Tips for selling your art

Rise Art founder Scott Phillips and curator Sergio Fernandez suggest tips for artists on how to promote and sell their work.

Know your practice, and ‘self curate’

We come across artists all the time who display and submit artwork from multiple projects with no apparent connection or theme. They don’t curate or present their work cohesively. As a result it is hard to understand their motivations, influences, focus and direction. When promoting your practice, it is important to know what you stand for and what sets you apart. Select and present your work and your artist statement so that these messages support your portfolio and projects.

Make it easy for collectors to find you

Many artists we work with often have business cards and a personal artist website. Collectors come across thousands of artists vying for their attention. Once a collector sees your work at a group show or exhibition, make it easy for them to find you afterwards. Start a mailing list, and build a database of people interested in your work. Keep them updated on what you are doing.

Price realistically

Look around at other artists at similar stages of their careers and benchmark your work accordingly. Keep an eye out for what other artists are selling their work for at group & degree shows. Having realistic expectations and awareness will help price your work competitively. This will held you communicate your prices to collectors with confidence.

Join online communities

There are numerous communities online for artists, including

• Rise Art
• Art Review
• Artlyst,
• not to mention Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Find the platform that works for you. By building up and actively managing a community online, you can directly influence how many people come to your next show.

Make editions

Many artists make editions of their works. If done correctly, this can expand your collector base and generate more income for you than sales of unique works alone. When making editions, it is important to make sure that they represent your work in the best way possible. Spend time investigating different techniques and mediums that work well with your practice. Consider limiting your editions to low production runs to promote scarcity and value.

Sell online at websites right for your work

Knowing where to sell is important. Depending on your work and ambition there are different sites that will work best for you. Sites like Etsy are great for crafts, while other sites specialise in print-on-demand services. These sites may bring in revenue, but could impact how collectors and galleries view your work. Selling sites often attract amateurs as well as serious artists.

Framing

Offer collectors interested in your work a framed option for your art. Often, collectors don’t want to deal with the burden of framing. Offering a framing option. It can help sell your work and provide you with additional income from the sale. Plus, offering framing gives you the chance to show collectors how your art looks its best on display.

Don’t believe the hype: bigger does not mean better

While it is important to explore different sizes in your work, bigger isn’t necessarily better. Collectors may find it difficult to display installations or large format works. Some artists who believe that making larger works will support higher prices. Ignore this. It is an artists work and concept that draws acclaim and commands high prices, not the size of the work

Avoid flooding the market with your art

Artists that are everywhere early in their career are often the artists with the least focus, in our experience. Galleries make their mark often by limiting an artists exposure as well as promoting it. With all of your promotional activities, keep in mind how your practice will be perceived . Focus on projects and promotions that make sense for your practice, and ignore the rest.

Stay true to your ideas

It is important for emerging artists to experiment and try new things, but stay true to your ideas and beliefs. Strive to develop a recognizable voice. Make that voice evident throughout each of your projects.

© Scott Phillips and Sergio Fernandez 2011

This work has a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike License