UG2BK - Are there trends and differences in international markets?

 

UG2BK
16" x 12" Deep Wrap Canvas
Ready to Hang




I recently read this article on Artfinder. Food for thought!

"Are you ready for this? Brits prefer animals to people!

That's right - in 2015 overall, a Brit was 26% more likely to buy from the Animals and Birds category than an American, and this trend increased towards Christmas when the Brits were a huge 46% more likely to buy animals than Americans.

By contrast, Americans were 33% more likely to buy from People and Portraits, increasing to 60% towards the Holidays. Clearly this is not only a personal preference, but also a preference we think (rightly or wrongly!) that our loved ones have too.

However, the most popular category for both, and also globally, was Landscapes, Sea and Sky, which attracted 26% of all buyers in the US, and 25% of all buyers in the UK. But abstracts were also popular, attracting 18% of the UK audience, and 19% of the US audience.

We know that it’s dangerous to generalise, but for the first time we have plenty of reliable data to support this line of research, and as Artfinder purchase choices are not influenced by international curators and gallerists but rather by personal taste among our members, they are more likely to reflect cultural differences."

SUMMER BREEZE
24" x 36" Deep Wrap Canvas
Ready to Hang



Now I can certainly confer that Landscapes, Sea and Sky are the most popular of my paintings. My schedule this year has been particularly focused on this genre for my Skyway/Airport venue and repeated requests from Ritchcraft Gallery, which is in a top tourist area. I even met someone yesterday who was interested in commissioning a large landscape/lake painting.

My pet portraits have always been bread and butter for me and even if my animal and bird paintings don't sell immediately they get heaps of views on my websites from the moment I post them. So Animals and Birds are certainly at the top of my painting schedule, even if I don't have a commissioned pet portrait on the easel.

People and Portraits - Well, I don't do many figurative works, but they do sell fairly well when I do. Nudes are not popular, but generic figures do quite well, particularly figures with scenes.

The shocker for me is that abstracts sell equally well in the USA and UK and it's a high percentage of total sales. I have never done well locally with abstracts and my long term website, Daily Paintworks has never sold one even though they have been given awards. We have many excellent and popular abstract artists in my locale, so there is hefty competition. Ritchcraft Gallery doesn't have a good market for abstracts. And I can account for lack of abstract sales on Daily Paintworks because the platform is focused on small paintings, but I really think abstracts need a large canvas. However, I have always held the belief that abstracts are not popular in the USA. I was obviously wrong. I do intend adding more abstract and conceptual work as well as sculpture to my Artfinder shop, but I've been swamped this year and unable to find time to image and post them. Stay tuned!

MONCHO MEXICAN BANDIT

MONCHO
by Sea Dean
16" x 12" Wrap Canvas
Acrylic
NFS

My nephew was one of those kids that always brought home strays. Actually he still does, but he's a busy 24 year old now. One day when he was still a small boy he brought home a stray he found in a garbage bin. After a bit of persuading, Moncho became part of the family. He was one of those great dogs that loved everyone and was always willing to join in.

Moncho, therefore, was my nephew's childhood dog. The kids played with him like a living doll and he never complained. When they dressed up, Moncho had to be dressed too and he was a good sport. This painting is from a photo of Moncho on one of those occasions.
 
Eventually Moncho aged and succumbed to illness. He left the family at a ripe old age and his presence on the patio is still missed.

I love painting large portraits of pets, from the owner's photos, so contact me to reserve a spot for your favorite pal.

PEPSI PORTRAIT SOLD COMMISSION

PEPSI PORTRAIT
16" x 12" Deep Gallery Wrap
Commission
SOLD

No, you're not seeing double. I finished a portrait of Pepsi a couple of weeks ago which was for a 21st birthday gift. I'm told that the portrait was an "Enormous Hit!" with the entire family. I promptly received a commission for another closeup portrait and possibly another more impressionistic one in a tall format.

I started the elongated version a week ago and took it to work on at a show. A couple of people were really interested in buying it unfinished and the owner loves it, but I still need to do some tweaking. Today I was going to work on PEPSI TWO, but armed with a brand new canvas I couldn't resist starting on the closeup. This also needs a couple of small tweaks, but it's almost done, so PEPSI PORTRAIT is my painting for today.

This collection of portraits is using the same photo but I needed to make them look different to each other which is quite challenging. Below is the first version with the beautiful rock and impressionist flowers. In the closeup I have changed the colouring slightly, although it still looks very blue in this image. The other one I will show in a day or so, but it is very different.

I heard somewhere once that an artists favourite painting is always the one they are working on at the time or the one they have just finished. This is certainly the case with PEPSI PORTRAIT.

I intend creating more portraits in the New Year, both pet and human, so if you have a favourite image of either, send it and I'll put it on the list.

UG2BK

UG2BK
By Sea Dean
Deep Gallery Wrap Canvas

This painting will soon be on the move to Artfinder.

It has thick impasto work and a wonderful sense of flow What looks orange is mostly a lovely copper iridescent paint. I love the combination of copper and the matt turquoise which reminds me of patinated copper. Like most of my abstracts it can be displayed either horizontally or vertically.


VIew my online Gallery of large works and Limited Editions at ARTFINDER
View my online Gallery of small works at DAILY PAINTWORKS
Shop for Limited Edition ACEO and printed products here
Art Cards $5 and Art Postcards $3 here

SIMPLE LARGE EASEL IDEA - Another painting on the move

Here is another painting moving to Artfinder. It is having a wonderful response so far.

PARADISE BEACH
by Sea Dean
6" x 12" Canvas Wrap

VIew my online Gallery of large works and Limited Editions at ARTFINDER
View my online Gallery of small works at DAILY PAINTWORKS
Shop for Limited Edition ACEO and printed products here
Art Cards $5 and Art Postcards $3 here


SIMPLE LARGE EASEL IDEA

Because we artists are usually tight for space, we are always looking for ways to simplify our studio. Today as I was reading about the work of Karen Hale on ARTSY SHARK FEED (see the article here), I was struck by her simple and practical easel. I'm working on room in my studio to paint larger pieces and this is a great way to save space because there are no tripod legs in the way. It looks to me as if it is a basic flat leg easel, but not using the back leg and leaning it against slats of wood at practical heights.

I also love wall easels, but they are quite expensive and if you live in rented accommodation, or don't want holes in your wall, they are not the best idea. My usual technique with large paintings is to push the dining room table up against the wall, cover wall and table in thin plastic table cloths attached with push pins and lean the painting against the wall. I especially chose a narrow dining room table with adjustable legs so that it wasn't too far to reach across or too high. It's not a practical solution for long periods of time though.

800th BLOG -"At the End of the Day" Oil painting CELEBRATION AUCTION

 

AT THE END OF THE DAY
by Sea Dean
16" x 12" Oil on Canvas Panel
click here for celebration auction starting at $88

View my online Gallery of originals here DAILY PAINTWORKS
Shop for Limited Edition ACEO here
Art Cards $5 and Art Postcards $3 here

My 800th Blog

It's hard to believe that 31 months ago I knew nothing about blogging and I timidly attempted my first daily painting and my first blog. I hadn't a clue what to do and found it all quite difficult, but like everything else I approached the research with gusto. 

There are so many things I still don't know, but I continue to learn and experiment and it has become an important part of my day. There is something very soothing about routine. They say it takes 14 days to create a habit, so I suppose that by now I'm well past the danger point. 

I think from a marketing point of view, it is better to blog less often, but I figure that those interested in me, and/or my work and my insights, will continue to receive the blog daily in their inbox. Others will glance at it occasionally via Twitter (@seadeanartist), my Sea Dean Paint a Masterpiece Facebook page, Google +, Networked Blogs or some other means.

So in celebration of the big 8, I'm auctioning off one of my rare oil paintings. 8 day auction starting at $88 and closing at 8pm PST.

This is larger than most of my daily works and took a lot longer than one day to complete. I was entranced by getting the look of the sandy beach just right, and the brightness of the sun peeping through the clouds. I will ship the painting to you unframed to save on your shipping costs. It is painted in oil on canvas panel and is ready to ship now. 

REF 0004 - At the End of the Day