Children’s Art and Coffee

A busy week, guests and some needed time spent at the office have caused delay in posting. As a result, the personal notes today stray a bit from the business of art. Kudos for the many art teachers and those that inspire (including parents), who give their kids the freedom of expression to create.

In a local coffee shop recently I noticed an entire wall dedicated to local children’s artwork. Most of it was framed and presented with little tags below indicating the child’s name and age along with the title of the piece and a clear NFS (not for sale).

I would like to commend the coffee shop (Spiral Café in Vic West, Victoria, BC Canada) for their support of the community and children who get a chance to showcase their work proudly. I am sure that this happens in many places across the country and it is great to see.

I remember my wife Pat giving drawing lessons to our kids and the amazing results from just a few tips and the pride in producing and creating that comes with it.

The art business exists only because artists create and are encouraged to share that with the rest of us.

Marketing? But I’m an Artist!

Marketing has been described as the methodology used to attract customers, communicate to them your product or service and develop a relationship based on value perceived by both parties. (My own paraphrase of many definitions)

What does this mean for an artist and why does marketing seem like such a difficult task?

1. One of the reasons that I have been able to determine is that artists are often never satisfied with their own work. As such, they find it difficult to “market” something they themselves see as not as perfect as it could be.
2. Another reason is that they feel they lack the skills to market. They associate marketing with big advertising campaigns, aggressive sales people, loud and in-your-face displays that intimidate.
3. Yet a third reason is that the concept is not understood. Many people confuse the term “marketing” with “sales” and often that conjures up some of the same images as listed above – although sales are simply the result of good marketing.

I liken marketing to simply telling people about something that has value. For example, if you were fortunate to find a restaurant that served the finest and healthiest food, but each dish only cost a few pennies – how would you go about telling your friends? Would you post a huge billboard, spend thousands on television – or simply give them a call or email and say – Hey – I found a great place to eat that hardly costs anything? Want to join me for dinner?

So let’s take this further and create an art marketing scenario. You have painted a selection of work, framed it and hung it around your studio. You are relatively pleased with the selection and would like to sell some pieces. What marketing can you do? Here are some five simple ideas;

Take digital photos and post them on your blog or website with prices and an invitation to buy.

1. Email those same digital photos to your current customer list, friends, family and acquaintances with a short note that introduces you and lets them know that you have just completed some recent pieces that you are please with and have put them up for sale. Note your prices and ask them to contact you if interested. One tip! Suggest that even if they are not interested, that if they like the work to forward it to their friends! This can create an outstanding group of potential viewers and buyers.
2. Contact a local business, restaurant, gallery, office etc and advise them that you have this current body of work that you would be willing to hang if they will allow you to display prices and your name and contact information.
3. Print out a few images on a sheet of paper – try to do a good quality job of reproduction and if necessary contact your local print shop for help. It is not costly and can enhance the presentation. Ensure you have your name and contact information prominent. Post those on public bulletin boards in your local art shop, bookstore, coffee shop or other location where people browse and look at quality postings – there are quite a few when you take notice of them.
4. Send the same sheet – with a brief bio and press release to your local community newspapers and magazines. You may attract a free article, interview or the attention of the local art columnist.

Seven Principles for Quality Art Reproduction

1. Strong Original Artwork
2. Excellent Capture
3. Professional Colour Management
4. The Right Choice of Substrate
5. The Right Choice of Equipment for Printing
6. Excellence in Packaging
7. The Right Price

Can you print anything you paint? Of course, but the question is - should you? The choice of the artwork you reproduce needs to start with a solid strength. All of the elements that make a good painting should be present – perspective, interest, focus, drama and emotion. Secondly, the reason to reproduce a painting is primarily because there is a demand for the image and your original work would be too expensive for many of the potential customers.

1. Make sure you start with a top quality, high resolution file that will print at the size you want to reproduce. To do that you must ensure that the image is captured by a digital camera or high-end camera with a digital scanning back at high resolution, scanned by a professional production house, or photographed on to transparency professionally and then scanned appropriately.
2. Colour management, correction and file preparation also require the professional touch. Remember – get this right once and you can reproduce the image many times effectively and accurately.
3. Choose the right media to print your work on. Whether that be paper, canvas, silk, polyester or vinyl – what you intend for the end result is the driver for the type of substrate you reproduce the work on. A good marriage of file and substrate is the only way to achieve superior results.
4. Choosing the right equipment to print the work is another key principle. There are many quality printing machines, but some have specific purposes such as signs and banners – and others are dedicated to fine art – sometimes the only difference is the type of ink they use – but you must also marry your equipment to the type of reproduction that is your final result.
5. Packaging your reproduction before sale can involve many things, including stretching the canvas, adding a frame, or mats to the paper, mounting, sewing or taping a banner and adding grommets for hanging – again the end result dictates the type of packaging required.
6. Price is the final principle. Have you researched the market – do you know what work like yours – reproduced as you intend - is selling for? Do you know your costs and what you can afford to price the work at? Do you have sufficient mark-up to cover all costs and a possible distributor or sales persons commission?

While this article does not intend to convey all of the details around each of these seven principles, it is intended to help you focus on the key elements that make a reproduction process successful.

SECRETS OF MATTING FOR ARTISTS

This article is re-printed with permission from the MatShop and author Jim Fishwick. Visit the MatShop for the full article and additional information.

Some of the Fundamental secrets when selecting Matting for your artwork.

Single mats: If a single mat is used, it is often safest and most desirable to use a neutral color, such as off white, cream, light grays etc. These go very well with most images and fit into most home settings. If you wish a stronger color, try to match the mat color with a dominant color in the image. i.e. Lots of dark green trees in the picture, use a dark green mat. For black and white photographs, off-white mats with a black core are very effective.

Using a double mat: Double mats add considerably to the richness of the presentation. The safest method is to use a neutral outer mat, and a color for the inner mat that matches a dominant color in the image. The amount of the inner mat that can be seen is called the “reveal”, and varies with the size of the mat. A reveal of 3/16" is close to being an industry standard, but use your own judgment. When using a white mat over another white mat, a reveal of 1/2" or even much more can work very well. Double mats are usually twice the price of a single.

Adding decorative cuts: Closed and open "V-grooves", decorative corners and graphics can be attractive, but often unnecessary. A closed v-groove is very common, and can be quite cost effective especially with larger artwork. The extra cost can be recovered by a higher retail price. Closed v-grooves can be very effective on single mats of conservation quality.

Types of mat cuts explained

These are some of the cuts available, and the terminology used to describe them.

1. Open v-groove, 3/16" reveal
2. V-groove gap
3. Closed v-groove
4. Message box, 3/16" reveal
5. Double opening, 3/16" reveal
6. Single opening
7. "Fancy" corner
8. Floating the image
9. Graphic
10. #246 Walnut frame
11. Double mat, light blue outer, dark blue inner.