Artists work hard
When you look at art for sale, it can seem sometimes artists are out of touch with reality and ask an unreasonably high price for their art. It seems so. I once asked a lady who had stopped by at my studio: do you know anybody who would work for about a month, every day, 6-8 hours a day and then get for all this work 200 bucks minus cost of materials? It wasn’t that I tried to make her pay more, it is how long it takes me in average to paint something. She was a nice lady, and she honestly said she didn’t know anybody who would work on such terms. I could add to this that I don’t know either, except fellow artists who for different reasons undersell their art.
Who benefits from art and artists
A brief list of these who benefit not only from full-time artists, but anybody who creates art and tries to sell their art, are companies which:
make pencils, papers, tracing papers, graphite papers, drawing sketching, watercolor and all kinds of art papers,
make canvas, canvas panels, canvas boards, stretcher bars and canvas fabric,
make paints, pigments, mediums for paints, solvents, varnishes, and all kinds of chemicals that are necessary for putting paint on canvas or paper at different stages or for preserving art,
make easels, supports, frame and framing supply manufacturers, including mats, matting paper, glass, Plexiglas and similar materials.
Let’s add website and blog
Every artists needs a website or blog, as well as social media presentation, so there are numerous platforms and hosting businesses which sell everything from security certificates to software for managing website, hosting, themes, plugins and many tools in order the website stayed functional.
We should add companies which manufacture computers, tablets, laptops, cameras, video cameras and phones since we need to get the art image captured and transferred to online space.
Virtual and real space-related cost
Space-related cost involves quite many aspects: any landlord who leases studio or showroom space;
any utility provider who sells power, gas and water to the studio;
any show, gallery, exhibition, fair, including juried shows, online competitions and online shows which charge a fee for putting the artwork out there;
any online art sales or art print sales provider which charges membership fee and commission;
money collecting and payment processing companies, banks, etc. also benefit from artists and their work.
More expenses
That is not the entire list, mind you, and to some extent it is similar to expenses that are inevitable for any freelance or self-employed person. The creation of art is definitely at the higher end of expenses in regard to costs of materials and time consumption.
Artists obviously pay for paints, paper, canvasses, frames and framing, fees for shows and gallery representation and any utilities, as well as monthly payments for studio regardless of whether there is going to be some profit or not. Even when art ends up in the wastebasket, it still involves cost.
Product and demand
I know, anybody, who creates a product, must create it first and there is never a guarantee of selling it. However, most products which are 100% unique, handmade and original sell for much more than the materials and labor that goes into them. So, we have arrived at the most important question: who enables the artist to earn living? Who makes it possible for the artist to profit from their talent, work and efforts? That is, you, dear friend who loves art. These are people who collect art.
How does an artist earn income?
The artist can only profit from his or her clients, who purchase the work whether as a product with art image on or in it, or as an original painting and drawing. Therefore, all artists are looking out for people, who love and appreciate art. People, who have enough money and are willing to spend it not on food, not on outfit, not on make-up or furniture, but art. Art is not a medication and it won’t cover you as a blanket, but it can feel that way, too. I know people, who can stand for half an hour at some of my paintings, and they feel exactly that: warmth and energy, and healing power.
Think about it
I hope when you go to an art show next time and when you look at some painting, you will be aware that along with artist’s efforts, talent, time and soul, a lot of other expenses are included. That constitutes the invisible part of a painting which is quite frequently not covered at all.
Freelancing
Being a freelance writer and artist is not easy by any means. There is huge insecurity. I never know when a new work request arrives, I cannot guess with certainty when a painting will sell. I obviously cannot work when I’m not well, and that causes other problems. The domino effect.
Why to do this? At the present moment, this is the only option I have, and I just love creating art more than anything else.
A few watercolor paintings in fresh colors
I am presenting for reference a few large watercolor paintings which come as a result of many hours of work.
I am not sure if I will post something else before I fly to Latvia next Monday. I unintentionally have chosen the full solar eclipse day, but who cares. I am happy to go on this trip and see my family.
Thanks for reading!
Inese you have really “hit the nail on the head”. It makes you wonder why any of us do it. It is easy to think that when your paintings don’t sell it is because you are not a good artist, but I have since realised that people may love them but not want to buy. I don’t know how you get round that!
Thanks Christa!
Even when having some sales, these sales rarely cover everything that goes into painting.
It is the global cheap and cheaper strategy which puts an artist literally in a box: if you want the art to be good, you need good quality materials which are very expensive.
Most people do not know the difference between a print and an original. So, the price of original might seem absurd.
I also believe art sales, especially direct sales depend very much on location.
When there is no educated traffic walking around, who are you going to sell?
I can tell you what sells: small to medium size very inexpensive paintings sell here where I am, I also noticed the same is true for Daily Paintworks.
Yes in this part of the world too it is the smaller, cheaper paintings that sell. In this climate of image overload on the internet (which is not a bad thing in itself), it is hard to comprehend the amount of hours involved in creating anything. This applies to anything handmade.
I was just thinking: hand-made versus China-made or similar. Appreciation has gone wrong ways.
Nevertheless, selling or not selling isn’t actually the crucial or main part of creating art, it is just so that we are confronted with this part time to time. Also the assumption that somebody with large financials is going to stop by and purchase the art is dumb because multi-millionaires and multi-billionaires do not search through the internet for anything. Everything goes by trend which is absurd in case of art because it decreases the purpose of creation.
When some artists’s works are suddenly promoted to an insane extent there is way more behind the scenes.
Virtually, anybody could be made a sensation. All it takes is a lot of money and frequent reminding how outstanding this work is. People believe everything that is repeated frequently enough. We are seeing this on a daily basis: it is possible to feed the crowd any idea or any impulse to action by massive advertising and by persistent pushing.
This is a wonderful summary of what it is like to be an artist and the challenges of the world that we live in. I have a house full of art made by people I know. I love this, and the fact that they are people I know. I will always support the artist that has poured their heart into something – and I will always save for that if necessary.
Thanks Mary! It is so wonderful that there are many people like you who understand the importance of support.
I do experience rarely such support, and I probably need to be more pro-active once my health returns.
Oh, I am sure your work will sell when you have the energy to promote it. It’s beautiful!
Thanks Mary! I hope so, too.
The roses are beautiful. This post would also apply to crafters. We work hard on our projects, spending much time sewing, selecting the materials we need carefully and trying to finish the items in a professional way. But people just don’t want to pay the price.
I know. I do a lot of sewing, too. I am recently doing it only for myself because the cost of supplies and additional materials is high. I believe the cheap products which are made everywhere else outside of Canada or the USA (like in China, India, Sri Lanka, etc.) really have cheapened everything. People who craft and create things are aware that there is absolutely no comparison between the hand-made and one-of-a-kind unique things which are always made of good quality materials and the cheap, mass-produced stuff which arrives from abroad. We cannot explain this to absolutely everybody, we simply hope that this typ of activity will be appreciated and also bought. It doesn’t happen often, but we have to try and try again to convince the buyers that by purchasing the original and real things they are not overpaying, but getting a goo quality product.
Wonderful post Inese.. and good to be touching base again with you.. Take care and I hope you are much improved since our last conversation.. Love and Hugs xx Sue
Thanks Sue! Mentally, there is a huge improvement, physically, well, I had some problems. I am going home soon to apply all the new and good knowledge and inspiration. I have plenty of that.
Fabulous, enjoy Inese.. 🙂 and safe journey..
That’s the most important part right now: to safely get back home.