In the Loupe
In the Loupe
The Story Behind Bad Art Nice Watch ft. Bryan Braddy
Bryan Braddy, the talented artist behind Bad Art Nice Watch, shares how he has created a business out of helping tell the captivating tales of luxury watches.
Beginning with a simple drawing session with his daughter, Bryan rediscovered his passion for art, eventually developing a unique and recognizable style using professional-grade watercolors. His artwork brings to life the personal narratives and histories of luxury watches, transforming them from mere timepieces into evocative stories worth telling.
Bryan's entrepreneurial journey from sharing personal art on Instagram to managing a growing art business offers valuable insights into balancing passion with profession. With the growing demand for his work, Bryan navigated the challenges of pricing and scaling his business while maintaining art as a therapeutic outlet.
Check out his work on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/badartnicewatch/
View his website: https://badartnicewatch.com/
Send feedback or learn more about the podcast: punchmark.com/loupe
Learn about Punchmark's website platform: punchmark.com
Inquire about sponsoring In the Loupe and showcase your business on our next episode: podcast@punchmark.com
Welcome back everybody to In the Loop. What is up everybody? My name is Michael Burpo. Thanks again for listening to In the Loop this week. I'm joined by Brian Braddy and he's with Bad Art Nice Watch on Instagram, and it's this account I absolutely love, where he does these time-lapse videos of his watercolor paintings of luxury watches and the best part is he tells the story of these watches. You know, this watch was lost a few times, or this one was in the heirloom and was handed down from father to son, and they all have these incredible stories to tell. And also I just love seeing him paint in the art that comes with these watches. He's a fantastic person to speak with and I got a chance to ask him some personal questions about how he manages his art business as well. It's a great conversation, one of my favorites, and I hope you enjoy Check him out on Instagram.
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Speaker 1:And now back to the show. Show. Welcome back everybody. I'm joined by Brian Braddy. You might know him as Bad Art Nice Watch.
Speaker 3:I've been a big fan for a while. How are you doing today?
Speaker 1:Brian, I'm doing well. Michael, thank you so much for having me on the show. So cool. I'm a big fan. Just to kind of summarize poorly, you are making illustrations of people's watches primarily on Instagram, I imagine and doing a lot of storytelling and voiceover, and it's been a really cool kind of thing for me to stumble upon because, like I mentioned, I'm a semi-professional watercolor painter. So the fact that I work in jewelry and now I find someone that is actually bridging those worlds, it's something I've never found before. So how did you kind of end up in this position? It's very, very unique one.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it is a unique one and I kind of stumbled into this by accident, completely honestly. So I like to tell the story. My daughter, my eldest daughter, is really the origin of this whole thing. She, she was four at the time. She's seven now, Uh, and we were sitting at our dinner table and she was just doing some coloring at the table and she said dad, would you color with me? I was like, absolutely, Um. She said color whatever you want.
Speaker 3:So I'm really big into watches. I've unfortunately been bit by that bug, and so I went ahead and drew a watch and it really just kind of kindled this childlike memory that I had of how much I loved drawing back as a kid, and so it was really a lot of fun. And so I had had a failed Instagram account. Just like a lot of watch enthusiasts, you know, you want to take photos, you want to be involved in the industry or just kind of play in the community, and so I had done a photography account and I was really frustrated with the output that I was getting. I wasn't willing to invest in a lot of money and, you know, getting really nice equipment or anything like that, and so when I drew this. I was like, oh, this might be fun. You know, just a little creative outlet, Just go ahead and throw up my drawings up there. I don't care if I get any likes, it's just something for me.
Speaker 3:But when I started drawing, I wanted to challenge myself and I had always been interested in doing watercolor. I'd never done anything other than those cheapy little school kits. You know, you got like an elementary school and so I was like, okay, I guess I'm going to give this a shot. And so I ordered some watercolors off of Amazon and really I mean I'm bad at it, but you know it's, it's been a lot of fun, it's a challenge. I didn't realize that I was picking one of the harder mediums when I went ahead and did this, but um, yeah, it's been a lot of fun now, okay, first of all, let me geek out for a moment.
Speaker 1:Uh, what, what kit do you use? Do you know?
Speaker 3:Okay, so, I started out with. I think it was just like a watercolor pen set, you know, like where you paint and then use the water to actually kind of draw everything out. Um, and I quickly realized, yeah, I'm not a big fan of this. I was trying to preload brushes and it wasn't working really well. So I think I went ahead and I got um. Ooh, all right. So for geeking out, I'm trying to remember the exact kit that I had. Um, it was a Russian brand. I think they do silent night. If I'm not mistaken, it was their kind of student series. I initially started with um and I and I probably did that for I don't know, maybe a year or so Um, and then I kind of was like, okay, I'm doubling down on this and I really want to get some nicer materials, um, and so I went ahead and re outfitted my entire thing, and I only use Daniel Smith at this point, so I'm using all their professional stuff at this point.
Speaker 1:And it's so funny and I promise we'll talk about watches here in a second, but for just for me, one thing I find so funny about watercolors is that I will say that you can get some nice paintings out of the cheapest of kits. You know I always laugh when I started painting in the pandemic. I went to school for art but I started painting during the pandemic and that my first you know 50 paintings were on a, on a kit that actually I got it from a secret Santa. Someone gifted it to me. They knew I liked art. It was $8 and you know they're fine.
Speaker 1:But what do you get out of? Like an, out of a pro series or an expensive series? I use a shminkas which are, you know, just more expensive, and what do you get of them? I call it like pigment density. It's like you know it's much more saturated and you can get like more variety in your washes. Sometimes are just a little bit deeper, but that's so cool. I noticed that with yours, that you're not messing around like this. Do you ever kind of regret calling yourself bad art because your art isn't bad?
Speaker 3:I always wonder about that. You know, I don't regret it because it really kind of plays into the whimsy of my art. I like to think of it as whimsical. So when I initially started this for anyone who wants to go back three years of you know several hundred posts on my Instagram account you'll find that when I initially started this for anyone who wants to go back three years of you know several hundred posts on my Instagram account you'll find that when I initially started this, it was really quite bad. Um, you know, it's just so.
Speaker 3:I did not go to school for art. We can talk, we can talk about this later too. I didn't go to school for art. This is all self-taught, um, both from the drawing side and from the watercolor side, and it was really just kind of fun. I wanted to set the bar low. You know you could, you can take a stab at me. It's not going to hurt my feelings, but I'm going to take the piss out of myself before anyone else can. So it was really just a way for me to, you know, kind of level set for everybody, but also like hey, this is a little tongue in cheek, we're going to have some fun here and it is what it is. We can enjoy it.
Speaker 1:You know, I saw in your I think it's in your bio drawing circles is hard and I was like man. I identify with that so much. It's so crazy Cause that is definitely probably one of the hardest things. I find getting good gradients insanely difficult, but you're right, I think, because you kind of almost take a jab at yourself, it almost kind of lowers the barrier of entry for people to appreciate it, whereas if I was to try to do a masterpiece and really make this piece incredibly accurate or I have a real issue with photorealism. I'm not a huge fan.
Speaker 1:A lot of the times I feel like it's very like snooty or highbrow, but because you allow people in, I almost I'm more willing to listen to your stories and identify it a little bit more. Which getting to that? Some of these stories are incredible. I just mentioned it before. But so many people losing their watches, man, what is going on? These things are cause you've painted Rolexes. Going on, these things are cause you've painted Rolexes. You you've painted, um, was it, uh, patek Philippe or Philip? Yeah, and uh, just like incredible watches that like are worth more than my house and people seem to be losing them every day.
Speaker 3:It's crazy. It is crazy. Yeah, no, I'm with you. I think it's funny because initially, the watches, the art and the watch was what this count was about, but as I started doing this, I was only setting it to music. I wasn't ever narrating this. I wasn't really providing anything, any color commentary. Maybe I put a little bit in the description of the piece, but it was. I was being blown away by all the different stories. People would reach out to me and say I want to get this commission because of this, and those little things, those little nuggets, were the only things that I knew. People didn't know that and I really wanted to start sharing those. And it was, I believe, the beginning of 2013,.
Speaker 3:I had probably one of the most memorable stories where this family they lost their father, the patriarch of the family, and there were several siblings and a single Rolex Datejust. And it's not you know, it's not a crazy expensive watch, it's just it meant so much to this entire family, and so one of the sons commissioned me to paint this because they were not going to keep the watch for themselves. They were, and the siblings weren't going to keep it. They were going to pass it down to one of the nieces and nephews, grandchildren of the person who passed away, and so the commissioner was really wanting this art for themselves. They knew that they weren't going to have the watch, but this was a way that they could remember their father and just kind of keep that watch close to them, even though they didn't have it. As soon as he got it, he was touched, he was really moved. He ended up commissioning two more for his brothers so that all three of the siblings had the same art, and it just became this really incredible story.
Speaker 3:And so when I heard it, I reached out to John. I was like John, this clearly means a lot to your family. Would you mind sharing the story behind this? And so he wrote me this beautiful you know a couple paragraphs of what the story was. I was like I have to narrate this, like people have to hear this story, um, and so that was one of my higher performing pieces, uh, posts on Instagram, and I was like man, I think. I think this is the direction that I really want to go. I, my art is just a backdrop. The story is really what you're here for. That's the actual content, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah exactly so. My art is just the visual. I mean, that's something that the person who commissions it gets to take home and keep. But I think, for everybody who's on the page and wants to experience you know what we're doing, it is all about the story, and so not everyone wants to share their story. Not everyone has a super, you know, incredible story like that. It could be something as simple as this is the watch that I wore when my child was born, or my wife gifted me this when we got married, or, you know, it's just my favorite watch. I saved up a lot of money and, you know this, I wanted to treat myself.
Speaker 3:So it's not everyone's story is the same. They're all different, and that's what makes it so much fun, because, you know, I've painted the same watch several times. There's two watches that are incredibly popular, the Rolex watch several times. There's two watches that are incredibly popular, um, the Rolex Explorer and the Rolex Submariner. I've probably painted them at least a dozen times a piece, if not more. That's crazy interesting, but but everyone is different, right? So one may have a scratch on it. One is pointing to this time. This one has a different date on it, so every single one of them are different.
Speaker 1:Um, and it just that's what makes it fun, so I don't get bored, because every single one is different man, you, you had one that was just so incredible and I think you got it out of actually a magazine because I went in preparation for this. I went and watched like pretty much all of your videos at this point, uh, and you had one that was, uh, it was a, a guy was diving and he found and like the sand had shifted and he found I think it was a submariner and it was still ticking or something like that, and I was like dude, rolex should hit you up and get that, get that thing as the advertiser. It was such a cool story. Do you remember any, any of the any of the details on that?
Speaker 3:I do actually, and funny enough, that was one that I was so moved by the story I painted that myself. No one commissioned me to do that. So there's a gentleman named Henry and they found the story. It was on Fratello, so it's a website.
Speaker 3:For anyone who doesn't know, they're all about watches, but a diver his name is Cully, I think. If I'm not mistaken, he in Australia. He just likes to dive the reefs and pick up trash, so when he's not surfing he's just diving down grabbing trash off the bottom. And apparently he's found a lot of watches. I didn't realize this, but he found a Rolex that looked so gnarly. It was completely encrusted. There was sand all over it, there was some barnacles, some rust, a little bit. The face was all scratched up. And when he grabbed it he noticed that like yeah, there's still some movement in this. It's like not completely all kicked up. And so, knowing that it was an expensive watch, I think there was even an engraving on the back. He's like this is someone's watch that someone may be interested in. And so he kind of posted like hey, I found a Rolex. If this is yours, this is kind of where I found it, let me know. And I think there's probably a couple of people like, oh yeah, this is mine.
Speaker 3:But there was an actual guy who it turned out it was his watch and was able to prove it to the surfer and they ended up getting together and he was able to return this watch to him that he had lost several years ago. Wow, it meant so much and it was really cool because, like, there was the part A of the story of finding the watch and then there was the part a of the story of finding the watch and then there was the part b of like returning the watch and hearing the story of the guy um and all the adventures that he'd had on, you know, with this watch on it was really fascinating. It just the in the picture is really what drew me in. Um, the story obviously was incredible, but like the, the way that this rolex looked after coming out of the water, it was so cool. I was like I gotta try my hand at just capturing this. I know I won't do it justice, but I just want to. I have to try.
Speaker 1:Man. It's a really a really cool mark of this craftsmanship and one of those kind of aspects of watches that really enamored me early on is that, like you, got bit by the bug. Fortunately, I think my own spending habits get in the way and prevent me from actually acting on it. But a lot of these things especially I mean Rolex specifically was made as a utility object. You know it was made specifically for I think it was originally for divers, and then also for aviators, so people who were flying, because it needed to be accurate at high altitudes, but also, you know, to the minute, for long periods of time, because it could have dire consequences.
Speaker 1:I find it a little bit unfortunate that things have become such a luxury, because anything that's made well eventually becomes a luxury because it's a buy at once type of thing.
Speaker 1:I find it's almost too bad that these things have become luxuries instead of utility objects, because sometimes I feel like it prevents it from going to the hands of people who could really use it, Like linemen. I think that linemen, who are working with their hands and need these kinds of things, there would be value in them having watches that are you know better stories and it's like oh, they still got that, that utility in them a little bit, whether it's from being lost or, uh, you know, and still being, uh, you know, facing off against you know, nature is just so cool, I love that. Yeah, I totally agree with you. Now, has there been any any watches that uh really stood out to you, or any, uh, I guess, better question Is there a favorite watch? Do you have a favorite watch that you, you know, would one day want to own, whether because of a story, or because of what it means to you, or just because of you know its aesthetics?
Speaker 3:Great questions. There are two watches that I have been very fortunate to have purchased, and it's really because of this endeavor. The first one is I'm actually wearing it right now. Sorry, this probably doesn't make good for a podcast, but I'll try to explain this because I can. That's all right. So the first one is my Breitling. So this is a Breitling chrono cockpit. This is from the mid nineties and the nickname of this one is the Gordon Ramsey special. So I didn't realize this at the time, but this watch I had seen on the nickname of this one is the Gordon Ramsay special. So I didn't realize this at the time, but this watch I had seen on the wrist of Gordon Ramsay in Kitchen Nightmares in the early 2000s. He's worn a ton on TV, but I just love yellow dials and I remember seeing that and be like man. That is a cool, cool watch.
Speaker 3:And I finally found out what the watch was and I had some eBay searches out there. I'd actually found somebody who had purchased one. I was talking to him and he's like oh, yeah, they're, they're kind of pricey, like they're very hard to find. Um, he's like I paid about 8k for mine. I was like Ooh, that's way more than I'm looking to spend. Um, and so, you know, I was like, well, you know, I'll just throw something out there on eBay. If anything pops up, then great. If not, it'll be a years-long quest. And sure enough, I think it was maybe May of 2022.
Speaker 3:I had sold some watches, I'd completed some commissions and I was talking to a friend. I was like, hey, you should check out these watches. I opened up eBay I hadn't even gotten an email yet. It had just been listed and it was well within the price range that I was looking to spend. And I was like, oh my God. And so I went ahead and bought the watch and that one is just, it's a full circle kind of thing for me. It's kind of like a childhood memory wrapped up and everything else. And you know it's it's not a rare watch. It's, you know, probably an obscure watch that not many people know about. But I was really excited to bring that one home and, you know, be able to check off, check off that box something I've really been lusting after for a while. The other one this is this is probably like my I don't like using the word grail, but this is the watch that I had been really longing for for a very long time. So it's my Rolex Explorer two. It's the white dial.
Speaker 1:That is. That is definitely that's like. You wear that with a tuxedo, if you want it.
Speaker 3:Um, so I, you know, when I turned 30, uh, several. Um. So you know, when I turned 30, uh, several, several years ago, um, I wanted to buy a watch, like my first Swiss luxury watch. Um, my wife and I were going to start trying for a kid, and I knew that funds were going to dry up pretty quickly. Um, and so I was looking at two watches looking at an Omega Speedmaster, and I was looking at those the Rolex Explorer twos and about the time they were only about a thousand dollars apart. Um, and I was looking at those the Rolex Explorer IIs and about the time, they were only about $1,000 apart. And I got impatient. I couldn't wait anymore, and so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the Speedmaster. I don't regret that decision at all. I love that watch to death.
Speaker 3:But for anyone who's into watches knows that around I don't know, 2014, 2015, the price of Rolex just went through the roof, right through the roof, right, the price of Rolex just went through the roof, right through the roof, right through the roof. And so, you know, I had envisioned like oh okay, I'll buy the Speedmaster and then I'll start saving up for the Explorer 2. And at some point down the road I'll be able to buy it. And it just climbed and, climbed and climbed and it kept getting further and further away, and so I kind of resigned to the fact that I was never going to buy one. And the fact that I was never going to buy one, um, and I was okay with that.
Speaker 3:But you know, bad art kind of picked up and I sold a couple of watches and I was like I'm I'm kind of in striking distance. I might be able to make this happen. Um and so at the beginning of this year, back in January, I went ahead and pulled the trigger. Uh, it was more money I've ever spent on any watch, but I am so happy that I bought that. I have it's hardly left my wrist since I got it in January. It's been glued to me ever since.
Speaker 1:You know what, but good on you for wearing it, because I come from originally, my first love in stone is sneakers and I love sneakers. But the thing that's so funny is that 90% of people who are into sneakers, they just don't wear them. They just keep in boxes and I'm just like what are you doing, man? Sneakers are made to be worn and I do kind of believe that's the truth about watches, and if you look on anything like Reddit or whatever, they're always like oh, I got my first ding or my patina and everything, and it's like, yeah, that's what happens. You wear these watches and they like they.
Speaker 1:In my opinion, they wear in and you can have that whole conversation about uh, that is one of the biggest things I'm trying to do more now that I am uh, you know, getting a little bit older is I'm trying my hardest to buy things that I am going to have for, hopefully, the rest of my life. So things like boots. I invested in a pair of red wing boots because they have a, you know, a lifetime warranty and they're supposed to wear in and like buying um, you know, I bought this wax canvas jacket and it's like it's supposed to wear in and I think that watches. It's like, yeah, they're supposed to wear in your. If you, if you rake uh on rolex, you did something really wrong. I feel like you did something really wrong.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure why or you're doing something really cool yeah, really cool, you know what and it's worth the story and, honestly, I, I would pay the money to whatever it means. I mean, what is what is breaking a watch me. And did you break the crystal? It's like replace the crystal, did you like? Uh, I don't really know if you can super break a movement, because it's like replace the crystal. Did you like? Uh, I don't really know if you can super break a movement, because it's like just just replace the movement on it and yeah, uh, but I'm totally with you. What a cool, cool story. Um I, I'm glad that you got a chance to chase those. Uh I it sounds like you had a little bit more of a collection that you've consolidated down to the two main ones. Um I, right now, actually, it's so funny whenever I talk to uh watch people, I feel like I need to bring a watch, and right now I have my um, uh tag, uh Aqua racer and I got this when I graduated, um, when I graduated high school, and it was really funny.
Speaker 1:I got it from my, uh, my godmother. She's kind of like my aunt, but not really, um, I'm not super close with her anymore. I think she sort of saw this as the last real important step of being a godmother, you've got to get a graduation present. One thing that was kind of funny I still think about it a little bit is that she got it for me a year early. She didn't even know that it was what year my graduation was and she got it for me.
Speaker 1:But you know what? I didn't really like it in the beginning. I was just like you know, like I'm not a watch kind of guy. But as I've worn it more and more and more and I have learned that I like wearing a watch, I think it's a cool collection and it's just one of those things it's just like with, like buying a yellow car, you start seeing yellow cars everywhere. As soon as you get a nice watch, you start talking about it, you start thinking about it. I go to jewelry shows. I look at people's watches, I ask people about their watches and for me I think that it's's this will always be the piece that I will like think of and how it's like, has like kind of complicated feelings. But it's also one of those things I it kills me is it actually does not work. I have I never have updated the battery on it, set it to five o'clock, because it's five o'clock somewhere and I just keep that thing going, but it's five o'clock somewhere and I just keep that thing going.
Speaker 1:But it's just kind of one of those things I love, um, like the stories behind them. I think that they're so funny and and so fascinating, especially the ones that you told Um. But you know what I think? Uh, brian, we're going to take a quick break and then we're going to come back. I would love to talk to you about the business of your account, if that's okay with you. So, everybody, stay with us, we'll be back in just one minute.
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Speaker 1:All right, everybody Still joined by Brian Braddy, who is Bad Art. Nice Watch, it's not Bad Art, it's Very Nice Art. I love them. And we're talking about not just watches, but also the business of art, something very close to me. I started out by, you know, charging 50 bucks for a painting, and then I got enough inquiries that I was like, okay, I can't do all these, let's do a hundred bucks. And then it was two. And then, you know, you walk up the ladder. Is that a similar story to how you started, was it? You set your price for a watch, painting at this, and then you got enough that you got to that.
Speaker 3:Yes, 100%. I fell into this. So what I don't think I've told you is. So I started posting these on Instagram purely for myself, and this was around. We're coming up on three years now. I think it was October of 2021.
Speaker 3:And I was just having fun and then I had someone say, hey, can I buy this? And it blew me away. I actually I ran downstairs. I told my wife can you believe that someone wants to buy this? But that instantly started this problem of like, well, how much do I charge for this? Cause? I've never.
Speaker 3:I was not creating this with the intention of selling it. And so I was like I don't know what's fair, like how do I want to present this art? So at the time I was like look, I'll 25 bucks. Uh, if you want it framed, then I'll, I'll frame it, and it'd be 50 bucks. Um, and he's like, yeah, I'll take framed. And I was like, okay, and so I ordered a bunch of frames off Amazon. I, you know, matted and framed it myself, and then I really quickly realized like I don't want to do that. Um, and so I was.
Speaker 3:I was selling them for 25 bucks for a while, and then I was I don't know if this was good on me for marketing or if this was just the luck of the Instagram algorithm or what.
Speaker 3:But, um, I had a couple influential people in the watch industry share my stuff, whether stories are on posts or whatnot Um, and I got a lot of inquiries really really fast, so cool, and this account grew overnight. So I started with, probably you know, a couple dozen followers and then it went quickly to like 500 followers within like a couple weeks and I was getting Instagram. I mean, I was getting inquiries and it was right around like people are starting to think about Christmas gifts and Hanukkah gifts just holiday gifts in general and I was like, ooh, I got to catch this train and ride it as fast as I can, cause, who knows, this may dry up, you know, next year. Um, and so I quickly went from 25 to 50 to 75. Um, and I kind of think I rode 75 through the holiday season and it burnt me out. I did. I painted, I think, 92 pieces from the beginning, like October-ish, to January 1st.
Speaker 1:Wow, Good, I don't think you know what A plus for grinding those things out. I know it can be a schlock. Good for you, man, that's sick.
Speaker 3:So I think my wife was a little salty. She didn't see me much, you know, for a couple of months, but yeah, so I kind of quickly realized that 75, you know what's my time worth at this point? And so I started slowly increasing it, trying to figure out what's the like, what's it worth to me versus, you know, what's the market able to bear. And so I kind of stopped at 150 for a while. And then I was talking to a client and he's like you know, brian, you really should be charged a lot more for these. He's like, don't charge me more, but you should be charging a lot more. And so I have slowly over time inched it up. To now it's $200. And I offer two sizes. So my five by seven, that's the traditional size that I've been doing from the get-go that's $200. And then I now offer a larger size. I had a lot of people who were interested in doing something a little bit larger, and so I do a 10 by 14 that also charged $500 for. So yeah, those are the two sizes that I've got.
Speaker 3:It's really kind of based on the watch. You know I could do several watches, but I kind of charge per watch. So if you want to do a big collage. You know it'd just be a little bit more, but yeah it's. It's been interesting. You know, I didn't go to school for art. I didn't go to school. I mean, I did go to school for business, but this is so totally different than anything that I had kind of studied and anything entrepreneurial was not really in the lexicon. So it's been really fascinating to see, or really kind of just challenge myself and figure out what the heck I, how do I do this? Um, so it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:You know, it's really interesting because, hearing your experiences, it seems, uh, in a very similar way to uh relate to mine. What you just said about you know, uh, I had it set at this and I did all of these and I was burnt out. Afterwards I had a very similar thing where I was just grinding, grinding, grinding and I realized very quickly that, okay, I needed to find a way to make the commissions stop without me saying no, yeah. So I remember one time I just like randomly, was like, oh, it's going to be this much, and I basically wanted them to like it's like a staring contest. I was like it's uh, it used to be 150. Now it's 300, it's $300.
Speaker 1:I like looked them in the eyes and they're like, yeah, that's great. And I was like what? I did not expect that, and then at least I was getting compensated. I was still tired of painting, but I guess it's so fascinating how you discovered that on your own, just through business, because one of my big gripes with having gone to school I went to school for graphic design is that they didn't teach us nearly enough about pricing when it came to your own work. We were taught like, yeah, you could price hourly, or you could price project-based, and it sounds like you know you've settled on project-based with it. You know a five by seven being 200. If you don't mind me asking, do you know how much time a typical painting takes you?
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, no, I don't mind at all. So it's kind of broken down into two parts. So for anyone who's not seen my work, I will start with a single circle. I'll use I got this really fancy, nice I think it's maker's cabinet, beautiful brass, you know circle thing that I'll go ahead and start that. But everything else is done freehand. So I 100% will draw everything freehand other than that initial circle, just to get my proportions somewhat started. So that's the first part. That probably takes me anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, just depending on the complexity of the watch, how many details are in it. And then the watercolor component would take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half. So all in total I'm probably usually in anywhere from an hour to two hours per commission.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So then you're just looking at, like you know, $50 an hour, and I think that that is kind of the sweet spot, at least in the beginning, before you have a real kind of I guess I don't know fan base Is that, what is that the word? Because you have people that are, I'm assuming, tuning into every single one I mean myself included. I discovered you with a former In the Loop guest, chris Coe. He was on for Coe Group and he's actually a watch photographer, a huge watch collector. I know he has a million Rolexes and I'll be sending this to him right afterwards. Hi Chris, hey Chris, but what's fascinating is that you were able to kind of settle on, you know, something that works for you. Do you have ambitions to do like more of this? Is this your full-time job or is this? Could this be your full-time job?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a great question. I don't know what I want out of this. I think, because I fell into this. It's just a beautiful thing that I can kind of keep off to the side and I'm happy with whatever it becomes. So I don't really have ambitions for it. I think it'd be nice to do more. I would love to work with some big brands and do more brand work, but again, the stories are what I'm collecting here. I have a lot of satisfaction with where we are at the moment.
Speaker 3:This is not my full-time job. I actually work in software consulting. I'm a technical trainer by trade. I actually do a lot of voiceover work for the stuff that I do.
Speaker 3:But yeah, I don't know if I would want this to be my full-time job. It's just it's my day-to-day is not very creative, and it's just it's my day-to-day is not very creative. And so this is a creative outlet that I get to express myself and I can blow off steam. You know when I'm in the drawing and the painting process, you know it's meditative. You know like I put on some music and I'm just able to zone out for an hour and a half where I don't think about anything. I'm just focused on the marks that I'm putting on the paper and so it's. It's a nice, you know, kind of almost therapy in a way, where you just don't have to worry about it. So that's really nice and I don't know if I would want to make it my job.
Speaker 3:I'm sure you can totally relate with this, but doing creative stuff is hard, it's mentally taxing and I find sometimes I have to force it and I don't like doing that, which one of the things I like giving myself a little bit of a lead time when someone commissions something, just so that, like when the mood hits you, you can bang out a bunch of pieces at once and you're just in the zone. You've got that flow going. But then sometimes you're like, ooh, I am not feeling it and I know that if I try to force this right now it's going to look like garbage. And so you know if, if this was my 100% gig, I would be concerned of that push, pull of I have to get up there, I have to paint, versus I'm enjoying this, I want to just create as much as I possibly can.
Speaker 1:Wow, it's like looking into a mirror man.
Speaker 3:This is so interesting.
Speaker 1:All of those things you just said, I'm totally with it's finding. You know, yeah, like you said, having some lead time there's, I love, there's literally my favorite thing in the whole world. Waking up early and painting for four or five hours on like a Saturday man I love that. It's literally my favorite thing in the world. But sometimes I think I'm going to work on something after work and like, yeah, six o'clock or seven o'clock rolls around after dinner and I just sit at my desk and it's just like no, I'm, I just don't feel like it.
Speaker 1:If it was my job, I do think that there would be a certain amount of pressure. I also find that, uh, commissions you probably noticed it, especially with your previous story about doing so many between october and december very, uh, a lot more seasonal. I do really well during the summer and, um, before Christmas, and not so well from January until May, and I think that that would really stress me if, if, I went with that full time. But you know what? It's so cool that you have a creative outlet.
Speaker 1:I'm very encouraging of people, not just people who have a natural tendency for art, but to find a creative outlet, whether that's cooking or singing or you know, some people find it with, like, just tending to their house, whether that's having it be orderly. That can be expressive. All those things I think are just so important that someone has an outlet, especially if you're doing something that is decidedly not, whatever that means to you. I'm totally with you. It's so cool that you found a way for this. Now I'd be amiss if I didn't ask do you know what the most expensive watch you've painted has been so far?
Speaker 3:That's a great question. Well, I'll frame it two ways. One, there's probably a dollar amount, and then, two, there's the sentimentality where something could be priceless, and every watch is probably priceless to the person who owns it. But, um, there was one watch, and I'm not even sure the person owned the actual watch. It was just, you know, an incredible watch. Um, and it's actually one of my favorite pieces that I've ever painted. Um, it is a Patek Philippe world time watch. It has got a cloisonne enamel dial. It has, I think it's, the Eurasia dial, and it's just an absolutely stunning watch. It's a tiny little watch, but it is.
Speaker 1:They all are those Patek Philippes. They're all kind of like a little bit more, you know, demure I guess, and like I find that, find that they're. I'm very popular with women too, because they fit smaller wrists.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I don't even know how much this one would sell, for there's not many of them. I think it's a 24, 23 or 23, 24. And yeah, I mean we're talking easily six figures, maybe seven figures, I'm not a hundred percent sure. But yeah, I mean, you know, some of these watches are just astronomical money. But just, you know, it's fun being able to express it in art that you know cost $200.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Isn't that so funny it's, but at the same time I do, I do agree like having something like my version of that. For for what I've done is I do a lot of portraits of pets, especially sadly recently deceased pets. A lot of the times, so people will send me a, you know, especially I do them for actually gifts for friends, and they don't even know they're coming. You know, I find that they tell the story a little bit better than what a photograph does.
Speaker 1:Personally, I'm not a big fan of photos of deceased pets hanging on the wall because I'm like, I feel like it's not quite right. Just as someone who's had, you know, a dog is no longer around. But I know that my portrait of my pet tells the you know I can hear the bark a little bit better in it as opposed to, you know, a photo. And I think that sometimes your paintings of these watches are kind of allowing for, yeah, the tick to come off the page a little bit more than you know, just a photo. You know they really could. They're already doing half the work for you. They could just take a photo of it and frame it, but there's something in your work that is allowing it to come off the page, and that's what I think is so inspiring about your work.
Speaker 3:Well, I appreciate that, michael, yeah, and it's, I don't know. It sounds like you probably feel the same way that I do, but I don't want to throw shade on any other medium of art. You know, photography is fantastic, and you know I have a bunch of photos hanging in my house as well. But I think, when you use, when you think of classical art, I want to see something. I want something on my walls. I want to look at something that was made with somebody's hand, and so posters are great. I love posters and I really am in awe of people you know graphic designers who are able to create with. You know Adobe and all these different programs, but I don't like the way they look on my walls. I want something that I can see the artist's hand in that, and so that's one of the things that I love about what I do from a watercolor perspective.
Speaker 3:I've had plenty of people say, hey, brian, why don't you do a Submariner? Why would you not just do one, take a picture of it, scan it in and then sell posters of it? It's like well one. I mean, it's kind of soulless in my opinion. Like you know, like to your point, if you have, if you have a watercolor portrait of your pet, whether it's alive or deceased, it just means a little bit more than the picture to what you were just talking about. And the same thing for you know the watch or whatever it is. I think there's just some, there's a little genesis I don't know what it is but there's just something a little extra special about knowing that someone spent that much time and effort to create this thing, as opposed to like oh, I just snapped a picture with my phone and whatever. Let's blow it up and put it on the wall.
Speaker 1:Nice man. I couldn't have said it better, brian. This is so. It's been so fascinating. Now I'm sure a lot of people are going to be listening and they are going to want a? Uh, a watch portrait, um, from you. Uh, where can they find you and watch more of your?
Speaker 3:your videos and, uh, where are you on the internet? Yeah, thank uh, thank you. Um, so, probably the two easiest ways to get in contact with me, uh, if you want to follow along with all the different stories, instagram is probably the best bet. So, bad Art, nice Watch, all together, no special characters. And then, if you're interested in commission, you can either send me a message through my Instagram account or, if you'd like, you can hit my website, which is just badartnicewatchcom, and there's a commission link where you can fill in some information and I'll be happy to reach back out to you and talk to you about your watch.
Speaker 1:I love that so cool. Brian, I can't thank you enough. This has been like one of my favorites. This has been fascinating. I'm really glad that you, that you have art in your life and that you're doing this for people and helping them tell their stories. It's been really interesting. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3:Thank you, mike, for having me, I really appreciate it Awesome.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week, tuesday, with another episode. Cheers, bye. All right, everybody. That's the end of the show. Thanks so much for listening. My guest this week was Brian Braddy with Bad Art and Nice Watch. This episode was brought to you by Punchmark and produced and hosted by me, michael Burfo. This episode was edited by Paul Suarez with music by Ross Cockrum. Don't forget to rate the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave us feedback on punchmarkcom slash loop. That's L-O-U-P-E or in the text me link below. Thanks and we'll see you next week. Bye, thank you.
