Featured Artists vs the rest of us

Daily Paintworks How to Get the Most out of DPW
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Sorry for taking so long to add to this conversation. Carol, our son Jacob, and I have been camping all over Eastern Oregon for the last two weeks. It was gorgeous!

I completely understand the frustration many members have with DPW having a permanent group of featured artists. As with most things, however, there is a clarifying history behind why we do.

Early in DPW’s history, DPW was a co-op of 50 founding artists, each of whom was invited by the group to join. When Carol and I decided we would like to open the site up to all artists, in our negotiations with the founding artists, we promised they would always be featured on DPW, no matter how much it changed. Please remember, at that point, DPW was a co-op and to change it required approval of the entire group.

Well, that explains why we have the permanent featured artists. We have long, however, wanted to be able to feature other talented DPW members, who are not part of the founding group. We knew from the beginning we didn’t want to be the ones who decided who to feature, and we certainly didn’t want to have it be something a member could simply pay for, so we decided instead the most fair and effective approach was to have monthly DPW contests. These monthly contests are judged by guest judges, who pick 3 cash winning place winners ($400, $200, and $100) and 12 judge’s picks per contest, with all 15 winners being full featured artists for a month, as well as receiving that month of membership for free.

We feel we now have the best of both worlds - we keep our promise to our founding artists, whose talent continues to draw buyers to DPW, and we have a mechanism based, as much as possible, on talent and skill, in place to rotate in up to 15 new featured artists each month. Since our first contest in August 2013, we have awarded over $24,000 in cash prizes and have featured over 330 members!

So, if you would like to be a featured artist in DPW, you will have to enter our monthly DPW contests. There is no limit to how often you can be a judges pick and be featured. We would love to have your participation!

Happy Painting!

David - the developer and owner of DPW

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Thank you David. This clearly explains how and why “Featured Artists” was established. Although it does give the founding artists much better promotion, the monthly contest is a good alternative, and I appreciate that opportunity.

There are so many artists here that I (and I’m sure many other newbies) feel like needles in a haystack. However, we should keep in mind that DWP is just one resource and it shouldn’t be the only outlet artists’ use to promote and sell their work. Before I joined, I surfed around DWP and researched what sold and for how much. It was small work under $100, usually unframed. My experience so far is this is much easier and cost-effective than selling at art fairs or in a traditional gallery. Plus, you get many more eyes from all over the world. If only the economy would improve maybe sales of art would too.

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I take issue with the word schmuck being used to describe artists who are not being “featured”. I assume the author isn’t familiar with this pejorative since it’s incorrectly spelled. It’s a Yiddish term used as profanity, "one who is stupid or foolish; or an obnoxious, contemptible or detestable person. A “dick” (penis), an American idiom for “jerk” or “idiot”.

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I don’t like the ‘title’ either Rafael. I would prefer not to see it.

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See my post below on using the word “schmuck”. It’s derogatory and not appropriate.

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I understand and agree! I was merely copying the prose of this post’s author! I certainly did not come up with the idea and I certainly don’t think we are schmucks, as I am also included in this bunch.

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I agree Anne and Rafael! I’ve gone ahead and removed the word “schmuck” from the title.

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Not laying any blame. I just think people use and reuse euphemisms without regard or understanding.

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Wow…that’s very politically correct…I thought this was a forum to express your views?

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Thank you Carol. It was so nice to see it ‘gone’.

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Yes, this absolutely is a place to share and express one’s views, however there is no need to use words that offend without adding to the conversation. This is described well in our FAQ/Posting Guidlines.

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Agreed. I just didn’t feel it was meant to offend.

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The “Featured Artist” thing never bothered me. I think anyone coming to the front page of DPW can see that there’s a lot of wonderful art, and not all of it is at the top of the page. While I’m sure that those with “Featured” status do enjoy some advantages, I believe that any artist who produces attractive, sellable work has a fair shot of getting it seen, and hopefully selling it. To be honest, I’m not even sure who is “featured” and who isn’t half the time! There is so much good work here, it’s not like it’s a strike against someone if they’re not “featured.”

It wasn’t too long ago that I discovered how winners & finalists of the contests also get “Featured” status for a month. This seems like a good solution.

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I agree, DPW does a great job of having your art seen. I definitely think its a plus when you list a painting and it shows up on the first page, or you can look through 1 or two pages and find your work. The key is paint a lot and list often and you will be seen. I know, easier said then done.

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Yes, it is easier said than done.

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I appreciate David taking the time to explain the process by which the “featured artist” section of the website came about. I also appreciate that DPW.com has tried to find a way to allow “the rest of us” to be featured as well. My problem with the monthly competition is that I feel that it doesn’t really honor or reward the work of “daily painters”. I stopped entering in the competitions because I AM a “daily” painter. I don’t currently have a venue for selling elaborate and highly finished works of art, therefore (at this point in my career), I very seldom create them. I know that by being a successful daily painter my work gets seen by many more viewers in the “active bidding” category and I am happy to have the additional exposure that this creates. I just feel that a competition on a daily painting site should celebrate the paintings of , Uhm, Daily Painters. I can also appreciate that this would be very difficult to do…how do you determine whether the painting is indeed a “daily painting”? Is there any way what we could track the sales of artists on a monthly basis and reward those that are selling well in this venue. Obviously, it couldn’t be a dollar amount because we don’t all post at the same prices or with the same frequency. Perhaps a percentage based on postings? Just a thought. It might be fun to change the competition up in some way. Any ideas out there?

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Glenda,
Don’t worry about sales. Don’t worry about the paintings gathering in corners. Just keep painting and painting small. Carol Marine has a wonderful free article in the Instruction area of this site about how she started Daily Painting and how much it helped her to advance her art. (Of course I’m sure she was quite advanced already.) I also recommend Carol’s book because it has a lot about her philosophy as well as painting tips - and it’s a fun read. If you really don’t want to invest much money in your daily painting, go to Home Depot and have them cut a 2’x4’x 1/4" piece of medium density fiberboard into 6"x6" and or 6"x8" panels. Coat them with several coats of white gesso, sand lightly and you will have a wonderful painting surface that cost you about 50 cents. No matter how good you are at painting, you are bound to get even better. Then, as others said, post a lot, but not more than once per day. The fee on this site is so reasonable that you’ll probably make that back soon and then some.
To the “Featured Artist” issue: I think being on the “What’s New” page the day after we post makes up for not being featured. Of course I wish I could be “Featured” as well, anyone would., but I love the site and it’s working well for me so far. I just have to keep painting and posting. Maybe the pricing question discussed earlier helps too. Maybe my paintings are cheap and that’s why they sell, but I think they are in line with many others for their size. So watch your prices and put yourself in with the average for size.

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Thank you Mary for writing me. I got Carol’s book and love it. Okay I will surly keep it up. I appreciate your response.

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Ditto…great advice Mary. And Glenda…keep on keeping on. Happy painting.

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Thanks Anne,
This DPW is different than anything I have ever attempted. I feel like I am learning so much by doing this and seeing my paintings in thumb nail form along side so many other artist. I can see where and why some of the paintings are weak and some are strong. thanks for the Ditto.

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