A Guide for New Artists

This guide is a combination of stuff Artists' Alley Staff have been saying for years and a FAQ put together by the artist Tani from eX-O studio. The text is very long and broken up into sections so you can find things easier. The inclusion of Tani's Faq has also been condensed and edited a bit - if you'd like to see the uncut version, she has it available in the Anime Boston Forums! New this year - some artists who've been attending Anime Boston and parcticipating in it's Artists' Alley have provided a new and fun element to the FAQ - COMICS! Each comic is individual in style and the advice it gives. Each artist only drew one page on some of the things they felt was most important to know for a new artist. These comics will be randomly dispersed throughout the page and not necesarily in a section that it may deal with, as some may have too many different things to talk about to put it in any specific spot. If you can't read the comic, please click on them to see the full blown page. So sit back and scroll on through - I hope we've managed to make this enjoyable as well as informative! 1) What does it take to participate in Artists. Alley? 1 - Am I too young? No. A more appropriate question is "Am I ready?" If you have the guts to show your art to others, get good and bad feedback, and are willing to sit for at least five hours a day, then you are ready. Age and even talent has nothing to do with it. What matters is that you are willing to try and to have fun. 2 - LEGAL NOTE FOR MINORS and ETHICAL TIPS FOR ALL: Remember, if you are a minor, you are not held to the law the way people over 18 are. When you take money for services, you have to treat it like a legal business contract. Keep track of your customers and try not to intentionally stiff or mislead people (actually stiffing commissions is bad at any age). It's not worth the money if you ruin your reputation. If you are serious about starting a career as a freelance artist, you have to treat this like a business and act responsibly - this is the real world. Don.t promise more than you can deliver. Don.t bait and switch. Have integrity. Until you are 18, your guardians will share consequences of your actions, at least be mature enough to wait until you can take full responsibility for your schemes without burdening others. 3 - What if my art isn't good enough to sell? If you are new to Artists' Alleys this should not be your main objective. Be concerned about getting feedback from patrons and advice and critiques from veterans. Concentrate about growing as an artist before worrying about selling. Besides, I have learned that "sell-ability" has little to do with how good or bad art is, sometimes you just find a gimmick and the people respond, marketing is by far the greatest art. The traditional purpose of Artists Alley is to give everyone a relatively equal opportunity to compete with other artists at a convention. You should try your best, because I assure you everyone comes to show their best and compete for attention. The more you go the stronger you will become, you will be inspired and trade ideas with new colleagues . . . or you will fade into obscurity. 4 - What if I can't get a table? Sorry, that's too bad. Either ask if someone will split a table with you or try again next year. Check early and often for updates. These days Artists' Alleys fill up quick so get in early! It's very competitive, which is annoying, but it would be a lot worse if it wasn't. 5 - Those artists are better than me! I hate it! What should I do? Tough, if you can't learn from being humbled by better artists then you are going to have a lot of trouble growing as an artist yourself. You should try to learn from more experienced artists, not hate them; they are your colleagues, not your enemies. Just politely ask them, most of us are really nice and some (like me) are really patient.Ask the Author for a date. 2) Materials FAQ 1 - What paper should I use? Newsprint is good for life studies and gesture drawings. 20lb printing paper for everyday doodling is fine. They fit into sheet protectors and can be collected easily into binders. Lined Paper: I absolutely insist that art on lined paper stay out of binders you are presenting to the public, but by all means save them because the ideas may come in handy for remakes. 100lb Bristol paper is good for final work, is one of the best and archival safe. Use smooth (bristol) for pens and markers Use vellum for pencils and chalk pastel. Card stock is a good cheap substitute, it just isn't archival, but it'll keep well for 20+ years if you protect it. Experiment with warm and cold press watercolor paper of at least 100 lb, and try toned paper to create different effects in pieces. 2 - What pencils should I use? Whatevers most comfortable. Most artists seem to prefer Automatic pencils - they are the standard since they don.t have to be constantly sharpened. Most artists use .5 or .7 lead. You can also get lead in different colors which can make inking a lot easier. 3- Inking Pens Sakura Micron is a good set to start out on Staedler pens are good for designs and logos Faber~Castell is a very good pen company too. .005, .1, .3, .5 and a 1 are good sizes to add no matter the brand. Collect more as you progress. 4 - Markers: Prismacolor most people start with these, they are $2-3 a piece but you can get the sets pretty cheap on eBay. Copic markers are expensive and should not be invested in, unless you have learned marker and painting techniques. Le Plume is another good brand that can be used with water. 3) Merchandise FAQ 1 - Do original comics sell well? Depends on the quality of the first issue and if you follow through with serialized issues. Comics are a huge commitment. If you start publishing them late or if you don't finish a series you can have some unhappy fans out there. If you have all of that down, then sure, get your work out on the market. 2 - How does one go about printing/selling an original comic? Either buy your own equipment or outsource to a printer. comix press is popular among my colleagues. TokyoPop also has an annual competition that awards publishing contracts. If you're low on cash and can't afford a 'minimum' type bulk order, also check out Lulu Publishing 3 - I need Packaging for my art, where do I go? You can find many useful things like cellophane wrap and gift boxes at Michael's or a Dollar Store for packaging things, but for a greater selection of boxes and clear plastic bags (good for wrapping print portfolios) check out http://www.papermart.com 4 - What items sell best (and/or allowed in an artists alley): prints/plush/other? I believe anything created with your hands can be sold and crafts are an excellent way to round off your studio. Just look for things to put your art on and the Sky's the limit as long as it doesn't have a striking resemblance to license merchandise (and if its hand made, not factory made). Take a trip to a Michael's or a craft store in your arae and look around to see an item you can put your art on or make a creative product with. When you premier it at a convention, you will be the only one offering that item. By keeping your own secret weapon on the hush-hush, you'll get a competitive advantage. 4) Prints FAQ 1 - How do I get prints? How much should I sell them for? I highly recommend becoming a patron of your local print shop. They are often cheaper and they are smaller and more helpful than chain stores. Failing that, Office Max and Kinko's will do. There are also many online printers that offer delivery for large orders. Unless your demand is high, a good starting price for B&W prints is a dollar or 2-3 if it is printed on cardstock. Color prints can be sold for 3-8 or more depending on the quality of the print and the paper. Also consider pairing up drawings in collections or portfolios and sell them for more. If you matte your prints you can raise the price even more. 2 - How much variety in pictures should I bring? Produce as many images as your budget and your baggage allows. But keep in mind that you don't want to rush to make your pictures as the better the quality, the more likely it will sell. Customers love choices. However, the pictures you choose to bring should be well chosen, showing a variety of your abilities but that also appeals to your "target" audience. So if it's an anime convention you want to show anime/Asian culture themes, a furry con you would show more anthropomorphic work, etc. Many of your images can overlap from genre to genre. Just keep track of which pictures sell well and trade them out accordingly. 3 - Is it smart to have different sizes of the same picture? Yes, as I said before, customers love choices. This is also very economical. Instead of paying for one 11x14 print you can get two 5x7 prints for the same price. I recommend small as apposed to large. Good sizes to start with are 5x7, 8x10, and 11x14 supplied in a ratio of 4:2:1 (1 large for every 2 medium for every 4 small). 4 - How many copies of each picture would be enough for all three days of the con? If all of your prints are the same size I recommend 3 prints for new images. If a print has already proven to be a good seller get more based on the demand it pulls. This also varies from artist to artist. Some will bring up from 5 - 10 of each picture unless something has proven very popular 5 - What type of art will sell well on prints (original, fanart, etc)? Ah the eternal question, what sells better? Original characters or fan art. From my observation a mediocre fan art drawing will sell better than a mediocre original drawing simply because the characters are more familiar to the public. But highly creative, well drawn unique original art sells better or on par to creative fan art. 6 - How much would you charge for a large/medium/small prints? Every artist is different- some artists do only one size picture and others don't matte them either while others sell limited edition pieces in addition to normal pieces, so here are some samples of pricing: eX-O Studio: $10 for small matted prints; 3 for $25 $15 for medium matted prints; 3 for $35 large prints for $25. No deal for 3 Large prints, as they are very expensive to print and mat. But I do offer a one-of-each (small, medium and large) deal for $45. Dragon Press Graphics: 8 1/2" x 11" - regular print B & W - $4 8 1/2" x 11" - regular print Color - $5 or $6 8 1/2" x 11" - Limited Quantity prints B & W - $10 8 1/2" x 11" - Limited Quantity prints Color - $12 7 - In general, is it hard to gain profit by selling prints? There is no easy answer. Tani's answer (seen in full in the forum) is specific to her, yet there are plenty of artists who don't do so well. Can you profit? The possibility is there. Depending on quality of the print, and how much you charge. Individually, for every print you sell, you'll make a profit on it, But collectively may be another story. You have to take into account the cost of going to the con (travel, lodging, admittance, supplies, merchandize) and then subtract whatever you make at the con by selling your art to really know if you made a profit or not. 8 - What medium do you prefer as a buyer? (traditional or digital?) For standard merchandise (bookmarks, greeting cards, stickers) it doesn't matter. But for buying original pieces, I only buy originals. There is no such thing as an "Original" print. I would rather buy the line work. I like the evidence of human touch and thought. Most people don't mind Prints - and if they want an original, they'll ask if you can draw an original (a commission) on the spot. 5) Booth Presentation and displaying merchandise FAQ 1 - How should I organize my art? Binders or some sort of Book Display seems to work best for most artists. once you've got those in hand there are a LOT of different ways to organize and it's all based on preference as well as how much room and how many pictures you have. One system could be to put all Anime Fanart in one binder/book while all your original art is in another. Another is to put all work that is for sale in one binder/book while the other book just shows things you can do but aren't for sale. This is especially good for beginning artists who might not have enough merchandize to fill their table. Plus, if you don't have alot of money to spend, you can use the NFS (not for sale) book as a guage on which pictures you SHOULD spend the money on... Tani recommends packing your NFS folder with a variety of work so that people can see the range of your skill. That way if a patron doesn.t see a print that they like, they will realize that you are still capable of producing what they want and they might commission you. Once you decide how you want to split your books, then you can decide how you want to organize each book. For instance in chronological order, or by theme (i.e. life study, then comics, then color originals). The book (or books) that contains art for sale, make sure that ALL the pages are labeled and priced. You can also add an optional third binder for adult work, in which you can combine NFS and prints just be sure they are labeled as Adult work. And if you have Adult works to show, be sure to keep to the Artist Alley Rules concerning the display and sales of such work Binders can be purchased at office supply shop or drug stores along with sheet protectors. I recommend buying 100 packs of sheet protectors. They cost about $12 and you.ll be surprised how fast you go through them. Extras can be given away with print purchases as an extra service to your patrons. Portfolios for 9x12 and 11x17 work can be purchased at art stores at different levels of quality and range from $10-40. 2 - How much should I charge for commissions? Technically whatever you want, but you want to be competitive. A good range to start with currently is $7-10 for pencil, $11-17 for inks, and $18-30 for color depending on what medium you use for color. The hierarchy from low to high is marker, color pencil, watercolor. You can also charge extra per character or for backgrounds. THESE PRICES ARE NOT SET IN STONE! Experiment to see what people will pay and don't sell your self short. Charging practically nothing will make people think less about your art, and you don't want to look cheap. As demand grows raise your prices accordingly. 3 - Can I play music? Yes. But be mindful of your neighbors and convention rules. Music is a great way to attract a crowd and to keep yourself from going insane from being trapped behind your table. 4 - Should I bring a tablecloth? First - check to see if your Artist Alley is capable of providing them. If they are, it's not required to bring your own tablecloth. However, bringing a table cloth brings a unique look to your booth and creates a foundation for your overall booth presentation. You can choose colors that complement your artwork so that your table and art together look like a work of art. Experiment with different colors and patterns and see what works best. 5 - What types of signs should I make? Make lots of signs, you can NEVER have too many. Standard: you should have a general sign that has your commission rates and maybe a price list. There should be signs for each individual product and if you have time individual price labels for merchandise. Even with this overwhelming amount of pricing information available you will still have a few people that will ask "How much is this?" It is unavoidable to get questions from patrons, but the more signs you make the less you will have to hear that annoying question and have to answer the same thing over and over and over and over and over again. 6 - Do I have to show up early to set up? It isn't necessary; the standard protocol for most conventions is that your booth will be held until Saturday Afternoon for you to set up shop (though times vary from con to con so check with event directors). It is not uncommon for artists. to set up as late as 7pm on Friday, people have commitments and jobs. However, there are advantages to setting up early. You can avoid the crowds while setting up and you will have more time to sell. 6) Other 1 - How do I lug around all this art? I don't have a car! I rely on my wheelie-cart, my superhuman strength and occasionally a kind stranger. It's also a good idea to have friends with cars that can pick you up at the airport. The immortal question: "Can I draw fan art?" Yes, you can draw fan art as long as it not a duplication of existing merchandise or someone else's fan art. It's cheesy, illegal, and pisses people off. What Fan Art should be is Your take, Your Art style, Your design, that just so happens to have a well known character in the picture.