Do you have any business advice please?

[randarrington]

I'm just starting to think about trying and selling my art but I honestly have no idea how to price it. Do. any of you have suggestions or a way of calculating a price?

should I think of making some type of prints and are there any companies that you've successfully used?

I was also thinking about products of some type. Maybe stationary or mugs....I'm just not sure. Do any of you have any advice or experience in that area?

Thank you for in advice you may have!!!!!

 

[LizC]

To get an idea on how to price your art you can do an internet search for art similar to yours and see what the artists charge for them, since you are new price a little lower than that and if you start getting sales you can slowly up the price.

For selling on products there's print on demand sites like Zazzle where you can put your art for sale on posters, mugs, etc. and it doesn't cost you anything but your time.

 

[randarrington]

To get an idea on how to price your art you can do an internet search for art similar to yours and see what the artists charge for them, since you are new price a little lower than that and if you start getting sales you can slowly up the price.

For selling on products there's print on demand sites like Zazzle where you can put your art for sale on posters, mugs, etc. and it doesn't cost you anything but your time.

Thank you for that information. I'll see what I can find as far pricing and I'll check out zazzle

 

[PaintBoss]

The biggest thing about getting prints done is you have to have your artwork photographed professionally with a very special type of camera. Even professional photographers have a hard time getting it without glare or even lighting and detail. These specialized cameras can stand many feet back to capture even the tiniest details on very large paintings, even the weave of the canvas.There are many commercial photographers with all the gear/studios who say they can do it. I’ve tried them and they couldn’t quite get the lighting right. They even said so. There is a place in Canada, well known professional artists, who can do this properly. You do not have to be a professional artist to use them. They have been used by some of our most famous artists. They use a very specialized camera they purchased in approx.1980. It was was $80 000 then or maybe even more. It has been doing a great job ever since.. So you pay more to get it professionally done, but they put it on a digital storage device for your use. It is a huge file. Then you can get prints whenever you want from that. The cost for prints depends on the size, number, a variety of papers you can choose from- archival or not. Even if you prefer a warm white or a cold white etc, and the materials that make up the paper. You can print one or two if you want to. Which is handy. You can always go back and do more with your memory file. At the time it was a CD I believe. But that was at least 15 years ago. I don’t know if they are still in business. They were thinking of retiring.They still have a webpage and I noticed a newer location. Artists send their artwork from British Columbia to be photographed. It’s still hard to find something like that in use even today, because they’re very expensive to pay for. They accept clients from Canada and the USA. They have a stellar reputation. They did a fabulous job for me. I saw them doing amazing work there.I found them quite reasonable all things considered. I think about 15 years ago it cost me about $100 for them to photograph it and put it onto a CD. You need not only good lighting, but that’s fine details to do excellent prints.

Commercial Photography Waterloo Kitchener Professional Photography Ontario

There is a newer place I’ve heard from but I’m not sure how they do it or how well reproductions turn out. I might look into it.

 

[srr_disclosal]

Hi @PaintBoss I happened to read this and wanted to comment on your sentence "very special camera".

Recently I've learned that you don't need a special camera. All you need is a regular camera that can take good pictures. An entry-level camera is more than enough, and you can probably even rely on your phone's camera.

The most important thing we need is just a CPL filter.
A filter commonly used for car photography or landscapes under sun exposure.

 

[Hannah]

I would not use a polarizing filter to photograph art, as it changes the colors the lens sees. Blues, especially, will not be accurate. Which you can fix "in post," but to me, the closer you can get to reality with the raw image, the better.

Also, a phone camera might be fine for photographing your work for Instagram or this forum or whatever, but it is woefully inadequate for reproduction, which I think is the subject here.

On the other hand, you also don't need an $80,000 graphic reproduction camera. Any full-frame digital camera on a decent tripod with a budget 85mm or 100mm prime lens will do a great job. Oh, and some lights.

Not exactly cheap, and there's a learning curve, but if you plan to photograph a lot of work, it's a good investment. And much cheaper than paying a professional whenever you need pictures. The camera, lens, and lights will cost less than two or three sessions with a pro.