Competition is always a question of variables; how many factors do we take into consideration, when choosing an expert; be it designer, plumber or auto mechanic. Usually there are a few that matter most and many that just aren’t that important.

For example when deciding on which plumber to choose to fix a leaking pipe in our cellar, we probably might care a lot about how expensive they are, but couldn’t care less about what their political views are or how good of parent they might be. It’s the same with every other professional we choose to help us with the things that we are ourselves unable to do alone.

But while plumbers and electricians, like doctors and lawyers, work within their own professional field, it isn’t merely their ability to do their job that matters (at least not in today’s saturated market), but also their personality. 

Sure, I might be prepared to employ an excellent lawyer even if she was a knob, but only if her abilities to provide the service I had payed for were incomparably higher compared to the majority of other lawyers. But if I had to choose from a few, similarly skilled professionals, I’d take the friendly one anytime.

The point is, with lawyers it is their perceived cold and logical appearance and even ruthless character that might give us some extra peace of mind, when we find ourselves in need of one. But no-one would ever choose their new nanny by the same merits!

So what makes a good artist? What are some the character traits that someone searching for a skilled painter would wish for us to have? Is it a strong positive outlook on life, the ability to see wonder in the mundane? Or maybe the complete opposite, a cynical and fatalistic view on existence? 

There probably is no right or wrong answer and neither was it ever the point to find it. The real question is, do we think about how our character and our views on life impact the kinds of commissions and customers we get? And why not double down on how we present ourselves to the wider public — worst case, we loose some of the unwanted commission. More probably though, we might just gain a few, that we’ll really enjoy doing.