I hear about alot of people joining facebook, promoting themselves on Esty, and networking on Linkedin, but I see very few people finding jobs and success with those avenues. I'm beginning to suspect that social media is trying to do too much. Or people are expecting too much from internet networking sites. Perhaps it shouldn't be used as a way to find work. Maybe it's only worth is posting snarky comments and embarrassing photos.
The internet is so huge with so many people promoting and posting that it is unrealistic to expect much. For an internet site to be any good it needs to be supported with good ol' fashioned hand shaking and friend making. Nothing, not even facebook, can replace face to face real world interaction. Especially for a working artist. Art is something that should be seen live, in person. So one of my goals for 2012 is to get out to and be more social. Meet people, make friends, and develop relationships. I can post all the images in the world but until someone has seen my face, and heard my voice I don't think I am going to get very far.
It's time to get out of our social media caves people! Take the digital blinders off!
So what is my blog good for? Well it gets me working, and that's what its all about. Things that get me drawing and painting. The blog gives me something to shoot for, even if I'm just shooting my images off into a deep cyber void it makes me feel better. It's also nice to have the blog as a digital archive of my work. And when people do ask me about my art the blog is a nice and convenient place to direct them to. And yet, I worry I devalue my work when I post it digitally online. So my second goal for 2012 is to keep more of my artwork for myself. It sounds funny, but my new plan is to keep some of my work secret. Un-reproduced, and only seen in original format. That's right! If you want to see the good stuff you'll have to come to my studio and see it in person! I think keeping some of my work offline will keep it sacred, and more of a personal experience when viewed. . .More valuable.
2012 here I come! I'm ready for you, I think.
1 comment:
I agree with you almost 100%!!! I think people (in regards to any kind of business) often naively assume that all you need to do is join/participate in social media and maintain a web presence and that's all you need when in reality something has to be done to actually direct traffic to what you intend to show. In my personal experience, looking at my web and shop analytics, I realized that the majority of traffic was direct traffic which meant that people actually inputted my actual url, which meant that all my business card/post card handing-out actually helped! I was once told that illustrators have one of the hardest jobs as you are in charge of wearing numerous hats including promoting yourself aggressively, being your own PR, agent, marketing team, manager, etc in the hopes of even getting gigs/sales/commissions...etc. I think you touch upon an interesting contentious point....I do agree that work always looks better in person when it's done analog, but I would have to disagree on having just a select few view your works. If it's personal stuff, I never show it, or maybe to just a very select few, but sometimes I think that the more people who view your work the better as more eyes on it often leads to more possibilities for opportunities in the future. A flat computer screen can never capture the beauty of an analog art piece, or any product for that matter (furniture, car, clothes...etc) but it gives a great preview :). I do hope you'll continue to keep posting and sharing your art just as frequently, if not more, with the world this coming year! P.S. If you like Jillian Tamaki, check out Tomer Hanuka and Yuko Shimizu if you haven't already. :)
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