When it comes to your Artist’s Biography you’ve been told by the art marketing experts (including me) that it’s important to share your story. But, have you struggled with knowing how to begin and how much to share? It’s important to write a compelling and memorable Artist’s Biography that reaches out and connects with your reader. It should inspire them to learn more about you. In this article I’ll show you how to add some magic to your Artist’s Biography.
Avoid Writing A Boring Beginning
I visit dozens of artists’ websites every day and one of the biggest disappointments is coming across the all too often boring beginning of an Artist’s Biography. Frequently it refers to their first childhood encounter with art. In a mundane routine they write how they “have loved creating art ever since they were a child” and follow with some more boring details.
Many artists on this planet have similar experiences as children, so when we read that kind of introduction, we may mutter under our breath “So, what else is new?” We’re not enchanted because the artist hasn’t captured our attention or taken us anywhere unique.
From an art marketing perspective this is unfortunate because the artist who fails to seduce the prospective buyer within the first few lines of their biography may suffer from a loss of sales and other opportunities.
The good news is, when I speak to an artist in a consultation I always discover they have many hidden gems they failed to share in their Artist’s Biography. It’s exciting to reconstruct it with delicious improvements.
Examples of Compelling Introductions for The Artist’s Biography
You have many options to connect your childhood experiences with your current career status. Notice how interested you become when you read the following descriptions.
Bren Sibilsky wrote, “Throughout my life I always had a pencil in my hand. Drawing was my favorite way to communicate. At the age of eight I asked my parents if I could attend art school instead of public education, showing them the cartoon ad I had found in the back of a magazine. My parents said art was a wonderful hobby, but not a career. I disagreed. As an adult I went on to Art College.”
Alexander Calder Biography Introduction…
As a child, American sculptor Alexander Calder could never find the perfect toys to play with, so he created them by transforming copper wire and random objects into customized playthings. When he lived in Paris in the 1920s as a young man, he considered a career as a toymaker. His efforts proved unsuccessful although the sophisticated Parisian art scene admired his sculptures, called him the “King of Wire”, and his career as an artist was born. Throughout his career, Calder has never lost his child-like artistic approach to creating playful kinetic mobiles.
Even if you didn’t know Calder was a major artist you would still be engaged and find something unique and memorable about him that sets him apart from other artists.
Here’s another example…
The flame of Susan Smith’s interest in art was ignited at the age of nine when her family moved to Holland. She recalls the magic that was revealed to her upon viewing a small Dutch oil sketch at a museum. For her, it was a very intimate experience, as though this work of art was made especially for her. It immediately awakened her interest in painting.
As a teenager, she created public murals that evoked that same kind of personal response in viewers, and she continued to take inspiration from Dutch art history.
Open Your Treasure Chest of Memories!
Childhood associations with art are magical indeed. But, if all you write about is your love for your first coloring book and box of crayons, it’s time to be more inventive.
Dig deeper into the treasure chest of memories. Connect the dots between your early childhood artful events as being relevant to your current creative impulses, the way that Calder’s desire to create toys as a child led to his playful mobiles. The experiences you share in your Artist’s Biography should flow together in a compelling rhythm that takes the reader on a journey and builds momentum.
I hope you will now revisit your Artist’s Biography and find a way to share your unique story. Write something compelling and memorable!
A savvy approach to an often neglected subject. Screenwriters often have to write a treatment, a minimal short piece, designed to ‘hook’ potential clients into asking to read the whole script. Every word must be calculated to achieve this, or these people won’t get past the first sentence. An artist’s self description should be no different.