Cat's Corner

Over the years, I've met quite a few aspiring artists who keep on-line art galleries or art shops like I do and want a few tips on how they can get more people to pay attention to their art, and possibly get to a point where they actually sell prints on a regular basis or land commission jobs every so often. I always give them more or less the same few pieces of basic advice, so I figured a blog article on the subject might prove helpful to others in the future.

1. Evaluate Your Skills

I'm not saying you have to be able to look at your artwork and think it equal to something you'd see hanging in the Louvre or anything, but take a long, hard look at it anyway. Would you buy your art? I mean... really... would you? If not, then it's probably safe to say that you should polish your skills a little bit before you can expect to sell it to anyone else. Consider that for you to sell a piece of art, a customer has to not only like it, but like it enough to go get their credit card and pay their hard-earned money to own it.

Get serious about what you're doing. Take art classes. Study tutorials and practice, practice, practice. Ask other artists to critique your work, listen to their feedback, and follow their advice. Develop a personal style that makes your artwork distinctively yours and helps it stand out in its own way. Then once you get really good? Keep working and try to get even better. Artists who are really passionate about what they're doing never stop trying to improve.

2. Make A Statement

I can't speak for everyone out there, but I know a couple of things that don't make such a hot impression on me when it comes to visual art have to do with artist's statements. When you post your work, do you write an artist's statement to go with it? Many people don't, and when I see a beautiful piece of artwork posted on-line somewhere about which the artist didn't see fit to say a single word, I tend to lose interest right away more often than not. I really like to see at least a few sentences that give me something further to think about when I look at the work in question.

Introduce the viewer to your piece. You don't necessarily have to spell out the entire story behind it in minute detail, but many art lovers do like to hear what inspired you or read a few words about the mood you were trying to achieve. In many cases, the artist's statement has literally made the difference for me between connecting with a piece, and perhaps buying a print of it or recommending it to a friend, and simply shrugging and clicking on to the next one. Write something that will make people fall in love with your work.

However, you should never apologize for the quality of your work or imply that you don't think it's very good in an attempt to be humble. It's hard to really love a piece that you know even the artist himself doesn't love. If you aren't happy with your piece, don't post it until you are. If you are happy with it, introduce it with pride. You worked hard on it, it's a piece of you, and that's a really big deal.

3. Maximize Your On-Line Presence

You don't have to flood the inboxes of everyone you know twice a day to make sure people visit your gallery or check out your products. (I would actually recommend that you not do that, because you will make a nuisance of yourself very quickly.) However, there are probably quite a few ways you can maximize the on-line presence you very likely already have that will help you with exposure.

Most people these days maintain some kind of on-line profile or blog on a social networking site like My Space or Live Journal anyway. Why not add a snazzy banner linked to your shop or a few clickable thumbnails of your work to yours? Perhaps devote a section of your profile to your art that includes a few blurbs about your inspiration or explains to people that you sell your work or take commissions. People who are interested will certainly click through and take a look.

Do you ever post to any on-line discussion forums? Include a link to your shop in your signature. People already interested in your contribution to the discussions may want to know more about you and follow it out of genuine interest in what you do.

Blog about your art on occasion the same as you would anything else you were interested in, and share new pieces that you are proud of. Your readers are there because they are interested in you and your life, so they will be glad to see it, and you never know who might decide it's exactly what they wanted for their living room wall. You win... they win... everyone's happy!

4. Charge For Your Work

You will find that many people would love for you to do custom work for them, but that they don't like the idea of having to pay for it. However, it is your job as the artist to make sure your clients understand that you consider yourself a professional and expect to be paid for your work the same as anyone else who specializes in any other profession. Decide early on how much you think your work is worth. Factor in the cost of your supplies, how long it will probably take you to complete the work, and how much you feel your labor is worth per hour. Don't demand a fortune for your services, but don't undercharge either. After all, no one will be able to produce this piece of art quite the way you can. If they don't want to pay you properly, graciously thank them for their interest and let them know how to contact you if they reconsider.

While it's completely up to you whether or not you want to give out prints as the occasional gift to your customers or lend your services to a specific project that you want to be part of for its own sake, the sooner you start to think of your artwork as a product that should be worth money to those interested in owning a piece of it, the better. You work hard on your art, and you pour a lot of effort and energy into it. You are just as entitled to expect people to pay you for your time and labor as anyone else, so charge for your work, and charge consistently. Why would people expect to pay for something when they know they can probably convince you to just give it to them for free?

5. Take It Into Real Life

Eventually you might want to consider creating a local presence and customer base in addition to your on-line one. Consider purchasing some of your own prints in bulk from your shop and reselling them on consignment as an option. Do some research and find out what shops in your area offer this as an option and might be interested in carrying some of your work. You set the prices and they collect a percentage of the profits when pieces sell. Everyone wins again! You may also want to look into renting a booth at a local festival or street fair from which you can offer your art for sale. Look into what possibilities might be available to you in your area.

If you've ever purchased any of your own prints, you are probably well aware that an image on a computer screen doesn't do justice to the quality and detail involved in your artwork. Giving people the opportunity to see your work in living color right in front of them will allow them to see it in all its glory and increase its chances of selling. Plus, there's just something about getting to actually hold an object in your hands and be able to take it home with you right then if you fall in love with it. You never know who might fall in love with one of your creations.

6. Keep Growing

You'll find that the longer you're at it, and the more you continue to grow as an artist, the more sales you actually make and the more people will ask you if you ever take commissions or license your work for things like CD covers or book jackets. You might even find that you've acquired a following that actually looks an awful lot like a fan base. Keep expanding to meet your own needs, and continue to let new people know that you're out there. You may want to consider creating a homepage eventually, if you don't already have one, or setting up a mailing list your customers can sign up for to keep up with updates regarding your work. Keep yourself in the know as to what other options there are for you out there as well. Above all, keep working hard and striving to improve. A true artist never stops growing.