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The FASO Podcast
179 Tanner Steed — Persistence Pays Off
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For today's episode, we sat down with Tanner Steed, a Denver-based oil painter and instructor who built a full-time career through self-directed classical training, mentorships with leading figurative artists, and a practice rooted in painting his lived experiences with a focus on strong composition and poetic mystery. Tanner shares how he built his career by treating art like any other skill in the brain—showing up daily, doing master copies, and effectively creating his own “atelier” when formal schools weren’t an option. He urges artists to paint what they genuinely love instead of chasing trends or specific collectors, trusting that sincere, well-crafted work will find its audience. A big part of his advice is to start paintings over and over to strengthen composition and value design, build or initiate community (from family collectors to plein air groups), and maintain multiple income streams through galleries, direct sales, teaching, and educational content. He also emphasizes persistence—reaching out repeatedly to mentors, reinventing yourself socially when needed, and committing to be “the last one standing” in the long game of artistic mastery. Finally, Tanner closes by mentioning current and upcoming projects, including his 100 Flowers Sale, a group show at Saks Galleries, an Art Renewal Center piece showing at Sotheby’s, workshops in Rome through Rome Art Residencies, and a future painting workshop along the Danube River cruise.
Tanner's Sale!:
tannersteedart.com/collections/228563
Tanner's FASO site:
Tanner's Social Media:
Tanner's YouTube:
You just have to put in the work. I think this may be controversial, but I think it's actually easy to make it as an artist, I think if you're willing to put in the work, and you believe that it's possible like truly believe then it's going to be easy, hard work shows, and if you're persistent, it pays off.
Laura Arango Baier:Welcome to the Faso podcast, where we believe that fortune favors of old brush. My name is Laura Baier, and I'm your host. For those of you who are new to the podcast, we are a podcast that covers art marketing techniques and all sorts of business tips specifically to help artists learn to better sell their work. We interview artists at all stages of their careers, as well as others who are in careers tied to the art world, in order to hear their advice and insights. For today's episode, we sat down with Tanner steed, a Denver based oil painter and instructor who built a full time career through self directed classical training, mentorships with leading figurative artists and a practice rooted in painting his lived experiences with a focus on strong composition and poetic mystery, Tanner shares how he built his career by treating art like any other skill in the brain, showing up daily, doing master copies and effectively creating his own Atelier when formal schools weren't an option. He urges artists to paint what they genuinely love, instead of chasing trends or specific collectors, trusting that sincere, well crafted work will find its audience. A big part of his advice is to start paintings over and over, to strengthen composition and value design, build or initiate community from family collectors to planner groups and maintain multiple income streams through galleries, direct sales, teaching and educational content. He also emphasizes persistence, reaching out repeatedly to mentors, reinventing yourself socially when needed, and committing to be the last one standing in the long game of artistic mastery. Finally, Tanner closes by mentioning current and upcoming projects, including his 100 Flowers sale, a group show at Saks galleries, an art renewal centerpiece showing at Sotheby's workshops in Rome, through Rome art residencies, and a future painting workshop along the Danube river cruise. Welcome Tanner to the Faso podcast. How are you today?
Tanner Steed:I'm fantastic. How are you
Laura Arango Baier:I'm doing great. I'm really happy to have you because your work is so beautiful. It has such a particular interesting voice, where you just have this way of playing with the chroma of your pieces and the way that you compose. It's just it's so beautiful to see. So I'm excited to pick your brain today about that.
Tanner Steed:Well, thank you very much. That's very kind of you to say,
Laura Arango Baier:of course, yeah, but before we do dive in about your gorgeous work and your technique and process, do you mind telling us a bit about who you are and what you do?
Tanner Steed:Sure, so I'm an oil painter. I live here in Denver, Colorado. I've been drawing and drawing on my life, painting for only seven years now. And, yeah, would you like me to kind of go into my background, like how I got started?
Laura Arango Baier:Sure, yeah,
Tanner Steed:cool. So, yeah, in hindsight, being an artist was absolutely my life path. I had grandparents and uncles who were in in the art world. My mom was an interior designer, and like esthetics were just I was surrounded by an appreciation for the esthetics. And I think having a mother as an interior designer, she was like, you know, constantly setting up the entire house, setting up like little still lives everywhere, and combining different colors. And, you know, it was like a daily thing. She's still does it to this day. And I think that really shaped my esthetic preferences at a young age. And, yeah, some of my earliest memories when it comes to drawing and art, my grandparents would take me to, you know, Denver Art Museum or the Nature and Science Museum, and I'd always have like, a little clipboard and, you know, piece of paper, and I'd draw the animals or copy the paintings, and it was just, you know, a fascination of mine. And I, I was a pretty shy kid in like, elementary school, very, very quiet to myself, and I always found like a calming, just a peaceful state of mind when I was drawing, you know, I could be in my own head, and it was, it was a very, it's still to this day, is like the best. Place to be. You know, I get kind of like the equivalent of a runner's high after I've been drawing, you know, for quite some time. I'm sure you you know, that feeling, it's wild. But yeah, I Yeah, drawing and painting has been in my life, my whole life. But it wasn't until, actually, after college, that I decided to go into fine art as a profession. I went to school here in Denver at MSU Metropolitan State University, and I studied human development with an applied concentration in education. So my intention actually was going to be to work at an elementary school, probably like, teach fifth or sixth grade. I knew I wanted to work in, you know, maybe education, and I loved working with kids. I've been working with kids since high school, and while I was at school, I learned, you know, how to build a curriculum and then how the brain learns. I studied like the both the physiological and psychological development of humans over the course of a lifetime, and in that, I came to the realization that any skill, art, sports, anything is basically the same structure and same process in the brain. And at that point, I was like, Oh my gosh. Like, I could apply what I did when I was skateboarding or teaching myself about mycology and apply that to something like art. And so I looked at, you know, the Florence Academy and the angel Academy, and I was like, wow, it would be spectacular to go there, but life circumstances were kind of restricting me to to go. And so I looked at their curriculums, and I'm like, wait a minute. I can buy plaster casts, I can buy the barg book, and I can do all of this work on my own. And there's so much you know on the internet, youtube and different art websites, and I accumulated all of that information and just put in work every single day while I was teaching. And eventually I wanted to bring that work to a master artist. And at the time, I was obsessed with Richard Schmid and Daniel sprick. They were like my two, you know, masters that I really, really looked up to, and very, very different. You know, Richard Schmid, very loose painter, Dan sprick, very surreal, more on the tighter side, but still loose in his own way. And you know, Richard was still alive at the time he he moved to, I think he was on the east coast at this time. And I was like, oh, where's, where does Daniel sprick live? I had the Juliet Aristides classical painting book, and I, I was just fascinated by his work. His work kind of terrified me, actually. I was like, you know, blown away with what was possible. But anyways, I found out he was in Denver, and I emailed him. I was like, hey, I really look up to you. I'd love to take you out for a cup of coffee and just get to know you. Maybe show you my sketchbook. And he didn't respond. So I was like, okay, whatever. I'll I'll keep working in my sketchbook, keep painting, keep doing the work. I remember there was an opportunity to send questions through a podcast that he was doing. He was on the John Dalton podcast, and I sent him a question, he answered it, and he gave me suggestions for you know what to do next. So I did that work, and I emailed him again. He didn't answer and so I I found out he was going to be at the plein air convention in Denver. And so it was like, Okay, I didn't have a lot of money at that time, but I was like, I got to meet this guy. So this is, like, all borderline stalker. It's hilarious. So I I bought tickets for the convention with the intention of meeting him, and then covid hit and canceled the convention. And I was like, Oh my gosh. I like, how is this gonna work? A few more months went by, I emailed him one last time, and to my surprise, he finally answered, and he said, All right, come to my studio. And you know, I. I was freaking out. I was so, so excited, so nervous. I had watched his documentary on YouTube. There's like, a PBS documentary on on repeat. I, you know, was just obsessed with Him and in His work. So when I walked into his studio for the first time, I already knew the whole studio, and it was so surreal. I watched him paint for a bit. I showed him my sketchbooks, and maybe spent maybe an hour or two there, and he ate lunch, and I asked him questions, and then he said, as I was leaving, he's like, we'll be in touch. I was like, what I thought this was going to be just a single interaction, meeting your hero. And within a week, he said, Hey, why don't you come to my figure sketching group? And I'm like, Oh, cool. So I showed up to that group with, you know, paper charcoal. And I was anticipating it being just Dan the model, and maybe, you know, one or two other people. But no, it was all of the Denver legendary artists. And you know, Kwong HO and Adrian Stein and Anna rose Bain and like all of these people, and I was so nervous, and I did the most terrible portrait of my life, but from that moment on, I had been returning to The Wednesday group. They've all become peers and friends, and now Dan is not only a mentor, but like a best friend now, and I, I am now working out of Kwang ho studio, which is the wall divides Dan's studio from kwangs. So that's where I am now. And yeah, the rest is history. Now we're teaching workshops together, and, yeah, we went to Egypt. Fabulous. So that's a brief history.
Laura Arango Baier:Oh, but that's awesome. It's really great when it's like, you know, you see someone like you who just refuses to give up, you know, just, I'm gonna do this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this. Stays consistent, and there's a breakthrough. I mean, it's like, of course, there's a breakthrough, because you kept going, right? And I think that that's a really big testament to that perseverance, you know, like through learning the craft and then meeting your hero and waiting so long to meet him, and then, you know, being dashed left and right, like, geez, the pandemic. Oh,
Tanner Steed:yeah.
Laura Arango Baier:But it's great that it worked out, and there you are still working alongside him, which is really cool. And I want to circle back to something you did say, because you mentioned that when you saw his work in Juliet Aristide's book, you were terrified. I want you to expand on that a little bit.
Tanner Steed:Yeah, so that's been kind of a common theme in my life, where if I find something terrifying, or if I'm afraid of something, it's a sign that I probably need to push myself in that direction. So when I saw Dan's work, it was the most mysterious artwork that I had ever seen. I could not believe that someone was capable of turning paint into what he creates. Now, you know, I've seen him paint hundreds of pieces, and it it all makes sense, you know, you know, I don't paint like Dan, you know, or like on his level, absolutely not. But, um, I at least now understand the mystery. But when I first saw it in the Juliet Aristides book, it was just, yeah, it was mind blowing. I could not back engineer what he was doing. It was just so, so mysterious. Whereas, you know Richard Schmid was, you could see the brushstrokes. I understood how brush strokes could turn into brushstrokes, but the illusion of Dan's work just was on another level to me. Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:wow, yeah, no, that's, I really love that, you know, the when you're faced with something that you fear, right, most people would be like, running the other direction, right? Instead of, you know, you reacted with curiosity, like, how the heck like, I want to do that right? And I think again, that really goes hand in hand with that perseverance. Where, you know, it's very often that we're faced with so many challenges, especially on the easel, and I think it is natural to just want to give up because it's so hard. Painting is so so so difficult. But I think, of course, it always feels incredible when you're able to push past that fear and go for it again and again, like a crazy, mad scientist who just can't put the dog bone down and just keep going. Like, the only thing that might stop you is, Oh no, it's three in the morning and I haven't eaten all day, you know, yes,
Tanner Steed:oh, tell me about it. My gosh, yeah.
Laura Arango Baier:Like you're 10 coffees in, and you're like, why am I
Tanner Steed:anxious? Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:exactly. It's like, I like, brush isn't straight now, yeah, and that's, that's one of those things that, of course, over time it should be tempered, because, if not, you just end up burning yourself out, right? So it's good to take it easy, but it is nice to have that impetus to just like, go, go, go, go, and not give up. Yeah, and speaking of, you know, having stuff on the easel, what would you say is a theme or question that keeps popping up in your work for you, like, what's what's on there?
Tanner Steed:Well, you know, something that's really important to me is painting my own life experience. You know, maybe when you start painting, you are more focused on how to reproduce what's happening in front of you, until you understand the technique, and you know that that eventually will become very simple, very easy to just reproduce what's happening in front of you. So I will paint from my own life experience, whether it be painting outdoors, I do a lot of traveling and paint on location as much as I possibly can. And now I don't really try to reproduce what is happening in front of me. Rather, I will paint the thing, but then try to cast it into this other realm and make it just, you know, a little bit more interesting than it actually is. And it is already, you know, interesting. If I chose to paint something, it's already got a fundamental quality of beauty, or whatever it is, psychological interest. And then I just, you know, kind of crank it up a notch, you know. So I guess I'm not sure what I would call that theme, but maybe just increasing the level of mystery in whatever the subject is that I'm painting, whether it be a single flower or like I'm looking behind the camera, I'm working on a painting of a caravan of camels walking in the desert, and there's the cityscape of Cairo behind it. I can send you a picture of this later, but yeah, yeah, it's really important to me to paint the things that I've that I've experienced, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:yeah, yeah. And that's a great point, because oftentimes we especially in the beginning, when you're like, especially starting out as an artist, and it is important too, is to you start by learning how to draw or paint the thing as it is, right? Because that's the starting point. If you're not accurate, it doesn't matter how nice you render your drawings. Wrong, it's gonna look bad no matter what, unless that's the intention. But oftentimes it isn't, you know. So having that base to work from, of course, is really important. But then now, like you, you reach that point of, okay, what is the essence of this object? What is this object trying to how does this object differentiate itself from others? Right? It's kind of like how, when you learn to draw portraits, everyone at some point just looks exactly the same.
Tanner Steed:Yeah, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:everyone's the same. But then when you're trying to get that likeness, you realize, like, oh, you know, if I really push this feature a little bit, it makes them look more like them than they look, you know, kind of like, it's really funny to see those competitions like Elvis impersonators, your Dolly Parton,
Tanner Steed:and
Laura Arango Baier:oftentimes the actual person wouldn't even win because the impersonator has exaggerated their essence to such a perfect level that it's like, yeah, that that's totally them. It's like, no, that's horrible. There's like, no, no, no, no. It's this,
Tanner Steed:right, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:right, exactly. So, yeah, um, I forgot what that's called, um. But I, if I remember, I got to tell you, because it has an actual name to it that effect. But yeah, and having that life experience, I think, is also very important, like you said, like it's, it's good to imitate and learn, because that's how we start. That's how we learn language, that's how we learn how to write and to walk, even. But yeah, just what something is telling you, right? What their story is through your eyes, through a unique lens that is entirely colored by your own life experiences and all of these incredible things. That's why, you know, you can get two artists paint the same exact flower to look different, you know,
Tanner Steed:right?
Laura Arango Baier:Especially they allow themselves to explore more, more of that narrative or poetic side of the flower, instead of just the this is what it is. I'm in the Audubon Society, and I will paint this bird biologically, or, like how you mentioned with mycology. It's like, Oh, I'm just going to sketch this little mushroom exactly as it is. Because we need to have a we need to be able to identify it.
Tanner Steed:Yeah, exactly
Laura Arango Baier:yes. But yeah, I think that's, it's, it's important. And actually, speaking of, you know, skill and leveling up like that, starting from that baseline, what is something that you focused on that really helped your artistic
Tanner Steed:skill? Let's see. I mean, there's a million ways I can answer this, but 111, thing that comes to mind is starting over and over and over and over again, because the start of a painting is the most important thing. What I mean more specifically, is composing, trying different compositions, different patterns of light and dark shapes. That is what is going to make or break a painting. It has to be interesting from the start. And you know, you it's very important to be able to spend, you know, as much time as a painting needs, you know, hundreds of hours could go into something to make it look pristine. But if that composition isn't interesting in the first unless you're planning on doing some major compositional changes later. You know, it's really gonna, it doesn't matter how much you render it and make it look, you know, realistic. It's just, yeah, it's gotta, gotta be interesting from the start. So something that I'm doing right now that's so so fun, and is kind of a win win with my collectors and people who subscribe to my newsletter. I'm so I just got married this past weekend to Olivia, and we're going on honeymoon to Florence, actually, tomorrow. And to help fund that honeymoon, I'm doing kind of a crazy, crazy sale. I wouldn't normally do this, but I'm painting 100 flowers, and the first one is $1 and the last one is $100 and, you know, one plus two plus three, it adds up, and it's going to help pay for the honeymoon. But anyways, this is doing exactly what I'm recommending, where I'm starting a new painting every couple of hours, they're all the same flower or the same vase. And I am just trying all of these wild, different compositional approaches, different color harmonies, different sizes of the flower, different just, different feelings. I'm trying to cast them each into their own fiction. So although it's the same subject, they're all, yeah, interesting, different starts. So that would be a good way to practice this. This concept is just doing 100 of the same subject and just watching your creativity flow, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:yeah. That's a great tip. And I think that, like, even beyond being a beginner artist, I think, yeah, it I had it when I was at Angel Academy. Michael, John Angel used to say that all the time. I was like, you're painting, if it doesn't have that feeling at the beginning,
Tanner Steed:yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:it's probably not going to have it later. And it's so true, like, that feeling is really the composition, right, the value scheme, the location of the objects. And it's always like, that's and that's even before color, because color, I like to say, is a cherry on top. It's like, okay, this is like the disaster we had at the end. And, oh. We're emphasizing it too much without having the baseline working is it's not gonna really work unless that's what someone's going for. Then, yeah, but yeah, I totally agree, yeah. Just I think that also really helps those instincts, the natural instincts of like, composition, to really help it like, to help your brain figure it out too. Because I think, you know, we all really aspire to paint like the old masters, or paint like really, really well, and have these incredible paintings like, I think of like, you know, Solomon, J Solomon. And when you really look at the composition like, it makes perfect sense, and it is built upon years and years of experience. So, yeah, I think that's a really great exercise. I want to do that. I'm just gonna start doing that too. Why not
Tanner Steed:attached to each individual one? You know? Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:yeah, that's great. It's totally great. And then you became a full time artist recently, right in like, last three years? Right?
Tanner Steed:Yeah, yeah, three, four years. I don't know. I lose track. People ask, and I just say a random number. And I usually say like five or six, but I honestly don't know.
Laura Arango Baier:Well,
Tanner Steed:yeah, yeah, maybe, maybe three, I don't know, maybe, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:but you became full time. What was that transition like for you? Like, when was the moment where you thought, Oh my gosh? Like, first off, I can make a living from this, and, second of all, now I am making a living from this. What was that like for you?
Tanner Steed:So it was, it was fantastic. I so I went to school for human development education. During that time, I this school I was working at actually asked me, like, hey, the the art teaching position opened up, if you want, you could apply. You probably have a good chance. So I was like, what? Okay, I'll apply. And I got that job, and I taught there for three years, and that was amazing for my artistic development and and I loved doing it, love working with the kids, but what I got to do for three years is practice and teach the fundamentals over and over and over and over again. And the school I worked at was very flexible in the curriculum. So I I looked at Angel Academy and Florence Academy, and I was like, All right, guys, we are drawing and painting from life. We're going to do bark plates in sixth grade, and I got to practice all of that with the kids, and it was amazing. So and during that time, covid hit, and it was not great for the kids, but it was fantastic for me, sorry to say so when we had to teach online, I was teaching out of my studio, just, you know, over zoom, and I had, you know, my demo going, and then as soon as class would end, I would work on my own work. And even while I was at the school, I would always have my easel right next to me, and every single break I had, I'd be working on it, and every day after school, I'd be working on my own work. And during that time, I accumulated a lot of many pieces, and I would put on my own mini solo show. I I had a couple collectors who were open to having the show at their their houses, and I would remove all of the other artwork on their walls and hang up all of my own stuff. And I collected an email list, and I would do this annual solo show at different collectors houses. And I gave them, I said, Okay, you have an option. Either you can pick one of the paintings and that's your piece, or you can get 10% of the proceeds, so they were getting something out of it. And they almost always just picked a painting, and I would sell quite a few. And I did that year after year while I was teaching. And, you know, I had to choose, am I going to be, you know, an educator for the rest of my life, or do I take this seriously? And I knew from a very young age that I was not going to have a very normal, you know, nine to five job career path, so I made the. Jump, and I had already met Dan and Quang at that time, and I had a, you know, like a career jump off party, where everyone met up at my parents house, and we, yeah, I just fully committed. And because I didn't really have many other income sources, it kind of forced me to say, Okay, well, now I have to sell paintings. I have to, you know, teach a little bit. And it's just, it's worked out, it's fantastic, and it's only grown from there, and now I feel very, very successful and happy. Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:oh, that's awesome. And you sound very fulfilled, of course, yes, yeah, that's really cool. At that annual sale, that's genius,
Tanner Steed:yeah?
Laura Arango Baier:Because, I mean, I don't think a single collector would ever be like, No, I don't like when one of your paintings, yeah,
Tanner Steed:they'd
Laura Arango Baier:be like, hell yeah, come over here, yeah. And that's really great, yeah. And then that actually brings me to the next question, which is a perfect segue, which is now that you've, you know, you've had your career for a while, if you were, like, say, with your current knowledge, if you had to start from zero all over again,
Tanner Steed:yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:what would you do
Tanner Steed:in terms of, like,
Laura Arango Baier:to get from to Become a
Tanner Steed:Professional?
Laura Arango Baier:Yeah?
Tanner Steed:Okay, so I would say that you have to put in the hours you got it. You got to do good work before you can start, before you can start selling your work. So just work your butt off, practicing doing as many master copies as possible. I think that really accelerated my growth is trying to go to the art museums and do copies in the museums, or take photos, go back home, copy the painting, bring the my little panel to the painting in person, if they don't allow you to paint in the museum and just say, Okay, that is the standard. Pick your favorite artist, make that your standard. And say, I need to be at least as competent as this. But you know, inevitably you're going to realize that, holy crap, that that's a pretty high level, and I have very high expectations for myself, and there is a balance of pushing yourself to that level to compare yourself with master artists, and then also being realizing that it's going to Take some time right to get there. So, yeah, just you have to be, I think in order to succeed, you need to be committed to drawing and painting every single day or as much as you possibly can, because there's no shortcuts. Absolutely not. And something that Dan has always told me is it's not about the like short term gains, it's the people who succeed are the last men standing. So just keep going and keep improving your craft. Okay. Now, as for like, first collectors, first people who are going to buy your work, there is nothing wrong with the first people being you know, family members, your brothers, your sister, your parents. That's okay, your parents, friends, your parents, friends, friends. You know, when I was first doing these solo shows and quotations, they were at my first one was at my parents house, and then the next one was at a someone who came to the event, and it was they were a serious became a serious collector from that point on, and they've been buying work all along the way. So anyone and everyone you know wants to support you, just start there. There's nothing wrong with that. And then eventually you will get gallery representation, if you choose to. Now with social media, you don't have to. You can do it all on your own. I have chosen to do a little bit of both. I still will sell privately, but often I will also. So I'll have shows at a couple of different galleries here in Colorado. And yeah, it's just one one step at a time.
Laura Arango Baier:If you've been enjoying the podcast and also want to ask our guests live questions, then you might want to join our monthly webinar, the Faso show, where our guest artists discuss marketing tips, share inspiring stories and answer your burning questions in real time, whether you're a seasoned painter or just starting your creative journey, this is your chance to connect, learn and spark new ideas, and whether you're stuck on a canvas or building your creative business, this is where breakthroughs happen. Don't miss out. Ignite your passion and transform your art practice by joining us. Our next Faso show webinar is coming up on the 23rd of April with our special guest, Shana Levinson, you can find the sign up link in the show notes at BoldBrush, we inspire artists to inspire the world, because creating art creates magic, and the world is currently in desperate need of magic. BoldBrush provides artists with free art marketing, creativity and business ideas and information. This show is an example. We also offer written resources, articles and a free monthly art contest open to all visual artists. We believe that fortune favors the bold brush, and if you believe that too, sign up completely free at BoldBrush show.com that's B, O, L, d, b, r, U, S, H show.com. The BoldBrush Show is sponsored by Faso. Now, more than ever, it's crucial to have a website when you're an artist, especially if you want to be a professional in your career. Thankfully, with our special link, faso.com, forward slash podcast, you can make that come true and also get over 50% off your first year on your artist website. Yes, that's basically the price of 12 lattes in one year, which I think is a really great deal, considering that you get sleek and beautiful website templates that are also mobile friendly, e commerce, print on demand in certain countries, as well as access to our marketing center that has our brand new art marketing calendar. And the art marketing calendar is something that you won't get with our competitor. The art marketing calendar gives you day by day, step by step, guides on what you should be doing today right now, in order to get your artwork out there and seen by the right eyes so that you can make more sales this year. So if you want to change your life and actually meet your sales goal this year. Then start now by going to our special link, faso.com, forward slash podcast, that's F, A, S, o.com, forward slash podcast, yes, I'm writing notes, because truly, like, you know, it's one of those things where it's like, Duh, of course. But at the same time, it's so easy to just glean over that part, just because it's so obvious. But yeah, starting with like that core support group, right? I think many artists oftentimes feel like outsiders, or they feel like, oh, who? Like my my family. Just, you know, they think I'm an artist, but they don't get it. You know, they just don't get it. Because, like, no, they do. They they try to get it, hopefully, maybe not everyone, but if they do, then that's, that's awesome, because that's your it's so important to have that support system with family, a spouse, like just anyone that's really close, and then expanding from there, yeah. And then I think what's really interesting too, is the collector aspect of it, when how, how it develops. So like, for example, there must be, now that you've sold quite a few of your pieces, you must have somewhat of an idea of, like, who your ideal collector is. Do you have like, Do you have any tips about how someone could kind of get an idea of what their idea of ideal collector is?
Tanner Steed:Well, let's see. I would say, don't worry about that. I would say, paint what you love, and if you truly put in all of your effort and your passion into that project, the collectors will find you. I don't think it is wise long term to try to paint for collectors or to find you know, yeah, just, just paint what you love. And the collectors will there's, there is a collector for every single subject matter. So if you were like, I'm really into mycology, although I've never painted mushrooms, which is shocking, let's say I loved painting mushrooms. Well, then I would go to the Colorado Mycological Society and show the people in that group. Look, I painted some mushrooms. You they're going to be interested. You know, if it's like landscapes. Or still lives flowers. There are so many people in this world, and there is room for every subject matter. There's Yeah, I have no doubt,
Laura Arango Baier:yeah. And now that you mentioned subject matter, would you say that you figured out what you really, really wanted to paint pretty quick, or was that also a bit of a process for you?
Tanner Steed:Well, it's funny, I am I love painting everything. So I paint figures, I do landscapes, I do still lives. And I really gained a lot of confidence with my ADHD when I met Kwong, because Kwong is the definition of ADHD. He He's so chaotic. He paints every subject matter in all different styles, and he is extraordinarily successful. And if you paint it well, it's, it's going to sell. You know, it's, if you paint it with your passion, it's going to sell. So I, I A typical day in the studio is I am literally surrounded by like five different pieces, and I'm simultaneously working on all of them, and for some that may drive them mad. For me, it is amazing, because while I'm working on one, I'll sit down and take a break and look at another and say, oh my gosh, I know how to solve that now and then I'll go over and and work it out, and one will influence the next. And even though they're all possibly different subject matters, they will influence each other. And the consistency is the way that I'm painting all of them, so they will all look like my work, but they'll be totally different things.
Laura Arango Baier:Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's really funny, because you're the second artist I've heard who says they have like, five paintings going at the same time.
Tanner Steed:Really, yeah, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:yeah. And that because they're working on one, it solves another one,
Tanner Steed:amazing,
Laura Arango Baier:yeah. And I'm like, Huh? Because I'm also at a stage for like, I feel like one painting isn't enough, like, because it's, I love oil paint, but it's such a slow dryer, and I hate acrylics. I will never, I'll probably never really be tempted to use acrylic unless you know, who knows the future is a strange thing. Who knows, but having, like, multiple pieces I use liquid, yeah. But even then, like, I feel like, No, I like, because there's so like, to get certain effects, you need a lot of layering, and you need a lot
Tanner Steed:of
Laura Arango Baier:time in between those layers. Sometimes it's like, oh, I need this to be dry, like, now, because I am so ready for the next part and to just keep going. But I feel like it always like, stops the process. So I think having, yeah, multiple pieces is probably the way to go. I also have ADHD, so that's what I'm like, I relate, or more, yes,
Tanner Steed:and paint it. Sometimes I'll paint two of the exact same scene and compose it slightly differently. So you can, you know, paint a glaze on one, learn from that experience, and apply it to the next one. And then while this one's drying, you can solve this one, and then while this one's drying, you can move on to the next step. So I just did that with six of the same still lives. That's the the last one up there. I'm not sure if you can see
Laura Arango Baier:that,
Tanner Steed:but, um, yeah, it's, it's so fun to painting is just so fun. I it
Laura Arango Baier:is, it is, it's, it's a fun puzzle. It's like,
Tanner Steed:it
Laura Arango Baier:is, you could just work on it forever. You really could. Which, actually, that's such a great question Now that it's come up. Which is, how do you know when a painting is finished,
Tanner Steed:when it's sold? None of, none of my paintings are varnished until they're sold. I, I, I always believe that there could be a next step, but once it's sold and and in someone's home and they think it's worthy of being purchased, then, then I'm done, and that's good, but yeah, I also that this might be a good marketing tip is to varnish after it's Sold if they're local, because it allows you to contact them six months to a year after the painting has been finished, and that allows you to reconnect with the the client, check in with them, make that you know, human connection and. To share with them all of the new life experience that you've had, and then that often leads to the next sale.
Laura Arango Baier:Yeah, that's pretty genius. Um, yeah. I don't know what else to say about that, because I'm like, taking notes, like, Haha. But yeah. And then I guess the other really interesting thing about being an artist is also like galleries, right? Not just like collectors. Do you, do you prefer to work with galleries? Or do you, like, prefer to work directly with collectors? Or do you do you do, like, a little bit of both? How does that work
Tanner Steed:for you? I do both. So I am represented at the Broadmoor galleries in Colorado Springs, and they've been absolutely wonderful to me. And I go there a few times a year for, you know, different painting events where maybe I'll I often. I love painting Olivia. Olivia is the definition of my muse. She'll pose for me anywhere we go, whether we're traveling or if we're at an event, like at the Broadmoor. And I every time I go there, it's funny, okay, I don't know if you've found this, but it's much easier to make a sale with someone if you are actually present, because that person is able to, you know, connect with you as the individual. They're excited to hear your story one on one, and they feel that personal connection that is huge for developing a client base. And so, yeah, every time I go to the Broadmoor, I end up selling something. Every time I go to any, any painting event, I'll sell something because of that, that connection. So I love working with galleries. And I also will work, I'll have, like, many studio sales where, you know, people might come here and and buy pieces or just buy it off my website. Yeah, I think you need to have multiple legs on the table and multiple income streams. So we are a small business, right? And we have to do a lot of of work. So I will I sell in instructional videos. I'm about to come out with one on my website with these rug paintings. I've got a pretty a great system down, and that'll be coming out soon on my website. But, um, yeah, I sell paintings off my website. I sell through galleries, instructional videos, and I teach a class out of my studio here on Sundays. And then I also do, like, international work workshops, and I love kind of being all over the place, and it's been beneficial. Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:yeah, no, that's, that's, that's the other really interesting thing about, you know, being an artist is that there isn't one single way to be an artist, right? There are so many different ways that someone can use all of their strengths in all of these specific little corners to really have all those legs under the table, like you said. So I find that it's, yeah, you know, it's really like, what works for you works for you. And sure, maybe some people listening might be like, Oh, I could never. And that's totally fine too, because it's really like, it's whatever works. But I totally agree, like, having, having, like, different things going on, and you feel like you could still do them well, right? You're not just, like, jumping around and like, leaving things, like, half done and like, it's like, right now, it's more like, No, I'm doing all these things because I genuinely care about them, and I'm getting them done well, and that's what matters, right? Yeah. And then I also wanted to ask you, because you, you have a little bit of, like, the the more what I would say, like, the non Atelier starting point right? Since you started out without that, which is really interesting to me, because you still were able to find that network anyway. Because one of the, obviously, one of the beneficial things about going to one of those schools is you're not just paying for the school and the education and the staff. You're also paying a little bit for the network and connections you get from those places.
Tanner Steed:Certainly, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:yeah. What was it like for you to build that connection and those networking groups outside of these schools.
Tanner Steed:Well, I think I just got really, really lucky with, you know, discovering that Dan was here in Denver. I. But he the only reason why he responded to the email was he said, Oh my gosh, this guy is persistent. He said, Tanner was persistent. And I think if you were not going to an art school or an atelier, you need to do research and see if you're unable or not willing to move out of your local area. You need to find out what artists that are making it and that you respect, not just, you know, using people or whatever in your local area, but if you genuinely respect and appreciate what they're doing. Find out who is within an hour of you. It's very likely that there is someone, you know, being an artist, we tend to be more on the introverted side, and we, you know, stay in our studios and don't really reach out and we see social media. But I think you'd be surprised with how many people are actually around you who are in the exact same situation as you. So if, if it isn't a local legend nearby or whatever, maybe make a plein air painting group, try to create community yourself by posting on social media and say, Hey, I'm meeting up in Denver or at the Platte River or going to red rocks or whatever, wherever your local area is. And just say I'm going to go paint there. If anyone's like to join. Come hang out and I I've I'm lucky in that I was born with a temperament to make friends. Everywhere I go, I tend to to find it pretty easy to engage with people. So I understand that for people who are more introverted, that that that can be a little bit more difficult. But for those people, if anyone's listening and is like that when I if you remember earlier in the station, I said that when I was in elementary school, I was very, very quiet and very introverted. Well, the transition from elementary to middle school, I realized that because no one knew me in middle school, I could reinvent myself. I said, You know what? I am tired of being the quiet kid in the back of the room that doesn't really talk to anyone. I want to make friends and be a new person. So consider that you have many opportunities to do that in in life if you're aware of it, and you could choose that right now and post on social media or whatever and just say hey, if anyone wants to meet up and make a friend, you can do that. There are absolutely people local or even online. There are many online communities that you can look into. I teach online too, and I know a lot of other artists who also do that, and you can meet up digitally with people too. But I really lucked out with the Wednesday group here. There are so many fabulous people in Denver, and they're all so I found that the best artists are usually very, very humble and very open to sharing their their knowledge, because you can explain how to draw and paint as much as you want, you know the but you have to put in the hard work in order to get there. So most of the best artists are not hiding anything. They're like, Sure, I'll explain this. And yeah, you have, you have to put in the work.
Laura Arango Baier:Definitely, yeah, yeah. And that's it is true. You got to come out of your shell, and you got to reach out to people. Because I think oftentimes, also, especially in the beginning, we hope and wish that you know some opportunities just gonna land on our lap, like, that's that's not gonna happen unless you know you're lucky enough to be like, you know the child of very wealthy parents who have a great network connections, and they already have friends, and they could just laugh about how wonderful your art is. But if you're like most people who really work hard for it, no you you have to put that word out for yourself. You have to find that community and build it too. I think other people. Are also hoping they'll become part of the community, instead of realizing you can just start one, right?
Tanner Steed:Absolutely,
Laura Arango Baier:yeah, yeah, totally. And I know that you've already given, like, a ton of really awesome advice, but do you have any final advice for someone to become a full time artist?
Tanner Steed:Well, I already said you just have to put in the work. Let's see. Well, I I think this may be controversial, but I think it's actually easy to make it. As an artist, I think if you're willing to put in the work and you believe that it's possible like truly believe, then it's going to be easy. You just put one foot in front of the other and talk with all of the people you you look up to reach out to them on Instagram, whatever you're going to be able it hard work shows, and if you're persistent, it pays off. And what's what's difficult is not making it and selling your art. That's that's a side thing. What is truly difficult is comparing yourselves to the Masters in the museum. That is the goal. For that is my goal. And it's a wild, extraordinary goal, to be respected, not just by your peers, but to be respected by those masters in art history. And I'm going to work for the rest of my life trying to achieve that. And, you know, it's, it may take 50 years before I paint something that's worth, you know, sitting next to a Rembrandt or Vermeer or whatever, whoever. But I'm just, I'm gonna give it everything I've got and, and I hope you do too, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:yes. I mean, it's, it's definitely very contagious motivation. So yeah, and actually, what you mentioned, it reminds me of a quote that I read recently, which I really loved, which is that real freedom is actually mastery over the self, because it's there's no way around it, right? Like if you're tied down by your own bad habits or your own limiting beliefs, like you're not going to be free to pursue these higher goals, right? So Self Mastery, which is everything that you've been describing, right? Like, being consistent, showing up anyway, putting in the hours, like, that's all self mastery. And that makes perfect sense, too, because you did study like, how to learn, learning, how to learn like. So it's baseline, the most important way to figure out how to even do the thing and then go from there. So, yeah, awesome, awesome. And then do you have any upcoming shows or any fun stuff that you would like to promote?
Tanner Steed:Sure, let's see, by the time this podcast comes out, tomorrow night will be over. No tonight. Oh my gosh. I have a show tonight. I have a show tonight at Saks galleries in Cherry Creek. It's a group show with all the people in the Wednesday night figure drawing group that I was talking about. It's called in good company. It's going to be fantastic. I have a piece going to the art renewal center Sotheby's exhibition I recently, let's see last year, Dan sprick and I on the way to teach in Rome, we stopped by Egypt and got to paint there for nine days, and I've painted a whole series based on that extraordinary experience. And one of those pieces is the Sphinx painting. You can actually see behind me, that little sphinx up there that that's the one I did on location. And from that, I did a larger piece, just 18 by 24 that's going to be going to Sotheby's at the yeah art renewal center show that'll be in July. And then, let's see. I've got a couple upcoming workshops. I'm teaching in Rome through Rome art residencies and. And that's in just three weeks. So I'll probably be doing that again next year, and next year, April of 2027 I'll be teaching a workshop on the Danube River. We're doing a riverboat cruise where we're going to paint, all along the way, in different cities. The boat will move overnight. We'll park and then go paint on location and explore the city. It'll be wonderful. We'll do that for, I think, eight nights, and I think that's it. I also teach here out of my studio. And, yeah, check my website for other things. I probably forgot something, but my website is Tanner steed art.com and Instagram is Tanner steed, art, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier:perfect, awesome. And I hope, I sincerely hope, our listeners, go check out your work and go see it in person. As always, seeing art in person is a treat. It is amazing.
Tanner Steed:Oh, it's so much better than Instagram. My gosh, it just does not translate, does it?
Laura Arango Baier:Yeah, there's no way. So, yeah, thank you so much Tanner for giving us some of your precious time. You've been extremely busy. You had your wedding. You were leaving tomorrow. You have your show tonight. So thank you so much.
Tanner Steed:Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me,
Laura Arango Baier:of course. Thank you to everyone out there for listening to the podcast. Your continued support means a lot to us. If you've enjoyed the episode, please leave a review for the podcast on Apple podcast Spotify, or leave us a comment on YouTube. This helps us reach others who might also benefit from the excellent advice that our guests provide. Thank you.