I do two types of paintings. I do the paintings that I could sell at a bar for cheap. And I do the paintings that I either sell on this website or give to friends.
The former, I can whip out in a day. The latter, I spend a lot of time on. I’m only going to talk about the former. The latter, you can buy on this website.
I just did an article on painting gouache silhouettes. These are easy and fun to do. But they’re pop art and designed for someone at a bar to buy and put up on his or her wall. They’re by no means high art. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
They have their place
These paintings have their place. They’re aesthetically pleasing. They’re nice to look at.
They’re specifically designed for your bar patron who busts his ass all day. Either breaking his back doing physical labor or ruining his back sitting in an office all day.
He wants something nice to have up on his walls. He’s not loaded. We all know the boss man doesn’t pay him enough for how hard he works. The boss man half the time takes him for granted.
Half the time? I’m being too polite. We all know the truth.
So he’s sitting there having beers with his friends. And he sees these little paintings. No, they’re not huge. They’re little. 8″x10″. And they’re nice.
He thinks “this wouldn’t look bad in my kitchen.” And he looks at the price tag and it’s not too expensive. So he goes to the bartender and purchases it.
Not every painting needs to be the Mona Lisa
Most people can’t afford high art. Hey, I’m going to be quite honest with you. I’m a working class guy. Yes, I now work in an office and do white collar shit. But the real me is a man who loves America and hates people who don’t.
I used to do physical labor until I knocked up some lady. Then I was like “I need to make more money.” That’s when I went back to college and learned some additional skills.
I’m strong as fuck. I can lift everything you own up and down stairs, load it into a truck, and move it to your next home.
But I switched from brawn labor to brain labor because I needed to make more money.
Now, I’m older. The kid has grown and is out of the house. And my wife got into traveling and I got into art.
So I’m painting these types of paintings for the me thirty years ago. The guy who would bust ass five days a week, then go out for beers with his friends. And see the paintings for sale at the bar.
He’s sick of seeing nothing but bananas and oranges in a fruit bowl or sunsets over a valley. He likes beautiful women. He’s the type of guy who would have worked on airplanes during World War II so you can bet he loved those pinups on the planes. Heck, he probably would have bought beers for the guy who painted them.
Now, you see the exercise I just did here? I just described who I’m doing this art for. You now have a picture in your head of my ideal customer.
Who is your intended audience? Or do you just paint?
Note that there are no wrong answers.