Selling your work

I think this is one of the most puzzling questions to an artist. Most of us, as human beings, are tempted to sell our art emotionaly, pricing the work accordingly to the personal attachment we have to it or the degree of mastery it shows. Unfortunately, this is a mistake. Our jugement on ourselves is usually biased, and, well, the art world is a commercial market. You have to think business.  

So, herein, the 5 commandments of art selling:

          Of your art, you will detach yourself

This is obvious considering my introduction to this post. Yes, you hate that one and wouldn’t show it for the world. Yes, you love this other painting. Our works are sometimes like relatives to us. Our attachment real. But if you want to live of your art, you need to start considering it as what it is: in this case, a frame with coton fabric stretched over it. One will go, and others will come. Your pieces are not unique, because your creativity will never leave you, and therefore, they are not a rare object, have you poured your heart into them or not.

 A constant pricer you will be and receipts you will issue

You need to set a matrix for the pricing of your artwork. There doesn’t seem to be a particular rule ( and if I am mistaking please say so!), yet the rule of thumb seems to be to charge a certain amount per square inch.  This amount should increase with your experience and notoriety. Whatever mathematical or logical system you use, you have to stick to it. If you start selling, your art will take on value with time, according to the actual selling price of your art. If you sell your work cheaper because you don’t like it, you will be devaluating other works you’ve sold previously. This is obviously not very well looked upon in the business world.  You also want to issue receipts: they are proof of the value of your work at a given date. You need them for your taxes, and so does your buyer, most of the time.  Another common mistake is to sell cheaper to your relatives and friends. For the same work value reason, this is not a good idea, even though it is tempting.

 A contract you will always sign

This applies more to galleries, but it may be useful in other situations.  A gallery usually takes a commission  on your work they sold. You want to have all those dispositions in writting, so you know exactly how much they owe you.  They have to issue receipts, so if they go bankrupt, for example, you can prove you weren’t issued payment, should it happen. I’ve heard horror stories about artists having their work stolen; without a contract, this is hard to prove.  A contract should also be issued by you should a buyer ask for a payment settlement. This happened to me, recently. The buyer couldn’t pay up front.  I told him we could arrange, but we would have to sign a contract stating his first settlement, the full price of the work, and how long he had to pay the remaining balance, after which date the work was considered unsold and available again on the market. Make sure you specify the first settlement is non refundable. That way, if you keep a piece under reservation for six months, you will not have done so for nothing, should the buyer change his mind.  And please, never let a piece of art leave the studio before it is fully paid.

   Archiving you will prioritize

Before setting up a show, make sure you have taken pictures of the new work you’ve produced, taken the measurements and added the pieces to your list of available work. If you don’t, you’ll regret it if you sell anything. Your portfolio needs to be frequently updated. It is a horrible experience to have to take pictures of 4 years of work at the same time, trust me on this. You’d rather take a dozen pictures at a time.

Thank your buyers you will gladly do

After all, they are enabling you do make a living from your passion. Be greatful.