Selling Your Art Part 3 - Sell the Artist
How to sell your art online or in person is what nearly all artists ask about at some point. This blog post is part 3 of the 3 part series on Selling Your Art.
See Selling Your Art Part 1 and Part 2
Nitty Gritty on How to Sell Your Art
NO ONE is searching for you or your art, your website, your art show.
YOU must be the one to get your art "out there" so that it can be seen and potentially purchased. No one else is.
UNDERSTAND your niche and style of art to build your understanding toward who your potential clients are in order to get your art in front of them and to TALK about your art.
How to Sell Your Art: 4 Things Art Buyer Really Want...
Now let's take a look at the actual how YOU can sell YOURSELF.
There are art spaces where your art must speak for itself - sort of. The art gallery or exhibit you have your art in is run by staff and you are not physically there except perhaps on the day of the art reception. In this regard, you will or should be actively promoting your art on display on social media, local event avenues, friends, family, art followers, etc.
Ask other artist where they were successful, what platforms they used, what art shows are good to attend, what typically sells at those shows and galleries.
Then there are art shows, popup art shows, group art shows where you are on stage. Your vendor booth is when you are the person tapped to make the sale. Have a gander at this video:
"I certainly have not the talent which some people possess, of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done." - Mr Darcy. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
Important to Remember: people do not always buy artwork because its the greatest artwork in existence. They may buy artwork because of the artist. The buyer and artist have built a relationship, a connection.
Art Ideas Toward Making Income
Although the artist's ultimate goal may be the creation and selling of the own original artworks, there are other ways for the artist to earn income to support their art career. The sale of original artwork is a one-by-one process but these other ideas may offer ways to generate income as well. Do remember, some of these ideas will require a LOT of traffic, followers, and extensive marketing, as always - do the research and find what will work for you and your skills.
- Teaching art classes and workshops.
- Create and sell online courses.
- Craft fairs, art markets, farmers markets, art festivals, art or gallery walks, art crawls - wherever you can connect with a variety of people, collect emails, get feedback, test products, and more.
- Streaming / livestreaming your art process.
- Sell digital downloads and templates.
- Art commissions for pet portraits, family portraits, murals, and more.
- Networking with someone writing a book that might need an illustrator, or write and sell your own art books, art guides, or e-books. Think book covers, cook books, children's books...
- Offer limited edition prints and/or look into print-on-demand products.
- Art merchandise customized with the artist's designs - mugs, tote bags, t-shirts, puzzles, and more.
- Have extra space? Rent out studio space to other artists.
- Offer graphic design services. Create a logo for someone, business cards, or flyers for a fee.
- Offer private art lessons.
- Be a live caricature artist, a face painter, a paint and sip artist.
- Apply for artist residencies.
- Licensing your artwork for commercial use - get royalties.
- Sell NFTs or digital art tokens.
- Build a membership site with a subscription fee presenting exclusive content.
- Monetize your social media, newsletters, blog with sponsored content, affiliate links, ad revenue, and more.
- Crowdfunding
- Apply for art grants for an art project.
- Feature "art sales" shows with square foot shows which are 12x12 artworks, each artwork priced the same and market the show extensively.
- Go to your local gift shops and boutiques, that may sell local art.
- Try selling at gallery gift stores, museums.
- Watercolor greeting cards
- Offering your artistic services such as:
- An art show or contest Juror or Judge.
- Art talks, event speaker or panelist.
- A photographer - not only the weddings but think about offering your art group members professional photos of their artworks for a reasonable fee. Set up photo sessions on a scheduled basis for specific sizes, certain number of pieces - whatever works for you. Once you have the equipment set up, its a great way to move through the process before moving to the next size of artwork.
See more:
10 Practical Networking Tips for Artists to Boost Career
16 Creative Ways to Make Money as an Artist (That Actually Pay the Bills)
Follow-up When Potential Buyers Show Interest
ART TIPS:
- Dress to impress is as important as always even when its terribly hot. Look professional!
- Your attitude is so important. A happy artist with energy will help to sell.
- I do suggest going down the rabbit hole for a period of time when researching how to sell art and your art business. There are so many great videos and art tip suggestions that you can learn so much from, and a ton of tips on this blog too!
The Art of Selling Art, Selling You, Selling Higher Priced Art
Alternatively, there are schools of thought that say in order to sell your art and to sell it at a higher price for the professional and established artists is to:
- Find your target audience by posting you with your artwork with high quality photos and videos TALKING ABOUT your art - NOT trying to SELL it. Speak directly to your ideal Buyer.
- Develop the script for each artwork saying WHO it may appeal to and why.
- Do NOT send potential Buyers to a website link.
- Always answer your DMs when someone asks about the price.
- Post at least 3 to 5 times per week on your social media. Be genuine.
- Build a communication line to the potential Buyers and a developing a relationship with them directly when they ask how much it is or what else you have. Be engaging. Ask what they love about your artwork.
- Build perceived value by:
- NOT offering the art merchandise that many artists do.
- Don't offer any marked down pricing.
- Have at least several high priced artworks that are extra large, running $5000+ and pose them in a very clean, very professional environment with YOU in the pictures as well. Build trust.
- If a person says that those artworks at that level are unaffordable for them, show them the 'more affordable' pieces that you have, say 16x20 and 18x24 medium to large range that are under the 5K. Perceived value.
- Close the sale - learn the scripts and tactics to make the sale.
Let's face it. If your followers and people commenting on your social media posts are all other artists, you are not selling to them. They are trying to sell their own artwork. Finding your Buyers and moving toward making them repeat Buyers is the beginning of your marketing plan. As with anything, its up to you to learn the process of selling in order to sell well.
For Further Reading
Selling your artwork is very hard, and yes - I heard that "Duh!" Each of us will need to find what works best for each of us, our families and obligations and the period of life we are in. Nonetheless, knowing what we are getting into before we spend too much money or become discouraged means to not only create the best possible artwork we can, but doing the homework to learn how to make the jump into the art world as wisely as we can.
14 Best Places to Sell Art to Make Money - Etsy, Redbubble, local, Saatchi Art, Zazzle, Artfinder, Soiety6, eBay, Shopify, gift shops, coffee shops, farmers' markets, social media
14 Best Websites to Sell Art Online | Commissions, Marketing, and More - marketplaces, print on demand platforms, ecommerce stores
Top 10 Tips On How To Sell Your Art - Your story, website, show sold art, new venues, cohesive brand, SEO, social media, local shows, prints, positivity.
18 Platforms for Artists to Sell Their Creative Work Online in 2025
Art that Sells - Understanding What Makes Art Marketable - researching trends, target audience, more
Did you like this post? Learn something new? What tips do you have to share on selling your art? Drop a comment below and Follow this blog.
Selling Your Art - In Person Part 1
Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and Donna's Cave Paintings Blog, and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, Virginia. And she takes on the PWAS social media duties as well (help me!) Donna specializes in acrylic painting of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art.
Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm (typically, but check the website in case of any changes).
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
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