Ask An Artist
Professional artists Peter Keegan and Tom Shepherd discuss the practical issues of making art your career. Drawing on their own experiences they offer candid advice for artists who want to make a living from their work. Peter is a portrait painter working predominantly to commission for both private and public clients and he also teaches in-person and online. Tom is a watercolour artist with a passion for wildlife and conservation and he also teaches in-person and online. Both Tom and Peter treat their art as a business, always practicing what they preach! Throughout season 1 and 2, renowned printmaker, Laura Boswell was the co-host. Laura is a printmaker working in Linocut and Japanese woodblock, with work is in several public collections. She writes a monthly advice column for Artists and Illustrators Magazine.
Episodes
185 episodes
Ask An Artist - Best of Season 7, 2025
For this special compilation episode of the podcast, we look back at Season 7 and share some of our favourite moments, from our most popular episodes, from the past year. If this compilation whets your appetite, and you would like t...
Ask An Artist - Reflecting on the Year
In this special episode of the podcast, and the final recorded one for 2025, Peter and Tom reflect on the year just gone. They discuss some of their favourite podcast guests, their favourite podcast chats and look back to the planning episode r...
Ask An Artist - Creating a Body of Work
In this episode, Peter and Tom dive into something that sounds a bit grand and serious, but actually sits right at the heart of what Artists do — creating a body of work. Whilst it might sound like something that happens after twenty y...
Ask An Artist - Listener Questions 30
In this episode, Tom and Peter answer some of your questions. Firstly they discuss knowing when to raise your prices, followed by a question about the value of art fairs and finally, how much time to spend on social media. If you have a...
Ask An Artist - Interview with Claudia Kennaugh: commercial pricing and cultivating the gallery relationship
In this episode, Peter interviews art industry expert, Claudia Kennaugh. Claudia is the founder of Art and People; a Bristol based art advisory service, offering guidance to artists and collectors. Before setting up Art and People, ...
Ask An Artist - Interview with Sarah Jane Moon
In this episode, Peter interviews Artist, Sarah Jane Moon. Sarah Jane is a painter whose work often explores identity, sexuality and community. She’s particularly known for her portraits of queer sitters, work that combines boldness...
Ask An Artist - Licensing Your Work
In this episode, Peter and Tom invite Artist Jo Scott back to the podcast, this time, to pick her brains all about the world of art licensing.As often discussed on the podcast, there are many ways to earn an income from your art. Jo Scot...
Ask An Artist - Interview with Jo Scott
In this episode, Peter and Tom interview Artist, Jo Scott. As business owners and creators, it is absolutely possible to put all our eggs in one or two baskets - and some Artist do this very successfully. But there is also a lot to ...
Ask An Artist - Listener Questions 29
In this episode, Tom and Peter answer some of your questions. Firstly they discuss online selling strategies, followed by doing your own framing and finally, the qualities needed to become a professional Artist.If you have a question yo...
Ask an Artist - The Art of Travel: Interview with Mary-Anne Bartlett, from Art Safari
In this episode, Peter and Tom interview Mary-Anne Bartlett - brilliant artist, much-loved tutor, and founder of Art Safari.This episode is about all things "art tutoring" and "art holidays"; the ups, the downs, what it really takes to r...
Ask An Artist - Getting Qualified; What are the options?
In this episode, Tom and Peter discuss the different options open to creatives in terms of "getting qualified". With the rise of the internet over the past couple of decades, there has been an increase in the number of certificates, diplomas, c...
Ask An Artist - Listener Questions 28
In this episode, Tom and Peter answer some of your questions. Firstly there's a question about taking payments on-the-go, followed by a question about storage solutions and finally, gallery artwork taboos. If you have a question you’d l...
Ask An Artist - 6 Tips for Putting on an Exhibition
In this episode Tom and Peter their top tips for putting on a show, imagining that they are planning, promoting and hosting their own solo exhibition. They condense their advice into 6 key things, which are;1. &nbs...
Ask An Artist - Taking the Plunge: Interview with Rodney Kingston
In this episode Peter and Tom interview artist, Rodney Kingston. Rodney studied at Wimbledon School of Art and Camberwell College of Art, before embarking on a career as a graphic designer. For the past 10 years or so, Rodney has been pai...
Ask An Artist - Listener Questions 27
In this episode, Peter and Tom answer some of your questions. Firstly there's a two-part question from an Artist looking to exhibit for the first time, asking about the pricing of prints and how to create excitement around the work. After the b...
Ask An Artist - Interview with Tushar Sabale
In this episode Peter and Tom, interview artist, Tushar Sabale. Tushar is a London-based artist who is renowned for his oil paintings and is represented by numerous galleries. He has won numerous awards for his work and as well as painting, he ...
Ask An Artist - Finding the Balance
In this episode, Tom and Peter discuss the somewhat illusive work-life balance; whether it is achievable as a self-employed Artist, how they manage it in their own situations and some tips which might help you to find your own.In the fir...
Ask An Artist - Interview with Marc Jackman of Jackman's Art Materials
In this episode, Tom and Peter interview Marc Jackman, master chemist and director of Jackman's Art Materials; one of the newest and best manufacturers of artist quality paints, in the UK. Marc started the company in 2019, creating ...
Ask an Artist - Listener Questions 26
In this episode, Peter and Tom answer some of your questions. Firstly there's a question about pricing workshops for community groups, followed by a discussion about stretched canvas vs canvas paper, and finally, who to invite to your private v...
Ask An Artist - How do you juggle it all? Interview with Hashim Akib
In this episode, Tom and Peter interview one of the busiest artists working today. Hashim Akib is an internationally renowned Artist, represented by several galleries in the UK. He has exhibited with The Royal Society of Marine Artists, The Roy...
Ask An Artist - Taking on commissions
In this episode Peter and Tom discuss taking on commissions. They discuss the pros and cons of working to someone else's brief, suggest how to go about gaining them and what the process of completing one might look like. This Podcas...
Ask An Artist - Planning for 2025
Ask An Artist podcast is back for 2025 and we will be releasing new episodes every fortnight, throughout the year.In this episode Peter and Tom look back to the planning meeting they had this time last year, and discuss what went well, ...
Ask An Artist - Season 7 returns on February 28th
Ask An Artist will be back with brand new episodes, every fortnight, from Friday February 28th 2025.There will be the usual chat and topic episodes by Peter Keegan and Tom Shepherd, plus interviews with artists and industry experts. Alre...
Ask An Artist - Look back at 2024
In this special episode of Ask An Artist, we take a look back at some of the highlights of 2024. In the first part, we feature our planning episode from back in March, then our interview with Tom Croft about judging art competitions and finally...
Ask An Artist - Listener Questions 25
In this episode, Peter and Tom answer some of your questions. Firstly there's a question about making ends meet, followed by payment terms when writing an article and finally, what to do if you attend a workshop which turns out not to be that g...