Debra Jones - pricing and markets

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Originally Posted by Jeremiah White

Regarding the lower priced artwork, do you think that it would be more acceptable to sell them as sketches in a different medium instead of just smaller, lower quality artworks while still being seen in a positive, high quality artist light?

Hi Jeremiah,

I'm not sure I understand the above sentence, but I don't think it's a good idea to put anything less than your very best work out there for the world to see. For any price. Forgive me if I don't understand you correctly, but it seems that you are thinking of selling some lower quality artwork for a lesser price? I would rather throw something out that I'm not completely happy with than sell it cheap. I know it may seem like a quick fix or an easy way to make some money, but I strongly believe it's the long haul that counts. And the payout in the long run will be greater, if you can just hold out. Just my opinion.

Ah, just had another thought. Have you heard the saying that one's portfolio is always judged by their worst work? That scares the heck out of me, maybe that's why I'm so particular about what leaves my studio.

Joan

[Jeremiah White]

You're right, I wasn't very clear.

What I meant was, do you think that it would be more acceptable to market the lower priced work as sketches and sometimes of a different medium. For example, instead of just offering it as a quick 8X10 painting, you could make it seem more as an 8X10 sketch. A sketch being something that people would normally associate with fine art but also realize that it's not just some sloppy and quick piece of work but instead a skilled gesture. So, in other words a fast work is not a sloppy rushed work but instead a high quality sketch.

So to sum it up, would you still be viewed as an artist of high caliber if you offered a lower priced sketch (not a painting in the traditional sense) as an alternative to people that couldn't afford a full painting? In doing so, making sure that you're differentiating your normal work from your sketches that you offer.

I wrote more words this time but that doesn't always mean that it makes more sense. If it doesn't I can try to throw out more examples and such to make more sense out of my ramblings.

[Mike McCarty]

Jeremiah,

I would encourage you to spend some time looking through the SOG site. I think you will find that many artist offer less expensive charcoal or other monochromatic sketches.

Debra,

If I could paint something in one or two days I would keep it for another two weeks. I want the client to feel that everything I do is labored over, pondered and re-pondered. I think that for the kind of work we do "value points" are deducted for speed. Not actual speed, but perceived speed.

[Kimberly Dow]

I had to laugh at this Mike - I've done the same thing when I've finished something too quickly. Very seldom do I have to, but there are occasions I've just gotten it right immediatly and didnt want the client to realize how easy it was.

[Michele Rushworth]

Mike makes excellent points. I think offering the lower priced items in a different medium could work well. And I also wouldn't crank out anything too fast. "Perception is reality" as they say. I personally don't want any of my work seen as something that is cheap and fast. As it happens, it does take me a long time to do a painting, but you know, clients sometimes are pleased to hear that I have a long waiting list or that I'm working on their painting for many weeks.

When it comes to marketing and product positioning, think about how other companies do it. Jaguar, Mercedes and BMW don't sell "ecomony" cars in their lines at all. People pay for the perception of quality (often when it's not really there). The name and reputation is everything in many lines of business. Our job as as artists, if we want to aim at the high end of the market, is to create high quality work, and then to position it as such in everything we do.