How to Use Writing to Grow Your Art Business

Morning artrepreneurs! Welcome to another edition of the Stay Sketchy newsletter.

🔎 Feel like something’s missing from your life? Maybe it was last week’s newsletter! Check your Promotions or Spam folders to see where it’s hiding. Otherwise, you can always read (or re-read) it here.

This week we’ve got:

Kevin D. Jordan - Landscape Photographer

Kevin D. Jordan has been a passionate landscape photographer for over a decade.

Although phtotography is often viewed as a means of documenting the world around you, Kevin chooses to view it as a more creative experience. Through the use of special lenses and hours spent carefully editing, Kevin portrays aspects of the landscape that may otherwise be lost to the average viewer.

Instead of simply recording unremarkable beauty in common vistas, Kevin ensures his photographs emphasize the unique lines, colors, textures and shapes that comprise each landscape he finds himself in.

Kevin’s journey into photography began after college when he bought an entry-level camera to bring on some trips he had planned. Pretty soon, he realized that the joy he got from traveling had a lot to do with the way he experienced each trip through the lens of his camera.

After slowly building up his skills over years, one of Kevin’s coworkers, a fellow photo enthusiast, urged him to upgrade his camera, knowing that it would help take Kevin to the next level. This proved to be true, not only because the equipment was better, but because the investment was significant and Kevin didn’t want to have spent it in vain. He poured himself into his photography and learned everything there was to learn about the new gear and the shots he was hoping to take.

When he was happy with the quality of his work, Kevin recognized the potential to sell it. He took up an offer from an acquaintance to hang a photo in a little bakery in Portsmouth, NH. The photograph hung on the wall for month before one of the managers that worked there asked if they could buy it from him.

That was Kevin’s very first sale.

Some time later, he stumbled across a shop in Providence, Rhode Island that only stocked items that sent proceeds of each sale to various charity organizations. It was then that Kevin finally determined the direction he wanted his photography to take.

He told himself that he would treat this passion as a legitimate business and aim to cover the cost of new gear and travel while donating any surplus profits to charitable causes he felt close to.

Through his dedication to learn and his passion for experiencing new places, Kevin has achieved this goal and more.

Kevin not only turned his passion into a self-sustaining side hustle, but also achieved many other accomplishments along the way:

• Traveled all over the United States as well as to countries like Iceland and Thailand

• Gone on destination shoots for featured pieces in magazines

• Sold photography at consignment shops and fine art markets around New England

• Acquired the skills it takes to run a small business

• Discovered a passion for writing

• Began donating to charities that are important to him on a recurring basis

Kevin donates 10% of his annual proceeds to the Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and an additional 10% of annual proceeds to the Appalachian Mountain Club. If you’d like to read more about these organizations and why they’re important to Kevin, check out the Charitable Support page on his website.

Mini Gallery

To see more of Kevins’s work, visit his website or Instagram account.

Artist Insights

In the 10+ years that Kevin’s been behind a camera, he’s learned a lot. He was nice enough to share with us much of what he’s absorbed when it comes to growing and maintaining a business around art/photography.

Combine Writing with Your Artwork

Kevin compliments most of his work with a short story of what went into capturing each particular image. On social media, you can find these stories in his captions, and in person, you can find the stories printed and attached to the back of each matted photograph he has out for sale.

Sometimes his writing is educational and explains details regarding the location & geography in the photograph, other times he tells a story about something funny or interesting that happened to him while trying to get the shot.

Storytelling enhances connection and provides an opportunity to connect on a deeper level with one’s audience. Kevin’s watched people pick up one of his photographs, quietly read the story on the back, then go buy it.

Additionaly, Kevin maintains a blog on his website where he writes about his experiences and learnings in a longer format. He also writes on Medium. These spaces give him a chance to more deeply explain what he’s uncovered on his countless adventures, and pass it along to readers and other photographers that may find some benefit.

Take Advantage of Local Opportunities

Just like James Mertke said in a previous newsletter, Kevin emphasizes pursuing local opportunities when getting started.

His very first sale came from an acquaintance suggesting he submit his work to a rotating monthly exhibition in a New England bakery. After that, nearly all of Kevin’s in-person sales came from applying to local art markets or getting in touch with the owners of consignment shops in his area.

Don’t get too fixated with trying to sell your art online. It can be difficult to get people to notice you early on. If you’re proud of your work, other people will probably like it and want to buy it when in the right setting.

Find those places near you that support artists and promote their work - cafes, bakeries, restaurants, libraries, consignment shops, etc. Organizers of local art markets may be able to provide a list of places like these as well.

Seek Feedback in Order to Improve

One of Kevin’s minor regrets is that he didn’t seek feedback on his photography earlier. In hindsight, he thinks he probably could have progressed much faster as a photographer had he stepped outside his comfort zone a little bit and sought constructive criticism for his work.

Kevin was adamant about not selling his work until he could say he was genuinely proud of it. Having learned everything on his own without any professional guidance means he didn’t sell anything (or try to) for quite some time in the beginning.

Kevin has since learned that competitions are often a great way to get professional feedback on your work. The Natural Landscape Photography Awards is one such competetion for landscape photographers. Competitions for all sorts of photography and fine art exist, however, offering feedback, published features, and cash prizes.

Having said that, make sure you read the fine print before entering a competition. Some may attempt to gain licensing rights of your work without offering compensation.

Understand the Client’s Needs

When commissioned to create a specific piece or take photographs of a specific location, make sure you understand all of the client’s needs up front. This will save you time & money, and ensure you’re the right person for the job.

• When contacted for your services, recognize that the client has a specific need or problem.

• Gather as much information as possible about what the client truly needs, not just what they ask for.

• Ask clarifying questions to ensure you fully understand the scope and purpose of the project.

• Be prepared to offer creative solutions that the client may not have considered.

• Provide multiple options to cater to different aspects of the client's needs and budget.

Kevin also mentioned that Professional Photographers of America is a good resource for photographers looking for various types of contracts and release forms to use when working with a client in a professional capacity.

This article provides some basic insights as to what you may wish to include in a typical commission contract.

Seek Out Professional Print Labs

When printing your work, Kevin recommends looking for professional print labs and high-quality local print shops. Services like Shutterfly tend to offer lower quality prints for similar prices.

Kevin has found that when dealing with local printers, he’s been able to build more personal relationships that afford him occasional favors, like rushed orders, upon request.

Some of these print labs may not provide services to the general public, but will accept anyone with a business email address (ex. newsletter@staysketchy.com instead of @gmail.com).

Kevin also orders standard photo prints from one company, metal prints from another, and canvas prints from a third - not because he wants to make his life more difficult, but because each of these businesses have their strengths and quality is of the utmost importance to Kevin.

Having said that, be sure to inspect work from your print provider regularly to ensure quality doesn’t slip. After learning one of his go-to print labs changed something about their process, Kevin found the photographs he ordered from them no longer met his standards and he was forced to go elsewhere.

Kevin’s Tech Stack

• Payment/Accounting: Quickbooks Self-Employed, Square, Venmo, Google Sheets.

• Ecommerce: Squarespace, Etsy

• Writing: Squarespace, Medium, Grammarly, ConvertKit

• Editing: Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Lumenzia (Photoshop Plug-In)

• Printing: ProDPI, Shiny Prints

• Location Planning/Out-in-the-Field: PlanIt Pro, Google Earth/Maps, CalTopo, Gaia GPS.

• Weather Tracking: Weather Underground, NOAA, Meteograms, Windy, Local summit forecasts (i.e. for NH: Mt. Washington Higher Summit Forecast)

Books That Create Successful Artists

This newsletter is pretty great, but it’s not the only resource out there for artists looking to grow their business and make more money with art.

After scouring the internet, polling dozens Reddit users, and reading hundreds of reviews, we’ve created a short list of books that kept coming up over & over again. These 3 books are unique from one another in what they cover and can serve as your next non-fiction read, or a gift for a loved one that you want to see succeed in their art journey.

• Art/Work - A foundational book for artists looking to gain insights on the various business & legal aspects of a fine art career. Widely recognized as a must-read for anyone seriously considering making a career out of being an artist. 400 pages

• Art & Fear - A book to revive your creativity and remind you why it is you ever made art in the first place. Full of empathy and personal anectodes, Art & Fear is written by artists for artists. 144 pages

• Art, Inc. - A practical guide book to walk you through the various ways in which you could make a living with art. Extract the knowledge you need from a given chapter or read it cover to cover. Topics discussed include licensing, print sales, teaching, social media marketing, copyrighting your work, & more. 184 pages

Art Business News (that’s not gonna put you to sleep 😴)

• It’s that day again 📆 - It’s Amazon Prime Day(s). This isn’t so much a news story as it is a PSA to buy all the discounted art supplies you’ve had your eye on recently. Even if Amazon isn’t your go-to shopping URL for art-related goodies, plenty of other retailers tend to offer discounts around this time in order to compete.

• Rich youth want more art 🤑 - A Bank of America study from last month paints a pretty posh picture for the wealthy Millennials and Gen Z-ers among us. It states that 40% of individuals from these groups with investable assets of more than $3 million own a six-figure art collection. They’re also significantly more likely to add to that collection than equally wealthy folks from older generations. This is good news for those of us using social media to to market our work as Millennials and Gen Z-ers are the largest demographics on most of those platforms as well.

From the Community 🤝

Thanks Sonny! Glad to hear you’re loving it so far. 👌

Thanks for checking out another edition of Stay Sketchy. Catch you next week! ✌️

As an Amazon Associate and affiliate of various partnership programs, the owner of this publication may receive commissions to linked products or services in this newsletter at no additional expense to the reader.