Hello, dear readers and subscribers.
2026 is here and one year can make all the difference for an artist and in life in general.
And, as a result, in today's video, I would like to talk about setting goals for yourself as an artist.
The do's, the don'ts and also a series of specific goals that can help you in the upcoming year to make the difference and to see real, sustainable career progress.
First and foremost, why would one need goals very often if you simply start a year with no plan, with no ambitions, with no goal set?
Very often we just do a couple of things and in the end, nothing really happens, because we haven't entirely thought it through or there is no clear purpose behind the things that we do whenever we have the time to invest in our career or are in the studio.
On the other hand, people who set very, very specific goals that are almost too strict very often, we need to realize that not every career path is predictable.
Most often actually in the art world, opportunities will present themselves in unexpected corners.
We have initiated them indirectly, sometimes directly, but we can never truly predict where or when it is coming from, and therefore, when I see people set goals, or sometimes even see people advise you to set goals, for instance, I recall the chapter about setting goals in the publication by Magnus Resch about how to become a successful artist, where he advised to specify your goals, such as I want to have an exhibition at that gallery, a specific name of a gallery, in this amount of time, or I want to be represented by that gallery in this amount of time.
Whereas that makes it very specific to pursue, one can never truly predict that.
We can try to initiate it by networking with the artists and the gallery, improving your art etc.
But when that contact will offer an opportunity is something we can never predict.
And actually, when it comes to representation or even first exhibition, in reality this takes more than a year and sometimes three years, sometimes even five years.
So setting out such a specific goal will only result in disappointment, I would say, because it is rather unlikely that we would achieve that goal with that gallery in that amount of time.
Goals such as I want to have a show there, I want to have a representation, I want to go full time with my art.
I want to earn six figures with my art in 2026.
These goals are very much oriented towards the outcome, they focus on what we want.
However, when setting goals and this is what we're going to talk about in this video instead of focusing on what we want, let's focus on what we can do.
We want specific goals, but we also want them to be achievable in the sense that we are in control of achieving that goal and not external factors.
So therefore, It is very important to set out a series of goals that we can actually do, that we are completely in charge of, and also making sure that these goals will also optimize our chances for achieving what, in the end, we want, without pinning you down into any particular career path.
I'm going to give multiple examples that would work for multiple career paths because, regardless of what anyone says on the internet, there is not a one-size-fits-all for artists when it comes to career paths or a best career path that you must follow or that is now the thing to do.
It all depends on you who you are as an artist, what type of artist you want to be, what type of art you create and what your talents are.
And this brings us to actually our first goal as an artist.
And this would be for the beginner artist or novice artist or the artist who has been practicing it as a hobby and now wants to take it more seriously, which is figuring out your career path figuring out where you want to go this might sound a bit ridiculous but there does goes a lot of work in it because you need to inform yourself to be able to make that decision I strongly recommend in this case to watch our video on how to find the place where you are appreciated best in the art world even more I want you to consult the article because there I provide tables with all the pros and cons but also the career strategies that it involves which we can then use for the rest of our goals in this chapter for instance if you create fine art landscapes very skillfully rendered then the contemporary art world will not work the decorative art world will be a little bit more trickier but for fine art galleries and for instance an e-commerce model that would work well so there are a lot of subtle distinctions first figure out where your art is appreciated most with our article and then also explore that realm of the art world if it would for instance be a contemporary art world then explore the contemporary art world get to know it to see if you like the art if you see that you like the tone or whatever they do or hide how they go about their business simply informing yourself to then commit to a specific career path our second goal is perhaps one of the most important goals one can set out it's something we discussed in a recent video with five things successful artists understand and it is setting yourself the target to reach or to achieve at least eight hours of studio time or art time or career time every single week and this is a goal that we discussed with our work life art balance we need to have sufficient time to reach any sort of progress so setting that target by organizing your life was a good new year's new year's resolution to work two hours every evening after work or to spend your entire saturday during the weekend to work on your art and for those who can be a bit more ambitious you can even set a target to 10 12 or perhaps 15 hours a week very important goal so and something we are in complete control of so definitely put that one on your list for next year a third goal you want to set out and i think this is something that for most artists should be on your list of goals for 2026 is completing a full body of works a mature series of works It is very important for an artist to sometimes work in series because it very often gives you the opportunity to go a bit more in depth and learn more, have a deeper understanding about a particular subject, a particular technique, a particular colour palette, a particular composition etc. and truly make it your own. so definitely set this as a goal and this is important for instance if you would go for the e-commerce path then you need at least 10 to 12 works for your launch of your e-commerce where you create a buzz of excitement around the work presenting that collection but also if you want to work with galleries whether they are decorative art galleries fine art galleries or contemporary art galleries then you also need a full cycle of works that can be presented in this cohesive whole that where there is this synergy between the works that they start to support each other a next goal and this could be both for the artist who wants to have a career in the contemporary art world and the artist who wants to represent himself is for instance setting behavioural goals on social media for instance.
Set out the target to publish three times every single week on Instagram for instance.
Many people might wonder, well, I'm not a robot.
I can't produce three artworks every single week.
And that is completely correct.
Personally, I produce between 20 to 30 works a year.
So this is something we have actually discussed, how you can batch content about your artworks.
So let's say, after finishing a cycle of work, Then you document that work and create a batch of content for every single artwork that we can then share in the coming weeks months, even across an entire year.
Think of our video that discusses the truth of mockups for artists and also the industry approved mockups that we offer that are being used by leading galleries, for instance.
That gives you the opportunity to share a single artwork five to six times because the way it is shared or documented is different.
Also bear in mind, don't expect your followers to grow magically simply by posting more.
Interaction on Instagram is very important, especially for those who want to enter the contemporary art world, because there it's not only about building your following, but also the quality of your following, and therefore there is the importance of using Instagram as a true networking tool.
But this is also something we have discussed in another video on Instagram for contemporary artists.
Now, another goal we could set out.
For instance, if you are the artist who has figured out okay, i don't like the contemporary art world, i don't see my work fit in it, nor do i see myself do the networking i want to represent myself and the way i want to sell my work is through my webshop, well then, a goal to set out is to either create or optimize your website to create a high converting webshop.
Perhaps this is also something that I would, or could, create a video about.
However, it's not the main focus of our channel that predominantly focuses on the contemporary art world.
But informing yourself, educating yourself perhaps a course or some youtube videos could be very, very useful or perhaps having a look at some well-designed web shops from other artists who represent themselves, setting that up and also creating your first advertising campaign.
So also informing yourself on how you can advertise your art on google and meta with meta, for instance, and doing that first launch on the new webshop and that first campaign.
That should be the main target if that is your career path.
On the other hand, another goal if you would, for instance, want to become a contemporary artist more than a self-represented artist or an artist who is represented by galleries, then mapping the art scene that you want to, that you want to enter, will be very, very important, and that is also a goal in itself.
So i think the best or the easiest way to do this because it's very difficult to kind of google galleries nearby or in a specific city to have some good results i think the easiest way to do this now is if you would have an art facts account.
It is part of the paid subscription.
I have a link for artifacts in the description below, by the way that you simply go to rankings, go to galleries, enter the city or the country you live in and then you have all the galleries ranked from established to at an entry level.
I would say the top 1000 globally are galleries that are out of the reach of the novice artist or even the new emerging artist, possibly for the advanced emerging artist, but still rather difficult.
And then everything between 1000 and 4000 is a good entry level.
Beyond 4000 is perhaps a gallery that is a bit less significant for further career progress.
But when starting out, we can't be too picky either.
So now you can really map which galleries are there in my city.
Where are they?
Let's visit a couple who are in the program.
Are there any artists that I like and that I should write down as possible contexts, etc.
So now you have mapped the entities to network with when you want to achieve your networking goals, for instance
And that is exactly what our next target is.
Set specific networking goals.
For instance, if there is a gallery that you absolutely adore, set the goal to go to at least one in two openings that they have at the gallery.
Another goal you could set out is to find a couple of artists that you really really like, that are of your generation, that are slightly above you, so that are already in the art world, and to establish a relationship with them in the sense that a personal relationship, by first engaging with them directly on instagram, for instance, doing a studio visit, attending their openings, etc.
And they could also kind of be.
If there is a genuine connection, then they can also kind of be your guide into the existing network surrounding the gallery of them or the network of the city you are based in.
So they can kind of show you around as well.
Very useful, a very good target to set on your goals for 2026.
Now for artists who are perhaps not ideal for the contemporary commercial art world.
So less the galleries and more the institutional context, then open calls would be very, very important beyond networking with curators and other artists.
So then, setting a target like applying to 10 well researched open calls should definitely be on your list.
10 is a significant number.
That does not mean that you should have a positive outcome.
If you're rejected 10 times, that's perfectly possible.
But it is also important that it is well researched and that it kind of fits not only your practice but also your level.
This is something I discuss in another article, with five golden rules for artists when applying to art opportunities.
So if you pursue this goal, that article is perhaps worth reading.
Then a ninth goal would be ensuring that you exhibit at least once in 2026.
If nothing is happening from the open calls I mentioned, if nothing is happening when it comes to the networking efforts to get into a gallery group show, for instance, then organize your own exhibition.
You should have one exhibition every year at least.
And if it's not happening, don't wait forever.
Make it happen yourself, perhaps in collaboration with some other artists, to set up your own initiative, renting a space and organizing a show very time consuming, but very, very valuable.
It will also be very valuable, for instance, if to present that series of works that you have, that mature series of works that you created that year, to go full cycle and to exhibit it, to present it in an exhibition context, to write a press release about it and to kind of close off that chapter, which I think also gives you a lot of peace of mind mentally, because it can sometimes be frustrating to work and work and create new works that pile up in your studio And perhaps you will not sell them, at least not sell them all but at least you have exhibited them and at least you have presented them, you have documented them and they have given you something that you can build on, even if they go back to your studio after the exhibition.
But they went full cycle and whatever happens after is bonus, kind of.
But we did not create them for nothing.
I think this is a very, very important thing to do as an artist and also a good moment to reflect on that series.
A tenth goal would definitely be following contemporary art issue in the coming year, because I have something very, very exciting for this year.
As I mentioned in the last video, most of my time in 2025 went to this book publication, artbe.
That was launched last week.
And this year I will finally be able to finalize a project where I will condense all the information that I have gathered through books, through research, through conversations with leading artists and galleries to provide this industry approved career advice for artists that I have been sharing occasionally here on YouTube, to condense that in one package that can really really inform an artist.
So this is my promise and goal to you to present all that information in a more accessible, easy to consume format in 2026 to hopefully help as many of you as possible.
That being said, setting goals was also something that was mentioned in the book that I talked about two weeks ago, and I would like to close this video with a cartoon that kind of sums it up quite nicely.
And, on that note, it is time to end, not only for this video but also for this year, and i want to express my heartfelt gratitude once more to this beautiful community that we have here, where we can be critical yet respectful, helpful and supportive to one another.
It's been a terrific year and it's been a true honor and such a pleasure to create these videos for you.
So thank you so so much, and i wish you the very best in 2026.
So happy holidays, enjoy some well-deserved family time and we'll see you in the next year bye.
