Fishing for opportunities

So here I am Writing up another storm, hopefully this will be a happy update.

So there is a ton of things going on, For the past few weeks I have tried to get my portfolio looking better, trying to Create more art and learn more, doing a bit of studies, watching tutorials and all those fun things we have to do.  the problem is, that's only half of the work, and my fault lies with actually marketing myself,  it's a task I have dreaded all my life.

When I started out I thought, if I could just produce good work then everybody will eventually find me, yea that wasn't really the case. the internet is like an ocean filled with colorful fish, only problem is that they are all under the water.  we as artists need to reach out and scream as loud as we can, "hey Hey here I am"  you have to cast that fishing rod in the water. and if the fish don't bite,  try different bait.

This is just fishing for opportunities.

You have to find your potential client and not the other way around,  search for the work that you want to do and chase that with all your heart.
and now it's time for me to follow my own advice.

On to other things

A few months back I started thinking about selling things online, I looked at a few options and I didn't really know anything about that, so did a bit of research and it felt like a mountain of information and I just didn't know where to start,  I gave up, I forgot about it and never thought of it again, some time later I had a conversation with a friend that sells merchandise and we came up with an awesome plan, but due to unforeseen circumstances that plan got pushed aside but that's life.

So again I put it in the back of my mind and went on with my life and  yesterday i received an email form a guy that wanted to buy some art prints and wondered where he could get some and it was like a lightning bolt hit me,  I missed an opportunity it might seem small but it was an opportunity nonetheless, at that moment I decided to just do it, try it and if it fails then so be it.

I looked at a few options and decided on society 6,   uploading the art was easy, I did a bit of editing and cleaned it up a bit,  uploaded it and I had my first prints available within 20 min,  I had to do a bit more editing for the other products like clocks and I-phone cases, I've spent a few hours doing that and fixing up my site to have the new store link up. it was really easy.  Months of worrying  for nothing.  this might sound silly and all but I have some experience with printing companies In the past and have very rarely been satisfied with the quality of prints I received, and I was afraid that my art might not look good.

I guess my point is if fear even stopped us from doing something so small,  what about the big things.

 Fear is a dream killer.

the only thing you have to be afraid of is being afraid.
So here is my advice to you, If you want to do something do it, don't let fear stand in your way, and if you fail, that's awesome you tried, now go try something else,
otherwise you will miss opportunities.

So yes I have a society 6 store now and you can buy my prints and I-pone cases and a ton of other stuff there.
Artwork choices might seem a bit limited at this moment, but in time I will make sure that it gets proper care and new content
I will also add links to the store from all my social media pages and my website.

here is the link: Society6/raymondminnaar

Feel free to also go check out my updated Portfolio site
I have also created an art station account: Art station
and a Behance account: behance
and follow me on Tumblr if you haven't done so already, this is where i post all my studies too: tumblr

I really hope this journal entry helps somebody
So thats it from me
God bless