Selling Before You've reached Your Prime

[Natalie Hunsaker]

I've done a search without finding a post on this subject, but didn't find anything. I hope this is not a duplicate.

Currently, I've sold a lot of art--starting when I was 12--and again a few years ago. I had down payments for five commissions to total strangers before I'd ever seriously picked up an oil brush (long story about pure luck)! I must confess I sweated the entire time I painted them, hoping I could pull it off.

In hindsight, I'm sick to my stomach that during my learning curve I was "flooding the market," so to speak, with my name attached to relatively poor art. I mean, the drawing was good and the color was okay, but the lighting, technique, and style development needed a lot of work. On the one hand, I'm happy I just got started but other times I wonder if I did the right thing.

Now, I feel my art has progressed tremendously and almost wish I could go back and paint for all my clients again--just to get better stuff on more walls. Does anyone else have experience with evolving their style while still selling their work?

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Dear Natalie, I've heard the same thing from some great artists. I think you should attend one lecture with Odd Nerdrum, he touches on the subject, he specially mentions the old masters.

I'm sure it was not a problem, I hope that all of us are getting better and better.

Happy painting.

[Patricia Joyce]

Hi Natalie,
Try not to lose too much sleep over this, it is universal. I walk into some of my clients' homes and cringe inside to see what I drew back in 2005 - what was I thinking????? But I keep my mouth shut, because my clients are still happy customers.

A couple weeks ago I went to a client's home to do a photo shoot of their children for a portrait. Hanging proudly in the living room, on the "best" wall was a sanguine drawing of the eldest daughter. The mom could not wait to show me because it was done by an artist in New York! It was down right awful, really bad. But mom loved it!

Hopefully we will always be growing and getting better each year. Keep filling the funnel with potential clients and let them be the judge of your work.

Good luck!

[Karine Monaco]

Hi Natalie,

Here is what I feel about this.

Our artworks always evolve. That's the way things are. That is also how collectors can differentiate your first artworks from your recent ones.

This is natural. No shame about this. I feel weird too, though, when I see what I previously painted.

You will still evolve from now. You just cannot stop painting until your work doesn't evolve any more... That's purely impossible ;-)

Plus, that is what makes it interesting for people following what you do: they can see by themselves how an artist grows.

I would also add that what people bought back then was a work of art that they liked. How can you be sure that repainting them would make these works more attractive to their clients? Buying a work of art is part of a love story between the artwork and the client. If you change it, then, the story changes too...

Greetings