Anyone got tips for comissions?

I really need to start making money, but im not sure how i can get the word of my drawings out there.

I'm literally starting from scratch. I have a website, but its not brilliant and few people know about it. Second of all, i dont know what prices to charge. I mean i dont think my drawings are brilliant, but others disagree.

So i need your guy's help. Any links to magazines that want an artist? Know anywhere i can advertise? Just any help would be nice.

Thanks Guys.
-Chris-

P.S. I live in the uk, so anthing over here would be preferred, but as long as it gets me money i dont mind :P

I would like to sell prints of my future drawings but i don't have any real plans on how i want to do that. Maybe we should create a website where car artists (like you and me) can sell prints.

I have some diploma's in marketing and one thing you can try is to 'advertise' your expertise on forums. Then place a link to your website in your signature and people will follow that link. On average people have to hear what you have to say 7 times before they make a buying decision.

Another thing you have to take into account is that you select the right target audience. You are not looking for people who enjoy looking at wildlife paintings (unless a Jaguar S-type counts as wildlife).

Get your website on search machines. Make sure your website doesn't look cheap. It has to say what you want it to say. A cheap way for that is to someone from a webdesign study to create your website for a school project. This way you both benefit. Your domain name has to be short and easy to remember.

Set the right price. This depends on the size of your drawings, the quality, the materials used. See what other online artists ask for their art, compare the quality and adjust your price (i know there are more strategies but this is the easiest).

I can easily write more about this than anyone wants to read so if you want to know more, send me a PM and we can discuss things further. For now i hope this helps.

JK

i) don't undersell yourself
ii) don't over-estimate yourself

Chris, I mean no offence but I'm not sure if your drawings (from what I've seen) are good enough to be accepting proper commisions. That's not to mention that if you are going to be doing this commercially, you enter a whole new world of legal problems with image copyrights.

Also, I'm not entirely sure if the proper professional title you should be using is "Artist" or "Illustrator".

check out the graphic artist guild pricing guide (the GAG book). It's a fabulous book and their a great outfit.

http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/0932102131/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199058204&sr=8-1

check out the graphic artist guild pricing guide (the GAG book). It's a fabulous book and their a great outfit.

http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/0932102131/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199058204&sr=8-1


lemorris is right on the spot with this recommendation.
He gave me the same suggestion several years ago and I got a copy.
Helped to guide me thru several sticky infringement problems with
some lawyers for major auto companies. They are starting to get pretty strick
with enforcing the trade dress use of the shape of their vehicles.

lemorris is right on the spot with this recommendation.
He gave me the same suggestion several years ago and I got a copy.
Helped to guide me thru several sticky infringement problems with
some lawyers for major auto companies. They are starting to get pretty strick
with enforcing the trade dress use of the shape of their vehicles.

I dont understand what the world is coming to. if anything, the owners of these vehicles should have a right to own a drawing of it. i mean they can take pics of it right? And it could count as advertising for their cars. :P

Also, don't use any images or photos that aren't yours. Legal rights and courts are a messing ordeal. Just simply practice drawing cars at angle and such. I don't use photos for my drawings so it helps you get past that wall.

Also, don't undersell yourself or oversell. Sell it a bit over at how much you will offer for it yourself.

I've done that and I've been doing pretty well. I think I've done over 50 commission work and such.

im in the same position with some of my work lately i have to be very careful ,my favorite racing driver passed away a year ago to cut a long story short greed has taken hold over people surrounding him and theres legal battles and $$$$ everywhere ,they have copyrighted his image ,his racing number ???? and his name ,ive had great success sellling these prints to people but now im too scared of getting taken to court ...heres some examples ....

one of his racecars with his famous 05 number and his name on it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v664/rexsin/a9x78artwork1.jpg

and this image has been copyrighted all together as its his face and first 2 cars he ever drove ,i wanted to sell it but was warned not too by someone that knew him well but he was also looking out for me

BE VERY CAREFUL EVRYONE :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v664/rexsin/brockfaceartwork.jpg