Who is right? 52 yr old v 16 yr old daughter

[Jazjoke]

Can you lovely people help?

My 16 yr old daughter has recently finished her gcse's and loves art as well as being academic

She draws in a modern style and is interested in gender neutral, same sex, modern styles/ tattoos

I have suggested that she set up an Etsy shop having some of her art printed on greeting cards as there seems to be a real gap in the market

She has a lack of belief anybody would purchase

I have merged some quick snaps taken on phone ( so not best quality) so you can see

A quick opinion would be much appreciated

I would love her to follow her dreams, but if I am way off happy to be told and will direct her to more traditional sat job ( she will be doing Alevels in Sept)

Any opinions welcome - thanks

I teach in art and design at a University (Undergrad) so wanted to add my tuppence!

Your daughter is at a really good level for her age and is obviously experimenting and developing her 'style'. However, she is very young and her art will likely change dramatically over the next few years (especially as she is exposed to other types of art during her Alevels) so I would avoid encouraging her to sell her work now as sometimes this can prevent students from allowing their 'style' to change. I often see this with students who have had some success selling their work at a younger age - although they are competent and have the ability to develop their work further, they feel like they have to continue to 'build their brand' and stick with the style that is selling rather than allow their work to develop as it naturally would. This means that rather than reaching their potential, they tend to stay a bit stunted. Obviously your daughter might not experience that at all, but it is quite common to see.

However, looking for summer opportunities within the arts is a wonderful idea and will really help your daughter to develop her point of view as an artist and a young person! I would highly recommend looking at local Maker Spaces (Sometimes called Fab Labs) or print studios that she could volunteer at or get a membership with. Alternatively, you could see if your local arts university runs a summer school or Saturday club - lots of unis do this to encourage young people to pursue the arts outside of school and it can be a really fantastic experience. If you need any suggestions or further advice, feel free to PM me

Really fab artwork, I agree with PP do commissions, I am sure lots of couples would be interested for personalised art.

Thanks jaz and Aeroflot. Yes damaged is the word, she’s been so much happier since she left school though and she’s building her art portfolio all the time so I’m hoping even if she doesn’t get many GCSEs her artwork will get her onto an art course. Am already thinking ahead to uni age and thinking maybe we could all move down to Cornwall so she can go to uni and still live at home, I can’t see her being independent enough to do that without me! Who knows though, she maybe completely different in a few years.

And Aeroflot, don’t despair! Things do get slowly better, the other day my dd went to the nearest city on the train with her friend to go clothes shopping (her friend had to do all the till stuff but they worked that out). I could have wept with joy, and there’s no way I could imagine her doing anything like that a couple of years ago. Baby steps . Teenage years are shitty enough but I think ASD makes all the insecurities etc a lot worse.

My niece had a very similar style at that age, she’s in her early 20s now, got a 1st in Art at university and is training to be a tattoo artist.

You haven't offended me, but you couldn't be further from the truth
I have no plan or am pushy- simply was a conversation with her tonight about something she could consider over hols, neither of us knew if it was a good idea so thought I would simply ask
At no stage have I said she was gifted / better than GCSE, the question was ' Is Etsy an idea? ' people have replied with really helpful and constructive ideas
You are quite right Thatchers DD art is amazing
I was just trying to find a way to encourage mine

Muddling - we are the other end of the country (south west). We did go to an anime convention last year in Bristol but she had a dodgy experience with a pervy photographer and it was way too ‘peopley’ for her there, so that’s put her off wanting to go again.

Comment just posted was for user
Also my DD would be horrified re Mariah comment .... her roots v much goth / indie

I like them, and I would buy the pink headband picture as a postcard or card.

user don't write op dd off, she is still young and developing her style, and what you might think is not very good, others might. Yes Thatchers dd art is fantastic. That is great Thatchers I do wonder what she will do in the future, and what will become of her. Though dd is 11, her social and emotional age is say 5/6 years, even my ds 6 who has developmental delay, some social communication difficulties, and speech and language delay is much more mature than her, it is depressing. But her art is fantastic, not as good as your dd, but it will get there hopefully.

Like your dd, is is more an outlet for her, a way to calm down and experesss herself.

The poster talking about GCSEs was just being spiteful. Ignore her. no it’s not spiteful. It may not be worded in the way people would like but art is very subjective, and if she is going to put herself and her work out there in public then she is going to get negative comment as well as positive. In fact the likelihood is that she is more likely to get negative comment purely by virtue of the fact that people will take the time to comment negatively iyswim. But she is going to have to learn to deal with that, because although she will obviously be aware that all art is subjective, the general public can be absolutely brutal in their opinions, and being out there in public she will need to be able to have a thick enough skin to weather those comments.

LOL, sorry about the Mariah comment, it was just an example

You are a great parent for encouraging your daughter and as I said, I am sorry to offend and be blunt, but although I think she is good, (and quite talented) I don't think she is good enough to market her wares.

Encourage her of course, but don't build her hopes up.

Maybe if she does A level ART it will hone her skills.

But right now I am not seeing a gifted artist, sorry....

She's very talented, especially for 16!

It's a very tough world out there for artists but as long as she knows that she should absolutely try - people make it on etsy with significantly less talent than that...!

I used to commission a lot of graphic illustration and went to many, many art school degree shows - still have an interest and follow a range of artists on Insta ( would not recommend that until really established as there is a lot of unethical copying of talented young artists)

IMO, there is something there - she has potential and I am sure the A level work will develop both style and craft. I think at this stage she would find it hard to make a meaningful income or return on expenditure. Lots of exploring style and direction over the holidays !

Aeroflot, my dd says the same about her younger sister (7). She’s constantly saying dd2 is better than her at so many things (mostly socially), and she’s right. They’ll get there though, might just take a bit longer. But that’s ok.

Summergems
That's a fair point - not one either of us would disagree with
Neither of us are saying she is ready or wants to do this now or possibly ever
I naively thought Etsy was a way of quietly seeing what responses, glad I have posted as you have all provided so many views
I don't know the art world - so no idea of some of the suggestions
She is 16 and may choose to do all of them or none - either fine by me

OP your daughters work is amazing and you seem like such a lovely encouraging mother.

The problem your finding here is I don’t think mumsnet is probably the right demographic for your daughters work.

I wouldn’t be interested in cards, but I would definitely buy a print/poster of the girl kissing the girl on the cheek.

she has talent and potential, but I think the next step would be to develop this, as opposed to selling now.
The pictures are nice, I like the theme and the feel of them, and in that sense, they're my cup of tea. Her technique needs work though, as creating pieces to sell costs money and you need to charge at least for you materials and time, and I don't think she's quite there yet. It's lovely to see a young artist bursting with potential though.

Thanks for so many comments
To clarify she has no idea what she wants to do - art just being one of the many things she enjoys
Her physical health has been an enormous challenge - to give you an idea she went to school 20% of yr 11 as was in hospital a fair and on track for 9 GCSE 6-9's of which she has taught herself some of the subjects
So bright, but I encourage more holistic interests too and obviously the blue hair, goth music, interests in tattoos
Art is an interest at this stage ( one of many) but something she can do when resting ( she has to do this lots more than her peers)
Her peers have so much more freedom than she can have, so I made a suggestion tonight to give her something else to think about
It's been an education ....

Go Insta, not Etsy. This type of stuff sells there. Do a free pic for a semi-famous person she follows, or a friend with a lot of followers, see if s/he will re-post. That will get her more followers. Put stuff in her bio about selling her art. But tell her to be careful, and only take on as many requests as she can handle, or she'll find it incredibly stressful.

Youngest does art for people's avis, and she makes quite a bit from it. It was also enough to get her onto a digital art course at Uni, despite not doing art at A Level. Her sales record was enough. So there's money to be made. Your daughter will have to decide what she wants to sell, then research the market, then advertise her stuff, then actually sell it. It's good experience!

OP, do you buy paintings on Etsy often?

Just thinking that I know nobody who buys paintings really, ever, iyswim?

The thing with art is, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I really like OP's DD drawings, especially the close up of the two faces, as it's an interesting perspective. The anime drawings are not to my taste at all.

OP, your daughter does have talent, and just needs to continue practising and developing. I wish her all the best!

Oh, and tell her that from the very beginning, she watermarks everything she does, right across the middle. I've lost count of the number of times daughter has had to get Insta to take down accounts, as they were using her art and claiming it as their own.

@jazjoke

To be fair, the more you talk about your daughter, the more cute and amazing and unique she sounds.

I know I have been a bit harsh, but as I said, she is quite talented and has potential.

Maybe she should do Art A level. Let her do that and then see how she progresses, and take it from there.

Peanut
That's was my problem tonight, I don't know that world and I do buy gifts from Etsy and remember seeing some art, so being lazy thought I would ask

My post was just that- is Etsy the way to go? As I hadn't thought past this
People have been so helpful with fantastic advice

She may well do something totally different, just a Mum and DD chat tonight
Sure she will have a wonderful summer - will share advice given, up to her if you follows it or watches Netflix and chills with friends

The advice given has been so helpful to me as a Mum, happy for her to find her own way, but sometimes as a Mum you just want to offer some informed advice

Arum
That is exactly how tonight's conversation started - again helpful advice