Equine Artists / people who have bought or commissioned art...

[Baileysno1]

Basically help me market myself!!!

Since I've had my little boy, I have been playing a bit with painting again, I completed a fine art degree a couple of years ago but on graduating took up a career a million miles from art working on big engineering projects. My job doesn't lend itself to part time working so now my maternity period is ending I looking for casual part time work to fit around Heath however I thought I could make my paintings pay and supplement my earnings a bit.

I'm brainstorming some ideas and would appreciate some ideas on what people like,

Artists....

Do you sell more commissions or original work?

What medium sells best? Pencil drawings or big stretchers?

How do you get seen? Blogs, websites, Facebook, galleries, shows?

I'd love to hear from anyone who has had prints made of their paintings as I think my paintings would translate well to prints.

To the art patrons out there.....

If you have bought original equine art, where did you see it?

Do you prefer drawings or paintings?

What kind of figure do you expect to pay for a original piece of work?

Here are some images from my degree show the canvas are big 2m x 1m, but though the style would work smaller as I imagine smaller work more saleable

Something more recent smaller on paper

What do you think?

 

[Kat]

Hi my husband is an equine artists, have a look at his website for an idea of what he does

www. mark-langley.com

I should warn you it is extremely difficult to be profitable. He has been doing commissions for over 10 years now and the actual profits are pretty poor when you consider the amount of time and effort put in and all the expenses. He speaks to other artists regularly who have been in the business for 20 year plus and still aren't making enough money to survive without the support of a partner with a decent wage.

I wouldn't recommend it as a way of supplimenting your income really.

Promoting yourself and making prints etc is very expensive. It is one thing to do it as a hobby that occasionally people pay you for but quite another to do it as your main source of income. Mark is always still working when I get home from work at 7pm and can often be found updating his website or emailing galleries at midnight.

As to whether to do commissions or originals, it depends upon your style, if it is realistic you will probably be better doing commissions if it is very contemporary you might struggle to get commissions but sell originals well.

Remember to price your work carefully, you need to take into account all of your expenses and your time. Many artists vastly undersell themselves, Mark spent a while doing pictures with a stop watch to work out how long they took him so that he could bill for them, you don't want to sell a picture you have spent 100 hours on for £50.

Good luck if you decide to go for it and don't forget to register with the tax office as self employed.

 

[Baileysno1]

Katt thank you for the detailed reply I had a browse of your husbands site last night his work is beautiful, I think you are probably right about the financial side of things but I do love painting and like you say having it as a hobby that occassionaly pays is better than nothing.

I think I'm going to start a blog of works in progress and set up a facebook page, my work is more contemporary and might not lend itself best to specific commissions from photos etc.

Good point about the tax man ...... convieniently forgot about that one ; )

 

[Kat]

No problem, feel free to drop me a PM if you want any other information. I think you have probably made the right choice though, I'm not sure trying to start a new business in a notoriously unpredictable field is quite where you want to be with a young family and the stresses and strains that go with it!