When promoting your work to potential clients and commissions, you must present your work in the same level you wish to charge. 

The more you want to charge, the better your presentation must be. 

​



​Proper Presentation.
Presentation should make your brand, your art and yourself look like a professional artist, no matter at what career level you are now
Presentation is as simple as taking the time to arrange the best art in your portfolio. 
Presentation is to do the best editing of the image to show the value of your work. 
Presentation can be accomplished with very little money and a bit of time invested to make yourself look good. 

Visual Design. 
Take the time to learn how to lay text on images. Its ok to not know how to layout your promotional images, in that case get help from someone else. Throwing text on an image without rhyme or reason is Not OK. 

​Information. 
Please include a link to purchase your work. Asking potential clients to contact you without a link to email is asking those clients to do extra work to find you. This is where a website, a simple webpage with a contact form and payment link comes in handy. You have to make it easy to collect money from clients and commissions because we want to get paid for our work, right?

There are apps and free software to help in cropping and editing the images to make them easy to share to social media. Do Not share smartphone screenshots! Take the extra time to edit the images before posting. 

​Remember, you want to attract attention to your art and make a sale. A series of sales creates revenue and when a client comes back to buy a second piece, they become your collector! 

Focus on your Presentation, its part of the path to success. 

DTM curator
[email protected] 
404.695.5769 

PS. join us Monday January 18th, 530pm at Sam Flax for a discussion on the 4 important ingredients to make your 2016 Art Life vision possible. FREE RSVP 

The Black Book Conversations. RoundTable Discussion  
4 Important Ingredients in Your 2016 Art Life Vision  
FREE RSVP, bring a Friend! 
 
Monday January 18  
530pm - 7pm

Sam Flax South
1745 Peachtree St NE ATL GA  

530pm
BRING YOUR SKETCHBOOK!  All our meetups start with a sketching session. Bring your Black Books, sketchbooks, notebooks and whichever medium your prefer, and create! Plus if you arrive early, DTM and other professional artists will review your portfolio. 

6pm
Open roundtable discussion sharing info, resources and art life advice to bridge the gap between the artist and art business fundamentals to help artists become successful entrepreneurs. 


Art Is King is a Non-Profit organization committed to empowering artist entrepreneurs through education, community, coaching and connections.  

The Black Book Conversations is a series of Artist workshops focused on Artist career development in an open roundtable discussion sharing info, resources and art life advice to bridge the gap between the artist and art business fundamentals to help artists become successful entrepreneurs. 

Art Is King podcast episode 91
Noel Saabye  
http://bit.ly/AIKblog91
​
Noel Saabye is a veteran animator, artist, designer and art business mentor. He’s the organizer of the Comic and Animation Artists of Atlanta. A once a month meet up where local animators and artists get together and share their current projects and thoughts about the business.  

We sat down for a good hour and Noel shared his story and his 20 year animation experience with us. Follow him on social media and check out his website at 

https://www.facebook.com/AtlantaArtists/
https://twitter.com/Nsaabye  
http://noelsaabye.com  


the Art Is King podcast is available on your iPhone and iPad at the App Store 
http://bit.ly/AIKiPhone
iTunes 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/art-is-king/id626627458?mt=2 
Spreaker.com 
http://www.spreaker.com/show/art_is_king 
Stitcher Radio 
http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/daniel-flores/art-is-king-podcast 
and artiskingarchive.com 

DTM of DeltaTangoMike.com is your Art Is King podcast host telling you to Get out and Learn so you can Earn. Let go of the Starving Artist Title and move into the Thriving Artist Art Life! 

@ArtIsKing_ATL @DeltaTangoMike @RevolvSkate @Law2SM @MexMannyBeats @VelocityPrint @TheBizGarage 

Art Is King podcast episode 90
Toni Williams 
http://bit.ly/AIKblog90
​
Toni Williams is a right brain and left brain genius who moves swiftly between the worlds of academia with a Masters degree from Emory University and the world of creativity, arts and music as a vocalist, writer and art curator. 

Ive had the pleasure of collaborating with her brand Cultivating Cultures as a featured artist in 2015’s A3C Festival in ATL and seeing her stock rise as someone who is going to be making a big wave with ATL artists and the ATL art community. 

In this artist interview Toni shares her passions, her sense of family responsibility and the mission she’s on to unite and help the ATL Arts community work together. 

Follow her online and on her social medias.
https://www.facebook.com/CultivatingCultures
http://www.cultivatingcultures.com 
https://www.facebook.com/toni.williams.7146 
http://www.instagram.com/cultivatingcultures 


the Art Is King podcast is available on:  
App Store 
http://bit.ly/AIKiPhone
iTunes 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/art-is-king/id626627458?mt=2 
Spreaker.com 
http://www.spreaker.com/show/art_is_king 
Stitcher Radio 
http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/daniel-flores/art-is-king-podcast 
and artiskingarchive.com 

DTM of DeltaTangoMike.com is your Art Is King podcast host telling you to Get out and Learn so you can Earn. Let go of the Starving Artist Title and move into the Thriving Artist Art Life! 

@ArtIsKing_ATL @DeltaTangoMike @RevolvSkate @Law2SM @MexMannyBeats @VelocityPrint @TheBizGarage 

2015 methods will net 2015 results.

Take a look at your Art Life methods and decide what has worked and what hasn't. Then delete what didn't work in 2015 and add in new ideas and methods to 2016. 

I interview at least 50 artists a year, for the Art Is King Podcast, and every one of these artists stories illustrates the fact that the Art Life is not a straight path. There are twists and turns, surprises and letdowns, successes and failure. 

Through all of that, every artist finds success their own way. But you don't have to go at it alone. Atlanta has a thriving Art Community and you have to involve yourself! 


Arts Organizations
Follow on social media and show up at WonderRoot, C4 Atlanta, Office of Cultural Affairs, Burnaway and Art Is King events, Plus there are new organizations and groups of artists working together for the success of all. Cultivating Cultures, AWOL, Paragon7, Creative Collage Collective and more. They share tons of resources, advice, classes and opportunities. 

I am a member of every organization possible, I attend their classes, I submit applications, I follow thru on advice and resources they share online. I don't understand artists who claim that Atlanta has nothing to offer or that its the government's job to provide artists budgets. 

The info is out there. There are people out there who care and work tirelessly to provide artists with opportunities. 

Mentors 
I have several mentors. Some of them know they are my mentors, some I am able to find time to attend their events and classes and then stay behind to ask them for specific advice. I have a Business Mentor, a Startup Mentor, Art Business Mentor, Illustration Mentor and a half dozen professional artists who's work I admire and I find time to reach out to them to get their opinions on my work and advice. One of my mentors was the mayor of Avondale Estates! He's not mayor now but he's interested in seeing me succeed and has given me his time to share. 

Plus I am lucky to have a wife who is also my Business Manager. She fits in the TEAM Category but she was the first person to help me expand my art business horizons and try new methods of how to run my art biz. 

Classes
In 2015 I took a business class at C4 Atlanta, startup classes at General Assembly, pitch practice at Atlanta Tech Village, attended several business talks at Tech Square Labs, OHub, Iron Yard, Industrious, DeskHub, Thoughtworks, Google and countless meet ups throuought ATL. 

Classes, workshops, bootcamps, webinars, podcasts. I take every opportunity to learn something new and apply to my Art Life. 
The knowledge is out there. 

Put in The Work
The resources, the mentors, the classes and instruction without the hard work of the artist is useless. The artist must put in the brain power necessary to produce the Artist Bio, Artist Statement, Portfolio, applications, submissions, grants, sponsorships and marketing to help their career succeed. 

I hear artists ask a lot of questions, but then produce nothing with the info provided to them. YOU should care about your art career! 

Celebrate 
Finish a commission project: celebrate. Finished a personal project: celebrate. The celebrations can be as simple as a Facebook or Instagram post congratulating yourself or as intricate as taking your loved ones out to dinner. Celebrate with your supporters: your spouse, your children, your parents or fellow artists. Each celebration will give you the stamina and support to move towards your next goal. After a while, your supporters will look for your next success. 

Celebrate by yourself or with your team, the point is to Celebrate! 

Enjoy a moment with yourself. 
I enjoy a great cup of coffee, full of flavor and body. I say no to gas station coffee.

I like the aroma. I like grinding my own coffee beans. I like buying beans from different coffee houses in ATL. Dancing Goats, HodgePodge Coffeehouse and Chocolatte are my favorite spots. 

I've had a coffee grinder for years now. I can grind a few cups at a time so the coffee is ready to go. I have made my coffee on drip machines, french press and stove top brewers. I don't like the plastic flavor of the home drip machines and luckily, for christmas my wife bought me a pour over pitcher. 
Delicious. 

Build Relationships
Use other artists success's as an idea of what you can add to your methods, but don't compare your success to theirs. No one knows the amount of work you put into your career, work that happens behind the scenes, so theres no way to know the amount of work another artist has put into their career. 

But if you see an artist having success with producing an art book, then work on yours.Then ask that particular artist out for lunch, so you may have some one on one time and ask them for advice on how to get your art book as popular as theirs. 

Next time you reach out to that artist, show that you have applied their advice and share the results. Prove that you are listening and learning so that they continue to provide advice, otherwise you are wasting their time. 

DON'T GIVE UP
Try and try again. I don't want to do anything else with my life except art. Fine Art, Tattoos, Drawings, 2D Illustrations, Children's Books, Murals, Art Biz Classes, Teach Art, Teach Adobe, Everything Art. 

I started with Tattoos in 1995 and slowly evolved other parts of my Art Life. Focus on one part of your Art Life and push hard. No matter the obstacles, the naysayers, the twists that real life throws at you. Focus. Learn. Earn. 

This is DTM of DeltaTangoMike, founder of Art Is King wishing you a successful 2016. Focus on becoming a Thriving Artist and let go of the starving artist mentality. Success is yours!

DTM
[email protected] 
404.695.5769 

PS. follow Art Is King on Flipboard app on iPhone and android for the latest articles and resources for artists. click here and subscribe to Art Is King Magazine. 

PS, part 2. Follow the Art Is King podcast on iTunes. published weekly.