How to Sell My Paintings and Drawings?

Q.

I am a 21 year old housewife living in Norfolk. I am thinking of painting/drawing watercolour, pastel and pencil realism artwork and selling it for a living. I would be doing pictures of shooting dogs and game animals. With one image I would be creating a pencil drawing, a pastel drawing, and a watercolour painting. Once I have a good selection of artwork I am not sure how to sell it, and how much to sell it for and was wondering if you could help me. Also should I sell the originals or do prints and keep the originals?

A.

The first and most important thing you need to do is some thorough market research. You must establish there is a solid and large enough audience for your work, where the market is and how they like to buy their art.

Market Research

Start by finding similar examples to your art and tracking down outlets for the work. You may find examples listed on online auction sites, at craft fairs or galleries. Don’t be afraid to ask fellow artists questions. Once you have identified your market, you have some idea of the style of art they purchase and the prices they are prepared to pay, as well as the places where they source art. If you are happy there is enough custom to support your financial costs and needs, you can start to produce art in earnest.

How to Sell Your Art

The golden rule when you start out is to keep it simple. Depending on the findings of your market research, consider setting up your own website to promote and publicise your work and to provide a sales forum with minimum financial outlay for you. A website will also extend your work into international markets.

Other great sales outlets for 'starter' artists are craft fairs, particularly if your work has local interest, fetes or markets. These are very low-cost outlets. You may even be able to arrange a small-scale exhibition of your work at various civic amenities or libraries.

The trick is to start out by ‘renting’ sales space at the above outlets or online. When sales, markets and confidence have all grown, you can begin to consider more permanent options.

Pricing Your Art

The prime reference for pricing your art will be the findings of your initial market research. With each piece of work, you must take into account its size, the cost of materials, artistic techniques used, complexity and production time.

Prints or Originals?

Prints will retail at a lower price than originals but may achieve higher sales volumes. The lower the print run of limited editions the higher the price you’ll be able to charge. Refer back to your original market research, if there is definitely a good market, the best approach may be to try a small limited edition print run. You can then test the sales and the popularity of the prints, which will have a favourable effect on the price of the original.

Above all, keep it simple, make sure you research, research and research a little more. Test the market and take it slowly. Best of luck!