Yesterday, I did a small art show & sale with a community group. There were about 12 artists there of different skill levels.

One of the first visitors there was a young lady who asked me how I did a particular watercolor. I told her and answered her questions for about 15 minutes.

Another artist came over to me and asked if I had made my first sale. I told her no, it was another artist asking questions about how I got a particular effect. She surprised me a bit by saying “You didn’t tell her did you?!”

I shouldn’t have been surprised. I have run into that attitude a lot. Some people want to guard closely their suppliers, techniques and materials… I don’t know if it is a majority or minority.

Last year at a show, I asked another exhibiting artist where she was getting her metal prints done. She told me she did not remember but would message me. I waited a few days and messaged her. You know it; no response.

Right or wrong, that is not how I am. At my very core, I love telling people about discoveries – new restaurants, bargains and of course, what I have learned along the way about painting.

Later in the show, I started chatting with another artists who was not new to painting but new to showing and selling. She started asking me about prints, Giclees, selling online and all that.

I thought I might pass on some of what she found helpful. I sometimes sell photographs on canvas at shows. The best on demand canvas printer I have found is on Amazon. Not as good quality as Costco used to sell but Costco got out of that business.

Last winter I did a photography show and ordered from maybe 5 print houses. Most were OK. One used particle board instead of wood for the stretchers and one of those canvases broke from a little jolt. You want real wood. This obscure storefront has decent quality, fast shipping and great packing – on Amazon as Chokoniii

I put my photos on canvas usually 16 by 24″ and pay $33 for a print that I can sell for $75 to $85 depending on the market. Here’s one I showed from that vender.

If you want photo prints or something like prints on metallic paper, there is Mpix. They do extremely good work but they charge for it. A 16 by 24″ canvas print on there is about $99 but they run specials all the time. Where they excel is things like printing on metallic paper. A 16 by 24″ print on metallic paper will run you about $30 and then you have to mat and frame.

She also asked about selling online. I have done this for a few years now. After trying a few other sites, I settled on Fine Art America AKA Pixels. The thing with them is they are cheap to use. At this stage in my life, I am all about saving money.

However, I would suggest that you discard any notion that you will be “discovered” there. There are millions of sellers on there. Any sales you get through there will be from people that you have directly sent there.

There are other downsides to Fine Art America: they do not tell you who your buyer is, their prices are pretty high for what I am told is only decent quality and while you can set your own mark-up, with their own prices being on the high side, that can be limiting.

To better explain that, Fine Art America has a price for each thing they sell. For instance, a 8 by 12″ canvas print might be $10 (just making up numbers here) and on top of that, you get to set a “mark up”, that is the amount of the sale that you get in your pocket. On most items, I have picked $8. That would make the $10 canvas print price $18 to the customer. Yes, I am only getting $8 but it can be $8 over and over again without doing any work other than making the art, scanning it and uploading it – well, that and promoting it everywhere.

I am dismayed that Fine Art America has expanded to printing not just flat art but will print your art on pillows, tote bags, coffee cups and just about anything else you can think of. However, you do have the freedom to turn off the sale of those items on an individual basis. As an example, I do not want my work printed on a shower curtain. You may and you can but I think it can cheapen the work.

And business cards – have them! I have 2 kinds – one kind to give out to people I meet and one for shows. Even if if you are not doing shows and galleries, you might meet someone over dinner who asks the usual, “So, what kind of things do you paint?”. Sure, you can whip out your phone but handing a business card over is a nice touch and will be remembered longer.

The best of the best, in my opinion is Moo. Their cards are substantial, heavy and just feel important. You can get a pack of 50 for about $20 + postage with a different image of your art, your studio, whatever on the back of each one. I have a set of these – with phone number – for giving out to friends and friends of friends.

PSprint is a real printing company that takes care in what they do – they will catch your mistakes and won’t print anything that does not look “right”. They do business cards, postcards, etc. You are limited to one image on the back of each one but the price is good – you can get 250 cards for about $30 and design your own card online or use one of their templates. These are the cards – without phone number – that I give out at shows and such.

Yes, I know about Vista Print and have used them but the quality and care is just not there and it is worth just a few bucks more for a decent product.

As I said, I love passing on all the things I have learned over the years. It has not always been easy figuring out how to scan, print, photo, light, mat, frame, hang, show and all that over and above actually painting a decent painting.

I am an Amazon Affiliate and make a few cents (really!) if you buy through an Amazon link on here but I get nothing out of the rest of these recommendations – they are just my honest opinion of sites I have used.

If you know of other good printers, websites, etc, feel free to share in the comments. Also, I am curious on how you approach the “share all you know/keep your secrets” line of thought when dealing with fellow arts. Have fun and create magic!