Category: Blog Posts

E-Marketing for Artists 101

(UPDATE! I gave this blog entry as a panel at this year’s DragonCon! 
Check out the recording of my panel and Powerpoint presentation on YouTube.)

This week I wanted to share an article I wrote for the new fantasy magazine, Dark Muse: Issue 2! You should go check out the mag for more useful articles on everything from creating knotwork to podcast interviews with other working artists.

I hope to make this e-marketing topic a series of blogs on the matter, as it’s one of my passions!

E-Marketing for Artists 101 

Have you been ignoring the hullaballoo of that loud, annoying place called the internet? Tsk! Nowadays, artists of every possible subject matter, style, and media can find a niche in the massive audience that is the world wide web, making it an invaluable tool for artists. This is especially useful for those of us who work in very niche genres!

In particular, social media (or social networks) are a great way to quickly update your fans and to connect with other artists. Connecting with other artists can be especially motivating when we find ourselves alone in the art cave craving human interaction! Here are a few of my favorite sites which I’ve noticed the best results and that have also shown a significant presence of participating artists. These descriptions are based on my personal interaction on these sites, meaning that things may work differently for you based on your own preferences!

One must also remember that the key to social networking is to be social. Spamming your work and then leaving without interacting with anyone else is a recipe for fail on just about any social networking site (unless you’re just already that popular!). Social networks are not to be confused with specific online communities dedicated to artists, as opposed to social networks whose general purpose is socialization between all types of people. A rundown of handy art communities will be covered in a future article!

Twitter – http://twitter.com

You have 140 characters a post to say something meaningful, this short length making posts quick and easy to digest. Twitter lets you Follow others so that you can instantly see their posts, allowing you to keep a finger on the pulse of other artists and communities without the total distraction of instant messaging.

I don’t have the guilt of leaving Twitter conversations as much as I do if I have a popup message from a friend on an instant messaging system, which makes Twitter a nice compromise for those of us who may want to chat with others without getting completely buried by instant message windows. The only danger of this is how easy it can be to become addicted to checking Tweets! But that’s something to do while we’re waiting for paint layers to dry, isn’t it? I’d like to think so!

There are also hash tags (words that are demarcated by a # symbol) you can include in your posts which allow others to search by that topic, which allows artists to find other artists by topic. For example, some of the more popular art-related tags are #fridaynightartdorks and #wip. Start your own hash tag trend, share interesting links, and keep in touch with others instantly!

I love this site for the way that it helps me interact person-to-person in conversation with others in my field. I feel like I know these people and have already met a few of them at cons based on the fact we’ve chatted on Twitter beforehand!

As an example of Twitter’s amazing powers, besides helping to lead revolutions in other countries, I remember a past convention where I had aboslutely no artists to help me out with a panel where I needed folks to paint for charity. I posted on Twitter for help and word circulated through this digital grapevine, until I had more than enough volunteers to help my panel succeed!

To add butter to your toast, Twitter allows you a profile to add a link to your website and talk about your interests. What you list on your profile and who you Follow also fuels Twitter’s intuitive Suggested Follows system, which will automatically suggest other artists for you to Follow based on who you are already Following and their interests.

All in all, it’s my favorite way to discover new artists and interact online! You can also link your Twitter and Facebook accounts to mirror your posts, which leaves you more time for creating work instead of yacking on the computer.

Read on at Tweetable Art: 10 Twitter Tips for Artists for more great info!
http://mashable.com/2009/02/23/twitter-artists/

Facebook – http://facebook.com

I know people tend to hiss when they think of the inanity of Facebook, but I have to admit it’s become a central driving force in my business! I have a fan page where my fans can keep in touch with me directly, upload fan photos, and keep up with my studio announcements of new products and the like. I can also upload videos and photo albums here, making it the next best thing for those of us who may not have the resources to host our own websites yet!

Facebook gets pretty high rankings in search engines and fan pages also do not require fans to login to see your info, as you would with a personal Facebook account. It’s a great place to start your marketing efforts that is fairly easy to manage on your own. If you cannot manage it on your own, there’s also the ability to add multiple admins to your fan page.

You can read more about the differences between a fan page, a group, and a personal account at my article on the matter:
http://blog.angelicshades.com/2010/10/facebook-profile-vs-fan-page-vs-group.html?spref=tw

Blogspot (aka. Blogger) – http://blogspot.com

This is a great free site which lets you start your own blog, or online journal, where people can easily follow you if they have a Google, Yahoo, or RSS Reader. I keep up with many artist friends this way as well as professional communities where I can stay informed of events going on in my industry. Most artists keep journals to share their works-in-progress, chat about their inspirations, and share advice.

Another great advantage of having your own blog is that if your website isn’t updated regularly with new work (because you’re a slower paced worker like me), the blog can be a way to have a consistent source of new material to keep people coming back to check on you. Don’t want people to forget you exist, do you?

There are many online blog formats, but I’ve personally found Blogger to be the easiest to maintain with a vast network of connections throughout the web. If you don’t like that blogspot name in your url, there’s also a function to replace it with your professional domain name.

Check out these useful blogs on Blogger:

http://artorder.blogspot.com – Ran by Jon Schindehette, an art director with Wizards of the Coast (the makers of Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, to name a few). As an art director, Jon shares his opinions on what he looks for when hiring artists, what artists need to learn when they’re breaking into the business, amongst other nuggets of wisdom! This blog also features interviews with working artists with even more insight into the business. If that wasn’t enough to make you tune in, ArtOrder runs Challenges where you are given a hypothetical assignment, entries to be judged by various art directors. It’s a great way to get your foot in the door!

http://muddycolors.blogspot.com – Maintained by a few of the industry’s leading artists (Donato Giancola and Dan Dos Santos, to name a few!) This is the blog to watch for advice from the pros, glimpses into processes, and other useful bits of info! The cast of artists is shuffled up from time to time to make sure there’s always fresh blood and enthusiasm on this blog.

For more info on why blogging can help your career, check out this useful article on “Why Artists Should Blog” by artist, Kirsty Hall:
http://kirstyhall.co.uk/2007/08/22/why-artists-should-blog/

Angela’s Shameless Plugging
If you’re curious about how I’ve set myself up on these networks, check out my social media links!
Angela’s Facebook Fan Page – http://www.facebook.com/AngelicShadesStudio
Angela’s Blog on Blogspot – http://blog.angelicshades.com
In the years I’ve been building my art business, these particular sites have been the most helpful for me. Have you found other social networks that have proved invaluable as an artist or creative professional? Share your experiences with us in the comments section!

Upcoming – Book Signing & The Future of Angelic Visions?

Just a quick little post to remind you all I’ll be signing books and demonstrating art techniques this Saturday, from 2-4 pm at Barnes and Noble’s in Ashley Park!  Come get a free bookmark, chat about art, and have your book signed!

In other news, I think it’s safe to say that at least a few folks have been able to finish reading the book. I’d love to hear some feedback from you all!  If, say, I hope to do a proverbial sequel to Angelic Visions, I’d like to know what I should include!  What did you find useful?  What did you feel was missing?  What would you like to see more of?  Here are some topics I’ve been kicking around:

  • More on skin and lighting
  • Composition and visual impact
  • Using maquettes and references
  • More on armor, weapons, tattoos, halos
  • Showing action and intent
  • More on costume design
  • More fancy hair doos
  • More mixed media techniques
  • Developing personal style

Anything to add? I value the input from each and every one of you!  I could also use some ratings on my book’s listings on Goodreads and Amazon so they don’t look so sad and empty.  I appreciate you all taking a few moments to do this and also letting me know just how much you’ve enjoyed this experience.

Hope to see you this weekend!   I’ll have to share the product of any painting that happen at the demo when I get back.

Upcoming Appearances: Book Signing & MomoCon

A short entry today to remind folks I’ll be having my first book signing in an actual bookstore this weekend, Sat. the 12th at Books A Million in Peachtree City, GA! I’ll be passing out free bookmarks, chatting about art, and talking about art techniques, so drop on by! I’ll be signing copies of Angelic Visions bought in the store as well.

On Sunday, I’ll be dropping by MomoCon to see what all the hubbub is about and to meet friends from around the interwebs! I don’t have a table there this year, but if it seems like my kind of crowd, who knows what will happen next year? MomoCon is a free anime convention that takes place on the Georgia Tech campus here in Atlanta, for those who don’t know it.

In other news, I’ve resurrected my Etsy and Artfire shops with some pretty cool new items lately! Check ’em out:

And more at my shops on Etsy and Artfire!

Hope you all have a glorious weekend! In the meantime, I shall be working on new art, new masks, and prepping products for the first art fairs of the season!

Interview at Dark Muse


Hey, all!

Pointing you all towards an interview with me over at the Dark Muse Ezine – a new fantasy art magazine!! Learn about what inspired me to be an illustrator, the struggles of commission work, the rigors of self-employment, and the dangers of ‘big head syndrome’ (amongst other not so secret tidbits)!

 
The Dark Muse Magazine Issue #1!

My Written Interview (download link)
My Podcast Interview (download link)

Let Jay (the Magazine’s creator) know that you like it by leaving a comment on the magazine first issue page!

It’s a true labor of love on his part so let’s help him continue the tradition!

What is Artfire? An Artist’s Point-of-View

ArtFire - Buy Handmade - Sell HandmadeA few months ago, I’d never even heard of Artfire, but had already been a vested user of Etsy since 2008. Now after plenty of fiddling over at Artfire, I feel confident enough to talk about its usefulness for artists.

What is Artfire?

Like Etsy, Artfire is a community marketplace for handmade and vintage items who offers community forums, item collections, and groups to join. The main difference in philosophy being that Artfire allows you to plug external websites much more in your own listings and pages, unlike Etsy, which discourages such practices. The other difference is of course the fact Etsy is far more entrenched with greater press coverage.

Artfire is catching up, though! If their constant marketing campaigns, helpful articles, and numerous twitter accounts is any indication of how much they’re putting into making their site known. They also offer their members discounts at CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) and VIP discount cards at Joanns Fabrics (10% off regular and sale price items)!

Selling on Artfire

Much like Etsy, artists can post listings of items, sort them into browsing categories, and find buyers for their handicrafts. Where Artfire differs in this respect is that listings have no expiration date. A user must ‘check in’ at Artfire to keep their listings higher up in the search results, which weeds out the people who post listings and leave them there without maintaining them.

– Prints and Fabricated Art Items
Another quirk of AF I’ve found is that if you’re selling art prints, cards, or any other pre-printed open edition item utilizing your art, they have to be a run of 500 or less while Etsy hasn’t set a number, to my knowledge. This isn’t much of a problem for me, however, as I’d be happy to even reach that amount of sales per item!  With the number of open edition prints listed on AF, however, I suspect this policy isn’t heavily enforced.

– Seller Invoice System
AF boasts a pretty full featured invoicing system for sellers, including itemized invoices where you can check off each stage of payment, packing, and shipping as it happens with a field to enter an item’s tracking number. This number is automatically emailed to your customer when you enter it, making these invoices pretty handy for taking care of your customer all in one place!

– Feedback and Non-Member Buyers
One big difference between Etsy and AF’s way of handling transactions is the fact that AF also encourages you to do what you need to do to make a sell, meaning customers don’t need to have an AF account to buy! They can simply use AF’s shopping cart feature. This means you don’t get feedback or karma from the transaction, but that doesn’t seem terribly important on this site, despite the fact users can still leave detailed feedback on your shipping, quickness, item quality, etc. Because there’s no final value fee taken out when a sale is made, it’s easy enough to cancel the order and relist with no loss of money, should you have trouble with a non-paying buyer.

– Promotional Coupons

Another extremely useful feature of AF is the ability to create promotional codes. While you can do this on Etsy, Etsy restricts your coupon codes to only a certain percentage off or free shipping. AF’s coupon code functionality is more robust with the ability to tailor your coupons to a percentage off and free shipping, but also allows you to apply coupons to seller-defined studio groups and price ranges, the order total, or even specific items. Coupon codes are also another premium member feature.

– Other Useful Features
If you’re a user of Etsy, AF makes it easy to download your CSV file from Etsy and import all of your items with only a few tweaks required! This is a premium member feature, however.  You can also batch edit your listings, move them en masse to new categories, and take advantage of a detailed vacation mode that allows you to leave your items up, but auto-responds with your ‘away’ message. Unlike Etsy, which simply hides your items completely from listings until you disable it.  There’s also a ‘sales mode’ that allows you to discount everything in your shop at once.  Sales mode and vacation mode are both non-premium features!

Crunching Numbers

Another major difference between Artfire and Etsy is the fee structure. Artfire charges a flat monthly fee (I pay $5.95 thanks to a beta deal I got, but standard pro rate is $9.95 as of this entry) while Etsy charges 20 cents per listing for 3 months and takes 3.5% of your final sale’s value. If you’re hosting a large amount of items, AF can be really useful for keeping costs down each month.

As for sales numbers, I’ve noticed a greater number of handmade craft items and cards selling here rather than my prints and original art, but it’s still great to get the exposure on my artwork along with everything else. I have a feeling that as I grow my shop and become more entrenched in this community, these sales proportions will change!

Customization

One thing I absolutely love about AF is the ability to customize the color theme and style of our shop pages! I’ve included a screenshot of mine below. Most of the customization is, again, a premium member feature.

See my Artfire shop in action!

See my Etsy shop in action!
Final Thoughts

Rather than choose one community over the other, it’s easy enough for me to maintain both my Etsy AND Artfire shops with AF’s import feature!  The amount of sales I’ve made via both communities have made them well worth investing my time in and will only continue to increase their usefulness as another means of income the longer I use them.

Interested in joining up as a premium member at Artfire? Use my referral link! We’ll both get a free month plus be entered into a drawing for a free DSLR camera for both of us!♥

I’m also a member of the Artfire Fantasy Guild, so drop on in and say hello!  I’d love to see some familiar faces there.:)

Angelic Visions Book Signing Tour!

You TOO can come see the
cardigan in action!
Well, it can hardly be called a tour at the moment with just two stops, but I’m currently hunting down more book stores that don’t mind hosting an an angel-crazed artist to add to this list!  
I’ll be passing out free bookmarks to all who venture my way (while supplies last), yacking about art, and signing any copies of my books that you buy at the store.  I’ll also have my watercolors with me at each event where I’ll be demonstrating my painting techniques live!
The Current Stops on Ang’s Tour to Take Over the World
(I mean sign books)

 Saturday, March 12th – 2-4 pm – Books-A-Million at The Avenue
Saturday, March 26th – 2-4pm – Barnes and Noble Booksellers at Ashley Park

(More to come!  Know a book store here in Georgia that does signings? Do share in the comments!)
You can also keep up with my events at your social site of choice!
Or just keep track here because just about everything on those sites is a mirror of this blog.
See you at the book shop!

Angelic Visions Giveaway WINNERS!

The comments are in and the winners have been chosen! Druumroooll pleaaase!
Dun dun DUN. And the Winners by completely random list generation aaaare…:

Marion, who wins an autographed copy of Angelic Visions and an angel feather bookmark! Marion’s favorite mythological figure was the winged serpent, Quetzalcoatl. Read on at his comment to find out why!

The following winners chosen by completely random list generator will each receive a handmade leather angel feather bookmark!  The feather winners aaare…:

Uniformgrey, who talked of a love for classic mermaids of all types!  Read on at their comment to find out why.

Thetarotfool, who spoke of an affinity for angels, particularly Azrael and other personifications of death. Read on at their comment to find out more!

Winners, please email me with your snail mail address ASAP so I can get your prizes out to you!

I will be attempting to send out notice to you as well, just to make sure we don’t miss each other.

I hope you all enjoyed this giveaway as much as I did! It was a pleasure to learn about what mythological figures inspire others, some I’ve heard of, and some I haven’t!  I particularly enjoyed reading comments like Foresomeone’s which talked about the oral tradition behind sharing tales of leprechauns with their grandpa.  There are so many other interesting comments, so I encourage you to look back at the giveaway entry and give them a peek yourself!

Thanks to all for participating!  I trust this won’t be the last Angelic Visions related prize event in these pages, so keep your eyes peeled!  And thanks for sharing your stories with me.:)

Eventide Hijacked: The Artifice of Character

Coming to you from the fingertips of fellow fantasy enthusiast, Hayley E. Lavik:

Artist and fantasy writer Angela Sasser hijacks the blog today! Angela has hijacked the blog in the past to explore the overlaps between fantasy writing and fantasy illustration, and she’s back today to talk about dissecting fantasy characters with her cross-media point of view!

(Check out my guest post at Eventide Unmasked and join the discussion!)

Confessions of an Artist – Romance and Artists

It’s been awhile since my last entry in the ‘Confession’ series. We’ve talked about everything from storing art improperly to getting out of our artistic comfort zones.  Today…I’d like to admit that at one time in my life, I was intent on being the ‘crazy cat lady’.

You know the one. That kooky lady next door with eight cats, who has named them all for pop singers, knows each cat’s personality by heart, and will talk hours on end about them and their adventures.  In my younger days, I thought that’s what I was destined for, and, in fact, welcomed it. I didn’t need the distraction of a huge epic social life.  Chilling with a few close friends suited me just fine. I’m not trying to be selfish, so for the gentlemen who’s reading this, I will recommend https://girlfriendactivationsystemreview.net. don’t let the girl you like the most fall for other guys.

I had an education to finish and a career path in front of me.  I didn’t need the distraction of marriage, children, and the dedication of time and energy and the stress that comes with it all.  I considered myself pretty darn selfish, as was my right as a person with free will to be. I gave a verbal warning of “Beware, INDEPENDENT ARTIST” to just about everyone I dated.

I didn’t think there was a way to reconcile the alone-time it required to develop as an artist, writer, etc. while also being with anyone, ever.  The cats would understand me…, guys however? I wasn’t so sure about them!  I felt that most guys I dated didn’t deserve a gal like me, who was always putting her career ahead of the cutesy couple time that should have been filling up every second of my free time when I wasn’t in class or at work.  I did not need to call them to tell them I missed them because I had plenty to keep me occupied.  I had stories to write and masterpieces to paint, after all!  Most guys found this off-putting.  They deserved a ‘normal’ girl who could give them the time and dedication that they deserved.

Boiling all that down, being an artist (or a creative individual in general) requires a heck of a lot of alone time just to think, practice, and develop one’s craft.  This leads to a lot of hangups on both sides of the dating coin. The Artist, who is tortured by guilt because they’re a terrible person for making art instead of spending every moment with their Sweetie OR tortured by guilt for not wanting the American Dream (marriage, 2.5 children, and a house in the suburbs).  The Sweetie, who thinks that because the Artist doesn’t want to be with them every moment means that the Artist cares more about art than them.

Coming into my 9th anniversary with my Sweetie (celebrating this very day, in fact!), I’m happy to say that the years have a way of making us wiser.  We’ve both struggled with our maturing senses of self and what we want from life, both fought with our hangups until I’ve come to realize that Important Thing:

Despite it all, he is still here with me.  Even if we get frustrated, we are both still here trying our best to understand one another and make it work.

He does not judge me because I’m rambling about what exact shade of blue the sky is (Cerulean or Cobalt).  Most of all, he is behind me every step of the way, as far as pursuing my business.  He has learned not to assume that I will always put art over him, but rather that he is a vital part of my happiness and well-being, a living part of my inspiration.  We’re a team, just as I’ll never judge him for comparing the dropped frame rates of consoles games versus PC easy slots  games.

Maybe one day we’ll make a family?  Maybe not.  I’m glad to say I am no longer judged on the prudence of such a choice, at least not by him.

One should never start dating a dedicated Artist with the expectation they should try to take the Art from them or belittle an Artist’s fascination with creation. It’s an essential part of their being. To make them any different is to change what you probably loved about them in the first place.

Happy Anniversary, my Little Kaio!  I do hope you like cats….;)

Inglourious Artests

(For in-joke reference, see Inglourious Basterds)

Today, I am grumpy and thought I would share.

What makes me grumpy?  I am not in the studio.

Why am I not in the studio?  Because as a one-man business, I’m doing business upkeep instead.

What business upkeep might that be?

  • Taxes – I do them in Turbotax myself because I am hard-headed and don’t want to pay someone else to do essentially the same thing as going through a step-by-step program that walks you through them. (Just my opinion..probably wouldn’t recommend this course of action to folks not comfy with a computer and lots of tedious reading.)
  • Gallery Setup – I recently bought a space in a local gallery, meaning I’ve had to fill it with signs, frame & hang work, take inventory, and any number of endless list of things just to make it presentable.
  • Filing Receipts – This goes hand in hand with taxes. Got to keep good records of your expenses and income!  I use Quicken to keep track of my cashflow and record receipts.
  • Making Phone Calls – As much as I’d like to think I am SO awesome that people will come to grovel at my feet and offer me opportunities, I’ve spent much of my time on the phone lately setting up book signings, repeating the same marketing spiel over and over.
  • Updating Website and Shops – Entering products one by one, picking categories, uploading product images, and all that fuss are required for marketing my work on Etsy, Artfire, etc.  This tedious activity is the sole flagship of my online sales, meaning there is no escape from doing this duty!

There are times when I am willing to trade a kidney if I could have someone do this crap for me so I can spend more time in the studio. Alas, no one has taken me up on that kidney offer!  Alas again, this was my choice to run a business and be a micro-manager of every facet, therefore there’s no one to blame but my evil twin, Mangela!

If there was a time I was thinking on how awesome it would be to draw ‘pretty pictures’ all the time and bring the enjoyment of sexy otherworld creatures to be adored the world over, that time has passed!  Running a business requires just a pinch of shameless self-promotion with a dash of evil.

Evil being the thought of preying on people’s impulsive spending tendencies to make a sale (IE. the acquiring of a credit card terminal to persuade those with plastic money, for instance), of convincing them they need things that they really don’t (IE. my pretty pictures of stuff). Evil being that undercurrent in my thoughts, no matter how small, that leads back to how I can help promote myself.  Evil being the realization that, yes, the purpose of any business is to make money, in addition to anything sprang from morality and inspiration, that drives your urge to keep waking up every day and doing this thing called a business.

So, balancing a bit of wickedness with all this pretty talk of ‘doing what we love’ I’ve talked about on this blog!  (And I do love this, for all that I purport my grumpiness).  I will keep creating (when not upkeeping).  I will keep drawing sexy otherworldly pretty things because I damned well want to.

But first, gotta update a few more websites…

….Kidney, anyone?