#14 - The How's and Why's to Pricing my Art

Fatal Beauty 9x11 pastel on sandpaper SOLD

Well here it is..... painting #14 of 31 in 31 days. I still have 17 more to go with only 13 days to get it all done and reach the goal so some days I think I'll need to double up.  Monarchs are my favorite butterflies. There's just something about them that draws me in, and with their numbers steadily decreasing it's a rare sight to see one these days.  In years past I've searched for Monarch eggs and brought them in the house to raise for release to help boost their numbers, but for the last 2 years, I'm lucky is I've even seen 1 or 2 all season.  It's a really scary thing to think that one day there may not be any more monarchs to appreciate.

I recently had a conversation with someone about the pricing of my paintings.  It's been said by quite a few people that my prices are too low which lead me to wanting to post my how's and why's.  Yes, my prices are much much lower than a similar painting from another artist with the same experience. Do I think my work is not worthy of a higher price tag? No, not really - I just want to make original art affordable for everyone - not just those with fuller pockets.  I've seen many paintings while out and about that I would have loved to buy for myself, but when I see the price tag, I realize there's just no way I could ever afford it !  I love to make art so I'm going to make my art no matter what - whether it sells or not. Of course you want your art to sell at some point otherwise you've run out of room to store it all, but I cannot understand the reasoning of pricing a painting at $600 for a 9x12 when I could never afford that myself.  So my goals are to create affordable art for all.  So right now, the easiest and most organized way for me to price each piece is by square inches.  I measure the square inches first, say a 9x12 painting would be $108 (already $500 cheaper than most paintings) then I divide that number by 2 because I still feel $108 is a high price.  I round that number up or down depending on my personal likes to the painting. So in this case, the price would be $54, and will be rounded up to $55 because 54 just sounds weird to me as a price.

So that's the method to my madness in a nutshell.  I'm sure there are artists completely against pricing this way, and that's ok.  This is the way that works best for me at this time in my art journey, and gives me a chance to provide affordable, original art to those that would otherwise not be able to afford it, and having an original piece of art where you can actually see the paint strokes or the sparkling dust of the pastels gives you a whole new appreciation for the piece than if it's just a print.

Painting #13 of 31 in 31 days

Don't Look Back pastel on black sandpaper 9x11 available $55.00

I never gave birds much thought until I moved out to the country.  Now, I could spend all day just watching them at the feeders and soaring from tree to tree.  I keep mental notes each season as to the breed of birds that visit my yard - I get so excited when I can log in a new breed of visitor. The black capped chickadee is a frequent visitor to my feeders.  So cute and dainty.  This painting was done entirely with Terry Ludwig pastels on black sandpaper.  I'm really enjoying using the sandpaper - the pastels glide so effortless, and until I get some UArt paper ordered it will be my paper of choice. I hear UArt now has black as a color choice - can't wait to get my hands on some!

Painting 12 of 31 in 31 Days

Among the Thistles 9x6 pastel available $25.00

I finished this painting yesterday morning, but didn't get a chance to post it because I got side tracked coming up with a costume idea for a Halloween themed wedding I attended last night. This was my first Halloween wedding, and I have to say, it was a lot of fun. I ended up being a scarecrow.

For this painting, I was inspired by an artist I follow on Instagram.  He paints such beautiful birds and leaves very little detail in the background.  I wanted to try to paint minimal details but still get the feeling you were in a grove of thistles, and play with colors that I don't usually use like the turquoise and the yellow.  I'll be practicing backgrounds more this week.

On another note, I have to confess that sometimes I feel like I'm boring readers with the bombardment of paintings on Facebook and Instagram, but I've received such wonderful comments this week from various people about how they look forward to seeing the paintings.  Hearing these kind words really gives me the confidence to keep moving forward.  I thank all of you this week for those kind words.

Day 11 of 31 in 31

Nearing the End 14x11 acrylic palette knife painting available $75.00

One of my favorite flowers is the peony.  I have just one peony plant in my gardens -  I get so thrilled when they begin to bloom, and a bit sad when they start to wilt.  But they are filled with gorgeous colors no matter what stage they are in - well except during the winter when the plant is completely gone.  This is a palette knife painting of my last peony bloom of the season.  I really love the texture you can get with the palette knife - thick wonderful globs of paint.  If you've never tried the palette knife, I challenge you to give it a try.  Watch a couple of You Tube videos from the pros, and then jump right in.  So much fun! 

Day 10 of 31 Paintings in 31 Days

Another Season 9x6 pastel available $25.00

Have you ever took the time to look up high into the tallest trees?  The beauty of the sun shining through the branches and the colors of the leaves will leave you breathless -

I decided to try my hand again at photographing the various stages of one of my paintings.  Usually I get so into the painting process that I forget to take pictures.  This time I really tried to concentrate to STOP after each step. 

I started with a reference photo I took during my trip to Virginia, and wanted to tone the paper a blue violet color.  The tiny painting to the right will be used for purpose.  It's a surprise - so say tuned for the future reveal.

I did a quick sort of generic sketch - not a lot of detail -  after blending the background color using circular motions with my fingers. I wanted to add the details with the pastels as I went along.

Time to add some cool toned greens.

And now for some medium yellow.

It's at this point in my painting process that I stop looking at the reference photo and just look at what I think the painting needs to become more interesting.  I know you don't usually see yellow trees without a bit of orange mixed in so I grabbed one of  my Terry Ludwig oranges and added a bit of color here and there.  I also used some Sennlier bright yellow and touches of white for the very tips. Then a vibrant blue for a bit of highlights.

Close up of blue highlights

The finished piece

Added a few branches with some Rembrandt red violet.  The roundness of the Rembrandts make it easy to "roll" up the paper to create the look of branches or grasses. 

All my colors used in this painting

31 paintings in 31 days #9

Rapid Rush 6x9 pastel available $25.00

I seriously could not believe my eyes.  Kayakers braving the rapids of the Potomac River.  This was dangerous stuff! Now, I love gliding around in my kayak, but when there's steep drops and boulders at every turn - you can count me out!  But the scene did make for a great painting subject.  This is painted on UArt 400 pastel paper using Nupastels and Sennliers.  Zach, my son - I love him bunches, but he knocked into the easel and sent my only white sennlier falling to the ground shattering into a million pieces.  I tried my best to use the teeny tiny particles but I really need to put in another order to replace it.  Sennliers are so buttery soft and a lot of the time you can catch them on sale at Dakota Pastels.

If you are interested in purchasing this painting or would like to view other works available, just click on the title under the painting and you will be magically transported to my etsy store. Many thanks to all that took a moment out of their day to view today's posting.

Days 7&8 of 31 paintings in 31 days

Gerbera Daisy in Red 11x14 acrylic available $55.00

I know what you're asking yourself..... I posted days 7 & 8 but only have 1 painting shown.  This is what happened - - I spent most of the afternoon on Sunday attempting to paint a pumpkin scene - "attempting" is the key word here.  It was really awful. It needed to be changed, and I didn't want to waste the canvas I was painting on.  Solution ? Cover it all up in white paint and start fresh.  The only problem with that solution was I tried painting the pumpkin with the palette knife so it was very think and you could still see the outlines and textures after covering it all over. I wracked my brain as to what to do - A flower was the answer.  The entire center of this flower used to be a very ugly pumpkin.  The moral of this story?  You can never go wrong when using paint - if it's not coming out like you've envisioned, then cover it up and start fresh.  So this is the story behind days 7 & 8. Day 7 was a day of painting an ugly looking pumpkin, and day 8 was finding a solution so I wouldn't have to post the ugly pumpkin and be completely embarrassed. lol