What a year it has been!
2013 was a record breaker on the number of paintings I created and the
number of work I sold! I painted a lot
of small paintings, maybe half of the work I did was in small paintings which
is very popular and quick to sell.
All in all I created 108 paintings and sold 106. My usual sales are between 70 and 90 every
year so am very pleased that I could handle all these sales by myself. I sold 5 paintings on Exhibition the rest of
my sales where direct to the public. Also I had a couple of commissions to do
this year.
I learned from experience that painting small is not always
profitable, it might be easier to create, as you can work on 8 - 10 paintings
of 20x25cm at the same time and finish them in a week, but the price is also very
low and you have to rely on quantity to make a profit. While, if you paint two medium paintings of
50x50cm per week your cost and time could be more or less the same but your
profit margin will be greater as you now created artwork of substance!
The best thing to do is to paint a good mix of different
sizes so that you have enough paintings of all sizes to show your potential
collectors.
We just have to keep trying and experimenting in different
ways to have a satisfactory return for our artwork. As I have written in previous blogs pricing
of the artwork is very important. You
need to make a living from your art but also be competitive in your pricing
without loosing respect of your God given talent by pricing your work beyond
it’s real value!
The Internet is a excellent tool that will help you sell
your artwork but you also are in huge competition with thousands of artist that
are on line. Selling on line is not as
simple as it sounds. You need to be prepared with all aspects of a sale, from
packaging and boxing of paintings to International shipping costs. You need to be ready and respond to requests
as soon as possible. A client who looks
up on on-line Galleries to buy a painting does not wait for you too long! You have to reply to his inquiries almost
immediately.
Do your homework and be prepared, the best advertising you
can get is a happy satisfied customer that will become a serious collector.
Have a wonderful 2014, there are more records to be broken!
