What's the best way to make money selling your original paintings?
I've done some paintings, and I've been thinking how should I make the best out of my work? E-bay sounds easy, but there are so many cheap works from China and stuff, that I feel I won't get my money back. I usually put at least couple days working on a painting, with so much attention to detail, hours and hours...but I feel I can't compete with these guys who sell their stuff for 30 bucks on e-bay. Please advise me!!!!
Painting - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Get your art displayed in a legitimate art gallery.
2 :
Try Amazon. Don't be afraid to list your asking price higher than china products. If your work is that good, its worth the dollar.
3 :
Do what my ex wife did, she went to local restaurants and asked them if she could put them around their restaurant so people could see them and possibly buy them and she would give them 10 percent of whatever she sold them for and she also left her cards with the restaurant.She did OK with it also.
4 :
Getting your name out there any way you can is the most important thing you can do! Get on etsy.com and promote yourself through the forums and by meeting other members. Start a blog that features your work; it's a great way to begin building a website for free. Look for open calls for art shows, send your work out to galleries, and try to develop relationships with restaurants, coffee shops, dr offices, and other places that might be willing to display your work. Being an artist is extremely difficult and very few people are able to support themselves this way. If you love making work, then any sales are just the icing on the cake. It takes a ton of work and a long time to build an art career and there is no one magic bullet that will help you sell your work. Try out different forums and see what works best, then funnel most of your efforts in that direction. Good luck! Rose http://www.rosebriccetti.com http://effartblog.blogspot.com
5 :
Selling directly to a client/collector is the best way for an artist to make money because there is no "middle man," or consignment gallery who takes a percentage of your earnings. When selling direct, you earn 100% of the profits. Several ways for an individual artist to sell paintings directly are from home or studio, outdoor festivals & community events, tourist office, doctors waiting room, local non-chain coffee shops, and from your own artist/business website. Going it alone is not the only option when selling, you can also join up with other artists who share your style and beliefs and form an art collective together. When joining or forming a collective, the artists of the group equally split rent on a single store front, making it cheaper for each artist to market their paintings directly. It is like how musical artists join in a band for the benefit of each other. Harmony is important and it can be achieved by having artists who work in different mediums, like sculpture, painting, textiles, but all in the same style of art/music. If you exhibit your artwork in a public art gallery, sometimes they will let you sell directly from the gallery. You can also have group exhibitions at a public art gallery, which can work like a collective. Including additional items to an original painting can also help you sell. A statement or short bio, material list for art conservators, a photo of you with the artwork and where else it has been displayed, are all items you can include with a painting to add value and influence people to buy. People usually buy art sporadically and on the spot. They want to have it hanging in there home the minute they come home, so its often a good idea to have your painting ready to hang with hardware installed and included when selling it. If you use high quality materials and paints, it is good to advertise that you do. If you are serious about building a professional art career, I highly suggest that you avoid E-bay. It will devalue your artwork and respect because it has a reputation as being a graveyard/flee market of art. Aim for local juried art shows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tips on pricing... Most successful artists keep a steady price by measuring the square inches of the painting and times that by a determined price/profit based on detail. For example: .40 cents per square inch for less detailed paintings .50 cents per square inch for medium detail .60 cents per square inch for high detail A 16" x 20" of high detail = 320square inches x 0.60cents = $192.00 This formula can help you keep a steady price when it comes to different sizes. As a general rule, commissioned artwork is twice as much.
