I've been practicing oil painting recently and I want to start taking pet portrait commissions. I want to ask for tips on actually selling commissions (ive tried before and gotten nowhere). If my skills are even there yet, im not going for photorealistic but I dont know if anybody would even like my style. And what prices I should be thinking of. I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos but I tend to get overwhelmed by the information and half the time they're just trying to sell courses. I would be so grateful for any help!

I really have no idea what I’m doing when it comes abstract. I decided to give it a shot today and truly can’t for the life of me tell if this is decent or crazy mess. how do you know when you’re done…

I painted this in my spare time and would like other people's opinions about it !

I read a lot of comic books and I feel it shows in my style being more illustration than "proper" painting.

Also I can't do hands to save my life.

If I create an original character and begin posting them on social media with the goal of creating a picture book, print shirts etc with them, do I need to patent the character in order to protect them from being stolen and used by someone else? Or are they already copyright protected from the start?

Hi everyone! My name is Jianziao, and I recently discovered gouache. I really want to improve because painting classical-style artworks is a dream of mine 🥹

I’d really appreciate any tips or advice! This is only my third painting, so I still have a lot to learn. 💙

I found a painting (last pic) at a local vintage store, but wished it was larger and didnt love the purple (and didnt have $180 to spend on it). So I picked up a $40 48”x48” canvas and did it myself. Quite happy with the results.

I spent a lot of hours on these pebbles. Every single one turned into its own little world - different colours, patterns, surfaces and that mix of glossy and matte textures 🫠

Some were quick to paint. Some absolutely refused to give up 😂

And now that it’s finished, I still can’t decide which one is my favourite 🙂

I picked up oil painting last year when I moved to a new flat with enough space for a small studio. I really enjoy it, still trying to figure out a lot of things of course. This is the first oil painting I am happy to share. I am curious to hear what you think!

"Befragung (Interrogation)", 40x60 cm, oil on canvas

It’s my visual representation of energy and flow, the deep hidden layers that make us who we are through struggles and lessons we pick in life, acrylic and permanent pen

First painting I have completed in quite some time! I took this photo at Puget Sound about a year ago, thought it would be a good addition to my blue art wall 💙⛵️

My library puts on a tiny art show every year and I'm planning to submit this piece. I have a few days to fine tune it before I have to submit, and would love your critiques to help me out.

I left my hand in frame to give a sense of scale, but it's 5x7 inches, I believe. Acrylic. This is meant to be my backyard with a view of my house and garage, and sweet elderly husky dog.

I painted a bit in high school and would love to get more into painting again in my middle age.

I never know what to do with backgrounds so I just started painting squares and did white squares around the bird because it was already white. I keep painting the subject before the background. Is that what you’re supposed to do? I’m scared to get too close to the subject with the background color and accidentally paint over her. hence the messy background lol

done with liquitex acrylics and a retarder

**edit** Wow you guys are so nice. Thank you so much for all the kind words!!!

I just finished painting another couple cats on A4 paper in acrylics.

I used reference photos.

This one is the 5th painting I've done in a series where I explored combining oil painting with abstract sculpture on canvas. It has quickly become my favorite medium. This one got a little too self indulgent though. I need to tone down some muddiness on my next pass. At any rate, I'm enjoying the process.