Last weekend, I attended an excellent professional development workshop for artists organized by the Art Student's League of Denver. At the workshop, there was a panel that included artists, art consultants, gallery owners, entrepreneurs, and a lawyer. Each person gave a 15-20 minute presentation on what he/she felt was a crucial element of the art business. Here are the top 20 nuggets of wisdom:
1) Properly frame your work before approaching a gallery. The frames should be the same color or shape, and the picture should be framed archivally, which means it should be easily removable. Use acid free mattes, and the artwork should never touch the glass.
2) Before approaching a gallery, have a body work. This means 7-20 works that are unified in some way - color, size, medium, or theme.
3) Write a resume, artist statement, and artist biography. Have a business card with an image of your work on it.
4) Have a portfolio website that you can refer people to.
5) Pick a gallery that is the right fit for your work. Ask yourself, "Does my work fit here?", "Does this gallery sell work?", "Does this gallery have good lighting?", "Are these good people to work with?".
6) In some places, like Santa Fe, NM, you can approach a gallery in person and ask, "Are you accepting any portfolios at this time?". Be prepared to present 2-3 pieces in person.
7) Have your artwork professionally photographed. This is crucial! Often, the photos are the first impression people receive of your work. The images should be perfect! When hiring a photographer, ask if they use polarized lights. This is your first indication that they know what they are doing. For example, an awesome wedding photographer might have no idea how to properly photograph artwork.
8) When shipping your artwork to a buyer or gallery, go through a UPS store and properly package your art. There is nothing worse than delivering damaged art.
9) Figure out what your market is. Look at other artists doing similar things and ask, "Who buys this art." Look at how much similar work sells for to price your work appropriately.
10) Have consistent prices for your artwork! If you sell art in a gallery, do not sell your work for a different price some place else, like an art fair. Collectors will be very unhappy if they learn that your work is not worth the price they paid.
11) Every quarter, copyright your body of work. It costs $35 to register a body of work at www.copyright.gov. Include a timeline and images when you register the copyright. By copyrighting your work, no one else will have the right to copy or reproduce your work without paying you for it. For example, if someone reproduces your copyrighted image on a coffee mug, you can send them an invoice!
12) Support other artists, and be friendly with everyone you work with. Smile!
13) When deciding how to price your art, things to consider are price per square inch, and time and overhead.
14) If you're interested in selling to corporations and art collectors, work large, 4 ft x 4 ft and larger. Corporations and art collectors typically have big walls they need to fill. One way to increase the dimensions of your work is to put a big matte on it.
15) Make series of works. One good way to do this is to work on 3 or 4 pieces at a time, all the same canvas size. Pick a subject and explore the heck out of it. Redraw it over and over and in different ways.
16) Do not approach an art gallery without a body of work, 7-20 pieces. If you can, have a backup inventory of work. You will ruin your relationship with a gallery if they sell some of your work and you have nothing more to give them when they ask for it.
17) Have a guestbook at art shows, and when people sign the guestbook, add them to your mailing list to inform them of future shows.
18) Consider selling your work to art consultants. They're located in every city. Provide them with retail and wholesale prices.
19) Participate in group cattle calls. Get your work out there!
20) Have several versions of your artist statement: one that's 3-4 sentences or a paragraph, and one that is one page long. Tell your story in the artist statement. Represent who you really are!
1) Properly frame your work before approaching a gallery. The frames should be the same color or shape, and the picture should be framed archivally, which means it should be easily removable. Use acid free mattes, and the artwork should never touch the glass.
2) Before approaching a gallery, have a body work. This means 7-20 works that are unified in some way - color, size, medium, or theme.
3) Write a resume, artist statement, and artist biography. Have a business card with an image of your work on it.
4) Have a portfolio website that you can refer people to.
5) Pick a gallery that is the right fit for your work. Ask yourself, "Does my work fit here?", "Does this gallery sell work?", "Does this gallery have good lighting?", "Are these good people to work with?".
6) In some places, like Santa Fe, NM, you can approach a gallery in person and ask, "Are you accepting any portfolios at this time?". Be prepared to present 2-3 pieces in person.
7) Have your artwork professionally photographed. This is crucial! Often, the photos are the first impression people receive of your work. The images should be perfect! When hiring a photographer, ask if they use polarized lights. This is your first indication that they know what they are doing. For example, an awesome wedding photographer might have no idea how to properly photograph artwork.
8) When shipping your artwork to a buyer or gallery, go through a UPS store and properly package your art. There is nothing worse than delivering damaged art.
9) Figure out what your market is. Look at other artists doing similar things and ask, "Who buys this art." Look at how much similar work sells for to price your work appropriately.
10) Have consistent prices for your artwork! If you sell art in a gallery, do not sell your work for a different price some place else, like an art fair. Collectors will be very unhappy if they learn that your work is not worth the price they paid.
11) Every quarter, copyright your body of work. It costs $35 to register a body of work at www.copyright.gov. Include a timeline and images when you register the copyright. By copyrighting your work, no one else will have the right to copy or reproduce your work without paying you for it. For example, if someone reproduces your copyrighted image on a coffee mug, you can send them an invoice!
12) Support other artists, and be friendly with everyone you work with. Smile!
13) When deciding how to price your art, things to consider are price per square inch, and time and overhead.
14) If you're interested in selling to corporations and art collectors, work large, 4 ft x 4 ft and larger. Corporations and art collectors typically have big walls they need to fill. One way to increase the dimensions of your work is to put a big matte on it.
15) Make series of works. One good way to do this is to work on 3 or 4 pieces at a time, all the same canvas size. Pick a subject and explore the heck out of it. Redraw it over and over and in different ways.
16) Do not approach an art gallery without a body of work, 7-20 pieces. If you can, have a backup inventory of work. You will ruin your relationship with a gallery if they sell some of your work and you have nothing more to give them when they ask for it.
17) Have a guestbook at art shows, and when people sign the guestbook, add them to your mailing list to inform them of future shows.
18) Consider selling your work to art consultants. They're located in every city. Provide them with retail and wholesale prices.
19) Participate in group cattle calls. Get your work out there!
20) Have several versions of your artist statement: one that's 3-4 sentences or a paragraph, and one that is one page long. Tell your story in the artist statement. Represent who you really are!
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