Learn more about our articles, guides and templates.
Nadine dives in with Members Advisors Ian and Barbar to discuss The VAA’s Articles, guides and templates.
How To Be A More Prolific Artist
All artists suffer from procrastination, it is a natural part of life as an artist. Seasoned artists adopt clear strategies for being prolific. Use these tips to be more successful and start getting things done.
Overcome your Fear. Procrastinating is simply a way of dealing with pressure. Your mind will give you lots of reasons not to start the work, such as you need to set aside a longer period of time for this piece, or superficial excuses and distractions. Shift your mindset to taking consistent action, no matter how small. In the words of the famous author Susan Jeffers, Feel the Fear and do it Anyway. Reframe it by taking only 15 minutes to sketch ideas or noting down your inspiration. Once you have started it is easier to keep going.
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Formula For Pricing Your Artwork
Pricing your artwork can often be a daunting task, especially when starting your career or branching out into another discipline. There are a couple of main formulas that artists can use to price their art which take the guesswork out, ensure you cover your costs and creates consistency. We suggest the following formula, additionally, take a look at our article on rules to follow when pricing your artwork for further tips.
4 Rules For Pricing Your Artwork
As an emerging artist, it can be hard to find a pricing structure you are comfortable with. Selling your artwork for a price too low undervalues the time and effort you’ve taken while selling your art for a price that’s too high could result in fewer sales and artwork piling up. Keep the following rules in mind when pricing your work, and if you would like to learn about pricing formulas take a look through other articles in this section.
Do Your Research & Price Accordingly.
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Framing: Five Tips for Emerging Artists
With so many different materials, price points and pieces of advice available to discover, it comes as no surprise that framing is one of the key stumbling blocks experienced during the early stages of one’s creative career. As many within the industry will echo, whereas a carefully selected frame will accentuate, enhance and place a spotlight upon your many hours of creative, emotional and physical energy, a poor framing decision can dramatically detract from your work’s appearance, in turn undoing all of the efforts you have employed.
Provided below are a number of tips specifically designed to aid you - an emerging visual artist - through the framing process. We do however appreciate that framing is an art in its own right and thus the advice provided is not exhaustive.
Weekly Marketing Tasks: The Power of Momentum
One of the questions often asked is how to plan your weekly marketing tasks to benefit from the power of momentum. A key to momentum and marketing success is breaking down your goals into bite size chunks and making time to do them consistently. This may seem like stating the obvious and overly simplistic, but it does work like magic.
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Creating A Database Of Potential Clients
Building your most valuable business asset is often neglected by artists. Creating a list of people who have bought from you or who are interested in keeping in touch, will enable you to generate residual sales opportunities.
It is more cost effective to market to collectors who are already enthusiastic or are familiar with your art. Once you have set this system up, it is easy to gain momentum. So how do you start to build your tribe?
The Art Of Personal Branding
Everyone has a personal brand whether they know it or not, artists included.
In simple terms your brand is what impression you give people, it is a timeless concept. As an artist, your brand essence is a blend of your artwork, your attitude, your story and your goals.
Many artists don’t realise ‘you’ are your brand. There are many benefits of managing your personal artist brand, including and not limited to:
- Charging a premium price for your artwork
- Being invited to more exclusive exhibitions
- Opportunities to sell on prestigious online websites, galleries or publishers
- Building a loyal long-term fan / collector base
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How To Create A Strategy On A Page: 6 Simple Steps
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” ― Benjamin Franklin
Creating a one-page strategic plan for your
Selling Your Artwork At Shows
When you are booked on or exhibiting at a show there are few key points and factors to remember. It is important to create a good image of yourself so that buyers will remember you and consider buying your work. In this article we discuss the basics of how to present yourself, interact and build your contacts when at shows.
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Partnering With Charities To Sell Your Artwork
There are hundreds of thousands of charities looking for ways to raise funds to help their cause. Have you considered partnering with a charity and using your artwork to help? Being involved with a charity also gives you kudos as an artist, showing that you are generally interested in creating a beneficial impact. Being able to sell your work and donate to charity is an important element for many artists. So how can it work? Follow the steps below.
Find the right charity for you - Find a charity which aligns with your values and what issues are important to you? This could be environmental, children’s charities, animals, cancer etc. there are so many. The more passionate you are about the cause, the more the partnership is likely to work. Be mindful too about the charity’s following – the type and number of supporters. Are they likely to engage with your artwork?
How To Find A Publisher
Is finding a publisher part of your plan? We detail below what becoming published really means and the steps you ...
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How To Choose The Right Art Fair Or Show For You
There are many Art Fairs out there and choosing the most suitable one for yourself as an Artist can take time and consideration. There are multiple factors to consider, such as location, pricing and calibre. It is important to find one that fits for you, and one that gives you the opportunity to create good exposure for your career as an artist. The following steps advise on how to go about choosing the right show or fair for you.
Step 1 – Visit the Shows - There are lots of Art events and you will need to decide geographically and stylistically where you would like to focus. Try going along to a few, getting a feel for the Fair, the type/calibre of