Dear Friends:

Good news. For the first time in my life, I sold a drawing. The first drawing I sold !!! A friend liked my drawings and commissioned me to draw a landscape for her. She paid me one hundred dollars in advance !!! I haven't drew it yet, but I am planning on making the best possible drawing. I am so happy !!! I guess my art hobby is starting to pay off !!!
Cheers !!!

fernando bartra/rednova

Congratulation! I hope everything works out for you! If you find yourself feeling under pressure once you start, just keep telling yourself that it is just practice, and take your time! Depending you your personality type, commission work can be somewhat stressful. Looking forward to seeing the piece as you develop it!

Wow, that is a wonderful moment rednova! I can relate to your ecstatic feeling. I remember that feeling well even though it was almost 20 years ago now. A lot of people don't realise that you can really make some great extra cash just for doing what you love. I have occasionally/rarely found commissioned work stressful, but mostly I have loved it. Just do what you normally do - see this as creating just another wonderful piece of art that you absolutely love doing. Do it with love and you will produce an incredible piece of work. I used to live off commissioned art - usually for the fishing industry. I was grateful that they wanted the paintings produced in my wonderful semi-abstract hard-edge style. I was often booked up six months in advance. I now just paint for galleries and exhibition every two years. It is a great thing to have commisions and I still accept the occasional one, but I am very busy teaching by internet correspondence too now. Enjoy yourself with your commisision - you are in for the ride of your life once you start selling. I hope to see your image when you are done.

Dear Cindy:

Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate reading your comments. Yes !!! i am so happy to have sold my drawing !!!
I am very inspired by your comments. I will try to scan/post the drawing before I give it away. Thank you!!!

fernando bartra/rednova

Fernando that is great!! There is only one feeling better (and please do not take this peronally - its the way I felt) and that is when someone buys a piece of yours from a gallery or show not knowing who you are! I had several commissioned pieces from friends of family, but when I finally had a piece that was bought from a show by our local Councillor I was over the moon!! It always ate at the back of my mind that maybe my friends and family were just being nice telling me that I was good or getting me to do a piece for them........but a complete stranger ...WOW!!

I hope you go from strength to strength Fernando - please post the commission so we can all see whne its done.

G'day Cindy - I didn't realise until now that by global standards we are neighbours

wow how wonderful, where are you based? Yes, selling from the gallery is always a thrill, I also love to know who bought the piece though, and through a gallery you usually don't know. It is just wonderful being able to do what we do and then have it appreciated by others isn't it. May you all have plenty of pyjama time!

Hi Cindy I am from near Beadesert south of Brissie.

Oh and Fernando its great to check out the competition in a show - it makes it feel really good when you think that someone chose yours over X, Y, or Z's work. In my case the work bought was the pastel head study of the red dachshund "Clancy" that is in my gallery. It made me feel very good because International Wildlife artitist Sandra Temple was also in that show. It makes you feel good to sell in that sort of company!

Checked out both of your galleries....................would like to see more of your work in there Fernando. Love yours Cindy...........soooo Queensland! Great colours and themes and well they just speak to me.


HAppy drawing & painting!

I have a question for all those on this thread who have sold a work - I was just asked today how much I would charge for a drawing. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted. I don't think my work is up to that level, but someone thinks so and wants a drawing done! Here's the question - how do you decide what to charge? Do you estimate the time it will take you to complete it, is there a formula that a newbie like me could use? Up to this point, my drawings have been gifts for family and friends, those that could be pried out of my hands. Any and all advice is welcome, please!

Hi there ncgirl your raise a good question, so many of my students ask me this question over the years and more so once they are approached by a person who is desperate to buy a piece of their work. There are so many variables that influence the price of your art. For example when you are pricing your work (as I do) for selling in a gallery you have to be very careful to keep your prices within a structure. My agent soon corrects me if I put a price on my work that is too little and we discuss the topic of a price rise. There are definite price ranges that artists work within once you become an establised artist.

Here's some thought for you. We move through different stages in our careers as artists. Whether or not we wish to be paid for our work is for some people a major 'moral' issue. In this I mean some people just love drawing and don't believe they should be paid for it. From the beginning I have believed I should be paid because that meant I was simply given a number in exchange for my time and skills. I could then use that number (represented by dollars) to buy more art materials, food and to also provide me with more time to do what I love to do - create art. So I have no problems selling my art.

So if you have decided that you feel ready to sell your art then you might want to consider where you are at in your career. We move through these stages as a paid or un-paid artists and the stages are determined by your skill level, hours/years of experience and contribution to society through your work. We begin at the 'learning your craft' stage. This is the stage where you are learning how to draw or paint or create art in general. This stage can take many years without instruction (art instruction can move you rapidly through this stage if you have a highly experienced and qualified instructor, it is worth every cent!) During this stage you are perfecting your skills and getting to know the chosen medium whether that be paint, pencil, charcoal or whatever. If you are offered money for your work at this stage you would negotiate with the client what they are willing to pay for the drawing. You may want to offer them a price to begin the negotiation stage, then whatch to see if their face twitches or not Lol! If they smile straight away you know it is okay, if they get uneasy and start shuffling their feet, you know your price is too high and they might back off. I am making light of this but it is interesting to watch people's body language in negotiations. Think of this, what is your time and skill truly worth compared to your weekly food budget? That is what I did anyway in the craft stage of my career and I sold everything I painted (or very rarely gave a piece for extra special birthdays - I have a rule never to give away my art unless it is for a very special reason.) So it depends on a lot of things. You cannot charge by the hour when you are in the craft stage as it takes longer to produce your work during this stage than it does when you are much more experienced and even then, artist don't charge by the hour. Artists are not paid for their labour, they are paid for their vision (no pun intended.)

The next stage is what is known as the 'Emerging Artist' stage. This is when you are considered excellent at your craft and may have even won a few awards in your local art competitions etc (definitely worth entering into to build your reputation locally.) You can stay in this stage for years and years then you become an established artist once you are more well known. Price does not alway correlate with your ability, you can be an incredible artist and never sell a piece in your life time - look at Vincent Van Gogh for example, he only sold one piece. Good marketing is also an integral aspect of successfully building a reputation and selling your work. Good marketing takes enormous time and energy, thats why I have an agent, they take care of that for you and are worth every cent if they are actively taking an interest in your work. Recently my agent took my art along with the Dr. Seuss Exhibition and sold my work to the Mater Children's Hospital in Brisbane, and it is hanging in a very well-populated huge city hospital with a little plaque underneath and my name on it. My painting is surrounded by artworks by other little children. That was great marketing on my agent's behalf!

So there are very many variables, consider if you are still in the 'learning your craft stage' if you are, then I would say charge anywhere from about one half of your weekly food bill and up to the full price of covering your weekly food bill (assuming the average 'family' food budget is similar to that here in Australia which is probably around ......$AUS250 (I didn't do any statistics on the average price of food, this is just based on what the people I know spend on food and variables -) and it is a smallish size artwork (up to Letter size) ie; for not a lot of detail you would charge less than if there was plenty of detail in this early stage. This rule doesn't apply when you are an established artist. You do not charge by detail or the hours as an established artist - it is quality and reputation, the value you give back to society by the contribution of a particular piece that really values art. Well that is my opinion.

Congrats, Here is wishing you the best. You know that you halve to call yourself a proffesional artist now that your getting payed.
I hope to be where your at some day.

Cindy - thanks a million! This really helps me get within a window of what to charge for a work. I will also take your advice and try to find some local art competitions. In this area, they are few and far between, but there might be an opportunity to network with our local arts council. We have a big fundraiser coming up at the company I work for - I may go out on a limb and donate something small for the auction - it's a well-covered event and maybe I can generate some interest. I'm very inspired now! Time to sharpen the pencils and get to work!

Good for you!!!! Thats always nice motivation to draw, but dont let it ruin the fun!!

Jim:
You look so cool in your picture !!! your personality shines thru.
Well, thank you very much for your comment, I appreciate that !!!

fernando bartra/rednova

Congratulations Fernando, Its so good to know that you sold some art hope this is just the beginning of a very sucsesful journey.

Dear Kali:

Thank you for your kind words !!!

fernando bartra/rednova