Customer Reviews

Breaking into the Art World: How to start making a living as an artist

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Alot of other artist how-to books give you cover to cover advice on how to write up an artist's statement and compile a portfolio for gallery submission, suggesting such things as go make a name for yourself in another country before trying to get into US galleries... win a grant... win a contest...- BEFORE submitting your portfolio.
This book is the most effective artist's guide out there for learning how to EARN AN INCOME, gallery or no gallery. Obviously all artists want gallery representation cuz that means they get to paint and forget about the pressure of promoting themselves... but anyone who has tried to get into a gallery without having been in one before will discover the catch22 that no gallery wants someone who is unknown...
What I love about Brian's approach is that in bypassing the gallery, as he himself experienced, he got galleries to come to him!
TOO COOL!
He gets into guide-for-dummies detail, offers all the phone numbers of his personal suppliers (very helpful especially since I live his town!)
and stimulates one to think off the page, meaning I got so many more ideas from his suggestions that aren't even in the book... it's just that kind of book- it gets you motivated and thinking creatively AND realistically (something we artists can have trouble with).
I wanna go thru the phone book and take this guy out to lunch- he's my new hero!

As an artist who wants to be a SELLING artist, I read White's book. Simply put, I found that it was an excellent source of ideas on how to not only begin the process of selling your work, but also the pragmatic aspects as well.

As an artist, I paint not to express any soulful meaning, but to make paintings that answer the question: Would I want it hanging on a wall in my house?

So after a few years of painting, my confidence has grown and I believe my art is sellable. but how do you get started selling it?

White's book is a densely packed little tome of ideas that stem from his experiences in starting off his career as an artist earning a living at it. The book has gems of ideas on how to get started selling, and how to handle the pragmatic issues of displaying, printing, advertising, packaging your works.

For example: I loved chapter 5 because it included a simple apporach to be a Street Artist that many of us artists can surely do. He tells you how to identify a good location to paint to draw attention of passer's by and how it can help you increase the market's awareness of you and your art. (he also mentions how this approach can benefit local businesses because you become the ADVERTISEMENT that helps pull people into the stores/restaraunts that you are standing in front of...a nice win/win situation).

White also instructs you on how to to limited edition prints, pricing, care and packaging, etc.

If you are an artist who desires to 'come out of the closet' but doesn't know how, make the little investment here (it costs less than a couple of lattes!). Mr. White really does want to help those artists like me who have the desires to earn a sustainable living by creating and selling our works. He wants to share his knowledge with you so that you can experience the joy of earning a living as an artist.

This is not at all a book that will give you hints or help you to Break into the Real Art World ( I am talking: real galleries and the Real Art world out there: The Contemporary art world). This is only a book to help you sell your stuff in the streets which is what you should avoid at all costs if you want to break into the real thing. Not a helpful book at all. Its about selling Epson prints for $30 in the streets. Great if it is what you want to do but not great if you have a bit more ambition than that. Some people are fine with it, great art does not sell in the streets. Sorry, but its true.

I highly recommend Mr. White's new book "Breaking Into The Art World" to any artist who wants to sell and market their creations. I have read many books on the subject of marketing and the art world, and each book provided some useful knowledge and information, but they never really got down to some very important basics. Brian Marshall White's book cuts straight to the chase. It is easy to read and comprehend. His advice and ideas are straight forward. His recommendations invaluable. This books is a great investment. I only wish he had written this book before I had gotten started. I would have saved myself a lot of valuable time and money. The information in his book will be very useful to someone starting out and I also believe it can provide new ideas to artists who are already established. He writes honestly and offers encouragement to the reader-artist.

I am so pleased to have this book. Marshall White has done a terrific job of presenting a little book filled with oodles of pearls on how to jump-start your art career. He clearly is living what he writes and how fortunate we are that he is willing to share his knowledge and experience with us. This book is very readable, is easy to follow and packed full of so much detail. I see many uses for this resource on my shelf, beyond art (although I have always wanted to have a go at it)...I am going utilize this book to market my little antique/curiosity business that we plan on opening soon. The book is full of wonderful tips and very sensible information. I just cannot say enough...it's great! Mahalo, Marshall.....and please keep painting those Kona sunsets.

This book had some good information but it was not very in-depth and covered a fairly narrow range of topics. It was very specific to drawing and painting with a lot of information on being a street artist, making prints, how to sign your prints, and the like. As an aspiring glass artist, I found large portions of the book irrelevant to my chosen medium. That said, I found the chapter on galleries and consignment to be interesting and informative, but at only 15 pages it didn't do much to make up for the rest of the material that I didn't find useful. I was also slightly annoyed by the many spelling and grammar errors, but I realize this isn't an issue for many people, I think I just had too many spelling tests in elementary school.

I bought "How to Survive and Prosper As an Artist" by Caroll Michels at the same time and plan to read it next. White recommends it for a more in-depth treatment in his chapter on galleries so I think it will probably offer me the meat I am thirsting for.

If you are thinking about taking the plunge into the art world, read this book first. Marshall White promotes a specific approach. How to sell your own artwork, and make the most money while doing it. Sure you can put your art in a gallery and hope it sells, (how many of us have done that???) Marshall shows the reader how to make sales happen.

This book is concise, easy to read, and a step by step guide on how to do just this. If you are even wondering if you want to sell your art, you need to read this book. It is full of great references, from which printer to buy, to where to get matting supplies for prints.

The most important part for me, is the attitude with which he goes about his art sales. Always have a smile on your face, look your customers in the eye, and what one thing can you do today to further your business or art? Attitude is everthing, it can make or break a business. Marshall White gets it.

Marshal White has writen an easy-to-read how-to book that gets to most basic elements of conducting a business in art. I am most impressed with his willingness to share his hard-learned secrets to success. The book covers many details including where to buy supplies, best equipment, marketing, bookkeeping (with copies of forms), and customer service hints. Outstanding!!

Many artists only dream of making a living from our fine art. Brian Marshall White is doing it and telling us how in this book. His approach may not agree with everyone -- especially those who graduated from art school and are waiting for galleries to accept them. In this book he shows that if you want to create art full-time, and don't mind creating *some* that suits your local market more than your own aesthetic, you can make a living. He doesn't deal with how to submit to galleries and such, but how to get your art into buyer's hands directly. I am inspired.

Although this book may not be applicable to every artist's career path it does outline _very_ specifically_ and _simply_ how this un-schooled artist went from struggling street vendor to living off of his artistic product. The career strategy outlined centers on reproduction of your original artwork. That being said, at first blush this may not seem too helpful for folks dead-set on exhibiting at The Whitney. BUT if someone keeps an open mind and is receptive while reading this book they may get an idea or two. You can plow through this in an evening. I'm an artist, and although my desired career path has nothing in common with this gentleman's, I'm glad I bought the book. You can see my artwork at www.rlmcintosh.com