Question 7: "How do you price your work?"

I am currently in a blog series proposing questions an aspiring full time professional artist ask a current full time professional artist so that they have a better idea of getting from where they are to where they want to be professionally. It’s a really tricky and sometimes difficult thing to make it as an artist. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are people out there somehow actually doing it, so…don’t reinvent the wheel — TALK to them. Every artist I know personally would be very happy answering questions. So find the artist you’d like to grill, make and appointment and get some advice.

Among the questions I’m proposing is this one I’ve been asked a lot: “How do you price your work?” If you’ve read my blog here, you know I’ve talked about this a lot, so I won’t wax on too long here but some points need to be repeated.

Just last week, I was approached by a gentleman that offered me just over 20% less than my posted price on one of my paintings. This doesn’t bother me at all when people do that. I know a lot of artists set a price for a piece of their work and hope they can get as close to that price as possible. This has trained people to view an art purchase the same way they’d buy a car or a house (i.e. you make a low ball offer, then negotiate). But that means the posted price means nothing and is just there to start the conversation. That is not the way I price my artwork because it feels really arbitrary.

The way I was taught to price my work way back in the day is to let sales themselves dictate the pricing. I price according to the size. So I take the square inches of the work, multiply it by my going rate (and that rate is solely dictated by my sales).

My goal is to sell my work as quickly as I paint it. If I get a big backlog, I know my prices are too high. If my work sells too quickly (I can't have empty studio walls), then my prices are too low. This year, I needed to slow down sales (just slightly) in early spring so I bumped up the price per square inch just slightly. That slowed sales down a bit, but I've actually had to raise prices again in June because they were still selling too quickly.

So that's how I price my work. I don't really take offers because I have a very good idea of what the paintings will sell for. Again, different artists handle pricing different ways, so it’s definitely worth asking around and seeing what works best for you. This works best for me because it’s really easy to defend the prices I have posted when that price is actually based on something concrete like sales rather than something arbitrary like “this is what I’d like to get for this piece”. As a client, I can disagree with what you’d like to get for that piece, but…I can’t disagree with sales.

Question 4: "Would you recommend art school, and if so, how would you find the right one?"

Question 4 is obviously connected to question 3. I would suggest following up on question three (“Did you go to art school?”) with this one because it may well be an artist would or would not recommend art school. That statement may sound bizarre to some people. I mean, if you want to become a lawyer, you go to law school; if you want to become a doctor, you go to medical school. So…if you want to become an artist, you go to art school. Yes?

Maybe.

The creation of artwork is a craft. A good art school can be really helpful. I went to art school and had a blast. But upon graduation, while I could paint, I had absolutely no idea how to get a job as an artist. Art school, as I explained in my answer to Question 3, taught me the rules of art, however, I had already learned many of those rules in the private art classes I took. Look, back in the day, if you wanted to be an artist, you found an artist and asked to be apprenticed by him (or her). That’s how it worked. That would probably still be the very best way of learning the craft, but at least here in America in the 21st century, we value our own individuality and privacy too much for this to work I think. But however impractical and improbable to find, this (asking to be apprenticed by an artist) would be exactly what I would recommend as the very best way to learn to paint (or sculpt, or whatever).

Short of apprenticing, a good art school is a great option. But if I were looking for the right art school, I would get a really good portfolio of work together and apply for as many scholarships as possible. Honestly, I want to spit expletives and pull every last hair out of my head when I hear some art student graduated with a painting major and is now 100K in debt and six months later is waiting tables at TGI Fridays. That…happens…often. I also know people that got full scholarships. Yes, that also happens. Go that route.

The other option though would be to get another degree that might be helpful propelling you as an artist (like a degree in marketing, business, computer illustration, etc.) that would give you skills for an actual job upon graduation. At the same time, either minor in art, or enroll in private art classes. This route gives you two things: 1) a marketable career that can support you while you inch your way into the art career you actually want (being a professional artist) and 2) continued art training. Do NOT just relegate art to a hobby. Keep it always as the goal. It took me decades to be able to reach the goal of being a full time artist, and I WENT to an art school and graduated with honors. But like I said, what I was NOT taught was HOW TO START an art career.

So learning new techniques, getting used to having your work critiqued (very important), being challenged and stretched as an artist…a good art school can do that. But there are a few other options that can do exactly the same thing. Be open to options.

Question 1..."How long have you been an artist?"

When an emerging artist thinks through the question “How do I get from where I am (a novice) to where I want to be (a professional), I have suggested interviewing artists and asking pointed questions. Most artists I know would be very happy (and even honored) to be asked for their assistance. If you’re an emerging artist, please take advantage of the willingness of the artists around you to advise and encourage you. With this in mind, I have suggested that an easy place to do all this is Asheville, North Carolina simply because we have over 200 artists all working within a square mile of each other, and they have open studios, so they’re totally used to people coming into their studios and observing them work. Believe me, we answer a LOT of questions. So come to Asheville and meet as many artists as you want to meet! Pick your favorites and then…ask if you can make an appointment to ask them some questions. This is key. This is telling the artist that you respect them. That is always a good idea. So once you have that appointment, I am suggesting twelve questions that should help you gain the basic information you need to move forward. For each of the questions, I’ll explain why I’m suggesting it, and then also answer each question myself (in case that might help anyone out there).

Question #1: How long have you been an artist?

The answer to this question sort of informs the weight you should give to all the other answers. I say that just because you probably will get more pertinent information from someone who has some years behind them. This doesn’t mean that someone who has just made the transition from art as a hobby to art as a profession won’t have helpful information. That person may well have the most helpful information for you, but asking how long they’ve seen themselves as an artist just gives you a good basic idea of who you’re talking to.

Personally, I’ve been an artist since I could hold a crayon. I’ve always drawn and painted as long as I remember. I made the transition from art as a hobby to art as a career about sixteen years ago now. I inched into the career as a part time artist (painting about half the day) and working at my “real job” half time, and then when I was earning the same with my artwork as I was earning at my “real job” when I did that full time, then I quit entirely and painted full time. That felt like the smartest way to do it because…what if I quit my job and painted full time and no one bought my paintings? I had to know this would work (as best I could) so I took advantage of the fact that I could cut down to half time at my previous job. That significantly decreased the nail biting when I quit and went to painting full time.

If you have any questions related to this, please feel free to ask here. I’ll do my best to answer all the questions you might have. Thanks!