Frequently Asked Questions
about the Artist & His Art

Unlike most other artists, I didn't really start getting into art and drawing until my late teens. I drew as a kid, but who didn't? I've been selling art since 2007.

I have a BFA in Art History from the University of Alabama, with a minor in Anthropology. I also briefly attended the Art Institute of Atlanta for a quarter, but only took an introductory class in color theory and few boring classes like math and introduction to computers.

My art skills are self taught, gained through years of practice and hard work.

It can't be pinned down to a single source, but namely scientific illustration, world myths and folklore, videos games, pop culture, and cartoons. And skulls. And traveling.

Originally answered on Instagram in 2019. Any edits made for clarity are in italics.

Yep!

1. Sell Prints/Reproductions. Out of all the revenue I made last year (2018), less than 2% of it was from originals. They don’t have to be museum quality giclée's; I started out selling little 8x10s made on my Canon Pixma scanner/printer/copier combo printer and slowly invested in better printers when I could.

2. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. I do fine art festivals, conventions, oddity expos, my website store, Kickstarter, wholesale, and so on. Everything waxes and wanes and you’ll be stranded if the one thing you depend on shits the bed (LOOKIN AT YOU, ETSY). In 2018 we got so much rain that I had to cancel five (outdoor) shows due to shitty weather and had to rely on conventions and online sales. Everything is constantly fluctuating and you have to shift your business around to accommodate it.

3. There is no “making it”. There’s getting your head above water and fighting to keep it there. Success is not linear. Failure is inevitable. You find your niche, dig in like a tick, and defend it like your life depends on it (because it does). I still get rejected to shows all the time.

4. You need near infinite reserves of self motivation and grit. It isn’t romantic, it really sucks sometimes. I don’t want to spend 12 hours a day making prints, or sit in 90°F weather at art festivals, or drive 30k miles a year, or set up at 5am in a flooded gutter with broken glass in it (all things that I've done). Probably about 10-20% of my time (is) actually making art. I do genuinely enjoy doing this, but it’s also the only thing I know how to do. I really do think of it as a business first and art second, and being self employed is the most important part of the job to me.

5. Don’t follow trends. DO keep an eye on what’s popular, but once you’ve noticed it, it’s too late to hop on. This is a marathon, not a sprint. If this is something you want to do for a while, your work has to have staying power. I’m still selling prints of art I made 7 years ago (art made in 2012).

6. The most important thing to know is that it doesn’t HAVE to be a full time thing for you to be an artist. Especially if you want to work with galleries.

7. OH, and improve your booth set up. It’s the simplest thing you can do to make you look like you’ve got your shit together more than you actually do and it goes a long way. (redacted comment about wire box towers). As soon as I started using pro panels I started making a LOT more at shows. The downside is that you need a place to store them and a vehicle to tow them, but too many of y’all skimp on the display thinking that your art will speak for itself. In a perfect world it would, but you only have about 2 seconds (yes literally 2 seconds) to catch someone’s attention as they walk by and you have to make an instant good impression.

Why not?

No, sorry.

I think it's great and I want to see a picture when it's finished!