Wednesday, May 23, 2012

An Artists View of Social Networking and Spreading Your Color to the World

 I will make every effort to spread my world of color to you....


    To be a Visual Artist in in our modern technological era has given us a bounty of opportunity to spread our talents and art to the far reaches of the planet. Never before has an artist had such a platform to get ones work seen. In days past, One had to get published in a periodical, book or poster to get your art to the masses. If you where lucky enough to get in a gallery, you where still confined to the folks who attend. Artist had to work hard, very hard to get noticed. This is still true today, you must work very hard to get noticed but we have great new tools at our disposal so we can spend more time creating and less time marketing our work. All Hail the dawn of Social Networking!......What can we do to get the most out of these wonderful tools?

I am by far no expert on this subject, there are a million blog posts about this very subject. I learned a few tricks, I have done a few experiments. I went from 0 "likes" (When I started my artist page on Oct. 2011) to 600 "likes" and about 600 "other page likes" (other artists pages that are not in the usual "like" count) from all around the world. I am more popular, as an artist, in places like Australia or  Europe than even in my home city. I have sold paintings to these far off lands and they continue to be my biggest supporters. This was achieved by a lot of work with social networking. I will share a few tips with you (Some are pretty much common knowledge but you may not have looked at it in this way).......

-Spread your page by enjoying others: Like anything else it is who you know more than what you know....Go seek out and "like" as many other artist pages as possible and interact with them as much as possible (with your artist page not your personal profile). Not just the type of art you enjoy but all artists. Spend time each day looking at your news feed and commenting and "liking" the things you enjoy. Get involved. Every time you do it posts that hyperlink to your page, thus increasing your visibility. I don't know how may fans I have made by commenting on a post and one of their fans seeing it and checking out my page. Remember this is community building....

-Put Some Time into It: Try and dedicate time each and every day to "working" your page. Do not make this the same time every day. We are on a global platform and time zones make a huge difference. When I put up a post at 5:30pm it is like 10:30 in the morning the next day in Australia. Learn to vary your when you post, cause it makes all the difference. Learn to know when to post let say a photo of a new work to get the maximum exposure. Remember there are powerful algorithms at work that can be your friend or your enemy. Learn and research these to put them to work for you. It takes some time and a clear understanding of the "insights" that are provided on your facebook page to get a hold on this. This is your work you are trying to share with the world so the more time you work it the better chance you have of growing your fan base...as they say It is all up to you....work smarter, not harder!

-Do not Over-Post or Under-Post: They amount of posts you do in each day will make a world of difference. To many post and people become complacent and may tend to overlook it and thus not interact with it. To little posts and folks will also not react, cause they may forget about why they liked you in the first place. In order to be seen you must find the fine line...This also plays a very large role in how facebook will put ones posts in order on fans timeline. The most relevant posts, to that fan, get posted higher on their news feed. If you overdo or under-do this will effect where facebook puts your posts. This takes some time to learn but can make the world of difference.

-Make your Interactions\Posts Work for You: When someone takes the time to comment on your posts or a share make sure that you interact with them. A quick thank you or conversation goes a long way. People are inherently predisposed to acknowledgement and will gravitate to places that fill this need. They more they feel like you are a friend, the more they will interact. (Remember every time they interact with you it is published in their timeline...increasing your visibility...if their friends see cool interaction they become curious and may become your next fan?).

-Post Relevant and Interesting Material: This is a pretty wide subject....Make a big deal out of your posting of a new work...I will write a blog about it first, debuting the painting there first....posting the link a few times on facebook...letting the folks know.....then a few days later, after I have seen the drop in views on my blog, I will post the painting to my facebook. It has worked well. I also make an photo album of certain paintings that I will post pictures of my work in progress....after each painting session I take a photo of my progress and post it to this album. It acts as a sort of a "Serial" like in the days when an author would publish only one chapter of a larger work, each week in a periodical....the cliffhanger....How is going to turn out?....it gets them involved in the finish. Spread it out over a few days or weeks (depending on the type of work). It also opens the door for interactions with other artists about technique and workflow....... I do this with some of my work, just enough to keep it interesting. It is also a big rush for your fans when you post something new without any previous viewing. The goal is to spread your Love of  form, color, value and movement to as many people as possible....make it fun for them!

-Have Fun!!!!!: One of the small reasons we become artists is to enjoy life and have fun with the beauty of the world. We express this love through creation of visual candy for others eyes. We can create emotion and wonder with basic materials. We can light up a room with color. We can get images from our minds eye to a medium that others can enjoy and hopefully relate to on some level.....Do not take yourself to serious if you do it will show.....Kid around with your page....have fun in meeting new people and learn about what they are all about. It will help you grow as an artist....

Thank You for taking some time today to read a few of my thoughts and things I have learned. If I can say one thing that will change your page into a "hit" .......The more you interact with the world the more folks will interact with your page! Be smart and make lots of mistakes.....We learn by doing!!!! If you have any other questions or thoughts on the subject or any subject..... please do not hesitate to come over to my page and drop me a line....I would love to hear from you.....We can all help each-other....this is not a contest but a team sport to spread Color and love to everyone......Peace and Love to you all

https://www.facebook.com/LanceJeschketheArtist =If you have not yet....Please "like" my page hehehehe

I would Love to hear your thoughts on this subject.....Please share some of your ideas and tricks! 

*Note* I am a visual artist....not so much a writer....I try?....So ignore any grammatical errors, run on sentences or paragraph construction errors.......I write like I talk....fast and crazy LOL.....again Peace and love to you.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

"The Monarch Princess" A Painting created with Love

THE MONARCH PRINCESS

24in x 48in (60cm x 122cm)
Oil on Canvas


Metamorphosis is one of natures wonders. The metamorphosis of insects has always triggered wonder into my thoughts. The morph of the Butterfly (and Moths) is amazing no matter how you look at it. Egg to Larvae, which grows into Caterpillar for about 2 weeks, then creates a chrysalis.....to emerge a beautiful, beautiful Butterfly. The wonders of nature....

So as many of you know I have been in the process of creating  large paintings of insects. I am working real hard to create an entire show with my minds eye view of some of the earths most beautiful creatures. I call this series "My Bug Collection" As a child, as with almost everyone, I was so interested with the creatures that lived in my backyard. I would collect, observe and yes, dissect a few. I love bugs, even the ones that are a pain in the butt ("I am Just a House Fly"). They all have so much beauty even if the are like mean, mini Jet Fighters ("Wasp the YellowJacket). My thought was to create very large detailed paintings of these cool creatures. Show some but not all detail, try and make a "feel" more than a picture. I do not want any real background stated in the piece. I did not want them to be anywhere but in a space. Just them....as I see them. They are my focal point throughout my series. Subtle colors grace and envelope the image. They are alone to be just what they are. 

My Bug Collection is far from complete. To date I have 3 completed. A House Fly, Wasp, and now the Monarch Caterpillar. I am in process with 2 others as we speak....A Monarch Butterfly (to compliment this piece ("The Monarch")) and a Grasshopper ("The Grasshopper"). I have a few other bugs in the pipeline to get created soon. 

You can see the step by step photo album of "The Monarch Princess" and all the painting in the series at my facebook artist page Click here to see the view... 


The Creation....and the Love that went into this Piece

Life is beautiful.....
   This year will be one I will never forget. Not only have I worked real hard and completed some of my best work to date it also brings my greatest creation ever.....My Masterpiece!!! I will be soon blessed with my first child. (July 30th is the due date) We know she is a girl and her name shall be Sparrow.............

   When we had confirmation that everything was 100% on the cool with the pregnancy I set out to display my emotions through the one way I know how, start a painting! I wanted to capture a few of my thoughts with my oil paints. This painting is the result of my feelings so far....


    I could not get her out of my mind......I would imagine millions of things as I was putting brush to canvas, what she will look like, her smile, her inner energy, her first boyfriend etc. etc, etc. It was the feeling of pure joy coupled by stints of pure worry. Every brush stroke I took the thought of her seeing this painting with her own eyes someday would bring tears to my eyes. The thought of, in the years ahead she will be sitting watching me paint and me watching her. Yes, many episodes of watery eyes as I painted thinking of my Sparrow....

   When I paint, it is the time of my day that I truly can step into another world. I equate it to meditation or yoga or the artistic. This is the time I Dream!........Now the process has changed much like the Caterpillar will...... I have changed...and will change even more...I have a new role as a Dad.....and this painting is my first step into learning that role, at least on an artistic level. My paintings will change....I now know that Sparrow will have all of my work that I keep as an Artist Collection. If I should leave this earth, she will have a very large part of my being that lives in my paintings. She can always visit me by just taking a look. Yes that will change how you work as an artist......


   As you can probably figure....This painting will not be up for sale...Actually It no longer belongs to me! I created it with her in my thoughts....... and it now belongs to Sparrow. It shall be hers forever......The painting Daddy created when he found out he was going have a Princess of his own....My first gift of Love to my little Sparrow....

   Don't worry.....I will show it in the coming years. Place it in shows, let it hang in a few Galleries....get it out there so folks can see it for sure....it is so beautiful that I want to share it with the world. Matter of fact the painting will debut publicly for the upcoming Artist Against Hunger  Show. I will be showing..along with 80 of the regions best and talented artists to raise some cash for Feeding America...to feed the Hungry here in South Dakota USA on June 1st and 2nd....There is also some other Gallery shows that are in her near future (more info on that in due time)....In essence, It is special and will become more special....the more people that see it the more Love that enters it......and now it is hers!!


A Raw photo of her outside...

Follow the Step by Step photo journal of how I created this painting



Thank you for taking the time to check this quick blog post out....Please Please feel free to leave some comments....I would love to hear your thoughts...here or on any of my social media stuff (you can find all those links in my side bar --->

Peace and Love to you on this....and everyday!!