Be The Real You — This is the most important advice I can give any artist, so I saved it for last. Be you. Be the real you. If I told you there was just one thing I stopped myself from doing to break into professional success, what would you guess it was? Quite simply, I stopped painting what I thought other people would like and want to buy and started painting what I liked and wanted to paint. There was a time when I kept on painting what I thought people wanted to see or what I thought would sell. I kept creating art one after the other, but it never gave me creative satisfaction or the drive to continue painting that way. So, I had to make a change.
As a part of our series “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist,” I had the pleasure of interviewing Marcel Santos.
Marcel Santos is the owner of The Art Of Marcel Santos Fine Art Gallery. Marcel is a Contemporary fine artist and creator of “Welcome To The Crossroads Show,” a series of paintings by artist Marcel Santos.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. I am the oldest of five siblings, and thankfully, I grew up in a very loving and encouraging family. Although we didn’t have much material wealth, my parents did the best they could with what they had. My father (now retired) was a famous art director. He had a tiny home studio, one of my favorite places to hang out growing up. I’d sit there and watch him work for hours. I would have my coloring books or sketchbooks with me and would practice along as I watched my father paint and create. I guess you can say that is how it all started for me. Eventually (fast forward a few years), my father was offered a significant position in Los Angeles. Our family moved from Brazil to California in the mid/late 90’s. Coming to Los Angeles as a teenager, I quickly noticed that the possibilities in America were endless. I can confidently say this was the biggest reason I’ve achieved what I have in my career as an artist.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I can probably talk about that for hours… At the risk of sounding cliche, you know the famous saying, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life” — that saying couldn’t be more true for me.
But the reason I pursued an artistic career all comes down to one simple thing: I love art. It’s a part of who I am, and I simply have this great need in my soul to create. It’s almost like having a hole inside of you that you must fill creatively… to put my thoughts and ideas on a sheet of paper or a canvas; it’s quite literally what I live for. And if I’m not creating, I feel a vast amount of emptiness inside, like something inside me is missing. Even after I create, that satisfying feeling that comes with it is very short-lived. So, I move on to something else almost immediately after I finish a painting. It is almost like no matter how much you eat, you never get full. It’s both a blessing and a curse that only artists and creatives will understand; it’s funny! I can’t see myself doing anything else, so I had no choice but to pursue a career as an artist.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I have many stories, but the one that stands out to me is something that took place well over a decade ago. I was hanging out at a bar managed by my friend, and it happened to be up the street from an art gallery where my work was displayed. I was at the bar with a couple of friends, and I noticed a couple near us talking about how they were remodeling their home and had recently purchased some fantastic art they were eager to display in their living room. They kept raving about this painting, so it got me curious about who the artist might be, so I shamelessly eavesdropped a little. As I listened to them talk about their new art purchase, I realized they were talking about one of my paintings! They had bought my painting. Then it also hit me: I’m sitting 3 feet away from them at the bar, and they have no idea who I am. That’s when I realized that being a selling artist meant the paintings get the fame, not the artist. To end this story, before I left, I quietly paid their bill and wrote a note that said, “I appreciate all the love & support.” And signed it “Your favorite new artist, Marcel.”
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I’m working on my new (and ongoing) collection titled “Welcome To The Crossroads Show.” A collection of paintings, the concept alone, took me years to develop. Based on a script I had written when I was fresh out of high school. “Welcome To The Crossroads Show” is a story about our decisions at a crossroads in life. When our backs are against a wall, we have no choice but to act, making decisions that we will have to live with for the rest of our lives. When I originally came up with this concept, I was lucky and wise enough to know that I was too young and inexperienced to tackle a concept like that. Twenty years later, I felt ready after many different positive and negative experiences in life. However, instead of putting it out as a script, I decided to do what I do best and paint it. This collection of paintings, amongst many others, will be available on my web gallery in the summer of 2024 (MarcelSantos.com).
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
I have had the privilege of meeting cool and interesting people. From celebrities and musicians to athletes, the list goes on. But honestly, the best and most exciting people I interact with are my collectors and fans. People who travel to see me and my work at a showing, to people who follow me on social media and keep up with my career. Hearing their stories and how they connect with my paintings will always be the most remarkable thing that has happened to me in my career. I have no words to express my love and gratitude towards them. They are why I wake up every morning with a smile; I get to do what I love for a living. One incredible story I can share is many years ago, I did a showing on my birthday. I hadn’t told anyone it was my birthday or anything like that. But somehow, some of the guests coming to my showing found out it was my birthday, and they came in with a cake and presents. It was one of the most incredible and memorable things that happened to me. It was a simple gesture yet incredibly thoughtful; it moved me. Those are the moments I find to be the highlights of being an artist.
Where do you draw inspiration from? Can you share a story about that?
I often get asked this question, and I imagine it’s because my art style is unique. My art style can be categorized as contemporary art because it is very modern. I am greatly inspired by the movie (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), specifically the character Jessica Rabbit. I paint what I see and try to capture the glamorous nightlife around LA bars, nightclubs, concert halls, and red-carpet events. I take inspiration from people and the emotions they display within those environments. Themes such as music, love, and relationships inspire me and serve as an ever-flowing stream of insights to draw from.
I try to capture anything from people’s personality traits to their fashion styles and behaviors. During my years as an artist, many have called me “the backward artist.” That’s because the titles of my paintings always come before the painting itself, which is highly unusual in this field as many artists typically finish their paintings and then come up with a title for them. It’s partly because of this unique quality that collectors and art lovers connect with my work, and I believe it is also because every single one of my paintings has a story behind it, and that’s why the titles come first. The stories behind my paintings are usually things that may have happened to me, someone I know, something I witnessed, or someone who stood out to me in my day-to-day life. In short, I’m inspired by life.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Bringing goodness to the world isn’t a one-and-done deal; it’s an ongoing and continued endeavor. I hope to inspire others not only by my stories but my actions as well. Many new artists contact me on social media, asking me for career advice. Some new artists lack confidence and need guidance, so after we chat a little and I share my early struggles, it always makes them feel better and more confident. I found that, often, bringing goodness to the world could be as simple as giving someone encouraging words to help them keep going. Our mission as artists should always be to unite, empower, and encourage, not divide and condescend. If you could share words of encouragement with someone today, you have just improved the world, even if by a little.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started.”
If you’re an aspiring artist wanting to make a splash in fine art, you will have your fair share of challenges. I went through them myself, and after a decade of persevering and pushing myself forward, I think I can now say I’m “in.” I currently have many loyal collectors and galleries showcasing my work worldwide. I am finally at a place in my career where people recognize my paintings without even looking at my signature. However, getting here was not easy. Now that I look back on the early days of my career, there are some things I wish I knew that would have helped me and saved me from a lot of headaches. I want to share them with you, hoping they will help facilitate your journey as a fine artist or creative.
1 . Learn How To Price Your Art
Please learn how to price your artwork correctly. A common mistake artists make early in their careers is pricing their art too high. I have no doubt your artwork is worth that much to you. But when the market price is too high for people who barely know you, you won’t have an opportunity to make a sale that will produce more exposure to your art.
A painting that’s not sold gets seen by you and maybe some prospective buyers. However, a painting that is sold, even at a lower price point, gets seen not only by the buyer but also by their social circle, family, friends, etc. That’s how you start making ripples and get exposure in the fine art world. Remember this: it’s better to sell a thousand artworks for $100 each than to sell one artwork for $100,000 when you’re just starting your career.
2 . Nurture Relationships With Galleries
There are many galleries you can work with at any given moment. But not all galleries will want to work with you, and not all those who want to work with you will have your best interest at heart. Unfortunately, there are galleries out there that will try and take advantage of you, and sensing that must be part of your skill set. When your intuition tells you something doesn’t feel right with a particular gallery, walking away and moving on to other galleries is perfectly fine. As the saying goes, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.
Individual collectors are usually fans your work; it’s the same with galleries. Find galleries who are fans of your work and genuinely enjoy what you create. And as an artist, choose to work with galleries you enjoy visiting, ones that sell the kind of art you would buy. Make it a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship. Be professional, and most importantly, be flexible; artists need galleries as much as galleries need artists. The possibilities are endless when you work well with your gallery and their team of managers and curators.
3 . Social Media — A Double-Edged Sword
Let’s talk about social media and how to use it properly. The art world is changing fast. Unfortunately, due to social media, people nowadays are less inclined to visit an art gallery to shop for and purchase their art. Social media made it more possible for artists to put themselves out there and cut out the middleman. Please don’t misunderstand me; if you’re an Artist and reading this, you need art galleries. I’m trying to illustrate that I wish I had used social media better when I started.
Social Media can be very good or bad; it can be a double-edged sword. Let’s talk about the good things. First, you can quickly put yourself out there by posting regularly and using the right platforms and hashtags. If you’re lucky, the algorithm picks you up, and the right person shares your post, you can sell your entire art collection in under a week. Today, artists are doing well compared to artists trying to promote themselves ten or twenty years ago. The bad side of social media, especially for creatives, is that before you know it, you’ll find yourself creating content you think people will like versus content you like. This is very common today. I was in this trap, struggling to post something because I hadn’t posted in a week. You create something you think people will like instead of creating content you enjoy. When you do this, you are gradually losing yourself as an artist. One of the best pieces of advice I can give any artist today is to try to put out content that you like and enjoy yourself, and by doing so, you’ll attract the type of people who want and like the things you do. This helps you create authentic content, and people crave authenticity. There’s too much of the same type of cookie-cutter content out there today. Most movies, books, and even art are becoming less and less authentic. And the only way to make it as an artist today is to be authentic, to be you. You’ll grow your business and career in no time if you can.
4 . Learning How To Accept Rejection
This one is possibly one of the most essential skills you need to learn to succeed in all areas of life. While I was trying to make it as an artist in my early days. Trying to get galleries to sign me, I faced a lot of rejection. I remember spending months and months working on a few different paintings, then trying to present them to art galleries in hopes that they would want to display and sell my work, only to have them tell me “no” or that I wasn’t what they were looking for, or that my work wasn’t good enough. After working so hard, after giving so much time and commitment to a painting, only to hear that it “wasn’t good enough” would break any Artist. Sometimes, it took me months to get back up after hearing that something that took me months to finish wasn’t good enough. But I always got back up. Over the years, I have learned to accept rejection as constructive criticism and use it to better myself. That’s a hard skill to learn, but once you do, the journey of pursuing your dreams will be much more pleasant. After rejection, it’s essential to stay positive, be persistent, and, at the same time, be patient. Let’s emphasize that you must be persistent, or else you won’t achieve your goals. This one gallery in particular gave me one of the harshest rejections of my entire career and turned me down during my early days as an artist. Almost two years later, I was persistent and returned to them with new and improved work. I had improved so much that they signed me on the spot. Be persistent, be patient, and don’t give up!
5 . Be The Real You
This is the most important advice I can give any artist, so I saved it for last. Be you. Be the real you. If I told you there was just one thing I stopped myself from doing to break into professional success, what would you guess it was? Quite simply, I stopped painting what I thought other people would like and want to buy and started painting what I liked and wanted to paint. There was a time when I kept on painting what I thought people wanted to see or what I thought would sell. I kept creating art one after the other, but it never gave me creative satisfaction or the drive to continue painting that way. So, I had to make a change.
Things began to change when I started painting the things I liked and related to, even if it meant they wouldn’t sell immediately. That change came with real-world implications that corrected my career trajectory as a creative. Because I started to focus more on the things that I wanted to paint, I then began to notice that the people who were getting drawn to my work, showed interest in my work, pretty much enjoyed the same things I did. Now, they stopped becoming interested in a single painting and became interested in me, the artist, and everything I create. This is the foundation of my art, in some way, a connection with my collectors. We love similar things, and I help channel their love into a visual piece of art they can look at all day. And that’s my advice to any creative out there. By creating content based on the things you enjoy, you create authenticity. Like I said earlier, people crave authenticity.
That’s my “Five Things I Wish I Knew Before I Broke Into the Art Scene.” I’m excited to see what your career will look like now that you know these things way before I did in my career. Best of luck to you!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
One thing I’ve always wanted to do is to start a movement to help and support living artists. Something people could do to help this movement is to buy art from living artists. I understand that there are collectors who love art from artists who are no longer with us, and that’s ok. But buying art from living artists will not only ensure a new generation of artists for the future, but it will also undoubtedly help an artist keep the flame of their passion burning brighter and longer. My collectors buy art from me because it is from me. They got to know my story, they got to see why I do what I do, and they chose to support me, for which I’m eternally thankful. So, I’d like to encourage all the readers to buy art from living artists. You may be browsing social media and stumble upon some art you like and connect with; contact that artist and purchase some art from them; it will make their day, I promise!
We have been blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she just might see this.
I would love to grab a bite with Elon Musk. As controversial as he is, I’m a fan. The man is a pivotal figure in the world. And the things he creates will help pave the way for many critical future inventions. I would love to ask Elon what motivates and keeps him creating. I suspect his reasons are likely similar to most artists out there. He thinks and formulates his thoughts on a different wavelength than most. As a creative, I would love to hear what advice he has for me.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
You can follow me on Instagram @marcelartstudio — Facebook.com/marcelartstudio or X @marcelartstudio. You can also connect with me and my artwork on my online gallery, MarcelSantos.com
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Marcel Santos: 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Broke Into the Art Scene was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.