Welcome to the first blog at Surviving Art. Here we explore the world of art, from economics and simple tips on equipment to surviving the existential dread that is the art world.

Today we’re going to talk about Commissions; this post is dedicated to more or less anyone in academia, as the ever-present romantic question of artist integrity is still quite problematic in such circles. But if you have no issues with selling and branding your work, stick by anyway, I’m making these things as universally applicable to any situation as possible, so without further ado let’s talk earning money!

Commission work, selling art or selling out? First of all let’s start with this romantic preposition that I hear all to often when talking with artists in academia.

So here’s a tough nut: Johnny got a commission from Rachel, a banker who likes his work and would like to decorate her office with something special. Is Johnny a sellout for putting a price tag on his work? Or is he a conformist for letting others direct his creative genius for their petty decorative wishes?

What? No!

To paraphrase an example from my girlfriend and fellow artist Iris: Even the pope gets compensated for serving the church, though probably not as much as Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, but if a position as creative as serving the will of sky people is a “paid” job, surely one would not question monetary compensation for artists, right? Yet a lot of artists still struggle with the concept of paid work.

Our friend Johnny may not be the ultra leftist utopian flower child who would just give her the work in return for positive vibrations and good karma, but when confronted with the question of price he stumbles. How much should he charge. How much is art actually worth? Now this is a tricky one, as people who make their living on Etsy will tell you something completely different from people in academia. I remember a conversation I had with an artist from France (I emphasise this because of context; the French art world is doing just fine compared to countries like Slovenia). So we talked about what he does and how he does it, and had a wonderful conversation, but when we came to money he choked. I was quite frankly amazed at how the topic of money made him so uncomfortable. But why?

Art is a commodity, Marx himself based his ideas of commodities on artistic objects. Why then would we treat them differently? In academia this is due greatly to the idea that after art school we’ll all be famous big shots in giant galleries where we will be serving the great and wonderful Art, that’s with a capital A. That our sole purpose in life is to save humanity with our “functional” leftist ideas of intricate political installations and provocative indie videos. But guess what. Nobody really cares, or what is closer to the truth I think, nobody knows how to care. But more on that some other time, the point of this video is dedicated to the romantic idealist me from the past, and everyone who still thinks fame and fortune is paved with only blue-chip gallery openings and networking with the ultra rich. It’s not, not because it cant be done, but because you first have to understand that art is a business like any other (with some cool perks of course!). So treat it like that. Have a business plan, calculate your expenses and make realistic goals on how much you want to earn and especially how to get there.

And this is where a sound strategy comes into play. If you don’t have one, you’ll get lost before you know it. And in a subjective field like ours, no Maps App will ever get you back on track, and you’ll just start sinking into the depths of contempt towards others, the system and yourself. Believe me, we’ve all been there and eventually end up there even if we strive for better, but it’s smarter not to jump in the pit and at least try to stay above it all.

So make a plan!

Mine consists of a few important things:

1. Remind yourself why you do it. Simple. Commissions are exchanges of goods, your skill and knowledge in exchange for money or something other, that is of value to you. But you don’t do them only for the money, so don’t kid yourself, but at the same time you don’t do them just because you like to make art. Know your why. Which brings me to number two:
2. Don’t do a commission if you don’t like what the customer wants from you. If you love doing baby portraits, go for it, but if you don’t (jesus, they all look the same to me) don’t take the job. You’ll make a crapy work anyway or if nothing else you’ll just start to hate commissions. Find things that you can do and like to do. And find people who want something that fits your style and skill. Show them your portfolio, ask them if this is something they would enjoy, if not, why bother. There’s plenty of others who actually like to do the projects you don’t. Give them a chance, and give your customer their contact. You’ll might be repaid tenfold, when they get in the same situation and you get one of their commissions, believe me. If you need the money, get a side job that isn’t creative, and this is number 3:
3. Don’t do it just because you need the cash. Just don’t. You’ll wind up getting milked for all you’ve got, for the least amount of money. Making art is not a prosperous profession in the beginning, but if you get enough out of it to pay for that holiday trip to the Bahamas you always wanted, that’s more than great for a start. And never, ever ever ever, undercut yourself. Set a fair price. We’ll talk in-depth about pricing in a another video, but do your research and find how much others are charging for similar work, don’t aim to high but especially, don’t aim to low.
4. Get a side job that doesn’t kill your will to live. I’m looking at you retail. Maybe you love technology like me, and such a job won’t make you wish for the end times as soon as the other person, but making coffee or housesitting is better than a crapy creative job that sucks the life out of you. Don’t do menial labour as an Indesign editor for some insurance agency if all you’ll be doing is making application forms for the devil. You wont have the will to do the stuff you love after 8 hours of paying align the ticky squares, I promise you.
5. Make a roadmap of where you want to be in the future. Don’t get to carried away with side jobs that pay the bills and don’t forget why you took them in the first place. Their just that, side jobs. Do your do diligence, but after you washed away that 9 to 5 your an artist again. Your probably thinking, screw this, this is too much effort! I’ll find something better to do as a profession and just paint in my free time. And thats a solid thing to do, but then just accept that you not an artist, you just like the idea of being one. Being an artist in today’s economy is a 25 hour a day job. Buddy Rich didn’t just play his drums when he felt like it, he practiced and worked his ass of, but you can see where it got him. If you love something you’ll make sacrifices to keep doing what you love. Art is like dating, don’t just take it on one date, and expect to know all about it. You’ll have to invite it home and live with it for a few years and let it shower you with its faults and problems and lovable quirks.
6. Create short-term and long-term goals that are as precise as possible (I want to get commissions is not a goal, it’s wishful thinking). This is important. Make real, precise and pragmatic goals. If you want to do one commission next month, make a plan how and describe exactly what you need to do to get there. I want to be successful is a shirt slogan somewhere in the ball park of California Rowing Team 1998, not a goal. Make the effort and make a step by step guide that your grandma could understand; we’re amazing creatures when it comes to logical thinking and comprehension but we’re also lazy schmucks that want to be guided through life. Stimulate the lazy part, otherwise you’ll just want to sleep and eat chips all day.
7. Part of a good plan is finding out how to reach out to people you know and who know your work. Don’t look for potential buyers online and think that you’re the only one there. There’s millions of us waiting for the chance of our lifetime, but maybe only one of you in your home town with the particular skillset that you have. I sold more works to friends than to anyone else. Even the collectors that I encountered around Europe first took their time in getting to

know me. You’re part of the buying equation, your personality is the driving force, when people decide if they’re going to commission you or not. And you don’t get that from a website. I’m not saying it’s not important to have internet presence, it’s essential, but why not ask that friend that is getting married, if he’d like a portrait for that special day, or your neighbour Jessica, who just refurnished her flat and keeps complaining about the dull assortment of decorative “paintings” in IKEA. And last but not least:

8. Art is also decor. It’s hard to swallow but that’s just the way it is. Nobody will commission you just to be a patron of your work, they will of course enjoy the fact that they got an original work of art from a real artist, but if they didn’t have that big white slab of empty wall above their cobalt blue couch with the yellow designer pillows, do you really think they would order a painting to hang it there? There are of course multiple levels of why someone would want a work of art and we will explore them in future videos. For now it’s important to be at peace with the idea that what you see in art isn’t necessarily what your client will see. But if they get what they want and you’re happy to help them with it, it’s a win win situation for everybody. You will be an interpreter of emotion when making commissions. You will be translating the feelings and expectations of your customers into colour and form. If they want happy, don’t give them cynical, it’s not your job to comment on their wishes, it’s to create them as perfectly as you can while being true to your style.

So don’t look down on commission work, take some time to build a plan on how you will be tackling the problem of making works by order. Start small, but don’t do it for free, even for your uncle Steve. At least he should cover the material costs and pay you a minimal creator fee. A good word and a sincere thank you wont buy food and pay the rent, even if you are still living at home so that these are a non issue for you right now. They will be sooner or later, better build your foundation accordingly, future you will thank you for it!