Selling Art

This is such a hot topic amongst artists.

Should you sell prints?  Originals? NFTs? Should you license your work?  Should you sell high end art or make stickers? Should you increase or decrease your prices?  

There are videos and comments every day on social media about “your prices are too low” or “your prices are too high”, etc…

Some people price their pieces really high and begin selling them at those high prices relatively quickly.  Some people price their art very low and people don’t seem to buy them very much.  

So how should you sell your art?  

Well, some artists have a picture of themselves as a famous oil painter selling originals and prints.  If you have a picture of yourself specifically then you should stay true to that goal.  

However, if you are like me and have no idea… then you should try all sorts of things and see what works best for you. 

I follow a full time artist who has a sassy attitude and an awesome tiktok account. She makes tiktoks that keep her sticker shop selling out and her clients break her website every time she opens because they love her stickers so much. She opens her shop once or twice a month.  Her fans are fanatical and she can do what she loves and make a full time income.  She makes content every day and she has built a tribe and community that is loyal and lovely. 

Another artist I know personally sold her first piece of art in 2019 for $29,000.  I think most of her pieces are acrylic paintings with beautiful custom framing.  She has tons of collectors that own multiple pieces of hers. Her originals range from $500-$30K+.  

Another artist, who sells most of her art for $1,000-7,000 has been a full time pro artist for most of her adult life and she is now opening galleries of her own.  She sells originals, prints, and NFTs.  

There are so many ways for an artist to make a living.  But a lot of them include opening a running a business as a solo entrepreneur.  There is so much that goes into making a successful business.  Marketing, financial record keeping, sales, shipping, etc… It isn’t for everyone.  

The main thing I have learned is that if you want it, you have to keep trying different methods and avenues.  Maybe one route of creativity/business isn’t going to work for you.  Maybe no one wants to buy your stickers.  Maybe you don’t want to make original oil paintings. Maybe you want to be an illustrator for graphic novels or children’s books.  Maybe you should be running social media accounts and be using your creativity to write and craft brand messages. 

If you are a creative person who has or is developing skills, then you are valuable to society and you can be paid for your work.  

Artists are some of the most valuable people in a society. And many of them are very well paid for the work that they do.