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How to price your oil paintings – Easy guidelines

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Working with oil paints is not the easiest thing to do. It needs a lot of patience and skills to complete an oil painting with a proper finish. It is heartwarming for an artist if his artwork does not sell at a good price after all the efforts. In this blog post, I am going to give you the best tips to price your oil paintings and the ways through which you can consistently increase their worth of them.

We artists have so much feeling for our work and sometimes most of the artists save such paintings which they found most attractive but in the end, you have to sell your best work to get attention from the buyers. There are some artists who overprice their work to get the maximum from a single painting but that should not be done by any means. If your artwork is attractive and can get attention from buyers then you should do so. You must have to respect galleries and buyers.

Giving a price to your work is not just for you but is also for people that are interested in your work. In the 19s there were a lot of galleries who do everything including advertisement and framing for your artwork to get customers’ attention but nowadays they have changed so much. when you will go to them, they will ask about your network of buyers and even you should have your own marketing to get your work noticed. they sell your artwork at double the price but charge a 60 to 70 percentage of commission. That is really annoying for an artist.

Table of Contents

How to measure the price of your oil paintings

Pricing your oil paintings could be so complex for a beginner artist but I am going to mention a simple formula that is going to make it so much easy for you.

First of all, you should not degrade your work. Whether you are a beginner or a professional, your price per square inch should not be less than 2$. Set a price of at least 2$ but not below it. If you set it below 2$, then we are devaluing your art which will directly affect your future prices and growth.

You have created an oil painting on a canvas and you want to give it a price. You simply have to measure its vertical and horizontal length. Suppose, it is 16 by 20 then you have to multiply these numbers with each other which is 320 square inches. Now you have to set a price per square inch like 2$ per sq. inch. Multiply this number by the total square inches which is 620$.

Framing is also very important for your painting. A good frame is going to cost 100$. Double the price of that frame. As oil paintings cost additional expenses like solvents, mediums, drying time, and pigments. Sometimes, pigments can be so much expensive. Give a price to all these expenses and at last sum all these values. the last value is going to be the final price for your oil painting.

How to increase the value of your work through art galleries?

It is uncomfortable for an artist to get just 30% after hard struggles but it is still not bad because these galleries sell your work at the double price and give you 30% off it. Suppose a customer like your oil painting in the art gallery and he searches for you on Google with your name. he calls you and asks if you have some more collections. You should say yes by any means. He will come to your studio and like another painting.

Now, you have to offer him the same double price for that work as it was displayed in the gallery. It was the client of the gallery so you should respect them and give them 10 to 20 percent. You are going to build a good relationship with them by doing so. Next time when someone like your painting, they will also say him to visit your studio if he also likes some of the other paintings.

How to grow the value of your oil paintings consistently with the passage of time?

Time and popularity decide the value of your oil paintings. A beginner should have to set a price of at least 2$ but with the passage of time, increase your rates as you are doing business. increase at least 0.50$ per square inch every year even if your paintings are not selling. This is for a beginner but if you grow faster then you can set it according to your popularity in public.

Tips to grow faster with an oil painting career

Today, the internet has changed the market of art completely because you don’t have to make a lot of effort to get your art noticed. If you are starting your painting career now then you must have some social accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, and most importantly Pinterest.

As it takes a lot of time time to master an oil painting medium. If you take at least one year to learn it completely, make some social media accounts and grow them in this time. build relationships with other artists and let them know what you are doing. Make a complete community in which you can interact with artists and people who are interested in oil paintings.

After a year, you are going to kill it and you will not have to visit an art gallery to sell your art. There will be people in your community who will purchase your work. Just work consistently with your dreams because artists define the way the world is in their minds. Let the world know what you see.

Sites that can help you to sell artwork

Here is a list of some sites where you can put your art for sale at a good price.

Conclusion

At last. I just want to say that an artist is the one who creates the art and this is his right to decide the price of his work, not an art-selling company. Set at least 2$ price for your oil painting whether you are a beginner. It will stabilize the market and give worth to your work. Apply the above formula to calculate the price of your oil paintings and sell them without any hesitation. Use the power of social media to promote your content at a faster rate.

FAQs

What is the average price for an oil painting?

It is hard to give the exact answer to this question but the average price is 3$ per square inch. Multiply this value by the height and width of the painting. You will find the near price.

References

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