Skip to main content

Creating a Mobile Independent Artist Business - Part 5: Documenting and Sharing Your Work in Progress

The Cage Monster.
Art by TET.
Now that we've been through all the set up it's time to do some actual Art for your Mobile Independent Artist business. Once you've set up your equipment (Part 1), Business Software (Part 2), Creative Software (Part 3), Website and Social media (Part 4), you're ready to start creating art.

There are still more business things to cover but that doesn't mean we can't start creating art now. In this section we'll look at documenting the creation of your art to share with your buyers as a way of keeping your audience engaged.

For this series I've created the pictured acrylic painting on 50 x 60cm canvas (above) of my Cage Monster Character - so named because I created him over twenty years ago as a logo character for my local skate park, known as The Cage. I will be using this work as an example of how far and wide a single artwork can be used so you don't have to create new art quite so often.

Documenting Your Art and Sharing the Process


Regardless of what type of art you create, documenting and sharing the creation process is a great way to keep your buyers engaged in your work, as well as attracting new buyers. It doesn't take a lot of work and it creates a narrative around what you do that people can 'tune into' as part of their day.

Writing a blog is an ideal way to do this because it keeps everything in one place and shows a natural progression. Include work in progress photos and write at least a couple of paragraphs describing what challenges you faced in each stage. Once you finish each artwork you could use your blog to publish a companion book, to sell, showing its creation. Blog2Print or Designrr makes creating a blog book easy but if you want more control over layout and design, Blurb or Lulu are your next best print on demand self publishing options.

An example of how I documented my
artwork creation on Facebook.
If blogging seems like too much writing then documenting the process through social media is a great and more immediate option. Post photos and snippets of text, during your break, of whatever you've been working on. It takes seconds, your work is documented and often you'll get immediate feedback from your followers (be careful not to let them distract you from your art though) and even attract new followers.

Traditional Art, such as drawing on paper, painting, sculpture... anything where the art is created outside of the digital realm is, by it's very nature, hands on, and usually very visual (in that observers tend to enjoy watching traditional artists work).

If you are such an artist you should very strongly consider filming the creation process of your work and learn how to edit it down into short video presentations. Mini documentaries about how each work came into being.

Smart phone cameras are ideal for this as most have HD cameras. You may even be able to edit your videos on your phone too as mobile video editing applications are becoming almost as feature rich as their desktop counterparts. If you can't find a good app, WeVideo is a cloud based video editor you might like to consider.

If you're camera shy you don't have to appear on, or talk to the camera if you don't want to. Speed Painting is a very popular approach where you film yourself creating your art then speed that footage up anywhere from 15 to 30 times faster. Viewers can then see your art take shape in minutes rather than the hours (or even days) it actually took. Many artists do this and overlay a music track (be sure to use royalty free music).

Videos showing the creation of your work can be a great selling tool for not just the artwork being created but all your artworks. Uploaded to YouTube and to your social media accounts they can easily be shared, raising awareness of your art.

Video has been my medium of choice for sharing my own work. I use a combination of me talking to camera and speed painting.

Usually I'll introduce the work, tell the viewer a little bit about its inspiration, show them my working sketch and then transition into the speed painting where they watch the work take shape over the course of a few minutes. The image above that I shared on my Facebook page is actually a still from my video footage of which part 1 is shown below.



For digital artists (those of you that sit in front of a computer much of the time) you may think the creation process isn't going to be that interesting for video. However screen recording your art as you work and turning the footage into speed paintings is by far, one of the simplest things you can do. No camera set up or lighting issues, just press record on your screen capture software and work away as usual.

If you have an Android device AZ Screen Recorder works well and lets you record either just your voice or inset video from your devices front camera (of you) talking as you work.

That said, not all digital art is created by sitting in front of a computer the entire time. If you're a photographer you could document a photo shoot. If you do a lot of research, offline, or scout locations and other references to incorporate into your digital art, then document that.

The bottom line is, people are interested in how art is made, whether it be for just the enjoyment of seeing the process or they want to learn themselves how to create art like yours. It's an easy way to maintain interest in your art when you're not unleashing a new artwork into the world.

---o ---o--- o---

Next post I'll look at photographing your art if you create and actual physical, real world piece of art. For digital artists I'll talk a bit about why you need to create your art at high resolutions if you want to make physical, real world prints.

      Buy Gifts and Apparel featuring art by TET.

      Popular posts from this blog

      Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

      You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your

      How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

      Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de

      I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

      How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood  Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch

      Robot Uprising Update: Robot Waiter, Fasta Pasta, South Terrace, Adelaide CBD, South Australia

      On the second evening of my partner, Enigma, and I's weekend stay in Adelaide we decided to have dinner at Fasta Pasta . Strangely enough our hotel staff, at the Alba, had not mentioned Fasta Pasta as an option for an evening meal while their restaurant is closed for refurbishment, even though it is literally next door on the corner of South Terrace and Pultney Street. You may be aware that Fasta Pasta is an upmarket Italian restaurant franchise with its beginnings in Adelaide. Currently they have 19 restaurants Australia wide (with the majority in South Australia - we even have one in Gawler, our home town). I've never had bad food at a Fasta Pasta, and their food never looks like a franchise meal. You always feel you're at a restaurant that's a little bit more quality than your typical hotel/motel meal. Maybe it's because you don't see as much pasta based meals on an Aussie pub menu. Despite the name, it's not all pasta. I went with a basic plate of fish a

      Looking for a Conspiracy Starter? Try The Conspiracy Theory Chart (2021) by Abbie Richards

      Abbie Richards - creator of The Conspiracy Chart. I've never heard of Abbie Richards until today, while I was trawling the internet for something to post to this blog. She claims to be professionally obsessed with TikTok, a mis and disinformation researcher, and a research fellow at @TheARConsortium but she may just be an A.I. bot programmed by the far left to annoy right wing keyboard warriors, probably? Anyway Abbie produced an updated version of her Conspiracy Theory Chart to reflect more recent thinking (up until November 23, 2021 at least). Whether or not you believe anything listed to be a conspiracy or 'truth that will come out as more people wake up' the chart is a great starting point for anyone investigating 'new, enlightened thinking' with dubious connection to actual facts to draw their conclusions. Conspiracy theories are everywhere and people don't understand how harmful they are. I made the original Conspiracy Chart over a year ago. An update was

      Are Ion Thrusters the Future of Flying Cars? Spoiler - Probably Not But... Hover Boards... Maybe?

      Undefined Technologies Ion Propulsion Drone prototype 3D concept image. You may have heard of Ion engines or, more likely, Ion thrusters. NASA uses them on their spacecraft to help maintain a craft's position or to propel them through space.  Upon hearing that you might think they're big, powerful engines, but actually they are not. They work well in the vacuum of space but, once any kind of atmosphere and gravity is involved they'd be hard pressed to launch you off the ground if you strapped four of them to your lawn chair and yelled "up, up, and away!" I am no expert on Ion thrusters - they're basically magic that science has an explanation for. If you want to know the details, The Space Techie website has a layman's explanation .  Build Your Own Ion Thruster Earth based Ion Thrusters work a bit different to their  space based cousins by Ionizing the same air that we breathe to create thrust (an effect known as Ionic-wind ).  While they sound highly soph

      "Life's Tough, Get a Helmet" - Literally!

      Imagine if we took this quote literally for any tough situation we had to face. I can just see it now. You hear a voice from the other room... "Honey, I think the baby needs changing?" Better go get your helmet. Not just any helmet either. You'd have a range of helmets to suit whatever life throws at you. Big presentation at the office? You'll have a helmet for that. Job interview? You'll have a helmet for that. Helping the kids with their homework. You'll need a helmet. Having the 'Talk' with your teenage children? I think you'll need a specially designed helmet for that! There seems to be some debate as to where the quote  Life's tough, get a helmet originates from? Some attribute it to Denis Leary whilst others attribute it to the TV show, The Hills , and still others say it's from the TV Show, Boy Meets World ? Personally I think we can rule out The Hills but we'll probably need a helmet to resolve this. All in