Enter The Art Contest
56
You’re an emerging artist, you’re good at what you do, in fact people tell you your work is great, however your painting never gets into shows and you have spent a small fortune on entry fees not to mention the cost of goods.
Let’s take a look at a common mistake artists often make. What does you art say to others? Specifically, the title of your art piece. This title can make or break the deal, in sales, competition, and representation. You see your perception may be completely different from that of the viewer.
Titles are important; one of the mistakes we artists make is assuming people will just understand our art, it's not the case. This goes for the jury too. Most times people must be told what, exactly they are Most are followers. Your title is as important as a polished and finished piece. An unfinished piece could be as simple as your painting couldn’t hang on the wall because of no wire across the back, it’s likely to get a rejection from the jury process.
This unfinished oversight could lead to the artist being perceived as uncaring about their art. I’ve seen it happen. A boring, decrepit or morose title or no title could have the same repercussions. Perception comes into play there again.
Themed shows, competitions and exhibits help however many times there is no theme to a competition, making your titled piece even more important that it stands out from the others and evokes a response. An example would be “The 47th International Arts Open” The juror may have an idea of what they are going to chose but unless you can read minds it’s important to use your creativity to it’s fullest. Perhaps a catchy title is what’s needed to make the final cut.
A catchy title might be just the thing needed to make an impression on a juror, a gallery owner and most of all a collector. Like this one, "While we were at the beach, Robert blew in and out of the real estate market." Makes ones imagination roll instead of “Untitled number 2” it's almost as if the painting is unfinished, or, "This time with a blue tie and an orange suit, once again, the wings of change came to our shore unannounced" instead of a simple “portrait in orange”. You can’t afford to have the juror yawn while looking at your masterpiece. You have spent money creating and entering this show. As an artist, you want to keep the jurors concentration at your painting as long as possible and touch them, emotionally. There will be lots of competition in most shows, usually many hundreds pieces and only about 20 to 40 spaces for art to hang in the gallery and dazzle the masses on opening night.
Put yourself in the shoes of the juror for a moment...
As a juror you want to be moved and drawn into an artists work, you want to discover the next hot artist and serve the institution and community the best you can to your ability. As an artist you never know where your entry could lead either. The juror may not pick you for this show but may remember you for something else! You’ve decided to enter a competition, you have visualized being accepted and your masterpiece on exhibit, now let’s take a look inside the jury process. Let’s once again turn the tables here and make believe you’re the juror, you have a great reputation in the art world, and most of all you love art. You are going to spend most of the day looking at hundreds of pieces of art, most of which are awful, amateurish, and two hundred of them look like they were art projects from some artist magazine done by the same artist. Another two hundred works look like they cleaned out a 1970’s instructional TV art-craft show set. You have been giving a list of the artists and the names of their work. Meanwhile half of the artist's in the show are camped outside the building hoping they have been selected...no pressure on here.
You take a big sigh, roll up your sleeves and go, looking for that special something that will be attached, and associated to your name and reputation... six hours later and you are almost finished you saw so many pieces you can’t remember anything. You go back to you list. You need one more painting to finish you statement of who you are as a curator in the arts. Something perhaps bold, daring, edgy, You think to yourself "Oh god half this stuff is going to wind up in someone’s attic or should be tossed out, and there is so much of a persons hopes and dreams attached to being in this show." I need something that balances everything yet pushes the envelope and says this artist took a chance and I’m taking a chance on the artist too”. Without this art the show will be incomplete. Two painting titles catch your eye. Which one would be eager to see? "Blue" or "The day I wet my pants at the White House”?? Which one are would you remember and talk about to your friends when you got home? And by the way these two paintings are identical pieces of art, solid blue canvas's and you need one more "blue" piece that people will talk about to complete your show. Which one would you select? Which one would you eliminate? Which one would wind up in the newspaper? Would which one move people? Which one would make people laugh and tick people off at the same time? Which one would make people say, "What were you thinking?" If it gets a reaction, it's art. You see a good title is like a frame, not always needed or even wanted but sometimes a necessary element to make your masterpiece pop out and noticed by the non-artists out there. Your work is almost done here, you have created the stunning art, visualized being accepted and your art hanging in the show, so now knock'em out with something to associate and remember your painting by, a perception of you and your artwork. A delicious title will lead you in the right direction. Next come the reviews and critiques. Welcome to another other side of the art world.
One of America’s favorite painters, RD Riccoboni is an artist and best selling author (Manifest Success – The Ultimate Guide to Creating the Life of Your Dreams) in addition to operating the successful art based Beacon Artworks Corporation and founder of Beacon Artworks Gallery located in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.
