The best art career advice I ever received!

Talking Plein air. Your early plein air videos inspired me so much. Ive been painting hard ever since. Thanks for the advise Trent.

Thanks Trent. I love that you're not phony and that is what keeps you fresh. 😁

Ah, you have given me so much to contemplate. I particularly appreciate the directive regarding a wider viewpoint during the learning process. Thank you so much!

I just paint because I've learned to love it. I know I'm not the great artist and don't want to be. I just want to be myself. I like to paint nature, realistic and a lot of what I paint is folksy. 😀😀👋👋💖💖

It happened to Jackson Pollock, when he tried changing styles. He was subjected to a battering of 'we want the squiggly lines'.
Incidentally, I have been doing both digital and physical painting for long enough to realise, that in digital work a clear style appears in most areas of your work.
In terms of your work, I liked 'milk shake' and all those café bar paintings, reminded me of Renoir. Anyway, I have a fondness for those type of scenes. I have thought about trying a digital one of looking into the restaurant through the window from the outside, but always fall down at the planning stage.

What do you think of using pseudonyms?

Great advice!

haha stop the zooming thing. It's not good man. Your content is great, you don't need the tricks

SUBJECT*STYLE*
COLOR SCHEME*CANVAS SIZE > your welcome 🤗

my best advice- and i'm an old dude- is keep working , look for ideas that come from that, and most of all, keep working.

I don't want to limit myself like that, I figured the world likes to put u in a box, brand you, people love achievers with razor sharp focus on one thing... but thats so limiting to the development of an artist

Really enjoy your thoughts.

One of the main reasons I continue doing art is challenging myself learning new mediums, techniques, tools etc. as it keeps me in wonder and learning new options to speak through colour and shape, dark and light with my unique view. Been painting for 40+ years and still feel that wonder and freshness ❤

I have started implementing some of this not all the stuff you say but some and it’s a little different to what I have been doing but end of the day it’s how good quality of Art I will make…..it’s best to ignore some rambling stuff that’s going to be around you then best ignore it…..once this happens I believe we can be Who we are…..Thanks again nice topic.

I'd agree with all of this. I've stuck to my style since around 2004 and have become a top selling artist in the UK with a six figure income from my art brand. Sticking to a style doesn't bother me because it's the act of painting and the self improvement that gets me painting 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. I get so absorbed in getting better at pushing the oil paint around that I don't notice I'm painting the same subject. Once a year I sometimes do something in hyperrealism for a competition or two but I do that less and less these days.

Your advise is so true! Thankyou and gosh I just love the laugh that punctuates your chat. Think the animals studies are remarkable, also the paintings of people are just so engaging. Just joined your channel and am now going to check out more of your skill and talent. It is so easy to want to paint everything . Thankyou again Trent. 🦋🇦🇺

I'll venture to say that you are possibly right, but no thanks. I've seen so many artists come and go. Here's the one who paints horses, and always features the reflected image thing in the horse's big eye...then there's the 'shake the camera at night and paint all the jumbled city lights' ( an ex girlfriend) and the artist who lifts images off the internet and puts them through a laser wood cutting thing and pumps out 'woodworking'...( barf)
Then there's the spectral-coloured unreal rocky lakescapes painter... I could go on and on. Yes, if you want to be predictable, dull, full of your own ego, and you lack new ideas or approaches, have at 'er.
Me; I'm getting old (64) and I'm still changing, trying out different approaches, and in my world I'm well enough known. Not that it matters. I've done public art, miniature art, huge murals, carved wood, carved stone, ceramics, printmaking, watercolour, a ton of drawing, nowadays I'm focused on playing percussion and singing, as a part of performance art.
You will live until you die. Fame is fleeting and it's not what being an artist is really about.
Abstraction, realism, mixed media, installation, minimalism, maximalism, conceptual, political, social commentary, portrait, nude, where does it end? It doesn't. So don't limit yourself.
Dont feel that you have to be a 'brand' . Don't be so frikkin' capitalist. Stop looking for reinforcement for your fragile ego. Stop looking to get other people's approval. When they say, ' artists don't get recognized until after they're dead ' ( with a few exceptions) that's some heavy truth. Be an artist for when you're gone, and your niece donates a bunch of your paintings to a hospital. And your paintings manage to intrigue some patients who really need a jolt of artistic energy to look at.
Then maybe you will have accomplished something.
I've never had a website. Never had a business card. Never incorporated myself. I've given away most of my art.
At these apocolyptic times, I think it would be embarassing to be the sort of artist who has the silly naive notion that they're ' really going to make it'.
I hope you catch my drift.

Perfect advice if your goal is to the greatest of sell out painters. George Rodrige with his Tiffany blue dog - go for it - live with yourself, my dear friend. Put a false grin upon the face. Art is illusion and all of it is encased within the dream.

Very good advice. This advice is also often given to photographers when starting out.

You are so kind and helpful!! And a great artist!!

Best advice I ever got was to stop painting because no one really cares. My only real regret was learning to play guitar when I should've learned Piano. Never too late...

Completely agree, there is art business and art passion. If you love painting, then it’s inevitable to keep experimenting with different subjects and techniques and also different mediums (personally I use and love them all, from watercolour to oils, gouache etc) but unfortunately any business needs a a recognisable style or brand to sell. I believe the key is in the sweet spot between those 2 things, it’s there but it takes time and work to find it. Nice video!

Follow Warhol's lead. He knew all about personal branding and self-promotion.

Yes, it works.

Basically you are suggesting artists not to be artists. I'll try to fix that: it would be helpful to try to exploit any idea to the fullest by producing a fairly large number of works based on similar subjects, colour schemes, technique and so on. But that should take one a few months to a few years, not most of one's career — unless there's no desire to experiment in different directions.

Good to see you on here again. Curious if you are still using the zinsser primer or have you moved to something else?

Brilliant 😊

Thank you for this video. I have been thinking about this for some time as Im a beginner artist and ready to figure out my own signature . Id say im about halfway thru this process. And this video helps a lot

Soooo... why not just make prints if everything must stay the same forever? 😮

Best advice: Art is not a career.

Thank you

Wow 24 mins for an advise u could say it in a minute ! 😳 i was born to break the rules😂

I have too many interests to stick to being one way. I can't imagine being too square and I'm not in it for the money.

This is true IF the artist knows who they are. BUT if you do this unauthentically you will feel stifled and bored.
Always keep experimenting. Try new things. Just look at the new styles and directions as a different series (brands).
Remember, you can’t find “your style” the same way you can’t find your passion….THEY FIND YOU.

Carla Bosch managed to do this successfully

Thank you Trent 😊 this was really helpful!

Thank you! Working on some niched down pieces behind the scenes as we speak. Cross fingers it works!

I strongly disagree.

Thank you, sound strategy and advice to implement.

Don't worry about a logo, work on your style and stick with it, which will become your brand. When people buy a Porsche, or Nike, they expect that similar style and quality, which is what we, as artists, need to do. The challenging thing is to find outlets to sell your art and become successful at it.

When you mean color scheme do you mean they use the same primary colors use to mix. Like a certain type of red (vermillion , crimson etc) and brand of paint they use. OR you mean like their paintings always show the same 3 or 4 colors like a series of artworks that only use cool blue colors.? Like I'm already getting ideas from this video lol.

Ah, paint what you’re drawn to. It all works out in the end. I don’t ever want to regret not trying something.

I suggest that you paint to make calendars.
Because I always want a general colour scheme in a spot that I chose for a calendar.
But we need a new picture!
And make it so there are now words on the picture so they can be used again for framing or another thing, especially if one just likes a few pictures repeated.
Home life can certainly be added in.
In fact, most of your subscribers would probably like to have one every year.

Your philosophical discussions of art are always interesting. I love your channel and always look for new content you have uploaded. Thank you very much.

I think as long as your ‘style’ is consistent people will recognize you enough to have a career. The idea of painting the same subject over and over again, however, is ridiculously limiting and boring IMO

Great advice . I was told the same thing many years ago when I was doing my Fine Art degree . Am I famous, no , why ? because I find it hard to market . I do love making videos of my practice here on utube & if you are interested in taking a look that would be lovely for a comment about them from you 😊

great advice. I recently started a markey stall to try my habd at gettinf my work oyt yhere. i have started woth prints of my wprk amd a sign sayomg commissions of people or animals. i have been aware that there is probably a need for some continuity or uniformity in some aspecr of what o present to the public as examples of what they will get in a commission. What you gave said allows tou to still have a good amount of freedom by choosing one to three things you need to keep the same as far as selling your work goes i have qritten up differentcombinations of 3 things i vould keep the same amd 1 that could be differnt at times. Ibtpo like beowns worh just a himtvof some colour and i have noticed it becpming a bit of a signature thing. But i dont think i coyld stick to the same thong for ever. .Your system helps vary things but keeps things in the same within perametres when we 2ant a change.🎉😊