I am very pleased to introduce a talented artist, Ameer Malkosh, who I met recently at our local town center. Ameer has been drawing and painting his entire life and has traveled far & wide to become the artist he is today. Below he shares some of his insights on his work, the artist life, and the business side of being an artist.

Interview:

Why did you start this business?
I have been doodling & drawing all my life & I always considered my art more of a hobby but at some point in 2016 my art started to get noticed by the people around me & I started hearing these questions all the time:

• Do you sell your art?

• Can you draw this or that for me?

• How much do you charge to draw this or that?

What is your educational background and training?
Since I didn't go to art school, ever since I graduated from college (I majored in Engineering), I have been continuously taking art classes & workshops, both online & in person. I would say the most useful ones were the ones with from artists giving classes or mentorships providing useful critiques & draw overs suggestions. 

My first event I had a table with only 4 prints and I didn't even have business cards or a card reader to take payments! looking at it now it was terrible, but I sold prints and got connections and was referred to other events to sign up for.

Then, each time I exhibited my art in a new event I learned from the experience. Different settings, different crowds had different challenges and considerations. I also learned from chatting with other artists & exhibitors, they always love to share tips & insights from their own experience.

Describe your typical work environment:

Home office, my art studio is designed & organized to have the best environment to be in my creative zone, It's my favorite space.

I have my stand up desk with plenty of space and natural light, surrounded by art materials readily accessible to work on any idea.

Also surrounded by framed artwork from artists I admire or things that inspire me, rusty guitar to take few breaks. It's my happy space.

What were some difficulties you encountered when starting out?

The biggest challenge which is still a huge challenge for me is having limited free time to work on my art, both the creative part of making art and the technical aspect of marketing and looking for opportunities to grow the business.

Balancing a business with a fulltime day job is not always fun. There's days I don't want to hold the pencil or the brush, but I try to do at least a 30 minutes sketch. Energy and motivation can be hard to collect sometimes and it's easy to get discouraged when the money made from all this is not enough to pay rent and bills. So I would say the biggest hurdle is making time for it and staying motivated to keep going.

How you would define success?

For me it's about the passion that I have for making art and sharing it with people, financial freedom would be the cherry on top!

Success to me is being able to afford all the things & experiences required to fully experience your most authentic life.

How social media plays a role in the business:

Early on (2016-2018) before Instagram changed it's algorithms, it was such an organic growth which mainly depended on having other art pages & art fans share your work. It was great riding those waves of likes and follows. It was also confusing at times, some artwork that gained many likes on social media didn't sell as much as other work that didn't have that many likes.

It was a good way to inquire about what fans like to see in the future. Now it feels like there's so much work involved to keep up with current algorithms. It is less organic and you have to pay more to get likes and followers.

What are your thoughts on computer security for your business?

I would say do the research and have the best security for your business needs and don't share any details.

It's always good to have many back ups for your work, unfortunately if traditional artwork, if it gets destroyed by a natural disaster, that is difficult. I only hope to stay alive with functional hands and eyes to make new art.

How do you manage equipment and computer repair?

I haven't had to deal with repairs that often, the times I did It was covered with the manufacturer warranty or an extended warranty that I added when I purchased the equipment.

Regarding your website:

Someone recommended Hover long time ago and advised me to buy my own domain name regardless if I had a need now or not. He said: buy it in case you will need it so you don't have to deal with having to buy it from someone else later. If someone else owns it, they can harass you when you try to use it.

I don't have business name so it's only my name. For the longest time I had a basic Blogger page as the landing page for my website. When I started my business officially, I used adobe portfolio, which I still do as it's free with my photoshop subscription. I do personally update my website but I should probably do that more often!

How do you balance work and personal time?

With a day job 9-6, Monday - Saturday, that takes most of my time, I have to schedule my week & the days carefully. My one day off is the day I heavily work on art or do something fun to take a break from the pressure of work.

On regular days, I either draw a little early in the morning, before I head out to work, or late at night, after spending time with family. When I have deadlines & deliverables, I have to take away some of the family time to complete my work on time.

On the Environment and Being Green:

This does not really apply to my business too much.

Diversity and Your Businesses:

I always try to be authentic to who I am, what I think, and how I express myself genuinely and honestly without the pressure of the media or anything else.

What is your outlook for the Future?

It will move in the direction of connecting with similar minded people. I expect to be more involved with Art, Travel & Education. I will definitely participate in more art camps and international art exchanges.

What is your personal approach to being a business owner:

It is a willingness to fail, get back up and fail again, and continue to learn & grow. It is about sharing and giving back from your own experience as well as others who are in the start of their own adventure. It is about avoiding mistakes or taking away from your wins. 

Where can people find out more about Ameer Malkosh and his art?

• Website: ameermalkosh.com

• Facebook: /ameer.malkosh

• Instagram: /ameermalkosh

• email: info@ameermalkosh.com