In my last two blog posts I suggested that quality of
artwork was the most important thing that you could start with in terms of
marketing your art. Just to insert a quick aside into this post, I also suggest
that you buy some art from other artists to see how it feels for the customer
who is buying art online or in an art gallery. If you bought art from someone
else and you had to spend money on it you’ll get a good idea of how it feels to
have to part with that money.
I think it problem that most of us have is that we actually
believe that somehow our art is more special than other people’s art. This may
not be the case. Developing a sense of what it’s like on the other side of the
purchase will help you to understand how hard it is to actually push the button
or pull the trigger on a purchase. Meaning you’ll understand how hard it is to
actually spend some money on art.
My own personal anecdotes about buying art have a lot to do
with seeing someone’s art that I thought was incredibly powerful and longing to
own it but not having enough money to buy it. One example of this is that
around 25 years ago when I was in graduate school I visited an artist studio.
The artist who I’m still friends with is named David Tomb. (http://davidtomb.com/)
David’s work was so incredible to me and so head and
shoulders above everything that I ever did that I totally wanted to own a
piece. I had been to some of his shows in San Francisco at important art
galleries. So when his girlfriend invited me for a studio visit I was in awe of
his work. I didn’t have a lot of money because I was still in school and I
asked him if I could buy one. At that point I didn’t even know which one I
wanted I just knew that I wanted to own a piece of art by the guy. I offered
him $200 because that was the limit that I could afford and I figured it was
the least offending amount. He accepted, and I walked out of his studio with
the piece of art, but I didn’t have my checkbook or any cash on me and I still
hadn’t paid.
A couple of weeks later, his girlfriend asked me to write
him a check, it was really painful writing a check for $200 to someone for
their art when I wasn’t selling any of my own and I found myself feeling
envious, a little offended that I had to pay money, and I also realized how he
must feel having not gotten a check in a timely manner. It taught me what it
felt like to part with the money and how he must’ve felt, embarrassed probably
to have to ask me for the money through his girlfriend.
Since then I’ve consistently had people ask to buy artwork
from me and ask for me to do commissions. I’ve been trying to get my head
around doing commissions because they’re harder than making art that just comes
from me. I’ve been doing it, but often, after I’ve made the art people have a
hard time going to the website where I sell the art, Etsy.com, and actually
paying for it even though they commissioned the work. It’s a kind of friction
that people don’t expect to have when they ask to have a piece of art made.
When this happens I always think about how hard it was for me to buy a work of
art and so I have empathy for those people.
So over the last 25 years or so my wife and I have amassed a
small collection of art that I really like. What I’ve noticed is that I
sometimes feel angry that I have to pay more for someone else’s art than I pay
for my own. There’s a little devil on my shoulder saying, “why is this artists
work worth more than mine?” And I always have to think about what it must feel
like for other people to spend money on my work. My compromise, is that I have
a price point that I’m willing to pay for art and the limit of what I’m willing
to pay is usually in the $50-$300 range. This limits the kind of art I can buy
but it also means I can buy more art. Sometimes I buy are online and am a
little disappointed with it and the quality of the art doesn’t stand up to
close scrutiny. Other things that can bug me are that sometimes people don’t
pack the art well and I’ve gotten works of art that have been damaged in
shipping.
The take away that I want you to have from my comments above
is that to be an artist I think it’s important to experience the process of
buying art from both sides.
