"Over the last 10 years, China jumped from ninth place to first place in 2010, becoming the world's largest auction marketplace for Fine Art and overtaking the United States and the UK, the grand masters of the market since the 1950s. ..." [Read Full Article]
Published By: PR Newswire
On: 04/05/11
Website: http://www.prnewswire.com/
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Showing posts with label fine art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fine art. Show all posts
Tips For Pricing Your Art
Often I am asked for help when it comes to pricing art. This is a tricky process because there are so many different pricing methods not to mention the emotional attachment to your creation that has to be considered. It is important to remember that your goal is to set a price that strikes the consumer as fair, at the same time enticing him/her to buy. Here are a couple of methods to consider for pricing your work, but I encourage you to do a little research and figure out which one is best for YOU.
Time and Overhead Pricing
In order to survive as a full-time artist with this method, the general rule of thumb is to create five pieces a month. This doesn’t mean you have to sell all five pieces each month but you need to build a stock so your clients have a variety to choose from. In this method you have to consider your costs and time required to create the piece and add a 10% profit margin. If it takes you a month of working on one original piece (eight hours a day) you should probably consider getting involved in the print market and not focus on selling the originals for this method.
Market-Value Pricing
Another method used to calculate price is to go into the actual marketplace and see what other artists with the same type of background and similar art (dimensions, media, content) are selling their art for. Make sure you check to see if they are actually selling, they may be charging too high and not selling a thing. The best way to do this is to go to an exhibition and see for your self.
Perceived-Value Pricing
Perceived value is based on the value in the minds of buyers and not on the basis of what it costs you produce the piece. This is harder to pinpoint but observation with trial and error (and a bit of patience) will get you to your price range.
My Notes
Consider combining all of the methods - covering your costs while meeting your market expectations and the buyer’s perceived value.
As a potential buyer, I might think something is wrong with a piece, or wont value it as much, if the cost is less than what I feel is its fair market value.
Before long, an artist who keeps labor records on each piece can learn to estimate quite accurately the approximate number of hours and cost of materials needed to produce any given work. This information can be useful for commission requests.
To study perceived value, you need to be on site at your exhibit. Study how people are reacting, what they are saying, prices, ect. What are they buying? Why are they buying? Why are they not buying?
Your prices should not vary from place to place (not just in your area but anywhere you are selling).
Do not sell anything you wouldn't want to be known as your work. It may reach the wrong hands and bring you bad publicity some day. Be proud of every piece you sell.
Gradual increases in price is the way to go. Collectors like to see a little movement in an artist's prices over the years.
Buyers expect that the larger the work is the more expensive it should be. I know a lot of artist do not understand this because miniatures require a lot of attention to detail but you have to always keep in mind the way buyers think.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: you have to feel comfortable with the price you set.
Time and Overhead Pricing
In order to survive as a full-time artist with this method, the general rule of thumb is to create five pieces a month. This doesn’t mean you have to sell all five pieces each month but you need to build a stock so your clients have a variety to choose from. In this method you have to consider your costs and time required to create the piece and add a 10% profit margin. If it takes you a month of working on one original piece (eight hours a day) you should probably consider getting involved in the print market and not focus on selling the originals for this method.
Market-Value Pricing
Another method used to calculate price is to go into the actual marketplace and see what other artists with the same type of background and similar art (dimensions, media, content) are selling their art for. Make sure you check to see if they are actually selling, they may be charging too high and not selling a thing. The best way to do this is to go to an exhibition and see for your self.
Perceived-Value Pricing
Perceived value is based on the value in the minds of buyers and not on the basis of what it costs you produce the piece. This is harder to pinpoint but observation with trial and error (and a bit of patience) will get you to your price range.
My Notes
Consider combining all of the methods - covering your costs while meeting your market expectations and the buyer’s perceived value.
As a potential buyer, I might think something is wrong with a piece, or wont value it as much, if the cost is less than what I feel is its fair market value.
Before long, an artist who keeps labor records on each piece can learn to estimate quite accurately the approximate number of hours and cost of materials needed to produce any given work. This information can be useful for commission requests.
To study perceived value, you need to be on site at your exhibit. Study how people are reacting, what they are saying, prices, ect. What are they buying? Why are they buying? Why are they not buying?
Your prices should not vary from place to place (not just in your area but anywhere you are selling).
Do not sell anything you wouldn't want to be known as your work. It may reach the wrong hands and bring you bad publicity some day. Be proud of every piece you sell.
Gradual increases in price is the way to go. Collectors like to see a little movement in an artist's prices over the years.
Buyers expect that the larger the work is the more expensive it should be. I know a lot of artist do not understand this because miniatures require a lot of attention to detail but you have to always keep in mind the way buyers think.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: you have to feel comfortable with the price you set.
GUEST BLOG: Traditional Calligraphy and Project Gustav at Microsoft
Is calligraphy being replaced by the computer just like digital cameras replaced analogue film?
Inkscape software is possibly the most sophisticated at producing calligraphy strokes with a stylist, rather than a traditional pen and ink. And with Inkscape you can make adjustments to pen width, angle, pressure etc to create calligraphy.
I still perform calligraphy using pen and ink, rather than a tablet. I post process my hand done art by scanning my works and finishing them using GIMP and Inkscape, (popular graphics software packages).
I was watching developments in this area of human user interfaces, and I was highly impressed with some recent work out of Microsoft labs. Watch a video of the Project Gustav work over at Channel9 http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/NicFill/An-Extended-Look-at-Project-Gustav-Immersive-Digital-Painting/ -- a touch based natural user interface that Microsoft is developing to interface with the next generation of high end art applications.
I am hoping they will create a calligraphy pen that digitally acts as a real calligraphy pen while managing: angle, slant, pressure, ink flow, ink opacity, speed, paper texture, edge weight/balance, etc... I would love to even beta test that or be a part of that development process.
Calligraphy seems so simple, yet must be incredibly complex to develop software to replicate the fine art perfectly. I had a high school art teacher back in the late 1980s who once told me that computers would never replace art or fine art. While I understood and respected her point, I think in my lifetime computers will be able to provide a natural user interface that emulates the creation of fine art and will be respected by the top percentage of fine artists on this planet, even though they may still choose to use the traditional medium. Breakthroughs in the area of natural user interface, touch devices and output devices will achieve this in time.
Some of the drawbacks are that we are lacking greatly in the area of output devices. How you do you print a painting in 3D showing the subtle variations in paint thickness? How do you show this same painting on a webpage through a computer monitor or handheld device? How do you replicate the smell of a museum through your iPad or tablet? While the natural UI is advancing other areas should keep pace and they are falling behind.
And the main drawback is a drastic change to the art process itself. There is something to be said about getting your hands messy when creating art, smelling the paint, smudging the charcoal, seeing the imperfections, the fear of making a mess, experimenting with different papers or inks. This is all part of the experience that I like and enjoy. I know that in the world of photography, many top photographers completely resisted digital photography as an alternative, possibly for the similar reasons.
I wonder if there will be a day when it is difficult to buy a paint brush or a calligraphy pen just like its hard to buy analogue film today? What are your thoughts?
By: Steve Czajka
Blog Contributor
http://steveczajka.posterous.com
Inkscape software is possibly the most sophisticated at producing calligraphy strokes with a stylist, rather than a traditional pen and ink. And with Inkscape you can make adjustments to pen width, angle, pressure etc to create calligraphy.
I still perform calligraphy using pen and ink, rather than a tablet. I post process my hand done art by scanning my works and finishing them using GIMP and Inkscape, (popular graphics software packages).
I was watching developments in this area of human user interfaces, and I was highly impressed with some recent work out of Microsoft labs. Watch a video of the Project Gustav work over at Channel9 http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/NicFill/An-Extended-Look-at-Project-Gustav-Immersive-Digital-Painting/ -- a touch based natural user interface that Microsoft is developing to interface with the next generation of high end art applications.
I am hoping they will create a calligraphy pen that digitally acts as a real calligraphy pen while managing: angle, slant, pressure, ink flow, ink opacity, speed, paper texture, edge weight/balance, etc... I would love to even beta test that or be a part of that development process.
Calligraphy seems so simple, yet must be incredibly complex to develop software to replicate the fine art perfectly. I had a high school art teacher back in the late 1980s who once told me that computers would never replace art or fine art. While I understood and respected her point, I think in my lifetime computers will be able to provide a natural user interface that emulates the creation of fine art and will be respected by the top percentage of fine artists on this planet, even though they may still choose to use the traditional medium. Breakthroughs in the area of natural user interface, touch devices and output devices will achieve this in time.
Some of the drawbacks are that we are lacking greatly in the area of output devices. How you do you print a painting in 3D showing the subtle variations in paint thickness? How do you show this same painting on a webpage through a computer monitor or handheld device? How do you replicate the smell of a museum through your iPad or tablet? While the natural UI is advancing other areas should keep pace and they are falling behind.
And the main drawback is a drastic change to the art process itself. There is something to be said about getting your hands messy when creating art, smelling the paint, smudging the charcoal, seeing the imperfections, the fear of making a mess, experimenting with different papers or inks. This is all part of the experience that I like and enjoy. I know that in the world of photography, many top photographers completely resisted digital photography as an alternative, possibly for the similar reasons.
I wonder if there will be a day when it is difficult to buy a paint brush or a calligraphy pen just like its hard to buy analogue film today? What are your thoughts?
By: Steve Czajka
Blog Contributor
http://steveczajka.posterous.com
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