[Drunken Monkey]

no someone will put those dvd's out as torrents - <highly offensive content removed>

craig.. look at braid.com - if you do it how they do it, i doubt you will have problems clearing the stock.

edit:

[Capt. Fred]

IMHO,

a lot of people buy paintings because 'a painting' is 'what you put on a wall'. It has nothing to do with art. Innocuous subject matter somewhere between the level of a greetings card and wallpaper, inoffensive colours or ones that compliment the living room, and not too big. Even better if it's done by a local.

Personally, much as I'd love to browse that gallery, I'd not have wanted a print. Like ozan said, A water colour or oil for sure, but not a digital print. Becuase, not to put too fine a point on it, a digital print on canvas strikes me as a glorified poster.

Reminds me of what they say in hollywood, "you wanna go for some coffee". Nothing to do with coffee. What people hang on the wall has little do with the art of painting and everything to do with being a tradiational form of vacuous wall decoration.

Do some abstract colour shapes for people to match with their sofa, or behead a shark for the galleries. People don't hang things on their walls for their appreication of painting, paintings are 'something for the house'.

I'm not sue exactly why I'm offering opinins on selling prints to people, it's something I know nothing about. I'm just playing devils advocate I guess.

[gLitterbug]

Sorry to hear it didn�t go as you hoped for spooge. Honestly it�s not too big a surprise to me and I hope you don�t mind if I say that at least we all have learned something out of it. Being that no matter how good your skill and glorious your art and status with a certain crowd, when you�re starting out something new and unfamiliar you most probably don�t hit oil on the first drill.

I�m sure you still got some experience out of it which you will use next time and do better.

One thing thats popped into my mind seing the photos instantly was the setup, as cyBeAr alread mentioned. In my opinion that makes the prints look more "nothing special" than the fact that they are prints and not traditional paintings.

And that brings me to something I read out of some replies from here that really disappoints me, or saddens me even to a point. It is strange that some artists have a point of view that, at least I assumed so, would only come from other people. I hear the call for traditional watercolors and oils, the call for "real" art it seems. I for myself would love to have a print of craigs stuff, after all it�s not just something someone prints out on his HP deskjet. For me a good quality print of his stuff signed by him is just as good as a watercolor would be. Actually I think I�d even like it more, after all this is what we all came to love him for, no? His digital pieces, the art that amazes so much people wherever he posts it online.

I really hope spooge, that you find your audience and as hard as it might be to get it done, I keep it with luna and hope you�ll become a pioneer of it and people start to think differently of those glorified posters.

P.S.: it seems people ARE the same everywhere when it comes to free food and art, taking a brief look and then go for the "good stuff"

[Impaler]

Fred is right. People buy paintings for a) decor or b) investment value.

Basically, you need to contract some form of disease, or go buy a color guide from Home Depot and paint from that.
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QED, sort of.

[Lunatique]

[skullmonkeys]

I'm sorry to hear the show didn't go as well as you hoped.
The problem I think is location. If Hawaii is a place where you can find Chargall prints for 20 grand, then the people who are attracted to those kinds of stuff would find little they like from your works I think.
Also Hawaii is a too small a community for your works to be appreciated. I'm sure If HawaII was some place where people could drive to, you would have had much much more visitors and buyers. Not some tourists who just happened to be there.

But keep your hopes up. because I have complete faith that once you have your online print sale up and working, you will be very sucessful. That's where your market is. The online community and aspireing digital art students.

Craig, I have said before to people that I would not buy any more gnomon dvd. Most of them I bought [BUT NOT ALL] is a 200% accelerated footage as the artist shows off and not sharing a thing about their techniques or knowledge. You have shared much on this forum and gave useful advices to people. Please make a dvd that does the same. I will support you.

[Mikko K]

[Gort]

[balistic]

I'm really lusting after the print with Arthur and the red banners . . . I remember seeing that when I first joined Sijun and getting back into digital painting because of it.

But I know I shouldn't spend the money right now . . . maybe this summer, if somebody hasn't snatched it by then.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[sweetums]

Craig,
Deepest sympathies on the Gallery Showing wash-out. A couple more points to consider:
The main comments on possible causes for the lack of success seem to focus on 1. Prints vs "tactile" originals, and 2. Name recognition, or lack thereof by your potential audience.

All the fan adulation aside, although a great many of us in this genre of art know of, admire, and appreciate you and your work, the vast majority of us wouldn't or couldn't buy your prints, because of cost. ("$50 is too much for me!) Here, you have fame and name recognition, but the audience is too poor for more than a $25-50 "fancy poster." This is also about the level of buyers you would find at a Comic-con.

The argument of print vs. tactile is so much crap, and you know it. Framing stores in every mall sell posters for hundreds of dollars because they have a nice matte and frame. What will dictate the amount you can get for your "fancy posters" is your name recognition. You're pretty well grounded in reality as regards your need to hustle your name more. That discussion could be a multi-page thread all on it's own...

Now, as much as the taste in my mouth is turning acerbic and bitter as I type this, have you considered the foul demon lair of e-b___ (I just couldn't type it all out, sorry!)? Icky as it can be, some artists DO make a good penny from it, and as for an audience that can afford your work, which might NOT be that familiar with your name, it's a direction to consider. I mean, honestly, there are individuals who manage to sell obvious forgeries of classic works for literally THOUSANDS of dollars (the fake Picassos are still my all time favorite auctions!) and the buyers leave glowing feedback. Why? because they liked the look of the piece, and it just might be real...They know it's not, but don't care. THESE are the patrons you need to be cultivating...Just remember to offer us poor forum fans some bargain-priced pieces once in awhile, okay? LOL!

I think your observation regarding precise details is a good call, because your work is the type that people want to look closer at. Even a print of yours will be closely scrutinized, so the more detail you provide, the better it will be for all around.

Best of luck to you in the future! It'll happen, just not instantly, and not without more than a little suffering along the way...

~S
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Life is short. Expect nothing, enjoy everything.
That which does not kill you should make you wiser...

[Lunatique]

I think at this point, Craig isn't short on comfortable income at all--he's built enough of a reputation in the entertainment industry to have ongoing gigs that pay well. I think his main concern now is to expand the horizon of his career into fine arts and build up a fanbase in that arena. That particular game is far harder to play than the commercial art game, because talent and skill alone will not be the only winning factors, whereas in commercial art, if you're good and dependable and not too much of an @sshole, you will get work easily.

The key to this new path will require going out in style. I don't think ebay is a good idea in that regard--because you'd probably need a certain amount of prestige attached to your name before ebay even becomes a viable option. I wonder how many artists out there really feel comfortable having their artworks associated with general purpose auction sites. Maybe an art-dedicated site is more likely.

[skullmonkeys]

[balistic]

[skullmonkeys]

I meant that his dvds are the good ones.
sorry

[balistic]

[Sam0s]

oh my dear... do they look beautiful framed

dvd's are highly anticipated upon already...nonetheless, im also saddened by the fact that they will become very contagious and the mullins-magic will fade into the mist of inspired and influenced.

i'd wish for you to raise the bar way, way above it's (your) current status before you release those dvds...or be really...really reserved when it comes sharing those bits and pieces about your approach.
I wouldnt mind..I'd rather see goodbrush remain as the one and only, rather than witnessing the magic turn into a style.

keep spreading your beauties mullins..on canvas, photo matte papers, popupscreens, etc.... but leave , atleast some of the curiosity and myst beneath their surface hidden
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[Francis]

Wow, I would kill for the print of the knight kneeling on the bright sunlit beach. That is one of my favorites of any artist. Is that available at all?
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Francis Tsai
TeamGT Studios

[DangerousLlama]

sorry your show didnt go well... still wish i could have made it to the grand opening though I was Fortunate to have been able to go at all.

It was nice just to see them "big" : ) wish you had more and more work up.

a few things: It seemed to me that the gallery you were in simply wasnt out there on the street for people to see; I saw the address before i saw the sign "Carolyn Quan Gallery"
I dont think people would want to walk up (stairs! haha) to some hidden gallery when there was that sargent gallery place right down the street on the corner with the big windows and all. No one seemd to be visitng her gallery and as others said, the size of the space for the amount of work you had was a bit odd. A sign posted outside that said "come see the work of a Hollywood master artist!@!!@!!" might have helped get an audience.

I was also surprised at how saturated with art galleries that area (and maui is general) was. Every other block seemed to have one, and at first I was curious and would walk in, but after visiting no more than 4 I got tired and wouldnt even look inside. They all had the same old landscapes and stuff. (I saw some of Carolyn's work in another gallery that actually had people in it)

maui also seems to be where old retired people go to visit, while here on oahu the majority of tourists are young japanese newlyweds; in general I dont think they would have the money to purchase art, but it seems to me like your work would appeal to a bit younger audience than the one I saw on maui. I dunno. There are also a lot of 1337 gamerz here that im sure would go nuts if they knew you did work for halo.

But theres probably more to it than that... *shrug*

you might try and get your work into the academy here on oahu. I'm not sure how you get your work in there, or what comes with having on their wall, but a good number and variety of people seem to pass through there every day and it would help to get your work out there (here in hawaii at least...).

anyway, good luck! I would have bought a print if I had the money...

(this is really just a ploy to get you to come to oahu... )

[gezstar]

I just got back from my honeymoon in Maui - wish I'd gone a bit earlier now so I could see your stuff.

My wife actually suggested going to the gallery district while we were there, but when she showed me some magazine ads of the work, including the dodgy prints and neon whale pictures, I said I'd rather go to the beach. It was my impression that quality does not necessarily equate to a successful show in the case of these places.

Best of luck if you decide to persevere with it though. Oh, and congratulations on living in what must be one of the most beautiful places in the world.

[emarts]

Hello, I'm new here, but I wanted to comment on your comment, Lunatique. I make giclee prints myself and for artists. They are incredibly over priced in some markets. They should not be priced over the value of original art. Many traditional painters are creating giclees of their art so that the value of the original remains intact. For example, if a painter has a work priced for $4000.00, he might provide limited edition giclee prints for $400 - $800. This gives him a bigger pool of buyers while not having to lower the price of the original.

For Digital artists, it's a little different. Each giclee is technically an original, or really, there is no original, only reproductions. Perhaps that drives the value down as buyers can't perceive the value beyond how hard it is to get another one.

A smart artist will take these factors into consideration when pricing his or her work. BTW, giclees of published art will sell for more. People seem to attach value to an artwork that they've seen in print. The mentality being, "If it was good enough for that magazine/poster/book cover, it must be good."

All that said, if you're going to sell your artwork, you need to do your homework. Marketing is the difference between a starving artist and a working artist.

[Drew]

I'm really curious about how you marketed yourself. Are you a "New Wave Digital Fine Artist" or a "World Famous Hollywood Movie Artist"? Also, how much are they and when will you be selling them on the mainland?

[jfrancis]

I know these are easier said than done, but I'm curious:

How about the galleries of the Lowbrow Art Scene -- the ones that advertise in Juxtapoz Magazine?

Galleries like Fuse Gallery in NYC

and La Luz de Jesus Gallery in LA

... and this these other galleries on the Juxtapoz site?
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And I wonder how do you do the "cult of personality" thing and develop a character or a style that catches on like a Shag or a Coop? That must be pretty wild, to have that much public interest in a set of characters. Does that just happen, or can someone go after that phenomenon on purpose?

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[cheney]

I know the following is not what you have in mind, and I don't mean to devalue your art by suggesting such. You have a huge following on the internet, so have you thought of an internet retail print account? I am pretty sure Enayla and Jasinski have made out alright selling thousands of prints at a good mark up.
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