Hi,
can i please get advice on my shots. I've been doing shows for 5/6 years, but alot of my friends have been doing shows for 15 years plus, so i still feel i obviously have alot to learn. Im just so frustrated at not getting accepted to alot of them. I get accepted to craft shows, but i feel my stuff is more art. The medium is a form of acrylic. Heating and hand sculpting process involved. I shape it directly on my neck and wrist(the bracelets). The product initially has no color. Everything is hand painted. Gets black basecoat and then i add lots and lots of layers of metallics. These pieces are very deceiving, looks heavy, but are flexible and weigh less than 2 ounces. Im a self taught artist, been doing decorative painting for 12 years (started as hobby ofcourse). Im not very farmiliar with art-linga, so not sure how to "artisticly" really explain my product, which might also be one of my problems. I know my booth needs alot of work, which is maybe one of the reasons im not getting accepted to alot of "artshows", so please tell me how i can fix it. Also, would a dark background be better for my product shots...i've tried it, but the colors just gets lost. Also, should i enter into jewelry or which other category can i try? I've tried jewelry and mixed media. It's not the traditional kind of jewelry and jewelry is so competitive, im really frustrated, just got a rejection from another show and tired of loosing so much money. Once im in some shows, i sell really well, just a matter of getting in. Please help, thanks for all the great discussions!
Replies
Oh and I would change the fabric background to a solid taupe or sand. The fabric you have now is distracting. Also I would use some tables , with different stands for height adjustment. Not have everything in neat rows. The eye tends to slide over and not really see anything. Some pedestal's would really look nice and be good in the cornors. Oh well, just my thoughts.
I love your things, do you sell online. How about some very large pictures at least 2' x 3' to hang on the walls in the booth. That can be seen easily from outside the booth. People just walking by will be able to really see how different and beautiful your things are. Now , well just looking at your booth I had no idea what you sold. The pictures really seem to help draw people into a jewelry booth. They don't just walk by thinking "oh, another jewelry booth"
Good luck and I really do love your things!
If you plan to take new photos, I have some general tips on my website. I'll be adding photos and a demonstration of how to use a photo studio light box within the next couple of weeks.
http://www.evenbetterimages.com/tips.html
Robin Ragsdale
I just want to say thank you to each and everyone that responded to my mail. I've been to so many sites and asked for advice, which in most cases was either very lame and "skimpy" or people would just not respond. I've only in the last week started being a little more aggressive on this site, adding pics and finally tried asking for advice. I was really surprised when i got back here today to see all the responses. Thank you so much for EVERYONE that took the time out of their busy day to respond to me with really GREAT ADVICE!!, Now i FINALLY know what im doing wrong and i can fix it!! I really appreciate it!!:):)
Jean -- your work is stunning, Wonderful color, texture and organic movement. Wow!
Some additional points to the other posters' comments....
1. Professional photography is great but can be too expensive in the early years of an art career. Plus, it's nice to be able to quickly take a good photo yourself when a new piece turns out particularly well. You can set up a DIY photo studio yourself to get you started.
Google "light boxes", and also check e-bay, and you'll find various packages. I purchased a 20" x 20" light box that included 3 lights, a tripod and 4 backgrounds. The backgrounds are useless and the lights could be better, but they're good enough. The whole set-up was $60. Then google "photo backdrops" and find a graduated background paper that you like. They come in grey-to-white, black-to-white, tan-to-white, etc. Remember that your pieces are small, so you'll only be using a small part of the background -- you'll want the gradient background to be visible in, say an 8" area. The backdrop papers are expensive but absolutely worth it -- the addition of a gradient background says "professional" to the jury and you've taken a big step forward. BTW, I think the photos you took are very well done, just not in the standard style the jury seems to demand.
2. Photoshop is definitely the gold standard in photo manipulation, but it costs a fortune and there are other photo softwares out there. Google "alternatives to Photoshop" and you'll find lots of options. I researched several, and read several professional reviews, and finally chose GIMP. It's considered very close to photoshop except easier to use and it's FREE. Download it to your computer and minutes later it's all yours. The user manual is also available on another site (google "GIMP user manual") and look for the most recent edition. I like to have a hardcopy to refer to when I'm stuck, so I printed it all out. Sheesh...it took hours because you have to print each section individually, and it fills two 3" binders. But it's worth it. I still have tons to learn about all the features, but those I'm using work great.
3. Concerning your booth, I prefer the black gridwall over the white and chrome versions that are also available. I think the black looks more professional. I've used it for years with white fabric behind it since my product is of translucent glass and I want all the colors to show truly. Your varying backgrounds are lovely and great in a decorating sense, but in the booth they pull the eye away from the product. I suggest you choose one non-patterned fabric and use it throughout the booth. With the colors you use in your jewelry, and because they're opaque, you could choose a light taupe that would make a nice backdrop and be less stark than white.
4. Getting into shows is brutal when you make jewelry. There are sooo many jewelers out there, and shows have huge waiting lists for jewelers to choose from if one of their first-picks cancels. Even though I think your jewelry is incredible and I would choose it in a heartbeat over most of the stuff I see at shows, you still have the numbers working against you. I, too, created jewelry in the beginning, and sold well once I got into the shows, but getting accepted was tough.
My solution was to keep my medium and do something else with it for the shows. (Notice I say "for the shows." You can still make your jewelry and sell it on your website, or wholesale through gift shops, resort locations, etc.). At shows you could turn your designs into 3D wall art, or front-hall mirrors, or table-top sculptures, or ??? This would allow you to continue working with the process you've developed and at the same time get out of the crowded jewelry market. (Really, even jewelry lovers are sick of going to shows where every other booth is jewelry.)
Good luck to you. Whatever you do, don't give up -- you are talented and creative and show great craftsmanship in your work. You have a bright future!!
Karen
I love your work. It is unique and you definitely should not be selling at craft shows unless they are very high end craft shows. My first question would be which shows are you applying to? Some promoters have a certain look they want in their booths. I found that when I bit the bullet and upgraded to pro-panels and jewelry cases, I started to get into better shows. My next step is to get rid of my covered tables in favor of a display system - probably Abstracta. Listen to Larry, he has helped me so much in my Art Fair journey.
I didn't realize you posted pictures. In the individual images you've introduced color and texture and wrinkles in the background that all serve to distract the jurors. In the picture on the white bust, your eyes automatically are drawn to the brightest area of the image (top center and bottom left of the bust) before settling down and evaluating the jewelry.
In the booth, you should reshoot on an overcast or cloudy day so it cuts down on the backlighting. If that doesn't work, use white tarps or the fourth canopy side to double up the walls on the outside.
http://bermangraphics.com/artshows/photograph-booth.htm
Also, eliminate the front panel on the left because it doesn't conform to the three wall booth movement for the better shows. All signs have to go as well. You would benefit from hanging large pictures of your jewelry, either your jury images or your work on a model, not showing the face. Just a close up of the jewelry on a person.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
First of all, if it's not clear to the jurors what you make, it's what they perceive you're making. And you can't depend on your artist statement or individual art picture descriptions. If the photography is clear and the piece pops or comes alive off the background, it will wow them and hopefully have them want to spend more time looking at the work.
Because you are applying in a jewelry category without high end jewelry, you can't assume things are good enough if you want to apply to the better shows. Your individual images and booth picture needs to be perfect.
Black as a background can work, if you can photograph the work so the edges of the piece separates from the black background and reads well in a second or two. That's part lighting and part post processing. It's also important that there isn't any unnecessary background that makes the piece look smaller in the jury room.
I do free image evaluations, (besides photographing artwork and improving existing jury images and teaching artists how to photograph their own work):
http://zapphelp.com/evaluation.htm
To answer your other question. Greg knows art shows and has been a respected member of the art show community for many years. You might also want to look into consulting with Bruce Baker (http://bbakerinc.com/) who knows the higher end craft shows and is also a jeweler. If you live in the Orlando area, I'll be doing a workshop on how to photograph artwork at the ACRE show at the Orlando Convention Center on Friday January 20th.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Thank you so much for responding Larry. I've been amazed at all the great advice i've received OVER NIGHT. Now I can start working at fixing the problems, as i simply didn't know what i was doing wrong. Feel much more motivated now:) Looking forward to learning alot more from this great site, thanks again:)
Hi Jean :) Firstly, I LOVE your work - its really very different to what's out there (that I've seen anyway!).
Product shots - I've heard Larry Berman repeat over and over that white backgrounds dazzle the jury. They're fantastic for the web, but in a darkened jury room - no. It appears that most use a graduating gray background with no props (eg. no display bust). I have seen some fairly good shots of jewellery done by the artist, so don't think you can't do it, you probably just need to work out how to do it specifically for juries. If time is of the essence professional shots may be the answer.
Booth shot - I think your booth looks rather nice - but I'll try and pick on all the things that may be stopping you:
to the existing photo you could:
As far as artistic 'lingo' goes, I don't believe you're alone in trying to find the right words. Do some research on some selling websites that sell items made out of the same sort of materials and try and find the magic words that you can use in there.
There is also a great book called "Words that Sell" that give you a myriad of alternatives to use instead of the same old standard descriptors. Might be worth a look?
Perhaps you could post a description to one of the items pictured and we could try and suggest some alternatives?
Good luck with it all!
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