Any Artists in the house?

[SillyChicken]

Here is one I just finished for a client.

 

[FourteenChicks]

Here is one I just finished for a client.

 

[FourteenChicks]

Well I do photography. Mainly with my iPhone camera because I hardly have time to use my actual camera. Here is some of my favourites

 

[Boulla]

Luv sketching and photography

 

[Boulla]

 

[Boulla]

Beautiful work, do you sell any of them, if so I would be very interested in the bottles and trees. Building a new house with a rustic farm feel would fit great!

 

[FourteenChicks]

Beautiful work, do you sell any of them, if so I would be very interested in the bottles and trees. Building a new house with a rustic farm feel would fit great!

Who are you talking to?

 

[Xtineart]

I work as an artist I do various things but mainly animals/people and landscapes. I much prefer doing landscape stuff but the people and the animals pay the bills so hey-ho not complaining. I have afacebook page if anyone wants a look at my random art projects and paintings. www.facebook.com/Xtineart

 

[jwood]

You are able to make a living from selling your art? I am having a hell of a time with it! My ultimate goal would be to stay at home and paint all day but I struggle to sell my paintings. When I started taking painting seriously 3 years ago (although I have been painting for ten years) I painted everything from landscapes to people portraits but I found that I got the most comments on my pet portraits. I knew there is a huge market for animal businesses so I decided to switch to just doing animal portraits. Still can't sell any I have gotten a few commissions here and there but no where near enough to pay the bills. I don't feel I charge a lot ($150 for a 11X14 and $300 for 16x20) and people seem to always take my card but never call for a portrait.

Any tips from people who are successfully making a living off their art?!

 

[Xtineart]

I do have a wee office job 3 days a week for a steady income and my living expenses aren't high. It does help that I can charge quite highly for my human and animal portraits too, but I couldn't make a living solely from those as the work is too irregular, sometimes nothing for weeks then I get requests I have to turn down sue to time (I'm turning down Christmas oil painting requests already as there is no time to allow for drying and framing once it gets to November). Unfortunately not a lot of artists make enough from it to just do art alone.

I think I'm quite happy that it's not my sole income though as for me it still means I get to pick and choose what I want to do and only focus on the really good works rather than having to take on iffy work just to pay the bills each month if that makes sense?

The only tips I can really give you is to get out there and pimp yourself like a ho. Really, I've blagged free weekends and music festivals/farm shows/equestrian events and the likes by asking a few cheeky questions, turning up with a sketch pad and a pocket full of business cards and just getting people interested and passing the word around. I've sold paintings to people all over Europe who've found me that way and got in touch via internet. Also craft fairs / art stalls / local small galleries and the likes are great ways to sell prints/cards and small items, it's a lot of hours standing about sometimes for not much money coming in, but again it seems to be as much about getting the word out. Lift other people's cards whenever you can, research how they go to market and if similar cold work for you. Get a face book page and use social media if you haven't already

The other way most artists I know make some steady cash is by taking teaching courses, or classes and charging a fee for tutoring, and it can be very financially rewarding and although I've not done that I've done a lot of volunteer work with small art groups etc over he years which pay expenses and often give a chance to hold exhibitions. Have you looked into doing something like that at all if you have time?

oh and one thing I was always told in the past and never really believed was to never knowingly undersell yourself. Look at what others charge but dont just undercut as particularly for portrait work people will pay almost anything as it's so unique to them. A few times now I've quoted a price I thought was pricey but fair only to have the buyer offer to pay me up to 50% more.