Why Artists Should Shoot Themselves

09 May Why Artists Should Shoot Themselves

Photo by Drew

This post is written by Maria Brophy, who writes a blog that helps creative people to design the career and life of their dreams.

Shoot yourself working.  On every painting or project.  Document your work, the process of your art, and your life.  You will thank me for this later.

Since the 90’s, Drew has documented just about every painting he ever did.  Back then, he had to use actual FILM, which was a bummer, because you didn’t know if you got the shot right until it was too late.

Here’s Why it’s Important:

1.)  Plan for your Future:  Your coffee-table art book will be complete with photos of you creating that unexpected, popular painting

2.)  Be Prepared for Magazine Articles:  When an editor contacts you because they want to do a article on you, you’ll have photos ready to send to make for a great feature (Playboy called us a month ago asking for jpg’s of Drew’s surfboards – they needed it in  3 hours – and we came through in time to make it in their June 09 issue)

3.)  Use these photos to compare your art from one point in time to another

4.)  Your art collectors will want them:  It’s an added bonus for a collector who is spending a lot of money on a painting of yours to also get photos of you creating the piece

5.)  Art Shows and Exhibits – For larger shows, it creates a greater experience for the viewer to see photos of you creating a piece near the actual piece on the wall

6.)  As a selling Point:  For collectors or other clients who may be on the fence as to whether they want to buy or not, these photos come in handy as they add a personal element to you and your art

How to Shoot Yourself:

You can hire a photographer, but that can be inconvenient and pricey for daily shots.  We hire photographers for occasional head shots and planned shoots which are needed from time to time.

For daily shots, you can photograph yourself easily, and if you are painting in the middle of the night, like Drew often does, it’s the only way!

First:  Get a good camera (we use a Canon PowerShot Pro 8.0) and a tripod.  Make sure the camera has a self-timer!

Second:  Get in the habit of regularly photographing yourself and your projects on a daily basis.

Third:  Set up your camera on your tripod and every 30-60 minutes, shoot a photo of you painting, and then of the piece alone.

Fourth:  Keep your photos organized, so you can easily find them when you need them.

Over time, you’ll get better and better at photographing yourself and the quality of your photos will improve.

Photo by Michael R. Foley

Spunk Brophy (Follow me on Twitter!)

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