Papadan

I have been reading where Google has released information that it may start putting it's first page ranking up for bids on search. To me this would hurt the small business people that do not have the budgets of the large corporations. The example that I saw used one dollar per click as an example which could be bid as high as five dollars per click. Man...I can just see Google sending me a bill saying today 5000 people clicked on my sight and bought nothing...that will be $5000 please. No way! From the statistics I have seen that 70% of potential customers will not click on adds that come up under search anyway. I suppose this is a way to hide paid advertising from customers by charging for search ranking. Plus they do not guarantee first page ranking anyway-even with the paid search plan. For those of us trying to maintain a sight I suppose we could try for page 2 or 3. I could better understand the system if it was a commission on sales results of some sorts. My humble opinion is that Google in it's largeness is becoming very greedy. I understand that they must make a profit but it should not come at the expense of putting the small business out-of-business. Google should remember that Yahoo and Bing are waiting in the background for the opportunity to become # 1. Papadan

Lately I have read some articles on people dealing with commercial galleries. I have not had, nor will I likely ever have much, dealings with these places. I am hoping that someone will take time to comment that has had experience in this field. What I am understanding, that since most galleries look at paintings merely as commodities, artists are beginning to more and more bypass the galleries for alternative methods of sale of their paintings. I understand that the gallery gets from 50 to 90 percent of the selling price depending on how desperate the artist is to get his paintings in front of the public. The lesser percentage is from artists that are in the "click" group the gallery usually deals with. A group that is hard to break into. Another negative was that most of the artists that submit to a large gallery are turned down. Another side that I have been listening to is from people that have been sales associates of large galleries. They speak of the pressure to make sales and to sell anything to anyone that can afford to buy without being the least interested in the fact of what the customer actually likes. They are also encouraged to qualify a persons abilities to buy immediately. If these and other high pressure tactics are truly used, and it is a rather uncomfortable atmosphere, we may see more customers looking for paintings for enjoying and investment using the internet. This may put artists at more of an advantage. Understand that these statements are purely my humble opinion on what seems to be an existing situation. Thanks ahead of time for your comments. Papadan http://www.papadanart.com

I can see that you have put a lot of thought and work into your site,Vic. It is good that you have the knowledge to do the things here that you accomplish. Dan

Welcome, glad you are here! Lots of room for participation. Each brings something different.

I know this is a late post to this topic but I must say that there is a need for a site like this. I previously checked out a few sites and found them to be a bit stuffy, in my opinion. As stated above most have an active life away from the art. I wish more people would stick around and post topics and replies to make the site more active. Activity attracts activity!

Thanks, The reference on ASK was informative. Interesting that when I was in school, years ago, the Philippines was called "A U.S. possession." I really do not understand this when they were granted independence in the 1940's. I suppose the U.S. will always need a relationship with them for a strategic military base. I have had several friends recommend the Philippines as a place to retire because of the cheaper cost of living. I will be honest with you when I say that as time progresses other countries do have their appeal. I love my country but many of the elected officials make me sick. We have two powerful parties that run the country pretty well as they want to. Both parties lay in the beds of corporate America for political financial support. The people take second place in needs and the strange part is that most people spend their time defending or criticizing one party over another. Sheep led to the slaughter house. Oh well, enough ranting for now. Have a great week everyone regardless of what you call it. Just remember that regardless of what governments do...really all we have to truly depend on is ourselves and each other.

Thanks for the reply. Getting ready to fire up the grill for early fourth of July company. I suppose some folks celebrate the 4th. in the Philippines with so many Americans living there. Enjoyed hearing about the dogs. Ol' Scooter 'helps' me paint. He is my 10 lb. Chihuahua and Pomeranian mix dog and thinks he must lay directly under my easel and I have washed paint splatter off him more than once. One day you will have more time for your art and you will probably enjoy it even more then.

Just wondering why you paint and what motivates your methods! I paint for my enjoyment and to see paintings that I normally do not see. I like bright colors obviously and the feeling that I get when viewing subjects that are a little bit surreal. Painting that make me feel good I suppose I could say. The methods I use are not controlled by what another has done before me. They are not attempts at reality, I have a nice Kodak for that. I certainly do not care what another thinks of my paintings but must admit that I appreciate the fact that quite a few people like many of my paintings. What I guess I am trying to say is that approval does not determine when, what or even if, I paint another canvas. When I finish a painting I can look at it and know that there is not another in the world completely like it. It would not exist except for my efforts. The painting will endure far into the future after I am ashes. Someone will look at my painting and never know me only what a colorful imagination I must have had. In this way maybe I will time travel a little bit. When I sit down to a blank canvas the conclusion may come in 1 or 2 hours or 1 or 2 days. I really do not know what is coming until it is finished. This is the reason I use no drawings, photographs, or existing scenes in most of my paintings. There-for I have turned down all requests for commission work. It helps that I am retired and do not have to depend upon my paintings for income. Would probably starve if I did. I greatly appreciate the artists on this site and admire your work. I also appreciate this site and wish it the greatest success. Thanks for letting me bend you ear, Dan

I like the painting Vic, you did a good job of achieving the depth you needed. Keep up the good work. Dan

Seems lately that I have so many distractions that I find no time left to paint. First it took me quite a while to learn how to put up my own website. http://www.papadanart.com. This I finally accomplished with the help of yahoo's small business tools. You will not realize the accomplishment of building a website for a guy that still carries a dumb phone. Then we have the distractions of other folks, usually family, that think every little snag in their life should be a great emergency for ME. These seekers of opinion do not realize that I gained my wisdom from making many of the same dumb mistakes that they are making. Soon I know there will come a day that I can turn once again to my painting and the gradification it brings to me. I hope to start another series. Maybe the last series(Crazy Island) is out of my system. I have no idea what the next series will be but I am sure it will be a learning experience for me. Suffer through those anoying distractions that take us from our painting or whatever our method of expression may be. It just makes the return more enjoyable. Have a great day. Papadan.

Vic, it was interesting to me to read this blog entry. I had not thought about my own inspiration for a painting very much. The paintings of mine that you see come completely from my imagination. The scenes exist nowhere until I paint them. I always set down to blank canvas with no idea of what will be the end result. I like bright colors and subjects that distort the mind a little bit. Feel good places that needed to exist.