One Year of Competitions
 

It

Wow Kim... quite a year!
Good for you :cool:

I appreciate your sharing this with us. It gives me a glimpse into what I may be able to do some time down the road. Congratulations on your awards. I love your paintings, so I am not suprised at all.

Thanks ladies!

With my little bit of experience I will have to add - I wouldnt do any competitions if I sold everything I painted in a reasonable time or if I had commissions all the time. It's a lot to keep track of - scheduling, shipping dates, etc... But - as a marketing tool it has been useful so far. It has worked far better than standing on the corner with a sign. ;)

Congrats Kim! This is so good to hear.

Jean

Kimberly, it was interesting to read about your experiences and I am happy for you that they have worked out so well.

Thanks for sharing Kim.

It is interesting to note that the smaller shows were more profitable.

It also shows what work needs to go into marketing, administration etc to be successful. What is the approximate costs in advertising e.g. brochures, media kit etc.

Ngaire,

I dont advertise or have any kind of media kit. I dont have brochures either. I have my website and business cards that I print myself so that I can change the image on it occasionally.

My media kit is the fact that I am bold enough to send press releases to every newspaper in Texas... :D And I make friends with reporters. They like me because I write an entire article about myself (I started doing this after a reporter made me sound like a dummy once) - if you write it well enough they will often just use what you wrote and not change a thing - you saved them a bunch of work. Of course - this works well in small towns better since there isn't much news.

I do the same thing Kim does with her press releases. I can't afford $10,000 worth of the type of advertising I'd like, but sometimes I do portraits that are kind of newsworthy. Then I send out press releases that sound like articles and sometimes the media outlets will run them almost unchanged. I personally don't enjoy the pressure of the publicity (I'd rather hide than be on camera) but it gets my work seen in ways that I couldn't ever afford to pay for. As another artist said recently on this forum (was it Rob Sullivan?) "It's not bragging, it's business."

Hi Kim,

I think you've done very well in the competition venues. Congratulations, I'm proud of you!

Way to go Kim, you have really given your career a boost, I think, by taking this route. You are going to go far.

I've never entered a competition, but this post aroused my curiosity, so I did a little research on upcoming competitions that looked interesting. I may enter this one this year with the National Portrait Gallery:
http://www.portraitcompetition.si.edu/about/about.html

You can apply online (submit JPEG's) for only $25 and if selected as a semi-finalist, they will completely cover shipping and insurance. I wrote to them to inquire about shipping details if selected and the prompt reply was that professional art handlers would pack and ship the piece from your residence/studio (at their expense) and insure it from the time the piece is picked up until it is dropped off. I don't know if that is standard procedure, but it certainly is appreciated. The piece I am thinking of entering weighs over 110 pounds and is breakable.

I'm sure competition would be stiff, but I would be honored just to be among the 60 or so finalists and have a piece displayed in a prominent Washington DC gallery for 6 months. Can't buy that kind of publicity for $25! I wouldn't expect to win any $$, but that would sure be a nice surprise. Have any of you ever entered this competition? If so, what was your experience?

I have never heard of a competition that pays for packing, shipping and insurance for the piece. That is certainly generous of them! It's also rare to accept jpeg entries online.

Sounds like this would indeed be a prestigious competition to enter. Good luck!

More and more of the competitions are accepting jpg's - and they charge less for it. Usually they still accept slides as well. The packing and shipping though - that IS unusual! I am echoing Michele - Good luck Heidi!

After re-reading the info, I see that this is the first year that they are holding this competition. That really is admirable of them to take care of all of the shipping arrangements and costs. The finalists pieces will be on display March 2006 through Jan 2007 so it looks like a long selection process.

Now that I have announced this enticing opportunity to the many talented folks on this forum, I realize that I have drastically reduced my chances to next to nill for making it into the finals - but oh well. The top prize is $25,000 and could go to some lucky sap here that we all know and admire. Good luck to all who enter.

Credentials
 

Competitions are, I think, important for two reasons:

-They constitute credentials for potential partners- galleries, teaching institutions, publishers, grants management; etc, or

-They are important to you as an artist, to be recognized by your peers.(Sometimes loosely speaking)

In terms of selling commission work, I have never, ever been asked by a potential client to see my credentials. They either like what they see, and it works price-wise, or it doesn't.

Nonetheless, I am not in the "high eschelon" of portrait painters , so credentials may very well matter to higher end clients.

All being said, I think it makes sound business sense to gather credentials, because you just never know when you might need them,

Neither of the only two clients I have had that could be called "higher end" (the Gov, and more recently, the Pacific Northwest Ballet) asked about credentials like competitions. It was purely a decision based on what my work looked like and their budget.

That said, I agree with Chris that competitions are worth entering for other reasons, like the ones she listed above.

Kim, I have really been curious about the results people get from entering show competitions. I don't think I'm ready to do that myself, but you post has been most enlightening. That's why I love POF. So much information to process. I feel like I've hit the jackpot here!

I've been working with a knowledgeable art marketing consultant and he recommends entering competitions purely for the potential publicity. If you get an award, send out press releases.

Kim,

Thanks so much for your detailed description (and analysis) of your recent experience entering competitions. I am SO glad your work has been recognized and appreciated. The judges had the sense to appreciate the combination of whimsy and strong design Congrats on your prizes! You really deserved them.

I also found it interesting that the smaller shows were a surer bet. It seems obvious, now that you point it out, but-DUH-I never thought of it!

Alex

Here's a PS.

I think it's important to keep competitions in perspective. I have had paintings rejected by my small local art group, that have gone on to win national awards.

So, don't be upset if your work doesn't make the competition, or if it does, don't get upset if it doesn't get a prize. It's just one painting, one judge, one day, and it's not about you or your work.

Conversely, don't get cocky if you win. Our collective task is to become better painters, and that is quite independent of competitions.

You are exactly right Chris.

Well, that's a good point, too, Chris! So the smaller competitions may not be easier to get into. I easily get discouraged after a painting gets rejected once. I usually never try submittimg it elsewhere. Maybe that's one reason why I have never won a prize, though obviously there could be other reasons! And, as you said, we're not in this just to win prizes. I would have given up long ago.

Alex