Mark E Shellshear.

Question: “How to distinguish someone who is the genuine painter and not an impostor or impersonator, especially if you are buying art online? Quite obviously this will affect the reputation of the original painter. From my experience I’ve sold some original paintings to friends in Asia and there are troublemakers who alleged that the paintings were not painted by me but theirs. Thanks if you could advice on this.” As more and more Artists are selling online they will need to make sure they can prove that the painting is theirs in the future. Here are some steps that you can take to protect your work after the sale is completed and prove that you are the Artist. First I would not only photograph the painting but also you get photographed with the painting in your studio with other work clearly visible. Every Artist should have a record of every painting that they paint, if you haven't then I encourage you to start. In his record/catalogue have a small photo of ...

As with everything in life there is a cost for everything, there are no free lunches. Having long career in the Art Business you will need to concentrate on a few things. Concentrate on the love of painting and painting only because of that and no other motives. If you are painting to make your fortune, you picked the wrong profession. I believe most serious dedicated Artists can make a very good living from their Art, but will they all end up in the auctions and great museums, very few. The love of painting and the need to paint must be your driving force and your belief in your own ability must be resolute, even if everyone says you have no talent. What if Monet had listened to to the Art Market and his friends and family, we would have no beautiful Impressionist paintings today. What if Pollock or Rothko or Gorky had listened to the critics, we would have been deprived of their wonderful paintings. You must dance to the beat of your drum and you must bring change ...

Question “ Mark. I s it wrong to paint copies of one of my own paintings if they are in demand??” This is a great question because it touches on a few subjects, so first. I would not paint exact copies of your original work as the people who buy the first painting believe they are getting an original painting, one of a kind. So if you then paint an exact copy of that piece even if it is your own work I believe that the people who bought the first painting are being deceived because when you buy an original Art work you do not expect the Artist to go ahead and reproduce another exactly the same. Also this will become factory work as factories reproduce exactly the same thing over and over, this is not good for any Artist. Secondly, I believed in doing a series of paintings that are similar but not exact copies, building on a theme. I always did series because it gave people choices of a similar painting and gave me the opportunity to explore a subject to it’s fullest,...

M oney should not be the objective in our Art practice , creating great original Art should be the reason we paint, money is just the result of being successful at creating original Art. Learn to be content with your life and be ambitious to continually improve your life, by improving yourself. Do not look at others, look in the mirror and begin to appreciate all you can be and accomplish because others do not hold the key to your success, the person in the mirror does. Begin to work on improving yourself and your work habits and work on small daily disciplines and big changes will take place yearly. Next time you look in the mirror, smile at that person and tell them you love them because they are the key to your success, for they are the only person you will get to live with all your life, love yourself so you can love others.

I see so many seriously talented Artists who really believe, because they are talented that everything will work out for them and all they have to do is paint and wait for fame and fortune to come, just like winning the lottery. Unfortunately winning the lottery can be a curse because you never learned how to be a success and you need to learn those lessons or success will be your downfall. Success comes to the prepared, if success comes to the unprepared it seldom stays because they are not prepared for it. I know of so many talented Artists who got early success in their career and today they are not painting. Artists need to understand that their success depends on themselves, do not rely on others or expect others to open doors for you because that seldom happens until you are successful and then everyone wants to help you because you are successful. Do not blame the Art Market, or the economy, or the Gallery and you cannot change the attitude of buyers, but you can w...

The best thing about a crowded Art market is that most Artists are trying to fit in, hide and be safe, not trying to stand out and get attention. Outside of creating wonderful, original Art getting the attention of strangers is our priority. What holds most Artists and people back from accomplishing their dreams and goals is fear and what others will think or say about them. Getting the attention of strangers is hard and can be scary and the thief, fear will do all it can to stop you from doing this because it wants quiet and safe. It will give you reasons and excuses why you cannot do it and how it will all end in disgrace and failure and sadly this is where many Artists stay, where it is safe, hiding and then they wonder why no strangers are buying their work, they are not getting the attention of strangers. The thief will never go away, it is a daily struggle especially if you are an Artist trying to make a difference in your world and make Art that matters. Wh...

The one question I get asked more by Artists than any other, especially those in the first 5 years of their career, is how do I price my paintings? I always answer, “That is not the right question.” “ The right question is, how do I get the attention of strangers and get my paintings onto strangers walls?” In the beginning of your Art career it is not about the money it is about getting attention. The price of your paintings in the beginning is not that important, don’t give them away, but don’t price them like you are a mature Artist who has had a long career, she has paid her dues and deserves the prices she gets. No matter how talented you are, how gifted you are, if you are unknown, then you are unknown. So getting known is the most important thing you can do, do not look to a Gallery or dealer to do this for you, because they are an endangered species, now because of the internet it is up to you. Artists must learn the necessary skills to be successful in thi...

Anyone can be wise in hindsight, that is not very difficult to do, but to have the ability to anticipate what may go wrong in the future and avoid it is what we need to learn to do. Yes we learn from the mistakes of the past and hopefully we do not repeat them so that we can go forward and avoid past mistakes. Likewise we should also anticipate problems we may face in the future and do all we can to avoid them. Preventing failure usually carries little risk so avoid mistakes that will stop your success. By choice learn the skills that will speed up your success and give you the ability to avoid future mistakes. So what are the skills you will need?

The lazy person makes little effort to get anything out of their work and though t he y love to live well they put little work into the opportunit ies before them.   The lazy Artist does not make good use of the advantages that their gift puts in their way, th e y desire sales , but they do not want to do anything to learn about selling , so they do not grow. T he y desire to be rich and famous , but choose not to use the ir gift well , t he y are unwilling to be diligent and industrious to do what it takes to reach their dreams and they will be the first to complain about how unfair it all is. The wise and diligent Artist understands the Art market that she is in because she has persevered and worked hard for years and years in that market and she has built her reputation as a good and reliable Artist. The talent of a diligent Artist might not be great, but it does good to h er because she puts her all into it. A n Artist who has great talent...

In the Art Business you must pay your dues, it takes time and there are no shortcuts. Of course we have all heard of that one person who has made the big time with seemingly little effort but that is not the normal, the normal is that it takes years of hard work and dedication to become a success. You must do the time to learn your trade, like any profession you have to start at the beginning and build your reputation, that means getting the attention of strangers and getting known by strangers. Now I truly believe that every Artist can have some success, I believe that every Artist can earn a living from their Art, but it is not easy, it is hard. Like any small business you have to survive, grow and build your business and that will mean learning new skills as well as painting wonderful original Art works. You must do the group shows, the competitions, the Art Fairs and anything else you can do to get your Art in front of strangers and mostly it is up to you and you a...

I really encourage all Artists to feed your brain, for out of it comes great ideas, clarity of thought, inspiration, imagination and these are the requirements that you need to build a dynamic Art business. Read books, watch thought provoking lectures and tutorials, listen to audio books, fill your mind with positive input that will inspire you and cause you to grow as an Artist and a person. When you read, watch a movie, hear a wonderful song, listen to a tutorial, take notes, always be looking for lines and ideas, thoughts that you can use in describing and story telling your paintings. Sometimes you will be talking to someone and they will say something that you think, I can use that, write it down. If you don’t write it down you will lose it. Get a note book so you can write down ideas and thoughts that jump into your mind, I do not trust my memory so I always take notes and it amazes me as I read back over my journals from years ago how thoughts and ideas I wrote d...

Bring value to the market place. Be valuable to the market place. Every painting has value, but every painting is not valuable. Value is not just in the painting, because your skill, your personality adds to value of the painting. If you take a Picasso painting and remove the signature it becomes worthless, but because of the signature it is of great value. Yes there is value in the painting but because Picasso did it, it becomes very valuable. So for us in the beginning of our Art careers it is our paintings that are valued at so much but as your fame and influence grows, that same painting now gets more valuable because you did it and who you are becoming as an Artist. So one key to seeing your prices rise is or you the Artist to become more valuable to the market place and you will do that by getting the attention of strangers. Value for the Artist is created through being friendly and an approachable person, marketing your paintings through doing videos, blog...

I know people who want to paint, but will never do it. So many people want to do things that their heart desires but are stopped by fear and ask themselves, “ What if it does not work out?” “ What if it all goes wrong?” The “thief” will use any excuse to stop you from achieving the desires of your heart, exploring your inner genius. For the one who wants to paint the “thief” will say, “wait you need more time, your not ready yet,” the thief wants safe, but often safe is the most unsafe place you can be in. Safe people hiding from what they truly want to do are not safe at all and are often consumed with problems both real and imagined because they are not realising their dreams. They focus on why they can’t do it rather than focus on why they can do it What you focus on you see, focus on the negative and you will get negative outcomes. Focus on the positive and you will get positive outcomes. The internal battle is constant, every day, so every day you will...

Many Artists really want to believe that there is an easy way to success. But there is no easy way, otherwise everyone would be a successful selling Artist. The Art practice is about every day consistency. Doing it again and doing it better. If your desire is always to do it better, then you will improve and y ou don’t have to improve a lot, just a little bit each day. Most people want big changes, but mostly they are not positive so work against the odds and start consistently improving a little each day and o ver a period of time this will change your life and your A rt practice for the better. I want you to get to the top of the Art mountain, but I do not want you to do it all in one day, that would be impossible, so do it one step at a time each day and learn well the lessons of each day. Consistent small improvement s are sustainable, but huge momentous improvements are not. Each day systematically do it again and do it better.

When I spoke about how crowded the Art market was some people got back to me and felt that it would be impossible to make it as a selling Artist, but I disagree. The best thing about a crowded Art market is that most Artists are trying to fit in, not trying to stand out. If you try to fit in you will be invisible and just part of the crowd. So stand out and do what will get you attention. Strangers are the ones who will buy your Art but if they cannot find you then you will always be unknown, so get the attention of strangers because they are the key to your Artistic success. You can fit in or stand out. One is very easy to do, the other takes hard work.

Artist always be positive and encouraging to others, be a ladder so that people can climb back to a positive place through your Art, your life and your words. Actions always speak louder than words, be the one to help other Artists to get the skills they need to improve, both in their Art work and themselves. Never be the one to criticise, it does not help people get better at their Art it pulls them down and hurts, so many Artists speak to me about getting severely criticised as a young struggling Artists and it set them back years having to deal with insecurity and fear of future criticism, some walked away from Art completely. So lets be very careful with our words always be ready to have a kind, helpful word to say. Speak to others as you would like to be spoken to. Teach others as you would like to be taught. Help others as you would like to be helped. Care about others as you would like them to care for you. See if we always treat other people how we want ...

Dreams are your promised land, your goals before the miracle of work turns them into reality and you live them. If hard work alone was the key to great success and wealth then labourers who dig holes would be the richest people in the world but they are not. It’s like in the creation story, God takes 6 days to create the world and then rests, now whether you believe in this or not is not important but the lesson here is.  God had a great idea of creating the world and had to work 6 days to make it happen. The key is three fold, having a great idea of creating something and then the self belief to go for it and the determination to make it happen through hard work. How do I know it was hard work? God had to rest on the seventh day, now he was God and needed rest, so it must have been hard work. Now if it takes God six days to create the world and he is God it will certainly take you and I some time to make our big Art idea a reality so patience will be needed. God worked and the ...

I had someone challenge me about something I said about the Art business. They were very strong in their opinion so I listened and waited until they finished. I asked if they were an Artist, they said no. I asked if they had anything to do with the Art business in any way and they said no. I asked how they could have such strong opinions about something they knew nothing about? They looked at me and said, they were talking to some other people about my work and they had all agreed that I was wrong. There is a great lesson here, they had never read my blogs, watched my videos or heard me speak, yet they had strong opinions about me? You cannot argue with these people, it is best to say very little to people with uninformed strong opinions, because like zealots they will revert to anger very quickly to prove their point. When anger comes, reason leaves. Before we speak to correct or criticise anyone, lets make sure we are fully informed about what we are going t...

An Artist with a lap top and a camera can reach potentially millions of people every day on the internet, something that was unheard of 20 years ago and they are now more in control of their destiny than ever before. The Artist can now decide where they will show their work and where they will sell it because the middle man has been cut out and now the Artist because of the internet can sell direct to the collector without the need of a Gallery or dealer. W e live in a time where the unknown Artist has a better chance of selling their Art than ever before and that is because of the Internet and that is good for the Artist and the Art business. With this new opportunity also comes a greater responsibility for the Artist to get their name out there and that will mean a lot more work. Also today we live in a very crowded Art market so every Artist is going to have to work hard to get attention and get known and that’s a wonderful opportunity and challenge to be creative and innovate wi...

Getting great ideas on how to market your Art is not the issue we all have good ideas, the big challenge for many Artists is the hard work needed to make the ideas reality.. Otherwise they are just good intentions. We need good ideas on how to get the attention of the public this is our main concern because we need strangers to buy our work and if they do not know who we are they cannot buy from us. Getting your name and Art work in front of strangers is your priority. How will you do that? Gallery, dealer, social media, competitions, group shows, malls, markets, on the street? We need to get the attention of strangers, so go where the strangers are. It will take time and hard work to get the attention of strangers but you must persevere at this because without strangers buying your Art you have no business.. Ideas plus action produces results. What could you do more in your promotion of yourself and your Art work that would make a difference to your Art busin...

I am glad that this question asked the best way. I really wish there was an easy step by step answer here but there is not , there is no map you are going to have be trailblazer and do it. Y ou will have to p ay your dues, so be patient , work very hard and build your reputation and consistently produce a wonderful body original Art work that defines you as an Artist . It is doing all the things that I talk about that are hard to do u nderstand that you will need to put a lot of you time into promoting yourself and getting attention on social media, localised media, competitions, group shows and solo shows as well as learn new skills, selling, marketing, speaking in public P atien ce , resolve and a deep sense of self belief are necessary because if you want to be the best and stand out from the crowd, then you will be criticised and shunned by the crowd, unfortunately jealousy and envy is very real in our business. Lastly, enjoy each moment of creating and do not...

If I think about what I have to do, it scares me so much, but if I ignore it and hope it goes away then I live in denial. If I act the moment I think it’s a good idea, there is a greater chance of success than if I wait and allow fear to sabotage my efforts. The greatest battle I face each day is not with other people it is the battle in my mind, the thief and the critic. The thief wants to keep me safe and quiet, the critic wants to keep me from being humiliated, yet what they both do is sabotage my efforts to change and keep me invisible. If I am to bring change into my world, I will have to silence the critic and overcome the thief. Fear and the internal critic will destroy your creativity, work hard to stop them. Silence the critic. Panic the thief.

“ Mark... when you are getting great feed back on how wonderful your work is... how do you turn this into a sale?” If someone is telling you how wonderful your Art work is they are giving you permission to take the conversation further so talk more about your work and especially the piece that they are admiring. In Galeria de las Islas if someone was admiring a painting and saying nice things I would chat with them and if they continue to say how good it is I would then ask them where they would hang the painting in their home if they owned it. Because if they will tell me that, they are now in their mind beginning to own the painting and imagining what it would look like in their home. I would continue to chat and then ask them if they would like me to have the painting bubble wrapped and how would they like to pay for the Art work. I believe you need to ask for the sale, but sometimes people will just say that they love the painting and will take it and y...