3 P’s – The Art Of Selling Art

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art, art career, art selling, Artist, artwork, career, creativity, facebook, google +, google plus, hard work, how to promote your art, how to sell art, how to sell prints, learning, original art, patience, perseverance, photographers, photography, pinterest, practice, print selling, prints, promoting, self promotion, self representing artist, selling art, sharon cummings, skills, social media, strength, stumbleupon, twitter

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/inner-strength-abstract-painting-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

If you are an artist or photographer who has a dream of making a career out of your craft, you will need three things:  practice, promotion and patience.  And you will need them exactly in that order.

Practice means that you will be painting a lot of paintings.  Many will be thrown right in the trash because they just didn’t work out.  Photographers will be taking many photos in a single shoot only to find that none of them work or if you are lucky one is good enough to list for sale.  You will try new things that will either be total flops or lead you to something really cool and interesting.  You will invest money that seemingly never pays off.  These days I sell about 5 prints a day on average from the various POD sites I am on and about 2 originals per week. The majority of what I am selling now is work I have created in the last year.  Since I have been selling my art professionally for over 10 years this means that I am a much better artist today than I was back then.  I have removed 100’s of images from my portfolios because as I practice and improve, I realize they aren’t my best work anymore.  If you have just started creating photography or any kind of artwork within the last 2 years, I guarantee you that you need a lot more practice before your work will sell really well.  If you look at the famous creatives most of them never sold early work while they were producing it and many never made a dime from it at all…money was only made after they were dead.  In the Internet age we have so many opportunities that they never had.  So keep creating regularly.  The more you produce the better you will become and eventually sales will start rolling in.  Babies do not come out walking and neither do artists.  We crawl first.

While you are busy perfecting your art, there is a key ingredient to success that cannot be overlooked.  Much like creatives of yesteryear we have to have someone believe in us and “get us out there” in order for our work to sell.  For them it was luck and chance by being discovered by the right person at the right time.  These days that someone is ourselves.  You must believe in your work and be willing to share it with the World.  Social Media provides us with instant access to millions of people from the comfort of our own studio computer, laptop or phone.  We can connect to a mind boggling amount of followers with a few clicks.  As an artist or photographer who lists on online galleries, if you are not using ALL of the FREE social media sites available to us, you are completely missing the boat.  This post would be way too long for me to delve into all of the ins and outs of Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, etc. but there are tons of free resources online to get you started.  Check out the link to my social media in my blog and see what I am doing.

Once you have the discipline to create new work on a regular basis and you are willing to put in some hard work promoting yourself what you are left with is time. It takes time to become successful.  Patience will be your best friend for awhile.  A year ago today I was only selling about 1 print a week and 2 years ago only 1 a month!  Now it is 5 a day!  But that did not happen overnight.  It took about 2 years to get moved up in searches and it took about 6 more months of creating new and better art than I was used to producing and HEAVY social media promoting to see the magic start.  And I am still learning and improving myself.

Not everyone is cut out for the kind of hard work and perseverance that an art career requires. But if you can commit to at least 3 years of constant creativity and as much promotion as time will allow, you can definitely find your market and succeed!

3 P’s – The Art Of Selling Art

Tags

art, art career, art selling, Artist, artwork, career, creativity, facebook, google +, google plus, hard work, how to promote your art, how to sell art, how to sell prints, learning, original art, patience, perseverance, photographers, photography, pinterest, practice, print selling, prints, promoting, self promotion, self representing artist, selling art, sharon cummings, skills, social media, strength, stumbleupon, twitter

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/inner-strength-abstract-painting-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

If you are an artist or photographer who has a dream of making a career out of your craft, you will need three things:  practice, promotion and patience.  And you will need them exactly in that order.

Practice means that you will be painting a lot of paintings.  Many will be thrown right in the trash because they just didn’t work out.  Photographers will be taking many photos in a single shoot only to find that none of them work or if you are lucky one is good enough to list for sale.  You will try new things that will either be total flops or lead you to something really cool and interesting.  You will invest money that seemingly never pays off.  These days I sell about 5 prints a day on average from the various POD sites I am on and about 2 originals per week. The majority of what I am selling now is work I have created in the last year.  Since I have been selling my art professionally for over 10 years this means that I am a much better artist today than I was back then.  I have removed 100’s of images from my portfolios because as I practice and improve, I realize they aren’t my best work anymore.  If you have just started creating photography or any kind of artwork within the last 2 years, I guarantee you that you need a lot more practice before your work will sell really well.  If you look at the famous creatives most of them never sold early work while they were producing it and many never made a dime from it at all…money was only made after they were dead.  In the Internet age we have so many opportunities that they never had.  So keep creating regularly.  The more you produce the better you will become and eventually sales will start rolling in.  Babies do not come out walking and neither do artists.  We crawl first.

While you are busy perfecting your art, there is a key ingredient to success that cannot be overlooked.  Much like creatives of yesteryear we have to have someone believe in us and “get us out there” in order for our work to sell.  For them it was luck and chance by being discovered by the right person at the right time.  These days that someone is ourselves.  You must believe in your work and be willing to share it with the World.  Social Media provides us with instant access to millions of people from the comfort of our own studio computer, laptop or phone.  We can connect to a mind boggling amount of followers with a few clicks.  As an artist or photographer who lists on online galleries, if you are not using ALL of the FREE social media sites available to us, you are completely missing the boat.  This post would be way too long for me to delve into all of the ins and outs of Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, etc. but there are tons of free resources online to get you started.  Check out the link to my social media in my blog and see what I am doing.

Once you have the discipline to create new work on a regular basis and you are willing to put in some hard work promoting yourself what you are left with is time. It takes time to become successful.  Patience will be your best friend for awhile.  A year ago today I was only selling about 1 print a week and 2 years ago only 1 a month!  Now it is 5 a day!  But that did not happen overnight.  It took about 2 years to get moved up in searches and it took about 6 more months of creating new and better art than I was used to producing and HEAVY social media promoting to see the magic start.  And I am still learning and improving myself.

Not everyone is cut out for the kind of hard work and perseverance that an art career requires. But if you can commit to at least 3 years of constant creativity and as much promotion as time will allow, you can definitely find your market and succeed!

Gerald Marella Patience To Perfection Photographer

Tags

art, Artist, bird, birds, buy prints, eagles, feathers, fine art america, floral, flowers, Gerald Marella, landscapes, nature, nature photography, nature prints, owls, patience, photographer, photographs, photography, photos, professional photographer, scenic photography, selling prints, skill

I’ve always envied people with a lot of patience.  When I take photos, I just randomly snap whatever catches my eye.  This is not the case for Gerald Marella.  When I was first introduced to him and his work, I could tell that he was different.  He was certainly interactive in our social media group, but it was obvious that his heart and mind were always on his craft.  He made excuses for absences sometimes, but there was really no need.  His work shows where he spends his time and the results are utter perfection.

I recently asked Gerald the same questions I have been asking other photographers I am featuring.  Here are his responses:

What inspires your works?  I love being there.  When I’m out photographing I try to become invisible. That can take time and patience, but if I can become part of the landscape a lot more natural behavior happens around me. Even when photographing eagles in an area where they aren’t habituated, it takes time to become ignored as part of the environment.  Getting to that point and capturing a good photograph is very satisfying.

Which of your photographs is your favorite?  I’d have to say the Barred Owl. It took a while to get to the point where the owl didn’t mind my presence. After that I was able to slow down, watch, and photograph the owl in a natural pose. I was careful to be respectful of it’s space and back off if it became too aware of my distance.http://fineartamerica.com/featured/barred-owl-portrait-1-gerald-marella.html

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/bald-eagle-over-ice-gerald-marella.html

Is there a photographer you relate to? And why?  I don’t know if relate is the right word, but Thomas Mangelsen’s work is amazing.  When I see his nature photos I see some similarities in style.

Do you ever feel like giving up?  I’ve never wanted to “give up”, but there are days when I think that I shouldn’t be allowed to own a camera.  That’s when I know I need a break.

How long have you been taking photos?  For many years, but for the past 15 or so with my focus on nature.

What’s the best thing about being a photographer?  I love the process.  Being out trying to become part of an environment and attempting to capture a photo that reflects a moment in time as if no one was there to see it.

What’s the worst thing about being an photographer?  The equipment can be heavy to lug around. I always use a tripod and for small creatures a long lens is necessary.

Is there a purpose to your photography?  I’m very literal. When I see a subject that I’d like to capture, I like the result to be an accurate portrayal of what I was seeing. That can be a tack sharp stop action, or the blur of a running animal. When I get the right result I feel that I’ve captured a second in time that will never be captured exactly the same way again.

How do you feel when people interpret your photos differently?  I feel great! When people interpret a photo differently it means that they’re emotionally involved in the moment of capture as if they were there when it happened.

What advice do you have for aspiring photographers?  Learn the mechanical and technical functions of your camera. You can’t effectively portray the emotion of the moment if you don’t know how your camera settings will manage the light and background. And, don’t accept OK. Your vision and style will change over time.

You can view more of Gerald’s amazing work here:

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/gerald-marella.html?tab=artwork