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That is all fantastic advice, thanks so much. i guess my follow-up is... Where do you actually find clients that are willing to be that reasonable? Like I said, I was in full-term employment for six months. I'm checking places like Upwork and NetworkISA, but so many of the jobs there want you to essentially work for free, and at this stage in my career I don't know if I have the pull for any bigger jobs. I'm still applying for everything I can though, but I don't know if it's enough. Yeah, I read that and I think the same thing. Any advice at all is hugely appreciated though. Thank you guys for all the above.
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Dec 4, 2015 13:19
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So far, I am have found Upwork and related sites to be a complete waste of time. I do not know what other people's experience have been, but it has been more beneficial to invest the time in my portfolio/website, taking classes, or looking locally.
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Dec 4, 2015 16:31
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While I cannot yet speak for it, I have managed to get myself a part-time job for the next four months thanks to Upwork. It could simply be that it was a fluke, a moment of luck. On the other hand I've also gotten an opportunity to work for even more money per hour on a similar part-time basis through a friend who works for an advertising agency.
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Jan 14, 2016 23:26
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Arthil posted:While I cannot yet speak for it, I have managed to get myself a part-time job for the next four months thanks to Upwork. It could simply be that it was a fluke, a moment of luck. On the other hand I've also gotten an opportunity to work for even more money per hour on a similar part-time basis through a friend who works for an advertising agency. A good friend of mine found his current job as an animator through first freelancing for them on Elance. It DOES happen.
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Jan 15, 2016 07:08
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In general, usually, avoid people posting jobs that don't have a history. Make sure their payment information is verified, and if you're really concerned you could also try to stick to someone within your own country. The nice thing is that Upwork protects you from most shenanigans, albeit a client has similar protections.
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Jan 15, 2016 07:23
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Hi there. Long time reader, first time question-asker. I'm working out an agreement to produce an audio component for a game. The company making the game is one at which a friend (whom I trust) works, and the arrangements have been more or less standard, albeit with a tight (but not impossible) deadline. The arrangement they are trying to make is such that I have actors sign a Work For Hire agreement with me, as a producer, and I in turn have an independent contractor agreement with this company. I have always been the "messenger" of such contracts before; I've never been the "Client" and have always simply facilitated the agreements between the "Client" and the "Talent", as it's...never made sense to put a Client's burden of responsibility on my own shoulders. But this does seem to be standard in the production world, and I'd like to know if anyone else is here has experience with this, and if so, how you handle(d) it. I'm a one-person operation and this job is a bit bigger than the scope of my previous projects, so I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed here. Though I've already contacted a lawyer, I wouldn't be able to cover legal fees unless this job goes through (and even then, it depends on how long this can all drag on). Secondly: My standard agreement for such work (which I created initially using advice from this very thread, so thank you!) generally states me (or the creator in question) as the owner and grants the client a thorough license to use the work. This client needs the audio produced as Work For Hire, but as an actor myself, I know that the actors will want their work protected such that it is not used in any derivative works. I already talked this out with a rep at the company and we mutually agreed on these terms (buyout for this project, no use outside of it), but am not sure how to work that into a Work For Hire agreement, since...doesn't that go against the nature of what a Work For Hire agreement is? Having kept up with this thread from its first page, I've seen that the approach/tone of both the questions and responses has largely been *fighting for freelance artists' rights*, and while I of course want to assert my needs and worth, I'd like to approach this objectively/neutrally; I don't think this has to be a fight per se, as most of the terms are already mutually satisfactory and they've been fairly cooperative with my requests so far. I simply want to know what I don't know here to be able to successfully negotiate and complete this project to everyone's mutual satisfaction. "Work For Hire" as a concept doesn't throw me, but potentially being on the hook for my clients' actions does, and I'd like to know how to handle it such that everyone gets what they need.
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Jan 26, 2016 15:12
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I don't know the answer to your contract question, but since you say this is the first time you've hired folks yourself – make sure you know how to deal with taxes. It sounds like they're going to be 1099 workers, and that's something you'll have to deal with.
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Jan 26, 2016 16:19
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kedo posted:I don't know the answer to your contract question, but since you say this is the first time you've hired folks yourself – make sure you know how to deal with taxes. It sounds like they're going to be 1099 workers, and that's something you'll have to deal with. I've hired independent contractors myself plenty of times and am very familiar with W9s/1099s/that whole shebang, and I've facilitated contracts in which my client has been the one technically hiring the actors. This is the first time that a client has asked me to hire people myself for their project, if that makes sense--I'm having trouble explaining it adequately. The actors would sign their agreements with me and I'd sign one with my client. However, it seems that if the client take actions that leave me unable to fulfill my agreement with the actors, that burden of responsibility would fall on me, and I don't know how to manage this situation such that that isn't the case.
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Jan 26, 2016 16:28
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Sort of relating to what I talked about earlier. The supposed gig from Upwork seemed to fall flat on its face very quickly. Instead however I've managed to get myself set up with a far better type of contracted work. I'll be doing design work related to advertisements, the system working where I keep track of my own hours and then fill out an invoice form. I'm paid via direct deposit, they have requested my W-9 so I can suspect to receive the proper 1099 forms for next year. And to top it all off I'm making $25/h. Even if the work is part-time it is still leaps and bounds better than any job I've ever had. The connection came via a friend, who actually works at the physical offices for the advertisement agency. My contract with them is going to span a year, so at least until 2017 I should have semi-regular work. Things are looking good.
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Jan 27, 2016 17:49
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A guy who is a regular at the restaurant I work at approached me about illustrating some children's book he wants to write. We talked about it a bit and it seems... OK. He doesn't really have a manuscript or anything yet, so who the gently caress knows what'll happen, most likely it'll end up going nowhere since people have a tendency to flake/talk big but don't actually do anything. I'm certainly interested in taking on a project like this though. The big caveat I'm leery about is the inability to pay me for my work upfront. I'd instead be paid a percentage of the net sales. Obviously a contract would need to be drawn up and notarized and what not. This would potentially be my first contract gig. I'm very trepedatious about committing any time to it though since nothing seems even remotely concrete, and said as much. It seems like there's a huge potential for my time to be wasted for zero payoff. I am however very interested in doing freelance illustrations, since I feel like I've finally hit my stride as an artist. I don't really have much in the way of digital art skills and work in traditional (read: antiquated) media. I know it's kind of limiting professionally, but I still have the ability to digitize my work. I'm currently working on my personal art for an upcoming show and need to put together a portfolio representative of my work. I'm still very new at all of this, so I have several questions. 1. Avoid this children's book project? 2. How severely limited am I working with traditional media? 3. What's a good online source for finding contract/freelance illustration work if I'm not severely limited by my use of non-digital media? 4. What's a good place for my portfolio online? Free is preferable here since I'm a filthy poor, but I'm not opposed to paying for space if it's worth it for me monetarily.
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Jan 28, 2016 22:23
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Run away. Do not illustrate children's books for anybody but a) yourself or b) a major publisher who has hired you. Do not illustrate entire books on spec. The book will never be published and you will never be paid. Trust me on this.
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Jan 28, 2016 22:58
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Noted, that's my instinct as well. I do have a book/story I'm writing and going to illustrate/attempt small scale self publishing, but that's a whole different deal and will probably take about a year of my time unless I magically win the lottery or money magically flies out of my walls.
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Jan 28, 2016 23:31
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Right and if it's your story, you're only on the hook to yourself.
neonnoodle fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Jan 29, 2016 |
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Jan 29, 2016 03:26
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Basically sounds like the situation I was in last year. Some rear end wanting me to make designs for his silly product, with only the possibility of being paid from sales (and only up to $100 per design). I had a wave of people telling me to abandon ship as fast as possible, and it sounds like you should too.
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Jan 29, 2016 11:34
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dog nougat posted:A guy who is a regular at the restaurant I work at approached me about illustrating some children's book he wants to write. We talked about it a bit and it seems... OK. He doesn't really have a manuscript or anything yet, so who the gently caress knows what'll happen, most likely it'll end up going nowhere since people have a tendency to flake/talk big but don't actually do anything. I'm certainly interested in taking on a project like this though. Others have answered the children's book thing (no, no, run away, no). As to traditional media, it shouldn't be a huge issue. I'm primarily a traditional artist and while I don't do children's book illustration, I know other artists who have done it in traditional with no issues. I'd recommend trying your hand at digital though - Paint Tool SAI is usually decent for people who are new to digital.
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Jan 29, 2016 14:22
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I would say the only reason to do a kid's book on spec is if somehow it were a unicorn project, meaning that it's tailored exactly to your style, and about something you enjoy. I was approached a while back to do a spec kid's book about a girl in Hawaii [that he actually had a manuscript for.] I thought I was pretty versatile, and that I could pull it off, but I had a slew of pretty glaring issues. I'm not from Hawaii. I've never been to Hawaii. My style isn't Hawaiian in the slightest. I've never been a little girl, nor interested in drawing things that might appeal to little girls. Pretty much the best I could come up with was a Lilo and Stitch ripoff, which is also a movie I've never seen or had any interest in. After about a month of trying in my free time, I finally gave up. I might've been able to pull it off if I had more incentive, but I just couldn't bring myself to create this thing so out of line with my interests for imaginary money.
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Jan 29, 2016 15:58
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Cool, thanks for the advice/opinions all. I'm only interested in wasting my time for me. I have Manga Studio for digital art stuff, but it's difficult learning a new medium and I get discouraged because of the learning curve. I should probably stick with it though. There's a weird mental disconnect for me since I'm not handling a physical real-world object.
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Jan 30, 2016 00:20
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dog nougat posted:since I'm not handling a physical real-world object. Aren't you?
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Jan 30, 2016 03:54
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Fair enough. A tablet and a screen are not like a piece of paper something that I can easily manipulate and rotate without any real thought. I recognize that digital has it's advantages but like I said, I find myself easily discouraged by the learning curve and have a tendency to gravitate back to physical media since I've already spent years learning the medium.
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Jan 30, 2016 06:38
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dog nougat posted:Fair enough. A tablet and a screen are not like a piece of paper something that I can easily manipulate and rotate without any real thought. I recognize that digital has it's advantages but like I said, I find myself easily discouraged by the learning curve and have a tendency to gravitate back to physical media since I've already spent years learning the medium. Yeah I know what you mean. It is a bit different getting used to a tablet and I'd say there is a reason why a lot of people (even very exceptional digital painters) still sketch traditionally even if they intend to paint/finish the work digitally. Try out some different work flows, and go find some tutorials specifically on working digitally. (Ctrlpaint has some nice free videos). That might help with some of the learning curve stuff. Also if you really want to create children's books professionally, I'd say make a work that you are really passionate about (maybe several). Then when you feel like you have something good, do some research and find a good agent who has a track record selling children books and get them to help you find a real publisher. Learn how to write a kickass query letter (resources like the queryshark blog can help with that) as that is going to be vital when you do eventually shop your book around. JuniperCake fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Jan 30, 2016 |
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Jan 30, 2016 09:12
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dog nougat posted:Fair enough. A tablet and a screen are not like a piece of paper something that I can easily manipulate and rotate without any real thought. I recognize that digital has it's advantages but like I said, I find myself easily discouraged by the learning curve and have a tendency to gravitate back to physical media since I've already spent years learning the medium. I did this for a number of years, then at one point I just picked it up again after a long gap and...it clicked. Quality of tablet is also an issue - like trying to learn to work with lovely dollar store art materials, trying to learn with a lovely tablet is not much fun.
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Jan 30, 2016 13:51
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moerketid posted:I did this for a number of years, then at one point I just picked it up again after a long gap and...it clicked. Quality of tablet is also an issue - like trying to learn to work with lovely dollar store art materials, trying to learn with a lovely tablet is not much fun. Yeah, just like your traditional tools, digital tools are just that: tools. It's about using the right tool for the job, and a quality tool. Initially you'll have to get over the learning curve just to familiarize yourself and expand your skills, but it's important to be intentional I think about how you then integrate that into your process. Is it simply about efficiency of workflow? Is it about an aesthetic that you can't quite achieve with traditional media? Think about why you're using the tools. Dog nougat, certainly never abandon your basis in hand drawing and sketching and painting. I'd encourage you to look at ways of hybridizing your process between traditional and digital techniques. Maybe set up exercises for yourself: do some hand sketches, scan them, digitally paint on top of them. Work quickly and utilize layers you can then manipulate. Print it out, draw on top of it. Do it again. You might find that working back and forth between them keeps you from getting too stuck or frustrated with the digital tools, and allows you to take smaller meaningful steps in learning them.
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Jan 30, 2016 18:08
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Hey guys; So, I've managed to get myself into a bit of a predicament that after a few years of freelancing I shouldn't have gotten into, but ya live and ya learn! Basically, an employer contacted me about doing 3d modeling for a transformable figure that would taken from 3d into into injection molding. After he explained the details of the project, we agreed on a project rate (to be paid 1/3 at the start, 1/3 after parts are sent off to printing, 1/3 after injection molding is confirmed successful) and a one month deadline. The contract stated that if I were to bail on the project before it were finished, I would pay back the initial 1/3 I got. This is a huge red flag that I can't believe I missed, but the project was straightforward and I knew I'd get it done easily, and the rate for the one month was good and he fulfilled the amount that I asked for. Here comes the problem. As my idiot self should've anticipated, there are a LOT of variables in the project that I were told there were not going to be in our initial hiring phonecall. Stuff that has taken a one month project and turned it into 3 months of annoying back-and-forth work that still isn't done yet. I set up a talk with him today to renegotiate the contract, but realistically what are my options if I ask for more money and he just says no? I think I have leverage because the reason the project has been drawn out is because I was told initially that the entire figure was already designed and cut up into the proper transformable parts with full dimensions for me to just translate into 3d, and realistically all of the parts were "sort of" designed with maybe 50% of the dimensions to work off of. So re-designing these parts is out of the scope of work we initially agreed on. He also keeps mentioning that he will be sending me parts to reference that he never ends up sending me. This was a pretty stupid newbie mistake that I haven't made in awhile, but the decent month rate + pretty cool project really suckered me in. SVU Fan fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Feb 3, 2016 |
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Feb 3, 2016 21:33
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SVU Fan posted:I set up a talk with him today to renegotiate the contract, but realistically what are my options if I ask for more money and he just says no? Lay out a strict schedule and list of things you need from him to complete the project. If he doesn't do the things, stop working until he does them. It sounds like you're at the point where you really need to protect yourself on this project, so stop spending any time on it you don't need to. I'd also read the contract again and see if there are any clauses that would help you. Is he failing to meet his contractural obligations? If so, you probably have a good case for stopping work and refusing to return the deposit. And FYI, as you seem to have realized, in the future you should A) always write your own contract, don't just sign your clients', and B) define deposits as nonrefundable.
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Feb 3, 2016 22:06
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kedo posted:And FYI, as you seem to have realized, in the future you should A) always write your own contract, don't just sign your clients', and B) define deposits as nonrefundable. And/or hire a lawyer to review contracts you receive to find and fix these things for you. I'm pretty contract-savvy but I still brought on a lawyer to work out some trickier details with the most recent arrangement I made with a new client. Best investment I could have made! Saved me a whole lot of time and energy and headache and made sure BOTH sides got what they needed. Well worth it.
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Feb 4, 2016 01:58
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I may be entering into a contract to help write copy and editorials for a start up product subscription service (think BirchBox). I've only ever written editorial or creative works for free and am unsure on how to negotiate compensation for a website. My work would be clickbait lists, sales copy for the website, sales assets for salespeople and possibly even video scripts. This seems to be unlike getting a story or article published as my work will be critical to the success of the product and will appear for quite some time. Do I ask for a percentage of sales? Ongoing pay?
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Feb 18, 2016 23:55
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So I just got an invite to LocalSolo, a site that connects freelancers to local employers. Does anyone have any experience with it?
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Feb 19, 2016 04:18
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Ben Smash posted:I may be entering into a contract to help write copy and editorials for a start up product subscription service (think BirchBox). I've only ever written editorial or creative works for free and am unsure on how to negotiate compensation for a website. My work would be clickbait lists, sales copy for the website, sales assets for salespeople and possibly even video scripts. This seems to be unlike getting a story or article published as my work will be critical to the success of the product and will appear for quite some time. Do I ask for a percentage of sales? Ongoing pay? never, ever get a percentage of sales. do an hourly rate or an inflated per word rate that reflects how much time you'll spend writing.
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Feb 19, 2016 04:36
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Defenestration posted:never, ever get a percentage of sales. do an hourly rate or an inflated per word rate that reflects how much time you'll spend writing. Thank you!
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Feb 19, 2016 14:33
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So I've asked around a few places but I figure it's always good to get information from multiple sources. This year I've been having a lot of success with my design work, it's not the most glamorous thing ever. Mainly working with existing assets or creating simple new ones for advertisements through an agency that hires out contractors. I've looked up the general taxes I need to be aware of working independently like this, and have been putting aside 25% of everything I make weekly from the agency. I also put aside 25% from any side work, such as jobs from UpWork or other websites. I'm hoping to pay quarterly so that I'll receive a tax return next year. The agency will send me a 1099, however I wouldn't receive one elsewhere except if I might do other contracted work from a company. I understand that the 'quarters' for paying taxes aren't exact, from Jan-April being the first and May-June being the second. However I'm just wondering what might be the best way to go about sending the set aside money to the government. I know... most of what I need to for the Federal Taxes I think, though State Taxes are another story entirely.
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Feb 27, 2016 08:04
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Arthil posted:So I've asked around a few places but I figure it's always good to get information from multiple sources. Josh Frulingher (The Comics Curmudgeon) has an article about this https://thebillfold.com/here-s-a-surefire-tax-estimating-process-for-freelancers-rebooted-and-updated-ab8d1df6836#.9hz08fpty I have never lived on freelance so I can't vouch for the effectiveness
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Feb 27, 2016 21:52
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I need a logo (flag, really) made, is putting a a  thread up in SA-MART still the correct place to put this kind of request?edit: yes http://forums.somethingawful.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=61&posticon=114
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Mar 17, 2016 19:30
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Wow I haven't looked in SA-Mart for awhile... sucks that it's become another location for logo competitions.
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Mar 17, 2016 19:50
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Yeah well, as long as that poo poo stays outta here. 
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Mar 17, 2016 19:53
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Last time I rolled through there the same 2 or 3 people always get the cash too. It seems like their own personal little arena and they just fight each other for scraps for eternity.
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Mar 25, 2016 03:46
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I am an administrator for a public university art department, and I just wanted to vent that one of my biggest pet peeves is people who call me asking for my students (or even faculty) to do work for free. I've had people call to ask for free appraisal work, free wedding photography, free mural painting, you name it. From for-profit businesses, sometimes. (Less outrageous, but still annoying, are the people who intend to pay something but have no idea of the price range for the work they want done, and are probably hoping a student will do it for a few bucks and some pizza.) The most egregious case thus far was when someone from our own business school, which was organizing a "networking" event with Anheuser-Busch, wanted an artist to come and create a corporate-themed work of art on-site for the event. I told her that a company that makes ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE MILLION DOLLARS A DAY can afford to pay an artist. They didn't call back. (Edit: This rant was prompted by the maintenance department calling to ask if a professor would like to lead a class in painting a mural warning people to stay out of the storm drains.) Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Apr 21, 2016 |
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Apr 21, 2016 16:23
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My grandmother is a very prolific, talented artist and has been painting since she was a child. The problem is, she paints compulsively and doesn't need the money so selling has always been a low priority for her. She literally has over 300 large-scale paintings (average is 30"x60" or thereabouts) between her two homes and storage units. I keep encouraging her to paint less and market/sell more, but she doesn't really have the marketing skills to do so and neither do i. Her husband, now deceased, was more of her art manager. To complicate things, she's in a wealthy, but relatively small and traditional city in Naples, Florida. Her artworks tends to be more edgy and abstract, which doesn't appeal to many around here. She basically sticks to local art exhibitions and shows, which gives her awards and some exposure, but little selling potential. In addition, she doesn't like the idea of selling her work for cheap so she usually prices her work around $4,000 when i constantly tell her she should focus on selling at about half that. But, in her defense, she has a lot of overhead by painting so large. But a little money in hand is more than a $4,000 painting wasting away in a closet. I keep telling her to seek out an artist representative and to introduce her work to galleries, but after a few less successful attempts she seems to have given up. So i'd like to start helping her, or at least help her help herself. I'm a photographer and wannabe artist, so i know a little and could learn more but am not sure where to start. How do you start selling work? How do you market yourself, as an 85 year old woman in a conservative town? I made her a book, website, and photograph her works, but beyond that my skills are kinda useless. What are some tips or basic information that we need to be doing? How do you even find a gallery to represent you? I was thinking of making a short documentary about her and her work, but i'm not sure what else i can do. She knows a few big names and i encourage her to ride their coattails or at least get advice from them, but it's been sketchy at best. Erostratus fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Aug 11, 2016 |
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Aug 11, 2016 23:16
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Erostratus posted:My grandmother is a very prolific, talented artist and has been painting since she was a child. Neil Gaiman says so: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2006/10/important-and-pass-it-on.html
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Aug 11, 2016 23:34
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Erostratus posted:My grandmother is a very prolific, talented artist and has been painting since she was a child. Well if she doesn't want to sell and is financially solvent then I don't see why you'd force her to. You say you're an artist, so you should be able to understand why a person might make art for it's own sake and not want to go commercial. My mom is the same way, she paints because she enjoys it and works on large scale pieces with tiny brushes that takes her 2-3 years per painting. That's not feasible as a career (unless you sell prints but galleries will want originals) but that's the work she enjoys creating. She could easily do something else but she doesn't want to. If your grandmother is 85 she should have the freedom to choose what she wants to do unless she needs to sell these to survive. That said if she does want to sell cause she needs the money or whatever this is definitely a situation that calls for getting an agent. Agents will have the necessary expertise to market and promote her work as well as help her with pricing and getting work into galleries. If her local community is not a good location to sell then you might have to build connections with an out of state gallery instead. For instance, New York sounds like a good venue for her since abstract work is pretty popular up there right now but you aren't getting in there without knowing someone. As far as getting into local galleries, you should do some research. Go to your local arts district and check out the galleries. If you find one that looks like it could be a good fit, then start sending them stuff. Send out little packets containing small prints of her work + an info sheet, etc. Look up guides for formatting and presentation so you look professional. Present it as well as you can and be polite and be persistent. Do it about once a month until you at least get a response. Always follow up! Worse they can do is tell you to stop sending them things but if you just send one thing and forget about it then it'll likely never get looked at. It might sound like badgering but depending on the location galleries get tons of requests for people to show their work. Maybe you send them something when they are currently full up and not looking to represent a new artist so they throw it out. But then next month they do get an opening to show a new artist but by that time they will have completely forgotten about you. Getting a gallery to even look at your stuff is half the battle. Which is why an agent is very useful for that matter. Make business cards with her work on them and go to art events/walks, talk to people and pass them out to gallery people/agents. If you want to do this yourself then you are going to have to build that network. If you want to be a marketer you have to be extremely persistent and if you want any success, you cannot be meek. Also one quick thing that always need to be said about agents: Agents pay you with the money they get from selling your work, you do NOT pay them under normal circumstances. So don't get scammed. Check out other cities as that are close by as well, don't restrict yourself to just your town. This is important because galleries typically will not compete with local galleries or websites. This means if they show your mother's work they will want exclusive rights for the area. Sometimes this area encompasses multiple states, sometimes its just one state but just pay attention to the contract and understand the extent of it. So make sure you target the right galleries for your mother's work because you don't want to get stuck in a bad gallery just because you only looked in your home town. That may prevent you from getting into a much better gallery a few towns over. Always read the contract in full and all that. Tl:Dr: Unless she needs the money, don't force her to do this if she doesn't want to. If you do go through with it, you need an agent. Otherwise try contacting galleries, go to art events, make business cards and small prints of the work and hustle hustle hustle. It takes a lot of persistence and is a fuckton of work but it is doable. JuniperCake fucked around with this message at 02:11 on Aug 12, 2016 |
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Aug 12, 2016 02:08
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Defenestration posted:I cannot help with the rep stuff but please make sure she has a will She has a will, but i just checked and she has nothing in it about her paintings. Which is a shame, because besides me nobody in her family really appreciates her art and i'm worried they will just want to ditch it when she passes. I foresee myself trying to sell and exhibit her work in the years to come. JuniperCake posted:Well if she doesn't want to sell and is financially solvent then I don't see why you'd force her to. You say you're an artist, so you should be able to understand why a person might make art for it's own sake and not want to go commercial. My mom is the same way, she paints because she enjoys it and works on large scale pieces with tiny brushes that takes her 2-3 years per painting. That's not feasible as a career (unless you sell prints but galleries will want originals) but that's the work she enjoys creating. She could easily do something else but she doesn't want to. If your grandmother is 85 she should have the freedom to choose what she wants to do unless she needs to sell these to survive. Thanks, this is full of great information. She's ok financially, but still worries about money as it's getting tighter, especially with all she puts into the art that just sits around. She waffles between worrying about money and worrying she'll never be as known as Picasso. It's less about the money and more about her pride and sense of accomplishment that comes from selling work. She used to sell a lot in the 80's to corporations, but i'm not sure they buy like they used to. She wants to become bigger than she is, and really just get some paintings out of her house and storage units that are wasting money and space. Her house is a mess of paintings filling every wall and niche. She had a "representative", but she ran into some personal problems and probably won't be of much help anymore. She tried to submit her work to a few galleries with mediocre responses, but i told her it's just a numbers game and to keep trying. The big problem is that we both ARE meek, and not very good at showcasing her abilities. I'm not one to walk into galleries and sell stuff easily, so it would be a big step for me. That's why i thought hiring someone with those skills would be the best way to go. I've suggested doing a dual exhibition with a somewhat big name around here that likes her and her work, but he's always very busy. She is doing one of those outside art shows in tents things, and i've been trying to get her ready for that. Maybe selling some of her books and prints in addition to original works. I also made her business cards too, but little info packets are a great idea. I guess i'll have to suck it up and go knock on some doors. Are representatives people you flat out hire, or is a two-way street in that they have to think you have potential to sell? Miami and Tampa aren't far away and i guess i should start looking around there. She also frequents Pittsburgh, so perhaps that would be a good place to check as well. Half of the problem is worrying about what to do with all the paintings after she passes, because there is no way i could discard any, but i don't know what i could possibly do with hundreds of huge paintings. I want to learn as much about selling her work in order to also sell mine, as marketing is my weakest skill. I envision dual exhibitions with her work alongside my own, but i also just want to increase her prestige and name too, because it's really important to her. She just wants to paint for 12 hours a day, but complains about not selling and not making money. I forgot to pay the bill on her website, but here's some of her work: https://www.facebook.com/joanbsonnenberg/ Erostratus fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Aug 12, 2016 |
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Aug 12, 2016 03:48
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