How to Sell Arts Paintings Successfully? Part III (Final)

 In the earlier 2 parts of Blog - How to Sell Arts Successfully? Artist Sonjaye Maurya shared that the emerging artist should have not just a couple of paintings and initiate selling but should paint more paintings before planning to sell them. Another important fact to be considered is to Not paint to sell but paint with all the emotions and heart out. He also suggested the artist should not only tap various offline galleries and exhibitions but also online sites. Below are the 2 links to know have detailed info of earlier parts of Blog: 

1) How to Sell Arts Successfully? Part I & 2) How to Sell Arts Successfully? Part II 

Now the concluding part: 

 Once you have a portfolio with you, plan to promote it. Set out to get your Art Seen. It helps to set goals of where you want to be in a few years’ time. It is said that a piece of art is your own voice. Do take your own liberty to express yourself. But be little considerate too, in order to make a sale of your art. This means your work should have a mass appeal - a style, a subject liked by many. Your work must have a subject, a theme, to which, people can relate themselves easily to. If you are not selling, and funds are what is needed to continually produce and promote art, some changes may have to be made. Look for general trends in the art world, and find out what people are buying and writing about. 

Write regularly, about the artworks you are working on currently. Create an Art blog and start blogging about random thoughts, processes, and works in progress. Whether it is a certain concept, subject, or theme, an art buyer will appreciate the piece more if they can know what it means, and why you created it. Have some of this conveyed through your artwork title, but try to enlighten an art buyer with a summary of what inspired you, so that they can easily explain it to others who will ask questions. Have a website to sell your artworks. It’s the most promising tool for selling in today’s digital age. If you cannot make a website on your own, spend some amount to hire help to create it for you. 

Pricing your work entirely depends on what stage you are in your art career. Add value to your work. Good presentation, framing of reasonably good size enhances your artwork. Smaller is better. 

A lot of artist (including myself) want to make big painting, sometimes of a gigantic proportion. It’s a fantasy of every artist. But you have to think of practicality too. Maybe a big size painting allows you to give ease with big brush stroke to flow or your style of giving finer details comes through better. But small size paintings are affordable. They can be easily framed and hanged anywhere. Easy to transport or ship. High end art is only for an exclusive few. 

Look at the prices of other artists in your stage of artistic development. Visit art galleries or search for prices online. Explain your prices in practical language to anyone who asks, and never base it on emotions. For example, tell them your painting took certain amount of time to create along with cost of materials involved, instead of saying you price it higher because it has personal meaning. Unless they know you, they will not understand the significance of your personal attachment to the painting. If you can convey that the artwork has a certain tangible value related to the time spent, artistic skill success, cost of materials, etc., the art buyer is more likely to buy the artwork. 

 

When a person views an artwork, they often want to buy it because they see something in it that relates to them. They have an emotional reaction to the piece, which stirs them to want to buy it. There are a lot of things that contribute to the value of an artwork. How it is presented, where it is showcased, all helps to increase the perceived value. An artwork displayed in a gallery would certainly appear more valuable than one in a coffee shop. That is not to say you should not display in a coffee shop, especially if you are an emerging artist. It is effective for name recognition. 

 

  ⮜⎯⎯⎯⎯ Tanjore Paintings 

Look for what sells. If you are residing or operating from a particular area (and not in metro or cosmopolitan cities) which has a peculiar taste, culture adopt it in your art form. Say Tanjore in south India, or use of vibrant colors in central India. 

Folk, religious and mythological subjects in north India.  

Folk Paintings  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⮞    

 

Bestselling subjects in Indian scenario are landscapes, seascapes, beach scenes, harbor, animals, birds, flowers, abstract, semi-abstract, impressionistic landscapes, modern art. 

 

 

Happy Selling....!                                    

                                                                                 - www.Artzyme.com/blog

How to Sell Arts | Painting Successfully? Part II

 
Art of selling arts. 

Arts selling blog. 

*Continued from earlier article - How to sell arts successfully? 1 

Many new artists approach me after making their first painting giving details of pains they have taken and the time they have spent on creating it.... 
 
For art buyers to reflect on your paintings have an Artist Statement. It should include primary theme of your creations, your artistic goals and ambitions, why you love to paint, draw, sculpt etc. It should also include who your viewers or audience are, who is your art intended for, some artists and styles that have influenced you. 
 
Include Artist Statement with your portfolio. If someone wants to buy your artwork, wants to see some background of you as an artist, then you may present them with your Artist Statement. You may also post it online where you have an artist profile, or on your Facebook page. 
Don’t limit yourself by following other people styles; take it as an influencing factor and rather be your own self. You are unique in your own way. Your style is your voice and is timeless. It will not dissolve or ends like a trend. But will become your recognition. 
People buy what they see. Visual connection is the key element of desire. We need to get art on display. Galleries, art fairs and online portal (like Artzyme) can’t do it alone. People should be able to see your work not only in galleries, but public places, where captive audiences gather. 

Sell your arts 
 
Probably this may not work too. But taking steps is the only path to success. Don’t give up. You’ve dedicated years, money and countless hours into developing your skill. So if you’ve been knocked down, get up and keep moving forward. Why would you give up? Why put all that time, blood, sweat and tears to waste and just throw it all away? A common reason why artists fail is that they get caught up in other aspects of their lives put their artwork on hold and, eventually, the creativity starves and dies. People, who don’t give up, no matter what life throws at them, are more likely to make a name for them in whichever creative vocation they choose. Winner are not those who never fail, but those who never quit. Harder is the conflict, more glorious the triumph. 

                               

Start networking with other artists. Exchange ideas, knowledge and information and learn from them. Knowing people is more important than achieving a college degree. Whom you know is more important in art-world. 
 
There are more possibilities than ever for emerging artists to sell arts. Just browse online (Right price and place for art creations) and you will find hundreds of ways an artist can sell art. But, even though these opportunities are available, you need to explore strategies to use them and make your art visible and saleable. 
 

Make long term plans to sell your artworks. The most important is to have a good portfolio, with a variety of themes, techniques, and styles. Your portfolio must have large enough collection that portrays you as a serious and dedicated artist. 

                         To be Continued - Concluding part in coming week.... 

                                                                                       - www.Artzyme.com/blog

How to Sell Arts | Paintings Successfully? Part I

Sell Arts Successfully - I 

Arts Blog 

Many new artists approach me after making their first painting giving details of pains they have taken and the time they have spent on creating it. Rather than being passionate about Arts, artists with an intention to sell their 1st painting want to know how much money it will fetch. Or no. of artists with just 4/ 5 pcs with them expect to make a sale. And I always get to hear complaints from aspiring artists about how art galleries don’t entertain them, or don’t give response to their queries. 

  

 Emerging Artist - S Prabhakar 

                                                                     

  

 Established Artist - Sonjaye Maurya 

In this competitive market everybody wants to set the cash register ringing and not waste time or efforts in promoting new artists. Take an example from our day to day life.  Shopkeepers prefer to stock and sell branded goods rather than unbranded stuff though they could be of better quality as branded products are fast moving, requires no hard selling or pushing across the counter. We also, as a customer ask for branded product if the shopkeeper tries to sell us an unbranded product. The same applies to art too. Everyone has to make money, including online portals and galleries. 

My young fellow artists, Rome was not built in a day. And if it was that, every young lad alighting at Dadar (Mumbai) with rosy dreams of becoming a star in Bollywood would become Dharmendra. Being successful as an artist (painter) is not easy as in any other field. Lot of struggle is involved. You have to prove yourself. And if you are looking for someone to market you, first you have to make a brand out of yourself. 

So make a brand of yourself. Prove your mettle. One movie of a new comer or struggler when becomes a hit on the box office, producers’ line up at his place to sign him/her up for their new movies. Have patience. Look at the bigger canvas. Success is not easy to come. But when it comes, it knows no bounds. 

As I mentioned, paint with planning, in my article ‘EXPLORE, PRACTICE AND EXCEL AS A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST' here I say promote with planning. As in any other business, to sell art also you require proper planning and strategy. 

So what should be done to sell your Arts! 

Creating art and marketing art are two different roles. Many artists are not trained marketers. They would rather spend their time in their studio creating. But, in order to sell art, some art marketing and promotion knowledge is necessary. Organize and set apart art creation and art marketing time. As artists, we need to realize that just as much as time is spent in creating art, same amount of time needs to be spent in marketing and promoting it. Without marketing it may be very difficult to sell art and receive commissions. Unless you have someone else to do the promotion and marketing for you, you will have to schedule and organize your time. 

Like any other product or service, art too requires good marketing. The only difference is that here the market is different and the clientele is different too. Everybody doesn’t buy art as it’s not considered a necessity. So the target audience is limited. It is essential to reach out to the prospective buyers. And how to do that! 

The path of an artist is different. Some of us lose vision and determination. So if you want to succeed, uphold to your dreams and fight the good fight. Take advice of successful artists, navigate adversity and embrace self-discovery. Never talk negative about your art or express self-doubt. Believe in your product. This is the business aspect of your creativity. 

                                                       To be Continued - Part II in coming Week....                                                                                                             www.Artzyme.com/blog