Blog

In the past several months, I have enjoyed a number of days painting in public.  Yesterday I spent several hours painting in a wonderful garden that was part of the annual Garden Walk in South Bend.  Even though the temps hovered around 90 degrees, there was a steady flow of people out to see the beautifully manicured gardens. 

One fun part of this garden walk is that each garden has two or three artists creating artwork at each stop on the tour.  I had a few other artists mention the fact that it is rather challenging working with a steady stream of on-lookers.  There are a number of tricks I have learned while painting in public that can help any artist to feel more at ease while working out in public.  For simplicity's sake I will just list them:

1. Paint something that is not too complicated. 

2. If possible take along at least one small completed piece of art, so you can refer viewers to it. 

3. Have promotional materials such as business cards, post cards or brocheres on the side of back of your easel.

4. Greet people warmly and don't be afraid to say you are just laying down the building blocks of the composition, or values, etc.

5. Direct people to your website, or a gallery that sells your work.

6. Take time to casually chat with people, as you feel able to, but don't forget to keep "THINKING" about what you are trying to accomplish.

7. Take breaks to move back and study your work, use those times to chat at longer lengths with other people.  Also use these opportunities to educate the public about what a real artist does! 

Well I hope this is sone help to other artists.  Over the years I have met some wonderful people from painting out in public.  Kids are the best, because they are so honest.  I could write a small book about some of the funny things that people have said, during different stages of my painting process.  Be ready for anything, keep the good, and forget or laugh at the bad comments (later with a friend), and most of all ENJOY yourself!