You are chasing an aimless target if you are trying to appeal to the masses. Successful artists appeal to a specific target.
There are no musicians famous for both their classical and country performances.
You know, the bull’s eye in the middle of the target. Try to hit the whole thing and you’ll hit nothing.
Successful artists create a consistent body of work, and have a unique voice that offers a value to a target market. Once they have gained a reputation in a specific space they can broaden their efforts. This is marketing 101.
I first established a reputation as the “Wine Country It Girl” by creating strategic partnerships with prominent wineries. I created several series of vineyard paintings.
Since then I’ve branched out and painted the aspens in snow, private gardens, and ranches. With each of these new series my artistic approach remains the same, it’s only the demographic market profile that has changed.
Before I made these shifts into other markets, I first had to establish a reputation and gain recognition in one space. This was a deliberate and targeted effort.
So if you think your art must appeal to the masses, think again. And ask yourself, on what authority did your receive this information? Who are the “masses?”
The good news is that you should first please yourself. Then you are much more likely to please a few others.
You can’t and you don’t want to please everyone. Be true to thyself, create with passion, heart, and authenticity. This will increase your chance of success.
Remember, the work of copycats is dead on arrival. Even if a copycat artist’s work is superb it will first compared to the more creative artist’s previous success.
To quote Comedian Bill Cosby “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
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