If you like paintings and drawings you may have thought of trying to earn some money from your involvement in the art world. Most people like paintings and drawings of one form or another, because there are so many different styles of painting and so many different media to paint on. There are even plenty of media to paint with.
You would have to be very difficult to please if you did not like at least one of ancient, modern, Gothic, Celtic, cartoon or Victorian styles, using a brush or crayons on canvas, paper, or a wall. The combinations available are almost infinite. And whatever style you like, you can find examples of.
Of course some will be very costly, but you could sell copies of these old masters and earn money from them in that way. Copying is not illegal as long as you do not endeavour to pass the copy off as the original. Imitations of old masters are very popular and there are thousands of them to choose from.
It is a good notion to start by having a couple of your own favourite old masters done for your self. This has two benefits: 1] it allows you to find a good artist/supplier and 2] they serve as examples of the quality of the work that you will supply to potential clients.
Once you have your samples, you can take photos of them and scan the photos. These can be used as images in your artwork and promoting and on your website. Now you need to let people know what you are able to do.
As your business expands, you will find artists who are able to copy old masters and others who can copy any photograph – that is scenery, people, cats, dogs, vacation snaps. Anything.
You will have a list of artists and a list of their specialities and prices of each one. You could arrange to pay the artist 50% on commissioning the artwork and 50% on approval with the guarantee of a complete refund if the piece is unsatisfactory. You can charge two times the price that the artist wants: 50% up front and 50% on handover.
In that way, you are just investing in the promoting. This system works very well, if you get word out to enough people. Have a go at putting B5 flyers in newspapers or paying someone to deliver them. You can call at taverns and restaurants and reception areas like hotel foyers, office waiting rooms, dentists’ and doctors’ surgeries.
Once you have built up a few articles, you could hire them out. You could change 50% of the artwork in a hotel foyer two times a year. Pubs and offices love this arrangement. If you hang them in restaurants, you could add price tags and give the owner 25% commission. Many restaurants will go for that. Particularly new ones which require decor anyway. . People usually prefer oil paintings of dead relatives and pets. However, if you could persuade people that it is a colossal compliment to give someone an oil painting of themselves before they died, you would make a lot of money.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on lots of subjects, but is at present involved with buying art. If you are interested, please go over to our website now at As An Amateur?