TOD:
I wanted to post this question on some kind of Stephen Sondheim or Broadway board, but the Sondheim board isn't allowing new registrations, so I thought I'd ask this question here. My sister is an artist. She mostly does still life pencil drawings, and she draws very unusual items. Rather than using a vase of flowers or fruit for her subjects, she draws things like power tools, dungeness crab, bicycle parts, etc. The reason she's drawing these items is that she's created a niche product she calls Time Capsule Portraits whereby people give her a list of all their favorite things (hobbies, foods, etc.) and she compiles them all so that they look like they're displayed on a table and then draws them. Her customers like to commission these as gifts for family members, but they're obviously one-of-a-kind pieces that only one person would want. Then, she branched out into doing drawings based on books. The drawing below is based on the book (which was made into a movie) called "The Help". I told her she should do a drawing based on a song, but the only song I could think of that would have a lot of items in it was "Ode to Billy Joe", ha! So, then I started thinking she should do a drawing based on a Sondheim musical. For instance, a "Sweeny Todd" drawing would have items such as barbers' blades, Pirelli's Miracle Elixir, a meat pie, a birdcage, a meat grinder, a coin purse, a Barber's chair in the background, and maybe a sign that says "The demon barber of Fleet Street".
What do you all think of this idea? Do you think Sondheim fans would want to own a drawing like that? Or is this a totally stupid idea that would never sell. Please be honest because I don't want my sister to waste her time on something that no one would want.
Amy, your sister does lovely work. My thoughts:
(1) You'd be surprised what people are drawn to. They may be surprised themselves! I'm usually drawn most to color, with composition second. I don't need to "relate" to certain objects to enjoy a drawing or painting. So the audience for her work may be larger than you think.
(2) I like the idea of commissions and "favorite things," whether relating to a song or show or anything really. I'd suggest she make up a list of collections--ones she has done, ones she thinks would appeal. This could be a starting point, with "Oh, could you do this, too?" to follow.
Best of luck to her!
