The Portrait Market

[Debra Jones]

Thanks for this John.
I have missed SOG actually. Nice to come back.

5x7" is actually a loss leader.

You are absolutely right. It is about the same energy for a 6x8". Not noticeably less than an 8x10. The demos, which I have in four standard 5x7" presentation albums, go with me whenever I paint in public. I put them in and out of frames, try to have a well rounded stable of breeds etc. When I was painting on site, I found I could nearly finish a pretty loose one before the sun set (right after work in the Winter is the best time to be seen at a dog park painting) and I was building my dog-a-day blog.

I donate and feature that size only for Christmas and giving holidays. It is not generally offered except as a gift or gift certificate. I donate a lot to pet charities and demonstrate LARGER. In the early days winners always upgraded with the value of the donation going toward the piece. I have lain off donating but for one or two rescue groups, but a glitch in the economy started having people redeem the certificate for the smaller size.

I have found my pricing by the inch model is the easiest for me. Hard or easy, I adjust better to the value up front. I may like the piece and work harder, but the finished output is always going to be what it is.

I tend to offer starting prices at 8x10" and only even offer smaller ones to repeat clients or discounts for rescues.

It is a good, stable income. I have disrespected it recently trying harder to do larger scale and "important" work... with much less success. Kind of dumb to give up on a market that is paying the bills. Although I have successfully raised my prices a good 15% and find I am getting MORE business. Is the economy picking up??

[Richard Budig]

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[Richard Budig]

Deb . . . I am curious why you work in so many mediums . . . oil, water, pastel, etc. Nothing wrong with that . . . good for you. I ask because some years ago, I was trying to keep up with pastel and charcoal as well as oil, but over time, I gravitated to oil until I finally quit the others. Again, very nice work. Oh, by the way, if you don't mind telling, what do you charge per inch, or how did you come to that. I ask because I finally went to that, too. I got so tired of looking at various sizes of my work and trying to come up with a price. One might be smaller, but one I'd put in a lot of time . . . well, you know . . . making it up as I went along. The per inch thing isn't so bad. At least, it's consistent.

[John Crowther]

Debra,

I wasn't clear about whether just the pet portrait business is picking up for you now that the economy is strengthening, or portraits in general. Even though I haven't heeded my own advice, it seems to me that one of the few art markets that remains consistent and reliable is animal owners (horses are also always strong for those who live in the right place). I'd like to think that portraiture is doing better now. I tend to side with the economists. It's not so much a matter of the economy getting stronger and people having the means to invest in a portrait (at least among the demographic inclined to want painted portraits), but rather the confidence to go ahead and spend.