Artist Documents - What Do I Need?
The day and the life of an artist consists of many things besides the joy of throwing paint around and washing their paint brushes, although that might be our favorite part. (The painting!) Some time must also be spent documenting what we do in some fashion, so some time is spent doing some office work, and promoting said art that is in the studio drying. Let's take a look at the documents that help organize, track and promote our art.
List of Artist's Documents
For some time now, the business side of creating art is both online and offline - for most artists. Having business documents that reflect your ART BUSINESS with a consistent message is an important part of your presentation. Some of the documents listed here are for the sharing, promotion and marketing of the art, some are for the record keeping and organizing (storage) of the art, and other documents are to simply track where and what happened to the art.
One of the most important aspects of your documentation is your consistency in branding for those documents viewed by the public. Your logo, colors, image(s), artist name, font, slogan - all of your marketing materials set your recognizable brand. Your presentation should always be consistent and professional - or "professionally artistic" and unique in your own way.
Typical Length of some of these documents is whatever the requestor specifies, so when submitting your documents for Calls for Art, Gallery requests, or applying for art jobs, be sure to note what they are asking for and in the format the guidelines that each opportunity specifies.
Artist Resume - Short and Long Versions
All of the About the Artist details. Have several different variations of your Artist Resume on hand, you will need them depending on what the requestor needs. I like having a compact version and a longer version. Character limitations can vary greatly so ensure the most pertinent info is in the first sentence or two or paragraph, is keyword friendly for searches, and is not too "wordy". As the KISS rule goes - Keep It Simple, Silly - on target and to the point.
Typical Length: 1 to 3 pages
Artist Statement/ Bio - Short and Long Versions
An artist statement is a short, very general "about you, what you make, and why you make it" in a "personal voice and message". Typically the statement is 3-4 paragraphs. A statement is something that many galleries request to include on a label, but is also what you can organically use when someone directly asks you what you do. Thus, this script could be memorized and recited as needed, as in an elevator pitch. Include:
Art Business Card
Typically 3.5x2 inches rectangle. A very important document for an artist is their business card, although it is usually the smallest document. I've been at galleries and someone wanted to contact an artist for something they admired and perhaps want to buy or commission a new piece. And sometimes there is a card and sometimes not for that artist. It not only allows you to hand them out for networking and followup, but represents you when you are not there physically.
Header: Your brand identifiers includes your logo, colors, font, your artist name
Artist Postcard and Flyers
Larger than a business card, it is usually 4.25x6 inches and printed on the front and back and mail-able. Text should be short, sweet and to the point. The Postcard would work well for show announcements, notifications, reminders, handouts and of course, mailing.Artist Curriculum Vitae
This document, also called a CV, is a formal, all inclusive professional record of the artist's experiences and artistic achievements. It is a key part of the artist's portfolio, especially if your destiny includes academia.Artist Labels
The labeling of your art an important check list item that is often overlooked by artists when delivering art to the gallery. The information shown on a label at various galleries and art shows can differ in size and detail. The label helps to identify who the art belongs to, not only for the art visitors to read but when the gallery volunteers are hanging the art - to identify it. Sometimes art signatures on the face of the painting does not easily ID the owner, for instance when initials or a logo of some sort are used. - Depending on where the art piece will be hung, the details to include and the order of the information is subject to change. Read the directions.
- "Mixed Media" is NOT a Medium! State what you created it with - type of paint and materials used.
- Label on the Back of the artwork is typically a MUST (and may be customized by you). A Label on the Front of the artwork is usually created by the gallery from the information you submitted for consistency throughout the art space.
- See Inventory Notes on Artwork Titles
Artist Certificate of Authenticity
A Certificate of Authenticity is a short statement of declaration by you that you ARE the creator of the art and is copyrighted by you. Many resources state to have a COA for every piece of artwork you have created.
Header: Your brand identifiers includes your logo, colors, font, your artist name
Artist Press Release/ Press Kit
The Artist Press Release is how the artist shares (online and offline) newsworthy info about local art events or projects for themselves, their art group, or their art venue. The info is typically time sensitive with dates and times that are important announcements about exhibitions, art shows, new and exciting debuts, openings, art receptions, achievements and more.The Press Release MUST include ALL of the who, what, when, where, why's and double and triple check EVERYTHING is correct before you submit the release.
Art Invoice/ Bill of Sale
The Artist Invoice documents the transaction purchase and payment between the Art Buyer and the Artist that created it. Artwork in hand is considered personal property with value - important for filing taxes and insurance.Art Commission and Other Contracts and Agreements
A commission is taken by a gallery or art group when art sells (typically 25-50% of the sale price) OR an art commission is when a potential art client requests an artist to create a special customized work for themselves. Here we are referring to the buyer wanting to hire and purchase an art piece from an artist. Of all our documents, this is the more complicated as it is for your protection as well as the client, and is a contract for the work.
It is important to remember that although a rough idea might be laid out when first contacted by a potential buyer, no work, listen to me...NO WORK should begin until an agreement is in hand, agreed upon, signed AND more importantly, 1/3 to 1/2 of the non-refundable quote is PAID. Paypal has the money and its being transferred to you, you have the deposit in your POS system, or the check has cleared. Do not turn over the commissioned artwork until PAID IN FULL.
Other Contracts and Agreements
Header: Your brand identifiers includes your logo, colors, font, your artist name
Your Artist Show, Competition and Exhibition Listing
Over
time, an artist is not going to remember everything about every single
art piece. Keep track of what shows you have entered, if you won
something, feedback and notes. It is a chronological list of each show the artist has entered, whether it is juried or non-juried. The details should include the number of pieces and the art titles that were submitted, whether each was selected or not, and definitely the results of whether it sold or not.
Having artwork that has placed in an art show gives that piece bragging rights that should be noted. Celebrate every milestone! Being juried into prestigious art galleries and shows is something to celebrate as well. Press release, social posts, and some of your other documents on this blog post can all be updated with any of your accomplishments.
Some art shows do not want art resubmitted, so you will need to track this. Other art shows only want you to answer their Call for Art submissions with recently created work, from the last 2-3 years. So the artist needs to know what was shown where and when to avoid resubmitting a work or mistakenly entering older works.
Your Art Inventory
This is mostly for the artist, but really you do want to list out your complete works for many reasons. Think about all of the artwork you have created after a lifetime of being an artist - do you remember the details of every one of them? Where it is, what became of it, did I sell it, which one of this series is someone asking about? Things can start getting complicated rather quickly.- Lines do not get deleted from the Art Inventory list. If you created it, its on the list whether sold or not, destroyed or not. It is an ongoing record of all your work.
- Artwork Name - several gallery folks have noted that long artwork names are very difficult to add to the gallery labels for the artwork. Remember that business sized art label? You may want to consider to encapsulate the Artwork Name to a shorter version when submitting the piece to a show.
- Occasionally artwork is gifted, donated, or destroyed. Some artwork may be not for sale (NFS), perhaps because the artist cannot part with it. Make those notes too and be sure you ALWAYS have quality photographs of all artwork.
Your Art Sales Register
In addition to the Art Inventory List, the Sales Register helps the artist know for tax purposes and tracks what happened to that art piece. Of course, the artist still has the copyrights to the image - prints can still be made and sold.Other Documentation
Ensure that any of your printed or digital materials and online documents are consistently branded when they need to be.
And Some Final Thoughts on Documents
The best place to start? Usually at the beginning of your art career. Could you imagine trying to build an inventory list of your art after you have created hundreds or even thousands of art pieces?
For some of your art documents you will need keep a master copy with ALL relevant information and for all of you documents, compile a shorter version and save them clearly identifying Master and Shorter versions. It is also recommended to save a Word (quick updates) and a PDF Files.
Remember to back up your computers and save any online records keeping a separate storage option in case of computer failure. In other words, be aware of the need for multiple record keeping options and safe storage of your documents.
Depending on where you are in your artistic career - beginner to more advanced, you will be continually updating any of these documents to best reflect where you are and presumably, your growing artist inventory. So when you take a much needed break from throwing some paint at a canvas that day, head for your office and work on some updates for your art business documents as well.
What do you think, did I miss anything? Drop a comment below.
Artistry Spin Blogmaster and an artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Esty site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.
Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
