Client: Lyn Bannister

Lyn Bannister is a local art director and artist heavily involved in our annual art trail, this year she has managed to secure a piece of Banksy's Dismaland for the festival and art trail. Since she is close by I thought it's worth a shot and if I do get a response from her I will have at very least made myself known to her.

Hi Lyn,

I'm an illustration student living in New Mills. As part of my course I have been asked to contact art directors and gallery owners to get some feedback on my portfolio. Please let me know if you can help me with this. 

Thanks in advance
Sophie

19/04/2016
Lyn got back to me she said she could possibly take a look at my portfolio as long as it doesn't require her to write an essay which I reassured her that wasn't the case. So hopefully I'll be able to arrange to meet with Lyn in the next few days.

Contacting artists: Miss Wah

Miss Wah is a manga inspired street artists which I have been a loyal follower of for years and I've seen her grow from being a small artist on youtube to a successful street artist. She has a website where she sells her prints and stickers. It's been very inspiring to see a female street artist gain such an audience.

The email is quite casual since I have actually spoken to her before and she has previously given me advice on how to get into street art legally. So I thought I would contact her again since she was very helpful last time.

Hi,
as part of my course I have been asked to contact artists in a position I aspire to be in to give me a bit of feedback on my portfolio. I have a small PDF portfolio I can show you that isn't very long and won't take much time to look at. I would really appreciate it if you would take a look. I think your work is amazing I have been a follower of yours for years (from before you started doing street art) seeing you grow as an artist has been really inspiring to me, so your feedback would be really appreciated. 

Thanks in advance
Sophie

20/04/2016
Miss Wah got back to me unfortunately she is quite busy at the moment so her feedback would be after the blog deadline. I will still send my pdf portfolio to her anyways because I am very interested in what she would think of my work.

Contacting Artists: DestinyBlue

DestinyBlue is an artist I often see at the conventions I attend and occasionally sell my work at. I absolutely love her artwork and would love to be where she is in a few years time. Unfortunately she is quite hard to contact since her facebook messages are closed so I had to leave a wall post instead hoping she'll give me a business email.

Hi Destiny,

I'm a big fan of your work I'm a proud owner of one of your prints and hope to buy more in the future. At university we have been asked to contact artists who are where we aspire to be in 2-3 years time. The aim is to get some feedback on our portfolio's. If you have a business email I could send you my PDF portfolio it's only 6 pieces long so it wouldn't take up much time, so if you could spare a few minutes I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance

Sophie (RaelDanger) 

I will update this post if and when I get a response. 

Client: Art Director Tyler Resty

This client was a bit of a serendipity thing so you won't find him on my lists of potential clients. I post a lot of my artwork on instagram and a user called Tyler Resty would keep popping up and liking my artwork so I checked his profile and it says he is an art director from New York. So I thought why not contact him? He's already expressing an interest in my artwork of his own accord so I might as well give him a try. My email to him is a lot more laid back since I think it fits the situation a bit more than going in with a very formal email.

Hi Tyler,

this is RaelDanger from instagram. My real name is Sophie Stratton and I'm an illustration student from the UK. I noticed you have been liking my artwork and as it happens I have been asked by my university to contact art directors which may be interested in my work to get some feedback on my portfolio. I have a PDF portfolio I can send you it only has 6 pieces of artwork in it so it won't take up much of your time. I would really appreciate it if you could take a look, some of it will probably look familiar to you.  Since you have been expressing an interest in my artwork anyway I thought it couldn't hurt to ask.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Sophie Stratton (raeldanger)

I will update this post if/when I get a response. 

Contacting Clients: What I have learned

Contacting clients even over email has been one of the most nerve wracking things I have had to do on this course. It's one of those things the more I have done it the easier it has become, and looking back to the first client I personally contacted (because my Dad did contact someone he has connections with on my behalf) the email I sent could have been better.

 I could have sold myself more and been more confident in my work, I could have maybe benefited by being a bit more laid back and not being so straight to the point. I have taken time to look at all of the galleries directors, aims and artwork on display and in their archives, and I have learned how to reflect that in my emails.

It has also been a lesson in rejection, currently I have had no responses but I haven't let that demotivate me if anything it has made me try harder and develop a thicker skin. I stand by my choices on who I have tried to make contact with. I don't doubt that my work would at very least be interesting to them if they would have given me a chance. But I will have to get used to the fact not everyone will give me a chance and if they do my artwork won't be of interest to everyone. It is nothing personal it is just how it is.

The problem I have found in regards to contacting the right people is that what I do is very niche and there's a limit to how many professionals I can find which may be interested in that niche. That is the nature of the beast sadly when you develop a style like mine. Call me stubborn but I'm not going to change my style just so I can have an easier time, my artistic integrity personally is the most important thing to me when it comes to creating work.

It might turn out that I get no responses whatsoever and I don't get the feedback I need. But it hasn't been in vain I have learned a lot about what I should expect and be prepared for when I leave. It may not be the lesson that was intended when this task was set but at least it is something.

Client: Hang-Up Gallery Director Ben Cotten

The hang up gallery prides itself on helping young artists, and with big names like Banksy on their roster of artists who wouldn't want these guys to look at your work. In this email I'm trying to hard sell my work a bit more while still remaining professional and polite.

Dear Ben Cotten,

I'm Sophie a BA Illustration student in my final year at MMU. As part of our course we have been asked to seek out industry professionals which may be interested in our work. I have attached a PDF portfolio to this email it contains 6 pieces of my best pieces work. If you could spare a moment to look at it and give me some feedback it would be much appreciated.

You have an amazing selection of artists such as Takashi Murakami, Invader, Dsceet, Herakut and of course Banksy. And by looking through your roster of artists I feel like my work may interest you, it's in the same vein but at the same time something a little different. Just to make clear I'm not looking to display my work only for you to have a look and see what you think.

I eagerly await your response.
Sophie Stratton (RaelDanger)


I will update this post if/when I get a response.

Client: Phil Harwood ascot studio's

Phil Harwood seems like one of the more approachable art gallery directors I have contacted, he already has some of Chris Pegg's work in his gallery which is manga influenced like my work. So that's already a good indicator that he might be interested in my style of work. With the email I sent to him I thought I would try being a little more informal and making sure he knows I have looked at the work he has on display and what he is about.

Dear Phil,

I'm Sophie a university student studying BA illustration at MMU. I am currently in my final year and we have been asked to contact gallery directors, art directors and other industry professionals to get some feedback on our portfolios. I have a PDF portfolio I could send via email it contains 6 pieces so it won't take up much of your time.

I stumbled across your gallery online and had a browse of the work you have on display and noticed you are displaying some of Chris Pegg's work and feel like my work is in a similar vein.  As an art buyer I would be interested in hearing your take on my work.

I hope to hear from you soon.
Sophie Stratton

I will update this post if /when I receive a response.