Art Center Information is always interested in sharing ideas that may help artists increase their incomes. We will be giving a tip biweekly as a new category. The article will be named Money Tip. We hope it furnishes some ideas for our art friends.

Artists, by their very nature, are usually at a loss to the “know how” of marketing their work. Since we tend to love our own art (whatever the genre we’ve selected), we seldom stretch ourselves into considering painting a marketable product, relying on being “discovered” someday and hoping some promoter can sell our work to the world.
However, with our talent their are several marketable possibilities for us to earn a couple of dollars while we starve our way to fame. Below is a suggestion of just one of them:

Realizing that some people are as attached to their pets as other people are to their children, animal lovers is a very good market that is near limitless. I haven’t seen any pet stores going bust! The market can stretch past pet cats and dogs to horses, canaries, snakes, fish, and whatever a person considers a loved pet; perhaps, iguanas or tigers. The good news, for this kind of work it is almost essential to work from photographs. If you advertise your expertise globally, your market is broadened past your local area. It also means you can work in your studio on the off hours of painting your dreamed masterpiece.

There is a down side, however, you have to be very good at what you do. You can’t use your artist’s license as much as you wish. Remember, animal lovers know the exact size, shape and position of their pet. They will hold you to an accurate drawing or painting.

How much do you charge? Prices will depend on your client’s love for their pet and their pocket book. Start locally and after arriving at a few negotiations, go global with a minimum starting point.