Cheap art

Lon Haverly · 02-09-2003, 11:51 PM

I am currently offering pencil samplers for $10, and was reminded of a post by Karin Wells at

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...hlight=%249.95

These sketches are the product of doing all night graduation parties where I draw about eight drawings an hour. They are free to the kids, and they line right up and get it done. I am paid for the evening, usually about $75 an hour.

I am having a bit of success with this product at my mall studio during this slow time of year. They take about seven minutes to complete, and are a real crowd pleaser.

I can make $60 an hour with this product, which, if compared to the other products I offer, is not as good a money maker during the busiest season. So I only offer it during the slower season. But when it is slow, it works.

I charge $45 for a charcoal which takes only about ten minutes, and $65 for pastels which take about 20 minutes. Do you think it is unprofessional to offer this kind of product?

Michele Rushworth · 02-10-2003, 12:14 AM

I don't think it's unprofessional at all. From what I've seen, the quality of your work is always very high and you certainly give people good value for their money. To me that constitutes professionalism.

However I would imagine that these $10 items are preventing you from getting any of the higher priced charcoal orders. Once the busy season rolls around I also wonder if people who saw your $10 product will feel that the $45 item is not such a good deal any more. This lower priced product may seriously undercut your position in the marketplace.

Lon Haverly · 02-10-2003, 01:13 AM

Thank you, Michelle. I do wrestle with that. Point well taken. However, I have come to the conclusion that it better to have an alternative product than to cut the price in the slow times of the more lucrative one.

I offer this "sampler" on typing paper, and not on archival paper, and specify that. If they want something archival, they have to pay for it, and they do. My regular pencil portraits are on 14" x 17" Strathmore paper and cost $35. They are not really much better, but just bigger. Bigger means for me more detail, since I use a chiseled point, and the line is smaller in proportion to the overall drawing, and thus requires more strokes and shade lines.