artpro information center

Please bear with me as I edit and assemble the questions you've submitted over the years and add them to this page. All suitable questions and their respective answers are edited appropriately and posted on this site for the benefit of other artists. If your question is added to this page, only your initials will be used and any other identifying information will be edited out.

Q: I was recently contacted by a sales representative for an online gallery that does direct sales of original paintings, prints and sculpture to decorators and galleries etc. They take 10% commission and then they have a listing fee of $20 per image. Is this a good opportunity or just another scam? MM

A: With the advent of the internet, online galleries are everywhere. Because of that, I get questions about online galleries often so I’ve looked into a number of them. I have yet to find an artist who says they have made a single nickel through an online gallery.

The gallery in question here doesn't seem to be a scam but it also doesn't exactly have the artist's interest at heart. Artists are agreeing to sell their work at wholesale...which is generally 50% of the asking price, plus you're going to pay $20 to list it and 10% commission, plus a potential $100 initial set up fee.

Seller and buyers never communicate directly so you don't increase your collector base at all because you don't have a chance to develop a relationship with the buyer. That relationship is critical for your long term professional development (not to mention the fact the buyers are often more motivated to buy work from an artist they feel like they "know").

Sellers are paying the service $1000 for the privilege of buying artwork at wholesale. So, the service is charging the sellers for the privilege of discounting your artwork.

Lastly, sellers are encouraged to engage in making an offer for the artwork which automatically says "lets make a deal." Artists should not be compelled to make a deal on their artwork from the onset. If you choose to engage in a private treaty arrangement with a buyer, it should be at your discretion and initiation. Their way smacks of flea market bargaining.

Personally, I think it make much more sense for artists to have their own sites. Whether you're displaying your work through someone else's site or your own, it's getting the buying traffic there that counts.

Q: I have been invited to show some of my work in a Chicago gallery which is very exciting. Up until now, I’ve only shown in my own gallery. The problem is that the gallery is going to take 50% commission. Is it okay to mark the work up by 50% so I don’t miss out on so much of the profit. BK

A: NO. Ahem…...let me say this one more time, clearly. NO I can't make this point strong enough. You must design a pricing structure that is the same regardless of where you sell your work. Take your work to the Chicago gallery and if everything sells in a week . . . the gallery owner will fully expect you to raise your prices by 25%. If that all sells in a week, you may have to increase the prices again. Not being able to keep up with the demand for your work is a very good thing; however, one of the swiftest ways to commit professional suicide is to mark up your price by the amount of commission a dealer, rep or gallery charges. Its not ethical and certainly not professional and will get you black listed from all the important galleries. Trust me . . . it’s a small world and they all talk to each other!

Q. How can I get a listing of companies (such as greeting card companies, and other publishers of art) and how to submit ( and to whom to submit) my CDs to and the proper way to address the contact person in order to be considered. PM

A. You’ll find everything you need in the Artist’s and Graphic Designers Market book, including contact names and submission guidelines for each greeting card company. Follow their guidelines to the letter.

Before sending your work to any company, however, it’s critical that you look up their products to be sure your work is suitable and to be sure they don’t have another artist doing similar work. Most companies are careful not to saturate their line with work that looks too similar and will also protect a successful line by not competing against it. Sending seascape paintings to a company focused only on wildlife will only frustrate the contact person and make them remember your work in a negative way.

Remember too, greeting cards aren’t the only licensable product out there – there’s a plethora of gift products that use licensed artwork. You’ll find listings for those in the same book. Products like wallpaper, t-shirts, mugs, key chains, notepads, etc.

Each company’s listing will tell you what their needs are, if they work with freelancers, usually how much they pay and how to submit your work. Each company will have different submission guidelines, depending on their selection process. Always ask before putting a presentation together. When you get the guidelines, follow them to the letter.

Q. My husband, Joseph, has an illustration that a potential client is interested in using for the cover of her book. Do we offer to rent her the illustration? Can we get royalties from the book sales? Do we sell her the copyrights? TA

A. Since the illustration is in Joseph's existing inventory, you would typically offer to license the illustration to the author for a one time use as a book cover. Joseph automatically retains all rights to the original illustration, including the copyrights, as well as the right to license the image for other uses, at his will. Depending on the success of the book, secondary uses can be more valuable than primary uses. Once you've licensed the work to her for the book cover, Joseph could not use the image for another book cover but could use it for other purposes.

The agreement would be for the first publication only. If the book goes into multiple printings...she would need a new agreement with Joseph to use the artwork again. There are several ways to structure the time frame. The author's track record in sales and the number of books that will be printed the first time should be considered in the equation.

Cover artists typically get paid a one time flat fee for the license to the cover art but do not get royalties, which is why you need to get more up front.

Is the author publishing the book herself or does she have an established publisher? How many books is she planning to produce in the first printing? Does she plan to sell internationally? If she's self published, does she have a distributor? All of those things factor in when deciding how much to charge for the one time use.

Now for my little soapbox....NEVER NEVER NEVER sell your copyright. Especially if it is for an established piece of artwork.

Q. Is there ever a time that an artist should sell copyrights to his art work? If so, how much does one request? There is a well known card company that states that they buy all rights of art work from their freelancers. I'm considering submitting some to them. How does one know what to charge? Is there any set formula for this? EW

A. There are other very, very rare circumstances where selling the copyrights can be considered but you need to weigh out all the options first.

What the card company is saying, in essence, is that they hire artists on a "work for hire" basis. There are plenty of card companies that do not require the artist to sell all rights. Pass on this one and submit to those who don't buy all rights. (a good source is the Artist's and Graphics Designer's Market - available through Amazon)

If a client wants something specific created for their project (such as a magazine or newspaper having a story illustrated), they will seek an artist to "hire" for that purpose, thus the "work for hire" circumstance. In such a case, the client often spells out his needs pretty specifically, from concept to color schemes. Usually, the client will tell the artist what the job pays up front. The artist creates the work, is paid for the job and the client owns the original and the copyrights because it was a "work for hire." Most of the time, these jobs are for clients with specific products to sell like boats or cars or they are promoting a specific one-time event or conference. It's much the same as creating a logo for someone...very specific and not something the artist has a vested interest in the future of. In these cases, selling the rights is normal.

Of course, there are the isolated situations like the recent Stan Lee/Spiderman case where Lee's "work for hire" creation of the super hero in 1962 exploded into a multi billion dollar business! After nearly 60 years with Marvel, Lee sued and won 10% of the profits from Spiderman sales. Marvel is appealing the decision.

Yes, there are formulas to use to determine an both flat fees and royalties. Every case is different, depending on several things. You need to consider

All of these things factor into what to charge for licensing an image. A good book to have is Caryn Leland's Licensing Art and Design. There are sample agreements and good guidelines about licensing your artwork.

Q: A client who purchased a painting from me several years ago was quite upset when she took the painting to a printer to have prints made for her friends and family and the printer told her she didn’t have the right to do that. How can I make her understand that she bought the painting but not the copyrights? LT

A: I think you’re lucky the client tried a commercial printer first. With photo quality printers so affordable for home/office use, many prints are generated right in the client’s home. I honestly believe that most clients who try this are simply not versed in copyright laws and do believe they purchased a painting, copyright and all. The best solution for clarity would be to design a bill of sale (or better yet, a Provenance Form) that includes a statement similar to this: All copyrights remain the property of the artist. Past and future publication/reproduction rights will be at the sole discretion and direction of the artist." Some artists require the buyer to initial that particular paragraph.