# Fine art as a home based business



## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

I've done artwork nearly all my life, starting with gifts to family and friends and ending up doing half a dozen or more shows with a booth ... art shows, dog shows, horse shows. Most of what I have done on a "commercial" basis has been horse or dog portraits for the individual owners. 

As I said in my introduction, my biggest problem now has been the change in "market demographics" from Montana to Kentucky. The western shows seemed to attract a high percentage of people interested in/ looking for "fine art" as paintings, pastels, sketches and sculpture. The shows here in Kentucky are primarily "fine craft" shows and the majority of lookers/buyers are definitely looking for quilts, baskets, pottery ... there appears to be very few "fine artists" at these shows and very little interest in what they display.

Another major problem now is the economy ... and fuel prices ... people can't afford "luxuries" and won't spend the money for fuel to go look either.

My current "plan" ... such as it is ... will be to look at Internet options. I've been successful in developing an on-line website for the horses and ponies in the 9 years I've been here in Kentucky, with at least 90% or more of my sales coming from Internet advertising. 

There's got to be a way to market the artwork through the Internet without having to make a major investment in upgraded computer equipment ... I have someone that can do the website once I know what I actually want to "market".

One thing I don't know enough about but would like to investigate is the on-line companies where you post a picture of the artwork and can order that design printed on T-shirts, tote bags, cups, etc. Seems like most of the ones I've found take a big percentage ... and I don't know of anyone who has actually used any of these companies with any great degree of success.

When I was doing booth shows, I did have some prints made ... and did a couple of cup series ... but at that time, it was a fairly big investment for the actual setup and you had to do a substantial number for the "single unit" price to be marketable. My experience was that you did well to break even and then you had to store most of the print lot forever.

Would really be interested in hearing from other artists trying to build a home business with their artwork.


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## mezzogirl (May 25, 2008)

Hi, I have done art for years as well. Most of it has been word of mouth because I had a full time job and raising little ones, etc. Now I an a stay at home mom and had to zero in on one aspect of my art that I thought would bring in the most income. That has been calligraphy. I have found that the best way to advertise is through internet. You can get a website through Yahoo small business (you don't even have to be registered as a business). It is pretty inexpensive and it comes with a simple website builder program that does not require any super computer add-ons. I advertised my site on some free wedding websites and a few paid ones. Now I am busy year round with portraits and wedding calligraphy. Don't waste your time at craft fairs. The people that attend them are looking for quick bargains and usually are not interested in paying the value of a custom portrait. (sad but true). If you want to continue with portraits, I would suggest networking with any giftshops in the area and ask if you can hang a framed portrait in there along with some brochures with pricing and website info. The more details a customer has up front, the more serious they are about purchasing art when they contact you. So- do you know how to write calligraphy? I have to turn down jobs these days. Because of my website, I have gotten jobs out of NY, Chicago, St Louis, California and been featured in a few magazines. Good luck in your ventures!!


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## MawKettle (Sep 13, 2006)

SFM in KY said:


> One thing I don't know enough about but would like to investigate is the on-line companies where you post a picture of the artwork and can order that design printed on T-shirts, tote bags, cups, etc. Seems like most of the ones I've found take a big percentage ... and I don't know of anyone who has actually used any of these companies with any great degree of success.


A few colleagues of mine that do their own art have tried these methods - CafePress is the one I've seen used most often. You're right though - they do take a big percentage - and you've really got to have some volume to make it worthwhile.

My business actually does this kind of stuff (although I'm no artist and I rely on the client to supply me with whatever art they want on the product). Feel free to PM me if you want some more specific details on the imprint processes / start up costs / types of products etc. that are out there.



> When I was doing booth shows, I did have some prints made ... and did a couple of cup series ... but at that time, it was a fairly big investment for the actual setup and you had to do a substantial number for the "single unit" price to be marketable. My experience was that you did well to break even and then you had to store most of the print lot forever.


Some of the newer print technologies such as dye transfer sublimation make short runs much more affordable and easier to market than in the past. If you've got good art - you can come up with some really distinctive and attractive pieces.


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## Pigeon Lady (Apr 4, 2004)

If your art is suitable for greetings cards try Greeting Card Universe:

http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/

It's free and easy to set up a shop, the other artists are really friendly and helpful and the company is very artist oriented. It's also growing quickly.

A link to my shop is in my signature if you want to get an idea of how it looks.

I also have a t-shirt shop at Printfection: 

http://www.printfection.com/dirtroadduds

I don't make a huge amount of money because I'm lousy at advertising and "blowing my own trumpet" so to speak. But I have been able to pay the farrier for trimming the hooves of my two horses every six weeks for the past year or so just out of the money I've earned so it's nothing to sneeze at.

Good luck!

Pauline


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

I don't do calligraphy at all, so that's out (though that is certainly an interesting talent I didn't realize could be marketable) and most of my work would probably not be all that suitable for cards. I don't do much color ... everything I do is "drawing" media ... my preference is for pencil, actually, though I do some colored pencil and most of the commissioned portraits are in soft pastels. 

This does limit my options, of course, but I have never been able to work with "brush" media. I've tried a number of times, watercolor, oils, acrylics ... none of it works for me. And of course the soft pastels do not ship well so that limits me with portrait work.

The few times I tried prints from my artwork, I found it very difficult to find a printer that could get the subtle shading that you find in the pencil studies ... I had several done that I was not happy with before I found one that could do good black and white work. The pen and inks reproduce better, of course, but I really do prefer the pencil to work with and also do like the "look" better as well ... softer and more delicate. But it doesn't reproduce as accurately in on-line images either.

Something like this might possibly be suitable for cards ... substitute a pine tree branch and cardinal for Christmas, dogwood branch/blossoms and bluebird for sympathy ... something like that:



This is probably my favorite of all of the soft pastel portraits I've done:



This is typical of the pen and inks:



And this is a pencil study:


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## Pigeon Lady (Apr 4, 2004)

Some lovely work SFM!

A range of cards featuring dogs like the one shown would make beautiful cards. 

Since it's free to open a shop I would experiment and make some of your sketches into cards too. You may be surprised. Especially if you make them for specific categories. People go on there looking for something very specific that they would never find in a regular store. Like "To a special sister-in-law on her 52nd Birthday" or "In deepest sympathy on the loss of your Jack Russel Terrier"

Just have fun and enjoy!

Pauline


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

Pigeon Lady said:


> A range of cards featuring dogs like the one shown would make beautiful cards.
> 
> Pauline



I hadn't really thought of that. Your website is quite extensive, very well done, though I probably wouldn't get into it quite so broadly. Something I may try with the horses/ponies first as my first art webpage will be an addition to the Kaleidoscope Farm horse website.

May try to work something in with the "Rainbow Bridge" type thing for a sympathy card ... congratulations for new foals or for show wins ... see what kind of response I get.

Would also, of course, work with dogs and I have a friend who would let me add a page to her website for that particular breed of dog.

A direction I hadn't considered before. Thanks!


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## Pigeon Lady (Apr 4, 2004)

Your welcome. 

I do hope it all works out for you! 

Pauline


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## JGex (Dec 27, 2005)

SFM, I can tell you this about art and the internet.... one can make their living that way if they are talented, lucky and smart. I could list you more than just a couple of artists who are making most or a significant portion of their income from internet sales.

You have to get noticed and then you have to establish a collector base. Some artists have done this through sales on eBay and some just happened to be in the right genre at the right time in the right place for the right people to notice.

A body of work helps. Finding a physical gallery to show your work helps.

Some artists swear by Cafe Press, but I don't care for their terms.

You might try having cards made and then sell them on Etsy.com. You can also sell originals there. 

Some of the art sites on the internet allow for prints to be bought through the site and they pay you royalties. I can't remember if it's absolutart.com or if deviantart.com does this.

You can get more advice from other artists over on wetcanvas.com.


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

JGex said:


> A body of work helps. Finding a physical gallery to show your work helps.
> 
> Some artists swear by Cafe Press, but I don't care for their terms.
> 
> You can get more advice from other artists over on wetcanvas.com.


I've heard both good and not-so-good things about CafePress but don't know anyone personally who has used them. I have thought about trying that option, though looking at it more as a means of additional exposure than significant income.

Actually, two of the problems I'm faced with right now are the first two things you mentioned. I don't have very much finished work available as most of the completed work I had prior to my move here to Kentucky was lost in a fire. I haven't had a lot of enthusiasm, or time, to do a lot of replacement work ... and certainly not the up-front $$ to do the professional framing necessary.

The physical gallery options are also a problem for me here ... most of the small "local" art/craft shops available are craft shops. The market here is much different than what it was in Montana, the majority of both local customers and tourists are looking for "Appalachian folk crafts" ... quilts, baskets, pottery, jewelery, etc. ... not paintings.

I do go to WetCanvas often and have asked for occasional advice there, with good results. I think as I get a bit more familiar with the Internet art "scene" I will be able to ask more specific questions there as well ... at this point my questions are pretty generalized. I know from experience on some of the equine boards/ lists I've been on that it can be difficult to offer useful advice to someone that doesn't yet have enough background.


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## JGex (Dec 27, 2005)

Sorry to hear about your fire. I think that is something that freaks most artists out.... losing a portion of their work to disaster of some sort.

It is important to have quality digital copies of your originals. If you do, then you can have reproductions made. We keep several backups in different locations of our art, just in case.

I hate to harp on it, but a body of work is going to be necessary to work professionally as an artist. I don't know how deep your aspirations of being an artist run, so I don't really want to elaborate much and be totally wrong about your direction. But.... it's difficult to get the attention of a gallery or an agent WITH a body of work, but nearly impossible without.

If you are serious about wanting to see how far you can take it, wetcanvas.com has so many artists that you can find a few that do the type or genre of work you do and that would be where I'd start asking questions for sure. 

We couldn't afford professional framing, either, so I bought a mat cutter and taught myself. There are a lot of wholesale framing supply shops that ship and you can purchase pre-cut metal frames that just screw together. On average, it costs me less than $25-40 bucks to frame an 18x24" print. I get my glass cut locally.

We did not start off doing "fine art." We're moving into that right now, but we already have a large collector base that follows us because of the type commercial work we have been doing. That is making our transition a lot easier.

Art is not the easiest business in the world, but it can be very gratifying. Finding your "niche" is important. It sounds like you are already getting some benefits from hanging out at Wet Canvas, so keep that up!


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

JGex said:


> I hate to harp on it, but a body of work is going to be necessary to work professionally as an artist. I don't know how deep your aspirations of being an artist run, so I don't really want to elaborate much and be totally wrong about your direction. But.... it's difficult to get the attention of a gallery or an agent WITH a body of work, but nearly impossible without.


I definitely agree with you about the "body of work" and something I was v ery aware of when I was doing regular shows all the time. I'm working on it now, also trying to expand into a bit more regional work as well ... churches weren't a big seller out west, for instance, but I suspect that might be my biggest seller locally, if there is a local market at all.

My goals are actually pretty modest given that I am in my 60s and although retired, still have 20-something horses and ponies and an active breeding program, though that is "downsizing" as well. Also, after a head injury several years ago, I have vision limitations that make it impossible for me to drive, so am now dependant on someone else for transportation. Both of these things limit the amount of travelling I can do significantly.

This makes Internet advertising the only really practical way for me to do anything with my artwork and I think at this point people are much more inclined to do even this kind of "shopping" on line. At a minimum, the artwork needs to pay its own expenses. Providing some additional income would be welcome ... but the fact is, I would be drawing even if I didn't offer it for sale ... simply because it is something I enjoy doing.


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## JGex (Dec 27, 2005)

Ahhh, OK, that last post put your goals more into perspective for me!!

I'd say that etsy.com would be a good place for you to start. If you can figure out some way to get just a minimum amount of work reproduced for a start, then you could ease into it. Really nicely done greeting cards with a flair of "hand-done" to them would likely do pretty well. Spend some time digging around there for similar type products and check the going rates of prices. Check their fees and then price out having your printing done. The SGIA *might* be able to help you find a printer that can work with you to produce a really good product.... go to www.sgia.org and tell them what you want and they should be able to direct you to several printers as a starting place.

Sorry to hear about the head injury/vision limitations... DH (the resident producing artist!) had a run-in with Bell's Palsy 2 years ago that paralyzed half of his face and scared the dickens out of us. His eyesight was perfect before that, but his ability to design and draw for long hours like he used to was affected. He is very detail oriented in his work, so it has been harder for him.


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## kesoaps (Dec 18, 2004)

I use Cafe Press; I'm not getting rich. I'm probably only making a couple hundred a year. I do a straight across mark up of only $3 just for simplicity. 

Honestly? No reason not to set up a shop. The fees are low and they take them out of your earnings. All you do is post your wares and then it's as much time as you want to spend to market it. No inventory, never out of stock. There's really no loss. 

I look at it this way; I've got a specialized market. It's small and I know it. So if I only make a couple hundred, it's a couple hundred more than I'd make without setting up shop and it buys me ice cream :icecream:


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

Sounds like Cafe Press is an option for me as well ... more exposure if I work at it and no initial startup expense.

Plan is probably now to get an art page added to my farm website and look into the Cafe Press setup ...

I'd like to have something available for whatever opportunities for holiday sales there might be ... and then work on an art-only website after the holidays and plan to have it up and running by early next spring.


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## kesoaps (Dec 18, 2004)

I would definitely have a page on your pony site. Surely people shopping for high end ponies will want portraits!


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