So now that the art show is over and with the end of the month it is time for an accounting - both of expenses and for my own decisions. This little blurb is meant to help other artists when they are deciding what to spend money on for a show, or on their art in general BUT IS ONLY MY OPINION SO TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.
Money well spent
Business Cards - in prepping for the show, I used Vista print and ordered business cards and some 'postcards'. I still have lots left for the upcoming fall art walks I will be at - so I think this was money well spent. In the past I would spend time and money making my own at home. Ink costs are outrageous for my printer. Vista print was under $150 for everything I had printed (500 cards, 500 postcards). worth it I think as I had much frustration at times getting all my business cards to print out properly.
Framing - I had every painting properly framed and ready for hanging by
Vestate Molding in Edmonton. They are AWESOME and I was very pleased with the quality and how quickly they got my framing done when I had a time crunch. Their prices are competitive and even a bit better than other framers I used. Highly recommend framing as things look nice and professional.
Money NOT well spent - this is where I rant a bit. I learned a lesson the hard way (money lost). An artist I met recommended a company in Edmonton, which I won't name here, that I subsequently went to for some prints. I WAS at fault for not clearly stating I wanted a FULL ACCOUNTING of all the costs to have prints done. The guy who I met with had a way of chatting that was very circular, not intentionally, where he described the whole process but rarely came to a direct point of saying what the entire costs would be, I got it in little chunks, but not in writing. It was recommended that I should get them to photograph all my artworks for printing, that I should not really do that myself as it is challenging to get the proper high quality digital images needed. This would cost $50 for the first painting and $38 for the rest. In hindsight I would have done this myself, as I am a decent photographer, have a nice Nikon D90 and some experience due to submitting images to art juries. TRUST YOURSELF!
This was done in week one, he recommended I return in a week after photographing so we could decide what I wanted - giclees, lithos, prints and cards. I had been told earlier I would get an email with all the images and samples of what they would look like in different size formats, etc. I did not but he spent quite a bit of time with me when I returned, showing me examples on the computer.
Long story short - I spent almost $700 getting photographs of 7 paintings; 2 giclees on canvas; 2 on paper; 35 prints and about 60 cards. One of the Giclees on canvas was for myself so - $200 off that. The remaining $500 I don't think I will ever recoup, as you would have to print a large volume and subsequently sell them all and be a very in demand painter. I refuse to return to the print shop, as they botched several aspects of the job - hanging one giclee upside down, printing another with major colour issue, 2 cards were not useable as they were dirty, one set of cards was not colour corrected, etc. They corrected the giclee's. I don't think I thought the whole thing through well, as I would have realized how much I needed to get printed in order to make back money I spent. From the opening I made $242 on what was printed and sold, less the galleries percentage which was small. All in all I am behind by about $300.
I would recommend CAREFULLY sitting down looking at all the companies available to get something good printed. Get references - although the place I went to was recommended. LEARN how to take high quality digital images. PAINT some good paintings for printing.
CHOOSE the right type of printing for the setting. I don't think I would get prints made for a gallery setting, maybe just some art cards. I would get PRINTS in the $25 - $40 range for outdoor art fairs. I would give customers who like your art, but say they can't afford an original, the option of you getting a giclee printed if they truly are interested, but not printing it beforehand - take a deposit then get a giclee on canvas. Giclees seem pretty popular in some stores with high tourist traffic flow, so that is something useful to consider. My rant ends here.
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