the struggle to decide; prints or not? downloads or not?

(originally published Published on: Sep 5, 2013)

I always struggle with the question of whether to make downloads of my work available, or prints. In one way, I hate doing it, because I like the idea of something I made with my own hands going to your hands, as it is, with no other stuff there. Then I realize some things.

  • If I was a musician, I’d sell records, not just perform live.
  • I can only make so many original things, in so much time.
  • I’d like to be able to earn enough from my art to make it worth the time and energy (see footnote)
  • I have to eat.
  • Many people want to be able to enjoy my work but couldn’t afford the cost of an original.
  • I can’t manage shipping and storefronts online and promotion for all of that, and STILL HAVE TIME FOR MAKING THINGS.

I will take these point-by-point.

shirtsIf I was a musician, I’d sell records. I’d want more people to enjoy my work than I could perform for in person. I’d want people to be able to take me anywhere with them. If I was a writer, I’d print books of my work. I wouldn’t expect people to only access my work through attending readings, or by buying the hand-written manuscript. I’d want my work to be accessible, something people could enjoy.  I also would maybe still sell the manuscript, or some signed first editions…but the books would be published, out there, even on a kindle.

I have two hands. If I work the equivalent of fulltime hours, I can make maybe four things, of substandard quality, in a week. I can make maybe one or two things of good quality in a week. I can make one great thing a month. Now…how much is minimum wage? Should I set all the art aside and get a job at McDonald’s? Because if I can only sell a piece of art one time, mcdonald’s will pay better, and maybe I should set this art stuff aside permanently and get a real job…I can only make so much stuff with my own two hands. But if I sell prints and let people download the works, I can post it – set it and forget it. I can sell those while I am busy making other new things, and can continue to make money from a piece for years sometimes, long after the original is sold or destroyed.

I love making art. I spend all my time making things. I do have to eat. So therefore I have to charge money and sell my work- my choice is, work a job which takes all my time, and rarely make anything, or sell my work at a reasonable price and live off that money. I love making art. The process of actually making things, well, I will do that no matter what. I’ve had my Kafka years, working fulltime then coming home and putting in another eight hours painting. But my work wasn’t as good. And I had no time to show it to anyone. I need the time to show my work- to scan it, photograph it, share it, post it. If I don’t make any money from a piece, I’ll still MAKE the piece- but I will not spend the time posting it and discussing it and sharing it with you, or with anyone. If I was lucky enough to have inherited wealth maybe I’d have that kind of luxury, but I don’t. I wish I did, really.

EPSON MFP imageAnd yeah- YOU GUYS are broke too! I mean everyone is hurting. Being poor shouldn’t mean you can’t enjoy or own art! I want to make things accessible to everyone as much as possible. So- digital downloads. Most people have a printer- or access to a library with a printer in it- and can pay me a few dollars for a file, take it there, pay a buck or two to print it, and hang it up. Prints are next in line- the quality will be better, professional grade, the print will last longer, years even. Limited run? Why? It seems like a waste of time, of energy. I put my initials and a number on them and they’re magically worth more somehow? No. I do handpainted prints though- the next higher price things- and those are fun. I can take an hour and embellish a painting I already did- make new details on it, play around. The buyer gets something unique, like an original, and I get to play…

I spend maybe an hour or two a day online writing copy for my work, explaining it, discussing it, sharing technical stuff, writing, posting, and keeping track of what has sold. I spend another hour or so every day taking photos, scanning, fixing the damn scanner. And another hour every other day packaging stuff to mail out, trying to keep track of what goes where. I am not good at any of these things. They are REAL WORK, hard work I don’t enjoy very much. I’d rather be actually making things. So this work- I need to streamline it, make it as handsfree as possible. Selling originals is difficult. I have to post it everywhere, and hope the right person sees it, and then once it’s sold, do it again, the entire process, from documenting the work to explaining it to answering questions and pricing it and packing it and shipping it. All that work has to be done completely from scratch, every time I sell an original.

A print? I scan it, touch it up, post it, and it’s done. I can leave it there, just like that, for years. People can buy it a year later, without any additional work from me. It’s what they call a secondary income stream, and as an artist working alone I NEED that to happen as much as possible. It frees up my hands for making more better things. The digital downloads are the same- even easier, in fact. There’s no parameters to set, no material-checking, no worrying about quality control. It’s set and forget.

EPSON MFP imageSo, in order to be able to make more and better art, and in order to live, I sell originals, downloads, AND prints of most things. I charge people a tiny bit extra if they buy an original and only want me to do a limited run of prints. I charge A LOT extra if someone buys something and wants me to make no prints at all…for example, A painting I make- the original is a hundred bucks. I will probably (if it’s a good painting) make another two hundred off of prints and downloads of it over the course of a year. For me to sell ONLY THE ORIGINAL and still pay my rent, I have to charge three hundred for that original, now.

Should I do that? Sometimes I want to. Because I love the idea of something I made with my own hands, being in YOUR hands, with nothing in between us. Also because I like originals myself. But I can’t manage to, or figure out how to, promote myself well enough to always sell my originals, let alone for three times what I have them priced at now. So unless a magical fairy of promotion comes and makes me famous or rich, without charging me anything or requiring more of my time to work it…I will keep selling prints and downloads, of nearly everything I make.

I love you guys. Those of you with two bucks, and those of you with a million. You’re all people I like, and I want you all to be able to touch and enjoy my work.

The Big Year of Joshua Gomez

1616613_10153748078800024_1494422919_n1. Most artists have a favorite medium, what is yours? If you work in multiple media, which one is the most enjoyable for you?

I paint in acrylic more than anything because I understand it better than others, though sometimes I’ll work in watercolor. And most recently, I painted on a cake with food coloring for the first time, and now I’m thinking of the possibilities with that. In the future I don’t want to be called a painter, but a Jack-of-all-trades. I’m sitting on a pile of ideas for sculpture, music, film, and performance–some that I’ve been planning for more than a few years. I’m just waiting for the right time and connections to start firing these things off.

2. Do you have any secret shortcuts? I mean, do you use odd tools, techniques, or anything else that isn’t strictly status-quo for your medium? How did you figure out that it worked?

I use stencils and spray paint from time to time for different patterns on my acrylic works, and sometimes I’ll tape areas off to get a straight line. I wouldn’t call those unusual necessarily, but I suppose they are short cuts. I have some ideas for sculptures that I’m going to do later this year that involve no tools, and only sticks and sand. Those are going to start popping up around my town unannounced in the summer.

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not-so-messy glasswork by Di Parsons.

IMGP45341. Most artists have a favorite medium, what is yours? If you work in multiple media, which one is the most enjoyable for you?

My favourite medium is glass. In particular, lampwork. My first love has always been glass, and I’m thrilled to finally get to work it myself, even lateish in life. My inner dragon is very, very happy.

I never could sculpt, or draw, or paint. But somehow, with my hands in front of a torch throwing a flame hot enough to boil glass, I can create things that were only possible in my wishes before.  I find I can use glass to express my often silly and blackish sense of humour.  Adding melting glass to more hot glass means I can build things I wouldn’t even have dreamed of before my inner dragon was woken.

2. Do you have any secret shortcuts? I mean, do you use odd tools, techniques, or anything else that isn’t strictly status-quo for your medium? How did you figure out that it worked?

LOL short-cuts is my middle name! So often, many glassworkers have to be resourceful in terms of tools and techniques. ‘Proper’ tools are expensive, so I have a lot of items that weren’t meant to be used as hot glass tools, which work just as well. Steel items, like cutlery can be used to great effect. One of my favourite tools is a simple flat-ended awl from a mini screwdriver set, while another is a steel apple/cheese corer. Even a pair of teabag tongs can be the go-to.  I’m always on the lookout for tools that I can use.  The best tool of all, however is a sense of humour. Without that, I’d hardly be making anything.

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The tiny box of Fedora El Morro.

1535702_766469853380498_1676994651_n1. Most artists have a favorite medium, what is yours? 

My favorite medium is photography.

2. Do you have any secret shortcuts? I mean, do you use odd tools, techniques, or anything else that isn’t strictly status-quo for your medium? How did you figure out that it worked?

I use anything and everything I can get my hands on to achieve the images of my intent. White and black foam is cheap and awesome to have around for lighting. I use fabrics and curtains from thrift stores for backdrops. I have a collection of cameras, some fancy, some old, some simple. I just took a three day photo trip with a friend. I brought 5 cameras a lots of lighting. While I used the polaroid camera, the D5000, the D700, the Go-Pro 2, and the Sony HD video, I only used ONE CHEAP CLAMP LIGHT with a 500 Watt photoflood bulb in it….the entire trip…one light, no modifiers. The best gear one has is whatever they have access to.

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Kristof Corvinus’s black tulip shine.

TheHidden1. Most artists have a favorite medium, what is yours? If you work in multiple media, which one is the most enjoyable for you?

If I am painting I prefer oils first then acrylics second best. Drawing and illustrating I love using colored pencils ( I only will use Prisma color) . Recently however I’ve discovered a love for watercolor pencils. They have become invaluable to me when I am out in what I call my “world studio” to draw people and places in my sketch journal. I have found I can make some nice finished work with them. Traditional watercolor not in pencil form, however, I am pretty lame with.

When I don’t have time, supplies or inclination I love playing around in my various digital art programs.
Mixed media has become more important to me; either in ATC form or larger canvas art. My favorite thing is to use flat back “bling” that are typically used in scrap booking and Mardi Gras beads. Anything that will give extra dimension to color and shape in the paintings I use. Whatever I have handy actually. Glitter, wire, dryer lint, paper products, baked polymer clay, beads, etc.

The little whimsical sculptures I do are always polymer clay and painted with acrylic.

2. Do you have any secret shortcuts? I mean, do you use odd tools, techniques, or anything else that isn’t strictly status-quo for your medium? How did you figure out that it worked? 

One of the oldest and most favourite odd short cuts/techniques I use is to blend my colored pencils. Grumbacher’s Fixative is sprayed on something small and absorbent but sturdy ( such as small bit of tightly rolled cotton cloth )to rub over the pencil. It makes effects one sees in paint.  How I found it worked was by being excessive with it when spraying over colored pencil drawing back when I was a teen. It pooled of course and made the color bleed.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA3. You’ve sold work before? What was the first thing someone bought from you, that you made? How did it feel to sell that piece? Are there pieces you keep hidden away, or keep for yourself, and why?

Yes I’ve sold my work. I believe my first official art sale was when I was either sixteen or seventeen. It was our local hair stylist in the small swamp town I lived in. She wanted a portrait of her daughter for a memorial library in town at the private school. Her daughter passed away from drowning at an early age; about three or four. The woman  has only this one faded photo of her from the sixties. Nothing else. I painted it in oil. The drawing was painstakingly slow because I was nervous and wanted to honor this child as best I could. I breathed life into her. The first thing my client did was clap a hand over her mouth and left the room crying. It had touched her so much. Later she confessed to me she had almost forgotten what the daughter really looked like. That was truly inspiring and emotionally touching to me. I will never forget that reaction and experience.

As to what art I have hidden or keep to myself? I have a few drawings, mixed media pieces and such that I use for imagery work. To help manifest the reality that these images portray. With some exception no one sees them. They live in my studio on a small alter I have or travel with me in a special sketchbook so I can look at them all of the time.
I used to have some paintings that depicted very dark and troubled times for me. I couldn’t part with them but also I couldn’t stand to look at them. I have since then destroyed those.

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Kristof Corvinus's black tulip shine.

TheHidden1. Most artists have a favorite medium, what is yours? If you work in multiple media, which one is the most enjoyable for you?

If I am painting I prefer oils first then acrylics second best. Drawing and illustrating I love using colored pencils ( I only will use Prisma color) . Recently however I’ve discovered a love for watercolor pencils. They have become invaluable to me when I am out in what I call my “world studio” to draw people and places in my sketch journal. I have found I can make some nice finished work with them. Traditional watercolor not in pencil form, however, I am pretty lame with.

When I don’t have time, supplies or inclination I love playing around in my various digital art programs.
Mixed media has become more important to me; either in ATC form or larger canvas art. My favorite thing is to use flat back “bling” that are typically used in scrap booking and Mardi Gras beads. Anything that will give extra dimension to color and shape in the paintings I use. Whatever I have handy actually. Glitter, wire, dryer lint, paper products, baked polymer clay, beads, etc.

The little whimsical sculptures I do are always polymer clay and painted with acrylic.

2. Do you have any secret shortcuts? I mean, do you use odd tools, techniques, or anything else that isn’t strictly status-quo for your medium? How did you figure out that it worked? 

One of the oldest and most favourite odd short cuts/techniques I use is to blend my colored pencils. Grumbacher’s Fixative is sprayed on something small and absorbent but sturdy ( such as small bit of tightly rolled cotton cloth )to rub over the pencil. It makes effects one sees in paint.  How I found it worked was by being excessive with it when spraying over colored pencil drawing back when I was a teen. It pooled of course and made the color bleed.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA3. You’ve sold work before? What was the first thing someone bought from you, that you made? How did it feel to sell that piece? Are there pieces you keep hidden away, or keep for yourself, and why?

Yes I’ve sold my work. I believe my first official art sale was when I was either sixteen or seventeen. It was our local hair stylist in the small swamp town I lived in. She wanted a portrait of her daughter for a memorial library in town at the private school. Her daughter passed away from drowning at an early age; about three or four. The woman  has only this one faded photo of her from the sixties. Nothing else. I painted it in oil. The drawing was painstakingly slow because I was nervous and wanted to honor this child as best I could. I breathed life into her. The first thing my client did was clap a hand over her mouth and left the room crying. It had touched her so much. Later she confessed to me she had almost forgotten what the daughter really looked like. That was truly inspiring and emotionally touching to me. I will never forget that reaction and experience.

As to what art I have hidden or keep to myself? I have a few drawings, mixed media pieces and such that I use for imagery work. To help manifest the reality that these images portray. With some exception no one sees them. They live in my studio on a small alter I have or travel with me in a special sketchbook so I can look at them all of the time.
I used to have some paintings that depicted very dark and troubled times for me. I couldn’t part with them but also I couldn’t stand to look at them. I have since then destroyed those.

(more…)

The Sweet Mercy of Mademoiselle Rat.

1507979_652634554798130_164619109_nMost artists have a favorite medium, what is yours?If you work in multiple media, which one is the most enjoyable for you?

For more than 25 years my favorite medium has been putting ink on people’s skin. Now I love oil on canvas and is what I mostly work on.

Do you have any secret shortcuts?

I did for tattooing,when I started nobody wanted to teach me,so I had to find out techniques by myself, 25 years ago female tattoo artist in France was just hell. Tried everything to solder needles,from super-glue to blowtorch. SoI opened up a shop and threw myself at the deep end of the pool,soon after I started attending conventions and finally got help and advice from others.

You’ve sold work before? What was the first thing someone bought from you, that you made? How did it feel to sell that piece? Are there pieces you keep hidden away, or keep for yourself, and why?

Before tattooing I was a fashion designer,sold my collections all over europe to big companies and had the great pleasure to see my clothes worn by unknown women in the street! At the time I did everything in watercolours.

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The vibrant grit of Albert Jeffers.

1098191_445911528850316_1376786094_n Most artists have a favorite medium, what is yours?

I can’t decide. My main focuses are acrylic and skin. Working in skin gives me a way to hone my craft when I don’t feel like thinking too much. I’ve been doing it so long that I really do my best to let my clients express themselves through my eyes and hands. So in that sense I feel like I’m kind of a medium for less visually creative people so that they can express themselves. It’s a very powerful form and I feel sometimes it borders on magic, which introduced me to skin art in the first place.

My first tattoo was from Mike McCabe, who was a student of R.O. Tyler, featured in Tattoo Time magazine by Ed Hardy. So at that time in my life the visual symbolism on the body being connected to the spiritual sybolism in my life, they had intersected. Acrylic is a serious departure from that. It dries fast so it allows me to rework any mistakes, where skin is not so forgiving, I can go off on a tangent and still make it look good. I dabbled in watercolor for a few years and I got pretty good at it technically, but it didn’t allow me to express myself the way acrylic has. With acrylic, if I get stuck or bored or my mood changes, I can just let it dry and take the piece in another direction. If you work in multiple media, which one is the most enjoyable for you? Again I enjoy both.

With tattooing there’s a social component that I would never have seen in life had it not been for the job. I was a really shy introverted kid, always afraid of being shunned or thought of as weird. With tattooing I was in control and had something people wanted and they seemed (and still seem) to look up to me. It really has made me the man I am today, otherwise I fear I would be this shy shy psychotic shrinking violet, just too weird and afraid to express myself. So like before I had children, tattooing taught me that some people actually cared about what I had to say or who I was and were interested in me, for many years it was totally ego driven and I turned into a real asshole and offended a lot of people and fell from grace and then I kind of felt the world had turned on me, but it was really just me being self-important and selfish. Treating tattooing as if people were privileged to be wearing my work. A few things changed that.

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Korinne Robertson floats away.

1. Most artists have a favorite medium, what is yours? If you work in multiple media, which one is the most enjoyable for you? 

1. As a photographer, my medium could or should be film, but it’s not. To keep up with high demand, workflow and ease of use, I use a digital camera and photoshop.

1579947_10153689904190332_755628487_n2. Do you have any secret shortcuts? I mean, do you use odd tools, techniques, or anything else that isn’t strictly status-quo for your medium? How did you figure out that it worked?

2. I am not sure if I use secret shortcuts. I have my camera set and adjusted for my personal use, and if another photographer picked up my camera, they may find that they wouldn’t choose my default metering choice, or the fact that I am set up to burst shoot on demand. With my recent foray into levitation photography and surrealism, I figure I’m less “status quo” because I look for wind, light and environments that portrait/consumer friendly photographers would not gravitate towards. I spent countless hours learning how to shoot a model and encourage them to not look like a mannequin. Flow and movement play a huge part in my “other” photography work that doesn’t include my mainstream clients.

Jamie Lee Hartley, wiry rebel of paint and noise.

1148950_10151786771977579_1292412884_n1. Most artists have a favorite medium, what is yours? If you work in multiple media, which one is the most enjoyable for you? 

In the music part of my life, I like the bass as a favorite medium. I like to play it loud and proud, and with a lot of effects. I carry that same motto over when it comes to painting. I’ve never taken classes on either, and so I just kind of make it up as I go along. In painting, I like using acrylics the most, but I use oils, water colors, melted crayons, and just about any fucking thing I can find that will give me the desired effect, and hue I’m searching for.

2. Do you have any secret shortcuts? I mean, do you use odd tools, techniques, or anything else that isn’t strictly status-quo for your medium? How did you figure out that it worked?

I don’t really know of any type of shortcuts to take in painting, although I did recently discover the using pencil to sketch and idea, that I plan to paint in a lighter color, also doubles as a nice shading effect if you paint over the pencil lines inside an hour.

3. You’ve sold work before? What was the first thing someone bought from you, that you made? How did it feel to sell that piece? Are there pieces you keep hidden away, or keep for yourself, and why?

I can’t remember the first painting I sold, although I’m sure by now I’d think it was horrible. Having anyone interested in something you do as an art form is always a good feeling, so when they want to give you money for it, I say fuck yeah. I need the beer money anyway. I try not to keep anything I do strictly for me, but at the same time I don’t paint pictures solely for the purpose of selling them for money.

(more…)

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