Website, originals, prints, prizes???

[bib]

Hello all,
I am thinking about a website. I have collected some informations yet, but alltogether it is still pretty confusing at the moment

May I ask you, do you sell originals or prints? If anyone offers prints, how do you proceed? Which is the best way to digitalize and print lightfast? Does anyone use color laser printer?

By the way, how do you price your work ?

I really would appreciate all support!
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Angela

[Mado]

Is it a website that you want ? or simply a blog ? Websites are more difficult to create and in this case you must have some technical knowledge (but maybe you have it).As I've created a blog, I can at least tell you how I managed.
I typed "how to create a blog" in google, then I chose a site where they compare blogmakers.I read, did not catch everything, and finally chose the stuff that was evaluated as the simplest for beginners, and free. Well, I guess I'm not the right person to teach you something !

I can't answer your other questions : I don't offer to sell my art, neither original or giclees for the moment.Printed art is a good idea, because much cheaper for the customer, but you really need a good printer, you don't want to sell crap.And a good printer is expensive.I don't really believe in selling art on the Internet, but I might be wrong.Let's see what the others will say.

Let us know about your quest Angela and good luck !

[George924]

Hi Angela, You also might want to post this in the Art Business forum as well. There are a lot of free drag and drop website hosting sites out there, a couple of them, http://www.wix.com/, http://websitebuilder.intuit.com/ this one is only free for the first 30 days although a couple of my friends use this hosting site and they like it, http://www.000webhost.com/. These are fairly easy to manage and you do not need any knowledge of HTML or java...just drag and drop.

Several ideas for the prints, Epson makes really great archival printers now and you could go that direction, actually the printers these days are fairly affordable, it's the ink that is pricy. Look around your hometown for a good print house and see what they have to offer...there are many online printing options as well.

Laser printers could work for the client you is not worried about archival purposes and are just looking for a piece to hang for their decor at the moment...

I would highly suggest getting your work professionally scanned, it is pricey but the quality is far better than most of us could achieve....

Pricing, Depends on a lot of issues...but you have to look at what it costs you to produce and what the target market is willing to pay. Look at what others sell their work for and price it accordingly.

[RobinZ]

I sell originals. I dislike reproduction "prints", personally. I never buy them at any price.

[bib]

Thanks so much, Mado and George! There is quite a lot to consider.

Mado, your blog is great!!! Hmm, I don't know if I would know what to write everytime May I ask you, why you don't offer your beautiful art for sale?

George, thanks for the links and information. They are very helpful!
I found a printery which offers giclee prints, not too expensive. Perhaps I will give it a try. On the website of a German artist I saw that he offers a limited and signed edition of 25 ciclee prints of his drawings.
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Angela

[bib]

Originally Posted by RobinZ

I sell originals. I dislike reproduction "prints", personally. I never buy them at any price.

Robin, thanks for your comment! That's another important viewpoint and at the moment I have to find my way between all these options.
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Angela

[George924]

The only time I use prints is in promotional marketing...but for what you are producing I can see a great deal of success with your subject matter.

You have to watch out about the limited addition prints, there are requirements that one must follow to be an actual limited addition...although most artists now days do not follow the standards. Also when you go to the print house make sure you keep your artists proofs, they should be marked AP and one day they may be worth more than the prints. Limited prints is just that, limited...check into making them truly limited other wise they are just prints if you can easily reprint them.

[johanneL]

if you want to make it your full time profession, the colored pencil magazine recommends 2 books

the profitable artist
the artist guide, how to make a living doing what you love

[RobinZ]

How do you intend to promote and sell your reproductions?

There is a lot of debate about whether inkjet or "giclee prints" ought to be limited edition since it's kind of artificial since you don't have a plate that degrades. It's definitely something to research and decide how you feel about it.

[Mado]

Originally Posted by bib

Mado, your blog is great!!! Hmm, I don't know if I would know what to write everytime May I ask you, why you don't offer your beautiful art for sale?

Angela

Thanks Angela. In fact, you do not have to write something.It can be a place where you display and sell your art.

I don't sell my art because I don't really know how to price it for one thing and also because I don't know much about money transactions on the Internet, laws etc...I'm afraid I'm no business woman !

However, I consider doing some commissioned work, as I have a few demands in this field.

[bib]

Thanks very much again, George, Mado, Robin and Johanna!
Robin, I didn't know that there is a discussion about this subject. If I will decide to go further in this direction, I will write this artist and ask him about the "limited-edition-thing".
George, I talked with Canon on the phone and asked about lighfastness. They told me that a colorlaser printer - like the one we already have - with Canon laser inks would produce better results than inkjet printers. She affirmed that in their experience these colors last without fading for 20 to 30 years, because the colors were pigmented and would have a protective layer over them.
Johanna, thanks for the book tips!
Mado, thank you for the nice explanation. I will explore the blog possibilities. So we are both inexperienced in business things
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Angela