This Painting is from a series I was thinking of doing back in 1998. Its was to be called: A Day in Life of Nikki. I have ideas for the rest of the 20 painting series from activities I observed Nikki doing when we lived in the country and he could come and go as he wished.
I got discouraged when I finished this painting and never finished the series. Not because the painting didn�t do what I wanted it to but because I didn�t have enough money for materials to do it. The little materials I had on hand had to be set aside incase I was commissioned to paint a horse portrait. At that time I was just grabbing at any commission I could get so I often did receive an advance.
Now I always get at least a third of the commission in advance for materials. Its non refundable. This was suggested by a businessman acquaintance of mine I met from my time in Texas in 2001. He told me that by taking a non-refundable advance you prevent people from costing you money who aren�t serious about the work you do.
It so sad that Artist as a rule are not educated in good business practices. If I could change one thing about my art training is that when I requested to take business classes I was discouraged from it because it was not considered an integral part of a Liberal Arts degree. Still a special class designed especially for artists would prevent a lot of the frustration that artists have over funding.
It could include such information as writing grants, managing inventory, tax law over views, copyrights, minimal record keeping, negotiating contracts with galleries, agents and patrons. Things that are uniquely important to Artists and help them protect all the time and effort they have invested in their work. I hope that since 1978 things have changed and educators with vision have found a way to empower young artists coming up.
view more of L.L.Martin's work on line at: www.llmartin.com
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