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The Batman: Think these are saleable?
BlackUmbrella
Posts: 208
I knocked this out tonight and had a blast doing it, and thought it might be fun to do a bunch of other DC/Marvel types in similar fashion. I could use some geek feedback; think anyone would be interested in them?
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John_Steed
Posts: 2,087
@BlackUmbrella : Awesome and fun - just name your price (and would you send your work to Europe?) -
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MikeGallagher
Posts: 547
Definitely. We all go thru our doubts. Don't fret. Just put your work out there. -
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jaydee74
Posts: 1,526
I believe so. I have a good feeling if you do a Catwoman (any era) I have a friend who might want it considering: A. She loves Catwoman and B. She loves sketches and commission and prints. -
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Zhurrie
Posts: 617
Nice work! Feel free to join in the monthly sketch threads. I grew up around my grandfather's art shop and a lot of artists and the best thing I can say is to make artwork you love and put it out there. Sites like Etsy or any number of artist/art sites set up to help sell artwork are great places to try it out and test the waters. They are usually free to post to and then take a commission on sales so there is little to lose.
Prints are a good way to offer a piece cheaply but still make a fair amount. You can sell the original for say $25-50+ or you could do a print run of say 10 at $5 each and still sell the original if you find a buyer. There are a lot of online giclee options to make high quality prints cheaply. Or a site like deviantart where they will do prints on demand for you.
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I'm hanging on to this original for now, but I'm going to roll with this, doing more DC/Marvel characters and doing prints. I'll post a few as I do them, and when I have them for sale I'll post a link. Any honest feedback about pricing would be helpful. I was thinking $50 for an original or commission and $10 or so for a print.
Those of you who responded above, if you're interested and want to message me with your email address, I'll send you a hi-res PDF of the Batman drawing at full size for free, and if you want to get a print made for yourself from it, you're welcome to. I'll trust that you'll just print out one for yourself and if you print more than that you'll get flat tires and speeding tickets and stuff.
There are so many issues with pricing and that is why it never gets answered well and too many artists act as if it is a taboo subject which serves no one. If you price too low then you risk "cheapening" your art and the image that it portends, if you price too high you risk alienating people or also creating an image. I make fine art and I price it higher, when I do illustration or comic stuff I tend to price it lower, that way I cover a good range and I make sure to have some higher priced comic stuff as well as lower priced traditional art. Then you begin to learn what the sweet spots are for you without having to worry. I also try to work with people especially if they really love something, I'll slash a price in half if someone clearly loves a piece but doesn't have the money. It will come back to you. A good way to handle it with comics are artist cards, that allows you to have a bunch of really affordable stuff and still have some more expensive pieces to again create that range.
What size is the original and what paper and medium did you use? (kinda looked like Prismacolor markers to me) Another SUPER important thing is to use archival quality papers and mediums. If you sell someone something and it yellows/fades/etc. you will lose a customer. I painstakingly test colorfastness and archival qualities especially with things like ink and watercolors that can badly fade or some inks will turn purple or other nasty things. Do a small square of each color you use on the paper you use and stick it in a direct sunny spot for a few days and check it each day. Sometimes just one color will be bad even. If it is like 6x6 then $25-40 might be a good starting point. 8.5x11 or 11x17 can be $40-100+. On Etsy a lot of prints are in the $5-10 range and sell well. You have to match pricing to the site/outlet too.
A great book is: http://www.amazon.com/The-Artists-Guide-Living-Doing/dp/0306816520
Hopefully something in all of that is useful :)
Great info... thanks so much. I use acid free professional grade papers (in this case Bee Paper's "Stipple Paper"... never heard of it until I ran across it at Dick Blick, or Strathmore bristol), India ink and Copic markers. Occasionally some colored pencil. No Sharpies, no water-based markers.
Can't wait to get rolling on a few more... I've got Daredevil, Nightwing, Earth 2 Robin, and Wildcat on deck. Then some female heroes.
And I totally get where you are coming from on the design/illustration point. I can knock out some Japanese Sumi-e brush paintings that I've done a hundred times before in like 5-10 minutes and make what I do for 3 days of pencils and inking on a comic piece.