My guy is an actual artist. As in talented, makes money, etc. Right now he is ACTUALLY, I kid you not, working an portraits of different saints for his aunt's book. She works at a Catholic school and it has been a dream of hers for a long time to write bios on saints and have him illustrate.

My sister is a well known artist who does some really hard core biker portraits and has exhibitions

My little sister's boyfriend is a wanna be artist. Really, I don't know what to say other than he has some talent for shading, proportion and depth in some of his pieces. Mind you he is almost my age. He also is kind of hack who uses the same elements over and over and over. His work never evolves or expands or grows or reaches.

So I just said the stuff about the shading, proportion and depth.

She had me send some to my guy to look at, he is tactful so I am sure he will think of SOMETHING positive.

I mean this guy is really waiting for me to say WOW and I can't fake it.

I know what you mean.

Once someone showed me their paintings and he was very proud of them. Then dumb me, I stuck my foot in my mouth.

I told him that I give painting lessons. (oops.)

I find out that he wanted me to say WOW and praise his work, but I didn't do that. I offered to teach him how to paint.

He has a huge male ego also so that didn't help.

Sometimes I think its better to keep my mouth shut and just ask the artist to evaluate their own work and tell me what kind of work they would like to be doing.

Ask them where they want to take their art. Do they want it as career or do they simply enjoy it as a past time.

If they want a career in art, ask them to be more specific. What do they want to do?

Sometimes an artist does not even have to be great to make a living at it. They just need to find the right outlet or the right use for thieir work.

Jeanie,

See herein lies the problem, my guy and sister do get paid. Her boyfriend WANTS to get paid. His stuff ranges from sketches of skulls and things that remind me of every 11th grade boy with angst, he does air brushing of teddy bears and unicorns that remind me very much of the stuff that you buy at Magic Mountain when I worked there - just grind out the same thing over over with I love you and stuff or John (hearts) Mary or something, AND he does this stuff that looks like bad tattoo shop to me. It's ALWAYS a variation on flowers usually roses (the same rose each time), hearts, and he does this thing where he sort of makes angel feather wings.

I mean I was an ART HISTORY major at one time before pursuing science and also an English major at one time. MIND YOU I SAID ART HISTORY because I do not have good hand eye coordination or fine motor skills. I know my limits. I can tell you about all kinds of weird exotic art and concepts (never took standard art history `101 or anything like that always like Asian, African, Meso American, etc). I have TRIED just about every medium FOR FUN. I stink but I have tried it so I understand it.

Oh the radio, they asked what two colors go fastest in the crayon box and I am screaming "BLACK AND RED FOLLOWED BY BLUE AND YELLOW. BLACK FOR SHADING THEN THE THREE PRIMARY COLORS WITH RED BEING THE MOST COMMONLY USED!!" LOL. I did not call in because they were Legoland tickets which I figured somebody with kids should win.

I have a very good eye. I have always been around artists.

So my little sister who I think is more talented than this guy, thinks he is so amazing. She does "pretty and cute" but she is really is good. It's our older sister who has the exhibitions. I mean truly if anybody in that relationship COULD make money, it's my sister if she chose to go into children's illustrations.

I purposely do not review other people's art or writing unless they ask 85% of the time unless I know they are on the same page as me.

Like my poetry on here is ridiculously silly and bad but it's raw so some people like it. But I am not trying to make money. I am paid for for non-fiction articles. That's it. And sometimes photographs that go with the articles which is silly because I am not a photographer. I can just frame things.

Ahh the tricky art of diplomacy.
Fortunately, you are not an expert.
Nothing can be proved in a court of law.
I would lie my head off.

Soufie,

I would but her guy is thinking he can gateway in with my older sister or my guy..........

Our older sister. NO WAY. I am scared for my younger sister to show her his stuff because she is a tough biker and even worse at not being opinionated and honest than me.

I told her I would show my guy because he is the king of tact. He, I know, will come back with SOMETHING constructive to say. He is more of the attitude that everyone regardless of age starts as an amateur something. Yes, he is younger than me and light years more mature. LOL.

Terri

Marketing your art is just as much or more work than doing the art.

It took me 40-50 years to learn that.

You don't just draw a few pictures and show them to someone and then hope that you will be "discovered."

Ain't gonna happen.

If he can draw with pencil, he may be able to expand that into fantasy art. He needs to learn to paint.

If he is good with computers he could scan his sketches and put them on the computer and learn to turn them into awesome color.

He could learn air brushing, and put his designs on cars and motorcycles.

The thing he needs to do is produce a product.

I know a guy who could not really paint all that well, but he painted on rocks and saws and he went to craft fairs and sold his stuff. He sold more stuff than I did. But he really really pushed it and worked hard selling it.

don't break his poor little heart.
money isn't suppose to be important when it comes to art anyway.
just let him be.
if he sucks,
he'll notice it on his own eventually.