I’m a new artist and there are lots of things I didn’t know (and many things I’ve yet to learn). Probably the biggest shocker was discovering how much is involved in getting work ready to present to the public. I had no idea.

For my new series First Light, which I’m releasing on November 20, I wanted to set a date, make a commitment and get work done on time. So I worked diligently in my studio, finding time to paint about 5 days a week.

I worked on 15 pieces over a 3-4 month period. I started on 12×12″s and a few larger canvases. Then I bought some 30×30″ cradled boards, because I wanted to try working at a larger size. From the 15 paintings I worked on, I chose 8 to present. They’re the best work I’ve done to date and I’m excited to share them with you.

But first, the finishing

Then the finishing work began. Each piece had to be tidied up (edges can get pretty messy when the paint’s flying around) and decisions about framing had to be made. I varnished the larger paintings, first with gloss varnish and then with satin varnish (less reflective). Varnishing involves having multiple canvases lying on the floor, which is quite the trick in a small studio.

Then they have to be photographed. Eventually, I’d love to have a pro take care of the photos. But for now, I’m head photographer. I’ve found a spot outside where I can hang work on our fence. The light in the afternoon is good there (bright, but shaded).

All these photographs (100s!) have to be edited—choosing the ones where the art is straight, well-lit, and the colours are represented as faithfully as possible. Each one has to be cropped and sized for use on my website or social media.

Then there are titles. Sometimes titles come to me as I’m working on a painting (Drip the Lily is my fave from this series). Others resist titling and I try out various titles before settling on one that feels right. I’ve found pulling lines from my poems to be a great source.

Some people prepare labels for the backs of their paintings. I keep changing my mind about titles, so I just write on the back using a permanent marker or pen before a painting goes out the door. Labels look great, but I like the directness of writing on the board or canvas. As a buyer, I’d prefer that approach—feels more old school.

Pricing involves research about what artists in the area with similar levels of experience are selling their work for. It needs to be consistent and size-based. I have a spreadsheet with linear inch calculations. I add in framing (if any) and get a ballpark price. Some sources recommend including your time in the calculation, but at the moment that would make my work far more expensive than my experience allows. If I calculated my hourly wage from my current painting prices it would be too depressing. Hopefully that will change in the future!

So fiddly, so persnickety

Of course all of the photos and the prices are headed for my website in the end. I’m a graphic designer by trade, so you’d think this would be the easy part. Wrong! I don’t build websites for a living and there’s a reason—they drive me mad. So fiddly, so persnickety. I think a task is going to take an hour or two and something goes wrong and the better part of a day is gone. It’s very satisfying when it’s all done, but getting there can be a struggle.

And then there’s promotion. The internet has enabled artists to connect to customers directly. It’s revolutionized the art world, and allowed artists to have more control over their careers. But if you go the DIY route you have to do all the promotional work that galleries traditionally did for artists. That means I need to be visible and active on Instagram and other social sites. It’s a stretch for an introvert like me. I’m working on it, gradually.

That’s not the whole list of finishing tasks and I’ve kept the gory details kind of sketchy. I left out wiring the back, painting frames, cataloguing work, screwing paintings into frames, etc. I figured you might be interested in this stuff, but only up to a point!

While I love painting far more than finishing, all these steps are part of the work. From the moment I started painting I felt a drive to share what I make. For me, it’s an essential part of the process of creating, part of why I do it.

If you’d like to see the fruits of my labours, please subscribe to my email list. You’ll get a first look at the complete First Light series on November 14, several days before the public release on November 20.

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