How can I price artwork (watercolour) to sell?

Question

I am a new artist, practicing watercolour and pastels etc and would value some advice in how to price pieces to sell. I mostly do landscapes or nature subjects.
Also how would I start to get my name known?

Answer 1

Count the price of the things(paint, brushes fabric or paper etc.) used for one piece of artwork and try to go to the local crafts shop or to the shop with souvenirs.
If you get any customers, add the value of your work to the price
( that would be the time you spent on it multiplied by the hour rate) It will take time to get your name known, but If you are stubborn enough you will manage. good luck.

Answer 2

Well I would think that you price it according to what the market will bear - a lot of artists sell on ebay, try searching on there and seeing what prices pieces are fetching at auction. Compare the quality of what you see there to your own work and price accordingly. You might even want to try selling on there yourself - some seem to do well there. Good luck!

Edit- not sure I agree with the person who said anything under £100 is too cheap - I have bought some nice bits of original art on ebay for less than £50, it's up to the individual artist to decide what a piece is worth. I personally couldn't afford £100 paintings right now, so I go for the cheaper work.

Answer 3

I'm a professional artist, and the book an artist shouldn't be without is Artist's Market. (No, they're not paying me to say that, lol) It's a great resource for finding galleries and publishers and other sources who would be interested in your work.
One of the best ways to get your work out there is by making greeting cards...small, original watercolor cards (Strathmore makes a nice watercolor cardstock + envelopes) that you can sell at a local boutique, or local craft fair. When you've established some popular designs, you could then submit them to some of the greeting card publishers listed in Artist's Market.
Also, get in touch with your local arts organizations, or go to your library for ideas (talk to the art librarian - they know stuff)
As for pricing...original greeting cards start at about $5 each, but paintings can average from $25 to $2500, depending on size, quality, artistic merit, talent, popularity, type of market, etc. Pictures in a gallery will be much more expensive than if you sell them yourself at a craft fair, but its because a gallery owner. hopefully, has a trained eye for art plus a ready clientele.
Also, don't hesitate to enter your work in competitions, also called *Call for Artists* Here's a site I like:
http://www.artsopportunities.org/

Good luck, and never give up! :o)

Answer 4

When I had a art gallery it was one of the most difficult things to do. My rule of thumb was to see how many hours it took to create the art work and then add what is known as value!

The price of value is dependent on what you would consider to be a price at which you would let it go. I know that is a difficult question, at what point would you say I would never let you have my work for £xxx amount.

To get yourself known is probably the most difficult. Personally I would try and tie up with other artist and pool our energies together. Secondly I would create a art exhibition somewhere, and, thirdly I would get very friendly with the local papers.

Answer 5

I would contact your local museum to see if they could help you find a good art dealer where you could sell and display your work. As far as price that is up to you, however, never price anything to cheap (ie. anything under a hundred is to cheap).