Dear Artist, This morning, Matt Krumenauer, a student of Fine Arts and Theatre at the University of Wisconsin, asked: “Do you have any suggestions on how to determine a starting selling price? Especially for a younger artist with no reputation.…
Dear Artist, Back in the dark ages I used to take whole days to stretch canvases or build shipping crates. I rationalized that I needed the exercise and the change of pace. One day I realized that all I was…
Dear Artist, This letter is a bit more difficult to write because it hits close to home. Apparently 15 percent of the general population are what psychologists now call “Highly Sensitive Persons,” or HSPs. Among creative types the percentage is…
Dear Artist, For some of us it’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Why do people buy art? How do they choose? What motivates them? If I had fifty cents for every time someone has asked this over the past…
Dear Artist, After my last letter on the almost-dark test, Linda Bean wrote, “I was ecstatic to see your mention of ‘woolly.’ I’ve had that problem — and when trying to correct it with a bold stroke, it still seems…
Dear Artist, One evening when I was turning out the lights and shutting down my studio, I glanced in the darkness in the direction of my easel and had an alarming thought. I realized that all over the world, all…
Dear Artist, Artists of all stripes can learn something from Auguste Rodin. As in the work of Michelangelo, to whom he was indebted, Rodin’s sculptural material is often cut away only to the degree that it’s creatively needed. This unfinished…
Dear Artist, Many of the letters that come my way are from artists trying to make the transition from amateur to professional. In this “feel-good” age where freedom reigns, the road is muddy. Amateurism is mistrusted. In medicine, for example,…
Dear Artist, The well-known physicist and writer David Deutsch is also well-known for the messiness of his workplace. Once, when a TV crew came in to record an interview with him, they offered to tidy up a bit before beginning.…
Dear Artist, Last weekend I attended an exhibition of the work of a wide range of painters. A lot of it was photo-derived — some of it really crackerjack — others not so hot. Why is it that some people…