[mza]

Dang, wish I knew in advance. I've been pondering the idea of a Hawaii vacation this year... oh well, I hope you do well so you can have more shows in the future
Will they all be digital prints, or are you selling any of your oils & watercolors?

( I still love the Muncha girl study. If that painting is ever up for sale, I'm seriously interest).

[nori]

my parents recent bought a condo in honolulu. I hope I can make it out there in time =]

[Capt. Fred]

Sorry to drag this old thread up.

Spooge, how are you printing these large?
Do you always speedpaint at large-enough-for-print resolution? Or do you have to just accept slightly mossy detail? Did you have to have a tamper with the psd to get them print friendly, or is that left to a giclee guy to toy with? "This one's a bit overcast, lets see if we can't brighten it up."

What are the prints like, to hold in you hands, impressive prints? or is it a matter of one too many compromises?

[Gort]

Well, Craig, you nervous? Excited? Get those Bud Lights ready!


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- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[beat]

old post, bump, just coming back online, sorry.

Hi Craig,

I agree with you on many points. I think you nailed it about the job of being an illustrator. Just wanted to wish you Good luck on the branding
you have the goods, sell them well. Good work on that.

I'll end with a word of advice, skip the french accent, it's not what it used to be - Might give you five minutes of cheap conversation with the ladiz, but this doesn't pay in art - from experience, I suspect they even more expect you to like the idea of being a starving artist, cuz we are all that romantic and arrogant and we all butterflize ... yeah right, my azz
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http://www.BeetArt.com

[Gort]

So how'd it go, Spooge?
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[gLitterbug]

I wonder if he got into hiding mode after the stress of the exhibition was too much for him.

Or he went to jail after the french guy he hired was found by him in bed with his wife.

Maybe he also sold every single of his prints and paintings, is now rich and went to live in a tropical paradise...

[Capt. Fred]

That last part has already happened, glitter!

[gLitterbug]

Sure and next you tell me he grows his own banana-palmtrees in his garden

[spooge demon]

Well the show came and went and I am glad it is over. It was pretty much a disaster. From the mid afternoon it started pouring rain, so we had about 75 people come through. They would quickly walk through, not much look at the prices at all, and head for the booze and food. Did not sell a single thing.

Here are some pics

1
2
3
4
5
6

I went back tonight to do a demo of digital painting, and about 10 people showed up, only a few showed any sustained interest. The two pics I did I posted in SP thread.

On another note, I am going to do the gnomonon DVDs, not sure how many, but it is in the works. I have gotten so many requests for this that it might work. So I will do it, a torrent will be made and that will be that.

I have many ideas as to why things did not sell, from the prints being a little soft and low contrast to too many new aspects to the work to �I never heard of you so why should I pay�� If I am going to succeed in this market, I will have to keep at it. And since they are prints, I think I have to do very �finished� highly detailed work. You limit the market to other artists if things are �loose� (most buyers read as sloppy or unfinished)

I spent a lot of money doing this thing, so I am a little disappointed that I did not sell anything.

[Gort]

Well damn. Sorry to hear that it didn't go off well. The setup looks compliant and well done, but it blows that no one bought anything. Your stuff framed looks terrific - really nice looking. Certainly the weather didn't help, but I wonder if folks aren't just ready enough for digital centric artwork; it's still arguable as to what constitutes fine art with many out there (I believe Eyewoo had this problem with an online vendor or something).

I'd say don't give up. It's just one gallery, you know,

One other thing - I'm still waiting to buy a print or two from your website.

I look forward to seeing some Gnomon DVDs, Craig, but make sure they get the quality of those things ramped- if possible. They are pricey, but the most often complaints are centered on the output and quality.

By the way, if he's someone you know, please forgive, but the dude with the flipflops looks like he left his surfboard at the door and popped in for some dinner.
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[watmough]

how much did you ask for them?

[Lunatique]

Oh man, I'm so sorry to hear what happened. Right after I read your post I called out to my wife and told her, and her immediate response was, "What do you expect? It's digital, and it's just prints. People want to see the real thing, and they want to own an unique, one and only piece." My response to that was, "Yeah, but people buy expensive prints all the time, and those can cost thousands of dollars." Her reply was, "And just how many artists out there can pull that off? Not everyone can be like Pino."

I think what you tried to do is probably still a bit ahead of the times. Although you are revered and have a legion of fanboys in the CG/entertainment related industries, the average person has absolutely no connection to this very specialized clique of ours. They haven't the faintest idea of names like Doug Chiang, Ryan Church, Dusso, you..etc. I'm willing to bet that if your pieces were shown at an event like Dragon Con, the public reponse would've been very different. I think another factor is the subject matter. The average gallery going person has very little interest in fantasy/sci-fi/illustration--they want artistic nudes, landscapes, portraits..etc. For example, if your show consisted of the life paintings you've done, the response probably would've been different too.

I have a small suggestion--why not build your name in your local area in other ways in conjunction to having shows? Radio talkshows, local TV station interviews, flyers, local paper/magazine articles..etc. The media is the most powerful tool for promotion, and since it looks like you're willing to step out of the ivory tower for a bit, might as well take more steps. This highly depends on how well you can stomach that kind of thing though. Some people hate it, and if you're not too much of the Salinger type, you could give it a shot.

I think it's awesome that you are going to do the Gnomon thing. This is something that will send a wave of excitement through the entire CG/entertainment community of artists. Be prepared to have your inbox flooded, because your DVDs will outsell every single DVD ever produced by Gnomon--I'm almost willing to bet on that. But also be prepared for an ouslaught of Spooge-clones too--it'll be an epidemic like we've never seen--far more severe than what we have now, and it's already pretty bad.

Also remember, there are publishers out there that would love to do an "Art of Craig Mullins" type book. That's another step you can take to build up your name. Having something like that on the shelves of bookstores means people outside of our clique will have the chance to be exposed to your work.

Anyway, I'm sure this won't be your last attempt, and every movement has had its leaders and innovators. Guys like eyewoo and you could end up paving the way for an entire new movement.

[Bg]

It could have been the wrong day, timing can make all the difference. My mother is a florist and sometimes there's 70 customers (not christmas, I mean regular days) and sometimes none. It's scary, really.. So don't give up yet, it could have been one of those less fortunate days.

I can imagine stuff like your Halo 2 poster (explosions behind Master Chief), would probably go for very high prices if sold at the right place. (E3 wink, wink )

Btw. what kind of DVD's were you thinking about doing, concept design or something else?
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www.MountainSheep.net

[Max]

I am really sorry to hear that.
As far as I can see from the photos you posted it looks absoutely wonderful.
If I'll ever get the chance, I will buy something you made.
I think alot of sijuners would do.

[The Real Mark]

I would definitley buy a piece - if I had the money of course

Another reason why you might not have sold is because you held the exhibition on an island... - any reason why you did it on maui? I would've thought having one in LA or london or new york... I dont know maybe I missed something. Was there some big arty thing on there?

imo maybe try get a stand at a comic con or something, depends on how much you are selling for - i have no idea, just throwing stuff up in the air. I guess you have to target the type of people that a) like your work and b) have the money to buy your work.

sorry if someone has said what i ahve said already. i haven't read much of the thread

[balistic]

faith in humanity = gone.

Of course the first impressionist shows didn't make any money either, so you're in pretty good company.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Gort]

[Heysoos]

[Mikko K]

I was going to shut up but just can't.

Lunatique

[Gort]

Mikko - that's a good point but I don't think it's reflective of everyone, me especially. I'm always open to the way people do things; sometimes I'll learn something new, or sometimes I may hold fast to my own way. Overall I enjoy the videos a lot and own several.
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[Mikko K]

Didn't mean to generalise. I didn't neglect all information the dvd's provided. Lots of it was great. The demystification that came from seeing how these pro guys work just enforced my belief that the end result is all that matters, not any particular techniques or tricks.

Maybe I'm too optimistic but somehow I believe that the more people see different artists create their thing, the more the focus will move from 'how' to 'why'. I'm just hoping that ideas and content will rise above technique.

[Spocket]

How much for a print!.... you have enough obsesed fans online to sell to!

and on the other note of dvd`s ....As much as I personaly would KILL to see how "exactly" you do your work,.. I dont think an artist , like a magician, should give away ALL their secrets! it would be attack of the craig clones! in droves! hold on to your trade secrets, they make you money!!

each gallery you do will get you more attention then the last, rome wasn`t built in a ......you know were Im going with this


-Pat
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37 creamer flips

[starglider2]

spooge, how do you handle all this attention and worshipping ? Must be though and nice at same time
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If there is no God, who pops up the next kleenex in the box?

[ozan]

sorry craig. all that framing and cheese must have cost you.

maybe you�ve allready spoke about this here but why prints instead of your watercolors? personally I would much rather have one of those.
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ozan

[Sumaleth]

Craig, sorry to hear it didn't go entirely as you had hoped. I bet you learned a lot from the experience though and it's always better to give something a go than die wondering. Best wishes for #2.
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Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials

[cyBeAr]

I'm sorry to hear things didn't workout so well....However my first impression when seeing the photos of the gallery though was that the presentation of your work was far from ideal. I guess it's because the place seems to be pretty small and you wanted to show as many prints as possible but those walls look way too crowded, and what's the idea with having pictures at the height of people's knees?

Without the lower rows of prints and more spacing between the others each piece wouldn't have to compete as much with it's neighbours and have a much stronger impact on the visitors.

Of course there's no way of telling if any of this would have helped sales anything but maybe it's something to consider for future exhibits wich I hope will be more successfull!
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[The Insane Lemur]

that sucks nothing sold, good luck in the future though!

[Drunken Monkey]

if you were in it to make some $$$ why not do it in LA? You have a huge fan base there... at least one would think.

[ckeu]

to spooge
WHAT? a torrent? you mean it will be freely available over bittorrent?
if you do that, you will be the most awesome person ever.