Season 3 Episode 29 – How to Become Famous: the 3 parts of an -ism
In this short episode, I talk about how to become a famous artist! (NOT that I’m famous. LOL! 😉
- But, if you want to be famous…
- If you want to “go down” in the art history books…
In this short podcast, I talk about the 3 things I see that contribute to making an artist famous.
This episode has been transcribed and updated as of July 2022.
The Transcription:
Hey there, and welcome to The Artist APPEALS. I’m Erin Sparler, podcast host, author, art agent and licensed artist.
In this former podcast episode I discussed how to get famous by creating a new art style or -ism. I have recreated and expanded on this podcast episode due to audio issues in written form.
So, how do you create a style, like impressionism, realism, or minimalism…
Most styles of art – or -isms- are either a rejection of a previous style or an expansion on that style.
There are 3 important parts to creating an -ism or new art style.
- Coming up with the idea for a new style or -ism
- Creating & Evolving the work to develop the style
- AND sharing the ideas behind the -ism or style.
So… how do you create a style or an -ism?
New art styles and movements, or as I like to call them “-isms” are often an evolution or an expansion on a previous style. New styles are also often outright rejection of a previous style.
So how do you do this? First look at previous styles.
- Are there ones you love? Are there ones you hate?
- What do you love about them? What do you hate about them?
- Can you do something similar? Can you do the opposite?
It’s important to write about your thoughts. Your findings. And it’s important to continue to write about the process as you develop the work.
And then of course, a HUGE part of creating a style is of course you actually have to make it. You have to create the work. And I have personally found that the actual doing, the actual act of creating, is an evolutionary process. Processes evalve, change and grow as you do the,.
For example, have you ever looked at the early comic designs of Calvin and Hobbs or Garfeild, or the Simpsons? The first comic strips, books, and seasons look very different. They are rougher. Less stylized. The artists had not yet drawn the characters hundreds of times. And the work was rougher, less developed. The process teaches you. And new things come out of the process. The act of creating creates an evolution in your art.
The act of creating work can create a new style. As you make the work, you make incremental changes. You try new things. You make changes. You find what types of strokes, gestures and marks come naturally to you. You develop a mark making language.
I like to think about the 7 elements of design and make up rules to make my work and the development of a collection of work evolve faster. (I go in depth into the 7 elements of design and make up a rule around these elements of design in The Artist APPEALS course Step 1.) If you are interested in a practical and in-depth look at the elements of design and how to limit them to create styles you can join the Artist APPEALS course on www.HowToMakeMoneyAsAnArtist.com.
Creating a style as either a synthesis of other styles. So it can be a combination of bits and pieces of multiple styles coming together. The mark making techniques of one style. The subjects and themes of another. The philosophy of a third…
That’s the technical end of creating an -ism.
And the other part is publicizing that work. Writing about the influences. The second part is just as important. Perhaps even more so. In order for others to see and buy into the style you have to share it. You have to publicize the idea.
Why it’s so important to think about and write about your work is because you need to document what you are doing. Where it comes from. The rules you’re creating and following. Or rejected! This becomes a record for art historians. This becomes marketing materials for the work. This becomes a way to share and promote your ideas with other creatives and expand the reach of your work.
Creating an -ism or new art style is partially about getting people on board.
Most major art styles have had more than one artist working within them. There are often one or two key artists who are influential in creating the style but in order for the style to take hold and become popular others must also take the ideas from the style and incorporate it into their work.
So, creating a style is also about networking. It’s about getting other artists to buy into your style and expand on your style and interact with it.
For example, impressionism, many artists adopted the style of modernism and made it their own. Post impressionist artists like Van Gogh took impressionism and expanded on it. They changed certain parts and added their own aspects to create yet another new style or ism.
So, I think another part of creating an -ism is not only writing about your work and publicizing it, but sharing it with other artists so that it can grow and evolve and develop.
So there you have it, some thoughts on -isms and how to create an -ism.
You not only want to create the work, but you want to share the work, so that it can grow and evolve and change.
And of course you want to market the work so that you can benefit from it during your lifetime.
That is the dream, right?
Or perhaps that’s the mythology.
Certainly we have romanticized the idea of the poor artist who becomes famous after their death. Gallery owners, art historians and the public love story. And so this tale of poverty, struggle and being discovered only after one dies makes for a great tragic story.
The artists received nothing for their work during their lifetime. And then the gallery owners recognize the brilliance of the work after the fact. And it now sells for millions. We see that over and over again, played out as a storyline. It’s almost like a rags to riches Cinderella type story with a physical artwork. It’s the story and dream of finding a lost gem. It’s that dream, that hope we all have buried deep inside that one day BOOM suddenly we will get lucky, win the lottery, discover gold and be rich!
“OMG, look what I found?! And now it’s worth millions!”
It’s everybody’s dream, right? It’s the gold rush. It’s finding that rare trinket in the antique store worth millions. It’s buying the winning lottery ticket. We all want that. Don’t we? It is the American dream – rags to riches.
So there you have it, the 3 major parts of creating a new art style or “-ism”.
No go out there and make the next greatest -ism! I can’t WAIT to see what you make!
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