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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The emerging artist- where to start?

So we've all been down the aisles of greeting cards, browsed the magazine rack, purchased gift wrap, maybe even purchased stickers for our scrap book. All of these things (and pretty much any product you can purchase) were created by an artist! Did you read the latest Jodie Piccoult or Nicolas Sparks book? What was it that attracted you to the book....right- the cover! Also designed by an artist. With such a world of possibility, any self motivated artist should be able to find consistent work. However, where on earth does a young artist start out?

Good question. :-) I think that if I had the easy answer I would already have tons of published artwork to show you. Perhaps it isn't as hard as we would think..maybe it's just a matter of inspiration, footwork, and meeting the right person at the right time.

Here is where I plan to start: The yearly edition of the Artists' and Graphic Designers' Market (or AGDM for those in the know). Each year AGDM produces a guidebook of people who buy art- for greeting cards, book covers, magazines, labels, CD's, scrapbooking, puzzles...the ideas are endless. The key is to find your niche in the book locate the publishers that sound like they might find your work useful. I am making a notebook full of possibilities using the latest edition of AGDM. From there I visit websites to see the samples of art that the publisher likes...if it looks similar to mine, I put a star by their name. This is the process I am at right now. After that, I plan to begin a whole new chapter for the emerging artist.

Self promotion.

More on that tomorrow. For now, here is a link to the latest edition of AGDM for 2011. The best place to purchase is Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/2011-Artists-Graphic-Designers-Market/dp/1582979553/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297287344&sr=8-1

Within the book there are also many success stories, which is my favorite part of the book.

Also, FYI, you can get last year's edition totally cheap and most likely still current. A good place to start! :-)

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