Art Question?????

Question

I have a gift which is expressing it on paper; my family and friends even say I am good at drawing. Eventually I am palnning to sell my work but I am confused and puzzled about where to take my art work. What's the steps I need to do? Do I need to go to some art classes? most of all where do I begin? can you please give me some tips? I'll give 10 points for the best and honest answer Thanks

Is there any webs sites at no cost plus I do not have a scanner to post my work on-- I am unable to afford one at this time.

Answer 1

Well young grasshopper! (just joking)

You can learn what you want from books and some (alot of) practice. You can't avoid the "practice" part of art. If you can't afford classess than this is the way to go. It would be good to go to a good art school, but you have to choose wisely. To become a good painter or artist you need to paint and draw. How long it takes is up to you. One of the most important things is to have the determination to do it.

Before I blabber on these are some books that can help you with your drawing and painting. All of them except for maybe one can be downloaded for free off the net. One of the best sites for these books is "www.ebookee.com". In this site you will find the following books by Andrew Loomis: "Eye of the Painter", "figure drawing for all it's worth", "fun with a pencil", "creative illustration", "successful drawing", and "drawing the head and hands".

Loomis' books are a must in any artists library. There are many other books on that site you may want to check out too. Anatomy for fantasy artists is a good one. Oh, and drawing comics the marvel way (if you're thinking about comic book art).

The one book that is the most hard to find even at an art store and is a must have is "Eternal Truths for Every Artist" by Harley Brown.

In order for you to sell your paintings you need to be patient. You have to market yourself. People need to know about your work and what you have to offer. And the offer has to look good.

There isn't enough space to go into the little details of everything. This should give you somewhere to start. Have fun! and pracitce! practice! practice!

Answer 2

I'm not sure which way you want to go with this, the question isn't very clear.

If you're talking about selling, you can get a booth space at an art show in your area and sell your art there. If you specialize in manga or science fiction or fantasy, getting into the art shows at the local science fiction conventions can get your items sold. If you draw anything New Age, you can have the local New Age stores take a look at your matted art and see if they'll buy it.

If you're looking to sell spot illustrations or full page art to magazines, you start by contacting the editor and submit some samples of your work. Getting the Artist Market 2008 would be a really good idea, it lists who's looking for what and how much they pay.

If you're talking about taking more classes, that would be a focus for you to check out at any of your larger art stores in your city--they often run classes. The community college and university have night courses dealing with art as well.

You can go as large or as small as you want. I've sold one page art to community newspapers ($50 a pop, pay on publication), and done rubber stamp art ($4 each, plus you usually get a copy of the finished rubber stamp), I've printed up greeting cards and paper doll art myself and sold those at craft shows. I've designed and printed a tarot deck and THAT sold wonderful. I've gotten into cartooning which is still a learning curve at this point in time, but I also keep making sure I'm thinking outside the box so as to not miss an opportunity.

Answer 3

I would maybe start with a business class. Not sure you need art classes. I never took photography classes but sell my pictures to people I work with. Then other people see it and I end up selling more. You might be able to find an Art Studio in the area that will show your work. Then if it sells you have to give them something like 10 or 15%. Not really sure what the rate is. You also my try gift shops that do the same thing. But Good luck. Work of mouth has helped me sell a lot of pictures, frames and mats.

Answer 4

Alright, Darlin',
If you want to sell your work, there are a few ways you can go. The most traditional way is to get your things in a gallery. This is hard because it requires the gallery to take a risk representing you. You basically have to convince them that you are worth investing time, space, and money in. Some places will pay you for your piece and then sell it for whatever they want. This is good because you get money immediately and it you can get the piece out of your way. This can be bad because often galleries may not be willing to pay as much as you would like, and turn around and sell the piece for much more.
Other galleries will take your pieces on consignment, meaning that they will show them for an amount of time and take a percentage (fairly large percentage, so be aware of this in your pricing). Look around galleries in your area. Write letters and send postcards with samples of your work.

However, if you would like to be responsible for selling your own work, a website would be your best bet. You should try to get into galleries and still definitely have a website. While word of mouth always helps, people would rather have a place to see your work before buying it. Show a portfolio and keep it updated.

Enter into competitions for magazines and galleries. Usually there is a small entrance fee, but having your work published in art magazines, such as creative quarterly, is a great way to advertise. Its a good way to start word of mouth and having work published and getting your work in shows is a resume builder.

Like I said before, postcards are a huge tool in promoting your work. Sites like overnightprints.com can print postcards and business cards that you can leave with potential clients and galleries.

You don't need art classes, but you do need to practice. No one will buy work from you if they don't know what you do. Do you want to do portraits? Show people portraits. Landscapes? Make sure your portfolio has plenty of them. Do self promotional work to get the kind of gigs you want.

As for a scanner, well, you can always take high resolution photos. Art is an expensive business. Art supplies costs a lot and things like a scanner or camera are almost always essential. You are going to have to spend quite a bit of money before you ever start making any.

Hope this helped. Good luck!

Answer 5

If you want to progress as an artist, art classes would be really beneficial.. it will also open a lot of connections for you, through teachers, peers, ect. Practice & perfect your skill through classes. If you can get your hands on a scanner and you can post your art on deviantart.com. There are options to sell your drawings as prints and it will also open a lot of connections for you. Good luck!

Answer 6

Often, both are artfully deceptive. Art can be poetic in its power to inspire, while poetry can be art from the images it creates in the mind's eye (not the hidden one). This was my answer to your inspiration link. Perspective is everything. With your hand on its surface, the Pyramid of Khufu is just a crooked wall. Edit: Your description of the handiwork of the hidden eye explains the present condition of our government no matter which party is in power.

Answer 7

Some galleries are doing online art displays. Here's one that does. Email them and ask what their procedure is for adding new artists.

Answer 8

www.istockphoto.com
www.deviantart.com