Thursday 12 November 2009

Original Paintings Will Bring New Life To Your Home

Decorating should be fun and should reflect your personality and style. If you are planning a new decorating project, what you plan for you walls will be important. Original paintings will be a great addition to your home.

There are some things you should know if this is the first time you have bought original paintings. Buying what you love is the best advice anyone can give you. You will probably keep you paintings for the remainder of your life. If you make your decisions based on what matches the colors you have chosen, you might decide later that you made a bad choice. You will have to look at the painting every day, so it is important that you really love it.

The options abound for purchasing original paintings. You might want to go see what your local art galleries have to offer. They usually have a lot for you to look at. Directors at galleries know all about art, and can help you make your decision. But keep in mind that what you buy at a gallery will be at a premium price. Galleries ask their artists how much money the artist would like to make on the artwork. After that amount is determined, the gallery doubles the amount. So you are actually paying twice the amount that the artist wanted for the painting.

An art fair is an excellent place to see and buy original paintings. You can find an art fair in most cities and towns. Some art fairs are only held annually, but some will be held every month or every weekend. At an art fair, you will buy artwork from the artist. There is no middle man to deal with. This has more of a benefit than just price. By buying the painting from the artist, you will be giving the money directly to the person who created the artwork.

But that is not the only way to buy from an artist directly. Online auction sites have become very popular venues for artists to sell their art. An auction site will give you a very large selection of mediums and styles to consider. They are also an option for getting an excellent deal.

Other online sites exist to buy artwork. Regular galleries often have a website too. There are also very large websites that are dedicated to selling artwork exclusively. Many also sell photos and posters. They are very similar to galleries. The artwork is selected by people who are professionals of the art world. They manage what art is sold, and are experts when it comes to art.

For any online art purchase, you should ask for a certificate that will prove authenticity. These certificates certify that the painting is original, not something that has been copied. A certificate will also be a great benefit to you if you believe the painting might be sold in the future

You can never go wrong when buying original paintings for your house. They will look great on your walls and will be something you can pass along to future generations, who will love them as much as you do.
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Tuesday 3 November 2009

How to Choose an Online Gallery and 5 Tips For Selling Your Art

When looking for an online art gallery it is a good idea to have some kind of question checklist. Here are some questions you might consider. How much will the gallery cost to run? Is there a commission I have to pay on my art sold? Will I get enough traffic and how much art can I display? Will I be given my own personal art website and biography page? Is it difficult to set up? Can I check my client traffic statistics. Is there a free trial period so I can see if I like the system?

Five Tips for Selling Your Art Online

1. Presentation - Present your art in the most professional way possible. Ideally, showcase your art in an online gallery.

2. Traffic - Even if you have the most beautiful art in the world in your gallery, you will have little success selling your work unless people know where you are. Market your art through free ads, paid ads if you like, pay-per-click ads, blogs, forums and articles. Write "how to" articles about art, which is a great way to generate traffic to your site. Also, have business cards made up and distribute them in as many ways possible.

3. Critiques - Oouch! - If you're way too sensitive and thinned skinned, get over it. Criticism is one of your best money-making friends. Why? Because you want to find out what people like and don't like about your art so you can fix it and make your art more salable. Go out of your way to get criticism of your art by asking friends, strangers (safe strangers!), forum groups, art teachers, art professors and even art appraisers if you want to spend the money.

Leonardo da Vinci asked for criticism from a man off the street. He asked the man what he thought of his "Last Supper" painting, which was not yet finished. The man said he really liked the chalice cup. I believe Leonardo readily removed the chalice from the painting because it was not supposed to be the focus of the work. Leonardo was wise enough to appreciate and receive objective criticism which helped finish his masterpiece.

4. Constant Improvement - Creating your art should be a constant learning process, ever improving because the more knowledge you have of the laws and rules of art the better your painting skills, hence greater financial return on your art. To what is needed to improve your artistic eye and skills. Look at great art and try to see why their colors, their lights and darks, shapes and compositions work so well. Take an art class. Read art "how to" books. Grow in your knowledge of what makes great art.

5. Pricing - Too High, Too Low Check out your competition, art similiar to your own work. What are their prices? Get opinions from people about your art pricing. Remember, be thick-skinned for they are only helping you decide on the correct pricing for your art. Test your pricing. If it sells too quickly (how wonderful!), perhaps you could raise the price. If it is not selling, then your pricing is probably too high. Test, test, test. Oh, you might consider having prints made of your originals because it would give you a whole new extra pricing market. Some people would rather pay for a print than to pay more for an original.

So, hopefully the art gallery question checklist and the tips for selling art online will help you get your art selling. Enjoy your divine gift, the unique ability to express yourself through art.

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Author: Philip C Jones
http://www.choosegallery.blogspot.com
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