Live Painting Experiences: Record Store Day at Lijfstyle Lingerie

Last weekend, on April 12, was Record Store Day, a day that celebrates the life and vibe of record stores around the world.

I participated in my own way by designing two themed portraits based in a record store. The unique part of these portraits is that not only could the faces be customised, but so could the album covers. I felt it was a nice way to honour the theme.

In Hoorn, there is a fantastic record store in the middle of the city. Together with an event organiser, they rounded up shops and cafés who were keen to take part in the day in various ways; providing spaces for live musicians to perform, having special promotions around music, and other fun ways to bring the day to life.

Lijfstyle Lingerie offered me a space to do some live painting. They had a large table in the middle of the boutique, where I could sit comfortably.

In preparation, I drew and painted 10 copies of each design, leaving the faces and album covers blank. Then I packed my live painting essentials, as well as some marketing materials like business cards and postcards, hopped onto my bicycle and got there at 9:15.

Each live painting experience is very different. Even if you know that some things remain the same—the painting process, the customer interaction—other things can be very unpredictable, like footfall and the level of interest.

One thing that I knew for sure is that this venue would be my biggest challenge yet. The clientele of a lingerie boutique is very goal-oriented. They walk in with one aim, and not necessarily to browse and linger. However, the location of the boutique was great; it was on a street with enough passers-by that would hopefully be interested in what I had to offer.

My number one goal, therefore, was to get the word out as soon as possible, so that as many people as possible would know about my event, since I had a strong feeling that I couldn't rely on the target group of the boutique alone.

I shared a lot about my process on social media, and I made posters for the shop to display, and delivered it to them 10 days before the event.

To my disappointment, the posters were not put up until the day before the event, which I think contributed greatly to a poor turn-out the next day.

When the doors to the boutique opened at 9:30, I was ready and mixing my paints in preparation for customers. My previous two public live sessions had people already waiting for me to begin, and I had no such expectation on this day, but was hopeful that there'd be someone within the hour.

In the seven hours that I sat there, I received a total of 4 orders. In comparison to my previous live painting sessions, it was devastating.

But it's a learning experience. There are so many factors that come into play when you're an artist starting out, with a very small loyal audience. My instinct was correct when it told me that this venue would be extremely challenging. Thankfully, the girls working in the shop were very nice to spend the day with.

I will bring everything I learnt from this and past experiences to all my future planning sessions, and hopefully, with each one, I can start building a solid offering and loyal audience.

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If you're a music lover or looking for a gift for one, you can still get yourself a personalised portrait in this theme. Simply check out The Music Lover Collection, upload a photo and place an order!