How can you sell your art? Learn how to sell your valuable art. You can make a living selling your art, but it will take persistence and determination. Liz Penniman, an established artist in Austin, Texas,...
You can make a living selling your art, but it will take persistence and determination. Liz Penniman, an established artist in Austin, Texas, who sells her art through "hand to hand shake deals" and via the internet is an expert when it comes to selling your own art.
The internet is a medium many artists are now taking advantage of to sell their art. The cost is minimal to set up and maintain. You can even design a website yourself with software programs. It can help get your name out to the most remote places in the world. Most artists of past generations could have only dreamed of reaching so many people wanting to buy art. However, if the internet is not the route you want to take, Penniman suggests taking up local job offers.
"Well there are so many different things you can do; the bigger the city, the more niches and the more demand. Here in our city of half a million, art jobs aren't nearly as plentiful, but when I was in New York I got art jobs all the time. I painted sets for film companies. I made murals for children. I was also an assistant for a famous artist mixing his colors," Penniman says.
In order to sell your art, you have to be willing to put yourself out there, even when you are vacationing. You have to think like a businessman Penniman says.
"I was commissioned to create portraits of a women's dead family, and I was commissioned to paint a copy of a painting that someone loved. It's important to create collectors because there are art collectors in our culture. I realized in all my experience hanging around Europeans that they just normally buy art, even if you are the postmistress. People of all walks of life buy art, because it's a normal thing to do."
Penniman says a good art selling tip is educating others about your work and what it stands for.
"If you are personally prone to talk and you like parties, then you can go out and talk to everyone about it. If that's not your bag, you can write articles. If that doesn't work for you, you can find people who do like to talk about it. Have them spread the news among people who are collectors or potential collectors," Penniman says.
Penniman says if you still have no luck, then maybe you need to relocate. You can move to a city where art sellers and buyers are plentiful. Her native San Francisco is one of those places.
"Their focus is on lifestyle and enjoying the moment. There are more outside events and recreational things. You know all there is to do is see the latest movie, the latest play, go to an art opening, and you really want to do that all the time in order to make sense of why you are living in a place like that."
So if you've always wanted to sell your art, you have several options. There's the internet and your word of mouth. Of course, you can always pack up your bags and hit the road with your palette and brushes, and paint your way into a different part of the world.
Before you embark on your journey, these words by President Calvin Coolidge may help to inspire you. "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
See how far your determination can take you.
