Websites, blogs, festivals & art

Not necessarily in that order but being a successful artist, especially a digital artist that wants or needs to sell your art in order to pay the bills, requires a presence that gets you out of the studio and into the real world where your clients live.

There are many ways to do that. You could gather some of your best works and drive around to local and regional art galleries hoping that the proprietor decides to place you art there, all the while relieving you of 40-50% of the profit once and IF one of your pieces sells. Now don’t get me wrong, the art world needs galleries. Without them, a great deal of the art buying public would not connect with you. Those types of collectors are conditioned to doing it that way. Some don’t know that there is, in my opinion, a better way to buy and own art.

There are 100’s of ways to sell art. As an artist it’s your job not only to create the art but also to sell too. The aforementioned gallery outlets are one way but you could also reach out to potential prospective buyers through your own website or possibly a blog. You could also launch auctions on eBay and hope that the 180211 (current as of today) other auctions selling art don’t drown yours out. EBay auctions can and do produce art sales for the artist but in ways that I’m sure your not thinking about now. More of an unconventional way than just placing one of your pieces up for bid. I’ll cover this topic in more detail in a later post.

You could also participate in the world of art festivals. There are tens of thousands of art fairs held all around the world each year in every conceivable venue. This means of marketing your art places you directly in front of the buying public. The direct connection between the buyer and the artist is by far more rewarding for both parties than simply clicking on the “Buy it now” button at eBay.

On the surface, this method seems perfect, but there are many pitfalls with art festivals too. Way too many to go into detail here, but I am planning on a whole series of articles based on my life as a traveling artist through out the year. I set up and sell my art at approximately 30 festivals a year, which generates 90% of my income so you see, I have a great deal of experience with this marketing method.

My festivals normally start in early March each year and ends in mid December. This schedule works for me. It allows the greatest exposure to my buyers plus it gives me a much needed wintertime break. That break is quickly coming to an end and I’ll be packing up my art, canopy and displays into my truck and trailer and heading out, to what we full time traveling artist call the circuit. Here I will reconnect with old friends and new buyers and hopefully make 2008 another profitable year.