Expert: Candy Keane - 1/17/2010

Question
I am an artist and like so many people today I am not working. I'd like to take lemons and make lemonade, or sell lemonade. People have always said they liked my work or that it was interesting, but I don't sell enough or gain gallery opportunities. Maybe I haven't tried enough, because I focused on working a 9-5.  Well, those days are over for the moment. Right now,  I have no capital, plenty of free time, and about 10 small empty canvases. How can I  sale my art work on a steady basis? I'd love to earn a living selling  my paintings or even a partial living. Usually my work is abstract and colorful, but I can also paint portraits. I just dont know where to look to sell my work. How can I get people to take notice?

Answer
There are three main things I can think of:
1) Get your work online. Create a website portfolio and promote yourself as both an original artist and also as a commissioned artist for portraits. Find a site like DeviantArt.com where you can create a free portfolio. Get business cards that reference people to the website so they can see more of your work, get your booking info and learn more about you. You can get free cards at VistaPrint.com.

2) Start an Etsy.com store to list and sell your paintings. Etsy is targeted toward artists and has way lower fees than eBay. Use the photos you created for your personal portfolio to list on your Etsy store. On your portfolio site, make sure you tell people they can go to your Etsy store to buy the paintings.

3) Get out and promote yourself. Find free art festivals where you can set up a table or just have a little area. Some festivals will charge a lot of money, and I don't recommend those if you don't have the funds to start with. You want to find free events. You may not sell one thing, but you will be talking to lots of people and passing out your cards and those people will find you later online.

People are only going to take notice if you stick something in their face repeatedly and make it so they have to pay attention. Once you create your own buzz about you and your work, you will get the gallery opportunities. And just remember when you do get those, promote the heck out of them through your website, store and social networking like facebook.com (create a fan page for yourself) and twitter.com.

All it takes is lots of time to do all this, so sounds like you are in luck in that area! Just remember the more you put into it, the more it will pay off. It may seem like nobody is paying attention at first, but they will if you keep at it.

Good Luck!
-Candy
www.ThreeMusesPortfolio.com
www.ThreeMusesClothing.com