Selling Your Artwork. By Emma Ralph Emma Ralph - All Rights Reserved.

Transcription

1 Selling Your Artwork By Emma Ralph 1

2 PLEASE NOTE: You Do NOT Have the Right to Reprint or Resell this e-book You Also MAY NOT Give Away, Sell, Copy or Share the Content Herein If you obtained this report from anywhere other than you have a pirated copy. Please help stop Internet crime by reporting this to: mailto:emma@paintingwithpastels.com 2009 Copyright Emma Ralph ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated and signed permission from the author. DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES: The information presented herein represents the view of the author as of the date of publication. Because of the rate with which conditions change, the author reserves the right to alter and update her opinion based on the new conditions. The book is for informational purposes only. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided in this book, neither the author nor her affiliates/partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Any slights of people or organizations are unintentional. If advice concerning legal or related matters is needed, the services of a fully qualified professional should be sought. 2

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction Page 4 Chapter 2: Creating a Portfolio Page 5 Chapter 3: Avenues For Selling Your Artwork Page 10 Chapter 4: Pricing Art Page 16 Chapter 5: Conclusion Page 20 3

4 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Hello and welcome! This is an e-book for hobby artists who ve never sold any of their artworks. There is, of course, absolutely nothing wrong with that. The vast majority of hobby artists make art purely for personal satisfaction and nothing more and are perfectly happy continuing to do just that. However, there s an undeniable appeal in the thought of your own work hanging on a gallery wall admired by everyone who sees it and covered in SOLD stickers! And it s no surprise that it s an appealing notion: it s a deeply human instinct to want other people (and not just our friends and family) to admire our artwork. No doubt even the early cave painters were motivated by the same feelings! What do you think? Does the idea of displaying and selling your artwork do it for you? Chances are it does. If so, why not embrace it? If you decide to, this guide will help you to do it. 4

5 CHAPTER 2 CREATING A PORTFOLIO Reading the title of this section you might be thinking I have lots of finished paintings so I ve got my portfolio what I need to know is just how to sell it! If so, hold on there for a second. You see, having a portfolio is not the same as simply having a bunch of paintings to sell. Let s find out why. The importance of consistency As we ll see later, the primary objective when you re trying to sell your artworks is getting art gallery representation. For that reason your portfolio needs to sell you as much as it sells itself. Whenever you show it to an art gallery owner, it should at least have a shot at convincing her to represent you. So what do you need for that, exactly? The magic formula is: artworks that are consistent enough in things such as style, medium, colors, and subject matter that they distinguish you from every other artist in some way. Think of your portfolio as a tool to get people s attention. In order to do that, it has to show what you re about in a consistent way. A portfolio that's all over the map in terms of style and subject matter won t communicate what you re about, and therefore it will be much more easily dismissed. Whether you use paintings you ve done before, start a wholly new series, or use a combination of both, it s extremely important that the paintings you put into your portfolio display consistency. 5

6 Subject matters So your portfolio needs to be consistent in terms of style and subject matter. Now let s talk about subject matter in some more depth. Firstly, in order to achieve the consistency that we talked about above, for your portfolio you should narrow down your subject matter as much as possible. Instead of painting still lifes, paint fruit. Instead of painting landscapes, paint beach scenes. Instead of painting abstracts, paint recognizably similar abstracts. Sad as it might be, no-one is interested in how versatile you are! Remember that. The other thing to note about subject matter is that not all subject matters were created equal, and you may be better off choosing one subject matter over another. This is a little controversial, so let s take a look at the two schools of thought on choice of subject matter: The first school of thought says that you should paint only what you like, and that you shouldn t choose your subject matter just because you think it s a popular one. The reasoning is that while it s not impossible to predict what other people will like (look at all those manufactured pop groups) it is difficult, and even more importantly, imposing an artificial limitation on what you paint risks killing the attraction you had to making art in the first place. The other school of thought says sure, you can paint whatever you like, but if what you like to paint is severed heads, then you can forget about selling any of your work, ever. It says that it is undeniably the case that some subjects are better liked, are more popular, and sell better than others, so particularly if there are a variety of different subjects that you like to paint there s no harm in finding out what subjects sell well and focusing more attention on them. Whichever school of thought you adopt, below is the list of subjects which have traditionally sold well. Do with it what you will! 6

7 Abstracts. The attraction of abstracts is precisely that they re not really paintings of anything, and so they re a highly versatile decoration. People often choose abstracts to compliment the colors in their homes, so choosing to paint with colors that are currently in fashion (check home décor magazines) can further increase sales. Figure studies (excluding nudes). People are more or less hard-wired to find human faces interesting, which is why so much art is either of a face (or faces), or resembles a face in some way. Impressionistic landscapes. Another classic subject. Local views. When you sell a painting of a recognizable local view, you re not so much selling a painting as you are selling an emotion or a memory based on the physical place. Needless to say, that s much easier than selling something which has no innate meaning to the potential buyer. Modern or semi-abstract landscapes. Like other types of abstracts, the non-specific nature of these types of landscapes makes them versatile in their appeal. Nudes. Nudes are of course one of the oldest subjects in art. Simultaneously arty and yet risqué, they re a perennial favorite and will probably always sell well. Seascapes, harbor and beach scenes. Beaches and coastal scenes are perhaps general in a way that other types of landscapes aren t, which may account for their perennial popularity. How to work Having established what you need say it loud, say it proud: artworks that are consistent enough to distinguish you from every other artist in some way let s discuss how to get there. 7

8 Producing artwork for a portfolio entails a different mindset from painting solely for your own pleasure. Working just for yourself, you re more likely to abandon things that aren t working out, and you re less likely to put the final, finishing touches on artworks once they are good enough. Working towards a goal such as portfolio requires a little more discipline. Here are some things to do differently while you are working towards your painting portfolio: 1) Take every painting to its logical conclusion, even if you re not happy with it. Try not to move on to something else until you ve done this. 2) Take a photo of every painting you do, even (especially) the ones you feel haven t worked out and intend to discard. 3) Consider every painting you finish does it display a distinctive style? Is it worth developing this style or working on this subject matter again? Is there anything in it that you like and might apply in a future work? 4) If you feel that you haven t already nailed down a consistent style, regularly review the photos you ve taken. Does anything strike you about them, for example are there particular colors that you tend to favor? A particular way you tend to apply the medium? Think about whether it s worth continuing and emphasizing these elements so that you grow them into a distinctive look. 5) Finally, always remember to sign and date the paintings that you keep (the date can be on the back if you prefer). When it comes to selecting work to go into your portfolio, never include anything that you don t consider to be among your best work. One of the secrets of being considered a great artist is never letting people see all the failures! Also, you ll inevitably improve over time (consider it a promise!), so even once you ve settled on a portfolio, go through it regularly to weed out and replace any paintings that you feel don t represent your current skill level. 8

9 Smaller versus larger We ve talked about consistency in matters of style, medium, colors, and subject matter, but the astute among you will note that so far there s been no mention of size. So does size matter? Should you produce a range of differently-sized artwork for your portfolio, or should you follow the consistency rule here as well? The answer is it depends. You can use consistent size as a way to help distinguish your portfolio. A set of paintings of identical sizes will certainly appear consistent, and if perhaps your portfolio isn t totally consistent in other ways, then consistent canvas sizes might be a good idea. On the other hand, as we ll see below in the section about pricing your art, canvas size is one of the few things that should influence the relative prices of your paintings. Your portfolio is a marketing tool, but it s also a collection of your work that you mean to sell. With that in mind, it s a good idea to produce different sizes, and in particular, to produce more small paintings than large ones. Small paintings take less time to do, and because they are cheaper and fit into more homes than larger ones, they sell better. So should you consider producing a portfolio comprised solely of smaller artworks? Probably not. Art galleries will prefer to have a range of sizes to choose from, and not having any larger canvases will rob you of the chance to make a profitable sale. 9

10 CHAPTER 3 AVENUES FOR SELLING YOUR ARTWORK Ok, so you ve produced a portfolio consisting of finished paintings that distinguish you. Now you want, if possible, to sell them. But how are you going to do it? There are some obvious ways to do it (art galleries) and some not-so-obvious ways (online). Let s take a look at them. Getting your art into galleries You want to sell your artwork. Art galleries sell artwork. Join the dots! Getting your work into an art gallery is, unsurprisingly, the best option for selling your artwork. Unfortunately, it s also the hardest to pull off. First of all, you should be aware that there are different types of galleries. Take a look at the list below, and then canvass the galleries that are near where you live to work out which of these categories they fall into: New artists galleries. Some galleries feature only new artists, which of course suits you well if you haven t sold much of your work before. Normally new artists galleries will normally only want to take one or two paintings. They don t do exhibitions, but commissions are usually low. 10

11 Their aim is to get higher end galleries to steal the artists that they feature. Like all galleries, new artists galleries focus on the tastes and budgets of their clients, and because they are positioned at the low end of the gallery spectrum, this means that they favor less expensive and perhaps more conventional work. Art association galleries. If there s a local art association gallery in your area then you can consider it a stroke of luck. The purpose of an art association gallery is to show off local artists, meaning that it ll be much easier for you to get your foot in the door. These types of galleries typically demand only low commissions, but don t do any promoting. Show galleries. A show gallery is a short-term concern. What they do is to decide on a theme and then assemble a collection of artworks that reflect it. This involves commissioning artists to supply pieces each and to replace any that sell during the exhibition. Show galleries run for a set period of time, and once the exhibition is over the artists collect any unsold paintings and go away there s no ongoing relationship. The gallery takes a commission on anything they sell. Getting commissioned for a show gallery will only realistically happen once you are already an established artist. Top end. And then there s the top end. Top end galleries will normally have a selected group of artists and sell only their work. It s very difficult to break into this inner circle, and so it s undoubtedly a long-term goal. Other. Well established ones - lots will have resident artists and not take walk-ins for an exhibition will put on shows from well-known artists - get to know one of the resident artists and work with him Whatever sort of gallery you re aiming to get into, you ll need a way to show them your portfolio. It s not usually necessary to show originals, which is just as well, because paintings are of course awkward to transport. Instead, put together a photographic portfolio of your portfolio of paintings. Having a 11

12 portfolio of photographs is great, as galleries will rarely refuse to at least take a quick look even if you ve just walked in off the street. And in the event that the gallery you try isn t interested in your work, they may still be able to refer you to another, more appropriate gallery (if this happens be sure to get a name and when you go to the second gallery tell them who referred you). Note that when you take the photos your artworks will need to be properly lit, ideally with as large and soft a light source as possible. The photos will also need to be corrected for tone and white balance on a program such as Photoshop or Picasa afterwards. If you don t know how to do this, ask a friend who s knowledgeable in photography (pretty common these days) to help you out. It s important that the photos are the best and most accurate representation of your art that is possible. Along with the printed portfolio, take copies of the digital photo files on disks as well, so that galleries can keep one on file if they want to. It almost goes without saying, but don t be put off when you re turned down by art galleries there are many more artists than galleries to put them in and so some rejections are inevitable. Always ask for honest and specific feedback when it happens. Exhibitions Holding your own exhibition is a good way to get local exposure. However, it does mean outlaying some money on an exhibition space and related expenses, so you ll need to sell some paintings if you want to break even. How to hold a successful exhibition is a whole topic in itself, but briefly you should: 1) Find a suitable space. Don t rule out places like cafés and local restaurants for your first show; they can work out really well. 12

13 2) Construct a high-quality invitation featuring your work in some way, and send it to everyone who might have even a remote interest in attending the opening. anyone you don t have a physical address for. 3) Don t put anything into an exhibition that you don t want to sell. 4) Give the framing of your work careful consideration, and don t leave it until the last moment. 5) Don t go overboard, 8-12 paintings is fine for a small space. 6) Sell limited-edition prints (either giclée or less expensive four-color offset lith prints) as well as originals so that there s something for every budget. 7) Go to the opening in nice clothes and stay sober (a basic rule, but one that is often broken!). 8) During the opening and later while the exhibition is running, make a big effort to talk to people about your work, as this will make them more likely to buy. If schmoozing isn t something that comes naturally, consider getting a manager (this could be just a friend or family member) to help out and discuss the work on your behalf. Selling in local businesses Don t forget that it s not only galleries that sell art. Small businesses, particularly cafés, are also great places to sell art, particularly when you re just starting out. They get free decorations for their walls; you get exposure and the opportunity to make some sales. Perfect! All you need to do to make this happen is a portfolio of photos of your work. Then just start asking at likely places in your local area (ones with lots of blank wall space are best, of course). 13

14 Selling online Today it is, of course, silly to talk about selling anything without considering the possibility of selling online. Sites like ebay and RedBubble, or a personal website or blog can all be potential sales avenues. However, it s unlikely that you ll sell anything online except to people who already know about you from the offline world of galleries and exhibitions. Would you buy art online from someone that you d never heard of before? Probably not. Art is a visual experience, and the vast majority of potential buyers need to see a painting in the flesh before they become ready to open their wallets. While selling online may not be a great option, having an online presence a website, a blog, or both so that interested people can look you up and get in touch with you, is a very good idea. How to go about this is outside the scope of this e-book to explain, but there are mountains of information about it on the internet, or you could ask a tech-savvy friend or relative. Selling at street markets All cities and most towns have some kind of regular street market where arts and crafts are (or could be) sold, so setting up a stall at one is an obvious option for selling your art. If you decide to try selling at street markets keep in mind that people don t generally go to them with the specific intention of buying art, so you re hoping to get people buying on impulse buyers. That makes selling smaller artworks and prints the way to go, but it doesn t mean you shouldn t also have a couple of expensive pieces of art to sell: their presence will make the smaller, cheaper artworks and prints seem inexpensive in comparison. This is the same psychology that restaurants use when they put some very expensive wines on their menus to make the cheaper stuff seem like good value. 14

15 You might not make a lot of sales at street markets, but capitalize on the exposure by handing out business cards with your website or blog address printed on them Emma Ralph - All Rights Reserved. 15

16 CHAPTER 4 PRICING ART If your work is going to be sold in a gallery, then the pricing aspect can be left largely up to the gallery. That s perfect, because (presumably) you re a better artist than you are an art dealer! However if you re going to set the price yourself, you ll need to think about precisely what dollar value to choose for your paintings. So, what is your art worth? This is an age-old philosophical question. Why is the original Mona Lisa pricelessly valuable, and a forgery good enough to fool anyone not? Why is a child s scribble with crayons worthless, but the same scribble by a famous modern artist worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars? At the end of the day there s no immediately obvious utility to art you can t eat it, and it won t keep you warm (unless you burn it!) and so its worth is all about perceived value. (Of course you could say that all value is perceived, but that s a debate for a different e-book.) Presumably, you want to sell your artwork for as much money as possible. That goes double if one day you d like to live off the proceeds, but even if you like your regular job there s no reason why you shouldn t be remunerated for your artistic time and skill as handsomely as possible, if only so that you can keep buying art supplies guilt-free. So you want to sell your art for as much money as possible, but because it has no intrinsic utility, it s only worth what others are willing to pay for it. Sounds impossible? Luckily, the following rules make pricing pretty easy. 16

17 1. Start out cheap If you ve never sold a piece of your artwork before (that is, to a stranger friends and family don t count), then you need to swallow your pride and be realistic about the price you put on it. Forget about things like amount of time it took you to do it, or how good you think it is relative to someone else s work. These things are irrelevant. What you need to do is start making sales, and so you need to price your work so as to encourage that. Ok, but how do you know what realistic is? Research! Look at how other artists are pricing their work: go to local exhibitions; search online; go to street markets where artists are selling their work, and so on. Ask your friends how much they ve paid for art in the past. Pay attention, and soon you ll have a sense of how to price your art so that it sells. 2. Only differentiate your prices according to size Not only is it not a good idea to set your overall prices according to criteria like how good you think it is, or how long it took you to do, but it s also not a good idea to differentiate one painting of yours from another on these criteria. Your customers will find these distinctions arbitrary and confusing. That doesn t mean you can t differentiate your prices at all. While people often have a problem with paying more for one artwork than another because the artist says it took them longer to do, they have no such problem with paying more for a larger artwork. Go figure! Anyway the point is that you can (and should) differentiate the prices of your paintings according to how large they are. 3. Publish your prices Whatever your prices are, make them known to potential customers clearly and unambiguously. Your customers should never have to ask how much 17

18 your paintings are, as this will turn some of them off. Displaying your prices will also influence how people perceive them (in much the same way that more expensive wine is often perceived as tasting better even though it s in fact identical to a cheaper bottle). 4. Regularly raise prices by a little each time you sell a painting This is a crucial adjunct to #1, above. As long as you keep raising your prices after each sale or set of sales you ll eventually be paid very well. Also, this has the important psychological benefit of helping you to convince yourself that your work is worth a certain amount of money. If you sell some paintings for $250 each, pricing the next ones at $300 each seems entirely reasonable, both to you and to your customers. 5. Never lower your prices, and don t charge different people different prices Don t forget that this is about perceived value. You re trying to create a sort of illusion that your artwork is worth a certain amount of money. Agreeing to sell it for less just to make a sale, or offering it for less because of who s buying it ruins this illusion, and you don t want that. 6. Sell prints If you start cheap, gradually increase your prices, and everything goes well, then eventually your paintings will be selling for hefty sums. That s great, right? Well yes, but it inevitably means that some people who like your work simply won t be able to afford it, which is a missed opportunity for you. One way to get around this problem is to produce smaller (and therefore cheaper) paintings, but another way is to sell prints of your best work 18

19 alongside originals. This is easy and cheap to do, and it ensures that you don t miss a sale, even if you re not making as much money from it. Prints sell for less essentially because they re not one-of-a-kind. That s not a problem for most prospective buyers but if you want to reintroduce a feeling of exclusivity into your prints, consider producing limited edition (no more than 20) and high quality giclée prints. Of course you should also number the prints so that people have some indication that they really are part of a limited series. 19

20 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION Hopefully this e-book has made you excited about the prospect of making money from your art. Of course it s not for everyone, but selling art you ve produced yourself can be hugely rewarding a bit like seeing your children do well! Really, it s not too difficult a process, and while it might not make you rich or allow you to quit your day job, it can certainly ease the pain you otherwise feel at the art supply store check-out! Good luck. 20