Problems of the multi-media artist

I worked for years bouncing between linoleum prints and etchings. They are opposites in the world of printmaking. Color relief vs. black and white intaglio. Then something clicked and I realized I could wipe my carved linoleum plates…intaglio! This opened up an entire new world. I don’t think any artist should ever stick to just one way of creating.

I think what galleries want is a consistent body of work from each artist. That doesn’t necessarily limit you to one medium, as long as your art “hangs together” with a distinctive technique. Pastels and oils, for example, can have a similar look from the same artist, and might be integrated into the same showing.

A “dealer’s” dealer, the late Allan Stone, once told me, “There lots of excellent artists but few excellent dealers.”

Once upon a time, I won two top prizes in a juried show because the juror didn’t notice that they were by the same artist. Different media draw out different aspects of the same artist, I guess.

Dear Robert, I think the plants must be in line, because I actually agree with you on this one. LOL… I have spoken at seminars to young artists about marketing and promotion. I would ask the artists about their work and they would often say they were a ‘multi-mediaist” Now, I am an artist and I can usually go to the edge. But I often didn’t understand what they were saying. I would just tell them “Pick one thing and make that thing exquisite”. Now, there is nothing wrong with being a painter and filming the process and having that up on a screen at an opening and having a whole interactive display. But when it comes to dealing with a gallery, they want you as a commodity. They also want a through line in your collection that they can sell. Everyone has a fluke where they spin off a cool new and experimental piece. But unless you are Damien Hurst or the Graffiti artist Banksy, the chances of a gallery following along are slim. Galleries are a business and they are the stepping stone between the artist and the buyer. The best way to sell your work though a gallery, is to keep those stones as close together as you possibly can. But maybe that is just me. John Ferrie

OOOPs, I meant “Planets”…Not plants… John Ferrie, dyslexic artist!

I have found out in recent years, through a few resounding rejections, to just keep on with my muse, and though it hasn’t brought me wealth or even sustainability, it has given me self-reliance and trust in my instincts. I discovered I must generate these qualities myself, as they do not come from anywhere external, ultimately. What is more important than that? While I still hope to find that golden one, the rep who has faith in my work, I now mostly just carry on without regret.

Hello: I think most of the outdoor art shows request only one medium to be shown also. At least in all the many years I have been participating in them, that is what they prefer. If you work in more than one medium, you usually have to have two spaces and another person with you taking care of that second booth. Some will not even allow that. They do not like the two mediums mixed together for some reason. And of course, there is usually an extra jury charge if you do have two different mediums. My main medium is pastels. Secondly I work in Oils and also watercolours. I feel it might not be consistent if too many mediums were represented.

Just a quick note to say how much I appreciate your input in my life. The multi-media article just now was helpful, as I’m struggling w/focus and enjoying experimentation. I didn’t think I needed permission, but was surprised to feel relief that I’m not wasting my time….chasing the muse.

Seems the best Creations come when we are represented by Pure Spirit.

My original media was watercolor to get away from glass, moldy paper and conservations issues I switched to acrylics and used them in a watercolor wash fashion. To explore Plein Air I began to use oils. I recently made a major leap when I realized that transparent passages were critical even in the oils. I now begin with washes and stay with transparent paint as long as possible then finish with opaques. It has been a major improvement. Every media I have explored has brought improvement to the primary media. So I say experiment on, enjoy the explorations,bring it home to your main love. New toys keep the child-within happily playing.

“Arts Professionalism seminar” already spells trouble.

Many artists throughout history have used multiple media. I paint in gouache, pastel and oil. Plus I use charcoal as most artists past and present. Personally, you should follow your own muse and work in any media you set your mind and the world be damned. But if you are looking to future and fame and fortune, you need to settle into one media and produce the most volume of work in that media. The issue with galleries is they like to pigeonhole artists into one category because it’s easier for them to market this way. The public also feels more confident the artist will continue to produce work they have bought and become known. It’s only when an artist dies and existing work becomes scarce that the money mongers move to the other media that the now dead artist may have used for the purpose of continuing the grave train. The other thing you can do is give your different work to different galleries and don’t tell them you paint in multiple media. They don’t want to buy a stock of your oils and have your pastels become the rage.

Amazing how “Watson” has become the word. I have seen it used as a noun, verb, adjective, profanity…

If a gallerist wants to make a profit (and she should, shouldn’t she?) she has to stock what she thinks will sell. She has to make a judgment call on supply and demand. This is not the way most artists think. Too bad for them. If you want to sell your art, you ought to make sure there is a demand for it.

I will first thank you for continuing a letter that a multitude of us would miss terribly if you stopped. Re multi-media… I’ve always been disappointed by the demand that we limit ourselves. How can anyone claiming to “support” us – limit us? For some galleries are not only turned off by a different media, they also object if your subjects vary. So my question becomes: what do we do about our website? When we invest a lot of money in having one professionally done, is it safer to limit ourselves, in fear that the posher galleries will misjudge us.

I’m not sure that juried shows are free of commercial considerations. Often juried by successful, selling artists, they must have just a wee bit of prejudice, don’t you think?

Agent & Chicago Festival promoter Amy Amdur told me that having various styles in your booth confuses people on “what to buy”. After hearing that, I quit mixing the styles in any one display. Gardner, Kansas USA

The “public” isn’t a sophisticated group and they are easily confused. Display oils in one show, watercolor on another day in a different show, pastels in another show and so on. When you give them too much choice and variety, they don’t know what to purchase. Also I gives an illusion, to the public, of amateurism. If you can’t decide what media to paint in, they can’t decide which is your best work. Perception is everything.

I am afflicted with all of the above-mentioned faults! I studied at an art school that takes a renaissance approach, and we enjoyed a huge diversity traditional media, in both two and three dimensional formats. My art spills over into many disciplines as opportunity presents itself — my carvings are sometimes painted, and my paintings are sometimes carved and incised. I add metal and stone sometimes. I have still not “majored” in any one discipline exclusively, and may never change. Often the medium chosen has more to do with space considerations, and what stuff I am trying to express. Carving outside works when a house has no good room to paint in. Mosaics work at a small table. Flat tables ask for watercolor, while a high ceiling allows a nice big easel for large oil paintings. Most of my life (I’m in my 70’s) I have made my bread and butter with simple “normal jobs”, buying with mundane wages the luxury of moving with my (fickle) muse. I have built small businesses this way, which have led to art sales. But I have never actually earned my living with my art. Idealism about the value of original marks is a definite handicap when you are trying to make a living from your art. People buy mid-priced art mostly as decoration, I think. How many people really have a gallery in their homes? I want my work valued as a piece of fine art — that’s how impractical I am — not as a decoration, except secondarily. Now and then I do make a piece of fine art. The other ones are also rans. (And I worry a bit when work I don’t love sells and goes on someone’s wall. But of course I like the money.) Galleries definitely DESERVE their commission if they can get between such an idealist and that “stranger”– the customer. If I am carving wood and painting in any and all media, mixed or not, and loving some of what I make, then this is the good life, whether it sells or not.

I think the key word here is vision. Why you paint should come through in the work; it’s this vision that makes it consistent.

I should have said “Why you paint/draw/sculpt/sew/spin/etc should come through in the work” ;)

This is timely “food for thought” for me. I have always felt at home moving from one medium to another. Mostly, it is dictated by the subject i want to paint and the concept that goes with it. Although this practice harnesses my creative skills, i have found that this seems not to work too well with my sale-ability. I have an online shop and a portfolio in one of the online galleries and i notice that the ones who have more homogeneity in their display of work get more regular clients. Me? i get to sell here and there. My customers always get back to me with very lovely comments about my work, but i guess, i just need to take note of this fact and put similar works together. Thanks for the article.

I work in both watercolour and oil, and I’ve often said that my watercolours are jealous of my oils, and vice versa. My oils call the watercolours “pale and flat”, when viewed alone they are really exquisitely detailed…. and the watercolours retort that the oils are “clumsy daubs”, while left to themselves they are rich and bold. My two media “don’t like” to be exhibited together. When I have an at-home vernissage, I hang them separately, at either end of the room, but have often thought that even that isn’t enough separation, given what I’ve been reading on this topic. I think from now on, I’ll exhibit either one or the other, and choose my venues according to which I think will sell.

By sculpting the figure, my drawing and painting has improved. I place my sculpture with my paintings, one adds to the other. I also paint on glass and make three dimensional pieces with those. The point is, it is all my Art, and it’s all related. Not to forget I am a realist and abstract painter

Beyond the example of dealer skepticism of other media for their artists, which you make understandable, both I and one of my teachers have experienced something similar from art organizations that require jurying for entry. Having chosen works we thought demonstrated a certain versatility on our parts, we were told in more or less in the same words, that they “could have been by different artists!” with the clear implication that this was regarded as bad in itself, regardless of quality, and was disqualifying for membership. Why is predicatability — even monotony — so highly prized in such a context?

I have finally retired and am trying to resurrect my multi-dimensional creative self. Art school encouraged me to work in multiple forms, and after graduation, I transferred those skills into fiber art and wearable art which brought in “pocket change”. Recently, I joined the local art guild for encouragement and support as I struggled to “be an artist” once again. I was informed that I could not exhibit until I had been juried into membership with five pieces of work — five pieces in each medium that I want to exhibit. If I wanted to do oils, acrylics and fiber art, then I needed to present five new pieces in each category. My heart sank, because that is just not the way I work, and if I forced myself to meet the criteria, the results would very unacceptable. Sadly, I was discouraged. Then, I read your suggestion to “keep working and developing independently, no matter what.” That was just what I needed to hear. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Robert, this is an excellent, sensitively written article. Thank you for stepping out of the crowd to acknowledge multi-disciplined artists. The advice is encouraging and helpful, particularly your suggestions to present different media to different galleries, and to not stop working no matter what. It is often said that artists who work in a variety of media do not know who they are as professionals, when in fact they do, as much as any other artist. I think they do not settle for the one thing they do well, but enjoy – and are even addicted to – continual immersion into searching the depths of who we are, not just the surface…to discover the astonishing things we’re each capable of. There is nothing wrong and everything right about aspiring to exceed our own limitations and expectations. As your newsletters are a testament to, we need to think and act as individuals, and keep encouraging each other collectively.

People that are into too many things — do not do well in — any!!! It takes a lot of time & concentration 2 work in one media-alone — so mixing them — I’ve seen it done — but — no — there is always something lost in one or the other!! Atheletes- excell in one sport only-even tho they might do several — same with musicians. Oh well — each to his own. thanks.

If you chafe at the advice of your gallery operator or agent, you either are fighting the market pressures, or you need to evaluate your commercial relationships. Someone who specializes in the commerce of art is usually more savvy about the market that is the artist. The artist needs to consider recommendations in light of the outcome he/she desires. If the need to jump mediums is sufficiently great, try to enlist the commercial worker in your life to help. If that’s not possible, because of limitations of the seller or market, it’s time to decide what’s most important to both of you. Sometimes it’s a parting, sometimes it’s a negotiated approach. I left a locally well-recognized gallerist because her focus and mine did not sufficiently overlap, no matter how hard we tried. The alternative, for me, was less lucrative, but more satisfying. Fortunately no enemies were created in that every discussion was based on mutual respect, the exigencies of both parties, the nature of the market, and clarity of expression. It is possible to advocate for yourself without being contentious, and accepting reasonable outcomes is a growth experience.

I am an award-winning fiber artist. I do it very well. I take hundreds of different and even unrelated textiles and make them work together beautifully. This process is identical to taking dozens of different pieces of music by different artists and merging/blending them into one mixed-music meditation. Having been a pro-dj in the past I do this very well also. This process is identical to hanging a gallery exhibit- often with many unrelated works after jurying a show. I do it very well also. And I am a tarot reader- a body-worker- and an energy channel too. Never let any idiot discourage you from pursuing more than one medium.

Being of the Multi-Media variety of artists and not having much success for the above stated “you must have a definite style” for galleries to have confidence, I am now embarking on the “definite style” bandwagon but will also approach other galleries with the “other media” work I create. My question is this: does one then redo their entire website to highlight that one media approach? This would mean sending dealers to different websites. Costly? non?

I wonder what Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci would have to say about this? Have we all turned into marketers having forgotten our first love? Art without divine inspiration is like an eagle with its wings held back. Do what you love, so you will love what you do and your wings will spread out like that of an eagles and you too, will fly.

Loved the letter re art making as a tribute. I make it because I have breast cancer and want to leave some evidence that I was on this earth. It has to be good. Don’t want it ending up on a skip somewhere. People generally have respect for art thank God. Mind you I don’t intend to go before I have made my first million or three, so I guess there are years of struggle and joy ahead of me!

During 2011, I believe, there was a definition of a craftsman (using one’s hands), (and another______) using one’s head, and hands, and then an artist using one’s head, hands and heart. Can someone remember this.

“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his mind is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.”– attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi and Louis Nizer.

I have started painting using acrylic paints. I really like the fast drying and no odor for my room mate. What surfaces are safe to use. Can they be used under oil paint ? What about using on canvass after a photo has been printed on it ?, A friend of mine does this and states it safe. Will acrylic peel after using on oil ? Thank you, Jeanene

I’m a pro-photographer and painter. I get sooooo much from these pages and comments that assist me in my artistic side as well as the marketing side – It’s GREAT! Thank you Robert (graditude) to you.