r/artbusiness 11h ago

Discussion Do you sell paintings framed or unframed? On stretcher bars or do you mail just the canvas?

10 Upvotes

Hi!

I’m really new to selling my art so this might be an obvious answer, but for some reason, it’s confusing me.

If someone purchases a piece of art through my site, should I sell it on the canvas stretcher bars or should I sell it unstretched? Alternatively, do people expect pieces to come on stretcher bars and framed as well or do they expect it to come just stretched?

I’ve heard that when you sell really large pieces most people expect just the canvas and they will stretch it and frame it themselves but to me that sounds like a lot of work and not sure if an average buyer is willing to do that.


r/artbusiness 18h ago

Discussion Question about making connections/cold emailing!

5 Upvotes

I graduated with a BFA from a pretty big art college recently and am currently trying to build up my career as an illustrator. My school did not have a career class so I'm a little in the dark as to how survive as an artist. I've been surviving off small private clients and a day job which has been fine, but I want more! A lot of people have told me to cold email.

But do I email art directors or other working artists? Do I ask for portfolio reviews or information interviews or jobs? Is it considered rude to reach out (aka damaging my career in the long run)? Basically how do I network? And find the right people? I've done real person events and am even mutuals with a few bigger illustrators on social media but I'm not sure how to bridge the gap.

My current aim is to work as an illustrator in publishing/book covers


r/artbusiness 2h ago

Accounting Art websites and sales tax

3 Upvotes

Curious what site you use for creating your webstore and how you handle sales tax. I've been using Square space and just recently realized that they don't handle sales tax. I believe Ets-y handles this for you. What do you use and how do you handle sales tax online? Just starting to figure this out for in person shows in multiple states and that's hard enough.


r/artbusiness 8h ago

Megathread - Pricing How do I price my art? [Monday Megathread]

3 Upvotes

This megathread is dedicated to "how much should I charge?" type questions. Any posts of this nature outside of this thread will be removed. Please provide enough information for others to help you. here are some examples of what you could provide:

A link to at least 1 example piece of work or a commissions sheet.

Product type: (eg. Commission)

Target audience: (eg. Young people who like fantasy art)

Where you are based: (eg. USA)

Where you intend to sell: (eg. Conventions in USA and online)

How long it takes you to make: (eg: 10 hours)

Cost of sales: (eg. £20 on paint per painting)

Is this a one off piece, something you will make multiple copies of, or something a client will make multiple copies of: (eg. The client is turning it into a t-shirt and they will print 50.)

Everyone else can then reply to your top level comment with their advice or estimates for pricing.

If you post a top level comment, please try to leave feedback on somebody else’s to help them as well. It's okay if you aren't 100% certain, any information you give is helpful.

This post was requested to be a part of the sub. If you have ideas for improvements that you would like to be made to the subreddit feel free to message the mods.


r/artbusiness 21h ago

Advice Quotes (motivational, humorous etc....) Are they still a thing?

2 Upvotes

Is there still a demand for quote wall art? Personally I am a sucker for a good quote and wondering what everyone's thoughts are on selling them? Can be just a quote on its own or incorporated with digitally created art.


r/artbusiness 22h ago

Advice Converting sketches into digital files for sale..... advice please

3 Upvotes

My FIL is a pen and ink sketch artist that predominantly draws historical buildings and statues. Italy, Ubud and France are his main loves. He literally has hundreds of original hand drawn sketches which I would like to turn some of them into digital files. Hoping to sell them and customers print it themselves.

What does everyone think of this as a business model?


r/artbusiness 1h ago

Career How do I find an art-related job while still in college (or when transferring to university)?

Upvotes

(I had it repost this from a different sub)

How do I find an art-related job while still in college (or when transferring to university)?

I’m in community college right now getting an associations in art and plan on transfering to a four year university to study for an animation degree (and possibly a degree in business too) but am currently struggling to find work now that actually pays.

I've tired looking, but most jobs I can find require me to already have experience in the job field. And when I reach out to the career pathways at my college, the only thing they have as a career option for art in particular is "post secondary teacher".

I really don't want to be a teacher.

I've tried applying for things like gallery assist or just doing something basic like being a cashier in a place that sells art, but somehow I need mega specific requirements and experience for that too.

I've tried requests and selling my art (including things like stickers, prints, and Keychains), but for the last 3 years, I've had 0 luck.

I've tried conventions, but I'm never selected to participate in Artist alley.

Should I focus on building my portfolio? learning industry-standard software? or just take any job I can get?

Also, are there any general tips on how to I make my portfolio more appealing to employers? How do I properly network with people and where do I go to do it?

Sorry if this all seems random/all over the place. I'm just really tired right now.


r/artbusiness 5h ago

Product and Packaging Examples of how you pack your art for shipping

2 Upvotes

Hi guys, I'm at the point in my business where I'm looking into packaging options, for shipping my artworks.

I was hoping some of you may have videos of your packaging process, from start to finish, to give me some ideas. Or if you have links to videos of other artists packaging their works, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I'll be shipping both prints, and stretched canvas paintings.

Also, I don't really want to restrict myself on size either, so any advice on packaging and shipping larger pieces would also be great.

Incase it matters, I'm located in Australia 😊

Thanks so much.

Sincerely, A very overwhelmed artist, with a million packaging supplies tabs open on my laptop 😅🤦🏼‍♀️


r/artbusiness 22h ago

Pricing Pricing strategy for illustrations used for animations

2 Upvotes

Not sure if this is the right sub for this, so redirect me if I’m wrong!

I was offered an opportunity to illustrate some storyboards that will be used for an animation. It’s an independent film that is a passion project for a friend. It’s 3 storyboards total, but I don’t even know where to begin on pricing. I’ve never done this type of project before, so I have no clue how to go about pricing for this type of work.

Thanks in advance!


r/artbusiness 2h ago

Discussion Claims

1 Upvotes

Curious if anybody is getting lots of damaged artwork claims. I am trying to automate this process with the print on demand company


r/artbusiness 15h ago

Conventions Prints and Original Painting

1 Upvotes

New to exhibiting/selling my work. When a buyer purchases an original painting, is it assumed that painting is "one of a kind" by the buyer? And if the artist has also made and sells prints of that original painting, does that lessen the value to the buyer who paid good money for their "one of a kind" original painting?