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  • #992379
    jakertanner
    Default

        Hi,

        I was wondering if anyone would share their experiences in selling their pastel paintings.

        My questions are:

        Do you frame them before they are sold? If so, how much extra do you charge?
        Do you have a formula for the size to price ratio?
        Do you charge according to your time spent? How much time SHOULD be spent in order to earn a living?
        Do you go smaller to do more paintings or larger and try and charge more?
        Do you charge more for certain subject matters: portraits versus landscapes?
        What online resources are best to sell pastels?
        Do I absolutely need a dedicated studio to work out of?

        I know it’s a lot of questions, and feel free to answer as many or all. The reason I ask is because I have to at this point in time, consider going all in, or keep it as a hobby. Would love to hear from those who paint pastels for a living, past or present.

        Thanks for sharing.

        Pastels rule!!,

        :music: Jake

        #1213636

        hello jakertanner, how are your artistic endeavors going? hopefully well.

        your questions are interesting. i believe that there is actually a forum just for selling art. talking about selling art, questions about selling art, etc.

        yes framing pastel works is quite common. matte under glass is common. you charge the cost nd Labour of the framing of course.

        it is hard to have a formula for pricing wen it comes to soft dry pastel because our medium makes it easy to zoom thru a painting quite quickly… a set price for each size of paper or support would be better but also too rigid for most. maybe a size to price guide line but certainly not a set rule feel me? you’d also have to factor in price of materials and time spent . and complexity of subject matter.

        in order to earn a living as an artist with no other side job in today’s economy you better pay that you’ll be recognized by a famous art promoter and critic… you’ll have to spend much of your time each and every day painting intricate subjects. location and exposure to the buyer is also a huge factor. if your creating your painting s in your basement then your not getting much exposure but if your painting say at the gates of Disneyland your going to get tons of exposure… you need to promote yourself as much as possible, an artist in today’s economy is a promoter of their art first and artist second…kind of…lol. I’m sure Robert will love replying to this thread to help you out further. he can answer with personal experience.

        you certainly do not need a dedicated studio to create your artwork buddy… you just need pastels, ground, and people willing to purchase these things. lol.

        so that’s what I’ve got. far as pricing for landscapes versus portraits… it depends more on which you spend more time . on and which you add more detail to.. pricing is mainly up to you. and what you think your work is worth… also, what the consumer believes your art is worth. if you can sell your work for 3k then sell it for 3k. if your list it for 3k and no one is buying your artwork you need to reevaluate what that particular piece is worth. you’ll have people offering you much less than what you must your work for and it’ll be up to you to decide whether or not it’s worth it to you to allow them to purchase it for that price or not….

        one thing you can do is adjust your prices to what other artists are selling their art for in your area, or what artists of similar skill level are selling their work for online. your best bet is to create an online portfolio and also register for websites where you can sell artwork like etsy and redbubble and other sites, like eBay.

        Good luck and listen to what the artists below me are about to say because they are more experienced than me but.. i hope I’ve helped to the Best of my knowledge and ability. Good luck selling your artwork buddy boy.

        #1213645
        jakertanner
        Default

            Thanks for hour reply. I know about selling yourself as an artist because my wife does the same for her singer/songwriter career. I will eventually set up a small site and blog…currently, we do have an stay shop, so I plan on using that. To market them, just not sure how to marke the stay shop itself to draw customers there…lol

            I know pricing is very subjective and tricky…do I under sell or over sell? Is an artist’s name worth more than their talent? If a known pastelist isn’t as talented, will they sell more just because they’ve had some exposure, or are collectors more interested in the quality? I guess this too is a subjective world.

            Lots of good points in your post, appreciate it!

            Pastels rule!!,

            :music: Jake

            #1213605
            robertsloan2
            Default

                Pricing is something that I do by looking at the venue where I’m going to sell, especially at artists in my skill level and similar subjects. Pricing by size according to a formula is one way of doing it, but since most artists price by size you can look at their size-price charts on their website and not have to calculate.

                Going hobby to full time is huge. It’s a big leap, more so if you have a high standard of living and expenses. Going part time and continuing to do other work on the side helps. Pushing the hobby sales to bring in more is a stage along the road – unless you’re doing what I did to go pro.

                I had been getting in about $5,000 a year on it as a hobby so when I lost a job only a month after I got it, I decided to give living on it a try. I cut expenses drastically. That is the big thing. Plan for the worst if you’re going to go full time.

                Frame pieces that are going to be sold in a gallery, unless the gallery does the framing. Sometimes they do. Quote a price twice what you actually want for the art because a gallery marks up by at least 50% – this is what a gallery owner actually suggested. It does not hurt sales. People expect art in galleries to be expensive. If you get a gallery, using the same pricing outside it gives you a bigger percent of the same high prices and demonstrates to buyers that your art is that good.

                Buyers have no idea what a good price or a bargain is either. They react badly to low low prices because that looks like you’re selling rejects or not as good. Don’t do that to yourself. Average to the venue is what to do, and web sales with gallery representation you don’t want to undersell your gallery.

                For other venues like the French Quarter or Fisherman’s Wharf street sale type of thing, or art fairs or art events, frames may be optional. A good professional presentation is to mat the art to a standard frame size, cut a nice foam core backing board and then put that package in an archival ClearBag or some other brand of clear art bags to fit it. Use archival rag mat. Buyers can hang it as is temporarily, can take it home safely and can look through paintings in a prints rack as well as what goes on display.

                Painting outdoors in high traffic locations will get commissions. People who like it may buy it off the easel or contact you. Get business cards, preferably with an image of your art on one side, either a good detail of a painting or the whole painting with your email and stuff in white over the digital image. You can get blank business cards to print them out on your printer, and software to design them, or get a print shop to do it.

                You don’t need a dedicated studio. If you have one it’s a tax deduction. Keep track of all business expenses meticulously, keep receipts and mileage records. My daughter, a farrier, has been self employed at several different things and now follows her heart working with horses. She gets several thousand dollars a year in tax she doesn’t have to pay by counting her mileage on every trip that has to do with horses. For you this includes art fairs, transporting art to them, shipping expenses, hotels to stay during art trips, meals on the road to art trips, food while you are out selling at the art fair – art fairs are a possible venue in person if you have a good vehicle and the physical mobility to do that.

                It takes about a year to work out a good circuit, at least, because with the art fairs thing and seasonality you have travel and distance but at the end is a market where people come specifically to buy art. Art & Craft Fairs too. It’s better if there are other artists.

                Some subjects sell better than others. In landscapes, LOCAL landscapes sell best. Landmarks and scenic areas around where you live (or where the fair is) will move faster. People live there and love the place or go there and want to remember it.

                Live frugally. Trade for services and goods with locals whenever you can, do a good job on their commissions and they are also word of mouth to help you thrive. It’s very important to do commissions on time and well. Schedule them and assume that it will take three times longer than you think it will to finish the project. That’s the guesstimate that a corsetier gave me for scheduling any project. Things happen. They don’t show up for the portrait sittings or someone gets sick or you get sick or some other deadline is past and you need to finish that before you do theirs – life happens. 3x needed time is a good estimate to cover contingencies and get caught up when that happens. Most people are way too optimistic in scheduling even after years of experience.

                I don’t charge according to time spent. Some of my best paintings happened in ridiculously short times on good days when I was inspired. I’d have to charge less for Pacific Wave than for some flop I sweated over and scraped and reworked in order to salvage it and make it decent. Charge by size and medium. Specifically, charge more for oil paintings (and acrylics that look like oils or acrylic under oils) and if you do it, for Prismacolor realism. Other than that, don’t bother. But focus on pastels, as they give the best return for hours spent painting.

                When a commission client wants you to do the framing, check costs and add in your labor when pricing. You can do the mat cutting and buy a frame and put it together professionally but your time is worth a lot. Your time at things like extra appointments and revisions is worth a lot. You’re selling very skilled professional work. You want $20 to $25 an hour for things that take you away from painting.

                I don’t think you need to paint intricate subjects, though that’s one way to grab the buyer’s eye. Paint what you do well and you may be able to reach them with powerful, painterly and simplified subjects. It’s a matter of how you do it and how you present your art. Painting large does help, even though I can’t do that any more.

                If you paint small you will create more works. I’m considering using Dailypainters dot com for mine because I’m already moving in a Karen Margulis direction – online sales, lots of little paintings and write a lot about art, create a big web presence. The markets you use will help to define what you do and whether you should paint large or small. Some markets are cost effective. Others are but only after building them up. Others are right from the get-go. Gallery representation creates a good reputation but sales may be slow, it depends on that gallery’s success at selling.

                I charge more on commissions if I don’t like the subject. My daughter pointed out to me that all farriers also have a “jerk fee” (polite term) for problem clients who are just annoying people, charge enough extra to make it worthwhile. There are some people who are so annoying as customers that even with the jerk fee, they eat too much of your time and leave you too depressed to paint afterward. Cut bait on those, don’t work for them again. Charge extra for changes once you begin if it’s big. Too many changes just don’t do any more. I learned this one the hard way when a commission that paid one month’s rent took three months to complete and almost left me homeless before I gave up and said “No, I can’t do any more to it, it’s done.”

                Commissions are easier to get than other forms of sales. People like to get an idea and be able to get the painting done to order the way they want it, as if they had your skills. Most are easy to work with and thrilled to see it. Once in a blue moon you get someone like the foregoing and then you have to set a boundary of how far you’d go to please them. More than one or two rounds, it is not likely to work with the next changes either.

                If you are already an eBAy seller for other items, selling art on eBay can be a fast moving high volume venue, very good for moving cards and prints as well as originals. I haven’t sold many larger paintings there but have moved some medium size ones when I did them. Must have some positive feedback to start. Never leave negative feedback on anyone, ever, retaliatory negatives can destroy anyone no matter what they did to deserve it. Resolve problems by emails and messages. Socialize on eBay and post in the member groups, that helps sales, the buyers hang out in the artist groups and sometimes are other artists. Beware buying so much art it soaks your income, only spend your budgeted spending money.

                Live frugally. What you get instead of lots of money at other work is lots of freedom to decide what you’re going to do now, to try new things, to do what you want and wear what you like and go where you like. Reduce eating out. Reduce clothing expenses and choose classics that wear well and last a good long time. Don’t buy a lot of junk. Sell off all junk you do have around on eBay to get a cushion. Keep useful resources and use them. Eating at home is worth the trouble. Cook a large multi-meal recipe and freeze some of it for later or stash in the fridge for several days eating. Lots of ways to lower expenses and every time you do, the pressure on your sales lightens.

                If you have some savings before making the plunge, really try to live frugal and focus most spending on the business. Maintenance is cheaper than repairs though, for things like the car. Think of using multiple venues.

                You can sell the print rights to art to card and calendar companies and not even sell the original to them, sell it to another buyer. This is another good thing and it can increase your visibility. Limited edition art prints of your best works are also cost effective investments. People who can’t afford the painting will buy them. Signed and numbered limited editions done on archival materials with archival inks are great to get a second harvest from that one piece that everyone loves.

                Enter contests. Anything that wins a contest is probably your best choice to do prints of as you build your prints stock.

                And here is a weird little thing about it that holds true for all self employment. Set a minimum number of hours a week to spend working and log those hours! It’s okay to go over that, up to a certain point, especially in the first year or two. But set a maximum too because peak efforts are not sustainable over the long haul. If I could spend 40 hours a week at my art I would have no question of being able to support myself on sales, I’ve always gotten good sales when I had good art and was doing well physically. What laid me low was disability.

                Some of my choices are shaped by those disabilities. Large paintings may have been more cost effective for someone who can do them – if you work fast and make broad painterly strokes you can do more expensive works in the same amount of time as fewer small works.

                For myself I am considering a price bump between sketches and plein air on one level, studio paintings that are larger and more layered another. Or I’ll just go by size and let the little swift sketches that sell well carry the time I put in on layered studio painting. It’s decisions like this that come up and have to be answered by you on the spot looking at your actual buyers and venues and where you live and expenses and ability physical and emotional.

                You must have time off for other things you enjoy too. You must give some painting time to things that aren’t for sale, or there’s burnout and then you can’t paint as well. This is also where prints sales are good, they can carry you through lulls and periods of growth when you don’t do as many salable works or are adding a new subject that may not be taking off etc.

                It’s cumulative. It takes time to build up. The better your resources and skills going in, the better. But it absolutely takes being able to be decisive, take charge, choose those things after researching and give your choices an honest try before changing them. I used to do large paintings on velour but I sold only one, four of them got stolen by a gallery that closed and didn’t tell me they did, so it was months afterward that I found out they were gone and something else was at that address. I blame my mobility problems for that because I’d have checked on them more often if I wasn’t sick.

                I ran into a number of problems due to those mobility problems and other health issues that only made sense later. But whenever a market wasn’t supporting me, I looked around for one that would and changed direction. Markets rise and fall, there are flush times in which to save or invest in permanent improvements or both and lean times when no one’s got the money to vacation or buy art.

                Online seems a bit less seasonal and blogging regularly really helps that. Will help no matter your venue.

                All online venues are useful for some painters and less so for others. Finding the one that’s right for you is trial and error, an advantage of doing lots of paintings is you can try more than one and find out later what’s really pulling its weight. The dailypainters site charges $20 a month and seems to work for Karen Margulis but might not be worth that much money. I’ll find out when I try it, the idea makes sense but I could just as easily link to ebay listings as another daily painter does. I fit that category because I work small. If you can paint large something else may really work.

                Good luck on it. I’d say it’s worth doing and if you’re in that “unemployed” situation looking for a job you can’t get fired from, it sure beats flipping burgers a whole lot more. Just plunge in, live frugal and really pay attention to expenses and what’s cost effective.


                Robert A. Sloan, proud member of the Oil Pastel Society
                Site owner, artist and writer of http://www.explore-oil-pastels-with-robert-sloan.com
                blogs: Rob's Art Lessons and Rob's Daily Painting

                #1213601
                bnoonan
                Default

                    Robert – you are amazing!!! Jake, he’s got a great handle on this. I’ve been doing this for years and most of this is so subjective….

                    prices
                    buyers
                    taste
                    size
                    subject matter

                    Find a unique niche and let your passion fly!

                    Barb

                    [FONT=Palatino Linotype]Do what you love, love what you do!

                    www.MorninNoonanNight.com

                    #1213623
                    Barbara WC
                    Default

                        Jake-

                        I am active in two local artist societies and regularly show my work, and sell some of it. Most of my acquaintances in the area are artists, some I interact with weekly at portrait sessions.

                        There are three categories of artists that seem to sell their work by me.

                        1. Artists like me, who have a spouse or retirement income (like social security income) to support their hobby and pay the actual household bills. The paintings of mine that have sold helps with supplies, but has not gotten to the point that it even pays for all of my yearly supplies or other expenses, including entry fees into shows. Most of my artists friends are in this category. I’ve been showing my work for 6 years in juried shows, but only sold my first painting 3 years ago… At this level, it would be hard to justify a business to the IRS I think…

                        2. Artists that sell their work, but hold down a second job because their art selling isn’t enough to pay supplies and household bills. Many great artists at this level, but it’s hard to make a living as an artist…

                        3. The truly independent artists who’s art generates enough income for them to live a life as an artist. The people in my area that are lucky to live this lifestyle have several things in common. They all teach. They all are very active in the local art community, and have gained a reputation over years of community involvement. They attend local art fairs, they have open studios twice a year, many give demos at the local independent art store. Most have their own studio, as much to paint in I think, as for “exposure” and advertising. I’ve had people interested in my art ask e if I have a studio that they can come and visit, and I have to say no- I work out of an art room at home. Artists in my area in this type of position command the highest price for their art, as much for the name as the art I think. Many of these artists have spent years building up their reputation. Some have great online presence. All of them at this level that I know, run their art as a business (I don’t know if all do, but many of them that I know do).

                        Get out to your local galleries and art shows and see what type of art is out there, look at prices.

                        Commission work is hard- I’ve considered commission portrait work, but have decided against it. I’ve talked to two other portrait artists in my area. Both have big names here- both have studios filled with art that their clients rejected. They’ve had to redo paintings according to client expectations. They have to be ready to accept only the deposit paid no matter how much work they’ve already done, if the client backs out. I personally don’t want to work this way.

                        In my area, oil paintings command the highest price, pastel is right in the middle of the pack.

                        Finally, here is a link to the IRS that you should check out. http://www.irs.gov/uac/Business-or-Hobby%3F-Answer-Has-Implications-for-Deductions. I only know about this because in my early 20’s, I started a “crafting” business, did big craft shows, making jewelry. My didn’t make a profit after 3 years- I had to close as I didn’t see making a profit in the next two years. For me personally, I should have started as a hobby first, built up my skills and client base, then started a business. At the time, I was also working full-time.

                        good luck!

                        #1213646
                        jakertanner
                        Default

                            Thank you everyone for your fantastic replies. Here is my situation at the moment. I have a family, 3 kids, 2 teens and one special needs 5 yr old. We move around, or have moved around a lot, and we are looking to move to Nevada probably within a month or so, and I wanted to get into a profession that I can do from anywhere. My wife works as a virtual assistant so she is covered, and I work as an audio engineer, but since things are slow in this business, I figured I would try and fall back onto the talent and passion that I have in art. I recently found pastels as a medium, and charcoal…those are the two that I am going to stick with.

                            I have a lot of great information from the above posts to consider. We live as frugal as possible anyway, so no stranger there..lol

                            I have considered the street portrait artist route, but finding a location around where I live, is pretty hard…hopefully it will change when we move to the Vegas area.

                            I was also wondering if landscape paintings need to be of actual places, or can they be imaginative or a combination of places to be appreciated. Robert mentioned local scenery, which is cool, but I like to paint from people’s vacation pictures, and some are quite nice, and I forget where they are…lol BTW, I always get the owner’s permission to paint their picture.

                            It is a little discouraging that a great painting alone isn’t enough to really make a living…I would have to build up a name for myself with galleries and collectors for the real sustainable money to roll in. Perhaps if I split my time between audio and painting, in a few years I can make it happen.

                            Thank you so much for the replies. I would still love to hear from a full timer if there’s anyone out there…lol Past or present..Robert, I know you were, and I value your input greatly, as I do everyones.

                            Pastels rule!!,

                            :music: Jake

                            #1213639
                            Sarah
                            Default

                                I am sorta a full timer, but most of my income is from sculpture, the painting brings in very little. I am 47 now and have been living off my art since I was 28. I started out casting my work in bronze, and worked at a foundry so I could afford to have my work cast. I was in a lot of shows, in art societies, in galleries, but never made enough to live on full time. Until I was reminded of a niche hobby market for resin cast horse sculpture. Bingo! Living made, sometimes a very comfortable living. Its all done in house and sales are through my website and various hobby sales sites. I know not everyone is willing to explore niche markets, but it worked for me. I had people say to me ‘but your work DESERVES to be in bronze” and I would reply “I deserve to make a living”.

                                My husband and I don’t have children, we don’t have vehicle payments, we don’t have cable TV, we don’t go out to eat. We go hunting to put meat on the table, we cut firewood, I cook from scratch, we both work from home so there is minimal driving. Still, life is expensive, but we are making it work. I enjoy painting more than sculpting at this point, and fortunately for me I have built my sculpture business to the point that I have lots of free time to persue painting :) I think I might be in some other sort of category…..an artist that sells a few paintings but has another art business that pays the bills? We don’t live high on the hog, not like we used to, but we get by. I enjoy having the freedom more than I would enjoy things or cable TV. Art is a tough business.

                                Edit: I thought of more stuff. All my art stuff is run together under the same business name, the sculpture business that makes the money. So even if I don’t sell a lot of paintings the art business as a whole makes money, so all my pastel supplies are deductible. I started out selling paintings mostly to my hobby clients, but over time it has branched out to all sorts of people. You just don’t know who will want to buy a painting, so I try to always be friendly, especially online in places like FB. I sold a painting to the mother of someone I met on a group vacation, she sent me a FB request and two years later bought a paintings :) I have sold two paintings right here to WC pastel peeps :) I have someone else interested in one right now that runs an organization that I donated a print to.

                                I was eavesdropping at a gallery opening last summer. The juror/judge for the show was young and very successful oil painter Joshua Bean. A friend was telling him that some of the other arts center members were peeved that he brought some of his own paintings to sell and that they were priced lower than some of their paintings. All his paintings sold. He told my friend that if you have paintings laying around then you are asking too much, that if they felt upset that their paintings didn’t sell they shouldn’t be asking so much. He wants his paintings to fly out the door. He said he feels motivated when things sell fast and he wants to paint even more. I know we can’t all be Joshua Beans, or who ever else sells all the time and paints really fast, we don’t all have the connections (yet!) but I liked his advice.

                                sarahrosefineart.com

                                #1213614
                                Ron
                                Default

                                    Interesting discussion.

                                    Sarah– I enjoyed your post and story

                                    Jake– I am similar to you in several regards. I too, have wife and kids. 2 teenagers that are involved in lots of activities. I am self employed in construction trades (see my username). I have lived most of life getting no paid vacations, income varies every month, no sick pay, no pension, etc. If you were full time artist, you need to be prepared for these things, or have your wife’s job provide insurance and benefits. As for me: Most of “good” paintings have sold privately or from shows, Im running out of inventory…good problem to have. But I cannot quit my day job, no way, not now. And so for now, Im concentrating on getting my finished painting inventory built back up. But only time available to do that is at night after exhausting days at work. Can be hard to stay productive. But, its a fun journey!

                                    #1213658
                                    Norma46
                                    Default

                                        Wow. I learned a lot from this thread.
                                        Norma

                                        #1213624
                                        Barbara WC
                                        Default

                                            Ron- I probably haven’t sold as much work as you have, but have a current, similar dilemma. I was recently invited to apply to have my first solo show at a local venue. Very tempting. But the space is large, and it would require me to have at least 30 framed 12″x16″ paintings (my “normal” size) to fill the space. I don’t currently have 30 “good” enough pieces right now that size to go into frames- and not ready to drop $2,000 on framing (which I do myself). Right now I am selling work in “group” shows with the local art societies I belong to, and never have more than 3 pieces in a show…

                                            Jake- I think you are rather new to pastel? You might want to spend your time building up a “portfolio” of pastel work. No matter where you eventually end up selling, people will want to see your work. Galleries or small local venues (restaurants and such) want portfolios. Online selling, even street art- customers will want to see your work. Customers for commission work, no matter the subject, will want samples for certain.

                                            Handmade art has a lot of competition when people can buy cheap reproductions easily.

                                            The art market fluctuates with the economy too, people don’t want to spend money on art when the economy is in a down turn, we had a couple of local galleries close a few years ago, art sales have been stagnant since 2008, and only recently have sales started again.

                                            There is a reason the term “starving artist” exists.

                                            Sarah is proof that those who can find a “niche” market probably have the greatest chance of success, or at least a second income that can pay the bills during times you don’t bring in enough to cover expenses.

                                            I don’t want to discourage you from trying to pursue an art endeavor, but I didn’t realize how hard the life of an artist is until I started to get to know some of the local artists that are trying to support themselves on their art. I am very fortunate to have a spouse that can afford our bills so I can pursue my art passion…

                                            #1213637

                                            so glad to see that Robert and the other great artists we have here in the dusty forums were gracious enough to stop by! i knew they wouldn’t let you down. i learned much of what i know about selling art, my art, from Robert’s oil pastel website. it is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to sell their artwork. other than Robert, I’ve learned a lot by talking to local artists at my local gallery, and reading about the trade from artists online on forums like wet canvas and concept art dot org… that is another great website for learning all about concept art and marketing yourself as an artist, they just market themselves to video game developers rather than individual buyers.

                                            I’m glad your getting your answers because after going back to read what i wrote you, i feel sorry for being so sloppy with my writing. My bad. definitely go give Roberts website a look… idk if he mentioned it, but, it has all we’ve said in this thread in a very neat and orderly set of paragraphs. enjoy mate.

                                            #1213647
                                            jakertanner
                                            Default

                                                I am sorta a full timer, but most of my income is from sculpture, the painting brings in very little. I am 47 now and have been living off my art since I was 28. I started out casting my work in bronze, and worked at a foundry so I could afford to have my work cast. I was in a lot of shows, in art societies, in galleries, but never made enough to live on full time. Until I was reminded of a niche hobby market for resin cast horse sculpture. Bingo! Living made, sometimes a very comfortable living. Its all done in house and sales are through my website and various hobby sales sites. I know not everyone is willing to explore niche markets, but it worked for me. I had people say to me ‘but your work DESERVES to be in bronze” and I would reply “I deserve to make a living”.

                                                My husband and I don’t have children, we don’t have vehicle payments, we don’t have cable TV, we don’t go out to eat. We go hunting to put meat on the table, we cut firewood, I cook from scratch, we both work from home so there is minimal driving. Still, life is expensive, but we are making it work. I enjoy painting more than sculpting at this point, and fortunately for me I have built my sculpture business to the point that I have lots of free time to persue painting :) I think I might be in some other sort of category…..an artist that sells a few paintings but has another art business that pays the bills? We don’t live high on the hog, not like we used to, but we get by. I enjoy having the freedom more than I would enjoy things or cable TV. Art is a tough business.

                                                Edit: I thought of more stuff. All my art stuff is run together under the same business name, the sculpture business that makes the money. So even if I don’t sell a lot of paintings the art business as a whole makes money, so all my pastel supplies are deductible. I started out selling paintings mostly to my hobby clients, but over time it has branched out to all sorts of people. You just don’t know who will want to buy a painting, so I try to always be friendly, especially online in places like FB. I sold a painting to the mother of someone I met on a group vacation, she sent me a FB request and two years later bought a paintings :) I have sold two paintings right here to WC pastel peeps :) I have someone else interested in one right now that runs an organization that I donated a print to.

                                                I was eavesdropping at a gallery opening last summer. The juror/judge for the show was young and very successful oil painter Joshua Bean. A friend was telling him that some of the other arts center members were peeved that he brought some of his own paintings to sell and that they were priced lower than some of their paintings. All his paintings sold. He told my friend that if you have paintings laying around then you are asking too much, that if they felt upset that their paintings didn’t sell they shouldn’t be asking so much. He wants his paintings to fly out the door. He said he feels motivated when things sell fast and he wants to paint even more. I know we can’t all be Joshua Beans, or who ever else sells all the time and paints really fast, we don’t all have the connections (yet!) but I liked his advice.

                                                Wow Sarah, great story. I keep reading that pricing too low, sets a tone for your paintings and then will be hard to charge more, but I come from a volume mentality…make a lot, sell cheap, make more money. Not sacrificing quality of work, but maybe work smaller to knock out more art?

                                                I love that you sculpt as well…reminds me of the great artists of our past. I would love to try it someday.

                                                I like the niche market thing, and I think I found something similar..but subject wise…I’d like to make more spiritual art (not religious), more healing, aura, even pagan images…going to spiritual retreats, and having my wife be a psychic reader, I see the potential there..not a lot of original art, and certainly no pastels in that market. Perhaps making some art for consignment at local shops.

                                                Thanks for your insights.

                                                Pastels rule!!,

                                                :music: Jake

                                                #1213648
                                                jakertanner
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                                                    Interesting discussion.

                                                    [B]Sarah[/B]– I enjoyed your post and story

                                                    [B]Jake[/B]– I am similar to you in several regards. I too, have wife and kids. 2 teenagers that are involved in lots of activities. I am self employed in construction trades (see my username). I have lived most of life getting no paid vacations, income varies every month, no sick pay, no pension, etc. If you were full time artist, you need to be prepared for these things, or have your wife’s job provide insurance and benefits. As for me: Most of “good” paintings have sold privately or from shows, Im running out of inventory…good problem to have. [U]But I cannot quit my day job, no way, not now. [/U]And so for now, Im concentrating on getting my finished painting inventory built back up. But only time available to do that is at night after exhausting days at work. Can be hard to stay productive. But, its a fun journey!

                                                    I can relate to never getting away or having enough time to yourself. We hope this move to Nevada will help us live a bit more free and with less money. Perhaps a better opportunity to sell local landscapes.

                                                    Pastels rule!!,

                                                    :music: Jake

                                                    #1213649
                                                    jakertanner
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                                                        Barbara, I am new to pastels as a medium. I am working on getting some “good” samples together while still learning..I know, not a great idea. I don’t have dreams of grander, but I know with a little hard work, i can at least develop a good supplement to my audio work.

                                                        being a musician as well, I am no stranger to the “starving musician”, phrase either…lol so I am prepared to struggle, and create art little by little and one day maybe, live solely on art.

                                                        wakeup&create: Thanks for the direct to Robert’s site. Robert and I have exchanged many PMs in the past as well, and I know how knowledgeable he is…I will give his site another once over for sure.

                                                        I may need to pick the brain of my ex-uncle…(divorced my aunt but still a family friend). His name is Gary T. Erbe..he paints trompe L’oeil, and his work is commissioned by some of the top galleries in the world. Kind of forgot about him as a resource until reading everyone’s replies.

                                                        Also, no worries, I didn’t feel you were sloppy at all. I welcome all comments, no matter what, I feel I can always learn something.

                                                        Pastels rule!!,

                                                        :music: Jake

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