more artwork - and questions about advertising

[vegas]

any advice on advertising??
this is a card measuring 3 1/2 x 5 glossy with more artwork on the back
tried to show the size of the portraits
it is alway hard to decide whether to show one really good piece or several pieces to show different commission ideas.

[beth]

I really like this format. Love the drawing shown as well.

Beth

[INKSPOT]

I think your advertising misses the mark. Your clients won't realize how unique what you are doing is unless you give them more understanding of the scale. I don't think I've ever seen anyone doing drawings as large as you do--or so skilfully--and frankly, they really make an impact.

A problem I see with your ad is that it puts you in the center, not your artwork. As stupid and prosaic as this sounds, maybe a photo of you standing besides your drawing (not in the act of drawing) would be a better way to convey what you are selling. The focus of your potential customers should be the artwork itself, not you.

The photos on the back are lacking scale so the immediate impact isn't understandable. A few people standing besides them will give the scale.

Your work reminds me a lot of Chuck Close, one of the inventors of photorealism in the late 1960s. But, he worked in oils, and I think he would be pretty impressed by what you do also.

[stella677]

hi there,
i think this is a good advert, it shows your range quite nicely and the one with you in it shows the scale of what you can do, how do you go about drawing something that size, the biggest ive done is A4, A3 at a push.

[Deeno]

I don't think it's so bad having you in the act of drawing on the font of your ad. However to emphasize the scale of your drawings, the one you are working on should be one of the drawings featured on the back.
That way poeple would realize the size of your drawings by seeing the one you were working on on the front of the card is represented on the back.

Otherwise seems like a good self promo.


Deeno

[vegas]

I really appreciate the objective advice! It is such a tradeoff between showing the scale of the drawing vs. showing the detail of the drawing. I need to do a website like the rest of you guys!!!

[Kelly]

Ok, I have to know where you get paper that big! biggest I've got is 19x24.

[Carol]

When I first looked at this, I also thought that you would never realize the scale of these drawings from this card. But with your photo on the other side, you can clearly see that.

As far as promoting yourself, if I were as young, thin and beautiful as you, I would not hesitate to put a photo of me drawing out there for people to see. (I just hate the fact that my photo is on my website, but it does make it more personal if viewers can feel as if they know you.)
Carol

[elisabeth]

Carol, I just checkout out your website again, and I think it is a huge plus to have your photo there! You are a very attractive, classy looking lady and you look so friendly, capable and personable as well. (I don't know how I glean all of that from one photo, but that's the impression I have.) I wish I had a photo of myself that looked that good now, let alone when I'm a bit older.

And Vegas, I agree with Carol, your photo is stunning. The worst I could say about it is that it might just distract certain viewers from your artwork!

[vegas]

kelly: paper is actually matboard... if you have any other suggestions let me know, matboard is the only thing I've found big enough, and I have to pre-order it in the largest size, smoothest grain, white or off white archive materials. I have had some great suggestions from this forum though and I am experimenting a little in my free time (ha ha, who has free time but I am trying)


kelly and elizabeth: thank you so much for the compliments... I really didn't want to include my picture in it but it was the only way I could think of to show the proportion of the work. I am going to take the advice of inkspot and try to take some photos with me to the side centering on the artwork more. i could take a picture of someone sitting or posing for a portrait with me barely shown doing the portrait (maybe just the hand and pencil). maybe have the boy in the karate pose next to the easel with the portrait of him doing karate.