The Dream
How many people do we know with artistic sensitivity and loads of talent who find themselves working at lackluster day jobs, but whose dream is to make their living as artists? Fair enough, the dream is not so easy to achieve, but it's not impossible. A friend who is just two years into his artistic lifetime and who is finding it tough going, asked me what he might do to give his career a boost and get him a little bit closer to hanging out his shingle: "Full-Time Working Artist."

Much as I hate to say it, I may as well get it out front from the outset. If you want to make a living from your art, you're talking about business. I can just hear you: "Arrggh, I hate business, I'm no good at it, I could never go out peddling my work…" The Spanish have a wise folk saying for situations like this: "Nunca digas 'De esa agua no beberé', ni que 'ese cura no es mi padre..." "Never say, 'From that water I shall never drink' nor 'That priest is not my father…"

So, there you have it, if you aspire to live from your art--to be a "working artist"-- you're going to have to get a little bit businesslike. Before an entrepreneur embarks on a business venture he researches and writes -you guessed it-a business plan. If this sounds daunting to you, you might be relieved to know that some of the most successful small-business plans have been drafted on the backs of envelopes. What they're about is mundane-but-essential stuff like assessments of the product, the market, the resources at hand, the nuts and bolts of the business, a marketing plan and some financial projections.

The Mission Statement
What all business plans have in common is a "mission statement," a brief exposition of the essence of the company and its objectives. That is to say, what business are you in and where do you want to go? This sounds almost too obvious to bother with but, believe me, it's not. It's the genetic code of your company and if you get it wrong at the beginning, when the cells of the embryo of the business are just beginning to divide, you're sure to run into trouble down the line. So figure out what your mission is and write it down.

There are lots of possibilities; everybody has his own. Let's look at a few.

The Business Plan
Your business plan is your roadmap of how to reach the objectives you have laid down in your mission statement. The world will not necessarily beat a path to your door, no matter how good your artwork is. You must decide upon your best "route to market" (galleries, agents, direct, etc…) and do not be frightened by the dreaded word "sell."

The rules for selling manhole covers and those for marketing fine art have a lot in common, not everything but a lot, so be prepared to start thinking in terms of "selling a product." Your product is you and your artwork Yes, you too, not just the work, don't ever lose sight of that fact! You and your work are Siamese twins. The question is, together do you make up a viable product? You don't know? Find out. Ask some experts or at least some friends and colleagues whose criteria you respect. Because if you don't have a viable product you may as well forget about art and go into banking. Either that or spend the next few years working on R&D. Again, this sounds obvious. But how many would-be professional artists even give it a thought before betting the ranch?

The Market
Then there's the market. Take a hard look at your market and decide how much of it you're going to attack from the outset. Local, national, global? (Internet now makes it possible for you to go global. For a little extra work and investment you can offer your work in the entire world market.) What's selling and who's buying? Do your homework; find out.

This is market research. It's essential, but need not be expensive nor complicated for an artist on a local level. Start asking around. People love to answer questions. They're usually flattered that you should ask them. And they're delighted to talk to a real, live artist. You may be surprised to find out how productive this activity in itself can be. Suddenly people begin to be aware that you exist as an artist. They will help you if they can.

Is there a niche where you could make a positive impact? Is there a B2B (business to business) opportunity in your market which other artists have overlooked? Are there companies or distributors you might approach, prospective clients you might contact beforehand. It would be nice to start up with a couple of clients!

This market research work will lead you to all the local galleries. Be businesslike with them; make an appointment and don't waste their time. But do take along a portfolio of your work and something to leave with them, whether it's a CD-Rom with your multi-media presentation on it or just a business card with your website address. If you don't do this essential homework and you flop, don't say I didn't warn you. You will be like my friend Vicente, who is always complaining that he never wins the lottery. "Do you ever buy lottery tickets, Vicente?" "No."

Is the Market Ready for You?
You may have a great product for which the market is not yet ready. This is the situation in which digital printmaking finds itself currently, I suspect. There are digital artists out there with loads of creative talent and a prodigious command of the tools and the language of digital art, and they deserve to be successful. But right now, and for some time to come, the market is fickle and immature where digital prints are concerned.

Someone is going to have to do a lot of thankless groundwork before images created in the computer and printed out on inkjet printers are finally considered "normal" art that people take home and hang on the wall. Is that someone you? Do you have the personal and financial resources to keep turning out work that people may not buy in the foreseeable future? Or do you have a brilliant idea for breaking the spell? Do you have a list of technology companies which might be more receptive to art with a technological component? Good. Go for it!

Part II: Implementing the Dream

Illustrations by April Vollmer