How do you know how to sell your paintings and also how to price the painting?

[LoveMyGirls]

I have almost finished a painting I would like to sell, does anyone know the best way to go about selling it? How I would price it etc?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

As for prices, I just thought I should work my way up, I've got so little experience, no art qulaifications, not even gcse art. I did a 4 week art class but that doesn't count as anything really, it was purely because I was enjoying the murals I had done at home. I just felt cheeky asking too much but wanted to cover the cost of doing the paintings really and build it from there IF (big if) I get any interest.

I did look to try and see the differences in prices charged but tbh I just got confused lol!

Someone has already added me a favourite. {faints clean away!}

yipppppppeeeeeeeeeee.

We are the folksy girls..

Are you on facebook pm me if your interested in adding me as a friend............

i can keep in touch better on there.

dont be worried if your not interested, i understand.

Yes I'll pm you What do you think of my painting? (be honest!)

pm'd you.

Thanks

Feel like I'm walking on air...is this how it's supposed to be?

I wish I could pause time and just paint lol!

Lovemygirls another idea would be to join a local art group. Find one that holds exhibitions. I have sold lots of paintings that way and had commissions from people visiting them.

They provide very good experience and you will learn how to hang your paintings and also get an idea of what others are charging.

Forgot to say the venue will take a commission (ours usually charge 20 - 30 percent) but you will take into account when pricing.

Wow Highheidyin that sounds good, I would love to do that one day when I'm good enough and have enough paintings! How would I go about finding a group that holds exhibitions though, could I just google?

Learning things like how to hang paintings would be good, I'm very clueless, like the wooden bits in the plastic bag that hangs on the back, what should I be doing with those - I am clueless! All I have is a love for drawing/ painting and some natural ability but that is it.

I've got £20 vouchers to spend at hobbycraft, is there anything I need?

So far I have got......
table top easel (rowney daley)
box set of royal langnickel paint brushes
a stay wet palette

I got my last lot of canvass' (sp?) from online called discount art (loxley gold if that makes a difference)

Is there anywhere else online you would suggest or anthing that is essential that I don't have yet or should I just buy more canvas?

All help is much appreciated!

LoveMyGirls I am a professional artist and have always dabbled in painting/being crafty generally but have been painting and selling seriously for the past four years. The easy part is the painting, the hard part is to sell, especially at the moment!

The wooden bits that come with the canvas are canvas wedges/keys to tighten up the canvas if needed...you push (or lightly tap with a small hammer) them in the slots in the corners of the wooden frame (try and youtube/google if you are not sure how to do as is difficult to explain exactly how they go in!) :-)

£25 for a 24in square canvas is WAY too cheap. I am a real believer in keeping original art affordable but you have to strike a balance, no one will take your art seriously if you charge that...they will wonder why it is so cheap (or what is wrong with it) and it will put them off. If you can see yourself taking painting at all seriously in the future you do not want to have paintings you charged £25 for lurking around.

Finding places to sell: for any online galleries (or the likes of Folksy) I would say you need a good body of work so potential sellers can have faith that you are professional and also see you have an individual style. Etsy: OK but you can easily get lost in the thousands of listings. Dollars can put people off. Folksy: I think is improving, not great at marketing so think a fairly high percentage of viewers/buyers are other craftspeople. One way these can work for you are if you market your shop yourself ie hand out business cards etc.

Galleries are very hard to get in to, they will want a good selection of work and sometimes a proven sales record. Some of the higher ones can charge up to and over 50% commission. There are some smaller galleries around that are easier to work with but I do not know where you are located to advise on that.

Anyway, to prevent me rambling further, here are my best tips for you:

-Develop a distinct style/theme. Don't just paint lots of random paintings to sell (or do but just for practice!). You want to be easily recognised through your work.

-Keep a record of sales/expenses now. It may really take off and they will be needed.

-Don't approach galleries until you are really confident and ready. If you do and they turn you down you will have wasted that opportunity.

-When you are ready start a Facebook page and use it like a mini art blog. It will encourage interest especially if you link form an online gallery so potential customers can follow you daily.

-Paint a wide range of canvas sizes to suit different budgets. I sell small 5" X 5" for £35, the big ones are £100's and not everyone can afford or has the space for them.

materials: Loxley Gold are widely used (and I used to use them) however they are not the greatest quality. Look at the corners of the canvas...they are cut off rather than neatly folded under. The wood used is also quite light/flimsy and some of my larger paintings using these have warped (30inch sq and larger...so annoying!!!). I now use Art Discounts own brand chunky canvases. Slightly cheaper and sturdier in my opinion.

Use the best quality paint you can afford. get some decent brushes...they will make a real difference.

Phew...sorry to ramble! My dh just asked if I am typing an essay

Last tip...enjoy painting! The better you do (selling wise) the more stressful it becomes. That, however, is a whole other post

Wow Blizzard, thanks for taking the time to write all that, it's really helpful!

How much should I charge for it that is reasonable but not too cheap? It's hard to find that balance, I don't want to price myself out of the market?

Which brushes would you reccommend?

I'm thinking I will carry on painting and selling on folksy and set up a facebook page this year and then move on to stalls next year then see how I feel about approaching a gallery. I'm really busy with my day job and that is my main priority for the next few years, if I can make money out of painting then that's fab but I'm not ready to give up my day job yet so I'm trying to find the time to paint which is tricky but where there is a will there is a way!

I would say £40-£50 to start with. Decent enough amount to cover materials and make a bit of profit, but still very affordable. Once you become established you can then control demand via planned price increases (say 10-15% a year). I started selling in this price bracket then gradually raised prices. The more you paint the better quality your paintings will be as you will learn as you go, and this justifies the price increases.

I had a very quick look at your Folksy page. Your postage is £4.50...check that you can send that size with Royal Mail Recorded delivery. I seem to remember anything over roughly 18in sq is too long in combined length for recorded and standard parcels will not do signed for service. You may need to use a courier. You MUST get a signature upon delivery as otherwise you may get the 'have not received item' email and will have to eventually refund or send another. Just cover yourself with that one :-)

It is hard when combining with a day job. Even I struggle with time and it is my only job...life, kids etc are very time consuming. Do make time though as you have a creative talent and nothing feels better than getting paid to create things :-)

Re brushes, if you are painting in acrylic buy the best synthetic you can afford. I personally would not recommend hog or natural fibers for acrylics. Once again art discount do daler rowney and w&n student synthetic brushes which are good. Maybe find these in an art shop though as they are one thing that are good to see/feel in real life before buying. Paint wise once again I find Daler student range very good for covering large areas. If you can afford artist quality colours it is WELL worth the extra as the pigment load is much better. Get a large student pot of white (probably titanium is best, zinc is very transparent) as you will use lots of it!

I forgot to say last night but one of the best things you can ever do for your art is learn how to mix colour. Get a good book off amazon for this. Each colour is so different and using the correct ones will make a painting. I should think art classes are good for this but have never attended any :-)

I hope I don't sound too bossy or anything but these are all things I wish I had herd when starting out .

One last thing...if you ever sell at craft events make sure you know rough attendance numbers before you book. To sell art you need a high volume of people passing your stand. I avoid many small craft events with a barge pole. It does not matter if the stand is really cheap, it will be a complete waste of time if no one turns up! That has happened to me and not only was it a waste of time and money but is also very demoralising. Large school fetes/christmas events can be good to start with.

Not at all bossy, this is brilliant thank you so much!

I have got a book dh brought me when I went to my class which is called the encyclopedia of acrylic techniques which is handy. I'm getting better at mixing colours I think.

How much is it to send by courier? I've changed prices to £40 and £8.50 for delivery?

School fete/ xmas fayre would be good once I have enough to sell, might look into doing that if I've done enough paintings by christmas.

This is really exciting! I'd love to be a muralist as well as artist. I'm young yet so I'm hoping by the time dd's leave home I will be well on my way to just spending my time painting! I've already planned the spare rooms in my head lol I want a painting section, sewing section, somewhere comfy to chill with a book and have a cuppa...ahhh bliss lol (I'm about 15yrs away from this actually happening lol)

Have added pics to my profile btw if you want a nosey at the one I'm currently working on.

I use Parcelforce and an adhoc collection of that weight is usually about £10.50 (they usually have a 10-15% discount floating around if you google Parcelforce discount/code).

We have a three bedroom house, our dc share a room and my 'studio' is the spare room . Not ideal and have to store large items such as packing boxes and huge rolls of bubblewrap in the loft but so far it has worked OK, just a struggle for space! I store all my finished paintings on the walls as is the safest place for them. My dh say's our house looks like a pub with paintings hung all over the place!

I think your new painting looks great . The fairy one is lovely too, if I was to comment on that I would say maybe consider making the background a bit more atmospheric using light and dark. Having a lighter area around the fairy would draw the viewer in to the focal point and then softly getting darker to the outer edges would enhance this. I mean this in a positive way, I appreciate constructive crit like this as if people always say (like my dh does!) yes yes its great then you can never improve

Comments on your fairy painting...I am in no way thinking/suggesting you should change it as it is beautiful as it is....maybe just a thought if you were to do something similar again

Don't get like me and go back to a finished painting thinking i'll just adjust/change this then mess up the whole thing and have to scrap hours of work...learned that one the hard way

Lol thanks i really appreciate your advice, I've asked DH to put hooks up tomorrow for me to hang things on.

I won't change my fairy one now but will bear in mind for the next time.

Hoping and praying to get my painting finished and up for sale today, just off to take dd2 to a kids party and THEN I will paint!

Help = I seem to have bits of dust stuck to my painting, I have no idea where they have come from this hasn't happened with my others, what's happening? (my house is not dirty btw) What do I do now?

How exciting

I'm also an amateur painter (prefer acrylics at the mo, but dabbling with watercolours)
I joined an art group a few months back and love it. The group has bonded well and we all help each other. Although tbh a lot of them are really talented, more professional I'd say?

My teacher is impressed with my improvement, so much so she's put me in for some award?
I put my paintings on facebook and friends are impressed, I get a lot of positive comments.
I don't take hours and hours to do a painting though, usually no more than 3. I have a loose style and mainly do landscapes. I love water and skies.

Good luck with your shop you have a real talent

LMG have you tried brushing it with a dry large paintbrush? Hope someone can come along soon to help.

I'm thinking it maybe because I tried a textured background this time?? Thinking I might have to paint over and add more texture to cover the dust bits? You can see them iff you look close but the background colour is pale so is noticable.

Yes I triued brushing with a large brush but they have stuck to the paint

Thanks Curious xx

If you want to remove try sanding gently with some very fine sandpaper. Then if needed glaze over with a wash of paint to cover any areas that need it. When letting paintings dry keep upright rather than flat to avoid settling. The odd bit of dust is inevitable though!

You can speed up the drying process of acrylics (especially helpful with large areas such as backgrounds) with a hairdryer. This will also help stop dust settling.

blizzard do you varnish your paintings?

I dried a painting over the toaster once I also have one of those craft things that looks like a hairdryer but doesn't blow. It's for stamping. Very hot though.