Friday, May 22, 2009

lydia

pencil, watercolor and the tiniest bit of acrylic on paper
3.5 by 5 inches
sold

i was going to write a long post about trying to work with small children about and how i was going to solve this problem by selling reproductions and thus have less work for myself and how i also liked this idea because i really want people to feel they can afford my work but i ordered a few prints and it just doesn't feel right to me in anyway so instead i listed a few drawings for sale to satsify my desire to have more lower priced pieces available (three of which already sold while trying to finish this post, thank you) and i'd love to be able to say that i'll be posting more drawings at regular intervals and that i'd love to finally make a decision about whether or not i prefer doing the large shop updates or just posting work when it's complete and i'd love to know what people think either way about that matter but frances keeps biting my leg and making it rather impossible to concentrate...

6 comments:

Elizabeth said...

I'm so excited because I got one of those lovely drawings! Yay! I couldn't say whether you should do small frequent updates or larger less frequent updates in your shop, but it seems to me that when people have to wait a bit and then there is a big update it can be rather exciting (even if you can't buy any of them it's pretty exciting to see).

Unknown said...

I like small updates, whenever new work is available. I always, always miss it when people do giant updates, and it's like a popular ticketmaster event-- everyone is sitting with their fingers on the mouse waiting to snatch up everything you have, and if someone is on the other side of the world sleeping, or taking their kids to school, or eating or something, when you do the one single shop update, they miss out...

I'm glad you're listing the drawings, though, because I was so looking forward to being able to afford your art when you said you were doing prints! Now I can actually afford an original :D yay!

Francesca said...

me too, i love my lydia! and i love knowing that she is an original.

i think you have to do what what works best for you, i know that's boring...but i will say that i do prefer a shop to have a steady flow of items. if someone announces a big shop update, the best things fly out of there so quickly and because i'm in the UK, often it happens in the middle of night and i miss everything! one more point - announcing one large shop update via a mailing list or blog will only go to your hardcore fans, meaning that people happening upon you at other times may often find an empty shop, which is always a shame. fans of your work can check your blog or flickr regularly (like i do!) and get lucky.

those are my thoughts, i'm sure there are many pluses too and i hope others will post them to help you make up your mind.

it's great that you tested the idea of prints, if only to decide no. if it doesn't feel right, it's the right decision i'm sure.

Ruth Armitage said...

I hope your leg (and sanity) remain intact. I know how frustrating it can be to try to get anything done with little ones around. The days are long, but the years are short. As always, I enjoy seeing what you are working on :)

tangled sky studio said...

the drawings were lovely amanda and i think the perfect solution to the pricing dilemma. i too struggled with the idea of doing prints and even though the samples looked ok it just did not feel right to me in any way...i love the idea of selling original artwork that has dimension and texture...and i like the fact that you add a few things to your shop every now and then and post when you can. you are not a factory-you are an artist and a wife and a mother and that is what gives your work the soul and context.

cheers,
beth

amanda blake said...

thank you all so much for giving me some opinions. i think i will stick with how i've been doing things - in general a lot of little updates but if i happen to have a big amount of work (after a show perhaps) i'll let people know when it's going to be up. they both have their advantages for me and trying to do one or the other completely seems a bit silly.