Tonight I participated in my first
St Albert Art Walk. It was the last Thursday night of the art walk season and only my second time ever taking part in one of these events. Although it was veeeery quiet, it was a good learning experience and I enjoyed chatting with lots of interesting people AND I sold my first Art Fair painting!! YEEHA!
Getting Ready
Getting ready for one of these events is time consuming and it is best to watch some Youtube videos, check out a few websites and get some pointers from experienced people. Until yesterday, I wasn't really certain how I was going to display my paintings. I had about 30 pieces, some were framed and wired but several were not. The best (cheapest) method I found for short timelines was purchasing 6 pieces of 8' x 12" rubbermaid wire shelves. I stood them on end and zip tied them to my tent frame.
In order to ensure things would run smoothly I laid out everything in my garage beforehand, then took photos of each layout. This was really helpful when I arrived to set up. Just looked at my pictures and knew what went where. My hubby who was helping could assist too.
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| The garage layout |
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| My 'homemade' tent weights - sand put in sleeping bag stuff sacks, clipped to the tent legs. |
This was my first time using my tent I had ordered on-line. It was fairly easy to get up, the wind prevented my putting up the walls, but it was pretty sturdy. My 'homemade' weights worked fine - might add some buckle straps to them. It does take 2 people to set up everything though, and was almost an hour doing so. Thank goodness for my free help (hubby). Take down is only about 15 minutes.
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| some of the other art fair booths next to mine |
AT THE ART WALK
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| My spartan looking set up. I think I will add a centre 'wall' next time and get a nice sign made ASAP |
I sold a painting of some poppies that I really liked and had positive comments on. However, I don't think I planned very well for any sales!! She asked if I took visa and I said I wasn't set up for that yet She luckily had some cash - but then asked if I had a bag - which I hadn't even thought of! Sheesh what an amateur!
FINAL THOUGHTS
- I have this monster red display set up, you can see it to the left in the above photo. It does hold a fair number of small paintings - but it is HEAVY and only fits in the back of a pickup truck. So it has to go! I will probably get more of the wire shelves and make more 'walls' as they are light to transport.
- I need to consider payment methods, so when people want something I can sell it to them!
- I need to make some smaller, cheaper pieces to encourage sales.
- DO not use a sign (like I did) that says Small Daily Paintings. People liked them but I think they don't like that you can do them quickly - a few asked how long I spent on them. Use a sign that says Small & Beautiful Sale.
- I had MANY positive comments on my Cheeky Prime Ministers series and my colourful landscapes .
Moving on to my next painting. I felt I planned it out fairly well. Considered different layouts, laid in all my darks and began painting. Of course I attacked the foreground immediately and felt that it has a good start. Current struggle is with the colours in the background ... aaah! However, I now feel that I can go back to my large painting and tackle that foreground with more knowledge and hope that it will work out. 
I say all this to say... you just can't be lazy in any part of your painting. Proper planning and preparation (value sketches, colour studies, etc.) are what help your painting turn out. I spent the last hour or two at Outdoor Painter website re-reading about values, composition and tonal drawings just to refresh my memory on why it is so important. I have heard it several times now from many respected instructors, just need to keep following through. 
