Is DD’s art work good enough to sell.

[themotherhoodproject]

NC for this as a regular user of MN and this is fairly outing but looking for peoples unbiased opinions.

DD is an A level Art student, it’s actually not where her love lies she is hoping to apply for BIMM’s university In Bristol to peruse music and she also does performing arts.

However she is very talented in her painting and blows me away weekly with her work, we have had a few extra special things from her (some of you might remember the snowman Christmas card, it seemed very popular) and lots of people on here saying that they would buy if able too.

Another few months have gone by and we just had another cracker of a card from her (a thank you card for a friend) and well I just think it’s wonderful and have said she should really think about taking on commissions.

We live in a very rural area so lots of horse and dog lovers and I honestly think she could make a bit of pocket money to put away for uni life or fritter away on gigs noodles and vinyl

Can I ask what people think, she is only a year into A level art and will have lots more of technique to learn but maybe £15 a painting she might have some takers?

I’m a pet portrait artist and do fairly well at it, I can be as busy as I want to be.
Practice makes perfect, she’s doing great for someone so young and she should def stick at it. I do photo realistic work but there’s a whole range of different styles that do well and lots of different mediums. I started off drawing friends pets for free, building a little portfolio and working on the social media side of it. There’s lots of great Facebook pages and tutorials for improving, Bonny Snowdon does some excellent ones which I use.

@BuckFadger is right.
A useful skill you could teach her is to know her own value.
In my experience of hiring people, female candidates routinely underprice themselves.
It would be a very powerful lesson for her.
Customers may want to negotiate.
She should set the price at at least £75.
That will also let her know if people are actually willing to pay for her work or if they're just being kind.

It's beautiful! I would pay for that!

OP for comparison my D niece does some pet portraits to top up her students living expenses. She charges £80 for an A4 sized water colour.
I have attached one of her horse portraits. She did quite a lot during lockdowns. And has now started again since she is graduating this summer.
Her dog portraits are less detailed but she mixes pencil/ink and water colour to create the texture.

This bit confused me too!
Maybe all the supposed 'naysayers' (despite OP asking for unbiased opinions) got her back up.
But from the OP, it sounded the girl wasn't really interested in improving as an artist for art's sake.
More that she needed to practice for A-levels anyway, why not make some money at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone.

It's very good!

Stop being so pedantic.

She is studying 3 subjects and specialising and hoping to study one over the other two at university, as most students do.

You don’t take art at A level if you don’t enjoy it.

She's captured emotion in the horse painting, I enjoyed looking at it. I'd gladly pay £15 for her work, and I'd consider it an absolute bargain (and I do love a bargain!).

The statement in your OP WAS confusing though. You said 'DD is an A level Art student, it’s actually not where her love lies.' So, does she want to do art as a living or not? Your OP said she doesn't and now you appear to be saying she does!

As for her horse painting. It's decent but far from brilliant. I am sure she will get to a much better standard as the years go on, but based on that painting, I wouldn't pay her for her work. Not yet.

Exactly re Arse’s petty comments.

She is very talented. I would say her art is worth more than 15. She should create an Instagram account. She might get a lot more commissioned work from even outside your village.

What?!

At no point in any of my posts have I said DD wants to paint for a living. I haven’t actually said what she wants to do past uni because she is 17 and sometimes it takes her 40 minutes to work out what she is going to have for breakfast!

What I have said is her 1st love is music.

She does enjoys painting.

She is the start of an art A level.

and she would like to make a bit of pocket money painting some local pet portraits.

No from me

I admire her chutzpah! She’s got a flair,isn’t overcharging Go for it and yes at that price point work will sell
Wishing your talented daughter well in her A levels and uni degree

The texture is lovely but the muzzle looks out of proportion.

Ultimately both horse portraits are very artistic ( and both artists and their DM/ aunt) should feel very proud) but it goes to show you can find fault with most things if you look with that mindset. So if this is getting 80 OP I can’t see why your DD can’t make a good return.

But if she charges £15 for something that took 6 hours, and hasn’t factored in the cost of materials, possible postage etc, then she’d be much better off in a minimum wage job.

For money?

I think its excellent, am surprised by some of the replies! She is clearly incredibly talented. Get her to set up a stall at a local market and see how she gets on

She doesn’t need or want a min wage job. This is a hobby for small cash sale. For practice. Because she can and wants to

We she should charge £75.

But minimum wage jobs will always be there. She is an art student, this is an investment in a possible future for her that creates more opportunities.

A minimum wage job in a supermarket doesn’t create opportunity. It certainly won’t improve her art so she has a shot at an A on her a level.

Art isn’t an easy subject.

A min wage job takes her away from studies and isn't directly related
Selling paintings is related, it’s practice, it’s enjoyable
The price point is accessible and not prohibitive. If she feel she can charge more than that she can increase price

She gave up art at A level, chose a more lucrative use of her artistic skills ( as did her DM and myself).
For Op benefit her is one of her dog greetings cards, again she charges at least £50 because they are usually framed but they taker her about an hour to do.

She has developed her style post A level. She tries to catch the character rather than photographic accuracy, I hope she continues to draw for leisure but is more likely to be seen on a building site complete with hard hat and wellies bossy the contractors.

She was also a talented musician. I think art and music go hand in hand. We are a family of artists but none of us have become artists although we all rely on this ability to do our jobs.

I think your daughter is very talented OP, encourage her to develop her own style then see where it goes.

I think people are being obtuse. Your OP was clear. I think it's really decent & it would be a nice way to get some extra pocket money.

I think this example of your niece's work is brilliant. It shows excellent detail and understanding of the horse's anatomy, muscles, texture of the coat, expression. The picture is really 'alive'. In my amateur opinion she's very talented indeed!

The puppy is actually adorable - and really captures character!