Thousands of  posts have been written on Search Engine Optimisation, yet I can tell you how to do this in six words:

Put Keywords in Your Domain Name

That’s it. Simple isn’t it?
It just costs the price of a domain name, and web hosting.

Knowing how powerful keywords are in domain names, means that you should carefully consider what keywords you want, before registering the domain.

John McNally
Painting in Leamington Spa, England

There are some good things about being born in the 1950′s. Playing football in the streets (less cars), watching England win the world cup, and collecting comics in the 1960′s in the middle of an exciting time that is now called the ‘Silver Age’, (‘Gold’ is pre 1950′s).

Jim Steranko at Marvel and Neal Adams at DC Comics were the most prominent new artists of the late ’60s to enter a field that had been relatively hostile to new artists … and they brought breaths of modernism, referencing advertising art and pop art as much as comics.

Despite vastly different styles, both favored designs that drew on depth of focus and angularity that put the reader in the center of the action while slightly disorienting them to increase the tension, and placed special emphasis on lighting and body language as emotion cues.

Not that these things were unknown in comics by any stretch, but publishers traditionally deemphasized them. Both were hugely influential on how a new generation of artists thought about what comics should look like.

Although Steranko is my favourite artist, Adams was arguably more influential; his approach was more visceral and, more importantly, he ran a studio in Manhattan [Continuity Associates] where many young artists started their professional careers.

When Neal Adams moved from DC comics to Marvel he revitalised an ailing X-Men comic with a story series lasting from #56 to #63. My ’Last X-Man’ painting is taken from the cover of issue 59 first published in August 1969.

John McNally

Any Beatle fan will immediately recognise this image. Homer Simpson is John Lennon, Marge Simpson is Ringo Starr, Bart Simpson is Paul McCartney and Lisa Simpson is George Harrison.

The Abbey Road album was the Beatles swan song. Although Let it Be was issued afterwards, this was only because of contractual and artistic difficulties. When the Beatles finally split up in 1970, the Abbey Road album became the centrepiece of a fantastic conspiracy theory.

The theory was that Paul McCartney died in a 1966 car accident, and was replaced by a look-alike, left handed, bass guitar player.

The Beatles walking across Abbey road was meant to represent a funeral procession. John Lennon all in white was the preacher, Ringo Starr all in black was the funeral director, Paul McCartney barefooted (as people are buried in the East) was the corpse, and George Harrison all in denim was the grave digger.

Paul McCartney is left handed, yet he is holding his cigarette in his right hand. He is also the only Beatle walking out of step with the others. He MUST be a double then.

I have just one small part of the painting to complete, and it’s probably the best clue that Paul McCartney died in 1966. Here is a large version of my painting……Do you know what Death Clue is missing?

Beatle fans will get this straight away, but if you are aware of any other death clues on Abbey Road, please let me know…

John McNally

Would you like to taste the Success that these Artists have experienced?

If you answered ‘Yes’ to either of these questions, then you might want to check out this brand new product from Artist  and Internet Marketer Joelle Rene’ Hughes:

“Art Marketing Success” is not just another ‘fluff filled’ product containing lots of useless information.  This eBook was  created by an Artist who herself struggled with the challenges that Artists face when trying to sell their creations on  the internet.

After years of hit-or-miss sales that barely covered the cost of her art supplies, she decided to get  serious and learn internet marketing skills from the master marketers themselves.  She then applied what she learned to  the Art Marketing niche and created a richly detailed solution to successfully selling artwork online.

Newbie Artists will benefit from her ‘Getting Started’ tutorials while the veteran professionals will be able to expand  their marketing skills and reap the rewards of these powerful sales and marketing techniques.

You will discover the trade secrets, the tips, the dos the don’ts, the pit falls but most importantly the rewards which  will make you an online income from selling your artwork.

Inside Art Marketing Success  you will find everything you need to go from struggling artist to successful Internet entrpreneur.

Isn’t it time for you to LIVE your Dream?

Grab the reins and Dare to become an Art Marketing SUPERSTAR!

John McNally

PS: Your online success is only a click away; the next 10 minutes can change your life.

It was a painting of some sheep and a shepherd originally created by the British artist Mackenzie Thorpe. He was a favourite of the old Conservative Party leader William Hague, who used one of Mackenzie Thorpe’s paintings for his family Xmas card. MacKenzie Thorpe originals are quite expensive, and it’s usually just prints that you see in local galleries. (Even the prints are about £300).

PRINTS!…..Don’t get me started on prints. Prints of oil paintings are NOT art. They are poor copies of something real. People think they have a Picasso or Van Gogh on their walls, but they haven’t.  The prints are nothing like what they are supposed to represent.

Having a print would be like looking at photos of someone else’s holiday, and thinking that you have experienced the emotions, sights and sounds that are represented in the photos. Obviously you haven’t, and it’s the same with an artwork print. It’s nothing like the original.

As a new commercial artist I am selling my paintings at similar prices to a ‘quality’ print. I’ve noticed the appreciation and joy in my customers eyes when they see an original oil painting.

I have often shown photos (prints) of my paintings and they are rejected. It’s a different matter when my customers see the original painting.

John McNally 

Do you even know what it takes to get in the game?

These are the questions that have perplexed internet marketer, Joelle Hughes for years and began her quest for the  answers.

Why would she care?  Because she is an artist herself and has struggled with the challenge of becoming successful selling  art in today’s saturated online market place.

After years of spending endless hours in her studio creating art and then having it sell for far less that it’s worth, or  not at all, she decided that it was time to learn the ‘tricks of the trade’ in internet marketing and apply them to the  art market niche.  Her goal was to learn everything she could about selling art online and then share that knowledge with  other artists everywhere.

Why would she do that?

As a life-long artist herself, Joelle appreciates the value of having art in our lives and understands how difficult it is  to create art and work a full-time job at the same time.  After all, if most of your time is spent just trying to put a  roof over your head and food on the table – how much time and energy will you have once you finally get to spend those  few, precious moments in your studio?

Today, as we watch the balance of global economics become destabilized and tumble into a chaotic mess, artists face an  even greater challenge in trying to support themselves in a world that is so busy just trying to survive that they haven’t  the time or resources to devote to pursuing the finer things in life. 

And yet, even in these times of financial hardship… people still buy art.  Wouldn’t it be cool if it was yours? 

So what does it take to earn the “Lions Share” in the art sales arena?

Well, that’s what Art Marketing Success is all about.  This comprehensive eBook will teach you leading-edge skills in  online marketing and sales within the art market niche.

If you would like to learn how to sell more of your paintings… go to:  Art Marketing Success

Here’s to YOUR success!

John McNally

PS: If you are going to buy one business product this month, this is the one to buy! Isn’t it time for you to finally  realize your own “Art Marketing Success”?

This wasn’t an accident, but it WAS unexpected. One of the locals wanted a painting of the Alex character played by Malcolm McDowell in the film A Clockwork Orange. I painted two versions so he would have a choice. Then I took them to the pub together with another Clockwork Orange painting that I completed last year. 

I set the three paintings up on seats in price order £40, £50 and £60. After much deliberation Romney paid for the £50 painting, which strangely enough wasn’t one of the commissioned paintings.  It was ‘Subway Droogs’ that I painted last year.

This made me aware that I should try and get my paintings exhibited. I had already tried to sell ‘Subway Droogs’ to Romney, but when I showed him the photograph, he didn’t like it. It was a different matter when he saw the painting “in the flesh”.

Romney then bought the £60 painting ‘Alex Horror Show’, as he thought they would make a good pair – which they do.

Steve the Landlord then asked me if I could do a painting of his Rally Car. I walked home with a couple of his photos under my arm, and another commission to complete for Xmas. Happy days.

John McNally

It’s a good list but I would add ‘AI’ by Steven Speilberg. This is a film project that Stanley Kubrick never completed, Speilberg picked up the reins and added his usual uplifting ending, which I found very moving. Speilberg even  managed to find a way to get the Blue Fairy into the film, in a believable way.

Number 4 is ‘A Clockwork Orange’ also by Stanley Kubrick, and this plus ’2001 A Space Odyssey’ would make it into my list of top 10 films of all time.

They are both excellent films but they made an impact on me because I saw them when they first came out, when I was an impressionable teenager.

I was not the only person influenced by these films. My friend down the pub knew I painted and wanted a picture from Clockwork Orange. Unfortunately he didn’t want the subway scene I had already completed, instead he wanted a painting of Alex the main character portrayed by Malcolm McDowell.

I ended up painting two versions and will give him the choice.  The extra painting is for sale through my website: Pop Art Oil Paintings.

John McNally

What made Clockwork Orange so controversial?

It was beautifully filmed and used Beethoven as the soundtrack. The violent scenes were often in slow motion with almost balletic aspects. 

Alex and his feral gang had their own uniform of white boiler suits, black braces and a bowler hat. They even had their own language. “Horror show” meant ‘good’ or ‘wicked’ in todays terms.  The overall effect was to glorify violence and make it seem trendy and fun. Not a good message for the youth of Britain.

Clockwork Orange is still a great work of art, and one of my favourite films. I first saw it at the cinema (before it was withdrawn) at the impressionable age of 17. Because it had such an impact on me it was a natural subject for me to choose for my oil painting hobby.

One of my first completed paintings was the subway scene from the start of Clockwork Orange.

Clockwork Orange also made an impression on other males of my age, and a friend  wanted a painting of the main character Alex played by Malcolm McDowell. So I completed two paintings of Alex to give my friend a choice. 

Now I have a total of three Clockwork Orange paintings in my portfolio, and hope to sell these to other Kubrick fans from my pop art website.

John McNally

I have already supplied a painting of Voldemort (Harry Potter’s arch enemy) for Esther, who gave it to her son for his birthday. Now her other son also wants a painting, and he is a Batman fan. Although the customer is always right, you can still negotiate and adapt any suggestions made.

Esther’s son said he wanted “Batman and Robin”, but I don’t like the Robin character and I think his uniform looks silly. Also ‘Batman and Robin’ means trying to get two characters looking good for the same price. So I asked if it would be OK to just paint Batman on his own, and that was fine.

I ended up painting three images of Batman, to give Esther a choice. Two of the paintings have turned out so good, I almost don’t want to sell them. There were artist crossovers between Marvel and DC comics, and I found a Batman portrait by one of my favourite Marvel artists – Neal Adams.

Batman swinging between skyscrapers was a computer generated photo which had enough detail to produce a good oil painting. However the third image I chose was another painting by Neal Adams of Batman responding to the Bat Signal. The original of this painting looks good, but there was not enough detail on the photo for me to use. I’m disappointed with how this turned out, and hope Esthers son picks it.

If you’re lucky enough to get some feedback from customers it’s worth adapting  to satisfy their suggestions.  There will be other people with the same wants and needs, so a whole new market could open up for you.  Batman has a massive fan base, so despite being a  devotee of Marvel Comics I will also paint the main DC character – Superman.

John McNally