Why ?

I think like anything else, it needs the right audience. It's too serious to be parody, too whimsical to be "serious". It will find the right buyer at some point. Ever notice that after you post, you sell?

No I haven't noticed that with an actual piece but maybe that will work Louise,good thoughts :)

It's hard to know why some things hit and some don't.

I don't know why I haven't sold a print here of this:



or this:



although I did sell prints of it at Deviant Art.com.

I've actually thought of purchasing that print. Leah. I love it. Just can't right now. No extra cash laying around.

I'm going to favorite it so I have it handy for when I can purchase it.

Perhaps it looks too much like an identifiable person, but not like a celebrity.

Someone once told me, because I enjoy painting people, to paint them so they could be anyone and they will sell better.

I however, identify with this piece a lot. She's a deep thinker. It tells an intriguing story. I think it is a conversation piece. I see a bit of myself in this painting and not just the red hair. I too am surprised you haven't sold prints of this one.

different images appeal to different people, they can't all be winners. i have dozens of images i thought would sell and never did. if it was just the fish, it would sell. but there is basically a "body" under the water, sleeping with the fishes as it were, and that might turn people off at some level?


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Mike I can understand my cyclops or really weird stuff not selling lol, but this piece and series was extremely popular here when people have seen the originals and even when people come to my house and they see the print, it is just really weird with how many people come on this site to not sell one in 2 years I am dumbfounded, no the hugest deal since I sell others but it's strange. Thanks Jani for letting me know someone was/is at least thinking about it, maybe it's just one of those sleepers that will turn around and sell one day :) ,I agree JL glad I'm not the only one that questions something like that with certain images

i'd say push it really hard and get followers that have a koi pond, into sushi, like gold fish, belong to the mafia. you can also go for an inner peace, yoga and other things that have calming things in it. and push the work with those people in mind.

i wonder if you retitled it to -- sleeping with the fishes or something like that. i find that by simply changing the title you can often get sales. it creates a different attitude toward the image.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

It's possible too that buyers might identify it as a portrait. Someone once told me that portraits don't sell as well as situations. If she were looking away to the side, it's easier to imagine a number of people the woman could resemble. If she were a mermaid or full figure, then it is more about what she represents. But what Louise says about finding the right buyer sounds right to me.

And the Yakuza might be looking for something more in the yamishibai tradition.

Ya know, happens to me all the time. I upload something that I think is spectacular, gets ohhhhhs and ahhs from the general public and from the artist community but never sells.

I generally have a pretty good idea of what will sell but other times I am just baffled.

Now, if it was some cantankerous old coot and not some hot redhead it would probably sell as soon as you post it.

Maybe folks are prejudiced against redheads. ;-) I think it is a beautiful piece of art. I'm sure it will find the right buyer sometime.

There's just no rhyme or reason why people choose one piece of art over another. It's a highly personal thing. I think for this particular piece, Leah, someone is going to fall in love with it because the woman looks like someone they know.

MM, I hope not :(

I often go around saying, "I just dont like red heads".

Dave....got out of bed on the right side this morning......lol

Prejudice against the ginger nation? Noooooooooooo

OK, in general people don't like the red hair as a feature or they really REALLY love the red hair. Personally, I am of the latter persuasion and I mean near infatuation. Oh, the hair, the skin tone, the freckles (on some) and of course the attitude, I LOVE it all.

Now, I would have a grand hall of nothing but fine redhead art except for two issues. 1. I don't have a castle with a grand viewing hall. 2. My wife is not a redhead but knows of my leanings in that area. (No, dyed red hair does NOT count as sure you can get the color but those other wonderful attributes simply can't be found in a box of Clairol.)

OK, enough of my ramblings on the great and powerful Ginger Nation.......

Leah, I would imagine that your clients are attracted to your signature style.
i would express your signature style as refined primitive with a whimsical subject.

this work is refined with no primitive elements. it is beautiful. it demonstrates your skill and balance.it is museum quality. museum works don't always appeal to the popular consumers.

So JC it is really all about you?

LOL

Usually it is about me.

Being McYid......I know red hair........

not signed.......I need a life....or a better life......

That's hilarious JC,yeah see what I mean? an old coot sells a print right away but not a hot red head. Mike you might be onto something changing the title or I upload another with a different titl and keep both there. Good thought ,I have seen that make a difference. I don't think it's prejudice toward redheads lol

gingers are in vogue these days.
Looks like someone even started a redheaded thread here!

Who would do such a thing?

yeah first try that, if your on twitter friend a number of gingers, the ones that are overly proud to be a red head. then market it from that stand point or even to barbers. i didn't even notice her hair color actually.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Well, I'm that old coot...and I was a ginger once....not a redhead but a redbeard.

Hey, Drew, it appeals to me and I'm popular...well, at least I think I am, lol.

...and I'm very proud to be a natural redhead. Wasn't always. Use to call myself a strawberry blonde, but I have fully embraced my spicy gingerness now. Might have to do with everyone saying I'm a redhead or a ginger or maybe because I'm starting to get white hairs mixed into it and I see that it won't be red forever. Btw, I think all redheads are proud to be gingers these days. So, yes, push it towards the redhead community like Mike said.

Tweet it with #redheads #gingers #redhair

Find redhead community groups on G+ and Facebook and share it there.

Roger was that a selfie? You must have long arms......

I don't understand why that great painting wouldn't sell....smells a little fishy to me....

Cheers, Barbara

btw, love your Roger portrait!

Perkkkkkkk

Redhead groups on FB you say?

You are one hairy dude Roger, Great Red beard, I sometimes would love to have a mustache but it would look funny on me,but it is a secret desire I am now sharing lol

Thanks Barbara I agree it smells fishy hmm

I love this painting
Im a real redhead not box. I wasn't always proud of my red hair kids where cruel and having bright red hair not easy to hide or blend in to the crowd. I stood out big time. but I have learned to embrace my waves of red hair and my additude that goes with it lol funny was teased so much as a kid and a lot ot of movie stars are going for the ginger look . Silly how being called strawberry shortcake hurt my feelings lol

Gingers are getting a lot of attention right now. Look at the following Ed Sheeran has. My boyfriend is a ginger...and he lives in Ireland AND has a ginger kitty. Can't get much more ginger than that! lol

"(No, dyed red hair does NOT count as sure you can get the color but those other wonderful attributes simply can't be found in a box of Clairol.) "
And yet I get accused all the time that I dye my hair. My reply is always "If I did, I think I could choose a better shade." Doesn't help that at my age I have maybe 20 gray hairs.

/end threadjack

My kids are both redheads.
I begged my daughter not to ever dye her hair..at age 35, she sheepishly called and told me she changed her hair color....to CHERRY RED!
long live redheads!

Ireland is beautiful . I'd love to visit there. I have Irish and Sicilian blood. Come from not one redhead parent but 2 so was my fate to be a redhead. My kids came out blonde but my son has red in his face hair lol. Daughters getting more strawberry as she gets older but she dyes it anything from bright red to black with purple streaks she's an abstract painting sometimes but beautiful .

Louise I get asked all the time if I'm a real redhead .it's like no and I painted on my freacles too lol.
I had one guy on the bus start touching my hair telling me how fascinating the color was and if it was real . I'm like if you keep touching me you will see just how real the additude. Is that goes along with my very real redhair. But most of the time I'm very calm .:) I'm also getting the gray hairs sneek. their way on my head.
Roger very nice red beard . But the siver mustache suits you well too.
Marlene I'm with ya on not wanting my daughter to dye her beautiful strawberry hair but she hated it so rather than seeing her unhappy and not being able to tell her what she can't do...no clue where she'd get such an additude ..puts on her best angel face 0:)

Jennifer, I can't wait to go to Ireland! My heritage is all Northern European: Scottish, English, Irish. My grandmother was from County Cork in Ireland, and my grandfather was from England. Hence I've always had a love for all things English, Irish and Scottish!

But isn't it odd how people think nothing of reaching out and touching someone's hair just because it's an unusual color? Also, the pregnant ladies have to put up with unwanted touching of their bellies! I don't know why peoples' boundaries suddenly fall away when someone looking a bit out of the ordinary happens to cross their path! lol You're right...if some stranger started pawing me in public because of an unusual feature, my instant reaction is to slap them away. That's from growing up in and living in the big city....and having boundaries that I wish others did!

TRUE redhead aficionados know without asking.

Up your chances by also posting to JC's redhead thread!

"TRUE redhead aficionados know without asking."
True, but if someone sees me indoors, my hair is not red, it's a strange auburn-brown. When I step outside, it's red, orangey-red. So if they see me again but under the sun, they would think I must have colored it. Even my mother would always remark how odd my hair color was and that she should have named me "Penny".

"Up your chances by also posting to JC's redhead thread!"

There ya go, Leah!

Louise, my hair is dark indoors as well but quite red in the sun. My mom had red hair and hers stayed red naturally until she passed at age 68. I have a few silver hairs now but I'm hoping mine will stay red at least as long as Mom's did.

Louise, so true.

One of my first true loves was my server at dinner and under the tungsten bulbs her hair did not look red, but oh those freckles gave it away.

MM, you are getting those baby images down! Adorable painting!

Thanks Suzanne! I have some new shots of my great-niece now that she's 18 months. I need to do another portrait of her.

MM: I call mine "mood hair". When I was pregnant with my twins, it was very dark brown. When I was going through some rough times, I got blonde streaks at the temples (gray really) that disappeared after the birth of my kids. I'm 60 now and the few gray hairs I have on top shine like silver as if I got paint in my hair. LOL Glad to see I'm not the only one with color changing red hair. Oh and the longer it gets the brighter the red (my stylist calls it "brass"). When it was down to my waist, the ends were strawberry blonde.

I like the idea of renaming a print & see how the views (and hopefully sales) do.

Carpe diem - or Aquarius, fool around with ideas & you will come up with something very clever.

I must have mood hair too, Louise...mine looks red indoors and blond outside!

When I was young I was a toe head which turned blonde as I got older. As I continued to get older my mother commented on how my hair looked red when it was wet. I was mortified. Redheads weren't cool back then. Especially the orange shade of red. I did not want my hair to be red. The phrase "redheaded step child" was not a compliment and the redheads at school were bullied and gossipped about.
When red showed up through the blonde I called myself a strawberry blonde still denying the inevitable. My worst fear was happening. It didn't make it any better when some random boy shouted out, "I love redheads!" as I walked home from work one day.
My husband calls me "red" sometimes. When we were first married I still denied it. Eventually, I came to embrace it and love my hair.
It kept getting redder and redder over the years until recently it seems to be going backwards towards strawberry blonde.
I hear redheads take longer to go grey. They actually don't go grey, but go white. I started with white hair and going to end with white hair. Funny how that works.
Now that I'm getting white hairs coming in, I've been considering dying my hair red so I can keep my gingerness.

Jani, I think you meant "towhead" - which means "flaxen-haired", or someone with very pale hair.

Yes. My notorious spelling strikes again. :-)