Eric Sanders: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist

You need confidence to not be eviscerated by self-doubt and insecurity. I didn’t realize that would be such an ongoing battle. I was a part of an art critique group, and I presented a series I had worked on for a whole year.

As a part of our series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist” I had the pleasure of interviewing Eric Sanders.

Artist Eric Sanders is a painter based in Los Angeles, California. A self-taught artist, his work has been exhibited in several solo exhibitions and numerous group shows, art fairs, museums, and charity benefits. He specializes in abstract and figurative works created using both traditional techniques and contemporary digital technologies.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I was exposed to art through my father who was a painter, he taught me how to paint at a young age. I visited museums with my family and gained an appreciation for both art history and contemporary art.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

Once I graduated college, I didn’t pursue art and I didn’t think about painting for a long time. After I sold my business, my wife Anna gave me a very fortuitous birthday gift of some paints and a brush. That small present sparked my passion again.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

The experience of presenting my first solo show at Eastern Projects in Los Angeles. The impact of putting disparate work together and seeing it in the right space shocked me. Each painting is like a note; but when you put them together in the gallery the notes became a song. It reaches a whole other level of aesthetic impact.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I have two series in the works — one abstract and one figurative. They will both be shown at my upcoming solo show at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. I’m pouring myself into these works, heart and soul. It’s an exciting time in the studio for me because things are just falling into place.

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?

I was lucky enough to get a studio tour of Sterling Ruby’s studio. That was fascinating because I come from the school of thinking that being multi-disciplined is important; and he is really multi-disciplined. He’s working on ceramics, paintings, textile pieces — all contained within a labyrinthian studio space. That was one inspiring day!

Where do you draw inspiration from? Can you share a story about that?

I get inspired a lot. In fact, it’s almost a problem to get inspired by so much. I have to have the discipline to stay focused on the artistic threads I’m already following. Other artists: Jenny Saville and Gerhard Richter have been right there with me as I make my recent body of work. Or I can get just as inspired by an artist I stumble upon on Instagram, so many people are making captivating work right now. Images in print magazines, music, photography has a huge influence on me; it’s like drinking from a fire hydrant.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’m still an emerging artist so I wouldn’t characterize what I’ve accomplished as success quite yet. I’ve always been interested in philanthropy, and I try to incorporate some aspect of giving back into everything I do. When I have public facing events I often collaborate with a charitable organization. That’s a principle I followed even when I wasn’t practicing art.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

You need confidence to not be eviscerated by self-doubt and insecurity. I didn’t realize that would be such an ongoing battle. I was a part of an art critique group, and I presented a series I had worked on for a whole year. It got completely torn apart! I was ready to quit being an artist after that, but in the end, it actually helped me be even more confident. I learned not to take criticism too much to heart; take it as useful information and not the be-all and end-all. I wish I could’ve known how counterintuitive the fine art world is. I’m fascinated by how it works. It’s such a unique environment or ecosystem that is really difficult to learn.

I learned over time that when you have some kind of public event — the number of people that show up is relatively unimportant — it’s who shows up and the conversations you have with those people that impact your career and the development of your work. I was surprised to learn how important social media is as an aspect of being an artist. For me it was an evolution from not even having an Instagram account. I couldn’t even figure out how to post images on there at first. Then I got really excited about building up my followers. Now I don’t focus on followers, but on engaging and connecting with the people who have been following my career on that platform.

Similarly, I wasn’t used to being so public-facing and putting myself out there along with my artwork. At first, I wasn’t as comfortable sharing my thoughts or my process in the studio publicly. Now, I see it as an opportunity to clarify my own thoughts, while connecting with others. I also had to discover how important it is to have mentors, teachers, and advisors. I cycled through a number of teachers that I couldn’t connect with, some who were very critical and not very inspirational. Eventually, I found mentors who were enthusiastic and used positive reinforcement. Those relationships are still very important to my practice.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I don’t think it’s fair how the art financial ecosystem works; how galleries and auction houses can make a fortune, but only a few artists get to enjoy financial success. You can sell a work for $50K and it sells at the auction house for a million or more — the auction house gets more than the artist in the end. I would love to inspire a system where the artist has equity on their piece and can get a portion of the price every time if sells. That would be better for artists long-term.

We have been blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she just might see this.

It would be a real pleasure to have any kind of meal — breakfast, tea, lunch, dinner, or a nightcap — with Mr. Gerhard Richter himself. I would ask him why he thought it was important to diversify his approach to art so dramatically throughout his career; whether that was a strategic or personal decision.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

You can follow my Instagram at @eric_sanders_art or visit my website at studiosanders.com

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!