Artworks by Dai Wynn

About Dai Wynn

Some of my friends wonder why I have changed my name from David to Dai. The short answer is that I haven’t. My parents, sisters and immediate family always used Dai (but pronounced “day”) as a short form of David — a nickname if you like. Read on…..

About Dai’s Art

Dai Wynn is a visual artist who paints landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes and portraits in oils on canvas and watercolours on fine papers.  His paintings fit comfortably into the “realism” category, but retain a painterly quality which sets them apart from photographic images. Read on…..

Art as a Business

Dear Reader, I’ll be upfront and honest with you — I want to sell my art in a professional and businesslike manner. I know you’re taken aback and may take a while to recover from the shock, but I am determined to exchange my artworks for filthy lucre. (“Lucre” is defined as “shameful profit” and I’m proud of it).  Read on…..

Portrait Painting

The judging of the 2009 Archibald Prize for portraiture put the painted faces of famous people in the printed and electronic media for a brief period. What makes a prize-winning portrait? How will the judges choose the winner from the 39 finalists of an entry list of just over 700? Read on……

Selling art on the Internet (1) – The Movement to Online Selling?

Despite the fact that fewer than 5% of retail sales are made online, Australia’s retailers are up in arms and trying to “level the playing field” by having a Goods and Services Tax (GST) apply to all online transactions, including those below $1,000. This furore suggests to me that major bricks-and-mortar “High Street” retailers see a trend to online merchandising and are ill-prepared to compete. Read on……..

Selling art on the Internet (2) – Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Statistics

We keep hearing so much about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) these days.  Many of the website modifications to assist search engines (read “Google”) to find your website images and/or ‘blog are simply good marketing processes.  So, after you have followed all the instructions in Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, you sit back and wait for the number of “hits” to increase.  Of course, you have added the Google Tracking Javascript to each of your web pages and you use Google Analytics to keep score of your website’s popularity.  Read on……

Selling art on the Internet (3) – Searches and Stumbles

Apparently the holy grail of one’s Internet presence is the number of “hits” on one’s website.  Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the new mantra and there seems to be a continual stream of advice on the Web for tools and techniques to help search engines find your pages and post links to you on page one of search results.  Much of the advice is simply good marketing, ensuring that the products and services are well defined and that every opportunity is taken to catch the attention of viewers and search engines alike.  Read on….

Selling Art on the Internet (4) – Try before you buy

The idea that a potential buyer of art must see the painting before considering a purchase seems to have wide currency among the populace at large. There is general agreement that a photographic image — digital or analogue — is not an acceptable substitute for the real thing at close-up range.  Read on……

Selling Art on the Internet (5) – Mobile Access to Online Art

According to ourmobileplanet.com, the penetration of mobile smartphones in Australia stands at 37% and will reach 50% within a few months. This is higher than in the USA at 31% and vies with smartphone penetration in Singapore.

A smartphone is a device with a relatively large screen and capable of Internet access on the move. iPhones and Android devices predominate in this space.

We are warned that users check prices and availability of goods and services online on their smartphones and will click-to-call when a “Call Now” button is placed centrally in the website home page.  Read on….

Selling Art on the Internet (6) – Wow! Page 1 in a Generic Google Search

My limited experience with open art sites has been less than optimal, in that any hint of controversy is immediately stifled. Dear Reader, you may have noted my crude attempts at being perverse, in the non-sexual sense, trying to engender an open debate on the online marketing of art. Clearly, I have conveniently forgotten that, unlike FaceBook, website ‘blogs are lucky to elicit a 5% comment rate.

I am an ardent believer in the power of the Internet and its future in the marketing of original art. This is partly due to my former life as an electrical, communications and computer engineer where I find great satisfaction in the technologies of online presence. With the assistance of the tools of social networking, I can hope to build buyer confidence and trust by revealing myself as a real person with all my attendant human foibles.  Read on……

Selling Art on the Internet (7) – WYSIWYG — Seeing is Believing?

Almost everybody I know, when quizzed, says that art needs to be viewed at close quarters before a decision to purchase can be made. Yet a high resolution digital image on a high definition computer display will pick up every brushstroke and every paint dribble in full living colour. A painting is a hand-made creation and is therefore imperfect by its very nature, so any suggestion that an attempt has been made to disguise a “flaw” is nonsensical.  Read on….

Pricing Your Art

Yes, I know. This is a very common theme in artists’ ‘blogs. From a business point of view it is very important since it forms the basis for a successful professional career. For many artists who are supported by working partners, or are financially independent, or have a scholarship, money may be a secondary consideration. Read on………

Art as an Investment

While negative sentiment seems to permeate the front pages of our newspapers and economists warn of “tough times ahead”, Australians have reacted by keeping their wallets in their pockets. So much so that retailers are reporting diminishing profits and mounting losses. This has something to do with an increase in online purchases, and in particular buying products from overseas, benefiting from the high Australian dollar. However, it would appear that Australians now prefer to reduce credit card balances, increase savings account levels and pay off their mortgages a little faster. Read on………