I made $0 last night, but I sure did spend all of my extra money on beer and food, haha.

     I worked the cafe again today, as I do every day.  People just sit there and stare at me, as I work.
     They pretend like they don't see my art, but they look, because I see them looking. 
     Sometimes I stand outside and watch them as they walk by my table.  They look.
     They don't want to talk to me.  Dealing with the artist is too much work for most people.  Plus, I know they don't have any money in this particular cafe.  They are poor.

     On rare occasions, I have been asked in the cafe how much my napkin art is. 
     "Five bucks for each one," I say.
     They have a look of shock and horror on their face, not being able to comprehend that a small piece of original art could be worth five measly dollars.

     This is not true at the bar.  A lot of people have no problem buying four of my napkin arts at a time for twenty bucks.

    

     I missed writing on this blog yesterday, because I was busy with EverQuest.

     Anyway, on Saturday night, I sold three napkin arts for $15.  I would post a picture of what I sold, but the subject matter is too borderline for the conservative tastes of Blogger.

     Tonight, on Sunday, I sold nothing.  No one even looked at my art, except for a crazy guy who looks but never buys because he thinks the world revolves around him. 
     He doesn't think he is crazy at all.  He thinks he is quite normal.   That is why I think he is one of the really crazy ones.

     I know I am crazy and mad.  I am an artist, so I feel I have a healthy outlet.

     So, let's see...on Wednesday, I sold $270 worth of art.  On Thursday, it was $5.  Then last night on Friday, I sold $26....and a guy tried to steal my alien painting on canvas.

     He was drunk, left a twenty on my table, and I was outside smoking, and I said, "Hey, what are you doing with my painting?"
     Then he said, "I left a twenty on the table."
     Then I said, "You go back there, get your twenty, and then give me back my painting."
     Then he said, "No one will buy this crappy painting!"
     Then I said, "You were planning to, and if you don't give me back my painting, I'm going to kick your ass."
     It all mostly ended well, except the guy was a pain, and he tried to buy a drink from the bartender when the boy was closed, and everyone was walking out.
     This man probably thought of himself as really entitled, and probably works a job that he is miserable at.   

     I hit the mother lode last night, selling $270 worth of art in one night.

    

     $125 for each canvas.

     Then I made two drawings of people for free...

      The girl was so happy with it, that she tipped me $20 even though she didn't have to.

     Sometimes it isn't about money, it's about making people happy.

     I didn't sell anything last night.  Bummer.  I could have used the dough.

     Everything is getting more expensive, while my napkin arts remain at the same basic price....$5.  I don't think people will pay more.
     They sometimes tip me extra, though, and that is nice.

     My prices for my paintings are going up, though.  I try to charge $10 an hour on my paintings.  So if a painting takes ten hours, well, that's a hundred bucks.
     Art making and painting is technically 'skilled labor', and I should charge $20 per hour, but people won't pay that.

     I always get a general feeling that my customer just ripped me off whenever they buy something.

     Some people think I am ripping them off.  These people should go to an art gallery, and see how much things really cost.

     These days, a gallery artist can expect that the gallery will take 50%, the agent will take 30%, and the artist gets 20%.
     A person pointed out to me that this was a 'broken system'.
     I could not agree more.

     I don't even need a gallery anymore to get my art out there.  I can do it all myself.

     All a gallery is good for is maybe getting higher prices on your work, and creating a situation where a higher income bracket of people will show up.

     People mostly go to art openings for the free wine, and that's about all.

     A group of people notorious in San Francisco for getting free wine at art galleries are 'The North Beach Poets'.  I know from experience that they don't have any money.

     So, I will go into the bar tonight, and try again.  It could be my lucky night, I never know. 
     Sales can come at any time I am there.

     Meanwhile, it is almost guaranteed that I won't get a sale at the coffee shop during the day.  Those people have no money, nor do they have the inclination to buy art, and that is half of it.

     I sold five napkin arts tonight, so that was an easy $25 coming in.
     I bought two beers at $5 each.

     I was hoping to sell more, but I was lucky to get what I did on a Sunday night.

     I've sold $150 worth on a Sunday before, though.

     There is no limit to what I can sell.  It just depends on whether or not people are in the mood to buy.

     The hard part is being nice to people at all times, especially when they ask stupid questions or say stupid things.  I also don't like 'pulling teeth' when engaging them in conversation.  I'm not that desperate to sell to people that I don't want to own my art.

     They either like the art or not.  They will either pay my price or not.  That's about it.  I don't know why I have to be Mr. Charming on top of that.  It's not my job as an artist.  It might be as a salesman, though.  It is not as easy as it might seem to switch from artist mode to salesman mode, though.  I am getting better at it.  Most professional artists have an agent for a reason.

     To get better prices for my art will take some doing.

    

     I think I sold seven napkin arts last night.  At $5 a piece, that is $35.  Then I bought some beers.  Well, actually, I was buying beers throughout the night, at $5 a can.
     It cuts into my profits, but I support the bar.  They let me do my thing there, so I am more than happy to buy.
     Other artists go in there, and they don't buy anything.  I think that sucks of them.

     My revenge on those artists will be to make superior art, which shouldn't be too hard.

     I am finding that this is becoming one of my favorite blogs to write on.  I am enjoying keeping track of my sales.  I've never really done that before on a daily basis.
     Also, I made a napkin last night where I kept track of sales as I went.  That was fun, too. 
     My goal was to sell twenty napkins for an easy $100, but I only sold seven.

     I will try again tonight to sell twenty.

     I think I sold three napkin arts last night for $15, and received a $20 donation from a friend, so about $35 for the evening.
     I am not sure about the sale, because I was drunk, and buying beer.

     I did eat well.  I had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, pizza with spinach and feta cheese, and a pork burrito.  That was more than $10 of food, easy.  Mmmmm, it was really good, and I'm still thinking about it.

     Being an artist has its' perks from time to time.

     Meanwhile, at the cafe, people pretended I didn't exist as usual, as I was in full production of my art.  They don't care there.
     They don't have any money to buy art anyhow.

     I went in early last night, to try and cash in, but it didn't work.  All that happened is I ended up getting a little too drunk by the end of the night.

     The early evening crowd rarely buys from me.  They have other things on their mind besides my art.

     Some people turn me into an entertainment monkey, where they just sit and watch me paint.  Sometimes people take pictures.

     I made $5 last night from selling a napkin with my writing on it.  Sometimes people like those more than my art.

     Tonight, I'm going in early.  Wish me luck.  I want to try and break my record of $330 in one night.

     But first, I have to make $10 or $20, and we'll see how it goes.

     Just for fun, here is a dinosaur on a cow...

     People like seeing the toys on the table.  Plus, it helps to change the scale of things on the table.  It helps people to adjust their eyes to my napkin art.

     It was a crazy night last night, and I didn't sell anything.

     There were two drunk women talking loud last night.  Usually there is only one.

     I arrived late, at around 11 p.m. knowing that the early evening crowd wasn't going to buy anything anyhow.

     It is essential that I am there between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., because I often get sales in this drunken hour.

     One time I made $200 between 1:50 a.m. and closing.  That was a good night.

     I never know when a sale will occur.  All I can do is be there.  Ready.

     * * * * *

     "Are those coasters?"  I get asked this question at least once a week about my napkin art.

     They could be turned into coasters of they were laminated.  I have done it before with clear packaging tape.
     But I tell people I intend them as art.
     Then I have had a couple of people, usually from The MidWest ask me, "Well, what do you do with it?"
     "Well, it is art, and you hang it on the wall, and you look at it, and maybe contemplate your life or something."

     Last night, I didn't sell anything.  I worked hard, though.
     Again, I had to deal with four people talking loud next to my table for a couple of hours.  It is hard to deal with when I just want to paint, and listen to the music.

     I didn't sell anything in the cafe today, either.

     I am still enjoying writing about my successes and failures as a 'salesman artist'.  It is fun.

     So, whether I do good or bad, I can still write about it.

     I sold nothing yesterday, despite pulling two shifts, one at the cafe, and one at the bar.
     It happens at least once a week.

     Every night, there is usually a different saying on the outdoor chalkboard.  I don't take a picture of every one, but I liked this...."Wondering about the fate of the world".
     It's exactly what I'm doing, as I ponder my own fate, especially on a night when I don't sell.

     Not making money in San Francisco is a bad thing.  It can lead to homelessness pretty damn quick.  Most people in the city don't have a nest egg they can rely on in times of trouble.  They live paycheck to paycheck.

    
     Here is a recent table display...

     Sometimes people buy, sometimes not.  There is no reason why, one way or another.  People do what they want, whether I'm a good salesman or not.

    

     The napkin arts are still a strong seller at $5 a piece.  I tried to discontinue them, but they proved to be my 'bread and butter'.

    

     This Batman napkin art keeps selling.  I think I've sold three of this design so far.  Just so you know, this one is not finished yet.

    

     These two figurative paintings rest in my studio.  They are too big to carry on my bike, unless I put them in a dufflebag.

     

      I started the 'David, age 6' blog yesterday, an exploitation of my youth for business purposes.

      Meanwhile, the creation of new napkin arts continues.  There is no way of telling what people will like, so the idea is to just give them plenty of content to choose from.

     People love stupid crap, and they will pay for it.

     "Plorcck!"

     Last night, I sold two napkin arts, and received $10.  A girl bought them, with her boyfriend.  One was typewritten which had the same date as her birthday.  The other had a saying that said, "No bike helmet, no condom."  The second one is harder to explain, but it is a phrase my friend came up with.  He was basically saying that if you are a guy who rides a motorcycle without a helmet, you probably don't carry a condom on you.  haha.

     Anyway, I'm not getting rich going to the coffee shop every day.  Hardly anyone notices that I am making art, and if they do see it from the corner of their eye, they put me on their mental ignore list.
     Those people don't have much spending money anyhow.
     Yet, the coffee shop gives me time and space to prepare for each night.  I do touch-ups on my art, and work on ideas.

     I am finding that I enjoy writing on this blog, because it is all about money, and that is all people really care about.
     I've been playing with the idea that Money is The True American God.  That is why we have 'In God We Trust' on our money.
     It really means, "In Money We Trust". 
     You can argue with me on this point, but you won't get me to change my mind.

     All I sold last night was a 'Hello Kitty' napkin art for $5 to a friend, who planned to give it to her friend.

     It was a slow night last night.

     The North Beach Fair occurred during the day, so there weren't as many people out at night.

     I didn't fare any better at the cafe today.  It is an even tougher crowd there.  People don't have any money, or interest in art.

     Just like in Star Wars, where there are 'force senstitives', I look for people sensitive to art, who also happen to have cash.

     Let's see...last night I made $40.

     The first $20 was made because a bachelor party of about eight or ten guys came in.  They wanted me to draw the bachelor, and I told them I don't like to draw guys.  Then I said, "How about I draw him with a naked woman on each side?  They liked that idea.
     Then I put in an additional two topless chicks.

     The second $20 was made because a 'first date couple' saw the drawing I had made, and came into the bar to talk to me.  At first they wanted a portrait, and then the woman wanted to paint.
     So I let both of them paint.
     I received a shot of Fireball cinnamon flavored whiskey as a bonus....$7 per shot.

     I like the paintings the couple created.

     The bartender gave me a Hellboy comic book, which was appropriate with the whiskey.

     This brings up another point.  When you sell, have fun.  Otherwise, it all becomes about money.

     Actually, it would be more fun for me if I made more money.  I'm working on it.

     This life where I am in a constant state of poverty is becoming 'no fun'.

    

     This painting is up for sale...

     'Evil Empire Characters:  Darth, Stormie, Emperor, and Red Royal Guard'.

     Here is the back...

     Sometimes it is hard to price paintings.  I'm just hoping to find a good buyer for this one.

     I'm hoping to get $100 for this painting, but to be honest, I'll probably be lucky to get $50 or $60 for it. 
     $40 just seems too low on this one, for the work I put into it.

     By the way, I've done some touch-ups on the painting since these pictures were taken, and put screw-eyes in the back for hanging.

     I don't always have time to take pictures of things I sell.

     Anyway, a woman bought a napkin art for her niece, and she gave me an extra five bucks, so I received $10 for that one.
     What the cute niece bought surprised me.  She bought one I thought would never sell.  It was entitled 'Cunt Encounters of The Third Kind', showing a road going into a mountain. 
     I hope she read the text.

     Then another nice girl came by, sat down at my table, and bought five napkin arts for $25.

     From experience most people seem to care about how much I sell things for then what the art is.  So, on one level, it doesn't matter if I post pictures of the art or not.

     I sold three napkins last night for $15 and a beer.  Here they are...

     Gnomes have been a recent popular theme, so I am making more, but I will have the gnomes doing different things than just standing there, haha.
     Here is a close-up of the 'double gnomes'...

     Here is a close-up of the 'Lucky Die' that I was hoping to sell for $11, but sold to a friend instead at normal price....

     I like this one.  I'll have to make another.

* * * * *

  Meanwhile, here is some comic book stuff.  Another friend wants to make a book of it, but I don't know.  I feel that if I am going to do it, I should just do it in blog form, and be done with it...

     I don't know if it is possible to make a profit selling my comic book work.  I've done a lot of self-publishing in the past, and it's been a break-even business at best.
     Also, I really don't feel like writing for kids or teen-agers.
     I just want to write for adults.
     They need comics, too, just so you know.

     So, we'll see what happens.

     Being an artist, I always have to find ways to get some perks, or some extra cash.
     Anyway, here is some sign work I did for a cafe...

     Then I did a napkin art painting for them...

     A couple of other napkins ended up on their cash register...
    

    
     People seem to like them, because they are based off of real events that happened in the cafe.

     Anyhow, this cafe has a very nice space for exhibiting art.  I'll never show there.  I was lined up to have two shows, and then they forgot about me, and they other people putting up art when I thought it was going to be my turn.

     Even if I sell one napkin art during a month, I usually outsell any artist on the wall, so f*** it.

     If I had high sales for my art after showing every day for five years on my table, I would be inclined to put my art up on the wall.
     I don't think anybody would buy more if it was up on the wall. 
     People at this cafe have no money, or the inclination to buy art.

     The management doesn't pay me well, unfortunately.  I feel bad for them.

     I do art for the cafe, because I like the joint.

     One time I made a sign for their holiday hours, and they gave me a dollar off on my coffee.  That is pathetic.  The sign took an hour to do.

     Sad, huh?

     Here is a painting on paper of some people that I drew.  I think I sold it somewhere between $8 and $15.  I can't really remember...

     I don't enjoy drawing people much, unless I have a thought to prompt me, or something catches my eye.  I usually like to draw people who have known each other for a long time.  Then people behave natural, and like themselves without any 'airs' about them.
     The back of the guy's shirt became the focal point for me, then I just used white, red and black paint.  That was enough.
     I think this one came out pretty good.

     Sometimes I wonder how I know how to draw a group of people in paint within an hour.

     "Oh yeah, I went to art school," I remind myself.

     Anyway, I don't even like to post pictures like this, because then other people will say, "Hey, I saw what you did for those people, I want a drawing with me and my friends!"

     Usually, it's not worth it for what they can or will pay.

     I'll be honest, one of the reasons I painted this picture is there were two girls there.

     Many people ask me who this is a painting of, and I say, "It's Chun-Li, from 'Streetfighter'."
     It is my version of her, in any case.
     If someone offered me one-hundred dollars for it, I would accept it.
     If someone gave me $500 for it, I wouldn't bat an eye, but I would jump for joy after the buyer left.

     A thing I want to mention that a lot of people don't know about, is that art galleries take 50% of all sales an artist does in a gallery.  That is standard, across the country.  It used to be 60/40 in favor of the artist, but that simply is not true anymore.

     Then, if the artist has an agent, that fee can be 30% of his 50%.

     If you do the math, that is why art is expensive.

     D'OH!

* * * * *

     I just want to mention while I am thinking about it is a black man told me once that there are poor man's prices, and rich man's prices.  So one should always be considerate.
     I found this to be good advice over the years.

     This set of two Amelie napkin arts sold.  Well, the portrait on the left sold for $5, and I'm still working on the gnome.
     It was a commission, and I don't always enjoy doing commissions, but this was for a friend, so that is different.
     Commissions can take a long time.
     I feel a lot of pressure from doing commissions, which is why I don't like to do them.  They always take me longer than expected, so it isn't for the money.
     What makes it worth it is making somebody happy, and then sometimes I get a free beer.  :P

     I have a three year history of selling napkin art.  It's still fun for me to do, and it still sells, amazingly enough.
     I sell them live and in person at a bar in North Beach, San Francisco.  It is normally a good time, except when I get too drunk, haha.
     Any napkin I sell goes for $5, though one time, I got paid $60 for one.  Amazing, huh?

     Yeah, I'm really excited to sell.  It sounds like a good idea to me.  I'm tired of this poverty thing.  I'm also fatigued with working for other people.  I was exhausted with that years ago...I think two weeks into my first job, haha.

     If I sell or not from this blog, it doesn't matter, because at least I now have a place where I can post all the things that I sold, or are up for sale.

     As promised, here are links to videos I have made that are related to me selling art....

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzh6ERdwcn4  Alien Painting for sale $100.
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iVJ9KPZIN4  Chun-Li painting for sale $200
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW8j6p790jo  Kurt Cobain painting for sale $149.99
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPX90qjQtnE   Nine Paintings for sale $999.99
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSvn-H4t_Tw    Blade Runner cityscape - $200

     Well, there you, I overcame extreme laziness to post these videos.

     Later, when I am not lazy, I will post photos, front and back, of everything I have for sale.  It will take some time, as my laziness factor is often in the high range.

* * * * *

12:10 p.m.  Friday, May 28th, 2021  I'm at the Double R Blvd Starbucks in beautiful Reno, Nevada.

     Yeah, I don't think anyone besides myself will ever read this.  That's the reality of what I do on the web, and the reaction to my content for the most part.  No one cares, or even has time to look at all of the stuff I post.  

     The idea of having an online store is a good one, though.  The idea of this blog is to have everything in one place.  I thought it would make it easy for people.  'One Stop Shopping', right?

     I wanted and envisioned this blog as kind of a super-mega store for my art.  I had visions of success, as always, much larger than the reality of it ever would be.  I'm a dreamer; anyway, I have not given up.  

     Someday I will figure out how to make all the stuff I do on the web work for me.  And possibly, I can cash in.  Other people do it, so why can't I?  I see no reason as to why not.

     WISH ME LUCK.  I need all I can get.  

* * * * * 

The Beginning of My Online Blogger Store

     I might as well start here, as this is a recent thing I've sold.
     It is a toy horse that I bought at the dollar store, and painted it with acrylics.
     I usually don't like to sell my animals, because they mainly function as props for my art table to make it more interesting, but sometimes people really want to buy the animals.
     Since I am always in need of money, I oblige them from time to time.

     So, I have become interested in the subject of online selling, because selling in person just isn't cutting it.


     Oh yeah, lest I forget, here is the video I made of this horse, just using the photo and some voice in Windows Movie Maker...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwgYCtZC_A

     My brother came up with the idea of making videos for items I want to sell, instead of just going the ebay route, which I may do at some point, I am not sure yet.  I am skeptical of ebay.  I've heard some bad things like identity theft, buyer and seller fraud, and terrible customer support.

     Anyway, welcome to my store.  I don't know if I will actually sell anything from here, but you never know.  all you can do is try.

     The thing I am excited about with selling right off a blog is I can be in direct communication with my customers, and not have to pay any fees to ebay and paypal, which are owned by the same company, just so you know.

     When I am not lazy, I will post all of my 'selling art' videos that I have made so far on youtube, or you can just look for them on my 'David Lovins' channel, with keywords being art, sell, paintings, david, Lovins....

     Well, have a nice day, and wish me luck...I'll need it.

     As mentioned in the video, this toy horse sold for $20.  It took a while to do all the layers of paint.

* * * * *

     It is 11:41 a.m. on Friday, May 28th, 2021.  It is seven years when I wrote the above entry.  I had forgotten that I had ever painted that horse, and made money off of it.  I liked that horse, I wish I had it in my collection, but at the time, I really needed that twenty dollars, as I do now.

     One thing that I didn't know about back in 2014, is to put tags onto posts.  I didn't know about it at all.  So, now I will put some tags onto this post.  Haha.  

     Okay, my tags are updated.

     So, I don't know if anyone even bothers to look at blogs anymore.  I have no idea.  I would think people would rather just look at youtube videos or listen to music in their free time, than look at what some idiot wrote on a blog seven years ago, haha.

     I need more coffee.

     Anyway, I don't know if this blog has ever gotten a single hit in seven years, besides me looking at it once in a while.  

     So, the idea of creating this blog was to focus on selling.  I don't think it has worked out too well.  But, since I never give up on something I believe in, I will keep trying.  The idea now is to do more 'cross-pollinization' between all my websites and junk, in order to get my art out there.  

     One thing is true for an artist...you don't exist if no one can see your art.  Also, if they can't see it, they definitely can't buy it.  So an artist needs to have his work in plain view at all times.  Out of one-thousand people who see the art, you might get one sale, if you're lucky.  That's the reality of the situation on the web.  Really.  Serious.  Not Joking.  

     So, I will post this onto my facebook, and see what happens.  I can barely get people to look at my stuff there, either.  I'm not a very popular person, and never was, and the way things are going, it doesn't look like I ever will be.  But with that being said, I have to keep going, never give up, and try to sell, sell, sell.  I want to make a living as an artist, and be my own boss.  That is the goal.  I'm sick of working for other peoeple.  It makes me ill.