97 – Creating Collections

Laura

0:00
Whether you’re a fine artist or a surface pattern designer, you may have heard about the importance of creating in collections. If you’re at the start of your art journey, you may be creating a lot of one off pieces of art. So how do you go about starting to work in collections?

Nikki

0:17
And how many pieces do you need to have to be able to call it a collection? How do you create in a cohesive way? Do you need collections to have your work shown in a gallery? are a collections necessary to have your shown to art directors for licensing? We’ll tackle all of this and more in today’s episode.

Laura

0:40
Hi, this is Laura Lee Griffin.

Nikki

0:42
And this is Nikki May, with the Startist Society, inspiring you to stop getting in your own way and start building an art biz and life that you love.

Laura

0:51
We are artists who believe strongly in the power of community, accountability, following your intuition, taking small actionable steps and breaking down the barriers of fear and procrastination that keep you stuck.

Nikki

1:04
Follow along with us on our creative business journey as we encourage you on yours.

Laura

1:12
Okay, Nikki , I hear so much about the importance of creating in collections versus just creating one-off pieces. So why don’t we first talk a little bit about what a collection actually is, and the benefits of starting to create in that way.

Nikki

1:29
Okay, so what is a collection? A collection is a group of pieces of art that generally reflect a consistent, cohesive style and incorporates a common theme, or color palette, subject matter or composition or technique.

Laura

1:47
Or some combination of all of these.

Nikki

1:48
Right. For example, if you’re a fine artist, it could be a collection of moody landscape paintings by the sea. Or, if your name is Nikki a series of ink drawings of nude women with giant insects landing on them.

Laura

2:06
Or a series of happy bright acrylic florals in funky vases.

Nikki

2:11
If your name is Laura. But it could be something other than subject matter that makes it a collection. It could be your your signature bold abstract strokes or color palette.

Laura

2:24
And it doesn’t have to be drawings or paintings. It could be collage work where the connecting theme is where the individual elements came from. It could be a collection of ceramic vases of different shapes and sizes, but perhaps a similar glaze treatment.

Nikki

2:40
Basically anything that shares a similar theme or story from the artist’s viewpoint.

Laura

2:46
And if you are an illustrator or a surface pattern artist, it could be a series of hand lettered pieces that would look perfect on the front of greeting cards, a grouping of vintage florals and coordinates that would make an incredible fabric collection, or a series of abstract prints that would look terrific on coordinating bed linens.

Nikki

3:06
Or a collection of 50 drawings of state flowers and insects that you could apply to a calendar, shower curtains, canvas prints or the side of a building like you did Nikki or the side of a building like I did, Laura.

Laura

3:21
Okay, Nikki, so how many pieces actually make up a collection?

Nikki

3:26
Okay, well, there are no hard and fast rules, but I would say at least in the fine art world, a minimum of 10 pieces is a great start for grouping things in collections on your website, in a portfolio… But for fine art, there’s no limit. I know of artists who continue adding to a specific collection for a decade or more.

Laura

3:49
Yeah, and 10 pieces isn’t necessarily the rule for all industries. Let’s take commercial surface pattern design, for example. The quilting fabric companies generally want to see a full 12 or so patterns for a fabric collection. But companies like a party supply manufacturer might be looking for mini collections of just three surface patterns that work really great together to use for plates, napkins and cups, for example. Perhaps you have a complicated Santa-themed hero pattern, a simpler reindeer head pattern and a tiny candy cane coordinate that all go really well together and share the same color family. That would make a nice mini Christmas collection.

Nikki

4:32
I would never have those Christmas pieces.

Laura

4:34
Yeah, Nikki, I’m going to make you a sweatshirt that just says bah humbug on the front.

Nikki

4:41
There’s no room for that in my bus. But getting back to fabric collections, let’s explain what a hero pattern is in a collection.

Laura

4:52
Well in the surface design world, a pattern collection includes a hero, secondary and blender patterns. Now a hero pattern is the star of the show; it’s the piece that makes you stop in your tracks and go, Wow. It generally would be the most complicated piece in your collection. And the one that you probably spent the most time on.

Nikki

5:12
A secondary pattern, or a coordinate, might be one that supports the hero pattern, but it’s not quite as complex. It might have some fairly detailed motifs or elements, but it’s not going to steal the show from the hero.

Laura

5:25
And blender patterns should be simple designs that are the glue that hold the collection together. You can’t have a shining star without that night sky. So you’re going to need some patterns that sit in the background and help support the rest. Just imagine, for example, someone making a quilt with only hero patterns, that would be really, really hard to look at, you have to have the more subtle patterns there to support the fancier ones.

Nikki

5:50
Okay, Laura. So let’s talk about what some of the benefits are from working in collections.

Laura

5:55
Well, first off, it helps you hone your signature style. If you’re making lots of work with a specific theme, your style will begin to emerge and have a voice. It also keeps you focused towards a goal when you have a set number of pieces that you’re working to complete.

Nikki

6:13
And for artists who are interested in getting gallery representation, it’s important to have work in one or more large collections. So that they know that if they choose, for example, five or seven pieces from a collection, that you have more to replace them when they sell, or that you can create more in a style that appeals to their collectors. You might want to go back to Startist Society episodes 74 and 75, where we interviewed my friend Jhina Alvarado and went into more detail about this topic.

Laura

6:44
Yeah, that was a great interview. And if you aren’t interested in getting your art and galleries working in collections also gives you the ability to market and sell a body of work online. You can sell a group of work at one time and create a lot of buzz about an upcoming collection release on your social media feeds and website. You can give your followers a sneak peek into your collection creation process and build anticipation for that date. And that time when the pieces will be available in launch. Again, this focuses your energy on the creation process. And then you can turn around and focus your energy on the selling process later in preparation for that day that you launch. And people have a fear of missing out. So artists that sell in collections frequently have more sales than those that don’t.

Nikki

7:32
Yes, absolutely. And back to the more commercial examples of getting your artwork on products, we already mentioned the importance of having a collection of about 12 patterns are so if you want to have your artwork on fabric with a commercial quilting company, after all, they call them pieced or patchwork quilts for a reason you’re piecing different patterns together to create your quilt.

Laura

7:54
Also, it’s worth mentioning that even if you aren’t ready to pitch a collection to a large fabric fompany, creating collections of coordinating patterns for a print on demand site like Spoonflower could really help you sell more yardage there.

Nikki

8:08
Yeah, and if you want to have your artwork on products in a store, like say Target, they usually look for coordinating pieces that go together. For example, if it’s for bedding, it might be different patterns in the same collection for sheets versus duvet covers versus pillowcases. If it’s for wall art, they’re gonna look for a series of pieces that work together. And this goes for really any kind of home goods, stationery, office supplies, things like that. Right? So Laura, how do you even think about and start creating collections?

Laura

8:40
Well, I think you can start by choosing a theme and subject matter you can literally choose anything. I remember walking into the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam years and years ago, and being shocked that it seemed like the entire first floor contain nothing but paintings of brown potatoes. Because apparently, that was the common theme in his life at the time, and he decided to paint a whole collection of potatoes.

Nikki

9:07
Well, I can appreciate a meal with a common theme of different preparations of potatoes but an art collection.

Laura

9:16
Right now potatoes don’t exactly inspire me. So Nikki for a painting collection. I think I personally choose a theme of forest animals. And for a surface pattern design collection. I’d probably go for one of the two top selling themes out there florals or Christmas. What about you Nikki? That’d be nude women right?

Nikki

9:39
Well, Laura, for my fine art, yes, it’s almost always going to have nude women as a common theme. For my surface design stuff, it’s almost always florals with the addition of animals or insects.

Laura

9:53
Okay, so once you pick a theme, you will want to seek some inspiration next. So if you’re a People, take yourself out on an artist play date. Going to paint or illustrate flowers. Take yourself to your local botanical garden and bring your sketchbook and a camera along.

Nikki

10:11
Oh, please, like anyone goes anywhere without a phone with a camera in their pocket.

Laura

10:16
True. It’s so much nicer than hauling my big digital SLR around and all of those lenses. Aren’t phone cameras freaking amazing now.

Nikki

10:24
Yeah, totally. I got rid of my digital SLR years ago because I found it was such a hassle compared to just taking out my phone. And my phone takes amazing photos.

Laura

10:34
Yeah, it’s it’s how I feel about my Kindle now too. I mean, I can travel with 200 books instead of 20 pounds of actual books. But I digress.

Nikki

10:43
We frequently digress.

Laura

10:47
Alright, so as you’re gathering inspiration, be open to new things and see what inspires you can’t get out and about, go to Pinterest and make an inspiration mood board for yourself? What are all the elements that you want to show in your collection? What is the story that you want to tell the person who sees your art,

Nikki

11:06
You can also focus on color. Depending on the audience and industry you’re creating for you probably want to limit your colors to a specific palette. This can be really helpful when creating your signature style. There are some artists that when I see their work, I know exactly who made a piece just because of their color choices.

Laura

11:24
Yeah, there’s so many examples. One that comes immediately to mind is Stacy Bloomfield of Gingiber, who we interviewed in Episode 19. Now she tends to use some very specific colors, like there’s a green gold and orange, a muted pink that she uses throughout her work.

Nikki

11:43
And in the case of creating collections for things like the traditional quilting fabric industry, you’ll need to have spot colors of only around 13. If the fabric is going to be screen printed rather than digitally printed, you definitely have to limit the number of screens required to keep the costs down.

Laura

12:00
Right? Because it’d be like crazy, super expensive, right? take forever to produce it otherwise, right? Yeah. Now the colors that you regularly use should be the colors that make your heart sing. Though some may argue it’s helpful in the commercial art industry to also consider trends like the Pantone color of the year. Ooh, that could be a whole separate episode, right to trend or not to trend.

Nikki

12:24
Okay, Laura, that was a lot of examples specific to surface design and illustration. But personally, I think of things very differently when approaching it as a fine artist. If I’m working on a collection for a gallery show, or even to just approach galleries, I have a method I typically use to start a collection. Okay, what is that? Well, I may or may not have a specific theme or subject matter in mind to start with sometimes that develops as I work, but here’s how I start. So say I’m working in in caustic, which is one of my favorite mediums to work in. Yes, wax, yes, I will lay out four to six wood panels on my work table and start working on them all together, I’ll apply whatever colors or background treatment, which in my case is usually collage of similar items to all the pieces and just keep working on them in layers all together. Okay. At some point, each one becomes its own piece, and I’ll take it in its own direction. But because I started working on them all together, there’s a natural cohesion built in from the beginning. Mm hmm. I have specific examples of a recent series I did this way that I’ll show in the show notes.

Laura

13:33
Awesome. I like that approach. And then do you make the next I guess, four to six panels the same way to build the entire collection?

Nikki

13:42
Yes, I will do that. But by that point, I’ve kind of already established a look a feel style for that collection. And I’ll use what I’ve done there as a starting point. So actually, sometimes the ones I work on together become sort of a mini series within a larger collection. Okay, because those first ones will be really cohesive, but the next series will be similar enough to be part of the same collection, but different enough because they weren’t done at exactly the same time to still be interesting and unique on their own. Right? Because even though they’re they’re all part of the same collection, you don’t want everything to look exactly alike.

Laura

14:19
Okay, so how do you start a collection if you are a commercial surface design artist, for pattern designer, the next step would be to sketch out some ideas for icons or motifs, which are basically elements that will make up your pattern. Now I do this personally on my iPad. And if you’re an illustrator or a greeting card artist, you could create thumbnails of different layout ideas until you find a series that you’re really happy with. Now, you want to narrow down those designs that you’d like the best and trace over them and import that work into something like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or affinity. designer so that you can color them, texture them and turn those into repeat patterns, placement, art, and more.

Nikki

15:07
If you want to learn more about the specifics of how to do this, technically, we have some classes that either one or both of us have taken that, that we highly recommend. And we’ll put links to all these in today’s show notes. Bonnie, Christine, who we’ve talked about many times has several helpful classes on Skillshare, including one called surface pattern design 2.0, creating a collection,

Laura

15:31
Mel Armstrong, Surface Pattern Design Fundamentals, which is focused on Adobe Illustrator is great, as well as her Paint to Pattern class, which is all about Adobe Photoshop. And those are both on Skillshare.

Nikki

15:45
And also on Skillshare, Liz Kohler Brown has a bunch of courses that we think are fantastic. And one of them is 10 Ways to Make Better Patterns. And another is Design a Pattern Collection on Your iPad. And that one is using Procreate or Affinity Designer.

Laura

16:03
And I have to say I had never even heard about Affinity Designer before I took that class and it is really stinking awesome for creating patterns. If you’re if you’re using your iPad.

Nikki

16:13
Yeah, I have it on my long list of things to learn.

Laura

16:20
On the growing list.

Nikki

Yes, it’s growing. All right. Also, Victoria Johnson has a fabulous course called create collections. So she is a seasoned art director with really great advice on what it takes to make fantastic collections. And she also is an artist that has produced, you know, lots of commercial collections herself.

Nikki

16:39
And if you’re a traditional painter, and you want to learn how to digitize your work, you can take Cat Coq’s class, from paper to screen digitally editing your artwork in Adobe Photoshop. Yeah, I actually need

Laura

16:52
to do that one. Because I’ve been doing lots of watercolor lately that I want to digitize. And it’s never nice and clean. Like when I import it in. Oh, yeah. And I’m not I’m not amazing at Photoshop, like you are

Nikki

. So I’ve

Nikki

17:06
got to work on that. I’m, I’m decent.

Laura

17:10
You’re more than decent. Okay, so once you’ve made your first pattern, you can take small elements from that and turn it into a blender or a coordinating pattern. Or if you make a placement piece, which is like a standalone piece of art that would go on, let’s say a greeting card or the top of a dinner plate. You could grab some elements from that and turn those into a repeat pattern without completely reinventing the wheel.

Nikki

17:38
All right, Laura. So what do we do with our collections once we’ve created them? Well, you want to name them? I’m so bad at that part. Yeah, so

Laura

17:46
you want to add a name and perhaps a brief sentence that tells a story of what your artwork is about. So we’re going to link to some examples of fabric collection names and descriptions in the show notes page. I loved this one that was by Maureen Cracknell, and it was called Enchanted Voyage. And the snippet for it was, Set sail on a whimsical journey with Maureen Cracknell’s Enchanted Voyage, illuminated with dreamy colors and sea inspired illustrations. You’ll listen to the waves count the stars and greet majestic whales on your nautical adventure. Wow. Now this collection could have been named Sea Life and Whales, right? But the words tell a story and they actually help you feel a connection to it. So it’s…

Nikki

18:37
Yeah, that’s amazing, I’m so bad at that part. Guess what I named my state flower and insect collection….

Laura

State Flowers and Insects?

Nikki

Yes, yes, I did. State Flowers and Insects. Very, very original.

Laura

18:53
Well, it’s not horrible for SEO though.

Nikki

18:55
Well, okay. But it’s not great for the whole storytelling idea that Maureen Cracknell and people like Bonnie Christine are so good at.

Laura

19:03
True. Well, I think for fine art, too, it is a lot about creating a feeling. And I remember Emily Jeffords teaching about the importance of evoking a feeling in your painting listings on your website. So if you speak about your art beautifully, others will feel that same excitement and they want some of that beauty in their own homes.

Nikki

19:25
Yeah, I know, I absolutely know the importance of that. And of writing good artists statements. I’m just so bad at that part. My writing is just so matter of fact, and descriptive. But here’s an idea for another episode.

Laura

19:43
That would be a good one, and then we’d be forced to write good artist statements, right?

Nikki

19:46
Yes, I will give it a try.

Laura

19:51
Now, in the meantime, definitely take a look at the link in the show notes for some great ideas.

Nikki

19:57
Okay, so we’ve named our collection and we’ve written a beautiful statement about it. Now what do we do with it?

Laura

20:05
Well, if you’re a commercial artist, having finished collections gives you an edge and makes it more likely for art directors to pay attention to your work, you can add coordinating images together to your online portfolio. And you’ll always want to ensure that you include your contact information with those.

Nikki

20:22
Definitely, you can create your own books or PDFs of your portfolio collections and either email them or physically mail them to companies that you’d love to work with. Of course, you want to make sure your art style is a good match for their products. And we talk all about getting started submitting your work to art directors in Episode 21.

Laura

20:45
We also recommend a couple classes to learn more about this part of art licensing. So one of those is Stacey Bloomfield’s leverage your art, which both Nikki and I have taken and Shannon McNabb’s Pitch your portfolio, which we’ll link to in the show notes. Okay, Nikki, so aside from my 30 day challenges that I participated in, and a series of whimsical portraits, and maybe a few mini surface pattern collections. I personally tend to do lots of one off pieces. So I think it’s time for me to start doing some larger collections. How about you?

Nikki

21:18
Well, I haven’t really done any full pattern collections, but I’ve created a lot of collections of drawings and caustic work and a variety of other things, including jewelry. I absolutely recommend that you start doing more work in collections, right. Aside from all the commercial benefits of getting gallery and art director interest marketing your work directly to potential collectors. It’s such a great way to help you dive deeper into a direction, a theme, a medium and really hone your skills.

Laura

21:49
Now it’s your turn. Do you already work in collections, or do you want to start making them? Share with us in the Startist Society Facebook group.

Nikki

21:57
For links to all the resources we mentioned and to read today’s Startist Society show notes go to startistsociety.com/collections.

Laura

22:06
If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, we’d love for you to leave us a five star rating and review and share it with a friend. reviews help us reach more Startists like you and keep us inspired to create new episodes.

Nikki

22:18
Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.