ago when I started cold-calling for freelance clients I would tell them “I’m not a flaky artist ~ I’m a professional. Really!”
I’ll offer a few more thoughts…
Meet your deadlines. Always. Period. No excuses.
Be flexible and easy-going. If a client tells you they want the flower pink instead of yellow, don’t give them a 10 minute dissertation on why you made it yellow and why you insist that it stay yellow. Just. Make. It. Pink. With a smile. An old adage of mine is: “You like it? I love it.”
If you don’t understand a direction (and there are so many clients out there who cannot properly communicate) ask for clarification ~ don’t wing it. There are no stupid questions. Questions save time, money and aggravation on everybody’s part.
In the initial stages (sketches & roughs), give more than asked for ~ but not too much. Too much overwhelms clients, but they like choices. Give them a winner and one or Two to trash and you’ll move along to the final stages faster.
Be positive ~ leave your personal drama in the wings. Clients don’t want to hear it if you’re having a bad day, week, month, life. Keep it light.
Send a thank you note for the business the first time you complete a project with a new client. No email – handwritten.
So there’s my thoughts ~ those and 2¢ will get you a cup of coffee…err..that and $2…..
Kudo’s to you. I love your insights on licensing art and how creative type can hit (or miss) the mark. You crack me up! Keep the message flowing!
great post! I have been speaking and giving seminars on Art Licensing for over 16 years to artists in hopes of setting some professional standards in our business.. Along with the Licensing 101 presentation comes a whole bit on being professional, throwing away the “blond” attitude and taking control of your business. Most artists, unfortunately, have no business sense, no direction or marketing skills to sell their talent. I have often thought that the art schools do us a disservice in not teaching a class on marketing and good business practices. So, good for you to send it out there to the creative world to sit up and pay attention to. It can make such a difference in your business if only you would forgo the croissant and just stick with the black coffee….did I say ” pass the sugar, please?”.
best,
carol eldridge
There’s a great book by a man named JoBe Cerny called, “I Could Have Been a Cab Driver but I Became an Actor Instead.”
You may remember him as the funny guy in the Cheer commercials.
He talks about acting, but the thing I love about his book is that the lessons can be applied to any freelance career.
JoBe is not a leading man. His name doesn’t run alongside Tom Hanks or Brad Pitt on the movie posters. He isn’t a tabloid darling. No “Ellen” appearances.
However, the guy has a nice home, he travels, he put his kids through college… by being a professional actor.
Talk about the diciest career choice ever. Being a waiter or cab driver is a cliche for actors.
JoBe must be doing something right. Right?
JoBe has the right attitude ~ I often say “I’m not making a killing, but I am making a living” and doing it as an artist working for myself – what could be better?
p.s. I see that I duplicated your thought on asking questions in my comment – sorry for being redundant in my zeal…
BJ:I’m happy to have you contribute to the discussion here! Some of these points bear repeating anyway.
You mentioned something I didn’t, which was to leave your personal drama in the wings. Spot on.
The same goes for interviewing or bidding on projects. When a potential client asks how you are, it’s not only a friendly formality, it’s sort of a test.
I interviewed a woman for a design position a while back. When I started off by asking her to tell me about herself, I got an earful about her sick dog, her crazy kids, and her “poor excuse for a husband.”
Gack!
Guess who wasn’t listening to anything she said about her qualifications after that? Sad to say, but the interview was over before we got any further.
It’s great to make a funny comment like, “My kids think I carry PBJ in my pants,” but keep it light and fun. Show some personality, but entertain, don’t drain!
Karyn and Carol: Yes! I’ve often thought that art schools should have a class about the Real World. Marketing, communication, accepting feedback, etc. Talent and skill are great, but only if you can sell them (and shower).
I love it – “entertain, don’t drain”! Great way to say that.
Your comment about accepting feedback made me think of another point:
Have thick skin. Unlike your mother, not everybody will like everything you create. This is never personal – it is just business. A truly professional artist doesn’t bat an eye and will whip out a different design saying, “Here’s how about this instead?” I am sometimes amazed at how many artists out there get wounded because somebody didn’t like their offering. I may think to myself, “That’s a darned nice design, I can’t believe nobody has licensed it!” but I’m not hurt when a potential client passes on it.
Here’s another:
Never make excuses. If you screw up, own it. A client would rather hear, “I made a mistake, I apologize and here’s how I’ll fix it…” than, “I was tired when I worked on that because my cat kept me up howling, then my coffee maker broke and my computer was screwed up…” (this is akin to “leave the drama in the wings” and “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions”)
I think Tara had a whole post about reasons vs. excuses…
This is quite a hot info. I’ll share it on Digg.
i loved your post. Personally I pride myself on NOT being a flaky artist and have worked doubly hard to deliver on time, return every call and email, and be 'professional'. I remember the art school days with stinky friends, and potatoes with every meal, and dang it all, I like showers and good food!