My personal currency is rising!
I took a chance today. I have thought about this a lot and meditated on it, for some time now. I initially struggled greatly with the idea of selling my art, as it is an extension of myself and that would make me a sell-out. I was also undervaluing in hopes of making a sale. I came to a realization, though... that the market I was aiming for pays in compliments and although those make me feel nice, they don't pay my bills! I have multimillionaires in mansions just up the hill and we have a lot in common.
I have been fearful of aiming my sights too high, for fear of seeming full of myself...but that was my limiting belief of not being enough and now that I know my why, I realize I wasn't looking in the right direction!
I just let all my friends know that the sale is over lol....They should have bought in when I told them my prices were low... BUT, if you missed the boat, don't worry! I am raising my prices incrementally, so the new prices will be around for awhile. I will raise them accordingly, as I gain experience and confidence. My art is an investment!
Your art is an investment I am glad I made. I love looking at it every day. Your work is absolutely beautiful and worth every penny.
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I can relate to some of these musings. How do you price your art? Like, how do you price a piece of your soul? Not to mention, what exactly is a sell out? I feel inspired with this post, inspired to think on the nature of selling our art and where we draw the lines for ourselves between being true to yourself and being a 'sell out'. Right now, in the moment, a sell out is just someone who is creating with no passion, with ordered specs for what the subject and style should be. Basically being employed to create for a company (not that I have any prob with those who do that, why should I? It's their choice) versus creating what speaks to you, what inspires you, and really, what you WANT to be making. I don't know if that made any sense or if I am just musing the muses of a crazy lady (or both! LOL)
It makes so much sense! :) A sell out, to me, is pretty much how you said no passion, doing it for the bottom line instead of the joy of creating....it is also letting the opinions of others influence your subject matter instead of following your own creative inklings. I am in a gallery and pieces I have sold have a tendency to be in certain themes and that inspires me to do more of the sort. Does that make me a sell out? I don't think so, but it is very motivating to know that you will receive funds for your creative outlet. I find that I am overwhelmed with possibility and sometimes cannot create at all. I am paralyzed. When I have a commission, I don;t look at it like selling out either, because they are getting a piece of art that they could not create for themselves and I am getting the opportunity to create my own spin on their idea and that is very inspiring for me. As far as pricing goes, I just put the amount of what I would make at my hourly job and price my work accordingly to how much time it took to paint. I got over the idea of "selling my soul" when I considered the price at which I was selling my soul at my job and how would I prefer to spend the bulk of my time? When working fulltime I rarely find energy to create at all! People are happy to have my art and so I am happy to accept the money! lol I wish we lived in a world where I could just do it for fun but I do it for survival on so many levels.
I daydream about that world LOL. With my art, it's mostly digital and so will be printed out, however many times it's ordered but since I use sites to do that side of things for me, what I do is work out a per sale price what I'd like in commission, and let the site take care of the rest! I sorta like that as it takes the pressure off me to try and price things myself. I do feel tho, that my work deserves a decent return when sold for sure, I am proud of it and how else will people know I am proud of it other then the price I put on it?