Catch-22

Going in Prepared, or at least I thought

I always try to prepare myself for a little bit of anything and everything. I knew after leaving my job in December 2019 to pursue a career as a full-time artist, that there would be plenty of hurdles and challenges, but one thing that I never fully prepared myself for was the concept of marketing myself. A very important part if you plan on selling your work.

As the saying goes, “build it and they will come”, but if only it were that easy. It didn’t take long to find out that creating art is only half of the process. The other half of the art business had eluded me, or at least I was too ignorant to know how important the role of self promotion would play when I went into this.

My new life of doing what I loved had came with some strings attached.

Selling yourself/Self promotion

For those of you familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), I’m an INFP. My personality tends to lean heavily towards the I, N, F and the P, and doesn’t necessarily fall towards the middle. With all of this being said, I feel very uncomfortable talking about myself. The ego never fully sprouted, if you will. This suits me well during the creative part of the process, but fails me miserably beyond that.

To publicize my art and/or myself feels somewhat excruciating, because I’m that quiet guy that tends to stay in the corner doing my own thing. It’s just the way that I am— the way I’ve always been. There’s nothing wrong with that, just as there’s nothing wrong with the opposite. It does take a special person to be able to do both well though.

I’m in this new world now, a world of creating things every day, and I don’t necessarily feel comfortable at times even showing my art to others, much less publicizing it to the entire world. I do my best, even though it takes a lot out of me in the process.

Do I want people to see my work? Yes, but only if they’re interested. I’m definitely not going to shove it down someones throat.

Do I need to do a better job of using the tools that are out there for marketing myself? Of course, it couldn’t hurt. It’s just a difficult process for me that I’m trying to overcome.

Do I feel comfortable self-promoting? Once again, absolutely not…

So, where do I go from here?

“What’s it going to take?” mentality

Where do I have the most trouble? Letting people know who I am— I’m just me. A very introverted guy that does his own thing.

I see other artists quickly start reeling in potential buyers once they have them on the hook, even if it’s just the slightest nibble— don’t let them get away! The ‘what do I need to do to get you in that 2018 Hyundai Elantra today’ type of mentality.

Long story short, I’m a lousy salesperson and self-promoter. It’s as simple as that. I love creating stuff, I love painting. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best that I can be, and to create things that I’m truly happy with. Things that are really different. It sort of all ends there.

If I had to sum it all up, I’d say I feel like I was born to fly, but I only have one wing. I have part of what it takes. I’ll figure it out though, I somehow always do.

And that, my friends, is the Catch-22… Why did I post this? First, I felt the need to explain myself and the situation that I find myself in. Second, I know there are countless other artists out there in the same predicament. For now, just keep doing what you do. When I figure it out, I’ll let you know. 😉