Art Articles & Reviews

Hi David,

I appreciate your viewpoint on Internet services for artists. It is rare that any site actually makes very much money unless they are linked to prints and framing. The artist gets a so called free website, but relinquishes image rights for a small royalty when prints are made from their work. It's like an art gallery that actually pays the bills by doing framing.

AIC is a pool of 7000 plus, independent Canadian artists, which is unique and draws attention to Canadian artists and garners a bit of attention and credibility as we have been out there since 2000.  Canadian art as a whole is not in much demand in the world. They hardly know we exist. I would say aboriginal art is making some headway, but the rest of us need to make our mark collectively to raise the profile of Canadian art in the world. Going solo requires help from agents, art galleries and unique contacts.

NOTE: hits are different than page views. Every page that is opened with multiple images on it constitutes a hit. (50 images on a page, equals 50 hits per page.) You need to divide the 50million hits by the number of images per page. AIC does between 750,000 and 1 million page views per month.

Saatchi is a world art gallery site and its sole purpose is for Saatchi's own attention. Very little benefit actually goes to the artists, but then it is free to join. Who cares if someone from Turkey looks at your art or contacts you - would you trust this contact by sending them your art? A pat on the back from someone around the world may lift your spirits, but truly look for the real motives of the initial contact. It is hard enough to get a legitimate contact from someone in North America, but more realistically someone from your city/ province even Canada should be considered more serious and nurtured.

AIC is working on strengthening the regional searches and awareness for artists listed and more importantly our members. Members receive a visual presence in their regions where people become familiar with their name. I can't promise any sales or that anyone will contact you, all I can assure you is we can expose your art and website in your Region/Nationally and you have the control to change images and copy at any time. I don't think any other true art directory allows this. We don't take commissions, sell email addresses or make prints from our membership to sell.

Thank you for this conversation, sometimes one gets blinders on when developing their own ideas of how they feel things should be done. I have developed AIC based on how I would want to be treated as an artist, with respect, fairness and affordability.

Again, thanks for the input.

Regards,

Paul Constable

Director

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Hi Paul,
 
 I have heard of sites, as you mentioned, which operate on the basis of the artist receiving royalty fees on things, which they both sell and print. The site claiming the greatest traffic, strictly for artists today (and not to be confused with the Saatchi Gallery) is Fine Art America (FAA). They offer a Print On Demand service, complete with offering framing and taking care of the entire order; which includes all correspondence with the buyer, shipping, insurance, sales, etc. They do not make any money on anything sold privately through their site. Though I have sold two limited edition prints through this site, the sales came directly to me.  Over the past several years, I have corresponded with a few artists living in different countries who use FAA. Two of them offer reproductions which they have made and handle all aspects of the sales themselves. Their sales have been very low (single digit). One lady I have corresponded with extensively offers prints of artwork created using her own photographs and Adobe Illustrator. She uploads the files of her works for sale to FAA and lets them handle all aspects of selling, shipping, etc. She sells a great deal of work through this site, and has been doing so on a regular basis since the site started.  This lady along with my other friends on this site, believe that whether FAA is doing the printing (making any money out of the sales) influences search results. I'm personally more comfortable with a site either charging a set monthly\annual fee or taking a commission. I have had my work marketed internationally (in the form of posters) by Canadian Art Prints (CAP). It has provided a great deal of exposure - to the degree that posters of my work are now in 48 different countries. With artists only receiving a 10% royalty fee (and that's 10% of their profits...not total sales), it takes a considerable volume of sales to generate significant royalties. The upside of something like this (as with FAA) is that it allows artists, who would otherwise not be able to entertainment reproductions of any sort to have their works reproduced. When it comes to the way many art sites are run today, your analogy 'to art galleries paying the bills by framing' is unfortunately far too often the case. I have received a commission as a result of being listed on AIC.
 
 Anything that helps promote Canadian artists on the international stage can only be helpful. Perhaps that should have read ' international arena' as getting international exposure is one thing, but the arena (audience it appeals to) is an entirely different thing. Artists need to understand what their own needs are (regarding exposure and marketing) in addition to understanding the nature of the websites they choose to be listed on so that they can better gauge which sites are most appropriate. Canadian aboriginal art clearly seems to be making headway on the international stage, because it screams 'national identity' by its nature. I don't know how important the nationality of the artist is for a gallery abroad. The novelty factor, of an artist being 'from away' does factor in.
 
 Having had my work represented by some of Canada's leading galleries (two of which were in Yorkville, Toronto) and having spent the last eight years marketing my own work exclusively, I certainly have a thorough appreciation for the role that agents, art galleries and especially unique contacts can play. Ready to re-enter the gallery arena the considerations and thinking involved remind me of how complex the politics and dynamics at play can be.
 
 I really appreciate the explanation about the difference between hits and page views. I wonder how many artists understand the difference between the two. The stats for AIC are even more impressive taking this into account; what an achievement in little over a decade.
 
 I agree! A sale or even an enquiry from within Canada (or even the US) has far more clout than 10 random comments from people 'the other side of the world'. Trust attached to the integrity of an unknown audience is always a concern. Websites need to generate revenue to stay viable, but (as you mentioned) separating sites where the primary interest is not the success or promotion of individual artists needs to be considered.
 
 Kindest regards,
 
 David

David Howells Website

Image: David Howells, Backwaters, 24 x 36, oil on canvas

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