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 think it is fine for pet portraits. To be honest some I have seen that have been commissioned are not that great. The key will be her pricing.

I am a professional artist with paintings all over the UK and on cruise ships, and I started out as a 15/16 year old doing coloured pencil portraits of pets and horses. I charged about £50-75 for a framed portrait and went from there. I think your daughter’s painting is quite good - the photo of the painting is a bit blurry so it’s not that easy to tell, but it looks a little scruffy - the reins etc. I think with the abundance of social media options and online selling platforms your daughter could concentrate on building a decent portfolio of work, carefully choosing her reference images to show her subjects well - especially white/grey or black animals - they need a good contrast of light and shade and black animals especially look so much better in the sun with a shine on their coats. She also could think about clear well focused shots of her finished pieces - I edit mine until the blacks are black and any whites are bright as my phone messes up contrast, highlights etc and crop neatly - looks so much more professional!

That should give her a good opportunity to showcase her work, and to give people an idea of what they are getting. If they don’t like the style, they aren’t obliged to commission her in the first place.

I dabbled in portraits of animals for years and only took the leap to paint professionally 10 years or so ago, I never dreamt my £75 paintings would ever escalate to £4000 paintings but they have and it’s all just practice and determination, and not being put off by rejection. If she wants to do it, then do it. The only opinion that matters is that of the person choosing her art over someone else’s!

How rude.

For a 17 year old who hasn’t had professional training I think it’s brilliant 😊 I agree that her pricing will be key, so perhaps she could build up a small portfolio to showcase her abilities and then offer to paint pets for a small fee in return for building her skills and portfolio further. I’d be interested if she lived locally - I wouldn’t want to spend ££££s on a painting of my dog, much as I love him, but if I could get a very decent portrait of him from a good amateur artist like your DD for a reasonable price that would be great.,

Oh and OP I use a lot of black and nobody has ever let it stop them buying any of my paintings!

I think it's a nice painting - her perspective is good, everything is in the right place and nothing looks odd. The eyes and mouth are rendered well. But it lacks a certain something - the ear hood and details on the mane are a bit vague.
Is this her preferred medium? I think if she wants to paint realism, then she needs to tweak her technique a bit. But her attention to the face and the overall perspective is good.
£15 for 6 hours work is a poor pay off. I think either she needs to find a way to produce something in less time or refine the techniques and charge more.
My DD also sells a bit of her art work. But she draws all the time and has only tried to sell the items that are real stand outs. She has sold prints and cards and is dabbling in linocut at the moment. Original commissions I have insisted she doesn't take less than £25 - and doesn't spend too long on them. It's a hard balance as a new artist to not sell yourself short but also not put off potential buyers.
I hope your DD keeps going and wish her all the best.

I hate it when hobby artists with limited talent start selling original paintings for £10 or £20. You pay £10/20 for a print of a painting. Not for the original painting. It just devalues everyone else’s work, actual artists who do this for a living. It’s a ridiculous idea. If she wants to sell prints then go ahead; she can paint and have prints of her paintings made. She can have them printed onto coasters and placemats as well etc. People love those. But do not sell original paintings for £15.

Is that yours? It’s incredible.

I think your dd has a lovely style, I wouldn’t be interested in anything photo realistic myself, I like her relaxed technique. She has talent for sure.
There are plenty of people out there doing pet portraits because it’s a great market with lots of customers. I know of a few people who started out doing pet portraits and then developed a career/business out of their art. But it’s demanding because they need have a specific brief and usually a date it’s required by. What about a more general approach? Dogs are a good option as there are so many breeds. A generic golden retriever design could sell to any golden retriever owner so there is less necessity for it to be a personalised portrait of their specific dog. They’d be good printed on greetings cards.

I think the picture is lovely and would happily pay £15-20 for a painting of one of my cats, if she's interested in painting a persian!!

The thing is, internet strangers' opinions are irrelevant. Nothing stopping OP's daughter from selling right now if she wants to.
A simple post on a community FB page takes 5 minutes and is free.

OP asked for opinions and people are giving it. Not sure why people like @sunglassesonthetable feel that people are pouring cold water on it. If OP didn't want opinions she wouldn't have asked. And OP said her daughter is quite thick skinned, as all creative people have to be.

The price, whether it's worth the commitment for said price, contract terms etc etc are irrelevant.

While some are of the opinion that selling a few may be encouraging, no sales at all, or not making as much as she'd hoped, might have the opposite effect.

Selling IMO isn't the main issue here, it's how she wants to go about it, and what she hopes to achieve.

An 'original' is meaningless I could draw something and it'll be an 'original'. Doesn't mean it's worth even a fiver.

A friend’s little girl drew our dogs at a restaurant- the pencils were poor quality as was the paper, but she managed a very good image of Whippets who were ears up and keen to see each other.

Sally Muir has a loose style - it’s movement that’s so important
I find the professional “ looks like a photo “ work a bit “paint by numbers” a Free line and character is more important to me-
Otherwise- a photo will do!

She has lovely expression there - there is life to it. It is flat - but I'd be interested in seeing the photo it came from to properly judge.

This! God, the bluntness! This thread is full of it.
OP, your daughter is very talented, love the soul in the horse's eyes.

She should have her painting as a hobby and sell any as a side-income.

The horse painting is reasonable.....but a bit pedestrian.

"The thing is, internet strangers' opinions are irrelevant..."

@pistonsaremachines

On the contrary, internet strangers are potential customers.
So much art is sold online, so their opinion matters very much.

Not all comments will be gushing, and I think it's important to listen to both compliments and constructive criticism.

To clarify a few points DD does already have a part time job, she works in the local tea room and is also VERY keen to sell her work for extra practice and pocket money, she however isn’t expecting to make a living on it, just wondered if local people might be interested in a painting of their dog, horse, chicken or buy as a gift for someone else.

I do think your missing the point, (I’m not trying to compare my DD to established artists!!) she is a 17 year old A level student, living in a big horsey area who wondered if people might buy her pet portraits for some extra gig money!

I think OP was really clear what her daughter hopes to achieve.

And if you can't see that comparing her work to established career artists or talking about AI or that they know someone really famous, or she's not really starting out, she's not been taught well or she'll be too crushed by the experience of not selling ... etc etc isn't pouring cold water - well so be it.

I think there are a lot of google experts on here who have totally missed the point. This is also about enterprise, having a go and making a bit of money ( and yes these portraits DO sell - look on Etsy).

@pistonsaremachines

@oakleaffy I love the framed pictures.

Yes, this is what I thought we the MN posters were responding to, essentially “Do you think £15?”

I didn’t think the OP was looking for a detailed derision from Artists telling us what art is.

You have posted the snowman picture before? I'm sure I've seen it.

It was a play on words, “naysayer”, neigh as in horses!

She literally says that in her opening post.

It’s good but it’s not good enough for me to fork money over for