Do you dream of selling enough paintings on a regular basis to generate a steady income? It is possible. Duane Keiser, CarolMarine, and many other artists are doing it, and you could too.
Back in 2004, Duane Keiser was your typical fine art artist. He created large paintings, displayed them in galleries, and sold a couple of paintings a year. Then he hit upon a new idea.
Duane started spending one to three hours each day working on a postcard-sized painting. He created a blog to write about what he was doing and feature his paintings. He posted his paintings for sale on Ebay and pointed his blog readers to Ebay to purchase each painting. Art collectors saw his art, liked it, wanted it, and clicked to purchase. Within a year, Duane was selling a painting a day and the “A Painting a Day” movement was born.
Soon other artists followed and now thousands of artists are selling paintings each day. These paintings, which are typically less than 8x6 inches, sell for around $100 each, usually under a bidding system offered on an auction site like Ebay.
Selling a painting a day does not make an artist rich, but it does generate a steady income, and it could make some famous, like Duane Keiser. The practice of creating a painting a day has many other benefits for artists. Some of these include:
- It develops the disciple of being in your studio every day instead of waiting around for inspiration to strike.
- It allows you to develop and hone your skills and sensibilities through many hours of diligent, regular study and application.
- It allows you to break free of your usual and try new techniques or subject matter you might not normally attempt on a larger painting.
- It allows you to produce a larger body of work, which can build your reputation in the marketplace.
As the painting a day movement has gained steam, art enthusiasts recognize that these stunning little masterpieces were a great way to build their art collection at an affordable price. As a result, more people are making a living as artists, and more people are buying art.
Carol Marine will be teaching a workshop on this technique of “A Painting a Day” on February 13-17, 2012, at Whidbey Island FineArt Studio. The class is already full, but we do have a waiting list. If you are interested in learning how you can join with other artists in making a steady income by creating and selling a painting a day, go ahead and add yourself to the waiting list. We may add a second workshop on this topic later in the year if we get enough interest.
