2 Things to Plan Before You Make Art You Want to Sell

Artists are known for jumping into a project with both feet.  They follow the muse and they go with the flow. The spontaneously respond to inspiration and the only thing that matters is the here and now.  These are great qualities to have, especially when you're in the learning phase or the concept development phase.  But for a pro, there are a number of things you can determine BEFORE you make the art and those things can radically increase your sales.

If you are a professional artist, or someone who is aspiring to be professional because you would like to sell your art, planning is an important part of the process.  You used to be like a butterfly, landing on any bright flower.  Now you are a beaver, and the beavers know just which trees to chew, and their planning and foresight is bar none!

Understand your target price before you make the art

First, before you run off into the studio armed with inspiration and an apron, I want you to determine the price target of what you are about to make.  What, you say?  “How could I possibly know how much it should cost before I make it???”  Determining a price range first can solve a lot of problems. 

One strategy I recommend is to create a series of "entry level" art. That price is variable of course, but I've found that higher and higher pricing that will continually reduce your available market.  If you art is very valuable because of the time and materials used, and  fewer people can afford your art, the more you will have to be creative about how you find them and show them your work. But if A LOT of people could afford what you're offering, then you've widened your available market considerably.  That said, I also want you to make money. I want you to actually make a profit.  I don't want you to get hosed on your time and materials. 

So if you take sometime before you embark on developing a series of work or a collection, it will serve you well to identify the price range that you think you can sell the most individual pieces.  Again, the actual number here is highly variable based on your market and your art, but I like the "nice dinner out" price range for about 70% of my work.  This is a purchase that might be a bit of a splurge, but not off the charts. 

reverse engineer the art

If you want to get paid for your time and your materials and have a 50% margin, you can determine what kind of work you can do with the time and supply allotment that gives you. 

I know, it's sexy!

I have a super helpful download all about pricing your art. It's 100% free and covers many of the considerations you will need when you are pricing your art.  You can find it HERE.

Plan ahead for shipping your art

Determine the art you are going to make by the packaging you will need to ship it.  I know, your heart just stopped. 

Quick story: I was in a grad school critique with a person who made intricate carved paper wall hangings. They were beautiful, huge, fragile, and incredible. In the crit she happened to wonder how she would get the art to a gallery or to a collector.  Which was an extremely relevant question. But the prof running the critique was almost insulted that she should be concerned about such pedestrian elements. Let's just think about the vision, not the practicality.  I get it, I get it. I am so glad she made those epic pieces in grad school.  But if she ever wanted to make a living or connect with a gallery, she was going to have to solve those issues.  If her work was going to disintegrate when she took it off the wall, she wasn't going to make it a professional artist.

That's an extreme case.  But I've gotten myself into a pickle selling large or fragile works and running into all sorts of issues and aggravation trying to ship them.  I'm embarrassed to tell you this right now, I'm really pulling back the curtain, but I have selected the size and nature of the art I was going to make based on an overstock in my storage closet of a certain size of corrugate boxes.  I know, I told you, SUPER SEXY. 

Essentially, what I am recommending is that you begin with the end in mind.  Think about the whole process of selling, from the price to the ease of shipment. This will make your work more appealing to collectors, and easier for you to scale and SELL MORE!