How to Become a Famous Artist and Still Paint Pictures [Paperback]

W. Joe Innis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1994

A successful international artist offers a no-holds-barred approach to making it in the arts and selling your work."This profound, funny book, full of hard truths and smart advice, is must reading for artists. Read it and you just might transform your life and jolt your art career awake! Are you ready for some high voltage inspiration? Then come listen to the master's voice."Eric Maisel, A Life in the Arts"The best bunch of advice I've ever seen for someone who is serious about this crazy addiction called art."Barnaby Conrad, artist and best-selling author.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

". . . W. Joe Innis is the head cheerleader for a new perspective on what we call artistic expression." -- Judyth Rigler, San Antonio Express-News

"This is arguably the most revealing book on the business side of the arts. And, yes, Innis is a damned good writer . . . the sort of writer you'd like to have a drink with. And that says a lot in these crazy-artist days." -- The Book Reader

"This profound, funny book, full of hard truths and smart advice, is must reading for artists. Read it and you just might transform your life and jolt your art career awake! Are you ready for some high voltage inspiration? Then come listen to the master's voice." -- Eric Maisel, A Life in the Arts

"While anyone who enjoys good writing will find the book entertaining, it is written for the serious painter. This is not necessarily the same as a full- time professional artist, but Innis will tell you how to make the jump. . ." -- Paul Cardwell, Jr., The Paris News

About the Author

W. Joe Innis has lived and worked as an artist in many countries throughout the world, exhibiting in Tokyo, Seoul, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, and New York. His work is featured in many books and periodicals. Former columnist for The Artists Magazine, he ahs published two art-related novels. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 241 pages
• Publisher: Eakin Pr; 1st edition (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890159564
• ISBN-13: 978-0890159569
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,716,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the serious artist, November 10, 2001

By 

Michael Bird "Michael S. Beverly" (Yorba Linda, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How To Become a Famous Artist and Still Paint Pictures (Paperback)

That want to be able to sell their work. Innis lays down a lot of information, and he has some strong opinions. While you might not agree with all he has to say, he offers straight forward advice and no holds barred points of fact.

Besides all that, it is just an interesting book to read and fun too. He offers some tips on how not to be a "pigeon" (fat lazy birds that beg and simply follow the crowd) that are just good advice and can be applied to endeavors other than painting. His writing is humorous and often blasts certain types of thinking and institutions.

He gives advice on what kind of materials he feels are best, plus tips on how to arrange certain things in you life to be able to paint.
His plan on how to launch your career is straight forward, simple to understand and seems very realistic. The hard part is the work. This is no "pie in the sky" method, Innis insists that a painter have 2 or 3 hundred paintings under their belt before presenting work to the buying public. He wants the artist to be a good draftsman before trying to paint. He wants the artist to use a professional writer and a professional photographer to create a catalog of work. He doesn't offer any "secret" tricks here, just a solid method to becoming a professional well paid artist.

The one area of disagreement I have is that he is a little to emphatic when it comes to certain materials. He advocates using acrylics on inexpensive canvas with large brushes. While that is fine for many types of work, it simply doesn't cut it with others such as the seascapes I tend to paint. I use fine linen (yes it is 200 bucks a roll but it feels so nice) and I use expensive oil paints (the colors and the strengths of pigments make it worth it). I also use many small brushes for detail work. But these differences don't really effect the reading of the book, he just gives his reasons why he uses and prefers the types of materials he uses. He does make a really good point about staying away from watercolor and I have to agree 100 per cent on this.

All in all, for any one that is seriously considering trying to launch a career in painting, a career --not a weekend at the park selling 25 dollar paintings-- then this book is a must read and I highly recommend it.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crusty but tasty, May 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: How To Become a Famous Artist and Still Paint Pictures (Paperback)

One of those gotta-have books for the artist. I laughed my way silly as I read through this book and pestered my friends with quotes from it for months! Unless you're married to an abstract expressionist who makes their living with grant money, you'll think it's funny and right-on too. He's sarcastic, biting and not a little cranky when it comes to Academic, Museum and Gallery commentaries. But hey - my experience as an artist has been pretty much the same, so I can't fault him for tellin' it like it is. And he does it with buckets of humor.

I guess you would call Joe a modern impressionist painter - if you want a classification for him. So he comes from a realist point of view rather than an abstract one. However, Joe is certainly not anti-abstract, he's just anti-pretensiousness (I made that word up I think?). Joe's been there and done that. He spills his guts and lets us know what works and what doesn't on the way to becoming a well-known and successful artist. I have no doubt, if you have talent and the guts to follow his program you can make a very nice living as an artist.

Highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Work, November 30, 2007

By 

Lavender Chartreuse (Sunnyvale, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How To Become a Famous Artist and Still Paint Pictures (Paperback)

This book was really entertaining. I was sad when I finished reading it as I enjoyed every anecdote, every story. Innis not only imparts his philosophies of art and artist, but gets into the nitty gritty of how to put it all together to make a living as an artist and become internationally famous. Make sure to read the introduction, as it tells you what you can expect life to feel like as a famous artist-its not what you may be expecting. He also describes other roads that artists often take to try and make it and explains why they don't work; he knows because he tried many of them first hand. The step by step path that he lays out is so clear and clever it was shocking, and struck me as completely achievable. Get this book; its funny and it gives you what you're looking for and more. I'll be keeping my copy around for future re-reading.