The Business of Art

Welcome back, printmakers! A warm welcome to the 25 new folks who joined the newsletter! 

In this week’s issue: 

• Personal Update 

• The Business of Art & its tenets

• Question Time 

Let's start this deep dive!

Life Just Happens Sometimes 

Last week there was no newsletter because I landed in the emergency room. For weeks, I had been suffering from a mysterious pain. Me being me, I did what any other guy would do and ignored it for a few more weeks. 

I ended up missing a whole week of work and for a split second, I thought I was going to lose my ability to walk. The pain on my hips and back was unbearable and my mobility was getting worse by the day. It was at a point where even sitting down was painful. 

As of today, I finally know the cause of the mystery pain. I have a plan and I am on my way to recovery. According to my doctors, with daily home physical therapy exercises, I will be able to walk normally in 2-3 weeks time. 

You may be thinking how this relates at all to printmaking. Well, I wanted to share this with all of you because sometimes we may avoid the signs that our body gives us when something is wrong. When your body tells you something, please listen. The best way to create beautiful art is by being healthy. Trust me on this one. 

The Business Of Art

I want to start by giving a shout out to one of you who inspired this article with the following question: 

Well Steve…If you feel you are already running a business, then it has become a business. 

When I launched my business, I seriously botched it. It was an unorganized, impulsive and naive start. Which I clearly realized when tax season came around. The story of the launch is material for future Inkplate article, but if I had to do it all over again, this is how I would do it. 

The Boring Part 

I would start with getting all your paperwork in order. As boring as it sounds, one wants to make sure you are ready to go as an actual business with the government. For me, here in California, that entailed getting a local business license from my city, a sellers permit from the state, and an IRS EIN number. This list may change depending on your state or country.

I spent about $500 registering and setting up my business. I dedicated one whole afternoon at the City Hall to get approvals from different departments. Beware that doing work at the local level might give you the most headaches. 

I devoured all the information available on the IRS website before I pulled the trigger. Once you survive the endless circles of bureaucratic hell you can go do more boring stuff. 

Follow the Money

Once you have your business ID number with your state/city, make sure you open a separate baking account. Do not, I repeat. Do not mix your personal and business money together. It will be an accounting horror story. 

Speaking of accounting, choose an account method and start keeping track of all your expenses and profits. I personally suck at accounting, so I use software to automate this whole process. Once a month, I sit down and reconcile my books. Boring, I know, but super necessary to manage a healthy business. 

Sign up for a payment processing system like Paypal, Venmo, or Square. If you want to process cashless transactions, you will need to set some systems up. I have all three since the more options I have, the more clients I have been able to accommodate. Make sure all of these accounts are linked to your business bank account. All of your art money should go into one place. 

Ok, now we can jump to the fun stuff!

A Humble Idea 

Starting any kind of business requires an idea - “what will you sell?” Thankfully, you are already practicing an artform that by nature allows you to have multiple original pieces. Problem solved.  

Will your prints include limited and open editions? Could it be shirts and tote bags and other printed materials? It is tempting to start with more, but honestly, this will raise your starting costs and stress level so stick to one or two items that you can realistically manage. 

How Much is That? 

I know we all want to make money, but be realistic. Unless you are an established artist with a name to back you or incredible artistic talent, is someone really going to buy a print from you that's $500? Let’s take a deep look in the mirror, as an emerging artist, pulling something like that is very hard. I can count with the fingers of one hand the amount of times I sold an item over $500, but I couldn't tell you the amount of sales under $50 I’ve had. 

When you price your pieces take into account your time, materials, and third party fees (more on this below). As your reputation and skills improve, you can always raise your prices so don't feel discouraged. Wherever your prices end up, make sure you are consistent and don't raise your prices out of the blue and often. People will notice.

In the three years I have been in business, I have only raised my prices once. 

The Storefront

You have the business setup, you have the idea and product, and you are pricing appropriately, where will you sell? 

This is probably the second most important decision you will make, as this will be your cash cow or the money pit. Are you selling online or in person from your brick and mortar studio? Via consignment or at a gallery? Whatever service, site, store or representation you choose they will charge a third party fee. Most galleries take a cut between 25-35% of the price of artwork. I have sold at art/craft fairs where booth fees have been between $50-$450. 

When I first launched my business, I wanted to rent a studio space downtown but considering that the cheapest rent I found was $300 a month. I realized that every month I would just be fighting an uphill battle trying to pay rent. I ended up sacrificing a room in my apartment to serve as the studio and set up a digital storefront. 

Online options like Etsy, Squarespace, Instagram, Shopify, etc. all have sellers and/or transaction fees, some even annual memberships. I can’t tell you which one is the best because that is a decision that might be totally up to you, and will vary depending on your amount of sales and products you have to list. 

One thing I can tell you do not need is a website. In today’s age, your Instagram or Behance profile have become valid archives for artists. I keep my website because I don't want anyone to buy my domain name, traffic is super low, and the only parts that get views are The Inkplate Blog and the Store. The rest is just pretty to look at. 

Reading the Market 

This was probably the most difficult thing for me to understand and get a grip of. When I first launched my business, I was a painter. Stockton, the city through which I am from, despite only having 320,804 citizens, has a vibrant artist and creative community. Before the pandemic, there was an art show, band playing or event going on every other weekend. 

When going to the shows or events, there were also a lot of painters - naturally, it was hard to stand out. I remember one gentleman coming to my booth and saying “oh it's another painter.” 

Printmaking for me was the thing that made me stand out locally. It took some education. People hear prints and they automatically assume it's a digital product. I seriously once had a customer ask me “Can you email me this one, so I can print it at home?” Looking on the bright side it was a great moment to share with her the craft of relief printmaking. The customer was very open and receptive to my explanation and she walked away not having bought anything. Sometimes it's like that. 

Reading the market also takes into account the type of work you are producing and the place you are trying to sell. I once got invited to sell my artwork at a small indie music venue that hosted local alternative and punk bands. Before saying yes, I went to the venue with my fiance to listen to a band. The crowd was mostly Gen Z and there were other providers selling psychedelics and people staring at artwork while tripping. Let’s just say this wasn’t the right match for me.

The Behemoth 

One of the places you can not ignore is your online presence. Currently, about 100% of my sales happen online. If you are seeking to go old school and only worry about selling directly to your customers, I would still say you would need an online presence. The easiest and cheapest way to establish this is via social media. 

When it comes to social media, pick the one you actually enjoy being at. I just deleted my TikTok and Snapchat because I personally hated them - those platforms are not for me. I do, however, enjoy my Instagram experience. It is no longer the hottest thing on the internet or the network with the most active users, but it is the one I enjoy using. It also happens to be where my ideal customer is at - so it’s a statistical match made in heaven. 

Find the right fit for you and make sure you post consistently. That could be a picture, or video a day or multiple times a day. Find the level of social media engagement you're comfortable with and stick to it, as long as you stick to that routine the algorithm will reward you. There is no magic pill for social media, it’s just a series of compounding actions. That is unless you get blessed by the algorithm and hit a viral piece that just makes you famous overnight. If that is the case, don’t forget to give your old pal @DanielVillaArt and could you please give me a shoutout, I would greatly appreciate it. 

I hope this answered some of that original question. Sorry, for the long and delay response. As mentioned before, life just happens sometimes.

Question Time!

Ah, the dilemma of roller or brayers for the hardcore printmakers. I personally have my eyes set on some Essdee Professional Ink Rollers. I do have one 8 inch rubber brayer that I bought at Hobby Lobby and honestly it sucks. I would not recommend those.  Currently, I make it work with five brayers - two 6”, two 4” and one 1.5”.

Before You Go, 

• Want to be part of the ‘Artist Highlight’ or know of someone who might be, fill out this interest form! 

• Do you have a printmaking or artist-related question you want me to answer here on the newsletter? Let me know here.

-Daniel