I need help how to sell my art?

[axel9546]

Hi guys!
Some people that i know (friends, my family, friends of froends) are commissioning me some portrait commission since 3/4 months.
They are telling me i should sell my art, but personally i dont know where to start efficiently
I ve started an ig page (also Twitter and other social media) where i post my drawings
Ive tought i may need a website with a store, to put my drawings on it, and then let people buy. I dont know if its the right way, but i would like to make my art a full time passion to a full time hobby! Trust me i do not want to earn a milion, but do what i love without to have working part time, because of that i cant study more, express at the best my feel to the paper, no time for Plein air or investigation.
How i could start to make money to sustain my art :)?
Thanks !

[CarlyHardy]

I post some of my artwork on ETSY.com. You might want to check that out. Also if you’re on FaceBook, set up an art page and invite all your friends to “like” it. I post new items for sale on my FB page. If a website is too expensive or too difficult, begin with a blog. You can post pics, sell your art, make it personal and have friends sign up.

Get business cards with your commission work and contact info. Give these to everyone!

Getting started selling can seem like a big step…but taking it one step at a time will give you experience and open other doors.

Carly's Website
Abstract Color, Carly's Blog
My Etsy Shop

[axel9546]

I post some of my artwork on ETSY.com. You might want to check that out. Also if you’re on FaceBook, set up an art page and invite all your friends to “like” it. I post new items for sale on my FB page. If a website is too expensive or too difficult, begin with a blog. You can post pics, sell your art, make it personal and have friends sign up.

Get business cards with your commission work and contact info. Give these to everyone!

Getting started selling can seem like a big step…but taking it one step at a time will give you experience and open other doors.

Thanks so much!
Do you know if i can make busines card, but im still working at a fast food, so im a normal guy i dont have any business account or business name etc etc. Can i still sell on etsy or tell people my business cards

What i do is mostly charcoal portraits, size 9×12 inch or 11x14inches.

[CarlyHardy]

You do not have to have a business account to sell your art. Your name can be your business name. On ETSY you open a shop which can be “your name art” or any other name you want to give it. A business card is just your way on introduction to what you have to offer as an artist. It can be as simple as
“your name”
“your phone #”
“and what type commissions you offer”

Keep it simple!
carly

Carly's Website
Abstract Color, Carly's Blog
My Etsy Shop

[axel9546]

You do not have to have a business account to sell your art. Your name can be your business name. On ETSY you open a shop which can be “your name art” or any other name you want to give it. A business card is just your way on introduction to what you have to offer as an artist. It can be as simple as
“your name”
“your phone #”
“and what type commissions you offer”

Keep it simple!
carly

Thanks! Etsy ask me a business paypal or stripe account, that is the problem

[falcon012]

Fine Art America is a nice way for a new artist to sell work. Check it out.

Website: Mark Karvon Art Studios
Blog: Mark Karvon Studios
Facebook: Mark Karvon Studios

[axel9546]

Fine Art America is a nice way for a new artist to sell work. Check it out.

Tha ks i will try!!

[Use Her Name]

How to sell your art is one of the “eternal questions” asked by artists. You really need to go into “can I live on what I make from my art?” Obviously, if you make $500 per year, you cannot, even though making $500 is nice and all. Where I live, in order to be super poor you need to make about $20K per year. That does not include the amount that you must pay for overhead, supplies and so on. So the figuring becomes “how much do I need to make 1) to live on, and, 2) to maintain my art business so I can continue making money.

Another calculation is the cost of things: How much money do you need to pay, and how much money are you getting back. If you are making 50$ per piece of art, and must make $20K, you need to sell, 400 pieces of art per year. More actually because taxes and overhead also come out of that.

So, what that means is you must make and somehow sell about 34 pieces per month at 50$ each.

That means you need to make over 1 piece per day. That means it must be a simple piece because you need to also do other things (live a life, create web pages etc).

Just putting your work on FAA does not mean you will sell it.

Other alternatives to this lifestyle are to make pieces that cost more money, but then, you need a different kind of customer for each price category that you want to sell in. For instance, a somewhat poor person who loves are might be able to buy a 50$ piece (after saving pennies), but a rich person would be the target if you want to sell a piece that goes for $50,000.00. So how do you attract these rich people? They will be looking for qualifications, previous sales, maybe a Pd.D. kind of college degree. And mostly they want re-sale value because they may be laundering money, or stowing it in your art and hope to sell it later for $100,000. (of which you will not make a dime).

Etcetera. That is why it is so hard to answer the question.

No longer a member of WC. Bye.

[Keith Russell]

The question that most artists fail to ask is, “How can I sell my work…to whom?”

I’ve exhibited my work at outdoor shows in major US cities with verified attendance of 150,000 people, and done “OK”.

I’ve exhibited my work at science fiction conventions with less than 300 attendees, and done “well”.

I would rather show my work to a couple dozen people who I know collect (not just “like”: there is a huge difference between people who ‘like’ a certain type of art, and people who actively purchase it. The difference is being able to make a living, or not) the sort of thing I do, than 100,000 random people pulled from “the general public”.

(At this time, I don’t exhibit in galleries. I have–but, again, galleries specialize, and I have yet to find a gallery that has a clientele that will support what I do. Just having my work in a gallery, isn’t worth it.)

The best landscape oil painter in the world isn’t going to sell well, at a gallery whose top clients collect black-and-white photography, or oil portraits, or contemporary abstracts, etc.

Simple as that.

Forcing the waveform to collapse for two decades...
http://www.syntheticskystudios.com
Hilliard Gallery, Kansas City, "Small Works", December 2019

[axel9546]

[COLOR=”Teal]The question that most artists fail to ask is, “How can I sell my work…to [I]whom[/I]?”

I’ve exhibited my work at outdoor shows in major US cities with verified attendance of 150,000 people, and done “OK”.

I’ve exhibited my work at science fiction conventions with less than 300 attendees, and done “well”.

I would rather show my work to a couple dozen people who I know collect (not just “like”: there is a huge difference between people who ‘like’ a certain type of art, and people who actively purchase it. The difference is being able to make a living, or not) the sort of thing I do, than 100,000 random people pulled from “the general public”.

(At this time, I don’t exhibit in galleries. I have–but, again, galleries specialize, and I have yet to find a gallery that has a clientele that will support what I do. Just having my work in a gallery, isn’t worth it.)

The best landscape oil painter in the world isn’t going to sell well, at a gallery whose top clients collect black-and-white photography, or oil portraits, or contemporary abstracts, etc.

Simple as that.
[/COLOR]

Do you know if to approach a gallery there are some formal method? I know zero.
Maybe i can just go to the gallery, hang with the director and show my works then how it works?
Does the gallery pay u only when the artwork is sold?

[Michael Lion]

Do you know if to approach a gallery there are some formal method? I know zero.
Maybe i can just go to the gallery, hang with the director and show my works then how it works?
Does the gallery pay u only when the artwork is sold?

You have to be a salesman type of person.

[Robin]

Even then, your work has to “fit” the gallery.

Robin

[Robin]

I don’t think gallery directors hang with strangers, but might accept a very polished package and a friendly handshake.

If they are interested, they will contact you. I’ve heard of odd occasions of artists getting into a show at the very last minute when someone scheduled ditched. Of course, THEY were ready to go and drop off immediately.

Robin

[yuliart]

Thanks! Etsy ask me a business paypal or stripe account, that is the problem

Etsy accepts credit cards now, although I have Paypal, but I don’t think it’s required anymore. Just don’t sign on for automatic payment.
They had some problems recently. And you have to pay 20c for 4 month for every listing.
What is a stripe account you are referring to?

Fine Art America doesn’t sell originals, only prints and products, and very saturated. Doesn’t hurt to try though – 24 listings for free, and $30/year if you have more. It’s a steal. Just have to market it very hard.
I sell very sporadically there, I have around 300 listings.

In addition to very nice advices given here there is a nice site to sell if you paint often and more or less realistic – DPW (Dailypaintworks), it cost $12.95/month, the also offer websites with you domain if you want. I found that for me it’s easier to get some views, every time you list an artwork, you are on their front page. When I have my own website from scratch, I couldn’t lift it from the ground, I am not good at it.

And I think it’s a really great advice CarlyHardy gave – keep it simple. You can literally stand on a corner of a farmer market with your art (one my friend, and artist with diploma , not a young guy, just does that, and sells his nice paintings really fast).

Good luck! :thumbsup: And keep your day job.

Yulia
______________________
https://www.yuliakazansky.com

[Author]

Posts