#sellingyourart

Okay so does anyone know how to start selling your artwork? I want to start making some money and saving up and whatnot. I'm not 18 yet so a parent would have to oversee the account. I'm interested in print and demand sites since I don't wanna buy a lot of supplies and end up getting no orders, and I'm not sure if I would get orders so I don't wanna waste any money. I've researched things like Redbubble and INPRNT and those seem like really good options. Just want to test out the waters for right now.

I think both websites have their niche fans. Redbubble’s best seller is stickers. My best selling item is also stickers. Although, sticker sales are probably not going to feed your entire family. But I think it’s a really great idea and affordable way for more people to own your art! Who knows, they might just grab another item when there is a discount or free shipping. If you decide to sell on Redbubble, do get connected with Redbubble or Redbubblecreate on instagram. It’s a great way to connect with people, gain followers and hopefully have your designs selected or featured on Redbubble instagram. Look out for Redbubble challenges, you might stand a chance to win some cash or get exposure for your work. Redbbble websites have also very helpful tips on promoting yourself or your work. Grab their fabulous templates too for promoting your work on social media. 

As for Society 6, visit different artists’ shop and get connected by following each other. Promoting each other works by clicking on the like icon to get some exposure. Keep posting designs as often as you can, in that way, your work gets noticed more easily on these websites. Society 6 have a wide range of home decor items. Their product pricing is more expensive than Redbubble. However, I get more people buying other items on Society 6 than Redbubble. So far, I have only sold T shirts and stickers on Redbubble. On Society 6, there are buyers who will pay for bigger items like shower curtain, tapestry and prints. 

Post By: Michele Stine

Selling my soul.  

That is what I’m doing.

But not in the evil sold-my-soul-to-the-devil way (at least I think).  I’m talking about selling this project.

This project that we have poured our hearts and souls into.  

The hearts and souls of multiple artists, their words, their directions, their art, their music, their puppets, their time.  

All of this I am attempting to sell to theatre companies across the country.  Convince total strangers that we are worth investing in. That we have something that is unlike anything they’ve ever seen before.  We’re trying to be surrogates of what we believe Chicago theatre is. And that what we’re doing is low cost but high profit.  

And I have to say it’s been frustrating.

I know that with putting yourself out there, as an artist or as a general human being, you need to develop tough skin. But this endeavor, this crazy, seemingly impossible, dream has been all Scott and I have been able to talk about, think about, and work on for months and months and now it’s come down to the part where we need to convince other people to believe in us.

And I’m hearing no.

Over and over and over and over again.

And I’m trying to figure out how to not take this so personally.

How do I build a wall around my emotions so that when someone says that we are not worth their time, I don’t crumble into a puddle of tears?  How do I grow chain-mail skin so that when someone tells me that they don’t have any time for outside performers, I don’t absorb their criticism into my bloodstream?  What do I need to do to create a moat around my heart so that when someone says that we are crazy to attempt this endeavor, my heart doesn’t dissolve into a pile of ash?

These are the things they don’t prepare you for.  (They being every professor, adviser, and mentor you’ve had) They tell you that you can’t take it personally, but don’t teach you how to arm yourself for that. They tell you that your art is not attached to you, so when your art is critiqued, you are not being attacked, but I don’t know how to cut that cord.  My art is my words, my words are my voice, and my voice is what makes me who I am; so how am I to disconnect that so that my art and I stand separate?