The Business Side Of Art

Reed,

Perhaps by PM what would you make of my art?

What I consider my defining work:


Dave

As I have recently been approached by a national retail chain to purchase one or more of my original paintings for possible use on a near future catalog cover, I think myself and others here on FAA could benefit from more up to date info on selling certain or all copyrights to buyers of our work.

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com

The most profound thing I learned during my Art studies at Columbia College Chicago, several years ago now, is that most artists become successful not over night but gradually.

First we ( our art ) is accepted by our colleague artist ( photographers, painters, sculptures, etc.); then from the art community at large; then from the general public.

There are some tremendous tips to pick up too on the business of art at danheller.com and barneydavey.com

Dan is a professor at a major university where he founded a degree on The art of business, in the business of Art. Barney you can find in our weekly FAA emails as he is a great authority on the business of Art.

Hope I answered your questions, Reed. Enjoy your day!

Very interesting Frank, I will check out those sites. As is the case in most schools, the real world looks very different and having some basic business tools in your back pocket would be really helpful. For example, we have found many artists will consign works (their asset) to galleries and not have a formal contract drawn up. If the gallery sells the work, how does the artist ensure they will get paid? We have known of "predatory galleries" in the past where artists have struggled to be paid or ever get their art back. But if you don't even know to have a contract....

Bill, I can probably look into that for you. Life Is Art has had several lectures with Copyright Attorneys but I don't believe that there is a written text I can forward along. Perhaps I can refer you in the right direction.

Long before I ever heard of FAA I found that the two biggest weakness that most artist suffer form when it comes to the business of art is [1.] lack of selling skills and even the basic understanding of how to sell. And [2.] lack of knowledge of how to advertise and promote themselves and their art. In the three years I have been here, that has been reinforced and not diminished.

I am talking about in general. However there are certainly exceptions to that. And of course that does not include the vast majority of the people that never post in the threads. We have no idea what their business knowledge amounts to. One could surmise that because that silent majority includes the almost all of the best sellers here, they must know a bit more than the average.

Along the lines of what Bill was saying, I would be interested in pricing and negotiating the licensing of artwork, which is something that comes up a lot here as buyers come up unexpectedly and want to license art. Also a general overview of licensing opportunities and how to get your work before the eyes of those who need to license art, beyond the business microstock sites, where art is often misplaced.

Licensing and Marketing are the two biggest mysteries to creatives trying to sell their work.

Thanks for all this input! So far I'm seeing that challenges for artists are 1. Knowing how to sell your work 2. Licensing 3. Pricing 4. Copyright 5.Advertising

One of the lectures that we did for Life is Art is "How to get into a gallery". This may be an interesting read for some artists who are interested to get a gallerists perspective: http://fineartamerica.com/blogs/how-to-get-into-a-gallery-seminar-by-reed-horth.html

Art has a business side? ...Nnnnooo!

But seriously, I think that, in order to get to the business side of art, you have to get outside yourself as an artist and start viewing yourself as a performer for an audience of consumers whom you must please, if you expect the audience members to buy your tickets.

Obviously, I do not take my art quite seriously enough to develop its defined "business side". ... I have not been willing to do that sort of work. ... I admit it.

Very interesting point, Robert, and I couldn't agree with you more. After all, we are all in sales. Sigh.

Robert -- many of us think we sell art. Though many in other sales think they sell insurance or cars. Really though, we don't sell anything. We create value. We watch the exchange as people buy what is value to them.

Check out Bob Burg and his book - The Go Giver

http://www.thegogiver.com/tggee/

Upper Valley artists might want to check out this course at the AVA Gallery

The Business of Being an Artist (F15A33)

https://app.etapestry.com/cart/AVAGalleryandArtCenter/default/item.php?ref=700.0.157098399

December 5 & 6Saturday & Sunday, 10:00am–5:00pm Two 7-hour classes

Topics covered will include: bookkeeping, filing and accounting methods for self-employment; pricing your work; developing a strong portfolio; best practices for working with galleries; selling your work online; effective tools for marketing and promotion, beyond websites and the internet; commission contracts; scheduling work; business insurance; state, federal and sales taxes; and methods for shipping your work.

Excellent, Edward! Looks like it covers a whole host of topics that would be really beneficial for artists to learn about.

I concur with Sharon, Licensing and Marketing.

Frank C., ... good point here:

Really though, we [artists] don't sell anything. We create value. We watch the exchange as people buy what is value to them.

I almost agree, ... but not quite ... We package a particular idea of aesthetic value, and people either share this value to the point of exchanging it for dollar value, or not. ... We HOPE for such an exchange and relish it when we witness it actually happen.

Edward, will there be any sort of text for purchase for what is covered on the Business of being an artist for those who can't attend in the course at AVA?

I see many people struggle with pricing, licensing, profit margins and understanding wholesale versus retail.

Hi Cynthia, thanks for your input. In our lecture we have covered some points that you just mentioned including pricing and profit margins. Many artists don't understand why a gallery would put their piece on the wall for double. I've copied some of the text from our blog here. To read the whole thing click the link at the bottom:

Have pricing listed clearly and logically. How many of you have price lists? How were those prices determined? Is it some arbitrary number that you felt your art should cost? Is it a graduated scale based on what your art has sold for in the past? Do you price by the canvas size? Or by the complexity of what is painted on it? There are some really small paintings that are tremendously detailed and complex priced way more than some large minimalist works. And vice versa. Can you demonstrate how your prices were determined in a logical way? I cannot tell you how many times artists have been wishy-washy about pricing on their work. You don’t expect galleries to be wishy-washy about your prices, so you should not be with them either. Have a clear RETAIL price and a WHOLESALE price to the gallery. Expect the gallery mark-up to be at least keystoned, meaning “double” your wholesale cost. Sometimes it is more sometimes it is less, depending on the gallery and your agreement with them. Don’t be alarmed if your portion is not as big as theirs. Consider that they have overhead, staff, advertising costs and other expenditures that you do not incur. They save you time, and that is worth your money. They provide a service and need to be paid for it. This is fair and equitable and, after all, this is all anyone is looking for anyway, right?

FULL BLOG POST: http://robinrile.com/blog/?p=3133

How many here work with a data base program for organizing and selling your art?

GYST, Art Tracker, Art and Craft Business organizer, Archer Artist, Working Artist, Artworks Artist Software, there are others. Any reviews, suggestions?

Reed,

Thank you, the Seminar on how to get into a gallery was very insightful. New to me.
I very much appreciate your starting this thread.

Dave

So glad you liked it, David. As former gallerists (and now private brokers) we've been approached by a lot of artists over the years and felt they would really benefit from seeing things through our eyes. Times are so different than they were 10 years ago and we personally no longer feel like the gallery model is the end all be all model for an artist. However...what a gallery (and exhibitions) provides for artists is something singular: Patrons can interact with the art and see it live, unlike online marketing. Not only can a lot of passion-based buys happen that way but people can appreciate the details of work first hand. For that reason, especially for emerging artists, having their work in a gallery/exhibition (and having the gallery promote and sell) is ideal. Now knowing the best way to approach a gallery, that's a whole different story and why we felt it would be helpful for artists to learn a few tips.

Reed,

We have a local law firm here in Hartford with a total of five offices around the US. I have had small amounts of contact with them over the last year.
I am very careful with copyright matters. Must add the firm is among the top ten in IP law in the US. The firm is extremely ethical.

The point person for me personally is their media person. I emailed her today to ask about a referral to an agent. I was more specific with her about
what the agent would specifically do for me. I asked for a small list. I expect that the agents from that list would have to see something in my work
if they wanted to work with me.

This thread has prompted me to act. To explore.

Dave

Hiya Reed,

I come from the business/commercial side of art in that I have had to sell my talents and myself instead of individual paintings or art. I worked in the fields of toys, publishing, pharmaceutical and portraiture. The big difference between what I sold while I was working full time was - me. Clients came to me for designs, illustrations, promotional and classes because of my track record. There's a big difference trying to sell yourself as well as your work. My livelihood was based on what I had done previously for a client in order for them to keep coming back for my expertise. Screw up once for a client and they would be looking elsewhere for talent. It took me a lifetime of work and practice to remain competitive and productive. The copyright condition in this country is tightly controlled but when your work enters the foreign marketplace, well let's just say, you're on your own. It's really nice to see you adding your input to these threads.

Artists need patrons...rich patrons.

Posting so I can save this thread for a future read!

Once we start getting our lecture series into text format (and video) we will begin posting them here but I've taken note of what everyone's questions are so far and will work on getting experts in those fields to shed some insight.

Also posting to follow thread

~ Charly

Reed,

As I noted today on your other thread, I have an interest in how inkjet prints do in general, but
more specific to this thread and how we are selling here, how are gallery chains that sell inkjet prints
doing?

Dave