Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Empty Easel - a terrific resource

If you have been considering selling your art online, you ought to check out the reviews by Dan over at Empty Easel. Here is a description from the site:

EmptyEasel.com isn’t really about me or my art. Instead, it’s a place where I hope to help people understand art a little better. Whether you’re a new artist, just interested in art, or even an established art professional, my goal is for you to make EmptyEasel.com your daily resource for art information.

Among other topics, Dan has reviewed a number of the top sites for artists to sell art online. He's done some insightful research into which of them are best according to independent traffic analysis. There is lots more to the site including many useful links. All in all, this is a site where you will find your time spent on it well worthwhile.

Illustration Friday - Just for Fun!

Sometimes you just need to kick back and have some fun!

Illustration Friday is a weekly creative outlet/participatory art exhibit for illustrators and artists of all skill levels. It was designed to challenge participants creatively. It believes every person has a little creative bone in their body. Illustration Friday just gives a no-pressure, fun excuse to use it. No clients looking for a particular thing. No one judging the outcome of the work. It's a chance to experiment and explore and play with visual art. So welcome, novices and pros alike.

Here's a recent entry for the subject: Polar. It's from artist, Mick Reasor, who blogs at 100%RealArt

Rex Menaced by a Polar Bear!

Rex, proud member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, while on patrol in the Arctic has just opened his breakfast tin of kippered herring when he is confronted by an impressive specimen of Ursus Maritimus (the polar bear).

Art Print Marketing Teleseminar

This Tuesday April 24, I am the guest of the Art Biz Coach, Alyson B. Stanfield. In an hour long Teleseminar, we'll explore why and how visual artists should capitalize on the print market. If you order prior to the seminar, it's a special price of $9.95. You'll also receive a 22-page PDF and an mp3 copy of the Teleseminar.

As with other aspects of the art business, the print market is an evolving dynamic. We'll do our best to help you make informed profitable decisions about your participation in it. If you have read my book, How to Profit from the Art Print Market, you'll benefit by learning distinctions regarding my advice from 2005 when I wrote the book to today. If you haven't read the book, you can get it and the Teleseminar at a 24% discount if you pre-order before the seminar. The plan is to make the hour informative and inspirational. I hope you'll join us!

Money Can't Buy You Love

Can't buy me love, love
Can't buy me love

I'll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel alright
I'll get you anything my friend if it makes you feel alright
'cause i don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love - lyrics from The Beatles

Do you need some money for a good reason? Want to get an art marketing project funded? Do you have a little money you'd be willing to invest in worthy people and get a good return? If so, you need to check out Prosper.com. It's a place where people come together to borrow and lend money. I think Ben Franklin might approve of this setup despite his admonition, "Neither a borrower nor lender be."

Prosper was created as the first people-to-people lending marketplace to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone. It works on an eBay auction like basis where lenders bid on loans of interest to them. Some of the amounts loaned are as small as $50. The successful bids are aggregated to create the necessary amount to fund a specific loan. Check out the Arts & Culture groups to see if one would be a good fit for your needs. Or, consider joining a likeminded group to lend with.

Prosper offers the proverbial win-win. You get a chance to do some good with your money and you get a higher rate of return than sitting in a CD or savings account. You can diversify just like the big lenders, but on your comparative micro scale. As a borrower, you get access to credit you might not get at any rate from a traditional lender. This concept changes the way business is done, it provides an egalitarian quotient to the notion of lending not embraced by mammoth financial institutions.

Are You Still Learning? Homage to Goya

My sister Pauline is a tenured prof at the University of Nebraska. She's a professional on the other side of learning, but in order to give the learning, the teacher must first learn. With her natural inquisitiveness and desire to make her learning worthwhile, she is also a lifelong student. She is also a supporter and positive enabler to me for my work on this blog and other pursuits. It's nice to have someone like that in your corner. Recently, she sent me an interesting link she found while researching a lecture on aging as she knew it was apropos for this blog. It concerns the Spanish master artist, Francisco de Goya and one of his most famous works, Aun Aprendo.

Learning is akin to the adage, it's not a destination, it's a journey. Take it seriously and enjoy it! Be thankful for those who blazed the trail in front of us.

What Is a Giclée?

It can be a humorous adventure to go on Web sites where digital reproduction are sold under the Giclée moniker and read the vain attempts to explain: what the word means; its genesis; how to pronounce it; or to accurately describe the process of creating digital reproductions.

The reality for the art industry is it really isn't a laughing matter. There literally must be thousands of poorly informed and worse written descriptions floating around cyberspace these days. Many with futile attempts to inform collectors and surfers what the heck is a giclée. The term has become as nondescript and amorphous as the word "print."  The more the word and its description gets mucked up, the more confusing the term becomes to the public and the less ability it has to be a powerful valuable descriptor.

The Guild Juried Applications Close April 30

If you have read my book or heard me speak, you might already know I am a fine woodworker. Were that hobby a business, one of the places I would be most proud to display my works would be on The Artful Home Web site produced by The Guild. (BTW, if you like that the links open in a new window, thank Jennifer Young. Her suggestion prompted me to learn a little more HTML to fulfill it. See her link in my Blog & Web site sidebar links.)

The Guild produces a most gorgeous print and online catalog of fine arts and crafts. If you agree with me it would be worthy of your work and you want to apply through its jury process, you need to get busy. I just looked at the site today and realized the jury selection process is April 1 - April 30. Start here to learn how to go about becoming a Guild Artist.

Here are some of stringent standards for 2D artists published on the site:

Additional Standards

The Guild only accepts work by living artists who reside and produce their work within North America. The Guild does not accept framed 2D work or giclees printed on canvas. All giclees and prints need to be limited edition, as we do not accept open edition 2D work. We also do not accept any reproductions. Strong preferences are given to artists who submit with a consistent body of work. 

The terminology in the above paragraph can be confusing. Seems like giclees and prints are acceptable, but reproductions are not. Using the S.W.A.G. (Scientific Wild Ass Guess) Factor, I'm going to say by reproductions they mean open edition prints and posters. I will contact the company for clarification and other reasons as another post on them is planned. Good luck to all who make the effort to join the jury process. I will be thrilled if any readers use this alert and end up in the catalog...let me know.

Bev Doolittle Back in the Saddle - On You Tube Too

Bev Doolittle, one of the most successful limited edition artists ever is working on her first limited edition print in eight years. As with her other prints, this new one will be published by her long time publisher, The Greenwich Workshop. Unless you are new to the art print market, you know her Sacred Ground print holds the record for the largest numbered limited print ever.

Doolittle's comeback from her limited edition print layoff will be welcome by those dealers who have witnessed a serious decline in the offset lithography limited edition market she epitomized. Her layoff coincides with the preeminent rise in popularity of the giclee printing format, which inarguably and permanently changed the market. It will be interesting to observe the strength of her marketability after a long absence and in the face of considerable changes in the business. If there is one artist who can comeback strong, it would be Bev Doolittle. I'm hoping to see her reinvigorated and in the process reinvigorate the art print market.

The link to the You Tube vid is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU36-kCNelQ

Class Action Swells Hit Cruise Line Art Auctions

It's long been recognized by savvy art marketers that vacation spots were ideal locations for galleries. Such a location offers what is most often needed to finalize a pricey art transaction, which is to have both decision makers in high-end household purchases available at the same time. What better place than a relaxed resort environment to lure buyers with leisure time to a closing room?

There's nothing wrong with this idea, it does indeed make great business logic. When both parties are present and equally excited about an art piece, closing the deal is so much easier, especially when they have a enjoyable relaxed vibe going. If that logic prevails, it only makes sense then that cruise ships would provide an even better environment. The impact of cruise ship auction sales has steadily increased along with sales they generate...unfortunately not always with positive results.

Feel Like a Number?

One of the ways your tax dollars are put to use is by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. This organization keeps data on thousands of occupations and provides details on such things as: Nature of Work; Working Conditions; Employment; Job Outlook; Earnings and more.

Here are what the BLS relates as Significant Points:

Significant Points

• About 63 percent of artists and related workers are self-employed.
• Keen competition is expected for both salaried jobs and freelance work; the number of qualified workers exceeds the number of available openings because the arts attract many talented people with creative ability.
• Artists usually develop their skills through a bachelor’s degree program or other postsecondary training in art or design.
• Earnings for self-employed artists vary widely; some well-established artists earn more than salaried artists, while others find it difficult to rely solely on income earned from selling art.