The Gallery Chair Knew Where My Photo Came From. Will She Know Yours?

She knew where my photo came from

The gallery chair let my painting in. Then she told me something I never forgot.

I was nervous. It was my first art show. And I'd brought a painting I made from a "free" photo.

The gallery chair let it go. Phew!

Then she told me I needed to use my own photos. She said my best photos were painting gold.

Painting gold! I never forgot it. That one talk changed how I paint.

Okay. Now what?

You finished a painting. And you like it!

Then a little voice pipes up. "Okay. Now what?"

Can you post it on Instagram? Can you hang it in a show? Can you sell it online?

And what if the judge looks at it and sighs? "Oh no. Not this barn again. That's barn number forty this year."

Poor barn. It didn't do anything wrong. It just got painted by every human who ever owned a brush.

The blank paper is judging you

You have your art supplies. You have a little corner of your home. It's now Your Art Space. Very official.

You sit down. You tape your paper to the board. The blank white paper stares at you. It's smug. It thinks it knows something you don't.

So you grab your tablet. You find your favorite artist's new paint-along video.

One hour later, you have a nice painting of her lighthouse. Her colors. Her steps. Her brushstrokes.

It's lovely. It's also hers.

And the paintings you made all by yourself? They're in the closet. Leaning on the wall. Waiting. Wondering if they're "good enough" for anything.

What a judge said about my pier painting

I'm Cindy Bale Tanner. I paint with watercolors and I coach artists.

For 40 years I worked with computers. I helped people at factories learn their business programs. I was a business analyst. I was a programmer. I was a project manager too.

I retired in 2017. Then I finally did what I'd always wanted to do. I painted!

In February 2019, I started entering my beginner paintings in contests.

Maybe you're like me. You wanted to be an artist for years. Now you have the time. But you're a little scared to do it "wrong."

So here's what happened when I painted something nobody else had painted.

I sat right under the San Clemente pier. I painted the bottom of the walkway. The sun shone straight down between the boards. It made stripes of light in the shadows.

I called it "High Noon Under The Pier." It won third place in the San Diego Watercolor Society's plein air contest.

The judge was Geoff Allen. Here's part of what he said:

"I haven't seen this before, and that gets my attention."

Read that again.

No judge will ever say that about a lighthouse. Not one that 10,000 other people painted. With the same video. On the same Tuesday.

The question that matters most

Once your art leaves the closet, one question gets big. Whose idea was it?

Galleries care. Judges care. Online art stores care. Each one has its own reasons.

Paint-along videos are super easy for artists to make. But for you? They don't help one bit when it's time to stand on your own.

Everyone else wants you to keep painting along. I want to help you paint your own.

Hear the rules before you walk in

That's why I made a mini-course called "Why Original Art?"

It's the talk I wish I'd had before that first show. But you don't just hear it from me. You hear it from the people who make the choices.

An art gallery director tells you what she wants. An art show judge tells you how she picks. They say it in their own words.

Then I show you what my own online art store needs. It won't let a painting in without it.

You get to hear all this before you walk in. Not at the front table while a nice lady tells you the rules. (Ask me how I know.)

It uses the same simple art school tools I teach in my main course, "Create Your Own Original Art"™. That course teaches you to paint real-looking art. You paint from photos you take yourself.

What's inside

First, you'll hear what the gallery director wants when you bring art for a contest. You'll also hear what makes her quietly hand it back.

Next, an art show judge tells you how she really picks winners. Even when she's facing a whole wall of paintings.

Then you'll see what my online art store looks for. It checks the artist and the art before a painting goes up for sale.

You'll learn why "Was borrowing this photo a good idea?" is a question for before you pick up your brush. Not after the paint dries.

And you'll see why original art is what opens the door to showing and selling at all.

It's short on purpose. I left out the long, boring talks. You can finish it in one afternoon. Then go paint something of your own.

This works even if...

It works even if you've never been in an art show. It works even if every painting so far came from a paint-along video.

It even works if you're not on social media. And never plan to be.

Maybe your first show is years away. Maybe you just want to know the rules first. Smart!

Or you could learn it the hard way

You can do what I did. Sure!

Grab a "free" photo. Paint it. Frame it. Carry it into your first show with sweaty hands.

Then wait for the gallery chair to tell you what you should have known.

After that, spend years figuring out what everyone wants. One show at a time. Slowly. Like a snail. With a paintbrush.

Or you can hear it all in one afternoon.

Why it's only $7

This mini-course is normally $27. Today it's $7.

Why so cheap? I want every artist-to-be to hear this before she makes her next painting.

I'd rather you spend the other $20 on a nice new tube of paint. That beats one more painting of someone else's lighthouse in your closet.

Here's another way to look at it. Seven dollars is less than one sheet of good watercolor paper.

You know the one. The sheet you're too scared to paint on. Just in case you "waste" it.

This mini-course is your reason to finally use it. On something that's all yours.

👉 I Want To Know What's Expected!

Everything you get

Interview with an art gallery director. What she wants and doesn't want when you bring art to her gallery for a contest.

Interview with an art show judge. How she picks the winners.

Online art store expectations. What my Fine Art America store looks for from an artist and her art.

The case for original art. Why your own art matters if you ever want to show it or sell it.

Normally $27. Today $7.

I can't promise how long the $7 price will last. When it ends, it goes back to $27.

A little warning

You'll make mistakes when you start making your own art.

Your first layout may be a bit off. Your colors may turn brown. (Brown shows up on its own. It doesn't need your help.)

That's okay. I've made every mistake. Even the big one at my very first art show. So you don't have to make the ones that really count.

👉 I Want To Know What's Expected! So I'll fill out the order form below! 👇

Go scroll through your camera roll tonight. Your painting gold might already be in there.

Cindy "find your painting gold" Bale Tanner

Watercolor artist and artist coach

Creator of the "Create Your Own Original Art"™ online painting and art business course

p.s. Next time you sit in your art space, your hand may drift toward the paint-along videos. Sneaky hand! Stop it.

Remember what the judge said about my pier painting. "I haven't seen this before, and that gets my attention."

Your art can get that kind of attention too. It starts for $7.