I Just finished priming a piece of masonite for a new painting; Then breaking out the oils.

Photography by: Nikki B

These photos will be used in a collaboration project between Nikki B and yours truly. I’ll show more when the project is complete.

Being an Artist allows me to show my freedom of expression. I think all creative types should showcase their creativity in more ways than one. The Business card is a small step in standing out from others and being remembered. I love illustration, painting and designing and I tried to execute that with my business cards. Remember everyday you have opportunities to show your creativity and show it all day everyday.

Jean-Michel Basquiat was first painter of African descent to become an international art star. Basquiat gained popularity first as a graffiti artist in New York City tagging the name “Samo”, and then as a successful 1980s-era Neo-expressionist artist. His paintings continue to influence modern-day artists and paintings sell for high prices.

Basquiats paintings inspired me to experiment with different mediums creating one amazing painting.

Home Sweet Home.

Killa Cam in the Chi (this store is down the street from my old house) at “C & K” on 121st & Michigan.

@ Ketchup in L.A. on Sunset Blvd.

Welcome to Flight School.

We’re out of here…

Good Morning L.A.

A Chicago Donk Rider.

Shouts to Lenny S!

Day 1 of the Ceaser Chavez Mural in Milwaukee, Wi w/ True Skool.

Tagging Shirts!

The view from my hotel room on Sunset Blvd.

This is a very different post for me. I’m taking an approach with my blog, I’ll be introducing guest bloggers soon.  The guest bloggers are friends of mine who’s views and opinion I value. I want everyone hear a different voice about the Art Culture through friends who are Artistic in other  Art forms Journalism, Music, Art Directors & graphic Designers. Feel free to leave your feedback giving me your thoughts.

SAK PASE’ – To all my Haitians!

If you wish not to purchase a print you can donate here http://www.yele.org/donation/ . Thanks in advance.

2. Present your work as if it has value. More than any other object Art is all about perceived value. A drawing by Picasso is worth $50,000 and a drawing by Mr. Pisacco is worth a cup of tea in the diner if he gets lucky. So spend a lot of time considering how you present your work, really make it look like it’s worth a lot. It doesn’t have to cost a lot to do this, mainly care and attention to detail.

3. Keep a very detailed log of anyone who has bought from you before, keep this separate from anyone who has been interested in buying a work before, keep that separate from anyone who has viewed your work before. Communicate to the lists differently – give very special care and personal attention of the first, have some personal aspects to your communication with the second, be more ‘mass mail’ to the third.

4. OUTFLOW. Outflow is things going out from you. Like handing out leaflets is outflow, sending out promo, making phone calls, whatever. There is a law in life that is OUTFLOW = INFLOW. Just keep out-flowing, it may seem you are not having an effect, then the effect comes 6 weeks later, you might hand out a thousand leaflets in one place and someone walks in from another place, keep it up, it works.

5. Devote some time to promoting yourself. One of the most successful artists I show in my gallery spends minimum 20% of his time promoting himself. Not because he enjoys it, but it keeps him alive. Sure, he has galleries to show his work and promote him, but he has to manage them. Basically it is not enough just to make the best work in the world, you also have to get that work to the world.

6. Start off with prices low and build up. Some people take the compliments to their head and think they should get high prices straight out of college. This can be a fatal mistake. People are wary of buying art, it can be a financial risk. Most people buy art because they love it, but are wary of being burned. Your buying clients are your best form of advertising. If someone has paid bucks for your art and they love it when they have friends round for dinner the first thing they are going to show them is your art, they will be proud of it, they will ’sell it’ to their friends, who, trusting their buddy and seeing the work has value as it has been bought by their friend, are likely to want one themselves. So get your art out there. Sell it for whatever you will be satisfied with, make sure you survive, but at the start, until you are selling regularly and well, sell as low as you can possibly afford, that way you build up a clientele. The goal should be to have a waiting list who battle over the works (hence driving the prices up)

7. Be ethical. You are a powerful being, more powerful than you imagine. One of the reasons you do not use all your power is that you are basically good and when people view themselves doing something with their power they wish they didn’t do, they cut back their power, to protect other things around them. So stay ethical, because then you allow yourself to be powerful (which includes selling lots of art). Also, if you find that you just are not selling, perhaps your work is better than a friend who just can’t keep hold of his work and it just doesn’t add up… Well check your ethics. Is there someone you ripped off? Did you sell a big work and should have paid your bills but you spend the money on loose women and liquor (lol)? If so you need to sort these things out somehow. Maybe you don’t have the money to pay the bill now (you spent all that and can’t remember half of what you spent it on!) – well, just get in communication with the person you owe and sort some arrangement out, confront it, pay them a little towards it, whatever – keep yourself ethical and sort out any unethical stuff from your past. This is vital to success.

8. Remember what you did that was successful and do that; remember what you did that wasn’t successful and don’t do that. Look at periods when you did really well, work out why and let that inform your actions, it worked, it will work again. If you are doing really good, then take a sharp turn for the worse, figure out what caused it and stop doing that. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time – with me I know that doing Art fairs is successful, so I do as many as I can. That type of thing.

9. Finish what you start. If you do not complete an action you start you can leave a lot of your attention on what you did not complete. That can tie things up. Incomplete actions tend to build up and form mountains. These backlogs destroy the possibility of future production. When you see your production going into apathy know you have gone the route of ‘not complete and ‘half completes’ and handle them.

10. Be true to your own goals. Work out honestly and earnestly your goals as an artist (these can be as wild and high as you like). Then work out realistically how you are going to achieve them. Enthuse yourself about them. Don’t let anything or anyone get in your way or discourage you or tell you can’t have what you aim for. Honestly – the field of the arts is full of suppressive people who pretend to help artists but who have destructive goals.

via

@agallerylondon

Taz Arnold “Future Of The B-Boy” is a painting inspired by Taz Arnold.
A look into Taz’ collection of dope pieces from Ralph Lifshitz.

If you’re addicted to being fly

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If you see this flyer around it was designed by yours Truly.