So you want to sell paintings?

If you produce a lot of artwork on a regular basis then the subject of  how to sell paintings will become important to you, if for not other reason that in time you will run out of storage space! I have also found that there is nothing like selling a painting to spur you on with your creativity and production.

Some people are happy enough just to retrieve their costs to enable them to purchase more watercolor paper, pigments, and frames, etc. Others who look at art as their profession and would like to generate a regular income from their chosen creative field, need to do more than recoup their costs, they will need to make a regular income and profit! For these the question of how to price and sell paintings must be of great interest. I have known some very good artists in my time who rarely sell their work (even when the want to) and I have known others who produce work which is not so good yet sell regularly. The reason for this is that the selling and marketing of paintings is a very different subject to the creation of them. To be a very successful professional artist you need to be good at both.

Now if you want to know how to sell paintings, then the subject of how to price paintings becomes important.

This subject of how to price a painting has been discussed or considered by every artist who has placed a price on their artwork.

As I spent about 30 years in a sales or marketing role, before opting to become a full time watercolor artist, I felt I could add some useful advice for budding artists.

When trying to price your painting you first have to realize that it is a product, and just like any product it is subject to market forces e.g. a house is a product and its prices go up and down depending on demand. The same applies to a work of art.

Marketers refer to the 4Ps: Product, Place, Promotion and Price, when looking at their product and at what price to sell it.

These same 4Ps also apply to selling artwork. So how do they apply?

So let us look at how Product, Place, Promotion, and Price can be used to sell paintings!

Continue to: Artist’s Products: Watercolor Paintings