Friday 27 April 2012

Monschau - and marketing prints


Nicola over on Pointy Pix, started a discussion on how to price your work. Well being a jobbing artist who will never grow rich on the sale of originals, I can only relate how I made a living on the margins by selling cheap prints of my work. I don't pretend to be the expert nor do I want to teach my grandmother to suck eggs ...
             ...nevertheless....
           
                                       ... My most successful pictures, commercially, not necessarily artistically, were the two scenes of Monschau. I confess these were drawn to fit what I considered to be a niche market, albeit I loved the subjects.


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Stone Bridge in Monschau, Eifel, Germany
 Pen & Ink  10" x 6"  John Simlett  1981
Let me explain. Monschau is a delightful village in the Eifel mountains in Northwest Germany. In the summer it was full of hikers, canoeists and tourists. In the winter it was a ski resort. 

I noticed that the rich tourists crossed the Stone bridge to use the hotel. The less affluent, ate their picnics down by the Metal bridge in the area to the front right (see picture below).

I drew the pictures in pen and ink and had 100 prints of each  made, across the border in Roermond, Holland (Judy's neck of the woods). Pat and I then bought really nice but very cheap frames in Germany and framed the lot. They sold like hotcakes! We only took £5 ($8) profit off each. 

We then repeated the exercise, over and over again.  


Metal Bridge in Monschau, Eifel, Germany
Original Pen and Ink etched onto metal plate
10" x  6" John Simlett 1981
The only reservation customers had was that the glass could get broken when flying home. I therefore had them reproduced as metal etchings by an English company that employed physically disabled people, and that made Pat and I really happy. I still only asked £5 profit off each ....and they sold and sold.

The other idea I had was to display both pictures alongside each other, amongst all the other pictures. People didn't want to spend a lot and so they would ask how much the metal bridge was - they were so pleasantly surprised at how cheap it was that they bought both pictures - spending far more than they had intended - and went  away delighted. I was told by all the experts that I was underpricing. But if the customer was happy and we were happy, who could ask for a better outcome?

Now I'm not going to lecture here. That's the story take from it what you want. There are lots of ways making a living from art, but don't wait for the markets to come to you.

20 comments:

  1. Phenomenal drawing and good marketing advice. Volume sales with inexpensive prints spreads the word and does get your work out there. Inexpensive framing is difficult to find, however. One of the framing companies I use uses Plexiglass instead of glass for online sales.

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    1. Thanks Lynn, we just did what came naturally - firstly this volume market, the commission market came from that (as you suggest it should), then offering our services to organisations - using the commissions we had as references.
      Three different markets.

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  2. no wonder they sold so well, they are wonderful! I especially love the metal. I would have bought these, were I on vacation there. You are very clever. It seems to me that people who are irked by reasonable prices should "pound sand"! (Do you have that same expression? In means they should ....wait. There is no translation for it. lol).
    Love those gorgeous drawings!

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    1. I don't want to sound conceited, it's because its such a long time ago I feel as if I'm talking about a different person :0) Is that to do with the 'sand box'?

      Thanks, Celeste

      PS I've corrected the spelling/typos ... shouldn't post late at night.

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  3. Wonderful drawings, John, beautiful detail! I don't know a thing about pricing, but your approach sounds sensible.

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  4. Thanks, Judy - did you notice Roermond got mentioned again :0)) ?

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  5. Your pen-and-ink sketches are fabulous, John. And your marketing advice sounds good. Tell you what - I'll hire you for your advice on marketing my watercolors! [she wrote, more than half seriously ...]

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    1. I'm really losing it, Kathryn - I'm sure I replied to this. I'm glad you like the drawings, thank you

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  6. John,
    This piece is superb.I love pen and ink work and this one makes me love it even more. All that texture is too good. And congrats on those sales you made. :)

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    1. Nice to see you, Prabal. Thank you for your kind words.

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  7. At the end of the day if you can earn some money for doing something you love and you're not relying on it for a living, how wonderful! And who cares if the profit is small if it's for something we love to do? That said, I am working towards stepping away from the family business - not entirely, but I want to begin focusing more on my artwork. So, I will need to charge enough that I can fund my plan, but not so much that people can't afford to buy. It's a fine line isn't it? :0)
    Your drawing of course is quite remarkable! The detail is amazing! Where did you go to sell them by the way? :0)

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    1. I think the point that isn't coming across is: if you sell a thousand pictures at £5 profit, its £5000 profit. It's all about volume and quick turnover of stock! (boring, sorry)

      I had a number of outlets, Sandra. Because I had sold my work non-profit, with all income going to charity (for 2 years) Everyone who had sold my stuff for charity, was keen to sell my stuff in order to say thank you and support me - Banks, shops, market stalls - the Toyota garages around Monschau.

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  8. Hi John. I found you thanks to the honest and funny comment you recently left on my blog :)

    I'm so glad you did because it made me curious and led me here to discover your wonderful work. These pen and ink pieces are amazing!

    As for the post, I agree with Sandra, it's nice at the end of the day to be able to make some profit from our work but not stressing on it completely to live. Of course, honestly I would like to delve deeper into selling online (prints) for extra money but I guess it also just stems from that need to make things and the extra profit (even if small) never hurts, lol.

    Well, have a great day!

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    1. Hello, Karyna, nice of you to drop in. Glad you liked the drawings.

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  9. Your work leaves me speechless, John. The details alone is amazing! I always look forward to seeing your work!!! Your marketing advice is definitely good!!

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  10. Hello, Hilda ... always nice to see you :0) thank you for your kind comments - you spoil me.

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  11. thanks for writing this, it's helpful to hesr how other, clearly successful, folk have sold their work. I'm not sure how to get prints of canvas acrylics although I know that it is possible so I guess it's something I'll have to look into. I just want to build up a bigger body of work first and then see how to go about marketing it (the part I loathe and detest!)

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  12. You need to find a reputable printers.

    In the ideal world, you're selling cheap prints; originals; getting private commissions, getting corporate commissions.

    But be aware that if you get lots of the latter two - you end up painting/drawing what others want, all the time ... with deadlines. Soon it can soon become all WORK and no time for pleasure painting.

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  13. John, your sketches are beautiful, such detail! And such a delightful story! A master of all. Thank You for visiting my blog, I am now following you. Enjoy your day!

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  14. Thank you very much, Laura - and welcome to the blog :0)

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