Go With The Flow: Improving Compositions With The Traveling Eye

Introduction 

There’s a lot in nature’s moment that’s discordant, isn’t there? Nature isn’t always pretty. Like with movement, the body can achieve any number of odd poses within its limitations and not all of them are particularly artistically attractive. Likewise, coloration, patterns, and markings can end up with the wonkier end of the genetic luck of the draw, configuring into a look that’s not always appealing. Some of it just looks wrong, too, like someone made a big mistake in their sculpting or painting. But this is the nature of life with all the biology, physics, “organic chaos,” and emotion encapsulated in that discreet moment. So what's the takeaway here? Simply to take the good with the goofy and learn to appreciate both. Each spices up the other in a fun interplay of impressions that can add a lot of novelty and interest to our work if we know how to incorporate it well. And we learn to do this by first learning to See the moment in its entirety to glean effects and details that punch up our work with ever-more realism.

But hey...what’s a “moment” then? Well, it’s merely a split second of frozen time. Think of it as a snapshot. And a lot can happen in a moment! Movement, posture, expression, texture, physics, reaction, balancing and counterbalancing, environmental effects, and a host of other things happen that will make sculpture or painting even more fun and exciting! And moments definitely add that touch of energy, realism, and distinctiveness to any piece that will kick it up a notch in the best way. Indeed, to add moment to your work is to add life itself in its kaleidoscopic of possibilities. 

Yet there’s also the concept of “flow,” of how the eye “travels” over the sculpture being “pulled” around it as a function of its form or coloration. So what’s this “flow” and this “traveling eye” bit? Well, it’s how the eye is drawn from interest point to interest point over the piece and how all that marries together to create a cohesive, “flowing” effect. The idea here is the easy continuation of line, form, effect, detail, color, and negative space that pulls the eye around the piece in an active manner. This continuity engages the viewer more and increases the appeal of the sculpture or paintjob while also tying it all together. An astute application of traveling eye precepts can even manipulate attention towards or away from aspects of the piece as well. It’s rather clever engineering that, in the end, works to please the eye by showcasing the piece best and increasing its impact. The more cohesive and flowing a piece is then, the more it tends to be deemed “attractive” or “well done.” Curiously however, if we mix a little oddness in there with flow, we can actually amplify things which will heighten the overall impression of realism and moment. Opposites can indeed magnify each other. The trick is knowing how to apply this well enough while still creating an appealing piece. 

Conversely though, a lack of flow usually produces a disjointed, awkward piece that visually interferes with itself. It can even turn the eye off entirely. So how do we avoid this? Luckily, there are some handy tricks at our disposal, so let’s talk about them! 

Shape Up 

Envisioning a shape and then designing your piece based on that shape is a useful method to develop flow. In essence, it establishes a governing “containment field” for the eye that guides our every creative decision. Such shapes could be a circle, square, triangle, trapezoid, or even an amorphous shape. The options are only limited by your own preferences and motivations for your sculpture or paintjob. 

However, the type of shape you choose can influence the whole feel of the work, another fascinating layer to our creative decisions. For instance, a triangle is a very dramatic shape and so works well to increase a sense of chaos or drama in the piece. Indeed, base any sculpture on a triangle and — bam — instant wild energy. On the other hand, a circle tends to instill a more controlled, intimate, introspective feel. That said, a square tends to heighten steadfast stability, pride, and strength whereas a trapezoid introduces a bit of chaos in that mix, throwing in some drama. Then put all that together, and an amorphous shape can be just about anything you want it to be. What’s the point here? When we design a sculpture, it’s fun to think beyond just what pose we want, but how we can help that pose along in the composition department. How will we design every aspect of it to forward its concept, appeal, or narrative? Because with the use of shape, we can add that enigmatic extra something, that touch of mood and energy that sits just below the radar, influencing our response. With shape we can also keep that eye moving around to draw the viewer in and keep them engaged. Templating with a shape then gifts us with a cool new way to think about what we do to explore new composition options. 

Line Up 

Similar to shape, the use of line is effective for activating the eye in the design. For instance, when the eye is drawn in straight lines, that tends to emphasize stability and rigidity while, in contrast, diagonal eye tracks really drive home the feeling of drama, tension, and energy, of activation. The use of line can also be applied with both the sculptural aspects and the painted elements, so have some fun with both. And by straight or diagonal lines, I don’t mean literally on the piece. For example, placing lighting strike tobiano markings on a moving piece can root in somehow and accentuate mass and steadiness while, conversely, slapping a curvaceous pinto pattern on that same piece can change it completely by intimating a rolling, pulsating and coiled feeling. 

For a case of diagonals, that very same piece can be painted a dark chestnut with a flaxen mane with a hindleg stocking. The eye is then pulled back and forth between the lightness of the mane and the sock, creating an activated, dramatic effect. 

Get Spacey 

The areas involving the holes and open spaces around your sculpture or the light and dark areas of your paintjob also act as impact and influence. For instance, in negative space, there exists a whole ‘nuther sculpture around your piece that can also be manipulated and cajoled into visual partnership. Like a billowing mane is nicely paired with a billowing tail, of course, but also by the negative space between the tail and haunches. Or the detailing in the face’s paintjob can be nicely complimented by some big, spacey cut-outs in the tail. It’s little touches and balances like that, using negative space, that can take a piece to the next level just under our noses. 

Strategy 

Using areas of detail and color can work to pull the eye around the piece to lend either cohesiveness and contrast. A splash of color here and there or a dollop of detail there and here really work wonders to tease the eye around the piece. 

Dapples and coat patterns can also be used effectively in this manner as can markings. For example, intensified dapples in strategic areas about the body can move the eye around and make an otherwise ordinary color more visually activated. Or, a star and hind sock will pull the eye diagonally across the piece between them. Then accentuate that with an uplifted mane and that eye is now traveling in a circle, point to point, between the visual stimuli. Similarly, a sock placed on a foot placed furthest under the body centers the eye. Now if that piece is positioned in a wild, flamboyant pose, that a contrast between chaos and centrality adds tension and more energy to the overall design. It’s the little creative decisions like these that can make our finished piece have a lot more impact, and in a way that isn’t so obvious. 

Hair is also an extremely effective means to pull the piece together and get that eye moving all over it. Why? Because depending on the physics of the moment, hair can be blown in all sorts of directions, directions we can manipulate to further the composition. Like if you refrain from designing such elements willy nilly, based on a whim, but plan them based on traveling eye theory, your work can benefit tremendously. Indeed, even one tuft of flicked mane can either become an annoying distraction or an instant point of interest for the eye, it’s that powerful. 

Tracking 

But don’t stop there! You can layer all these ideas together to really increase the complexity, intensity, and sophistication of the whole composition. Really, the more the eye is drawn from point to point, detail to detail, line to line, splash of color to splash of color, intensity to intensity, the more the eye participates in the piece. If you can apply all this in a way that keeps the eye “within” the confines of your composition, you’ll have achieved your goal. 

See, many people don’t often know quite what appeals to them about a sculpture or paintjob, they just can’t put their finger on why they love it so much. Well, more often than not, it’s the subtle manipulation of their eye with sophisticated design engineering that opened the door. See, the eye wants to be activated and so it tends to gravitate towards those pieces that engage it best. 

Just The Ticket 

Even so, life doesn’t care what’s appealing artistically, does it? Truly, some of what life throws at us can look downright wonky! That being the case, we are realism artists, aren’t we? And that wonkiness is as much a part of real life as anything else. As such, some of this oddness can be really cool to translate into sculpture or pigment, working well to infuse a clinical realism into our finished piece. Really, sometimes it’s that touch of the odd that's exactly what’s needed to take realism to the next level! 

Nonetheless, we still need to account for flow because it’s art we’re talking, right? Not real life? Can that introduce a bit of a difference? It can. It’s your judgment here that decides how far to take this infusion, but just know it’s a powerful touch. Go out of balance just a little bit and we can tip it into distraction rather than delight. Get that balance right though and that touch of oddity can be just the ticket to make your piece much more believable, novel, and realistic. So when you practice field study or study references, be sure to also look for what’s odd, too, what’s wonky. It’s there, just waiting to be noticed and possibly used to your best effect. 

From Fabulous To Faceplant 

Traveling eye design is so powerful, in fact, that while it can add the final perfect touches to a piece, it can also be the touch that makes it faceplant. 

Let’s say you’ve created a galloping mare in the extended phase of the gallop, designing her to accentuate a sense of speed and energy, and painted her a shaded dark bay. Yet you’ve neglected to tone down that orange splash of color on her hip and now the eye is continually drawn to it, away from the rest of her. It’s become an unchallenged focal point. As such, you either need to tone that area down or better yet, add more focal points in the paintjob to counterbalance that area. 

Or say you’ve created a dynamic and romantic piece based on a circle. Yet that hindleg is placed a bit too straight down, becoming a visual distraction that stops the eye, creating a visual annoyance that "plants" the sculpture and sucks out its flowing energy. But if we angle that hindleg just a bit or bend it a snidge, that effect is erased and we've restored its energy, its flow. The change doesn't have to be extreme. Often it's just a little touch that solves the issue.

See, the thing is that the whole piece should work fluidly as a whole so the eye doesn’t get stuck anywhere on it or shoot out of the composition. Absolutely, every little element works together to create a whole complementary impression. That's to say, these touches are cumulative and synergistic, so keep that in mind as you go. A change here may necessitate a change there so stay open to the piece's impression as a whole even as you make adjustments.

Conclusion 

The eye likes to be teased, seduced, played with, and invited to participate in art. It wants to be engaged. So give it something to do! It’s the use of flow that activates the eye and so heightens the whole impact of your sculpture or paintjob, further augmenting its appeal and connection with the viewer. In this way, flow is a handy tool in your arsenal of tricks as well providing some fun for you to play with in composition and design. So have fun discovering its many secrets and enticements! Go with the flow and you can quickly take your work to the next level in a powerful and clever way! 

“The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.” 

— Kakuzo Okakura

A Fanfare Of Fun: Tips For Creating A Convincing Foal

Introduction

Sculpting or painting a foal is simply artistic play time! They are just so fun to create! Their novel build and foalish coloration simply lend themselves to some fresh creative shenanigans. But foals can be tricky because we can't simply shrink down an adult body to foal-size or paint them like an adult and expect our finished piece to be convincing. Foals aren’t miniaturized versions of their parents. Just like we can’t scale down a human adult to look like a baby, we can’t scale up a human baby look like an adult. Foals have their own infant morphology and coloration. Their skeletons are immature, their bulk underdeveloped, and their proportions, their hooves, and sometimes their alignments are different as well. Their coat textures can be different as can their pigmentation. So while a foal sculpture may be cute, if it’s not foal-ish, it’s not as effective as it could have been in the realism department. So in this exploration, let’s discuss some of the qualities we can infuse into our clay or pigment to make a more convincing foal.

Bag o’ Bones

Newborn foals are basically skin and bone until they gain significant muscle mass and fat, which is generally around as late as three months. That's why photos of newborns are so valuable as anatomy references since all their boniness, muscle groups, and sinewy structures are rather more clear not being so masked by fat or fleshiness yet. Indeed, some foals can look so boney as to appear starved but they’re actually just fine. Really, a young foal usually isn’t chubby or rounded like a human baby, but relatively angular and gawky like a little Jack Skellington.

Note in particular the protruding points of shoulder paired with a concave, narrow chest, the angularity and narrowness of the pelvic girdle plus the boney and sinewy overall appearance of the body, legs, and joint structures. In this way, a youngster can be an interesting study of underdevelopment and inherent structure which can be a fascinating challenge for sculpture.

Jumbo Joints

Foals also possess legs they “have to grow into” and so often have large joints compared to their size. In particular, their knees, hocks, and fetlocks can be comparatively large and can even give the impression of being knock-kneed or wobbly. They just have to grow into their skeletons, so as they age, this proportional relationship will even out.

   

Wibbly Wobbly

Sometimes foals will have a slight "over at the knee" foreleg or bit too-sloping pasterns or appear to be "splayed" behind, "stand under" in the rear or have slight "sickle hocks.” This is all perfectly natural in the under one month crowd and especially in newborns since the tendons and ligaments haven't stretched or strengthened quite up to par yet and the bones and joints are still immature. As long as the conditions aren’t extreme, it's okay in those really young ones. So just keep in mind that youngsters aren't always picture perfect when it comes to conformational alignments. They have plenty of growing to do!

Stilts

Foals are born with the cannon length they’ll more or less have as an adult, so foal leg proportions are different from that of an adult. This means a foal will often appear to have relatively shorter forearms and gaskins with long cannons and often long pasterns, which is perfectly normal. Indeed, foals often look rather leggy and “tall,” don’t they? Using good reference photos of the age you’re depicting is a great way to stay on target with proportions.

Gawky Gaits

Between their immature skeleton with undeveloped joints and muscle strength, and having to learn coordination and balance over time, a foal’s gaits can appear a bit wobbly and uncoordinated. A little bit out of control. This is perfectly normal and a fun touch to add to your sculptures depicting motion.

Teensy Feets

Foals have comparatively smaller, daintier hooves and often with more upright lateral walls. Also lateral cartilages aren't quite so developed or distinct as with adults. In foals younger that three days, all four feet will be about the same shape, but after that, physical forces start to reshape the feet into the characteristic round forefoot and the pointed hindfoot structure. In newborns to about five days, foal hooves also have what’s called “slippers,” or fleshy tendrils protruding from the bottom of the sole that protect the mare during pregnancy and birth. They dry up and fall off eventually.

Bitty Back

Proportionally, a foal has a shorter back than an adult, heightening the look of their legginess, often making them look “all leg.” This is because the length of the spine has the last growth plates to close, taking up to six years to mature. Also note that breed-ideal topline often isn't developed yet in the very young, only starting to become apparent as the spine ages and as their muscles fill in.

But this, combined with the long legs, gives a foal a tall appearance, or a more upright rectangular body "box" rather than a square or length-wise rectangular body “box" of an adult. As such, it's adorable to watch a foal gallop because their legs are all over the place, over-reaching each other like a greyhound.

No Neck

Foals often have comparatively shorter necks in relation to their body, which is to be expected since their spine is immature. So there’s no reason to panic if a foal has a really “short” neck…just wait for that spinal growth to happen later in life.

Softened Features

Foal heads aren't simply shrunken adult heads or adult heads made daintier or more boney, but have an infant structure all their own. For starters, the boney structures of the head aren't so developed and so aren’t so protruding or pronounced as an adult, but are more rounded, softened, and subdued. Likewise, the overall head shape is typically more rectangular rather than wedged-shaped or large jowled, when seen from the side, and with a broader, rounded forehead. In addition, the muzzle is smaller, daintier, more rounded and "gooshier" than on the adult, often with a nonexistent chin, leaving just a pouty lower lip (or the chin is a little knob instead). However, a breed-specific profile is usually present such as on an Arabian or an Iberian or Kladruber foal.

Use lots of reference photos when creating a foal head since their structure is so different from that of an adult. You simply can't adapt one from the other. Foal heads are their own “thing.”

Dumbo

Ears on foals are usually proportionally larger because they have to “grow into them” for the most part. But keep in mind this doesn't always apply. For instance, many pony foals can have small ears from the get go like with Shetlands.

Fuzzballs

Foals tend to be fuzzy, often being quite so, only appearing slick and show-coated from clipping or from shedding their foal coat. A foal's fuzzy coat is also often downy and soft, not usually like an adult’s more wiry winter coat.

Foal Coloration

Foal colors are a realm all of their own, sometimes quite unlike their future adult color. Waiting to determine the foal’s adult color is best done then after the foal coat has shed because as a general tendency, a foal coat is paler than or even skewed from their adult color. The exception to this is "champagne" which is often born darker to lighten with age or a grey color which is usually born dark to grey out with age. Other colors such as dilutes, silver dapples, duns, grullas and the like may not become fully apparent until after the foal has matured a bit more. Indeed, it can be easy to confuse some of these colors with each other with a foal since they can share some similarities. As for black, it’s typically a soft charcoal or a silvery grey rather than jet black. Nevertheless, the pangaré pattern often shows up a lot in foal colors, especially in bays and chestnuts.

In addition, the appearance of the coat color is often more “pastel,” or softened by fluff, so not as clear or brightly hued as the adult coat. So think about adding a dab of Titanium White, French Grey, Unbleached Titanium, or similar tinting agent to your foal colors to soften and buff them. Plus, the points are often pale with the darkest points usually appearing on the bony parts of the joints. 

Occasionally white foals are born for various reasons and, obviously, double-dilutes exist, but dapple grey is a progressive pattern and so foals don’t tend to be born dapple grey. Instead, a foal destined to grey out will often have white or grey hairs around the eyes (“goggles”), muzzle, within the ears and at the dock of the tail or even grey hairs ticked throughout their coat. Also, a dark-headed roan usually progressively develops to become more pronounced with age rather than being blatantly roan from birth. In other words, a dark-headed roan isn't often seen on foals (though sometimes it can be) and may not be so obvious until the foal coat is shed. The same can be said for many appaloosa patterns which develop over time in adulthood. For instance, varnish roan is a progressive pattern and takes some years to show up.

Depending on the oddities of the color itself and the individual, a foal may also have a high degree of coat contrast (example: pangaré bay or pangaré chestnut) or a more monochromatic coat color (example: cremello, isabella, palomino). So whether a foal model is very shaded or not is certainly okay since real foals have a vast degree of coat color peculiarities. Point is, as the foal ages, the coat color progressively blooms in clarity and tone into the adult coat so keep in mind the age of the foal model when considering coat color. That being the case, be sure to use good references photos of a foal of the correct age and color you intend to paint before assuming anything.

Also, dappling on natural foal coats is rather rare as dapples pop-up on seasonal coats, or slicked-out coats, or are characteristics of a progressive pattern. Even so, older yearlings may sometimes have a bit of dappling if their coats are show-clipped and sheened up.

The eyes of some foals can have a grayish cast to them that disappears within six months or so to become their adult brown. But their blueish-greyish eyes aren’t like those of adult blue eyes. It’s more like a light blue with a grey tint. 

 

Mona Lisa

Foals often don’t have down-turned corners to their mouths like an adult might. It can happen, but as a generality, they tend to be straight or even turned slightly upward into a subtle smile. It’s a nice touch to add to your foal sculpture.

Outties

The newborn still retains a knob of the umbilical cord for about ten days to two weeks after birth until it dries up and falls off. Be sure to place it correctly on the belly, roughly about two-thirds back from the elbow along the "seam" of the belly. It's a neat realistic touch to add to newborns.

Caveats

Always keep in mind that foals vary in structure and appearance according to their breed or body type. Really, there’s a huge difference between a Clydesdale foal and a Saddlebred foal, a Cob foal and a Hackney foal, a Warmblood foal and a Marwari foal, and a QH foal and an Arabian foal. So even though they're all foals, breed type or body type factor into their structure pretty early on. So always use good reference photos of the breed of foal you're intending in order to create an accurate sculpture.

 

Furthermore, foals go through a huge degree of change as they grow, like human babies to adults. As such, they grow in spurts with different parts developing at different rates, thus, foals grow into and out of “balance” many times before reaching adulthood. And as the foal ages into weanlinghood and beyond, special peculiarities often crop up, perfect examples being "rump-high" in those one year-olds with two and three-year olds commonly being longer than tall in the body. But by the time the critter has matured, these imbalances should have evened out into their adult proportions and angles. Also remember that a young growing horse should look a bit gawky and immature. Really, it’s typically the weedy two or three-year old that matures nicely while the mature-looking two or three-year old that can coarsen with age. So not only focus on the breed or body type and color of the foal you desire to produce, but the specific age you decide to depict. A two month old foal is radically different from a seven month old foal from a two year old colt or filly, for instance.

Keep in mind, too, that the gonads on colts drop over time, generally starting around the fifth month. It may be gradual or...whomp...they're they are! And they're usually small, not large and dangling like the stallion. So up until that general five month point, the area behind the sheath is usually a gooey patch of skin that may be flat or slightly rounded. The point is there are typically no obvious gonads on a young foal.

Conclusion

Foals don’t often get enough street credit in our art form, and it’s hard to explain why. I’ve never understood it myself. Often overlooked or not given the fame their adult counterparts enjoy, foals have to work a little harder just to get noticed. Which is strange, I think. Really, a great foal sculpture or foal paint job is a true wonder of equine art! Foals are by no means easy to portray in form or pigment and as such, stand as a true test of an artist’s skills. Indeed, if an artist can pull off a convincing, accurate foal, you know they’re paying attention. Why? Because they clearly understand their anatomy and biomechanics as well as giving foal morphology and infant peculiarities their due care. They understand the assignment.

Yet perhaps the biggest takeaway is to always work from a series of good reference photos of the age, breed or body type, and foal color you wish to portray to stay on track. When we become adept enough though, we can better gauge such things for ourselves with a bit more freedom. Nevertheless, a pile of great references is always a great go-to to ferret out details and esoteric options that keep our body of work engaging and our foals truly believable.

Above all, however, have fun! Foals are such a thrill to create given you create them on their own terms. You can also have a lot of expressive fun with them as foals are often curious, rambunctious, and full of the zest of life. In short, have fun expressing their "kid-ness"! It's a refreshing, creative experience that I thoroughly recommend for any equine artist. So until next time....get immature!

"So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us."

~ Gaston Bachelard

Finding Your Fingerprint: Artist Branding

Introduction

Your unique visual image, that lasting aesthetic impression people use to recognize your studio, is as important today as your good work. Make no mistake, that unique package of elements that identify you and how you employ them can spell the difference between a winner and an almost ran when it comes to a robust industry presence. What am I talking about? I’m talking about artist branding, that identifying visual fingerprint you leave in the minds of every person you encounter. Indeed, your branding should be consistent across all your marketing materials, in all your packaging, your swag, and your online presence (like your website or storefront, blog or social media), even right down to your promotional merch. The truth is that artists with a strong branded presence simply leave a more lasting impression and that translates into more trust, more authority, and more recognizability. All of which can turn into more collectors of your work. See, the thing is, selling art has changed over the decades with the advent of the Net. Today art commerce has shifted towards online sales with online galleries, email marketing (newsletters), social media direct sales, the surfing of private collectors, and the use of art consultants. That means each artist must stand out amongst the sea of other artists out there in the big, wide world to get noticed and attract interest. That’s precisely where artist branding comes in. 

So, let’s talk about artist branding and how to deploy it to improve the visibility of your unique identity and artistic vision. Because without a doubt, a solid brand strategy can be a most effective tool for a successful working studio!

What’s In A Brand?

But what is artist branding exactly? Well, it’s basically the strategic selling of yourself as an artist and as a person. A solid artistic brand is a cohesive and consistent representation of who you are and what your stand for as an artist. In turn, good artistic branding has three benefits: 

1. It separates you from other artists by creating a unique aesthetic that elevates your artistic identity.

2. It helps you bond with your target audience much better.

3. It helps to attract those people who are predisposed to collect your work.

Standing out in the sea of others out there and targeting your intended audience are the quickest ways to success. See, highly focused, niche marketing is where it’s at nowadays with mass marketing going more the way of the dodo when it comes to selling art. Why? Well, for starters, niche marketing targets people who are predisposed to do business with you. If you appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one, right? Find your people! Find those people predisposed to buy your work or who can open doors for you. Indeed, the more focused you are, the easier it is to find and target these folks which also saves time and resources to boot. (On that note, it might be of interest to you that millennials are the fastest growing segment of art collectors today!) 

What’s more, people buy art when they feel an emotional connection to you, the artist, not just because they like the art itself. Honestly, there’s plenty of great art out there, but no one has your unique take, your novelty of vision and style. That’s yours alone! And no one else’s work has that unique component that is you! In fact, when you sell your work, you aren’t really selling your art. What you’re really selling is you! When people buy your work, they’re physically bringing a part of you into their homes, into their everyday lives. Truly, every time they look at your piece, they’ll also think of you and that’s a crucial connection every artist should keenly understand. 

“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel,” says Maya Angelou. So, people will literally experience you through your art in their homes so make sure that experience is always positive and inspiring. And it’s branding that seeks to capture and package that quality into a visual language that makes you instantly recognizable and consistent in your message, what is known as a “brand voice.”

It should be noted that a “brand voice” also goes beyond simply your marketing visuals and materials. It encapsulates your personality, your style, your vision, and your philosophy, too. A well executed brand voice leans on a cohesive mood and an appealing visual design rather that wordage as well, constructing an infrastructure that identifies and elevates your work and you.

What are the goals of a good brand voice? Well, the components of a successful brand:

1. Establishes your core values and determine the guiding principles that inform your work and influence your artistic decisions.

2. Defines your artistic niche, your unique style, medium, and subject matter and what sets you apart from other artists in your field.

3. Develops a compelling brand story with a narrative about your artistic journey, values, and goals, making it easier for your target audience to connect with you.

4. Identifies your target audience so branding and marketing efforts can be tailored to appeal directly to them.

5. Embodies a visual identity that represents your brand, making it easier for your target audience to find and recognize you.

6. Are implemented in the real world across the board, on and offline.

7. Communicates your messaging consistently in your “voice,” i.e. personality.

The Ingredients

So what exactly constitutes “artistic branding”? Quite literally, branding entails your complete “face” you present to the world. It’s cohesive and consistent across the board and designed in a way that looks professional and polished. 

To start this process, begin first with a set of introspective questions. Be as specific and deep as you can be. Get to the heart of the matter, not just the surface details. Such questions could be:

• Who are you as a person? 
• What contributes to your art and artistic vision?
• What’s your artistic point of view?
• Why did you become an equine artist? Why do you make your art?
• What themes do you focus on and why?
• What processes and techniques do you use and why?
• What are your goals and aspirations as an artist?
• What inspires you?
• What’s your art about? What’s its calling? What are its overarching themes? What are you trying to say through it?
• What are some influences on your art?
• What are the guiding principles that inform your work and influence your Vision?
• What are you exploring, attempting, or challenging with your art?
• What does your art mean to you?
• What’s the main idea and approach to your Vision?
• What’s the nature of your Voice? How do you use it?

Once you’ve answered all these questions, and be pointed and precise, you can now write your artist statement. This is a key bit of insight that essentially distills everything you and your art are about into a focused, overarching mission objective. Overall then, it needs to be distinctive, unique, and effective as a concise, clear distillation of what it is you do with your art and what it’s all about. It should be no more than five short sentences tops and be free of punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors. It should sound warm and authentic, but also professional and authoritative at the same time. Above all, prove to people that you’re a real person, not an AI bot. Never, ever use “AI” to create an Artist Statement! Honestly, if you cannot be bothered to conjure up an effective Statement on your own, you simply aren’t worthy of being collected. Period. People need and want to know they’re connecting with a real person through your statement, it’s that important. Your statement speaks for you in the most personal, deepest way, so make sure that’s 100% you.

As for the writing style, your artist statement needs to be specific, written with economy, and to the point. It should also be written in the “active” voice so it’s impactful and engaging, so it seems like it’s happening right now rather than in the past. It should also be written in the first person, not as “the artist.” It should be authentic and honest, too, and try to capture your own speaking voice. Also sharpen the wording of your statement as much as possible by cramming as much meaning as you can into each word choice and avoiding repetition. Tone is also important as it should read as inspiring, intriguing, and novel. Likewise, it should never beg questions or be tone deaf in any way, a huge misstep when writing an artist statement. Like coming across as pompous and arrogant or boorish and bragging just isn’t a good look. Most of all though, your statement needs to avoid clichés and jargon. Clichés like “I just love horses” or “the beauty of horses inspires me” isn’t enough. We already know that’s a given! What’s more distinctive about your inspirations and drives? What’s more personal and meaningful than that? Likewise, it’s easy to use academic, flowery language in our statement, but instead opt for simplicity and to-the-point wordage to get people engaged. Think of it as an elevator pitch rather than a novel, a teaser rather than a full explanation. For example, here’s my artist statement, 

“I seek to explore the inner life of an individual soul resonating within the living moment so that I can convey this gracious creature with sensitivity, insight, and kinship. The story from the animal’s point of view is what captivates me and compels my hands to shape the clay.”

Your artist statement is your opportunity to really speak for your art with a clear, authentic voice, so make good use of it. Once you’ve created one then, consider putting it onto your website like on an “about” page or even the homepage if warranted. Think about including it in your swag and certain promotional materials, too.

The Brass Tacks

So now that you’ve got those questions answered and your artist statement completed, you should have a clear idea of what you and your art are all about in terms of its essence, its gist, and its mission. With this then, you’ll be able to tease out its unique branded voice with a lot more clarity and confidence. You can now compile your visuals, those elements that establish the distinctive, identifying “look” of your comprehensive branding. Specifically, then, these visual elements are:

Logo: The logo is the basic currency of your brand that helps your brand stand out with current and future collectors. It’s important to design a distinctive, totally unique, stylish, clean and effective logo for your studio that can be used across the board and scaled up and down cleanly. If you cannot design one yourself, hire someone who can, it’s that important. Your logo will become your primary visual identifier of your studio; when people see it, they should immediately know it’s you. Think of the Starbucks logo or the Nike logo. You instantly know who the company is simply by the image, right? So, the logo can be a symbol, something visual and immediately unique and recognizable. Or it can be your distinctive signature, ideally the signature you apply to your finished works. Your logo could even combine a symbol and your distinctive signature as a third option. And lastly, you can make a tile out of one of your iconic works and turn that into your logo. Ultimately then, use your logo everywhere, on all your marketing materials, swag, merch…wherever you are, so should be your logo, too. See, people tend to be visual; visuals stick with people more than words which make logos such powerful identifiers.

Color Palette: Choose a complementary palette of standard colors that you’ll use on your website, blog, swag, social media, email marketing, etc. Your colors should be distinctive and harmonious, but also instantly recognizable as your studio. Don’t go too bananas here…a palette of say two-four colors is fine. These colors should speak to your Vision, speak in a visual language that embodies who you are and what your studio is about. I know that sounds a bit highbrow, but which colors you choose are key. Above all, the colors you choose should never distract from the work you’re featuring but complement it, showcase it, “frame” it to its best advantage in a polished, professional way. For example, I’ve chosen a light sage green as my primary color with turquoise or teal as a secondary complementary color and with purple or black font.

Fonts: Choose standard fonts for your studio name, your verbiage, and your tagline. These fonts should be cohesive and complementary together and be consistent across the board. They should also be versatile, able to be configured in multiple ways to be adaptable in multiple formats and designs. They should also speak to your specialness, your distinctiveness as an artist, and what your work is about. Choose fonts that are unique, but also easily read and scale up and down well, staying readable. Then once you’ve chosen your fonts, lock them in across the board on all your materials and marketing. So how does a font “speak” for us? Well, serif fonts can appear more traditional and classic whereas sans serif fonts look more modern and sleeker. Then decorative fonts can really speak all over the map but are also highly identifiable, so pick them with care. For example, I use one decorative font for my studio name (Samurai), one modern font for my wordage body (Trebuchet or Ubuntu) and one decorative font for my tagline (Baka Too). As such, I like the edginess and distinctiveness of my chosen decorative fonts and the “relic,” “ancient,” or “elemental” feel they impart contrasted with the clean and modern feel of my wordage font. So, think about your core values, the nature of your unique artistic Vision, and the distinctiveness and message of your work and consider how all that can be conveyed through fonts alone. That’s how you pick your identifying fonts that speak for you.

Language: Think about the nature of the language you use. It should be concise, clear, free of punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors, and reflect who you are as a person and as an artist. Your language should be cohesive and unified across the board, too, and always be positive in tone. Said another way, the tone of your language, the words and phrasing you use, should speak for you beyond just what is being said. Your wordage should instill a sense of authority and respectability, of course, but also be warm enough to invite people to connect with you. So don’t be too clinical or highbrow, be yourself, just be your best self. But at the same time, also don’t be too casual as there should be a professional polish to all your promotional wordage as well. It’s a careful balance so always put thought into your word choice and tone in all your materials you present to the public. What’s more, don’t beg questions with your phrasing. For example, if you come across as putting down other work to elevate your own, you’re going to appear boorish. For instance, a typical fumble artists make is to say things like, “I only use archival mediums like oils for my work,” which of course implies that acrylics, pastels, and other media aren’t enduring, which is factually untrue and puts down the work of your colleagues. Stop and think about tone and implications of all your written materials before you release them into the world. Absolutely, a tone-deaf body of words can be a huge liability for you.

Tagline: Maybe you might also like to concoct a defining phrase, slogan, or “tagline” for your studio. It’s not necessary, but it can be a handy thing to have for your marketing promotion that can really convey your brand and mission with simply a pithy phrase. Basically, a tagline distills your entire artistic Vision and creative mission into a catchy phrase that becomes the defining blurb for your art and what it’s all about. As such, it should also instantly identify what you do with your art and who you are as an artist. For instance, I’ve chosen “Celebrating the Spirit of Equus” as my tagline because that defines exactly what I do with each piece I create. Put some goodly thought into this as it should be wholly distinctive to you and your vision. It should not be derivative or copy any other tagline out there. It should also speak for your art and reflect your brand’s personality and selling points. It should also be short and concise, memorable, clear, and authentic to you, so give it some good thought. 

For example, perhaps one of the most famous taglines is Nike’s “Just Do It.” There’s also McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It,” the Milk Council’s “Got Milk?,” DeBeer’s “A Diamond Is Forever,” and well, you get the picture. Literally by hearing just the tagline, you know what’s being talked about…that’s the goal. For example, here are some possibilities as inspiration, “Whispers of the Soul, Translated into Art,” “A Palette of Emotions, Painted to Perfection,” “Unleash the Power of Your Imagination,” “Where Perfection Meets Passion,” and on and on. Things like that. Once you’ve created yours then, it should appear with your logo and studio name wherever possible, so people come to associate it with you specifically.

Brand Identity: Your brand, across the board, needs to look like it all came from the same design philosophy. See, the trick with branding is that cohesiveness is the trick for being recognized. Simply put, the more consistent the “look” of your branding, the faster it’s going to become associated with you. Whatever it is you put out there then, it should still be recognizable as coming from you. So be mindful not to deviate from your core materials which is all the more reason why they need so much thought and care because they are your overarching theme for all your future promotions.

Finding Your Focus

Okay then…we know our brand mission and have all our materials compiled, polished up, and ready for deployment. So now what? Well, the next step is to “position your brand” out in the real world. Time to put it to work! What does that mean? Well, what’s this “target audience” I keep mentioning? Who are they? Well, that’s exactly the point, isn’t it? Who is the person most predisposed to collect your work? That’s your target audience. Well, for starters, we know they love equines, a lot. They also collect art, avidly. They have a certain income level that allows them to do so, too. Maybe they also have an educational or occupation background that influences their collecting? Maybe they also gravitate towards certain lifestyles or interests? Maybe they tend to be of a certain age group or gender, too? What are their niche interests? Like, are they big into ceramics, ARs, customs, performance showing, halter showing, chachkis, stickers, pins, etc.? Whoever they are, find your people. Understand demographics and metrics. How do we do this? Well, we do market research. 

Study trends, expectations, demands, and pricing in the industry. Study who is doing the most enthusiastic collecting on social media, at shows, and in your own collector base. Develop a picture of the type of person most predisposed to collect from you and then focus on that type of person with your marketing. Or find which galleries cater to that type of person and then develop a working relationship with them to get your work in there. Take out targeted social media ads, like on Facebook, to expand your base and get your work out in front of more potential collectors that fit into your target audience. Use social media to attract and engage your target audience, and post a lot, be consistent. It’s better to have lots of consistent, cohesive short posts than few and far between big posts, for instance. Think about email marketing, like an email newsletter, to collect and cater to your target audience, and you can even hold direct sales through it. Like there should almost always be a “call to action” to join your newsletter or mailing list in your promotional materials, or at least to visit your website.

Once you’ve found your target audience then, focus on them. That’s to say, all your marketing should be designed to cater to and engage them, and to find more within that demographic.

That said, also study the metrics of your newsletter, website, ads, and social media traffic because this allows you to better tailor your branding experience to hit your target audience more effectively. What are metrics? Well, they’re the tracked records of all the clicks, traffic, location, interactions, and completions rates of your videos that platforms offer. Indeed, most all platforms offer basic metric tracking so take the time to study the results from each deployment to better focus on your target audience next time.

 

Marketing Tools

There are specific portals at our fingers tips we can use to capture, engage, and inspire our target audience. Knowing how to use each one with savvy and imagination is one of the best skillsets we could ever learn for our working studio, so give it some good care and thought. What are these portals? Well, they’re things like our…

Website: This is the center of your marketing world where you showcase and sell your art, where people learn more about you and how to contact you, where you establish your brand, and unlike social media algorithms, it’s something you can 100% control. A great website will never be obsolete! It should have a great homepage which is your most important branding platform so make solid use of your logo, studio name, palette, fonts, tagline, and all that. Your website should also have a gallery or portfolio featuring some of your very best works so put some thought into what pieces you choose to display. In other words, don’t display just anything and everything, curate it with care so your gallery is a cohesive representation of what you do. And try to use current works, too, pieces that are representative of what you’re doing right now, what’s for sale right now, and where your work is going. 

The most important real estate on your website is the upper lefthand corner due to the way English is read so put your logo and studio name there, then navigation in the middle, then social media links on the right corner. Other important pages are your About page and your Contact and email sign-up page. On that note, sometimes a FAQ page can be helpful as well so that’s an option, too. Above all though, your website should look good and function well on multiple devices: desktop, tablet, phone, and laptop. In particular, it needs to look sharp and be perfectly functional on a phone as most people are using their phones nowadays. Overall, a great website leads the viewer where you want them to go without them realizing it. And above all, if your website is too overwhelming, they’ll just leave, so keep it as simple and straightforward and navigation-friendly as possible (remember…the least amount of clicks is always better!)

Newsletter: Email marketing has become a dynamic and popular way to connect to, collect, and engage your target audience. Indeed, it can be your sales lifeline because you can sell your work directly in it by funneling people to your website or social media. It should be stamped with all your branding with every deployment and be consistent and cohesive. Also think about providing value beyond just your news and sales. Why would someone want to subscribe? Sure, maybe they’d like to buy your work, but what else of value and interest can you offer them? And more specifically, how does that speak to you and your mission? 

Above all, keep your studio newsletters neutral, and free of politics, religion, or other hot button topics that will put people off. Never go off on a tear and never hold your peeps as a captive audience. And absolutely, your newsletter should never be tone deaf! Indeed, your newsletter may be all about you, but it’s also all about them as well! It’s a symbiotic balance that builds relationships that also promotes your work and drives sales. Mass appeal, inspiration, and positivity are your goals. And it should be focused on your work and the overarching themes of the equine and art, or in other words, focused on the topics that would interest your target audience. But also take the opportunity to show people who you are as a person so display your humanity and individuality. Fame and the artistic mystique so often cause people to strip our humanity from us yet through an effective newsletter, we can reinstate it back into our identity. Honestly, people want to know there’s a real person behind the art, and so a newsletter is a great way to convey our personhood to them. That being the case, your dispersed marketing should always have a call to action to join your newsletter so you can capture more folks who fall within your target audience demographic.

Blog: While some folks claim otherwise, a blog will never be obsolete. It’s actually very useful for artists by building community to gain a wider audience and maintain a social presence. It also fosters “thought leadership” by sharing insights, experiences, and expertise to establish brand authority and build trust and regard. It can also help with networking by getting your work in front of the right people who are predisposed to help you. Through a blog, you can also share news, upcoming events, and reviews that convey your works’ impact. You can also monetize it through ads, affiliate marketing, direct sales, etc. And think about repurposing existing content because you don’t always have to post new content all the time. But overall, a good blog can help you become recognized as an authority, information resource, and as a solid brand. On that note, treat a blog like how you would treat your newsletter, too, so the same rules of engagement apply.

Social Media: A great modern tool for the working artist, it’s a fantastic way to capture your target audience and hold an ongoing conversation about your brand with them and other artists. In this way, it’s a useful tactic to extend your brand, drive traffic to your website and newsletter, and build your reputation and exposure. You also get to build a community of fans and followers who are specifically interested in your work, share teasers and make big splashy launches of new work, and network with colleagues. In fact, many art collectors are now using social media for their collecting conduits so the stronger your social media presence, probably the more robust your sales. However, on social media you can also browse and study the work of other artists, keep up with trends and the pulse of this niche art form, get inspired, and flesh out any research. On some platforms, too, there are options for targeted ads like on Facebook that can be designed to find more of and focus on your target audience. But consistency is key on social media. Post often and regularly. Really, it’s much better to post a lot of little, short snippets than just a few long, ponderous posts. It often just manipulates the algorithms better. All that said though, it’s important to have separate, dedicated pages for your personal and professional focus. Never combine the two. But also remember that even if you keep them separate, there’s still cross-pollination that occurs, so be very mindful of what you post on your personal pages regardless, especially if they’re set to “public.” The fact of the matter remains that once you became a working artist you sacrificed your “freedom of speech” for the success of your studio. Or in other words, if your work isn’t political or religious in nature, rethink posting such things on your personal page. The rules of engagement for your newsletter apply here as well. So, stay as neutral as you can on your personal page, and absolutely neutral on your studio page (that is unless your art is fundamentally political or religious in nature). Now granted, there may come a time when you feel compelled to post a hot button statement on your personal page or in a comment, but just be ready to take the hit! You don’t get to rile people up and then complain about pushback. To be frank though, I’ve seen too many artists self-destruct a great reputation and experience a mass work “dump off” and lost collectors with a single bad post or comment. So just consider the consequences before you tap on your keyboard with every single post or comment, everywhere. Social media is a double-edged sword. It can slice through the distance between you and your target audience to connect with them, or it can slice right through your studio. Wield it with great care.

Video Marketing: Likewise, media like YouTube or TikTok or Instagram, which feature video formats, can be a great way to promote your brand. The same rules of engagement apply here as well and again, several short videos posted a day has a better return than long videos posted far and few between. But these formats are a great way to solidify your brand, share processes and progressions of your work, debuts and and unveilings, interviews with other artists or even your collectors, and bringing yourself into immediate “real time” as people will finally hear your actual voice. 

Above all, remember that Golden Rule of Engagement that should be applied across all your platforms: Stay neutral. This cannot be emphasized enough! Unless your art benefits from certain sociopolitical themes, leave all of that out of all your interactions. Stick to your art and leave your political and religious and other hot button topics out of it. Indeed, a single ill-conceived post can implode your brand! Over the years, I’ve seen it so many times: Collectors mass-dump models on the secondary market after some artist just had to say something incendiary that decimates their reputation and then their sales slump for years, often permanently. They can also become persona non grata in the community, essentially killing off their brand forever. The fact is that you and your art are one, you are your art and your art is you. Or put another way, you and your brand are one. You speak for it, and it speaks for you. So when you say something, always first think, “How will my words affect my brand and therefore my art?” Think of it as “brand cultivation.” In what way can we behave that reinforces and fosters a solid brand identity for years to come?

Sales Branding

But artist branding just doesn’t end there! Nope! You can brand individual sales, too! Yes! A new launch, a debut, a big splashy event or sale? Well, they may warrant their own branding as well! Referred to as a “campaign,” sales branding is a potent form of highly specific promotion. For instance, every one of my pins has its own branded campaign as do every one of my editions, a standard aesthetic applied across the board so you can instantly recognize it as officially my work and specifically as that work. In this case, sales branding, or designing a campaign, can be immensely fun and creative so don’t miss the opportunity to play around with it to reinforce your overall brand.

Ending Thoughts

Artist branding is the working artist’s best and most potent advocate who’s at work for you all the time. Really, your brand will speak for you even when you’re not around…it’s your stake, your claim, your flag in the big, wide-open world. So, design it with some thought and creativity, and most of all, with authenticity and honesty so people come to know the real you through it. Focus on your mission, focus on your target audience and optimizing content for them, and focus on your artistic vision. Do that and you’ll not only find your unique fingerprint, but you’ll adeptly plaster the world with it to help stake your claim and make your studio a wild success!

"A brand is a promise. A good brand is a promise kept."

~ Muhtar Kent

I would like to thank Heather Malone for her expert help in the writing this post! You made it the big ol' bite of great branding information it is now! Thank you, Heather!