Comments on: 10 Principles for an Artists Success

By: don quintana

don quintana — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:31:09 +0000

Thank you very much for taking the time to post these principles for success. Although some people may have paved their way differently and some may beg to differ, Its a great relief to know people like you out there putting the time and effort to equip people like me with tools to steer us on the right track to better ourselves and give us back what we put in with all our hearts. Thank you! I wrote them all on a dry erase board in my studio and can’t wait to start putting them all into practice and seeing stuff happen! Sincerely ~ don quintana

By: ryan walsh

ryan walsh — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:51:53 +0000

I disagree with this… Infact the only way to be a successful artist is beating the best. Very competitive art world. Beating the best and doing outstanding artwork. Thats basically it right there in a shell. Plus art is the toughest thing to get into anyway. Infact you probably have a better chance at success if you play a fuckn guitar, atleast then people will feel sorry for you and toss you a dime or two. maybe a 5 dollar bill if you are real lucky. Fact that the world always seems to be in recession dosnt help alot. And most famously, artists who are successful are legendary people.

By: Naomi

Naomi — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:56:26 +0000

Hi Maria, what happened to this series?? Looks like it only made it to principle 3

By: Deanna

Deanna — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 06:41:22 +0000

Great post Maria… I’m excited to read the details on Principle #1.

By: Jay Alders

Jay Alders — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:30:32 +0000

Very very true!

By: Success Formula From Live Painting Artist Michael Pukac | 10 Success Principles for Artists - Maria Brophy

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 23:07:31 +0000

[...] for success as a creative person, keep reading. The indented colored text is my take on the success principles that this artist has [...]

By: Maria

Maria — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:47:37 +0000

Travis, thank you so much for your comment!

But I have to set the record straight – your facts on Wyland are completely wrong. No one gave him any money to start out.

The time that Wyland painted that first Whaling Wall in Laguna Beach, CA, he was B-R-O-K-E and barely surviving. He did get a lot of publicity – I’m sure that’s why he went broke doing it – but he didn’t get it easy at all. He had to fight the city for 3 years to get their approval to paint it – all on his own money.

Many people look for reasons that they can’t make it – and they point to money as one of them. Wyland is a shining example that you can make it big, on your own, without anyones help. You just need a lot of energy and you need to never give up!

By: Travis Rice

Travis Rice — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:38:06 +0000

I lived in Hawaii for 12 years so have been into several Wyland galleries, (most of them have closed) and heard a rumor on how he became so famous so quickly.
The story I heard goes like this. His brother, a successful business man gave him 2million bucks and some advice to help him start out. So he went to the city of, I forget what city it was, and offered to paint a mural on a giant water tower on the hillside over the city. He offered to do this for free, not even asking material costs. This led them to agree, and him to paint a world record sized mural. This not only got him front page exposure in the local paper, but international notice as well. He also had a gallery open and waiting for that publicity to do its magic. Since then city planners and corporations alike have requested his work and the great part is for him it’s publicity, every place he does a ten story tall mural, he has a gallery or 5.
So knowing how he did it doesn’t help those of us without the startup capital to jump start our careers in art. But it does point out that doing something extraordinary to get noticed and publicized can go a long way to getting your name known.
Thank you for your insight into this very difficult profession to succeed in, no matter how talented.

By: Maria Brophy

Maria Brophy — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 01:13:34 +0000

I love the Free Culture philosophy! I agree that it’s a good idea to allow others to have access to your artwork, for non-commercial purposes (to print out, hang on their wall, tattoo on them, whatever!).

However, if you’re an artist that wants to have an impact with art, you have to be careful about letting anyone do ANYTHING with it. It could end up being on a porn site or used for something you don’t agree with, which could hurt your fans. Without copyright protection, anyone can print it on cheap t-shirts and sell it in Wal Mart.

Having control is important – so YOU can choose who gets to use it for what. I’d hate to see Picasso’s art on $3 tees in the bargain bin!

(P.S. If you’re an artist who licenses your work, you have a legal and ethical duty to your licensees to have copyright control over your art.)

By: Gwenn

Gwenn — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:38:44 +0000

Nice points! But I’m not convinced on #6. While I agree that model releases for portrait work as well as agreements for commissions are useful, I’m certain that trying to control copyright is a bad idea.

I believe in making original work that, in all the ways that matter, cannot be copied and certainly cannot be replaced. I don’t believe in copyright. It’s a law that was originally intended to help artists while also protecting free culture, but has been so corrupted by corporations trying to own culture that it’s a blight on our society.

Like all artists, I benefit from free culture, so why would I try to lock up and freeze dry my contributions to it? Artists who believe in copyright haven’t thought through the implications of it.