This is a good book for any keen amateur artist wanting to make a go of it professionally. Packer explains how he made it into the art world, how the art world is actually a series of villages, and to get the rules of your village (commercial sales) right. As he well points out, in the commercial sales world, buyers don’t respect post-modernist conceptual bullshit, they want well made, beautiful art, that makes them say “Wow! I wanna hang this in my home!” Until you can make that, no amount of marketing will make your art sellable. But, don’t despair, well-made, beautiful art that people want to buy is within the ability of anyone willing to work at it, and to keep experimenting until you find a style that you love and enough of the public love… and Mr Packer will show you how. Yes, he wants you to join his online courses, but I found this book through his YouTube channel, which has much of his advice given for free, but it is nice to have it all here in one place.
No. 4 of 24 books I intend to read and review in 2026.
I’m Patrick Sherriff, an Englishman who survived 13 years working for newspapers in the US, UK and Japan. Between teaching English lessons at my conversation school in Abiko, Japan, I write and illustrate textbooks for non-native speakers of English, release Hana Walker mystery novels, short stories, paint, and write essays and Our Man in Abiko, a monthly newsletter highlighting good writing in English, often about about Japan, art, crime fiction and teaching.
Patrick Sherriff 