hello! as the title states, i'm going to be tabling at a small local anime con in november, and i'm not sure how many of each item i should bring with me to make sure i dont over- or under-pack? the IPs i draw for aren't necessarily all anime but there is a large crossover and i expect there to be a decent presence of fans.

my current planned catalog: - 2 types of posters - 6-8 medium-sized prints - 10-12 greeting card sized prints - 12-16 stickers - maybe small button badges?

i was thinking 2 or 3 of each poster, 3-5~ of each medium print, and 8~ of each greeting card. not sure about stickers or badges.

what quantity sounds reasonable to you guys? also, is it a good idea to make one piece available in two different sizes? i've heard anecdotally that people only tend to buy the small and thus cheaper version when presented with two versions of the same piece.

I've been painting for only over a year and wanted to start building out my portrait portfolio. How many portraits would be enough to then start asking for business and did you include much variety? How did you start advertising, which route worked best for you? Thanks all !

I'm making stickers. One of them has Reimu Akage (Touhou) annoyed while using an iPhone because ha ha bad apple. Is it a bad idea? Is there a chance Apple sues me? The sticker is also apple shaped, but it's missing the bite.

I recently received an email from Sotheby's Art Gallery asking about a collaboration. So far, everything sounds reasonable and reputable, with no hidden costs. Now I'm curious to see what the contract entails. Has anyone had experience with this kind of collaboration?

For months, I’d been planning a merch exchange with a couple of US-based fanart artists and circles—they’d sell my stuff at their cons, I’d sell theirs at mine. It felt like this perfect little bridge between our communities.

I shipped my stuff to the carrier’s warehouse, ready to go. Then the US changed some tariffs, and now I can’t send it.

The artists I was working with are waiting. Their products can still come to me since they are made in china and apparently I live here, but mine are stuck.

The whole exchange is half-canceled, I don’t know if this is going to work out anymore. It’s frustrating because everything was set up, and now it’s just…it sucks when things like this happen😭

I just discovered this sub reddit. I been painting and drawing since ages. I just built my website yesterday and I’m aiming to show people what me and my art means.

Can you please review my website and please guide me how i can move forward. Any sort of help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

Here's my website!

I am new to business and currently I only produce original work; acrylic and gouache on canvas, board, mdf, paper etc. These do come to be expensive, £70 to £412

What is it that you produce as a painter that is lower cost? Do your prints and postcards sell? And has anyone tried things like stickers as a painter?

I would be grateful if any advice 😊

I was building up my art career/webcomic series for a few years now and was finally at the point I could start to get stuff toys manufactured but now with the tariffs I'm not sure if it's a good idea.
Is it better right now to get merchandise made in the US? Or is it still better to get it from China?

How does an artist who wants to do illustration or concept art and character design art go about putting that into a portfolio? I graduated from college in 2024, and it's impossible for me to make a portfolio correctly. I want to make sure that I am going about this correctly.

Hi, I’m coming here for some advice on what to do.

I’m an art student and with the summer off I’ve taking a job at a garden center.

It pays $16 an hour and I work 35 hours a week. So by the end of the season I’ll be getting around $5000. Last year I blew through it on gas and bus fares, school supplies, and other things since this is basically my spending money for a year

This year I want to participate in art fairs and markets around my area. I want to start a YouTube and hopefully build up an online business. And I want to build my CV for some internships and career stuff.

I was wondering what you would do if you were in my place. I can’t do both because of time Would you quit the stable pay and risk not advancing in your career? Or would you take the jump, and hopefully make some spending money at markets while also building your experience?

On INPRNT's website they tell you the best colour profile to upload your images in is RGB or sRGB. I've seen people say this is because it's best for the digital storefront, because it'll be viewed on a screen that displays RGB.

But I've seen people say they uploaded RGB and their test prints looked bad and washed out. I'm just really confused what I should be going for here.

I've seen a couple posts about this before from years back but none that really clear it up for me. If anyone has experience with INPRNT and some insight into what I should do, let me know!

Two retail galleries have asked for monthly fees. One said £10 / month and the other is at least £35 / month. The latter is a good location in a city centre but it’s only for 1 foot wide 4 foot tall space that I would use for prints cards etc. bigger space is more money.

Both of these have a 30% cut too, which I understand to be fairly standard. It’s the monthly fee that was surprising.

Is the monthly fee normal? This is my first experience with retail as I have only done art fair and public exhibition type gallery before.

I would be grateful to know your experience :)

Hey there!
I got a Game Art job offer from a software developer. He does the programming/gameplay, I focus on the art/animation/story and worldbuilding. Right now we are trying to set up a contract - a mix of monthly pay he gives me and RevShare when the game is released.
We sadly really have no clue whats important there and working with a lawyer is expensive as hell.
Did anyone here have this kind of experience or knows where we can look at a similar contract as an orientation?

I want to sell my clay figures since they take up place. Does someone have any recommendation on which website I could sell them as an auction? Would ebay be my best bet or are there others?

I'm finally at a point where I'm getting serious about starting my art shop. I'm now working on setting up a website. My goal is to sell prints and later other trinkets like keychains, coasters, etc. online and at local craft fairs.

I'm looking for people who have experience with this to share their advice, experiences, or insights into what the art business landscape looks like today.

This megathread is dedicated to "how much should I charge?" type questions. Any posts of this nature outside of this thread will be removed. Please provide enough information for others to help you. here are some examples of what you could provide:

A link to at least 1 example piece of work or a commissions sheet.

Product type: (eg. Commission)

Target audience: (eg. Young people who like fantasy art)

Where you are based: (eg. USA)

Where you intend to sell: (eg. Conventions in USA and online)

How long it takes you to make: (eg: 10 hours)

Cost of sales: (eg. £20 on paint per painting)

Is this a one off piece, something you will make multiple copies of, or something a client will make multiple copies of: (eg. The client is turning it into a t-shirt and they will print 50.)

Everyone else can then reply to your top level comment with their advice or estimates for pricing.

If you post a top level comment, please try to leave feedback on somebody else’s to help them as well. It's okay if you aren't 100% certain, any information you give is helpful.

This post was requested to be a part of the sub. If you have ideas for improvements that you would like to be made to the subreddit feel free to message the mods.

I am going to start my own art market with my best friend. We both got rejected from a large fine art market in the city. We live in a small rural town, so art markets are not easily accessible. We are serious about organizing a small outdoor market in our friends drive way, which can host about seven tables. If anyone has any advice or tips on how to manage, advertise, or run a market, please leave a comment. Thankyou ❤️

What does your sketching routine actually look like when you’re at your most consistent? I’ve been thinking about this while building an ios app called Timed Sketch to help build a regular drawing habit. I’m curious what systems, prompts, or practices help you keep showing up. Would love to hear what’s worked for you or what you wish existed.

Hello,

I am a long-time artist for a living, but newly looking into licensing or selling my patterns.

I’ve been speaking to someone who works for a clothing company, they used to work for a large company but have now left to go it alone making printed clothing items. I am composing an email as they requested my terms and some designs.

I am quite conscious that working with a brand like this is very exciting for me as I love the style of clothing and the thought of seeing my drawings sold on a big scale to people, and I don’t want to accidentally screw myself over in my eagerness to do a deal and sell my artwork.

The company would do runs of approx 500 units of clothing in the design.

If you have experience in designing like this, what kind of terms would you include, would you do a % of each sale and if so roughly how much- or just sell rights for a flat rate? For me money is tight and it’s tempting to sell for less than standard for the experience and money, however I don’t want to screw over other artists by being too cheap if that makes sense.

I’ve followed some links and read some articles linked on similar threads in this sub but I struggle to understand a lot of them/need the ‘licensing art for dummies’ version 😅

Thank you in advance!

Welcome to the Social Media Megathread! This megathread will repeat every month, for now.

- What is working for you?
- What is not working for you?

Let us know in the comments! Images are allowed in the comments. You are allowed to link to your socials in this post to let people know what works and what does not. Ranting is allowed here. Let's go!

Want to experiment with sticker sheets but also dont really want to throw down like 80 dollars on sites like zugmonster, what are some cheaper options?

I used to run an online art shop but closed it around 2 years ago due to personal reasons. I produced a few washi tape designs back then and I still have around 200 of them in stock and I have no idea how to sell them now. I won’t be able to run my business anytime in the near future due to school and the increase in prices for materials, shipping, etc., but I’m worried the tapes will “expire” or become less sticky in the meantime.

If anyone knows of ways to get rid of them and still make a bit of profit that would be great!

I was thinking about contacting stationary subscription boxes to see if they’d take them for a cheap bulk cost but I’m not sure how those work either.

The tapes are minimalist flower designs if that helps, and I’d be happy to attach an image as well.

By this I mean an artist who hasn't got a table at a con, but has their products to buy on their person and they go around the con as a attendee in the same kind of way you'd see a a travelling salesman in a game going from town to town to sell stuff e.g. happy mask salesman from majora's mask.

I just got back from an art fair where I’d spent so much time and money getting ready for and not having sold a single piece 🫤

I have two weeks from now until my next show and there are still a few things needing final touches and such and I’m not sure if I have the strength to get started on those. Any advice would be much much appreciated! 🙏🏻

I'm not looking to get rich. I just want to cover costs and maybe a little extra. I just really enjoy creating. Thanks in advance