Welcome to our series of interviews with some of our favorite member artists on Imagekind. They may be best sellers or up-and-coming artists. We hope that you can learn from these members and find some great new artists to love!

John Kraft joined Imagekind in 2008. His bright and bold work is a favorite on Imagekind and he has helped many members by continually giving great advice on artistic techniques and marketing. In addition to answering a few questions, John is also offering one of his best-selling pieces, “Racing the Moon,” at a special price this week.  Be sure to check it out, and get this deal while the price lasts.

San Francisco based artist John Kraft was born in Los Angeles in 1967. He was selected as a Featured Artist by Apple, and his art has been included in Dwell Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, ARTnews and in Modern Painters.

1. How and when did you get started making art? What has been your journey as an artist?

My journey as an artist arguably started at birth, but my work, in tangible form, has been in development for just over twenty years. Fourteen years ago I found what I consider to be my voice and my vocabulary as an artist. With a consistent palette and use of both strong color and line, this vocabulary has freed me to focus more on the story I wish to tell and less on the words I use in the telling of that story.

2. What was the turning point that gave your art a “voice and vocabulary?”  Was it a trial and error process or a brilliant epiphany?

The turning point in finding my current style as an artist was development of the piece “Priorities”. I began the piece by creating relatively abstract color fields and then for no particular reason I wondered what impact strong black lines would have on the various shapes and the composition as a whole.  It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Keith Haring and that I consider him a major influence, but at that moment it truly was an innocent experimentation with something new.  Of course, this was a turning point in terms of style, but the vocabulary itself developed over time as more and more pieces were created.

3. What is your process when creating a piece? What medium do you use? What is your inspiration?

My process has evolved over the years from the use of acrylics and pastels on wood panel or canvas to what is now a true composite of both traditional and digital painting techniques. This includes the creation of key elements with acrylics and pastels, digitization of those elements, and finally refinement of composition, color and scale within the digital space. I love the flexibility of working digitally and the myriad of “what-if” scenarios that I can explore. The added benefit of this approach is that the work can then be expressed in various media, whether it is paper, canvas, or more durable materials – all from the same source composition.  Inspiration comes from everything around me, but most significantly from my wife Nikki and my daughter Sienna and from the beautiful city of San Francisco.

4. What does your work area look like? Are you messy or meticulous when creating?

I’d like to say I have a roof top studio that overlooks all of San Francisco, but in reality, like many artists, my studio consists of a spare room in our home where I have a combination of easel, paints and computer equipment.  The final composition for every single piece is completed on a now somewhat dated G4 Powerbook.  I’d say I’m fairly meticulous when creating, especially when doing the work on the computer.  I can spend hours on details that will never be seen in the online version of the piece. There was a MacWorld UK interview I did years ago that went into greater detail on my process at the time: http://www.johnkraft.com/jk_mw_uk.pdf

5. There are a lot of recurring themes, symbols, icons and color choices in your pieces.  I’d love to know more about them.

In earlier pieces, like “Priorities” the recurring figures represented either lonely or lost souls fighting against excess and inner conflict, but now, in pieces like “Soulmates” or “One More Makes Three” these same figures are exclusively celebratory, loving and joyful – a direct reflection of the happiness and joy I’ve found in my own life with my wife and my daughter.  The recurring use of wine bottles and bowls of fruit represent abundance and celebration, and the recurring use of a guitar represents my other life as a singer/songwriter.  In terms of the palette… what can I say? I love color and the impact of using the strong black lines to define the objects and shapes.

6. For the recurring imagery in your pieces, (like your wine bottles) do you create them for every new piece, or do you reuse imagery from previous works?

It’s a bit of both, I definitely make use of previous imagery.  It’s really the visual analog for sampling in music.  Only in this instance I’m purely “sampling” from my own catalog of work.  Having said that, when I embark on a new piece that has new elements, like “Eden Before Apple”, much of that content is created fresh specifically for the new piece.

7. How often do you make new pieces? inkheart dvdrip download

It varies, but typically I’ll create one new piece every two to three weeks.

8. How do you promote and market your work?

My current efforts include a personal website , a Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, and of course my online gallery on Imagekind

In terms of promotion and driving traffic to these sites, I’ve used print advertising, targeted Facebook display ads, Google Adwords, PR Newswire and PRWeb Press Releases, and Email Marketing.  The ‘craziest’ thing I ever did to promote my art was to stand on the center divider on the street in San Francisco during rush hour handing out “Lombard Street” postcards, which eventually turned into being featured as an “Artist You Should Know” on About.com.  A few years ago, I was also fortunate enough to be selected as a featured artist by Apple, which led to a lot of great exposure as well.

One recent promotional experiment of mine was a virtual online art reception via YouTube that I produced to coincide with a private exhibition at Intel’s worldwide headquarters.  In total, that video has been viewed over 1300 times in 38 countries and has led to several sales.

9. Which promotion and marketing methods have proven most successful for you?

Without question, it has been the targeted Facebook ads that drive to my Facebook Fan page.  It has been successful in terms of resulting sales, but as importantly, as a means of raising the general awareness of my art and my brand as an artist. Those IK artists that frequent the forums have heard me “speak” extensively about the benefits of Facebook.  Creating a lasting career as an artist is not about the quick sale, it’s about the relationships you develop over time with people who appreciate your style and the way you engage with them on a personal level.  I should stress this includes fellow artists.  It is not always about the sale.  It’s about being connected to the world around you in a way that enables you to share your gifts.

I do have a tip or best practice to share with other artists that see artist ads on Facebook and want to learn more about that artist.  Whenever possible, try Googling the artist or searching for them in some other way besides clicking on the ad itself.  Typically every time you click on a Facebook ad the artist is paying for that click.  So I always try to avoid clicking on artist ads – and I try to find them through other channels after seeing their ad pop up on Facebook.

10. Who is your target audience?  What do you do to market to them specifically?

The short answer is: anyone who loves my work, whether or not they can afford my work right at that moment in time.  Target markets do not exclusively refer to people one expects to sell to today, but those that you wish to build a relationship with over the long term.  Developing your brand (and sales pipeline) as an artist during tough times will result in more sales during the good times.  Having said all that, the majority of my sales have been to people in their 30s and 40s that have an interest in modern, contemporary colorful art.

11. You have mentioned that you don’t usually sell originals. Why?

It’s purely an emotional decision.  I’d like to say there is a grand strategy behind it, but I really just don’t want to let them go.  Of course the definition of original becomes somewhat blurred when one enters the realm of digital art.  For example, “Lombard Street” exists as a real acrylic on wood panel painting, hanging in our living room – with pastels that still come off the surface when touched, but newer pieces like “Racing the Moon” or “Sausalito” are digital composites from the beginning, so the giclee is in essence the ‘original’ and the first tangible manifestation of the digital piece.

12. Who is your favorite Imagekind artist? (Besides yourself, of course!)

This is indeed a difficult one to answer, because I believe both artistically and personally in so many of the artists here on Imagekind.  So, if I’m allowed to “cheat” a bit I would answer like this: “My favorite artists on IK are the ones that wake up every morning thankful that they are artists, the ones that feel alive when they create regardless of medium, the ones that genuinely want to do all they can to share their gifts with those around them.”

Your profile page is your introduction, artist statement, and first impression all in one! Make your page pull in potential buyers by being articulate and informative.

Upload an Avatar

Customers want to connect with you as an artist and a person. Having a compelling avatar will cause buyers to click through to your page and recognize your posts in the forum as well. A photograph of yourself or a small piece of your most popular work is appropriate. Keep in mind that the image must still look great and clear at a small size. It’s good practice to keep your avatar the same as soon as you decide on a good one – it becomes your face on the site. Your fellow artists and buyers will come to recognize it.

These artists have great avatars:

Write an Artist statement and Biography

Your artist statement and biography are how you connect with your internet buyers, but writing about yourself can be tricky! Be sure to describe what you do, your materials, your inspiration… anything that relates to your artistic process.

Some ideas to get you started:

• Make a quick list of the words that describe you and your art. Use this as a starting point.
• Ask a friend how they would describe your work , and include that in your statement.
• What would you tell someone if they had never seen your work? Give an introduction to what they are about to see.
• Think about how you feel when you look at your work and when you are creating it, and what you hope your viewer will feel.
• Write about the materials that you use and why you use them.
• Describe your education, any awards, or upcoming shows, and update it as often as necessary.
• Be yourself! Write in a style that reflects who you are, and what your art is about.
• Do keep your statement and biography short and to the point.

If you are really stuck, you can always ask the wonderful members of our community to help you out! We have a thread on Artist Statements that has a lot of great advice.

Note: If you are selected to be a Featured Member, a small portion of your artist statement and biography will show on the Imagekind homepage, so start your artist statement strong.

Chris Leavens has an awesome writeup for his bio.  He covers his history, his artwork, and where else to find him. Perfect!

Michael Sprouse focuses on his life as a professional artist.  An interested buyer would find all the information that they need here.

Post your CV

If you have a CV or Artist Resume, then your biography section is the perfect place to post it. The organized, clean nature of a resume guides a buyer through, and they will probably spend the time to read it. Pare down the information so you only show the essentials: education, important shows, prominent buyers.

Post your upcoming events

Having a show soon? Exhibiting in a coffee shop? Having a sale? Let your buyers know in your profile!

Use keywords to attract search engines

The text in your profile page is indexed by major search engines. Including key terms like “photographer” or “watercolors,” will help searching customers find you. Keep in mind that you need to be as specific as possible, so that you can attract customers who WANT your work!

Check your grammar

Take the time to spell and grammar-check your profile: this will make your information polished. Presenting yourself as a professional will inspire buying confidence from your customers.

Use HTML in your profile

We allow limited HTML to be inserted into your profile. HTML can be used in the text box where you write your bio or artist statement, where you edit your profile. Some ways to use this are to:

• Format your artist statement with line breaks and paragraph breaks to give a polished appearance.
• Use bold or underlines to emphasize and highlight recent accomplishments, and to draw your customers’ eye to the most important information.
• Include your logo if you use one. This will strengthen your brand awareness and personalize your profile page.
• Add links to your blog, personal website, or reviews of your work.
• Let the world know if you have been a featured artist with a link or graphic to the featured artists page.
• Feature one of your favorite, most popular, or best-selling images. You can link to a framed image directly from your Imagekind galleries, or you can make your own graphic and host it from your personal website.
• Limit yourself to just one or two images inserted in your profile, and make sure they are kept to thumbnail size. Try to keep your Recent Images up high on the page, as these will change as you upload. Keep your buyers interested!
• Be sure to keep at least part of your biography or artist statement in good ol’ text format! Search engines cannot index text that appears in image files.

You can use HTML in your gallery and image descriptions, too! You can offer detail images of the pieces, or links to matching pieces. Again, be sure to keep these short so your images are still kept in view!

You can read more about allowed HTML in our forum. Remember, only 3000 characters can be in your Bio section, including HTML code. Also note that any affiliate or pay-per-click links are not permitted anywhere in your Imagekind profile or galleries.

Natasha Wescoat uses HTML in her profile.  A small image is inserted, and important points are emphasized.

Angel Mist has inserted an image that highlights her best work framed.  The rest of the description is well organized, and the use of HTML to center the text works very well.

Welcome to our series of interviews with some of our favorite member artists on Imagekind. They may be best sellers or up-and-coming artists. We hope that you can learn from these members and find some great new artists to love!

Second in our series is Imagekind artist Patrick Morand. When he isn’t making beautiful photographs for select clients, Patrick is taking gorgeous landscape pictures of France. He uses unique angles and processing to give his images their signature look. Patrick was kind enough to answer a few short questions for us.

Born in 1966 in the French Alps. Scientific studies and graduated as a software and network engineer.Worked as a software project manager for a company during a few years and rapidly decided to be self employed. Nature lover always, spent more than 20 years climbing rocks across the European continent. – Patrick Morand

1 ) When did you first realize that you wanted to be a photographer?

Not sure when I decided, but I remember how it happened. A friend who was kind of a garden designer offered to pay me for taking photographs of his garden work. As I was self employed, it was not a problem and so the story started like that …

2 ) You are a professional photographer for a living. How is your professional work different from your artistic work?

In what you call my artistic work I mostly do natural landscapes. In my day job I photograph many things:

- Garden, swimming pools, villas. This is very similar to my landscape work. Villas interiors, a few portraits, industrial processes, physical experimentations, paintings, etc.

In my landscape work I’m totally free to decide how I’ll shoot the scene, in my day job sometimes the client lets me have freedom and sometimes he doesn’t.

3 ) What gives you inspiration to make your work?

Nature first, but also some painter’s works, and other photographer’s works.

4 ) Do you show your photographs at any galleries?

Yes, a few along the Mediterranean coast. My dream would be to run my own gallery. I know where it would be, but I still have to wait a few more years.

5 ) What is your online presence?

The first place is my french website patmo.net where I show a part of my stock. It’s only about my personal work, not about my day job because this one runs mostly by “bouche à oreille”.

Then comes my English blog: french-landscapes.blogspot.com

I’m also on Imagekind, Twitter, Flickr and a few other art sites …

6 ) What equipment (camera, lights, processing programs) do you use to take your pictures?

I mainly use my Nikon DSLR. Some studio lights for portraits, interior shots or paintings. Some flashes also. I also use many types of software. Mainly SilkyPix, PTGui, Photomatix and PictureWindowPro.

7 ) Did you ever use film? How have your photographs changed since you have started taking pictures digitally?

Yes, black and white negative films a long time ago and I loved processing them in my own darkroom. Color slides (mainly Fujifilm Velvia) for landscapes. I loved (and still do) medium and large format film cameras.

About changes, I don’t really know. I think I experiment more with digital cameras. No film costs of course but a huge time to spend on the computer (and that’s a real cost).

8 ) What is your favorite photograph that you have made?

Difficult question, it changes every day!  I can cite these two :

9 ) Who is your favorite artist (besides yourself!) on Imagekind?

Another difficult one. The answer is Mike Dawson.

10 ) Thanks for taking the time to tell us about yourself, Patrick! Your photographs are breathtaking, and we certainly hope to see more soon!

Thank you!

Welcome to our series of interviews with some of our favorite member artists on Imagekind. They may be best sellers or up-and-coming artists. We hope that you can learn from these members and find some great new artists to love!

Our first interview is with the wonderfully talented Eli Halpin. Eli has a large fan base and buyers network, and has been featured in Sunset Magazine. As one of our best-selling artists, Eli has been making art like crazy!

Growing up in Alaska has given me a unique perspective on animals, trees and people and their cozy relationships. Studying painting at University of Alaska, Pacific NW College of Art and the Portland Community College in Oregon gifted me with the basic skills to paint full time. Attending a state, then a private and then a community institution blessed me with a broad range of academic experiences. After spending 20 years in Alaska and 10 in Oregon I now live in the heart of Baltimore City, Maryland where the contrast to the Pacific West Coast is fascinatingly extreme. My favorite artists are Jim Henson, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Theodor Suess Geisel, Janet Hill and Gustav Klimt. All my paintings are made on recycled wood and recycled paint is used whenever possible – Eli Halpin

1 ) When did you first realize that you wanted to be an artist?
I don’t remember ever realizing I wanted to “be” anything, except when I was five I did hope I would become a waitress. This horrified my dad!

I have always enjoyed and was prolific at any type of creative project. When I was in high school, on the first day of school, I was put in an overcrowded math class. I knew I was going to fail. I was on the verge of tears because it had only been 5 minutes and I hated it so much already. I walked out and saw my counselor and told him I REALLY didn’t want to take that class! He said I wouldn’t get into college if I didn’t. I argued with him for a few minutes trying to squirm my way out of the situation. I asked him if I needed that class to go to art school and he got out this 3 inch thick college book and we read the fine print for a few art schools and you know what? No! I didn’t need that stupid class for art school. So I got to go to sculpture class that day!

|| Share this on Twitter | Have a question yourself? Share your thoughts! ||

2 ) Are you a full time/professional artist? What does that mean to you?
I am a full time artist going on my 6th year without waiting tables!
Hooray! Before that I worked in restaurants and sold my paintings only part time. Being a full time painter gives me a sense of responsibility to the people who buy my work. I need to keep the paintings coming. I need to have new work often and this means getting myself into the studio as much as possible.

3 ) Do you work at home, or do you have a separate studio?
I have a separate studio about a mile from my house. I am afraid I will eventually track oil paint from the bottom of my shoes all over my floor if I painted at home! This summer however I bought my own house and I am considering building a studio in the upper level. Now that there is no landlord I have a more favorable situation for risking paint stains all over the place!

4 ) Where do you get the inspirations for your pieces? Do you work from life or from photos?
My inspiration comes from people, animals and trees. I grew up in Alaska where there was a lot of distance between people. I experienced different boundaries pre-established there than when I moved down to the more populated parts of the Pacific NW and when I traveled to other countries. Animals and trees also had a different focus when I was in larger cities. I work from life and photographs. I used to use models in school, and would have my sister and friends pose for me. I like to tear out ladies in bridal magazines because of their big dresses! If I am painting animals I usually paint from photographs I took myself. When I visit my grandparents farm in South Dakota I make sure to get up close photos of cows, horses, sheep, donkeys… anything I can get about 10 feet from. My grandfather shears sheep so I am lucky to be able to stand in barns with hundreds of them at once.

5 ) Do you participate in a lot of shows? Are you represented by any galleries?
I exhibit my paintings in about 5 shows a year these days. I used to book about 3 every month when I was first starting to be  “officially” full time just to make sure I could pay the rent. Now I have a lot of direct sales through my website so it isn’t necessary.
I am not represented by any galleries. I will do a show as a guest but I won’t sign a contract. I do, however, sell my paintings permanently at two stores in Oregon. Unfurl, an organic clothing boutique and Hunt & Gather, a fancy furniture store.

6 ) Who is your target audience? How do you get them to buy your work?
My target audience is people with a sense of humor and an attraction to bright colors. My paintings tend to be very thick, with drippy and messy paint . To me that is an upbeat and high energy thing to look at.
Like I said before, I used to do a lot of shows every year and from doing so I advertised the heck out of my paintings, leaving me with a history of buyers who tend to come back for more. People will often contact me saying their friend or relative has a piece and that’s how they found me. I have also been lucky enough to have a few magazines include me in their pages and that always helps a ton with traffic to my website.

7 ) Any marketing tips for your fellow artists?
Yes! Get a good website! I use Other Peoples Pixels and I highly recommend them. Get some good business cards that you can be proud of and always keep them on you. And have lots of exhibitions and leave stacks of beautiful business cards in your wake!

8 ) What is your online presence? (newsletter, website, MySpace, Imagekind, etc…)Yes, yes, yes and yes. I use all four. I have my website elihalpin.com, I keep my mailing list organized and send out newsletters regularly – its a really important component to my online presence. I have 600+ solid contacts of people who have asked to be on my mailing list or who have bought paintings. I use this contact to maintain and track who and where and how many hits I get on my site. On average I get 35 hits a day and after a newsletter I have a spike of about 700 for a few days.

I also use social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, and I have had lots of success with Imagekind. My myspace and facebook pages are not focused on my sales, just a little more advertising,  and for fun. I don’t use ads.
Online presence is useful for facilitating transactions, but doesn’t necessarily generate sales. The exception of course is print on demand services for reproductions such as Imagekind. My business revolves around creating original paintings and displaying them. Until recently I relied only on art shows and retailers for my business. For 12 years I have been building a foundation of art buyers from my shows and retailers. I launched my website about 3 years ago. My website lets me show my new work nationally and internationally.
Almost all of my online sales come from people who have seen examples of my work in person.

9 ) You use a lot of recycled materials in your paintings. What makes you want to paint on some of the surfaces you choose? How do you find them? Where do they come from?
I like painting on wood interior hollow core doors. They are light-weight and after sanding off the varnish and priming them the surface is great for painting. They are easy to slice into sections and stay crispy flat for a clean professional canvas-like look. They are also easy to ship because of their weight and durability. I buy the doors at rebuilding centers. Homes that are torn down will often donate salvageable stuff to rebuilding centers where I pick them up.

10 ) Who is your favorite artist (besides yourself!) on Imagekind?
Oh wow that’s not a fair question, aren’t there millions of amazing images?? My first artist I became a fan of was Sloane Tanen. I love the humor in those pieces!

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about yourself, Eli! It was a pleasure to interview you, and we wish you much success!

Share this on Twitter | Have a question yourself? Share your thoughts!

Imagekind.com to maintain current business focus

 

Imagekind.com has been acquired by CaféPress, the leader in user-generated commerce. After months of discussion and consideration, we are thrilled to be announcing the news of this acquisition. There have been many positive changes here at Imagekind over the past couple months, but none more exciting than this. This partnership will allow your work to be visible to a continually growing number of CaféPress members (more than 6.5 million worldwide) and part of a combined product offering that will provide you greater visibility than ever before. We have effectively gone from a quickly growing online marketplace to the market leader.

Acquisition Q&A:

Q: Will Imagekind change its focus on art?

A: No, we will continue to build our community and feature our member artists and their unique work, while offering the very best printing, framing quality and assortment in the industry.

Q: Why did CaféPress acquire Imagekind?

A: CaféPress is continually looking for ways to deliver innovation and new merchandise to its community of over 6.5 million members. We represent a natural extension of this effort – it allows them to offer high end art solutions and for member artist to enjoy greater exposure.

Q: Will Imagekind start selling other products?

A: Imagekind is proud to be the industry leader when it comes to the highest quality giclee prints and posters combined with museum quality papers, canvases and framing options. We will maintain the focus on what we do best.

Q: What are CaféPress’ plans for Imagekind?

A: There are no foreseeable plans for any organizational changes as a result of this acquisition. Imagekind will remain in Seattle and CaféPress will continue to operate from its headquarters in San Mateo.

Q: Will CaféPress integrate the websites?

A: CaféPress and Imagekind have no immediate plans for integrating the two websites. We will be taking some time to learn more about each other’s communities and better understand the best path for integration for our customers.

Q: What is CaféPress saying?

A: Imagekind is great at what they do. In a very short time, they’ve built a successful business with an impressive community – we admire the business they’ve created and feel the synergy between the brands will combine to offer our collective users an unparalleled user experience.

 

An expanded assortment of merchandise for artists has been something our community has been asking for over the years. With more than 5 million high quality custom framing options, Imagekind allows CaféPress a fast path to delivering this service to our customers at the highest quality in the industry.

Imagekind, known as the best-in-breed print-on-demand art provider, is a perfect fit.

If you are a lover of Polaroid photos, then you have probably heard the sad, awful news: Polaroid has decided to discontinue the production of all its instant films to make room for new technologies. I am an artist of many mediums, and one of my favorites is Polaroid. Amateurs and professional photographers alike have embraced the instant gratification that a Polaroid gives us. Some well known artists who loved the medium include such names as Ansel Adams, Chuck Close, Walker Evans, Andy Warhol… the list goes on and on.

Read more…