Illustrators and serious painters are two industries that are highly similar but fundamentally different.
Illustrators are like slobbery singers, pursuing a sinking market that is easy to understand, and their highest ideal is to become a popular cultural symbol.
The most profitable illustrator is KAWS who pursues the career path of creating trendy brands and art toys.
Every year, millions of co-branded luxury goods are sold around the world, with each item earning dozens of dollars and a net income of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Among the people who buy KAWS co-branded products.
It has a large number of non-trend art lovers.
They don’t even know what trendy art is. Nine out of ten people cannot understand the connotation of KAWS's artistic symbols. However, under the influence of religious fanaticism and social popular environment, it will naturally bring about a circle-breaking effect.
In essence, a top-notch illustrator will hope that his work will be as brain-washing as "Little Apple" by the Chopstick Brothers.
From kindergarten children to square dancing aunts, it doesn't matter whether you like it or not, you can always hum a few lines of "You are my little apple".
The hardest working bottom of the industry sells cheap illustrations online.
Middle and high-level people earn money from publishing houses, game companies, and film and animation distributors.
The top bosses earn directly from the dividends of mass traffic. To achieve the goal of "if people all over the world give me one dollar, I will be a rich man".
Serious painters are composers who conduct classical symphonies in the golden hall, pursuing timeless works that can defeat time.
They hope to establish a sect and conquer art history with epoch-making works of art.
The market for illustrations is going down, while the market for painters represented by serious galleries is going up.
The more money you make, the more high-end you are, and the easier it is to be high-minded.
You don’t need to be known to billions of people, you don’t need to consider any employer’s opinions like an illustrator, and you don’t need to produce too many paintings.
There is only one thing that needs to be done - to conquer the richest handful of collectors with outstanding artistry.
When a trendy artist sells trendy brands, no one knows his name, so he is killed.
A serious painter sells tens of millions of dollars of paintings every year. He is well-known in the industry and has never been heard of outside the industry. It is really normal.
The great oil painters of the Renaissance often only cared about what the nobles and high priests thought. They were originally servants of the upper class power.
Great painters usually have very low sales and very high unit prices.
A painter who can sell just one painting for a record breaking $100 million is more qualified than a painter who sells ten works worth $10 million. A painter whose average price is tens of millions of dollars is more qualified than a painter who sells a hundred works worth one million dollars.
Andy Warhol was able to become the favorite of the "mythical" gallery back then because he had so many works and the average selling price was comparable to Monet.
At some point, the distinction between the two professions becomes blurred and they can transform into each other.
There are also things in classical music like "Athletes' March" that make me vomit when played during running time that every primary and middle school student hates.
Popular music Bob Dylan can also win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
However, considering Gu Weijing’s current development route choice,
He wisely judged that it was not a necessary choice to overlap the identity of Detective Cat and the name Gu Weijing in the spotlight.
If I can win an award at the Singapore Art Exhibition and successfully become Mr. Cao Xuan’s disciple.
He is a heirloom of the top "academic school", a serious painter with a well-established background.
In the eyes of his potential future audience, being an illustrator is not necessarily a plus.
And more importantly - after the gallery learns the news, there is a high probability that future agency contracts will require it to split money from its own illustration business.
It doesn't provide much help.
If nothing else,
Although Ma Shi Gallery is very prestigious among collectors, the service groups are different, so it may not be able to get a high-quality contract like "The Little Prince" from the publisher.
"The gallery is committed to packaging and promoting artists...and has exclusive rights, and its geographical representation includes all countries and regions around the world..."
Gu Weijing read the contract.
Seeing this kind of clause is completely expected. Mashi Gallery has been in this industry for almost a hundred years, so there cannot be any obvious loopholes left.
"What are exclusive rights?" Gu Weijing asked.
"Exclusivity, uniqueness, whatever you want to call it, after signing the contract, you can't work for other galleries, you can't be joint agents with other galleries, and you can't submit works for consignment. Note, it's any other gallery, ugly words before, you give your own paintings and calligraphy Submissions are also not allowed. In principle, you are also not allowed to participate in art exhibitions, academic conferences and art competitions held by any other gallery."
Hanks shrugged, "But if necessary, you can obtain the written consent and authorization from Mashi Gallery in advance. We don't mind too much if there is a way to expose it to other places normally."
“Is it just a gallery?”
"Only the gallery? Apart from that, what else is there..." Hanks suddenly thought a little warily, "It's not allowed to go to the auction company privately! There is an appendix on the back of the contract with specific details."
"If you want to be Hester, you're still a little far away." He curled his lips half as a joke and half as a warning. "If you want to secretly open a special auction, no serious auction house will accept it."
Regarding the restrictions on auctions, it was a treaty that Mashi Gallery urgently added after 2008.
In the past half century, the original term "exclusive agent" in painters' contracts in the industry often restricted painters from cooperating with competing galleries and other dealers.
No restrictions except gallery.
In social concepts, this is generally considered the only channel for painters to monetize their artworks.
Just pinch the source.
Conventionally, painters cannot go directly to auction companies, and auction companies are not allowed to bypass galleries and primary dealers to cooperate with the artist himself.
This is a common unspoken rule in the industry. No one will do this. It is a bad rule and is not in line with the healthy development of the industry.
Even top galleries like Mashi, PACE, and Gagosian.
The contents of the contracts are all very similar.
Until 2008, Hirst bypassed Gagosian, his acting gallery at the time, and directly persuaded Sotheby's executives to hold an unprecedented auction with "no middlemen to make the difference", which probably sold more than 200 million pounds. s work.
This violation of market rules shocked almost the entire art world.
The industry has received mixed reviews on Hearst. Various half-truths and half-false behind-the-scenes news about the deal have been circulating for more than ten years, and there are divergent opinions.
There is a popular argument that this auction was one of the important triggers for Hearst and Gagosian, who had collaborated for many years, to announce their breakup.
After the incident, Ma Shi Gallery immediately added relevant "anti-Hearst" clauses to his template contract.
Why doesn't the gallery just say a few words in the contract and take away the commercial ownership and all possible peripheral rights of all artists' future commercial endorsements, IP peripherals, and even future trend designs?
It’s not that the gallerist is kind.
But because this is not the Middle Ages, this is not signing a deed of sale, there are relevant legal provisions.
It is difficult to say and uncontrollable whether this type of general overbearing clause will be deemed unfair due to the use of vague clauses in contract law to control the final interpretation or unfairness after being sued in court. The risk of being judged invalid by judicial officers is also hard to say and uncontrollable. .
The gallery looked down upon the little money the painter earned secretly.
A painter who can make a lot of money secretly can also afford a team of luxurious lawyers.
By then, there will be lawsuits over this kind of treaty.
The Calder case, the Jeff Koons Gallery case, and the Henri Matisse Foundation v. Warren case are all cases of similar criminal record.
Some have obtained results after lengthy litigation. More often, in the face of ever-increasing lawyers, both parties can no longer play and reach an out-of-court settlement agreement.
Large galleries like Ma Shi Gallery are more willing to clearly list what the painter can and cannot do, as well as his responsibilities and rights before signing the contract.
"Madam, this share is too high. I really can't give such a contract..." Hanks didn't take Gu Weijing's inquiry too seriously and turned to Mrs. Sakai.
"It's better to put our quotation here. You can go back and think about it at night and find someone who can make the decision to negotiate." Mrs. Sakai suggested.
Hanks thought about it and simply stopped struggling.
He came today with the expectation of "finding an ignorant old farmer in the countryside of Yangon to buy a cheap, ownerless donkey."
Hanks only brought money to buy the mud-legged donkey calf.
When he discovered that this little donkey was riding Miss Sakai, its butt was covered with the fire seals of two great artists, Professor Sakai and Lin Tao.
Regardless of whether the deal can be concluded,
This is no longer something that Hanks, an ordinary hunter agent, can decide on. He really needs to call his superiors for instructions.
Gu Weijing turned to the appendix at the back of the contract, which contained dozens of clauses.
He gave it a rough look.
The requirements are very detailed, including auctions, tax returns, and even small things such as if you can participate in high-end sales exhibitions such as international art fairs in the future, the gallery will bear the exhibition fees, and the painter will need to pay an additional 5% sales share.
However, there are no restrictions related to cooperation with publishers.
Serious painters in galleries make money by illustrating books for publishers. There is no precedent in the industry.
Theoretically, according to the restrictions of this contract, my future projects like "The Little Prince" should not require commission...
That should be it, right?
Gu Weijing originally wanted to ask Hanks explicitly about illustrations.
He was also afraid that he would be self-defeating because he did not have the corresponding conditions. As soon as I mentioned it, others added it conveniently when they got back.
Anyway, it looks like I won’t be able to sign today.
Gu Weijing felt that he should discuss this matter with Mr. Sloth.
…
"Dear Madam. For the two steak Wellingtons you ordered, Chef Gordon said that if you are willing to sign and take a photo on the wall at the entrance of the restaurant, you will be free of charge for this meal."
The waiter in white uniform presented a steak wrapped in fried golden meringue on a white porcelain plate to the table and said softly.
"You attract so much attention wherever you go, little Anna." Osborne joked, taking a sip of sparkling champagne.
London is traditionally known as the capital of dark cuisine, but it has the highest density of high-end restaurants on the Michelin and Black Pearl lists in the world.
Among them, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay is one of the most famous ones.
Its host, Gordon Ramsay, the Scottish god of cooking from hell, was once ranked among the top ten in the selection of Britain's most attractive men. The total number of fans on TikTok and Twitter exceeds 50 million.
There is no traffic in the restaurant.
Anna glanced at the promotional board on the porch not far away that was covered with various signed photos, including superstars like Tom Cruise and Ronaldo.
"Mr. Ramsey's restaurant only invites public figures with more than one million fans to sign autographs and souvenirs."
"The videos you have appeared in have been played more than 300 million times. Mr. Chef believes that if you are such an impressive beauty, as long as you are willing to open an account, you can have millions of fans in a short time."
Men from corrupt countries are not as promiscuous as French or Italians, but if they can serve as waiters in this kind of restaurant, it is still a piece of cake to flatter people casually.
"If it's convenient for you, ma'am, Mr. Chef would also like to invite you to participate in the recording of his next Douyin cooking class."
"Whenever I am interested in learning cooking, I will call Mr. Ramsay and just sign." Anna shook her head politely and dismissed the waiter.
"Hmm...don't you think about it?"
Osborne looked at the waiter's retreating back and shook his head regretfully, "The signature Wellington steak here costs 89 pounds per serving. It's a pity that no one came to ask for the autograph of a middle-aged uncle like me."
"My treat, Uncle Osborne." Anna said with a smile, "Thank you for your help."
She flew to London specially for this trip, just to meet Osborne.
She promised Ms. Detective Cat that she could handle the replacement of the cover painting.
In fact, there are many obstacles in actual operation, which are far beyond the word "difficulty" to describe it.
On the "Little Prince" project team, there was no motivation from top to bottom to change the draft and reverse the work.
After Anna sent several emails, but seeing little effect, she simply flew here from Austria and met with President Osborne face to face.
She spent a lot of effort and finally finalized the matter this afternoon.
"Okay, I feel at ease after eating this meal. Anna, you don't know how troublesome this is. The entire project team was complaining. We had to catch up with the Easter promotion, and the time was very tight. The early announcements were all It has already started. The production lines of the printing factory are all scheduled. In fact, rearrangement is still a small matter, the printing teacher is going crazy."
Osborne smiled, "From last night to today, I blocked him in the office and asked him to revise the draft over and over again. Later, the poor guy was a little hysterical. I have no doubt that he wanted to live in his heart. Swallow me.”
The printing cost of art albums is several times higher than that of ordinary publications.
In addition to the cost of the paper itself, the most expensive thing is the color correction.
The two most common printing methods in the industry are monochrome printing or CMYK four-color printing. Monochrome printing is printing a book in pure black, the cheapest printing method.
And four-color printing,
C stands for Cyan, M stands for Magenta, Y stands for Yellow, and K stands for Black. All other colors are mixed and matched with these four base pigments. They are available on the market. More than 99% of the color books I see are printed in CMYK four-color printing mode.
But the expressive power of a good artist's brushstrokes goes beyond the coverage of four simple colors.
There will be problems such as gray is not enough, blue is not blue enough, and purple is not purple enough.
Depending on the storage conditions, storage period, ambient temperature and other factors, single-color pigments may also have color differences during printing. Not only the artist's original painting is different. In mass printing, two different books from different batches will also have slight color differences.
The problem of color difference and color cast is not serious. For the sake of lower cost, many artwork album pictures are all printed with CMYK four-color printing.
However, if the publisher has more demanding requirements and a sufficient budget, then there is a better option, using specially formulated special inks and special production lines for mimeographing.
Not only printing albums, but also currency printing will use a similar method, but mass printing can dilute the cost.
In "Wushuang", the "color-changing ink" that Fa Ge created is a type of special ink.
In addition to ink, printing and color correction teachers also need to make fine adjustments manually to achieve the same effect in the final product as in the printed document.
(End of chapter)
