This subject comes up a lot with artists and I thought I'd say a few words on the subject having just returned from picking up my very first set of wildlife art prints at Nevada Fine Arts.
In preparing to move from biologist to full-time artist, I did a lot of research on how artists fund themselves, how they devise formulas for what to charge for original art and prints, and the market psychology behind having reproductions of your art exist in the world. To paraphrase and generalize, there were basically two camps - those who sold prints and those who (kind of) didn't. Almost all beginning artists seemed to rely on prints to bring in revenue while they honed their craft and some well-established artists still sell their prints at very modest prices and seem to do well for themselves. After all the podcasts, Reddit articles and art blogs, I wasn't sold on any single approach, but I saw value in most of the opinions that were shared.
As a new artist I struggle with balancing the quest for putting food on the table and a recklessly passionate pursuit of creating art, well, maybe not so much the latter, but I do want my art to be soulful and I want the time to commune with the places and animals whose souls I want to manifest in my art. In the end, I settled on selling prints. Not because it's a surefire way to fame and fortune, but because it accomplished a few of my goals -
I want people to enjoy these animals and my art in their own homes, I don't want to make art unaffordable to the people who might truly benefit from having wildlife and wild places to look at every day, and I want to make enough that I can feed my family, provide for their needs, and be able to afford some modest wants as well. I have no desire to be rich and famous, and I'd feel like I accomplished my goals if I were respected for my art by others and I operate with integrity - socially, environmentally, and on a personal level.
Is it worth selling prints? Worth the time to go and have the best pieces photographed, reproduced, and marketed to an unknown audience? Packaged and shipped by me at a considerable time cost? For me it is. It may not always be this way, and the prints I put up today are unlikely to stay up forever as my art improves, but I'll never waver from my desire to help people appreciate wildlife in one form or another and I'll never make my art unattainable, one way or another. This is a journey and these are my first steps and I'm grateful for each one of you who has gotten me where I am today and to those who will accompany me on the path that lies ahead.
