Don't stress about whether or not
you can make money with your art.
It's possible.
The first independent art show
I held years ago yielded me a nice sum of money, $700 to be exact in just a few
short hours...two.
Here's how I did it.
1. BECOME THE ARTIST YOU SAY
YOU ARE
When you start as an artist, be
sure to be consistent and post daily so people will start to believe that
you're the artist you say you are.
The benefit of being committed
to the idea of being an artist is that you'll slowly but surely get better and
better in skill and confidence. Stay with it. Practice, practice,
practice.
Once you've established your
"rep" as a decent artist, build on that momentum and start
thinking about hosting your own art show.
My suggestion: Create a minimum
of 20 works of art.
2. INVEST IN A PRINTER (or some
way to multiply your art)
Investing in a good printer was
one of the ways I was able to maximize my sales for my first show.
Why?
I made prints. I offered
more affordable options for attendees to collect art beyond my originals. There
were plenty of copies available for purchase
3. MIX UP YOUR PRICING
To be honest I didn't even
calculate my margins and therefore really didn't know what my profits were for
the first show.
So figure that out first. Tally
up every dime you spend and every dime you project to spend.
Once you do, take that number
and determine how much you need to sell to make that back and then some.
Note: You wanna price your art
in a manner that is attainable for anyone. Go low AND go high.
4. FIND A VENUE
Luckily I had the option to
host my first solo art show at a friend’s brick and mortar business. I
realize this is an anomaly, so if you don't have a friend with a brick and
mortar business or a hook up, try conducting a search for garage rentals in
your city.
Peerspace is a site that lists
available garages for rent just for occasions like this.
5. PROMOTE THE HELL OUT OF YOUR
SHOW
As artists, it can be hard to
pat ourselves on the back. Especially if we're taking the independent,
nobody knows who the hell we are route.
Have no fear and go
forth.
This kind of ties into number
one because as you stay consistent with creating, you should also be consistent
with showing off your work. The more you do, the more you prove.
That's it. Do it, See what
happens.
xoxo - Farrah .
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