Apology

WOW

i'll admit he didn't have the greatest first impression, but he wrote me back and i got a feel of what was going on.

ideally the first steps will be:

1. redo the bio. i know some say rap is fine there, but it won't attract more customers that aren't into rap.
2. redo the tag words - they can't be spam
3. titles and descriptions, maybe you can help him there.
4. lots of work.

i can see this selling to those that like city abstract type images. there are many that do like that urban street look. i would gather more work before applying any where. on the good side he has a a style that people can recognize later, and that's usually the first hurdle. for now i would make as much work as possible, and organize it as he goes. then follow my guides below.

Marketing 101 by Mike Savad
Why Your Work May Not Be Selling - By Mike Savad
Evaluating Your Own Work To Sell – By Mike Savad
How To Critique And Edit Your Own Work For Better Sales


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Bravo your response Maria,I'm sure Orlando and you make a great team.Help is plentiful here,Welcome .

do note one thing though, selling won't be instant, and it takes a long time to build stock and an audience. 14 hours at a job can kill anyone over time, and add onto that making the stuff and so on. it could take quite a while before money is made. so if he's doing this to drop out of where he is... it may be frustrating, it is for a lot of people. i work 15 hour days, but at home and on art.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Welcome back.

I am glad he didn't leave. He has wonderful art.

I am actually going to come in here and say direct to Orlando that you do not need to apologise, nor owe us an apology. Some people owe you one for the way they reacted to that thread.

If you have any specific questions do not hesitate to let us know

I would leave the rap. It is original and honest just like the art.

it wasn't original (its plagiarized), maybe as a secondary part, i really think he should outline his type of art in that box. the bio is the only way google will find you there. it's a simple box of keywords basically.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Hello Maria and welcome to FAA ( Fine Art America ) Orlando. But more importantly, welcome to the USA. Moving to a new country and learning a new language is not an easy thing. You are a lucky man to have such a supportive wife.

As Mike mentioned above. You need a much bigger body of work to get into the galleries. You will also need to research the galleries you want to get into. Finding galleries that fit with your work will be easier for you to get in then galleries that show traditional art. It takes a lot of work and effort to be a gallery artist. Once you find the right gallery you will need to form a good working partnership with them.

Barney Davey has a wonderful blog on how to sell your art. He also has written a few books about it. Here is a link to his blog http://artmarketingnews.com/

Another blog you may be interested in is RedDot http://reddotblog.com/

Both these blogs have a lot of great information for artist. Good luck to you.

Agreed with Abbie

BTW, you made your first sale. My wife loves your work so we bought a card. Small start, but I do love your work.

JC

Ditto

Its probably a very good idea to rewrite his bio and remove the obscenities in it.

A clear explanation goes such a long way.

I later was suspecting that Orlando might be a very young boy who had not mastered the language of the adult world well enough to use his own words, and so he chose words of an idol or something. Not knowing one way or the other, however, I must disagree with the moderators as to anybody here owing an apology. Now that the story is clear, we can start over. Simple as that. Let's forget the first encounter.

My first impression of the art was good, and my impression of the art is STILL good.

The bio should be composed of words BY the artist that somebody translates to place on this website. It could even be a poem or rap or something creative, but it needs to ORIGINATE from the artist. The ID section is precisely that, a place to give an honest identity representation of who is on here. How can you blame the reactions of people who saw the face of a rapper and the words of a rapper that were NOT the artist? This defies every established and expected convention here. This is a real example of how the language barrier can be an obstacle.

The people mocking the language went a bit far IMO, but yeah, new day new jet as they say in my world.

Who we are is what makes our art what it is!

Nobody was mocking. They were trying to relate, and maybe it was not done skillfully, but lack of skill or lack of rap game does not equal mockery. The language was NOT that of the artist, remember, and so no mockery was even POSSIBLE with respect to the artist HERE presenting that language. The language was by ANOTHER artist. Even if mockery were taking place (which it was not) it would unavoidably be aimed at the artist who WROTE the language (I forgot his name).

The rap lyrics that are still up I see are still NOT words ORIGINATING from the artist presenting the pictorial art. Those words need to go away and be replaced by something that the pictorial artist, Orlando, has had some hand in composing or some voice in overseeing the composing of.

Forgive me for writing this but I can't help but think that we are all getting punked here. Something doesn't seem right.

I thought the exact same thing, Gary F., but I am trying to be open to the possibility that we are not.

Time will tell, hopefully.

i didn't know it was a real language. but as it was consistent, i label it the new Esperanto. i don't really listen to the new rap, it's not my cup of tea. i have the older stuff when it started. that and finnish heavy metal.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

no this isn't a punking moment. he wrote to me twice, and while the second mail was a little hard to understand, it took me a few times to get it. i told him basically that the first impression wasn't that grand and if he could use google or something to tell people where he's coming from everyone will then understand. and well, this is the result. and there you go.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Some people showed their true colors yesterday for sure and surely some of those same people will back peddle and pretend they were only kidding etc. Orlando is very lucky to have such a supporting woman in his life. I wish him and two of you much success. I am a product of the ghetto and never been to jail or sold a drug in my life. Stay positive and don't let anyone label you because of where you are from.

Even if everyone got what some call getting punked, back peddling and true colors certainly were revealed!

Compare how the two new members are treated.

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2472494
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2470771

Welcome Maria and Orlando.

the hardest thing he's going to run into - is that his name is shared with 10 other people. sports, other artists, etc. when they type his name they may never find him. even if they say artist in the search line - they will find a sketch artist by that name.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Whether we are being punked or not,

All I can say is we are all fortunate to have this wonderful collection of images that:

TREAT OUR EYES

and

STIMULATE OUR BRAINS

@Drew= this is exactly why I was suggesting a professional bio. People treat you initially by your appearance and presentation. A man in a suit will get 5 dollars for an empty gas tank before the guy in a t-shirt and nose ring. And you have all these people giving him bad advice suggesting he should remain "different" and "original" yet none of them wrote their bio before researching what works and don't work.

i still say that the last thread while vulgar sounding at times is a great way to view how buyers would view it as well. some totally understood the ghettoese? i don't know the proper name. others had their own reaction. this is what your buyer base may think as well. its a perception thing. people will put their opinions on you just based on how you speak. and more than that, this site is translated by other people in other countries, and if too many metaphors are used - like cheese - the buyers won't have a clue what's going on.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Does anyone know what would happen if he wrote everything in Spanish? I know Google translates a lot of sites. Maybe that's a market FAA is missing out on? Spanish is the world's second most popular language with Mandarin being number one. I did sell something with a spanish title. Any thoughts?

i think he should have it in both english and spanish. i think it might confuse google. but i think he should have both of them, along with the major keywords. whatever would make it authentic. i get more english speaking people that either spanish or mandarin. well they come from the US anyway, no way to know what they really speak.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

For your bio:
I'd say the story of coming from Havana and the hard work to get where you are is good for a bio. People interested in your art want to know your story and it sounds like you've got a good one. Have your wife write it as she communicates very well.

For galleries:
Your work leans towards street art or urban abstract. Galleries in cities like Chicago and New York or other big cities would be interested in your work especially when attached to your back story.
Start with local to you galleries and work outwards, but first get a good bio that makes people want to know more about you.
Research the galleries in your area. Visit as a customer and check out the artwork and the owner to see if you would be a good fit. Check the paintings prices so you know the price point for that gallery. If you like them, get a card and make notes on what you liked about them.
Work up and practice an elevator speech about what you do and why.
Galleries will want to see several examples to know that your work is consistent, but most times it's by appointment. From what I can see, your work looks consistent in color and in technique.

Prints: This is a good book
http://barneydavey.com/how-to-sell-art-prints/

Barney Dave's blog is really good.

I haven't checked this out yet, but plan too:
http://artmarketingnews.com/make-art-career-successful/

Bottom line:
It's a whole lot of freekin' work to get seen and noticed as an artist. You need to be tenacious and stay positive.
Don't fret if a gallery doesn't like your work. Move on to the next one.
If a gallery wants more than 50%, move on. If they want 50% they better be working for it. If they want all rights to push your work and don't allow you to sell prints or originals online, move on. If they have an original of yours in their gallery and you sell it outside the gallery, they deserve a cut anyway as they took up wall space for you. Ask about the cut. It should be less than their normal cut.
You are the boss of your work, but need to play nice with the galleries. Building a trusting relationship with the owner will benefit you and takes a while to do too.
Be patient, but always be moving forward. Don't spend your precious time running around in circles. Plan things out and be organized and efficient. You need a good website, postcards of your work, and a good body of consistent work.

Good luck. You are lucky to have a supportive spouse who can speak for you. Use that. I'm all for being yourself, but being getto won't get you work. You will be sterotyped and dismissed more often than not.

Jani

Good valuable lessons learned - pick a good manager. Second lesson is that English is the international language of business and art is a business.

Welcome Orlando and Maria. Orlando, your art is very unique and quite good. Maria, you are a wonderful person for helping and encouraging your husband! He is very lucky.

Mike is right. Orlando, you have a distinctive style, and that means your art will be recognizable to buyers once you start expanding your portfolio and your fan base. Don't be discouraged if you don't sell anything for a while. We didn't sell anything for six months, but after constant promotion, participation in contests and groups, and outside advertising, we have sold a few cards and a few prints.

FAA is filled with stories of artists who post their work, wait for sales, get discouraged, and leave. Don't let this happen to you! Don't sit by just waiting for sales! You are off to a good start. Read Mike's articles, listen to the folks here, and make more great art! And, more importantly, enjoy making your art. If you derive satisfaction from making beautiful art, then sales are just icing on the cake.

Hi Maria, Orlando's art is wonderful and I bet with your help he will go far! I think you will both find everyone here will be helpful...you will get a lot of advice and as in every online chat place people have opinions...and they don't always agree. I didn't read all the ones regarding his art but enough to see it is liked. YAY!

Is that Orlando's picture now? I like it much better than the other so I hope it is :)

In Miami knowing spanish has a huge business advantage. The Spanish bio just may not be such a bad idea. Maybe both English and Spanish.

I think Orlando's work is vibrant and engaging. With some marketing effort, he could sell well!

First upload all his artworks, make sure Titles, descriptions and keywords are clear and right for each image.

Then start learning about marketing. He should have a complete gallery before sending people to see it.

Again, I really love his artwork!

Great Response for Orlando, Maria, I would remove the rap, and tell your story, its one that can relate.

Welcome Orlando, Maria! This is a great site but it does take a long time to sell and you have to do a lot of marketing - this forum is a great place to ask questions and get good, helpful answers and feedback - read Mikes guides, they will be very informative and almost everyone here does their best to assist all those that want and need it!

While English is still the global language for business in the U.S. in order to compete in certain markets you must be bilinugal. Going to China without knowing Mandarin and expecting them communicate only in English can be done but its not to your advantage. Do Spanish (only) people not enjoy beautiful works of art on their walls?

It seems to me that even though the name "Fine Art America" is erroneous for this site that not only includes but celebrates Art and Artists from all over this world.

The words the particular artist feels best in defining him/her self.is his/her prerogative to use..

Perhaps with the 500 characters one has to use, Words applicable to a given image, might include all possible translated forms, whether by nationality or culture.

well, yeah, if you go to china you'll need to know some form of that language. but if i go to russia i would assume i would need to know some russian.

its not that spanish people don't buy art, you just don't want to limit the audience. its like when your out some place and you overhear someone on the phone, and you can understand everything, and they suddenly switch languages on you. and your totally lost, just because of the switch. the site is english, so a language out of no where might be harder for those that don't speak the other. that's why i would have both. and if he knows mandarin - add that too. but... it has to be real. translated from google isn't the same as really knowing the language, as was shown by the others who attempted the ghetto language.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Estás eres hombre inteligente Mike! Mike I just searched Canvas Art for sale in spanish and apparently some sites are already programmed to automatically sale items if you search in Spanish! Since we can't talk about other sites I am sure Sean may already be thinking about this.

Back on Topic:
An artist bio, when written and created correctly will provide the reader with a greater understanding as to the artist’s art, the artist’s motivation for creating their art and finally it will provide a guide or a means for a viewer to interpret the artist’s art. In these terms, the importance of an artist’s bio cannot be stressed enough!

http://www.lightspacetime.com/newsletter/how-to-write-an-effective-artist-biography/

I need to do mine again!

Seeing that your art is computer art, it may not do well in galleries as galleries still haven't caught up on that media. At least for the most part they want original pieces of art and yours would be prints. It would look great printed on metal; however, and that is in keeping with that urban/industrial, street art feel.

Sorry folks, but the more I look at this, the more I am getting suspicious.

What picture is it that has now replaced the first picture of the bio? The latest bio pic looks like a painting. Is this the ARTIST's painting? Its style looks very different from the rest of the images in the gallery. And why is the plagiarized rap still the bio? A new bio pic showed up, but why did a new bio statement NOT show up too?

How is it that Orlando's wife speaks such better English and has such a fine command of written English?

The long explanation written here is generally very well worded, with agreement problems and other flaws, but are these real? What really stands out as unusual is the almost perfect white-line spacing that separates the groupings of sentences. This is how I would write an explanation this long, with fastidious consciousness about NOT putting too many sentences together before separating them with line breaks. Even if a person could speak and write English this well in comparison to a mate that had little command of the language, the tendency would be to run all the sentences together into one long block of text, with little separation between the sentences.

But look at it: Look at the rhythm of the line spacing. This suggests a very savvy writer who knows principles of good presentation on the internet.

All this together just has me wondering ...

Robert, I noticed the same thing. I have also noticed that one person who is very active in the forums is always absent when 'suspicious' threads pop up.

I think it's a psychology project concerning group perceptions. Time to get some more popcorn....

The bio pic and the art is both the same style . digital . photo shop effects you can make a picture look like a painting than its warp effect gets that wiggly look
the only difference is the colors in his art he warped his photo after he used the paint effect.

People can be in a relationship and one can speak complete perfect English while the other speaks another language and no English at all or barley.
Sometimes love can be spoken without words or she seems to be able to help him speak.

Its nice of her to help him because his friend didn't represent him very well.

Enough Robert. Even if found to be true or not found to be true, members get treated with respect. No excuses.

So this is now a Judge Judy forum? Everything here has to be true or false? Wow. Bottom line is most of us are here to make some cheddar (aka money, cash, dinero) and you just never know who is watching or willing to purchase your art. Not too many have the reputation to say who they will and will not sell to based on their command of the English language.

Jay-Z's Magna Carta Lyrics: A $493 Million Art Collection
Jay-Z’s 12th studio album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, is his most artistically inclined, overflowing with references to artwork – around $493 million worth, according to top auction prices for the masters Jay-Z name-checks.

http://www.artspace.com/magazine/news_events/jay_z_art_collecting

Imagine the gaze from the snobbish faces when Jay Z and his crew posted on the block? Did they turn down his cheddar? Good Night Ladies and Gentlemen!

The next person on this forum to say anything bad, about anything at all... Anything, (unless genuine bug report) is going to have time out.

Today is a celebration of all things good day. A Pollyanna day if you will. Starting now.

The great news is Cuban Art is on fire!

HAVANA — Kadir López was working in his studio at his elegant home here when the doorbell rang. It was Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

“I had no idea they were coming,” said Mr. López, whose work incorporates salvaged American signs and ads that were torn down after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.

About an hour and $45,000 later, Mr. Smith had bought “Coca Cola-Galiano,” an 8-by-4-foot Coca-Cola sign on which Mr. López had superimposed a 1950s photograph of what was once one of the most bustling commercial streets in Havana.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/arts/cubas-art-scene-awaits-a-travel-boom.html?_r=0

You can do it Orlando!

I know lots of thugs that would love to spend their day writing bios and threads for friends on FAA, lol

Good luck with the cheese

I'm glad you said that, Abbie ;)

Hey, I just like popcorn!

Throws popcorn at Richard.
Runs back to her corner before she gets in trouble.

If there is any double identities, I'm sure the ip adresses can be cross referenced.
Judge Judy.,,.....lol
How bout keep judgement to oneself.

i guess the forum is getting slower if the conspiracy theories are out. he's a real person, who has someone speaking for him. he seems to work very long hours and just wanted advice. he's just a guy trying to sell his art. innocent until proven guilty, treat him like any other person.

the bio:

it should not have anything to do with JAY Z - even if your bro's, hommies, good friends, etc. because your advertising yourself and that little box of text is talking directly to the customer. right now it sounds threatening. only list stuff about you - and that's it.

when i worked for another company, there was a lady there that was learning english, i think she was cuban spanish, in any case they forced her to learn country music. because they spoke clear english words that way. i suggest to you - don't learn english from rap. because your not going to learn proper english that way. no one really speaks like that unless they are a rapper, and i'm betting in real life, they do speak normally. if your going to ever present yourself for a gallery, i would expect them to usher you right out the door again, if the rap ghetto lingo comes out. the speak sounds fine in a rap, but odd on the streets.


things like curse words, religious beliefs, violence, etc - listed on the bio will usually taint you and customers may leave. always leave a good impression

list the following:

Hi my name is Orlando, this is my general background, i grew up here. my work is influenced by.... my work is a combination of... fill in something here. you want to give a few hot words that people can understand that your work is - maybe an abstraction of city life, and a ghetto appeal. a colorful life that is often seen as dirty and violent? or something like that.
your trying to sell yourself and the work - in your bio.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I'd Have to say Mike, you made the effort to get to know something about Orlando instead of perpetrating unsubstantiated allegations.

allegations are fun.. i love them too. but even if he was some kind of master mind troll, i'd rather see how it plays out and what they do rather than tar and feather the guy and truck him out of town. trolls can be fun, but the fun part is what they do to attract the attention. but they have to prove they are a troll first, in any case i usually respond to everyone anyway. trolls usually have a tell of some kind that you know something is off... however this site has a habit of turning normal folk into trolls anyway. i guess its just another form of art...?

in any case - to sum up... clean up the bio.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Enough Robert. Even if found to be true or not found to be true, members get treated with respect. No excuses.

Please tell me how I am being disrespectful. I am being vigilant.

You are the moderator, so I will say no more on this here.

Anytime you think you are being "punked"
and you receive and e-mail from the punker, there are free software packages that locates the ip adresses from the suspected punker and gives a geographical location. The ip adresses is located in the header of an e-mail.
And of course FAA provides it's members with the ip adresses from those who visits our uploads

In the past, i have discovered single users with multible accounts and alias on other sites. If one suspects then. cross reference,

Well, it's not as simple as that really, Drew. My current public IP address is in Alabama since that's where I connect to the outside world, even though I am sitting in Pennsylvania. When I get home (10 miles away) my public IP address will be in PA again...
And that's without using an free IP shrouding websites. But I digress...

Yes Richard, that's because of proxy servers but one's ip If comes from the same pc or WiFi generally is consistent.

I sit in Starbucks and often that ip comes out of nyny

There are a lot of gamers who jerk people around just for the fun of it,

The ip cross reference is a good way to id the jerks

And back to marketing tips and art appreciation now. After all, those help all

I find Orlando's work very beautiful and intriguing. Not cookie cutter which is refreshing! I find the forums a difficult place to visit myself and I do not have any language barriers. With so many personalities and people only reading "what they want to read" instead of what is really being said sometimes, it makes for divisions and sometimes things get out of hand. Like Abbie says....back to marketing tips and being supportive. :)

I suggest a bio written in the third person.

Orlando, Maria,

Welcome, I like your art and your story however you want to tell it.

Artists buy very little art from other artists, depend on the city of Miami before you depend on us.

As you get established some months from now, try the galleries, the newspapers and even the local museums. Some
museums have space set aside for new upcoming fine artists. You are deserved.

Dave

Maria....Setting up a BLOG for Orlando can be quite a powerful marketing tool. You do have to promote it to Social Media and build a following every where you can.....It takes time....For me many years....But you do get where you want to go!

I personally buy a ton of art from other artists. My house is FULL of art primarily from others. After all, I look at my stuff ALL DAY LONG online! LOL I want to look at other artists work in my home and work space. I always buy at least one thing every time I go to an art show. And I buy a few pieces each year from artists I find online. I have to store art and rotate it with the Seasons.

I would encourage you to market to other artists, but to not depend on them. You need a public following to be successful.

Orlando Maria,

I support artists I personally know off line. I have a house/condo full of art as well.

Invest in Miami.

Most of us online are buying "very little" from each other.

Dave