Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Studio Tour Progress

I've got an upcoming Artist Studio Tour put on by the Wildling Museum in Los Olivos. This is my second Studio Tour and I'm really looking forward to it. Last year we had a lot of people show up and sold paintings. Selling is really cool but meeting the people who come and hearing their thoughts on my work is really just as important. I received some good feedback last year so I'm looking forward to meeting this years crowd.
It's always nice to hear what people think even if it is more constructive than flattering and there was some of that last year. Constructive thoughts are important if your learning to paint and I'm always learning. A lot of the people who show up are long time locals so they know much more than I do about this area that I paint...that gives me additional knowledge on my subjects.

If you ever wondered what it would be like to showcase your work at some fancy gallery then being a part of a Studio Tour is the next best thing. The only thing I can think of that gives you the upper hand doing it this way is you get to choose what everyone sees and not some gallery owner only wanting to show what they believe would sell. I've got nothing against the gallery owners idea but there are certain paintings I have done that are more about painting than about being marketable and I want to know what others think about those. I think without those types of paintings you'd really feel nothing more than being a manufacturer supplying what the average consumer wants. Sometimes it is really about artistic goals.

Here is one I've just finished framing. It's a large 20" X 24" oil on Masonite panel. I first painted on masonite back in college and paint on it every now and then for the fun of it. I didn't learn much about painting back in that class but I learned a lot about preparing to paint on various media. I also learned some things about painting that I hated....not one to dwindle on things like that.

4 comments:

Linda Blondheim said...

Great looking painting Ron. I feel that studio tours are far more effective in marketing than gallery shows are.
Love,
Linda

Ron Guthrie said...

Hi Linda,
I'd probably agree...I actually know those who bought paintings at my last Studio Tour versus not knowing anyone who bought any of my paintings in the galleries. I love finding out why people buy certain pieces of mine. It's always personal and not just that they like the image.
Thanks Linda.

Connie said...

Lovely painting. One question:How do you prepare the gessoed board to keep it from sucking up all the paint? I find it very dry and wondered if I could oil it up.

Ron Guthrie said...

Hi Connie,
You might want to try priming the board with latex primer instead of gesso. Try painting your masonite with exterior white latex primer and paint your oils directly on that instead of using the gesso.

This might not soak up your paint as much...I'm not sure because I haven't tried it yet but plan on doing so.
Ron