I started filming the 4am wash and it's the only reel that sold anything
so I've been tracking every reel for two months because I have a spreadsheet and no chill, and honestly the numbers are embarrassing in a way that's kind of freeing? my neat overhead timelapse of a finished iris, edited, music, the whole thing: 1,200 views, zero dms. the one that actually moved a painting was 47 seconds of me at 6am in my gross cardigan saying "ok I'm doing a wet on wet and I'm pretty sure I'm about to ruin it" and then NOT ruining it, and a woman messaged me asking if the original was available before the video even finished uploading. sold it for $380 which is real money to me right now.
which is annoying?? because I spent actual hours on the pretty one and it did nothing. and I hate that the lesson is "be messy and relatable" because that's what everyone says and it makes me want to crawl out of my skin. but I think the real difference is that the messy one shows the decision, not the result. people can't buy a result they can see is already done. they can watch you choose, though.
the thing I'm stuck on: does it have to be the struggle? like can I show the decision without performing anxiety? because I'm eight months into doing this full time and the money is genuinely scary and I don't want my whole feed to become me being nervous at a window. that's not the work. the work is the work.
also unrelated but I underpainted a sky in cobalt violet this morning and it's doing something to me
3
4commentsSaveFollow threadShare
the bit where you say "I'm pretty sure I'm about to ruin it" and then don't is the whole thing, I think. people can smell a polished timelapse from a mile away, it's like watching a demo, nobody feels anything. but being in the middle of it with someone who might mess it up? that's a real hour of your life and she bought in before you even finished posting. $380 off one cardigan is not nothing.
I've been too scared to film anything because I'm convinced I'll just look like an idiot fumbling around, so this is me taking notes on your spreadsheet, ha. did the 4am thing keep working or was it mostly a one time lightning strike?
On the fumbling around thing, I've filmed a couple of mine and honestly the "I think I just killed it" moments are the only bits anyone comments on. Nobody wants a demo. Also half the time I'm not even fumbling, I just think I am, which is its own kind of funny.
Do you paint at 6am normally or was that just when the light was good? I'd have to be up before the kids and I'm not sure I'm that committed 😅
ok your "half the time I'm not even fumbling, I just think I am" is SO real and honestly kind of the whole reason the fumbling stuff works, right? like the audience can't tell the difference between an actual save and you just narrating your own panic, they just like watching a person not be sure. which is a little insulting to my craft and also very freeing.
6am is just the light, I'm not some disciplined morning person, I promise. my window faces east and the good stuff happens like 6 to 8 before the sun goes flat and yellow. after that I'm painting under a lamp like everyone else. before the kids though?? you'd have to be up at like 4:30 and no painting is worth that, I support you sleeping in
ok "watching a demo" is exactly it and I'm stealing that. that's the whole difference, a demo is you performing competence and a video is you actually doing the thing, badly, live. and the cardigan is load bearing now, I can't wash it, it's basically a business asset haha
to your actual question, the 4am thing did NOT keep working at that volume, but the honest version is more interesting than yes/no? first three were great because I was genuinely nervous and it showed. by week four I was doing the same "oh no I might ruin it" face on purpose and the numbers tanked, and I think people clocked it immediately. so it's not the hour, it's whether I'm actually scared. once I started filming the stuff I was truly unsure about (a big wet on wet I had no plan for) it came back. still no idea if that's sustainable but that's what the spreadsheet says.
and please film the fumbling. you will look like an idiot for about 90 seconds and then forget the camera is there, and the idiot part is the part that works.