There’s some common questions artists and clients have when they’re exploring the idea of licensing their art work:
- Is my work suitable for licensing?
- How do I know if my artwork is good enough to be licensed?
- What will I paint?
- Where do I begin?
- How do I get started with art licensing?
- Who do I see to get help with licensing?
- What are my first steps?
- Where do I find the manufacturers who license art?
The truth is that there are no easy answers to these questions… Art licensing isn’t for everyone.
There’s no quick way through, and no magic pill either!
To be successful in this art licensing game you need to work hard and understand how art licensing works.
Art licensing is a process like any other and it could take some artists at least 12 to 18 months before they earn their first royalty cheque. In saying that, the art licensing journey could be worthwhile and rewarding for you the artist if you have a good process or systems in place.
Art licensing is an alternative revenue stream It allows you to earn a living through leasing you art work to a manufacturer for a period of time in exchange for a royalty payment.
Seems like a great way to earn a residual income…
Ask yourself these questions:
- What do I want to achieve through art licensing?
- What will art licensing give me?
- For me to be successful in art licensing hat do I need to learn and what commitments do I need to make?
We encourage our clients to do at least three art licensing related tasks per week.
Three tasks in a week means that you’ll complete twelve tasks in a month. Wouldn’t this level of focus bring you closer to your art licensing goals?
And remember… There’s always times when you feel like throwing in the towel and call it quits. Everything can be more difficult at the beginning… And success rarely comes easily, or without hard work, application, and focus.
Here are some more tips to get you started with art licensing
- Read blog posts.
- Watch art licensing videos via youtube
- Read about artists who are successful in the industry.
- Read books about art licensing
- Get an art licensing coach to help you in the process
- Listen to podcasts.
- Talk with others who are learning about art licensing.
- Create art with licensing and commerciality in mind.
- Create four coordinating pieces of art.
- Learn to create repeat borders & patterns
- Learn to create “mockart”
- Learn Photoshop
- Learn Adobe Illustrator
- Join a group of artists who are also interested in art licensing.
- Do research and see what kind of art you see on products.
- Research companies that license art.
- Contact a manufacturer and submit your artwork for review.
- Be open to feed-back.
- Keep creating new artworks.
- Promote yourself as an artist, and promote your artwork.
- Allocate your “refresh” time.
As we’ve said, art licensing is a process. While it’s easy to feel overwhelmed sometimes, try and avoid the temptation to give up before your even start.
Commit to doing three tasks per week and you will be amazed at the progress you’ll make in your art licensing journey…
To your art licensing success!
Need help?
Contact Vinh on +61 410 636 138.
vinh@artshine.com.au
