How to Sell Your Artwork | Liron’s Podcast 74

Want to learn how to sell artwork?

I’m starting to sell mine at a local art fair here in Tel Aviv, in the Nachalat Binyamin street.

This is an art fair for hand-crafted art only, so no prints or machine made items. It’s backed by the city’s municipality and has been active for more than 30 years, if I’m not mistaken.

My first time there will be this Friday (17/05/2019), and I’m very excited to get started!

Why I Joined The Fair

I submitted my work for the fair for two main reasons.

1. I wanted to experience selling my artwork, face to face.
2. I wanted to start “getting” rid of the tons of paintings I have here (;

Selling Artwork Mistakes

Today I want to the fair (active every Tuesday and Friday) to do my homework and perhaps gain some insights.

I got to see many of the cliches of artists who aren’t good salespeople. I noticed two main issues:

1. Too pushy – Some booths I simply stopped by and started taking a look. The artist would immediately start talking about their art. This is nice to hear, had I asked a question. But I didn’t.

I’d much rather the salesperson to ask ME how my day is, or just do light chit chat.

I didn’t ask about the type of wood used in the artworks, and frankly didn’t care haha. Not to be mean – but I’m honestly less interested in the particular type of crafts this salesperson had. I’m sure there are many others who would though.

2. Too laid back – this was probably the most common theme of the fair. I’ve seen so many artists simply sitting behind their table, waiting for a client to drop by and make the sale for them.

I don’t think you should jump people who pass by, but some presence needs to be made. I’ve seen several booths (that actually had beautiful artworks in them) that no one stopped by, simply because the salesperson was very passive.

Selling Artwork – What I Hope to Get

What I hope to get out of this is to improve my sales skills. I want to become a better salesperson, especially face to face.

I will definitely keep you updated on how it goes.

Artist Corner – Daniel Marshall 

Today I talked about Daniel Marshall, an American watercolor painter and tattoo artist!

I became familiar with his work thanks to one of my followers on YouTube, directing me to check it out.

If you love the same artists as me, you’ll probably immediately notice how Dan’s work very closely-resembles the work of Joseph Zbukvic.

I may be wrong about this, but I believe he also studied under him, at some point.

I recommend you check out his website and artworks here: Daniel Marshall

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

Art, Self-Development & Life Lessons from Painting | Liron’s Podcast Episode 73

In today’s episode I want to present you with a new topic I want to introduce into my content and products, and that is… Self-development!

Art & Self-Development

For the longest time self-development, growth and actualization have been a part of my life.

It’s one of my core values to push myself to improve, both as an artist and as a person.

And now, I believe it’s time to introduce more of that into my videos, posts, podcast episodes and courses.

How I Got the Idea

My good friend Alex – A conversation with him made me realize how important this is for me.

I basically complained to him about something, and his reply was something like this: “Why do you insist on becoming a watercolor teacher? What interests you even more is self-development in art.

Hearing that hit me hard, because it’s so darn obvious!!

I ALREADY make this kind of content – Alex also pointed that out for me. Doh! I’m already making so much content revolving around the process, how to become better, habits to help you improve, creating with courage and passion etc.

So I already do this. Now I want to pour more of that into the content I create, as well as the products / courses I sell.

YouTube & Instagram comments – this is another thing that helped me realize this. I started paying attention to what comments I really vibe with.

I noticed something interesting. While I love comments about me helping someone improve their watercolor skills, what I REALLY enjoy is people talking about how I helped motivate them, give them courage to try, or encourage them to try harder.

That’s what REALLY makes me feel good. And producing content that will help people more and more with THAT, is something I’m very curious about trying more of.

Life Lessons Learned from Watercolor Painting

I recently posted a vid on this topic on YouTube, as a first dip into this new territory. For this podcast episode I cut out the audio and added it here.

If you want to watch the actual video, you can do that too.

In the video I cover the four major insights I gained in the last couple of years, from painting. Those are (1) Letting Go (2) Trusting the Process (3) Patience (4) Speed & Spontaneity.

I hope you enjoy this very first attempt, as well as future ones to come.

And I also hope to create some courses around my experience in this area too.

And with that being said, time for today’s Artist Corner!

Artist Corner

Today we’re looking at Harold B Herbert. He was an Australian painter who lived from 1892-1945.

His life story is fascinating, and his watercolor skills are VERY impressive.

I highly recommend you check out his:

Work – Harold B Herbert Paintings & Sketches
Quick Bios – 1 – Quicker / 2 – More Details

I will also review him in the upcoming episode of Painting Masters (31), that’ll be out on Thursday, May 9th, 17:00 EST.

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

The Value of REPETITION in PAINTING – Improve Fast & Efficiently | Liron’s Podcast Episode 72

In this episode I’m talking about repetition – a valuable exercise for improving your drawing and painting skills FAST and EFFICIENTLY.

Table of Contents

1. Repetition in Painting and Drawing
2. Worse 2nd Attempt
3. Internalize
4. Loosen Up
5. Recognizing Recurring Mistakes
6. Conclusion

1. Repetition in Painting and Drawing

Repetition is a great tool for improving. It involves painting or drawing the same subject several times.

This allows for more focused learning, and unlocks some obvious (and less obvious) benefits.

2. Worse 2nd Attempt

Surprisingly enough, you may find that in your repeated efforts you actually do worse.

That’s to be expected.

The 2nd time around, working on the same subject, you lack that same spontaneity that characterized the first version.

You may also have some “arrogance” (very natural, not blaming you (;), and a feeling you “already know” the subject.

Don’t let that deter you from doing this. Even when you don’t notice, you are learning and improving.

3. Internalize

Drawing the same subject / scene several times, allows you to internalize a part of the process, and focus on a different one.

As mentioned, you may find some of your result to be worse, but other aspects may be better.

So take the good with the bad. 

Whenever you try an “extreme” technique, it tends to be accompanied by some growing pains.

Whenever I have a streak of great paintings – I am happy, but also weary of the fact it means I may not be growing.

4. Loosen Up

One side-effect of repetition, that is barely discussed, is how it sets you free and helps you loosen up.

Doing something a second time, and DELIBERATELY at that, makes you less worried about the end result. You can just paint yet ANOTHER version!

This freedom helps you loosen up without you even noticing. And it will show in some of the later attempts.

That’s especially true if you are as impatient as I am. The fear of boredom in the 2nd and 3rd iterations actually motivates me to try something different!

5. Recognizing Recurring Mistakes

That’s really the gist of this exercise. Doing repetitions of the same subject will bring to surface recurring mistakes that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

And that’s probably the biggest benefit of doing this.

6. Conclusion

I hope this episode encourages you to give this exercise a try.

And by the way, creating a small preparatory painting for a larger piece, or even just a preparatory sketch – are also a form of repetition.

It’s up to you to decide just “how much” repetition you are interested in doing.

And with that, let’s move onto the artist corner!

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Samuel Colman, an English painter. He lived from 1780-1845, and painted mostly portraits and landscapes.

His landscapes are what really grabbed me about his art. It’s rooted in realism, with an added layer of surrealistic atmosphere

You can check out some of his works here: Samuel Colman. I also recommend doing a Google Images search.

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

The Future of Art – Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality | Liron’s Podcast – Episode 70

In this episode I want to talk about the future of art, as well as AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality).

The last couple of decades have brought with them amazing technological advancements. And these seem to accelerate.

This has the potential to change the art world, and provide amazing tools and services for artists.

Art Business Survival 101

In order to survive and thrive as an artist and as an art business owner – you have to be aware of technological & marketing trends.

I’ve been making serious efforts to keep up with technology so far. This means doubling down on LinkedIn marketing, having a podcast, the IGTV platform and many more.

I’ve been following Gary V for a while now, and watching him reminds me on a regular basis to pay attention to what’s going on in the world.

This led to significant success on IGTV (I have videos there with over 700K views). It also led to significant success in selling my courses using FB ads.

And now I spend a lot of time thinking about what’s next in store for us as business owners and artists.

Augmented Reality for Artist

This is the ability to show imaginary objects in real life. The best example for this would be Snapchat’s and Instagram’s filters.

You can use them to change the look of your face, or to add different elements around you (like the sunshine effect, the clouds and much MUCH more).

This can grant amazing capabilities for artists. Two things come to mind as I think of this.

1. Guidance and assistance for creation purposes.

I see many apps that use augmented reality to scan an area (a wall or a paper), and “project” on screen drawing guidelines. So when you look at the paper through your phone you can tell where to draw each line.

Kind of like a digital projector.

2. Idea generating tool.

If you can see anything as if it’s really there in real life, this is potentially an incredible tool for generating ideas for artwork, as well as inspiration!

Virtual Reality for Artists

This is the real deal.

VR will allow us to basically be anywhere we want, and feel almost like we are really there. To what degree is unclear, some say it will be 95% convincing (which is insanely high).

Having the ability to visit anywhere and everywhere without actually moving may significantly impact the travel industry too.

But in any case – imagine you can step into a virtual version of the world and see any place you want. And actually feel like you are there.

Imagine stepping into IMAGINARY worlds, film-based universes and the likes. That’s incredible.

Now imagine you can control the time of day, light and shadow conditions of the scene, mood, atmosphere etc.

We’re talking endless opportunities and endless inspiration for artists.

Hell, we could even create VR art and VR museums.

The Possibilities are Endless

Gary V says we are about 20 years away from that, so there’s still time. But I want to make sure I’m on top of it once it’s here.

This also means, by the way, that tons of new jobs may open in the fields of 3D art, sound and perhaps even touch / sensory fields.

So plenty of things to look forward to (;

But with that being said, let’s go back to our time, and look at today’s artist.

Artist Corner

Today’s artist is Ron Ranson. He was a British watercolor painter, who painted in what I see as the classic British style.

I love his colorful portrayal of nature in his landscapes.

Ron Ranson actually passed away at in 2016 at the age of 92. It seems like he left a serious legacy after him, and lots of students and artists praising his contribution to the watercolor world.

Here’s a nice tribute article written for him: Ron Ranson Tribute

And here’s a YouTube vid to check out, to see his painting process.

Also, an artist that paints in a very similar style (and was probably influenced by Ron Ranson’s work) is Steven Cronin. You can check out his work here: Steven Cronin

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

Post Surgery Update – Septoplasty (Deviated Septum Correction)

Today I wanted to provide you with a quick update about my septoplasty surgery.

This episode is not really art-related, but rather a personal update. Feel free to skip if you are uninterested.

Background to the Septoplasty Surgery

I have had a deviated septum for pretty much as long as I can remember. To be more accurate – I’m not sure I always had it, or it’s a condition that worsened with time.

The deviated septum made it so that my right nostril is mostly blocked. My instinct tells me I had about 20% airflow in it.

In the 10 years or so, I started feeling the effect of this. I couldn’t sleep on my left side properly (would only be able to breath through my mouth).

I also have some allergies, and this worsened them feeling of tickling and stuffiness. My nose was generally annoying haha.

After deciding to get the surgery done, it took about 6 months of preparations, exams and meetings. Most of this was due to the hospital schedule (these surgeries always take time to schedule here).

The Septoplasty Surgery Itself

I got to the hospital very early, signed on and started the prep and anesthesia process.

The surgery was quite short, about 45 minutes long. Out of that I think the doctor was working for about 30 minutes.

It was a funny experience, as I was under local anesthesia. So I felt the doctor pulling stuff, cutting stuff, hitting with a hammer. But at the same time I was really groggy, and luckily felt no pain at all thanks to the anesthetic-soaked pads stuffed into the nostrils at the start of the procedure.

After the surgery I stayed the night at the hospital, and left the next day.

The doctor said the surgery went well, and I should expect too rough of a recovery.

If you want to see some pics from the hospital (nothing graphic haha), check out this IG post: Septoplasty Update on IG

Recovery

I’ve taken a week of “forced vacation” haha. From last wednesday (03/04) till today (10/04) I’ve been sleeping, resting, painting a little and playing on my Switch.

I hope to start gradually going back to work tomorrow.

You can expect new YouTube videos for Thursday and Saturday.

And that’s it for this one. As mentioned, no Artist Corner this time, but we’ll be back to the usual routine really soon (:

— Liron