What am I doing wrong?

[R-Soul]

More advice for anyobldy else with drawing talent and more gumption.

wWy not align yourself with custom bike bulders- if a guy has blown $80k on a themed bike, he will blow another $1k on a matching helmet no problem.

[disturbedair]

hi r-soul first up i like the name, and don't take offence to this please i'm not out to piss you off but you don't no much about the custom bike scene if you think a guy who's spent $80.000 on a bike is going to spend money on painting his helmet, i have had shitloads to do with many custom bike owners and i can tell you from experiance and it doesn't matter if it's a custom biker or a hotroder they will both spend mega dollars on everything else on a project but when it comes to paint they litteraly want you to do it for free or as they call it "free advertising" if only i had a dollar for every time iv'e herd that line and then been stabbed in the back and this is even if it's just a strait one colour paint job. all you need to do now is look on trade me and you will see all those people that brought or built custom bikes are now sellin them for nothing what they paid for them iv's seen them going for $20.000, and the reson they are sellin them is because they have discovered you can't ride chopper's on new zealand roads.

[Conquiztador]

hehe You can paint a shark dry humping you on your dive tanks...

Surely that would be wet-humping?

[HungusMaximist]

all you need to do now is look on trade me and you will see all those people that brought or built custom bikes are now sellin them for nothing what they paid for them iv's seen them going for $20.000, and the reson they are sellin them is because they have discovered you can't ride chopper's on new zealand roads.

So true about the chopper comment, it's all for sho.

Bro, it's real shit that you gave up man, there is a market for your talent and skills you just need to re-examine your market dude and get with the times.

[R-Soul]

What you need to do is forget NZ, and develop your own style of stuff- not cpy teh other typical fantasy stuff. Your won trademark stuff. Develop your own little cool character/trademark him so nobody else can use him/it. Then offer your services as a craftsman in the USA, and charge the earth, because the more you cost, the better you must be eh?
Its amazing what people will pay for exclusivity.

[disturbedair]

howdee r-soul i love typin in that name you obviusly didn't see my work if you think it was standed stuff copied from other artist work, if you want to see standed copied work you need to go on line and have a look at what other new zealand airbrushers are doing then you will see the diference, the one thing people who have seen my work in real have said to me is that my work was completly different from other airbrush's they had seen and that i had a wide range of style,
i do not copy anyone else's style or work unless i am specificly asked to do so which is what some of the automotive stuff i had on the website was but i allso changed each drawing complety to put my own style into them, if you saw the demaccio bonnet and the original artist artwork you would know that as for the giger style thunderbird tank the customer spicificly asked for that syle and i also had changed that completly too and if you had seen the prosthetic arm i did you would realise that was a complet original from my head with out even useing foto reference and ninety percent of my pencil drawing were strait from my head on to paper without useing any reference foto's at all aswell, so as for my work being standed airbrushy crap, i don't think so and neither do the people who have seen my work in real life, at least thats what they have told me, mybe ther sayin differint crap behind my back, that wouldn't suprise me but at the end of the day you can't do out there freaky stuff if one, your not getting any work, and two if people wont pay what real original work cost's so im stuck between a rock and a hard place this is just another reson why i have given airbrushing up, cheers

[AznNinja]

From one batshit insane artist to the other...

Bit of background on this here n00b. I'm a designer by trade and artist by passion. Been in the industry for 6 years and about to back to uni for more. So I've done a bit of earning in the creative industry. I feel I can offer you a bit of a shoulder here. Here's a bit of chicken soup for your soul:

1) Don't give up. Just, don't. Get your brushes back, pick yourself up, and climb back on the horse. Talent isn't a right, it's a gift and privilege; you've obviously been given it. Very, very hard to come by, as other posters have said.

2) The creative world is HARSH, man! Take this from a graphic designer. Everyone's a critic, and most are not afraid to shoot from the hip. But here's a home truth: you make money designing for other people, not yourself! Don't take it personally. Never take it personally.

3) Your portfolio should show both your own pride and joy pieces as well as work you've done for clients. Show a wide but concise variety of work - most of the paying stuff you do, you'll most likely hate but the client will love. We all feel this pain - my design portfolio contains a grand total of ONE piece I did for myself. The rest has subject matter that'd bore you to tears. Looks very cool, though.

4) The more creative and talented the artist, the worse they are at selling themselves. You'll have noticed that really crappy artists make a lot of money selling their garbage - they are businessmen that can wave a pen. The best artists are hard to come by because they are just a little kooky and couldn't sell themselves if their lives depended on it. The best thing you can do is leave the marketing to someone else that you TRUST - the profits will be shared, yes, but if they earn their salt then there'll be more than enough to go around. Yes, a good artist needs a manager!

5) Spend the cash on marketing and advertising. You can't get anywhere without putting yourself out there. A brilliant website is the best start. From there, get noticed - have a logo designed, get it onto things. Have a clever, witty or memorable company name. Get your name welded into the minds of others! This is how you start the best marketing of all: word of mouth.



You'll do just fine, mate. Get yourself out there, try not to take things personally (this is the hardest for creatives) and try to find someone that can support your business from the boring end so you can do what you do best - paint.

[R-Soul]

howdee r-soul i love typin in that name you obviusly didn't see my work if you think it was standed stuff copied from other artist work, if you want to see standed copied work you need to go on line and have a look at what other new zealand airbrushers are doing then you will see the diference, the one thing people who have seen my work in real have said to me is that my work was completly different from other airbrush's they had seen and that i had a wide range of style,
i do not copy anyone else's style or work unless i am specificly asked to do so which is what some of the automotive stuff i had on the website was but i allso changed each drawing complety to put my own style into them, if you saw the demaccio bonnet and the original artist artwork you would know that as for the giger style thunderbird tank the customer spicificly asked for that syle and i also had changed that completly too and if you had seen the prosthetic arm i did you would realise that was a complet original from my head with out even useing foto reference and ninety percent of my pencil drawing were strait from my head on to paper without useing any reference foto's at all aswell, so as for my work being standed airbrushy crap, i don't think so and neither do the people who have seen my work in real life, at least thats what they have told me, mybe ther sayin differint crap behind my back, that wouldn't suprise me but at the end of the day you can't do out there freaky stuff if one, your not getting any work, and two if people wont pay what real original work cost's so im stuck between a rock and a hard place this is just another reson why i have given airbrushing up, cheers

Yeah sorry the website was gone before I could see it. No offence meant. I was referring to "fantasy" as a gendre in itself and just rying to come up with constructive advice. Post the pic's again - this thread loses its oomph without them and could be useful to other artists?

[R-Soul]

From one batshit insane artist to the other...

Bit of background on this here n00b. I'm a designer by trade and artist by passion. Been in the industry for 6 years and about to back to uni for more. So I've done a bit of earning in the creative industry. I feel I can offer you a bit of a shoulder here. Here's a bit of chicken soup for your soul:

1) Don't give up. Just, don't. Get your brushes back, pick yourself up, and climb back on the horse. Talent isn't a right, it's a gift and privilege; you've obviously been given it. Very, very hard to come by, as other posters have said.

2) The creative world is HARSH, man! Take this from a graphic designer. Everyone's a critic, and most are not afraid to shoot from the hip. But here's a home truth: you make money designing for other people, not yourself! Don't take it personally. Never take it personally.

3) Your portfolio should show both your own pride and joy pieces as well as work you've done for clients. Show a wide but concise variety of work - most of the paying stuff you do, you'll most likely hate but the client will love. We all feel this pain - my design portfolio contains a grand total of ONE piece I did for myself. The rest has subject matter that'd bore you to tears. Looks very cool, though.

4) The more creative and talented the artist, the worse they are at selling themselves. You'll have noticed that really crappy artists make a lot of money selling their garbage - they are businessmen that can wave a pen. The best artists are hard to come by because they are just a little kooky and couldn't sell themselves if their lives depended on it. The best thing you can do is leave the marketing to someone else that you TRUST - the profits will be shared, yes, but if they earn their salt then there'll be more than enough to go around. Yes, a good artist needs a manager!

5) Spend the cash on marketing and advertising. You can't get anywhere without putting yourself out there. A brilliant website is the best start. From there, get noticed - have a logo designed, get it onto things. Have a clever, witty or memorable company name. Get your name welded into the minds of others! This is how you start the best marketing of all: word of mouth.



You'll do just fine, mate. Get yourself out there, try not to take things personally (this is the hardest for creatives) and try to find someone that can support your business from the boring end so you can do what you do best - paint.

and most of all dont lose your passion for what you do- even if yo have to do it out of your garden shed at nights, keep going. It is passion that attracts people of similar ilk to you and your ideas. Nobody is attracted to boredom and whininess.

Its sound slike you are good at what you do, and that you love doing it. So dont stop even if it means doing it free or at least cheap for the time being. Make posters and sell them to Cardies gift shop if you have to, but make them how YOU want them. And make sue you can prove ownership of copyright in all of them. Sign your name, or develop a trade mark that makes people remember you.


Whats the alternative? Leave doing what you love completely, and die wondering. I wish I could find what I loved (besides my family, riding and money, but hey those years have passed ). You already know.

[AznNinja]

Pretty much. If you stop doing what you love, if you stop dreaming... you're already dead. No one wants that. Liiiiiive, and do what you're great at!