Business Idea. What do you think?

[Enthusia]

Hi

I am looking at starting a small business painting and selling original artwork on canvas that incorporate information such as names, dates or messages.

So for instance at the moment i am concentrating on small canvases, 20cm square, with paintings of rockets, flowers etc and incorporating baby names and birth details on them for birth presents.

I can paint most things if I have a picture, mainly cartoon and illustrated styles, but I can do some lifelike work, so people could choose the theme themselves. I could also paint them for any occasion and incorporate most information.

What I need to know is if you would be interested in something like this and how much you would pay so I can see if this is a realistic idea.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thank you.

a local shop sells these and TBH lots of places seem to
They vary price wise but i have seen them at £100 + for the larger canvasses

Thanx RubySlippers. I haven't seen anything like it around my area. I was thinking about £25 to £30 for the 20cm square ones.

they sound reasonably priced
if you don't have competition locally then maybe give it a try

I knew someone in the US who does something a bit like this and she has had some success by having the business on a website so people can commission pieces online after viewing examples. Portraits of peoples' pets are popular too. Jill

it might be worth doing a bit of market research to see if people would buy them.

Art is a very personal thing, and what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.

Hi Enthusia,

The costing sounds fair - depending on how quickly you can work of course. You wouldn't want to price yourself out of the market.

I have seen some stuff like this around but maybe it's a case of putting a bit of yourself and your style into it and making it a bit different.

How about collage too - say adding a birth stone or personal artifact into / onto the canvas.

Also - how about small trinket boxes etc. rather than canvas.

Think what you would like and try to find an outlet too if possible.

A website might be a very good idea - if you're not very technical about these things an Ebay shop is quite cheap and would get you known to lots of people.

Good Luck!

HTH

Thanx for your messages. I have just got two canvases into a local upmarket design centre, they are going to trial them for two weeks but seem impressed. I will try and get some pics up to see what you and other think of them.

Josstick, painting other items is also a good idea, as is adding artefacts. Thank you!