As you all know, i'm an artist.
I used to go to anime conventions all over the country in an attempt to sell my artwork or various characters. I'd sell prints, take commissions, and generally work like a slave prior to the con, during the con, and for a solid month afterward. I'd usually break even at least, and i turned a profit a few times, but it was nothing to write home about. I stopped doing about three years ago, because i didn't feel that it was worth all of the agony of drawing, coloring, making prints and commission forms, paying for the convention registration, the art table registration, getting my art framed for the art show, waiting in all the lines, then slaving over my table for three solid days, getting a huge knot in my shoulder and slaving over my art desk and computer for the next 4-6 weeks, mailing all the stuff out and then FINALLY being done... all to turn a profit of only about 30%.
So it may sound odd that i actually want to start doing this again. Starting with Otakon this year.
I've been wondering about the factors that could have gone into my lack of profit. One thing that i'm painfully aware of is that i don't draw popular characters, generally speaking, unless commissioned to. The reason for that is the fact that i don't like most of what's popular out there. Oddly enough, this year i happen to be into at least a couple of shows/movies that have been wildly popular, so producing fan art of these shows wouldn't be averse to me.
Another thing is that, in the past, i didn't generate a wide enough variety of prints. That's easily fixable. I also wouldn't draw porn. I still won't, though if you look a few posts ago, or look at my DeviantArt page it's clear to see that nudity is A-OK!
The other thing was pricing. I don't like to undersell myself just to make a a sale. It makes me hate what i'm doing and i won't put my heart into it, so it'll look like shit. This is a tough balance to achieve. I seemed to be doing ok last time i was at a con, but i have no idea what counts as reasonable pricing anymore.
Any ideas?
I used to go to anime conventions all over the country in an attempt to sell my artwork or various characters. I'd sell prints, take commissions, and generally work like a slave prior to the con, during the con, and for a solid month afterward. I'd usually break even at least, and i turned a profit a few times, but it was nothing to write home about. I stopped doing about three years ago, because i didn't feel that it was worth all of the agony of drawing, coloring, making prints and commission forms, paying for the convention registration, the art table registration, getting my art framed for the art show, waiting in all the lines, then slaving over my table for three solid days, getting a huge knot in my shoulder and slaving over my art desk and computer for the next 4-6 weeks, mailing all the stuff out and then FINALLY being done... all to turn a profit of only about 30%.
So it may sound odd that i actually want to start doing this again. Starting with Otakon this year.
I've been wondering about the factors that could have gone into my lack of profit. One thing that i'm painfully aware of is that i don't draw popular characters, generally speaking, unless commissioned to. The reason for that is the fact that i don't like most of what's popular out there. Oddly enough, this year i happen to be into at least a couple of shows/movies that have been wildly popular, so producing fan art of these shows wouldn't be averse to me.
Another thing is that, in the past, i didn't generate a wide enough variety of prints. That's easily fixable. I also wouldn't draw porn. I still won't, though if you look a few posts ago, or look at my DeviantArt page it's clear to see that nudity is A-OK!
The other thing was pricing. I don't like to undersell myself just to make a a sale. It makes me hate what i'm doing and i won't put my heart into it, so it'll look like shit. This is a tough balance to achieve. I seemed to be doing ok last time i was at a con, but i have no idea what counts as reasonable pricing anymore. Any ideas?
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Otakon is a great con, I'm sure you'll enjoy it if you go. Good luck!