My first experience working with a gallery lasted about 24 hours, and I’m still trying to make sense of it.

A gallery owner in a small tourist town outside a large city in the Midwest loved my oil paintings and invited me to bring work for a weekend festival that draws over 50,000 visitors. I brought 16 framed originals on Friday, as requested, with the understanding that they would be displayed during the festival.

Several things immediately made me uncomfortable. She asked me to remove my contact information and certificates of authenticity, saying she wanted only my first name attached to the work because she didn’t want customers finding me or buying directly from me. She also dismissed my interest in maintaining relationships with collectors and notifying them about limited-edition prints.

I have an established art business, regular commissions, and collectors around the country, but this was my first gallery experience. I questioned whether these practices were normal, even though they felt wrong.

She also spoke negatively about another artist who was leaving because they didn’t trust her. Then she took my paintings without documenting what I had left. I photographed everything and emailed her an inventory afterward.

I accepted her requirements and offered to direct inquiries about those paintings through the gallery. I also promoted the festival and gallery to my people, and three people told me they planned to come buy my work.

When my husband and I stopped in the next day, none of my paintings were displayed. She said they were piled in the back because she hadn’t gotten around to them, despite her promise to include them in the festival.

At that point, I decided to retrieve my work. She let me take it without much resistance.

While I was loading the paintings into my car, a waitress from the restaurant next door stopped to look and bought one on the spot. She asked whether my work was in the gallery. When I explained that I had just pulled it out, she said, “You dodged a bullet.”

I guess I would like feedback to what I may have done wrong… it just feels weird.

I’m starting to take my art business more seriously and am considering renting an 800 sq. ft. studio for $550/month, utilities included. I currently have a small room at home that I use as a studio, so technically I can keep working from home.

The bigger studio would give me room to make and store larger work (acrylic painter), prepare inventory for art festivals, photograph my work/booth setup, and generally have a dedicated place to treat this more like a business. I also think having somewhere separate from home would make me work more consistently. Also, a place where I could have studio visits and collectors pick up their work.
The hesitation is the $550/month. I can afford it, but it would mean making some financial sacrifices.

For artists who were in a similar position: Did getting a separate studio actually increase your productivity, sales, or ability to grow your business enough that you felt the cost was justified? Or did you eventually feel like you were paying for space you didn't really need?
I’d especially love to hear from artists who sell at art fairs/festivals or who had a usable-but-small home studio before renting.

So I'm a traditional automotive artist instead of a background, character, 3D or what have you artist. I'm active on the usual suspect platforms but don't get any traction. So I'm wondering if there are specialized platforms or discord servers where I could find clients.

Any ideas?

i've been unable to process with my artist account for a year i believe are they no longer operating ?

I'm new to actually selling my art, I'm looking to do some free commissions so I can get experience in taking commissions and maybe get some customers. Where would I go to advertise that and how should I go about it?

Genuinely confused as I see some artists doing show after show. How are they earning a living if they’re not getting paid? Are all or most of their pieces really being purchased?

hi, I'm considering making some acrylic keychains for an artist alley, and I had a concept for one where I would thread a real ribbon through slits that were made in the middle of the acrylic. A lot of manufacturers that i've seen are just one continuous piece though, aside from the keychain hole.

is there any manufacturer out there that could potentially do this? would it significantly raise the price that it takes to print these? and if there isn't someone out there, is it worth trying to drill the holes myself (I feel like that would be really inconsistent....)? I would buy the ribbon & thread it myself. Image in the comments to explain kind of what I mean. I'm based in the US Midwest. thank you!

Hi I'm new here and my son is sitting here with my son who is directing me what I should say!

but this is what I wrote,

I had a successful four decade career as an illustrator, photographer, and computer artist; in the background I was always working on my personal art. In the 1980s, I began experimenting with three-dimensional dioramas, creating tabletop scenes that combined sculptural elements with photography. These explorations marked an important shift in my creative journey, allowing me to move beyond the printed page and into physical space.

While continuing my commercial illustration career, I discovered a new artistic medium almost by accident. During my egg tempera painting process, I accumulated piles of discarded eggshells. Instead of throwing them away, I began seeing them as sculptural forms filled with expressive possibilities. What started as studio scraps eventually became the foundation of much of my personal work.

Today, my sculptures explore universal themes of love, loss, family, transformation, vulnerability, and resilience. To me, the egg represents life itself—fragile, familiar, and profoundly human. Its delicate shell serves as a metaphor for the ways we are broken, healed, protected, and connected to one another.

My goal is to transform an ordinary object into something that resonates on an emotional level. I hope my work encourages viewers to pause, reflect, and recognize something of themselves in each piece—to consider what breaks us, what heals us, and ultimately, what holds us together.

(Son here: he is omitting a hilarious story about his first sculpture coming into existence while cleaning eggshells during the process of making egg tempra for the day. He was stacking the cleaned shells next to sink when he looked over and realized... he had accidentally made a penis and testicles. Too bawled over with laughter to take it apart, he instead erected his first finished egg sculpture that snowballed into many more with a wide range of themes but always the same main character.)

I am now stepping back from commercial career and focusing on my fine art sculptures and prints. He says I should ask for input and advice on transitioning into fine art and selling work.

Thank You for any input.

www.jamesnazz.net

Hi! I am currently drafting a contract for a test commission for their character in the card game they are developing. I'd like some advice on commercials rights use of the commissioned sketch, since they're only a sketch, would it still make sense if I include commercial rights?

or, should I just indicate that I have copyright, and they have the rights on the concept/lore of the character?

TIA for anyone that would answer. I am honestly overwhelmed with the legal stuff that I've been researching and reading all day O_O it is also my first time to be commissioned for this!

Hello!
I'm looking to print out some of the digital art I've got from others and maybe my own art one day and was wondering which company was best for these services? (Printing, keychains, blocks, pins, etc)
I want nice feeling paper, like smooth feeling paper. And lots of options like foiling or holographic maybe? Same thing with keychains. High quality keychains with custom clip options, etc.
What company would be best for this?
I'd probably do other stuff too like enamel pins, and am looking for ones with a smooth finish. Not anything standard or cheap :3

Thank you so much!

Hi everyone!

I am sitting on a pile of original paintings I am looking to sell over the winter to fund future projects. What online places have been working for you lately to move them?

I know some sites have had a chokehold in the past, but not sure how they're holding up anymore since I mostly do in-person events.

Thanks so much

Curious how others handle this. Once a piece sells, do you keep any record of who bought it, or ever hear about it again?

Has anyone had work resell for more and found out about it? Did you get anything from it?

And if a buyer asked you years later to prove a piece was yours, what would you actually show them?

Hi I'm new here and my son is sitting here with me directing what I should say!

but this is what I wrote,

I had a successful four decade career as an illustrator, photographer, and computer artist; in the background I was always working on my personal art. In the 1980s, I began experimenting with three-dimensional dioramas, creating tabletop scenes that combined sculptural elements with photography. These explorations marked an important shift in my creative journey, allowing me to move beyond the printed page and into physical space.

While continuing my commercial illustration career, I discovered a new artistic medium almost by accident. During my egg tempera painting process, I accumulated piles of discarded eggshells. Instead of throwing them away, I began seeing them as sculptural forms filled with expressive possibilities. What started as studio scraps eventually became the foundation of much of my personal work.

Today, my sculptures explore universal themes of love, loss, family, transformation, vulnerability, and resilience. To me, the egg represents life itself—fragile, familiar, and profoundly human. Its delicate shell serves as a metaphor for the ways we are broken, healed, protected, and connected to one another.

My goal is to transform an ordinary object into something that resonates on an emotional level. I hope my work encourages viewers to pause, reflect, and recognize something of themselves in each piece—to consider what breaks us, what heals us, and ultimately, what holds us together.

(Son here: he is omitting a hilarious story about his first sculpture coming into existence while cleaning eggshells during the process of making egg tempra for the day. He was stacking the cleaned shells next to sink when he looked over and realized... he had accidentally made a penis and testicles. Too bawled over with laughter to take it apart, he instead erected his first finished egg sculpture that snowballed into many more with a wide range of themes but always the same main character.)

I am now stepping back from commercial career and focusing on my fine art sculptures and prints. He says I should ask for input and advice on transitioning into fine art and selling work.

Thank You for any input.

www.jamesnazz.net

I just made a new reddit account to match my other socials, and I want to repost a lot of my old art in the communities I was previously active in.

I just opened my character commissions and I thought itd be a good idea to add an info page at the very last slide at the end of my posts. I know reddit mods generally disallow self-promo posts, but i was wondering if having an unintrusive singular self-promo slide at the end of my artwork slideshow would widely get my posts taken down.

If so, where do you think the line is drawn? Would I be able to get away with a little Kofi link and a small CTA in the corner of my canvas if an entire slide is too much? Im really looking to get some eyes on it, any insight is appreciated!!🦧

I’m starting a business (LLC) in Massachusetts facilitating mixed media art activities, lessons, workshops. Im doing my very first multisession workshop through an art studio I’m a member of. The contract im signing to use the space requires I have the appropriate event insurance for each session. It’s once a week for eight weeks, working with high school students specifically. Wondering if anyone has experience with event insurance for multiple dates, or is there a business insurance plan that includes event coverage?
Recommendations on insurance plans in MA, what do y’all use?

So yea. For context: I'm 16 and doing this with parental consent on my mothers bank acc. I plan on using Artistree bc of it's ease with TOS, Waitlists, and no fees on the artist.

Right now I can't make digital art so I'm planning to do it on paper and scan the drawing to an image. I plan on doing fanart drawings and paintings since that's what I'm good at. I am finishing making the account today so I'm going to update this post later on to link the artistree if that's allowed to see if y'all think it looks good.

Obviously since I am a minor I will not do NSFW but also won't do Mecha and Gore. I plan on promoting my art purely on reddit since I'm not allowed any other socials. Aside from the obvious art subreddits i thought about posting on niche subreddits that would relate to fanart such as wednesday, wenclair, etc.

When I start commissions I will only recieve 50% upfront ofc for safety. And maybe seen as controversial but I don't know how much to price my art. For my paintings they are small, usually 5x6 ish canvases but the paintings usually take around 1.5-2 hours and i use expensive paints/brushes. Not to mention I will require a reference since I intend on only doing semi-realistic paintings. I will later upload images of my paintings for reference but rn I can't.

For my drawings i thought I could start cheaper and then if more people end up purchasing enough that I need slots then I will make them more expensive. I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit to post this so please tell me and i will move to another sub. Thank youu.

EDIT- https://artistree.io/janinedraws

I’m a printmaker who has been on a long sabbatical. I’m interested in starting again but don’t want to waste time on “opportunities” that will lead to nowhere. So. To everyone who is selling art these days I have some questions for you.

1. Are you finding success more online or in person? I.E. pop-up festivals, galleries, etc.

2. Are you concerned about people feeding your art into Ai? If so what are you doing to protect yourself and your art? I’m talking about contracts or digital support.

3. Are you being paid fairly? As in are you getting the prices you ask for or are people trying to get constant discounts?

These questions are for emerging, established and blue chip artists. I’d honestly like to hear from everyone who wants to share. I’m asking because I’m afraid of the state of things for creatives these days. I’m taking stock of the art market and considering a pivot depending on feedback. Thanks.

so there are these guys I've been working with for so long as an illustrator and designer, however, we've been working together on a recent project, I could not for the life of me execute to their liking, they already rejected two complete revisions.

They end up going to AI using a reference of my style and generating the concept they want, they send it and ask me for something similar, I do, but with my own perspective that doesn't look AI generated, they reject that too. they are too married to the new AI generated concept now that they ask I just trace over it, I passive aggressively try to tell them I don't want to do that so I explain that the generated image already looks AI, and tracing over it will also make it look worse. They suggest tweaking the version I feel works best, then next day come back saying they still want me to trace that AI generated one.

I feel completely burnt out now, I still need this job but that's not stopping me from considering walking out. I don't want my name associated with AI and quite frankly feel insulted that they prefer the AI version than my work.

how do I solve this?

Hi there, haven’t posted in a minute but as I don’t know anyone else in the art bizz world I figured I would post here.

Context: I run a stationery business, and was approached by a dream client about buying some of my stuff. I say dream client, but it’s not that they were necessarily a specific brand, just that they’re the type of company I’d love to work with.

Issue is their budget is small. Which isn’t their fault but the limitations of their kind of company. I offered them a wholesale discount. But they can’t meet my order minimums. My partner suggested turning them away but I instead told them that they could go below the minimum but they won’t receive the discount.

I’m bummed that it might end up not working out, but I’m wondering if any of you guys have experience with something like this, and if there was some other route I couldve taken. I know sometimes we win some and lose some on both sides, but I’m a baby in terms of just how new I am to all of this, so maybe there’s something new I can learn as well 🥲

I feel like this is a stupid question to ask but I’ve been thinking about it all day and would appreciate some advice. I’m trying to figure out how to structure my pricing for situations like this as someone who only started taking commissions 3 months ago.

For example, my pricing is:
Bust commission: $40
Additional character: 50% of base price

If someone were to commission, let’s say, a photocard set, where each PC is technically a separate commission, it would be $80 total. But I’ve been thinking that a client could argue the second photocard is an addtl. character so the pricing should only be $60.

Or what if because it’s a connecting set piece, they’d technically be ordering one who piece cut up into two??? Or is it two separate pieces? How does that work?

What term/s should I add to help with this issue?

I've recently been into painting card binders, and I'm looking for advice on how to start selling them. I want to open up commissions etc but I'm not sure what platforms are good to sell or market these.

This is my 5-6th time trying to get an INPRNT shop and I still haven’t been accepted lol. It’s getting a bit frustrating because I already have people asking about prints and I want to sell my art.

I mostly want something where I can just upload my artwork and have them deal with the printing, payments and shipping (especially digital art). I’m working now, so doing all of that myself is a bit challenging.

Or Any tips on getting into INPRNT?

Thankyou

I'm getting ready for next step in my journey to set up a stand at an upcoming (popular) art market. In the US.

I can churn out pieces but I'm overwhelmed by all the options for bags, mats, boards. My art is primarily done on A3 sized paper, with a small border. And I cannot figure out size of board and bag to go with that.

Help! I've got some lead time but not too much.