April 26, 2004

The Wittig Report - on the Interface Between Life and Art

-------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the Wittig Report...

On the one hand there is 'Art,' and on the other hand, there is 'Life,'

...and somewhere in the middle, they meet.

April was a slow month production-wise, but a very good month,

income-wise... a lot of sales, with a significantly higher per

painting selling price.

Also, I did a lot of very basic ground-work, figuring out and

implementing a basic business plan.

I wrote two articles, covering the business stuff, and my most recent

selling strategy... see below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spring, 2004 - 11 paintings... 4 oils, and 7 gouache:

For the sake of brevity, I point you to the thumbnail page:

http://www.robertwittig.com/2004spring.html

-----------------------------------------------

Article: 'The eBay FeaturedPlus! Auction'

"The first thing I thought of, when I decided to write this piece,

was that I would be telling my competition what it was, that worked

for me, and that I should keep this information to myself. Then I

realised that the people with the motivation and nerve necessary to

implement these strategies, would figure this all out for themselves

in short order anyway, and that most people who might read this,

would think 'no, that's all wrong, it would never work'... or they

would think, 'yes, that is a good idea'... and then do nothing. So I

am (heh...) safe."

To read the article, click here:

http://www.robertwittig.com/paper67.html

-----------------------------------------------

Article: 'Business Basics for a Working Painter'

"In order for my business as a painter to succeed, I have to be able

to paint pictures in a very competent manner, which will not fall

apart or deteriorate prematurely, and for which there is a large

enough interested customer base available, so that I can earn a

living wage selling to them. Before I worry about anything else, I

have to make sure that I know my job at the easel. Once this is

satisfied, I have to make sure that I am not painting something

absolutely wonderful... but for which there exists no market. You can

be a real, genuine visionary, and 100 years ahead of your time, and

that is all good and wonderful... but if you plan on eating, and

sleeping in out of the cold, and earning the money to do this with

your brush... then you are going to have to paint something that

people will buy, now. That's business."

To read the article, click here:

http://www.robertwittig.com/paper68.html

----------------------------------------------------

Featured Website: Deborah McLaren

An excellent realist painter... I especially was amazed by her car

paintings.

Don't take my word for it... check his work out at:

http://www.deborahmclaren.com/

----------------------------------------------------

Featured Website: Ryan Wollard

A pointillist painter, with roots as a sculptor.

In Ryan's words: " And in a way I am still sculpting. I am building a

picture or scene, not painting it. Like adding more plaster or clay to

a piece, I blotch on more paint, and eventually my image finds me."

Check his work out at: http://www.ryanwollard.com/

----------------------------------------------------

Featured Website: Corey Gossett

Excellent work throughout!

Check his work out at:

http://www.geocities.com/gossett_art/gossett_art.html

---------------------------------------------------

Directory of my 'vintage' work:

http://www.robertwittig.com/images/EarlyWork/

----------------------------------------------------

Virtual Reality Gallery

http://www.robertwittig.com/vrml.html

----------------------------------------------------

Questions, comments, submissions...

I'd be glad to hear from you. If you have any questions, comments,

rebuttals, ideas for future articles, or submissions of your own, contact

me at wittig@robertwittig.com and I will reply promptly, and include your

response in an upcoming issue, where appropriate.

To unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with the word 'unsubscribe' in

the text box, and you will be automatically removed from future mailings.

I hope, however, you enjoy the report enough so you won't want to use

this option.

For further exploration, my website address is:

http://www.robertwittig.com/ , or simply click the 'Home' link at the

bottom of any article you have accessed. thanks, -wittig