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Looking for a little bit of advice
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Message
Posted
The art group that I attend are exhibiting in a local public place in the near future. We are all able to submit one painting each and I am kind of at a loss at which painting to pick, I believe the paintings are also to be available to be sold.
I was looking for a little advice, when you are picking a painting do you instantly know which one, or maybe do you have an approach to narrow it down, or do you maybe paint something completely new?
Thank you in advance
Carrie
Posted
If you have time before the exhibition, it’s always nice to work up a new painting.
However, failing that, in my case, as I have a large amount of completed works on hand, I would go through them and select something suitable for that particular venue.
I’d put half a dozen aside and eliminate them one by one over a few days until I’m left with just one - so I suggest you do something along those lines Carrie.
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
Carrie you could have a look through your portfolio on here and see which paintings had a good response, or the subject was popular etc? In a way, we are the public that could very well wander round your exhibition, we would still be drawn to the same work. You could think about those along with your own personal favourites?
Good luck with the exhibition!
Posted
Thank you Fiona, thats a good shout actually and something that I hadn't considered. I think from my landscape work (I had in my head that a landscape would probably be quite fitting) then maybe EIlean Glas Lighthouse has been the one I received the most positive feedback for on here, so may consider that one as an option. It is relatively recently painted and with water mixable oils so I would need to look into how I varnish and the right time to do so.
Thank you Faye.
Posted
Thank you Robert, I am very new to oils and happy to admit to knowing nothing about the subject. I will leave them sitting to dry out as per your advice.
Thank you all for the great advice. I finally decided on a painting for the exhibition, and picked the one below. It went down very well last night at the crit night and lots of lovely positive feedback. I did receive one piece of feedback tho that the painting was priced far too low, I believe the comment was "you are considerably underselling yourself" and when I mentioned the price to the woman beside me she too showed surprise at the price and said it was too low. So I will need to research appropriate pricing, that will be the next learning curve :)
Posted
Nice work Carrie!
There’s nothing really available to research regarding pricing. It’s a matter of realistically pricing your work, looking at what other artists are charging at the same venue, and to some extent pricing will be determined by that venue… ie a local village hall versus The Mall Gallery.
I don’t know what you were asking for this piece, if you want to say, I can give you my opinion.
Posted
Thank you Denise.
That would be great Alan, I priced it at £55. It is a 30x30cm canvas board. I came to this figure from materials being £15 including framing and mount (which my husband made) and then it took me around two hours (not including drying times) in order to complete the whole painting and varnish, at around £20 per hour in effort. I have to admit the hourly rate is based on absolutely nothing other than it sounded about right. I also took into consideration that the painting is on a canvas board (easier to frame) rather than canvas. I did get to see the price list at the end of the crit night and mine was at the lower end, with many of the paintings asking for upwards of £150.
This is the second time I have had this comment about price recently, when I went to Lewis and Harris at the beginning of October the B&B I was staying in asked of they could buy my painting Standing Tall of the standing stones. When I told them the price they said they expected it to be much higher, but I guess I take into account the fact that I am really new to painting so they aren't getting someone with years work of experience behind them.
Posted
Lovely painting Carrie, and I like the canvas angle too.
I struggle with the pricing side of things too, and like you, people have told me that I underprice my work. It's good that they do though, because it gives you the confidence to charge more next time. (If others believe your work is worth more, then so should you).
I take part in an anual exhibition (held in a village hall) with a group of artists, and we all have different price ranges. My mother is one of the group also, and her prices are lower than mine (she says it's because she doesn't need the money and just loves to paint), whereas, I am trying to make a part-time living from my art (plus enjoy doing it of course!)
I agree with others comments about adjusting pricing depending on the venue you're exhibiting in.