Paintings

[fanny splendid]

Anyone have any idea how much a painting by a new artist could be worth? I've been thinking of painting to keep up funds for when I'm at university in the aim of selling them you see.

They're worth whatever someone is prepared to pay. Sounds obvious, but it's true. There's no pounds per square inch formula, I'm afraid. You could get lucky, and have Charles Saatchi as your first buyer, or more likely, you'll be in a craft market selling them for fuck all!

Always remember that you have to recoup the cost of your materials, and then you could factor in the time it took you to do the painting. However, both of those could be meaningless if you spit out a digital print in five minutes.

And talking of digital prints.


(Crap photo, sorry.)

My girlfriend did some drawings based around the tidal salt-marsh areas of Morecambe Bay (the same place were the Chinese cocklers dies, fact fans). She then scanned the drawings into the computer, and worked on them in the Corel Painter package, producing a series of eight, I think, digital paintings. These were printed off using high quality inks and paper, and mounted within Ikea, £1 each, wooden frames. I made some postcard sized books of the whole collection, bound with printed sand paper covers to emulate the subject matter, and then we went to market. The prints were sold for £30 each, and the books for £10, and it was a most productive Saturday as we sold all of the prints, and most of the books. What surprised us was, that all of the framed prints were sold to just three people. That is people were willing to buy a series, and weren't necessarily looking for individual pieces. It's just a case of happening to have what people want.

If you want to make some money, and are quite happy to produce what people want, then check out a few craft fairs and markets, and see what is selling. Have a word with other people that are doing similar sorts of things. Even think about joining local arts groups, even if they are full of people who can't paint but love to feel self-important, they still might be able to help putting together shows and the like. It's always cheaper to do things when there are few of you. Being successful at any business is as much about networking as it is about the product, and art is no different.

[sore bottom mum]

Yeah.. I loved the use of the Rothko fanny... I've always liked 'painting within a painting' if you know what I mean!... something I want to play about with more. (I'm inspired!)

He's a bad photo.... a rather naff  daub of my too-recent ex:

[fanny splendid]

Not the keyboard girl, i hope?

Base layer for the skin laid down.

[splattermac]

is it significant that the people in the paintings don't appear interested in the work, what do you think of Rothko yourself?

Or do you have one of the backs of a lot of people's heads stood pondering one of his works?

Will there be a series of bored or disinterested looking people in front of famous pieces, maybe someone sat on the plinth playing a gameboy in front of Michelangelo's David?

[falafel]

I like the interaction between the guy and the background in the fist one. It just looks to me like he's thinking "Yeah, so what. There's a big purple thing behind me. Fuck you." In a really disinterested way. And yet he can't deny it's there. And the way his presence obstructs the sort of things people might normally say about the painting behind him. And at the same time, really, in the context of the actual painting, it's more important than him. But he's not real anyway, and I'm drunk, but I like it, so there.

[untitled_london]

Not the keyboard girl, i hope?

Base layer for the skin laid down.

i like that piece, then again i liked rothko ever since i first got aquainted (that sound pretentious) with his work.

yours is a nice twist on the theme.

good job pal.

[9]

wow, great to see all this cool stuff! :-) Those Rothko pics are real interesting Fanny.

A watercolour sketch of Nick Cave that I did this afternoon.  Not sure if its finished, but i'll probably butcher it if i do any more.

[9]

Anyone have any idea how much a painting by a new artist could be worth? I've been thinking of painting to keep up funds for when I'm at university in the aim of selling them you see.

It varies massively. The majority of people tend to buy MOR abstract stuff that will go with their sofa, rather than traditional figurative stuff or more overtly experimental work . I've seen big abstract canvasses go for 600 to 700 quid (painted by students.) Small stuff should go for 50 to 100 if you're lucky. Good Luck.

[Des Nilsen]

My webcam is a bit rickety, but I've managed to get some new shots of my paintings. I've been trying to finish them all for about three years.


My most recent thingy. A figure in front of fleshy, billowing curtains.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v55/desnilsen/0LeePic02b.jpg
This is the detail (not too detailed) from the hand of my other posting in this thread. I think rou rou wanted to see it.


This is based on a CAT-scan of the human head.


Panel 1 of an untitled diptych.


Panel 2 of an untitled diptych.


The only finished painting here - A portrait of my ex-girlfriend.

-

[fanny splendid]

The painting of your ex is very interesting. Was she catholic?

[Des Nilsen]

The painting of your ex is very interesting. Was she catholic?

Thanks. No, she wasn't catholic, why do you ask? (There's no intentional symbolism there, but is it the angle of the head and the blue hair?)

[fanny splendid]

Yes, it's very Madonna and Child.

But without the child...

Obviously my brain working overtime!

[Des Nilsen]

:)

[slim]

You horribly talented bastards. I am very jealous :(

I'm about halfway through my first ever (extremely simple) oil painting, but I cheated and used a stencil. Not just because I'm not very good at painting, but also because I like the style. Anyway, I was thinking about posting a picture when I was done but I doubt it now I've seen you guys/girls in action.

Curse my artistic mother's weak genes!

[fanny splendid]

You have to post it now.

Using a stencil isn't cheating. I have a degree in Fine Art, and some of the work I did at University involved a can of blue spray paint, and some Thomas The Tank Engine stencils.

If using a stencil helps you get interested, and stay interested, in creating artwork, then great. Practise, that's all it takes.

:-)

[slim]

Hehe, ok, when it's done I will put it up. It's all gone a bit wrong as I brushed on the background and then sponged over the stencil. The sponged paint doesn't stand out enough against the rough backing, so I need to paint over it again, I think, to give it some texture.

Nice pep talk by the way, are you a teacher? ;)

[fanny splendid]

Not now. I have been, though. Strict, but fair, and full of enthusiasm!

[Cliche Guevara]

You have to post it now.

Using a stencil isn't cheating. I have a degree in Fine Art, and some of the work I did at University involved a can of blue spray paint, and some Thomas The Tank Engine stencils.

If using a stencil helps you get interested, and stay interested, in creating artwork, then great. Practise, that's all it takes.

:-)

Exactly. Art is art however you create it. Sure wasn't virtually all of Andy Warhol's work created through stencil prints or something similar?

[sore bottom mum]

I've recently made up loads of canvas'... this is their current state:

I'll update.

I'm going through a Folk art/ Pub painting/ Abstract phase!

[fanny splendid]

That's really good. It reminds me of a Paula Rego exhibition I went to last year.

[fanny splendid]

Thanks to inspiration from SBM, I finally got around to putting down the base layers of the hair, shirt, and jeans. I knew how desperate you all were for a progress report.

[Rubbish Monkey]

ah lovely stuff


Finally got started on my second painting over the weekend. I don't know what the hell im doing with this and I have fucked the nose up, but im enjoying myself.
sorry crap phone cam  photo as my digi cam battery is deaded

[Jet Set Willy]

these are all great, especially SBM.

To everyone: Have you been taught how to paint or just worked it out for yourself? I know I am good at drawing and soforth but I wouldn't know where to start with proper painting. Any tips on how to get the ball rolling?

[fanny splendid]

Practise, that's all it takes.

[Cerys]

Damn, you're a talented lot!  I may be faintly green.

[sore bottom mum]

...Have you been taught how to paint or just worked it out for yourself? I know I am good at drawing and soforth but I wouldn't know where to start with proper painting. Any tips on how to get the ball rolling?

I don't think anyone growing up with a British education has been taught how to paint.... I went through GCSE, A-Level, Diploma and Degree Art without barely a single word of advice for actual technique i.e. How to paint. The one bit of knowledge I did gain was from a bloke called Dave who I did my A-level Art with. He told me you can make any colour through mixing the 3 primary's (red, yellow and blue) and black and white. I still pretty much stick to this now.

As far as getting the ball rolling.... don't be precious with whatever surface you use (you can always paint over/ scrub out).... Have patience.... most paintings take a while before they look good.....and my most important 'rule' is to keep the work unpredictable... if you know exactly how the finished painting is going to look, it takes the reason/ magic out of doing it and becomes pure work.... or you'll have an image that you could just as easily come up with using photoshop.

Another thing... I always get myself into holes making a painting too complicated with out much pre-planning.... so either be methodical about what your doing/ make lots of pre-sketches... or keep it simple!

.....and honest.... never create anything that's trying too hard to look like 'good art'.

Finally: Cheers Fanny.... Your finished painting looks great.... bum bum

[Rubbish Monkey]

coo! I was goingto ask for soem advice myself. I hear acrylic paint is the best to start with, so i use that. Is it best to lay down your lighter colours first? Thats what i been doing, or trying to at least. I enjoy the whole mixing colours and have used yellow instead of white for interestin effects. Lastly i have just converted as it were a couple of drawings to paintings until i get used to it before i attempt anything new. I'm rubbish and need the practice. Thats my excuse anyways.

[fanny splendid]

With acrylics or oils, they should be opaque enough for it not to matter whether you lay the darks, or the lights, down first. Just to contradict myself, there are many ways of applying the paint to the surface, and with some of those you might have to be aware of how you want the final piece to look, and take that into consideration.

LIke SBM, I have run the complete gamut of art education to degree level, and have never been taught painting. To get a quick, and cheap knowledge of the basics. There are publishers outlets in most towns called The Works which sell really cheap books and art materials. Get yourself a book about how to paint, one which shows you how to mix colours, the difference between warm and cool colours, and how to make areas appear dark, but without using black. A lot of painting is about optical illusion.

As I wrote above, it takes practise to become a competent painter. To avoid spending hours and hours trying to make one square inch of canvas look perfect, you need to know what is going to happen when put brush to canvas. Different ways of applying the pigment to the brush, and in turn applying the brush to the canvas can produce different effects. Add to that the fact there are many different types of brush, types of bristle, different ways of holding the brush, and gesturing with it, and you can see that it's not quite the same as painting the living room wall. Gaining this knowledge is all about practise, and trial and error.

[jutl]

I had a couple of good opportunities to see the late, great realist painter Robert Lenkiewicz paint, and  the line between well-practised technique and magic seemed to be pretty thin. Unfortunately it was unfashionable to paint in a realistic fashion for most of his career, so he never got the recognition he deserved. He's the one who stuffed a tramp.

[slim]

It pales into mediocrity in these surroundings, but I'll post it anyway:



I'm still undecided as to whether to paint over the sponged stencil or not. On the one hand, I think it looks too weak at the moment. Sometimes I like the ambiguity though... Oh, I dunno, I'll probably not touch it for eight months, that sounds like me.

Either way, I'd say it's not awful for a first attempt, but I've a great deal to learn. One thing I'll be remembering next time is that, whilst big splodgy brush strokes may induce giggles when you're a bit mashed, they don't look as great the next day :)

Can anyone guess who it is? I'd be interested if anyone can see it, as I had to prompt my partner with clues to get it.