I have been a very busy artist for about 25 years now, lately I have started to reach what some would call inspiration and confidence in my works. The key to success is create art because you enjoy it, success will come when you least expect it, but it will not happen overnight. The artistic potential is unlimited, but an artist must think outside of the box. If you do what everyone else is doing, your chances of success are limited. But, if you are unique and if you pursue limits outside of the traditional art arena, or box, you will begin to see results faster. This applies to all arts.

	Derek McCrea
	Representing: Columbus, Georgia
		Featured Artist - Fine Art

- Use of splatter to create depth

- Use of charcoal on finished products to add texture and shadows

- Wet on wet, let the watercolors do their magic, sometimes watercolors when wet on wet create effects that make you say, how did I do that?

- Try not to use too much paint, start out with lighter colors and add layers of darker colors. Too much watercolor paint creates a mess that you cannot fix. That is the difference between watercolors and other mediums that can be repaired by painting over.

- Use Art Trading Cards to practice your larger images before painting them large. This way if you make a mistake it will be on a small piece of paper and you can apply that lesson to your larger work.

- I have seen different techniques for holding the watercolor paper to your background for paintings, including stapling down the sides of the work. I prefer to use masking tape around the entire edges of my paintings. This also aids buyers to mat the painting with inch edges all the way around the circumference of the painting.

The competition today with the age of the Internet has created stiff competition for artists. Those who stick with it, little by little, day by day, will see results in the long run. At least that has been my experience. It is easy to give up on art if you do not enjoy it. If you do not enjoy creating art, you are in the wrong profession. To me art has always been a hobby as my second source of income. Have options and alternatives to your life, but if you love art, maintain and improve your skills; it will pay off!

I set aside about one hour a day for marketing and if I miss a day I make up for it in the future. I have been doing this for many years. It does not happen overnight. I initially spent months researching how to market my works and then began with local galleries, restaurants, art collaboration shows, art festivals, online galleries, art auctions, and targeting groups of people interested in the same topics I work with. Once I gain a customer I try to keep them informed by asking if I can add them to my Monthly Artist Newsletter. I have had return customers based off of what they have seen in one of my newsletters. It also provides a face and character to the work of art the customer purchases when they can remain updated on your efforts.

I am inspired both by beauty and by life itself. If I am having a bad day, or week I do not paint. I only paint when I am in a great mood. Sometimes I may go a month without painting. I will have dream about an image, or see something I think would look great painted and I get excited and feel an urge to capture the image in a painting.

Work outside of the box and paint because you enjoy it. The art world of today is not what it was 20 years ago. Take guitarists for example. In 1988 there were not that many teens growing up with the dream of being rock stars in comparison to now. Society has changed with production and the Internet. The art world is not that much different. If I were to guess I would say there are more artists now than there were 20 years ago. If this is not the case, it may seem to be as the media for spreading the word about art have increased. You only have to go on the Internet to see the massive competition. You have a better chance of being successful from my experience by working outside of the traditional box.

Part 2 of 2: FirstWeek of April, 2010

Surviving as a Contemporary Artist by Derek McCrea