It’s no secret that exhibiting your artwork provides you exposure and gives the number of your audience a boost. However, it is no less than a nerve-wrecking task, especially if you are doing it for the first time. There is always a fear of getting negative feedback which takes a toll on your confidence. But artists can tell you that it is a risk worth taking. So, if you have made up your mind, then here are 5 steps you can take to ensure your exhibition goes better than you expected it to go.
1. Pick a location
Based on the kind of audience you want to attract, pick out a location for your exhibition. You’d need to do a bit of research on this. Check to see which venues are popular with which kind of audience and pick the most apt location.
Selecting your artwork may be a daunting task. All of your art-pieces maybe masterpieces, but you need to narrow them down and choose the pieces that depict a spectrum of your skills. Also, pair your art-pieces in a way that they sort of go along and complement each other.
Of course, you want to look presentable for the exhibition but by this point we mean that you should get your work ready for the exhibit. Make sure everything is tidy. Clear out any messes that you wanted to fix. Pick out frames that you think will give your paintings a boast. Make sure, everything is ready before you head out.
How do you plan on transporting your artwork to the gallery? You need to decide the transportation earlier to avoid any mishaps. Also, make sure that your artwork is safely packed and it won’t be subjected to any environmental changes.
Artwork speaks for itself but you want to market yourself as an artist. That should be the whole point of organizing the exhibition. Prepare whatever you think can come in handy. For example, if you want, you can create a website with all of your information or you can also go ahead and make a catalogue. In addition to that, make yourself available on social media. This will enable your audience to get in touch with you and if you want to invite them to another one of your exhibitions, you easily can.
According to most creatives, be it painters or artists, the rooms conducive to creativity are different than the usual. Some individuals place objects in their creative space to open up the windows in their artistic minds whereas some prefer a clutter-free and calm environment to let their creative juices flow. Even though, most people want their homes to be a haven they can retreat to after a stressful day, creative spaces need to be dynamic enough so that they can act like windows into an artist’s brain.
So, if you are struggling to find your creative spark, here are 5 tips below to help you out:
1. Be messy
Unlike your personal room or apartment where you want things to be as organized as possible, you can be as messy as you please in your creative space. Feel free to spread out drawings, sketches or paintings that are a source of inspiration for you. Bring in souvenirs that spark creativity. Hang crafts that help you in unleashing your creative energy.
The bottom line is to surround yourself with inspiration and just about whatever works for you.
2. Bring the outdoors in
Do you know the feeling you get when you walk inside your living room and just want to watch TV all day without doing anything productive? But when you go take a walk outdoors, it gives your creative energy a boost. This is because outdoors have the power to energize you. So, it is advisable to bring in plants or any greenery you can afford. You can even start by something as small as letting the sunlight in.
3. Keep evolving
By this we mean that you should keep on experimenting with new things in your creative space. Don’t settle with one kind of theme. Keep changing up and see what works for you and what doesn’t.
4. Play music
Music has a positive impact on the minds of creative individuals. When you play music, your atmosphere lightens up with creativity. However, we’d recommend you to not stick to one kind of music. Experiment and broaden your choices. You can also listen to international music and see the impact it has on you.
5. Decide on a project space
Leave an area clean and clutter free for the projects you are working on. Keep all the needed supplies in this area so that you eliminate distractions and focus on your work.
While every painter may have different ways to go about a paint job, there are a few tricks and tips that everyone follows religiously. So, use the following tips to get your painting project done with much more efficiency.
For your walls to end up looking perfectly painted, you want to start off by having a clean slate. Sandpaper helps smoothen your walls and get rid of any patches or nail-holes. So, initiate your paint job by sanding your walls by either using a sandpaper or sanding pole.
It is very easy to get tempted by low-priced goods for a paint job, however, you’d come face to face with a lot of hassle if you don’t invest into adequate supplies. The bristles of cheap paint brushes fall apart after just one stroke and your walls seem tacky. And, that’s just one example of what cheap supplies put you through.
So, if you don’t want to compromise on the quality, don’t get manipulated into purchasing cheap supplies.
Start off by removing small furniture that you can from the room that is being repainted. However, as for bigger items, such as bookshelves or sofas, just cover them up with plastic. You have to do this step prior to sanding your walls because you wouldn’t want your furniture to be covered with dust.
Before you begin painting your walls, the proactive thing to do would be to do a preliminary coat of primer. This will help keep the compound that was initially used to fix cracks, nail-holes etc. from extracting the moisture out of the paint and making it look uneven in some areas. The overall look would come out dull if you avoid using a primer.
To make your end result look vibrant and fresh, we’d suggest you to get a tinted primer as opposed to a plain primer.
Paint droplets usually find a way through bedsheets and regular plastic and your floors end up bearing the brunt of the consequences. So, to avoid your floors to come out looking awry, use canvas drop cloths to ensure no paint ruins your carpet or wooden floors.
Instead of taping the switch plates and going through the tedious task of removing the tape, you should just consider taking off the switch plates all together.
If you don’t stop to inspect your work, it is quite likely that you will end up missing a spot. So, purchase a light and examine whether there are any spots that are missing paint or not.
When you are done with the paintjob, be sure to wrap up all your brushes in plastic bags to ensure that they are airtight. Before you do that, however, wash the brushes so that they are ready to be used for your next painting job.
