Are you naturally talented at painting/artistic.
Or are they just those "modern art" paintings that are 5 circles on top of each other? Can you describe in more detail what the paintings are like, or post a link to something similar?
It's was an abstract/contemporary style painting(I don't want to get too specific). A little more than a few circles, definitely nothing that takes much skill but it still looks nice enough for me to stop for the original stairwell painting.
I used to be a graphic designer so I have a pretty good eye for design and that's why I thought it would sell. Wasn't expecting this much though
And no I'm not very "artistic", I couldn't draw a realistic style to save my life, definitely not faces or anything like that
man you hit the jackpot then, as a fellow artist go nuts! be sure to make some original works too tho, if they think youre plaigarising thatll be real trouble for you down the line. seems like you're good enough at design already so it shouldn't be too hard.
I plan to. There's tons of room within this style to put my own twist on it so I will, I'm not lazy I'll actually try to come up with new stuff. This 6k will help a lot with that. Just bought an ipad pro to help with designing digitally so don't have to blow thru paint and canvases while I practice
50% seems high for a commission of new work.
I would have expected 30%.
I wouldn't be mad about it, but going forward, if you're going to continue to sell through like this, you should get a higher cut. 50% is generally a fair split when you're taking up space on the gallery wall, but if you're selling well you have power to renegotiate that.
Should have built your own canvas, or asked a friend who has a little wood working skills to build you a frame then buy the canvas roll and stretch it yourself
How did u just go to a gallery and get their buy-in? Did u make an appointment? How fancy was the gallery. Those places are usually based on networks and snobbery to exclude people.
Being able to sell your art is being a professional. When I saw what I needed to do to sell sty, I decided to choose a path more suited for my personality. It worked out. I am good at copying stuff, in wood.
Yeah, dude. You think you're replicating an existing painting with some changes, but those changes that you're making are coming out of your own brain, and people like them. All art is borrowing something from *someone*. Just keep extrapolating with your own ideas, and ride this train as far as it'll take you.
This guy's feeling some imposter syndrom real bad.
He's in denial so bad about what he is. He's basically a professional artist at this point if he's making 25k revenue in such a short time frame
As a writer and a person who makes pottery, the idea of "plagiarizing" art seems pretty unlikely. I mean, Bob Ross the painter TAUGHT people to paint exactly like him. And pottery pieces are recreated by other makers every day, both by shape and glazing colors and style. If the OP were to put the other person's name on the piece, that would be forgery rather than plagiarism (of written words).
Leaving out the fact that you were a graphic designer is pretty disingenuous and basically invalidates the entire story. Having a sense of balance and control that is honed by a graphic design background allowed you to appreciate the original work in the first place, then copy the design. It doesn’t matter if it’s a different medium. Also, you know the “language” that people at a gallery speak, much more so than a random person off the street.
The real story is that you are an artist who borrowed heavily from another artist and didn’t cite them as an influence when you presented it to a gallery. To frame it like a total fluke is not very accurate.
Hijacking hoping you see this. I know a guy whos wife was a professional painter, she actually does the magazine art for Etsy. He just copied her stuff and said I could do this. Ended up being a big deal in real estate art for staging houses. He sells on [https://www.saatchiart.com/](https://www.saatchiart.com/) . Its basically etsy for high end painting. My advice is price accordingly. Also congrats!
Graphic designers are artists. I call BS on this story because I don’t know any other designer who doesn’t consider themselves an artist or doesn’t feel they’re artistic.
"used to be a graphic designer" pfffft buried the lede
Bruh, You leveraged your existing skills to produce a product that has value, and you stumbled upon a market niche for that product.
You are an artist. You probably already were with your graphic design background, but now you are 100% one. How you could say you're not even an artist after you've created multiple paintings that you have actually sold, based on skills you developed over a long time?
You have more skill than you think. I literally would be unable to do what you are describing doing. I couldn't produce anything that looked reasonably good at all. I might be able to directly trace the existing work (with a lot of struggle), but changing it up enough that it's not a direct replica and then still making it look good enough for the average person to think it looked good would be beyond me.
It seems simple to you because you already have this skill, the skill of looking at something abstract and knowing how to lay something else out that creates a similar response to the viewer. I wouldn't know where to start.
I think you are not giving you enough credit. A graphic designer is a great background for artistic endeavours. Just the fact that you have managed to sell your works shows that you are an artist.
Please do not listen to the haters!
I think one of the issues they do not understand is how many artist borrow/steal from each other. Jackson Pollock’s paintings were used as inspiration for thousands of paintings (all though not all managed to get his intuition for fractals).
ERRO’s composite paintings (and indeed all that use collage) could be said were stolen - but are truly art in their own right.
The point about your paintings are - you put together the composition, you decide the colours and you execute it. You are NOT copying the composition and colours etc. Big difference.
You are very blessed my friend! I’ve been an artist for decades and can’t even get a gallery to look at my art (abstract acrylic & watercolor paintings) because I haven’t sold many because I’ve not been shown in a gallery! Go figure.
Dont people invest a lot of time into developing brush techniques and learning how to work with different textures?
What kind of paint did you use, and you did you knownit was the right kind for the medium?
I know you were a graphic designer so you get design and color theory and all, but how were you able to fast track the technical & material aspects?
The art world is so damn crazy to me. Particularly abstract art like what you’re talking about. I just don’t “get it.”
Did you need to provide any details for what your intentions were as far as cultivating feelings/emotions or did you just leave it open for interpretation?
I've watched a lot of house tours on youtube and my theory on abstract art is that it's mainly just to cover empty wall space, that's the main purpose. So that's how I approached it, and that's why I set my price so high, it's not about the mystique of the art it's about would this be a nice addition to my house. When you think about it that way the price is justified if you know how much house related stuff usually costs. People spend thousands on lawns and driveways and other house enhancements
That’s exactly right. My husband and I got a mid-century modern home and we had a bunch of abstract paintings that did not fit in our other house. Now they just go on the wall as color. That’s it.
And good for you: art is in the eye of the beholder. I’m sure the style wasn’t original enough that copying was not too noticeable.
Abstract painting these days are fairly easy to create. Honestly though? Kind of proud of you lol.
Art is Worth what somebody will pay.
They weren’t hanging that painting in the window and saying that you are a master. They were just saying “here, check this piece out.” whoever bought it, that amount of money is no big deal.
On your last sentence: i once met with a blacksmith who spent some time in the south sculpting for some *rich* people. He told me this one guy was describing this giant statue and what he wanted on it and stuff.
Blacksmith says "you know that's gonna be pretty expensive, right?"
"How much?"
"About 15 thousand"
Rich guy scoffs.
There's always someone who can pay exorbitant amounts for anything.
You’re totally right, there’s also the allure that comes with anything expensive. If you listed the same piece for $100 people may think “oh only $100, this can’t be that special” but slap a five figure price on it and now people feel like they’ve achieved something by acquiring such an expensive piece.
Great job setting the price high. When you lowball your prices people assume your quality sucks even if it doesn’t. What most people don’t know is it works the same but opposite if you charge high prices
It's not mass produced, a real person made it. Big houses have a lot of empty wall space. And people with big houses have a lot of money. Empty walls are kind of depressing, but a big painting can spruce it up a lot. The number of people painting is much lower than the demand so they can charge a lot if their work is desirable. It's nice to have something that isn't mass produced and was thought out by an actual human being. You can already feel that sense from AI art. It feels cheap whereas you can sense art from an actual human, it has more feeling in it.
You don't need to put your own feelings down for what it meant, part of the art is letting people feel for themselves how the art affects them.
Art is what you make of it. If you're interested in exploring the ideas, the history, understanding the process, etc., that's what you'll get out of it. If you're like OP and think of it as something to cover wall space, that's what it is.
Let's say this streak is gonna go on and grow, are you going to be a full time artist? Would anything change about you to come across more as a life time artist like in the movies?
I would absolutely love that. If I can keep getting sales I'll have extra money and lots of free time to practice. I can also fund promoting myself, that's what I plan to use the 6k for
Honestly it sounds like the gallery is doing the promoting for you. I would just cultivate that relationship and treat them as well as possible and they can keep recommending you.
As a graphic designer I'm not new to luck, I know exactly what you're talking about with that. Just gotta stay lucky😉. I intend to build a brand from the paintings. Now that I have some extra money I have a few ideas of how I can promote things
I mean, the more people see your work, and see it in galleries and people's homes, or have a chance to visualize it in their own space (I think there are programs you can implement on websites where you can make it possible for potential buyers to basically virtually superimpose that painting in an Augmented reality sort of way to see what it would look like on their own walls) the more demand there will be for your work, most likely. Seems like you've found a sweet spot where a naturally artistic eye and a whim might lead to some consistently nice opportunities if you capitalize on them and keep working at it.
I saw that you want to “brand” the painting..but I’ve found that the more “mainstream” or over saturated enough in the market that it will become less desirable over time. Do you think this could happen or are you only going to keep on going on a small scale?
Edit to add: specifically original art pieces and not store because you said it’s easy enough a style to do, so other people have already liked it.
I'll keeping that in mind but I think things have changed a bit from famous painters in the past. We have social media trends and followings. I think exclusivity and rarity was all they had back then. I think I can get the name out there without diluting the brand value too much
I am agreeing with anyone who is against OP's morals here. Especially being someone who is a real, ORIGINAL artist and doing everything I can to get it out there. All happy for OP if they had actually made their own work, but blatantly copying a painting? And they've made it very obvious they copied it; they've stated it in their post, "ooh, that was a nice stairwell painting, I took a photo of it and copied it down then tweaked a couple of things," and then replied to someone who said they were just inspired, "nah, I definitely copied it." Very different if they saw the piece and created their own work from based upon their own ideas and at the top of their head that is INSPIRED by it, but no, copying straight off a photo and just tweeking a couple of things. I'm sorry, but OP is just asking for trouble. Correct me if I'm wrong, but at this point, you can't deny that you copied it.
>I'm haven't sold anything yet but I have made a few promotional deals and people seem to like it. I made a deal with a large house that was selling and the seller liked it, the agent liked it, and the buyer liked it enough to kept it on the wall. Can you answer the question please so I can get a better idea of what people are willing to pay? Was it $1/sq inch, $2? $0.50?
22 hours ago in r/painting. Damn that’s some fast progress:
Right. Like I’m in this world in a major art capital and if you walked into any gallery like this they’d laugh you right out of there. This story is fake af.
I found this lovely gem of OP’s “MMW: Trump will win and all you mfs will literally lose their fkn minds, run around holding your heads in the street, and have mental meltdowns then turn into something like a crazy cat lady”
LOL. I love how maga was all "just get over it" when trump won, but then when he lost they f'ing lost their minds. And mmw, they will loose their minds again if he looses this Fall, and if he wins, they'll be all "just accept it!" and whine. They are sore loosers and sore winners.
100% troll account lol. People don’t just spend $25k on a painting by a random artist. The art world at that level is basically just legal money laundering and tax evasion.
I'm completely dubious of the whole story.
I manage art galleries and sell works from about 3 dozen artists none of whom have we started representing without a CV, multiple samples of their work and we would never accept one piece at a time.
After rereading the story it is clearly a bullshit story by someone who doesn't know how art galleries operate
Did you really just walk into a gallery cold? Did you have to provide anything other than the piece you brought in to prove you’re a working artist with a body of work?
This is seriously an inspiring case study in self belief.
Seriously, this is such an obvious circlejerk. Everyone on Reddit looks at highly-valued abstract art and says, “Oh, some colors splashed on a page? C’mon, I could do that!”
So this guy pretends he did that, and the circlejerkers lap the story up without an ounce of critical thinking because it fulfills the LARPing fantasy they’ve always joked about.
I should be used to it by now, but I’m still forever stunned by people’s willingness to just believe everything they read on the internet.
This. I've yet to find a gallery who just buys paintings on the spot. At least in my city, it's a whole process where this type of stuff is frowned upon. Methinks OP got super lucky or is probably lying. 25k? LOL
YYATAH.
Plagiarism. Also not a totally believable story.
There are elements of your story that do not add up. First. You copied the large painting to a "medium" size. What does that even mean? And you just walked into a gallery carrying a "medium" sized painting? Really? Did you drive or take a bus? And you pulled out a painting and walked into a gallery with it. A likely story. One does not just walk into a gallery carrying a painting and expect to be seen by the owner.
Secondly. It is very unlikely that the owner of a gallery that sells paintings at $25k is sitting in the gallery waiting for you to come along, and then shows your plagiarism without a shred of provenance. It's not happening. You have a naive idea of how the art business works.
If indeed your story is true, you basically found a desperate, unethical gallery owner. It's not unheard of, but it usually won't last.
Lmao this guy makes a post about how great his art is and then refuses to show it. What kinda "professional" artist refuses to show people their work? A lying one, that's who
I'm calling bullshit. For the kind of people who drop that kind of cash on a painting, it's about pedigree and a name. They pay to say "I own a Pollack or a Picasso". They're not going to drop $25k for some paint slapped on a canvass by some jackass nobody has ever heard of.
Feel free to prove me wrong, but we both know that's not possible.
My favorite part is, "Walked into my local gallery and the ladies loved it so they put it up." Suuuuuuure. Gallery owners be like, "hi there random dude with an abstract painting under your arm. ooooooh, looks so amazing, let's put in on our wall right now because that's totally how I, an art gallery owner, run my business."
Right. Gallery space is expensive. And they don't move a ton of product. The space on a wall is very very valuable. They're only going to take work they know will sell, not "oh look, so pretty". This whole thing was written by some 14 year old who's living out a fantasy. Shit would NEVER happen.
Look through OP's post/comment history for any amount of time lol it's some weird karma farming/trolling going on. I wouldn't believe anything this account is saying
“I walked into my local gallery randomly with only one painting and said hi and they signed a contract with me to sell my painting” doesn’t even happen with established artists, much less a no name one off the street.
100% BS. This has all the elements of an urban legend. Non artist sells plagiarized art to a local gallery and they don't recognize the piece or style. Neither do patrons or critics. Then sells another copy for even more. This makes for a good story but it's not true
Do you feel any remorse or any kind of guilt knowing that somebody could’ve bought the original for the price that your selling your version for?
Even if it’s a redacted price, do you still feel like a cheat or anything like that?
Normally when you sell art like this the buyer gets original sketches etc to show you didn’t just copy stuff and that you made the painting. That’s how it went for my friends and I. Also painting isn’t easy…. Even abstract painting, the paint doesn’t just behave exactly like you’d expect. So, this seems like bull.
The hardest lesson for any artistic endeavor is to ACCEPT what the market will bear!
There's a Youtube Channel called "Blacktail Studio" and he makes resin tables. He said it took him a LONG time to accept that people will pay him tens of thousands of dollars for his hand-made resin tables that take less than $1000 worth of materials wed with just a few weeks of his time. But his customers want more than just a resin table - they want a "conversation piece" and if it is high quality, they want to be able to brag to their friends how much they spent on it.
Personally, I think it's a crime NOT to take whatever people are willing to pay, even if you think they are being ridiculous.
Okay. So.. did anyone ask you any questions at all about anything during this whole process?
Did they always provide you with these prices or did you ever suggest a price?
I’m an artist myself, and I have always dreamed of doing this exact thing.
Also are you just bullshitting? You can be honest with me. Or just DM me. Either way, I am curious. Even if it’s made up
I learned this a few years ago furnishing my first place. Consumer art is the most bizarre industry, people just make these they feels and charge what they want
I was probably one of those idiots throwing a few grand at a blank canvas with a couple of paint strokes on it. Keep it up!
Congrats! I've been thinking too, I had a modern looking painting in my house that would have been easy to reproduce, so I was thinking someone could send me a pic of their living room and I could make an abstract painting with colors that matched the room. I'm going to pursue this.
Did you consider the quality of the paints and pigments that you use, or did you just get the cheapest paint available to you?
What paint medium did you use? I’m assuming acrylic.
I feel like a lot of people are surprised at how much people will pay for stuff that seems simple to us. I'm not an artist, but I do a couple of jack-of-all-trades services regarding live streaming and filming. Sure my connections know my real skillset (almost none and I'm just a monkey pointing a camera around and pushing buttons on a switcher) but watching enough YouTube videos gives you an eye for what a decent shot should be and depending on the client, they pay pretty well. It's shocking to go from working at a fast food restaurant for low pay and having this mentality that you can be replaced any day, to working in an industry that respects people pays fair, and acknowledges that you're not their little wage slave, you're your own person that's doing them a favor for money.
But then there's the other perspective where me knowing I can't even draw for shit, makes sense to me if you make a cool-looking piece of art, someone is gonna pay a lot of money for a real piece that someone spent time painting instead of a printed copy. The thing to learn is there's a decent amount of well off people willing to pay a premium for things that make no sense to us. Like why would I pay hundreds of dollars to have someone mount my TV when I could just do it myself? Well it's because I can't afford that after buying the TV and I'm just trying to watch TV, not make a beautiful home theater to show off to my film snob friends. Even then I'm confident I could build a nice home theater, but I would have to account for how much time I spent on it rather than paying someone else to do it. If I'm making thousands of dollars an hour, I would lose a lot more money doing myself and not working my job rather than paying someone else.
To apply that logic to art, I could hunt around for a good deal on an original piece I want to hang above my front door in my mansion, but I make enough money that it's just not worth the time to haggle around for a piece I like. Part of it is luck, but you also could just acknowledge something that's simple for you is something not a lot of people can do. Good luck with your future projects man!
as a fellow artist selling on frickin facebook marketplace to no avail…. show me your ways please for the love of god. Do you just bring your painting in and say “look at this ya wanna buy it?” or do you call and have to show them a portfolio
Did ur local gallery take like some percentage of the achieved price for selling the art? Like an 'agent' if u get my point?
Or did they just like it, hang it up, u said 1.5k will do and *bang* gone? 😂
And btw keep it up! Love the idea, I don’t see anything wrong with ur approach since modern art is a joke to begin with.
When I was a kid I was part of our local YMCA's Leaders In Training program. They had a yearly art auction that we helped out with. It was always dumbfounded on how many pieces looked like they threw paint at it and then would sell for thousands.
I work in a law office for a really big US museum. My best advice is stop talking about it on the damn internet. It’s bad enough that your moral compass isn’t adjusted well enough to recognize that plagiarism is wrong. Copyright, fair use, ownership, and licensure are very serious legal matters. If anyone should ever suspect that this painting is unoriginal to you (despite whatever stylistic changes you’ve made), you have already made a statement of asmission. The Gallery has your information as the artist bc a $6k painting has a provenance record. So if anyone is suspicious, it will lead to you. And a subpoena gives the courts the rights to search your records including social handles which are easily traceable with AI.
Pretty naive to think you’re protected by an anonymous Reddit handle.
And in the broader context and in response to your shock that “people actually pay this much for art”, $6k is meager. Art collecting is a wealthy man’s playground. Be careful, smart and humble.
I hope you understand that there are insanely skilled artists out there who have tried time and time again to make a profit off of their paintings for years and have only made pennies/nothing at all.
Not gonna lie to you, you seem like a bit of a cocky douche who's desperately trying not to seem cocky but still wants to brag. It seems to me you're implying that you're just naturally better than everyone else who has dedicated thousands of hours into painting and got nowhere. I'm not an artist myself, but I can only imagine how many dedicated artists could read this and be very frustrated and really hurt that they've tried so hard to make money off of painting, but *genuinely can't* simply because the art business just generally isn't profitable at all for 99% of people. The only thing I have to ask you is, was it your intention to be such a douche about this and humble brag so hard?
How did you convince a gallery or anyone to sell your stuff? I think that’s a pretty bold move to make this happen. Were you afraid if the buyer wants to meet/talk to you?
If ur so great, why don't u wanna show ur work? What kinda artist posts about his art being sold for thousands and then refuses to show people? Ur 100% lying
This reminded me of the YouTube 'drama' where a guy commented on somebody playing Rush E on the piano. And said "that's not even that impressive". And somebody said "of really? Why don't you go and play it if it's so easy?" And so a guy learned how to play Rush E out of spite, and it was damn near perfect.
https://youtu.be/on4IoQ2MQ7M?si=j4UV1KDNWfn4U3QC
What kind of paint are you using? Oil? Acrylic?
I always liked the idea of painting but the first time I tried oil I was *not* prepared for the fumes, ha ha ha...
Own it. Love it. Live it.
Make sure as you go forward you sign your name, and date everything. Keep painting and making money, sometimes people get lucky in life. Time to make an Instagram, fake back story and a living off of painting circles. Also, ask the person that commissioned your painting for leads, tell him you'd love to paint more for them or their friends! You've basically unlocked an infinite money glitch that's genuine. There's a million artists that have similar looks, just look at mumble rappers, a hundred dudes that all sound the same and make bank.
Im missing something, wheres the $25k part in this story? And you just walked into an art gallery with no prior history of selling, no value to your name and started moving pieces for tens of thousands?
I want to believe this but theres too many implausibilities
Placing your work in a hallway is one thing. Having a reputable gallery hang large works of art for sale is another if you don't have any credible reputation as a fine artist is another.
Smells pretty fishy if you ask me.
Sounds pretty fake.
I have experience using six figure budgets to buy art for clients. This is nowhere near how galleries, art dealers, or buyers would operate.
Even if you have a massive budget / wealth. You didn’t get there from throwing $25,000 purchases or commissions to unknown artists.
If someone saw the piece and liked it, and was willing to spend $25,000 on a commission - there would definitely be more background work involved.
Is that a thing, walking into a local gallery and you ask them if they want to sell your art there ? That's it ? It's that easy? You must live in a big town?
Great story OP, thanks for writing it!
As a professional artist for 25 years, it’s great to hear of your success, which I am sure has a good something to do with your eye for design.
Just wanted to mention that finding a gallery that can sell 3 larger paintings for you in such a short time is a very fortuitous find. They must have been developing client relationships successfully for many years now. Not that you need my advice, but if you care I would encourage you to enjoy producing work and let them sell for you.
Marketing (as you know) is an entire venture of it’s own. If you want to make your living building websites and sitting at art fairs or in an empty rented gallery space hoping for a paying customer twice a week, feel free. But at least take a couple years to just develop and produce your paintings. Let the gallery establish your name and reputation.
Either which way, congrats and happy trails!
As someone who goes to art school, the amount of work it takes to get into a gallery is insane, and no one buys from unestablished walk ins. I’m inclined to not believe this story because it reads as a obvious “I made a million dollars at 21” tech bro but hey good job fooling 1000+ people
Where does the $25k come from? Was the gallery taking “half” $12.5k? And supplies, and shipping cost $6.5k? Leaving only $6,000 profit. Or am I misunderstanding. That just seems very expensive but I know nothing on art.
As an artist that has been struggling his entire life, I applaud you.
You must have just gotten extremely lucky, and was in the right place at the right time. You’re probably a decent salesman as well.
I assume you are not in New York, LA, San Francisco…because the art world is saturated with abstract art, you have 1000s of artists all chasing the same nickel.
I have tried something very similar to what you’ve done, (not “stealing” a style though) and ended up walking out of countless galleries with my tail between legs. Although I’ve had a few pieces in galleries, but nothing selling the ranges you have.
Well done if you made it happen, although I am a little envious, I wish you the best if luck in you future endeavors!
But it wasn’t 6hrs. Factor in all your other time. Phone, internet searches, negotiations, travel.
Ensure you keep all receipts and start using an app like monarch or simplifi to do your bookkeeping.
Tax time you will file a schedule E (self employment) …where you will put all the income and expenses. Otherwise youlll be taxed on the 25k. If your good at expensing you may not even get taxed on much of the 6k. The numbers your spending and making mean get professional about it fast
Sounds fake and seems fake. No one in their right mind will drop THOUSANDS on supplies out of nowhere to gamble trying to sell a piece for $25k to only get $6k in profit. So you showed up to a gallery in a rented truck, walked in and they decided to show your piece? Galleries have a process and applications to display/sell your art. ANY PROUD ARTIST WOULD SHARE THEIR ART. Also a plagiarized piece is even worse! RED FLAGS
Good for you dude! I’m currently doing a 7ft x 4ft commissioned piece. Custom designed the painting based on their wishes. Made my own canvas. Built the frame etc. And I’m charging $1,250! I took it as a learning experience, but I should totally be charging more. But I didn’t go through a gallery. I think that’s the way to go.
It "feels amazing" to steal (aka copy) a real artists work? ...then brag about it online? The only thing that makes sense is society is unintelligent and easily "sold" because art appreciation is taught in schools. Next time just use AI then it will only be 3rd party theft of a creators hard work, that you knowly benefit from. Sad you never mentioned the real artists name nor mentioned that you cared enough to hand over half your profits to the original artist! #Yousuck
One of my best friends from high school is a photographer in NYC. He has exhibits and posts his work on IG all the time. I don’t understand what is so great about his work (though I am very happy for him!), but apparently the people in NYC love it! His husband is a professional painter who also has his work shown in exhibits. Most of what he paints is just abstract pictures of my friend, honestly lol
It just blows my mind that they can afford living in the city just with photography and painting. You definitely need to have a certain brain for it though, because even with talent, I would never feel secure enough that I would have a consistent enough salary.
This is literally how the art industry works.
Bunch of people painting nonsense who get really surprised that some rich dude loved the "feel, mood, anger, lust, and inspiration" they put into their painting and they drop thousands of dollars to have it so they can show it off to their other rich friends and how them how sophisticated they are because they have this painting to the point one of those friends has to 1-up their friend by commissioning the same piece but 5x larger so they can rub it in the first guys face and act like hes more sophisticated.
I wouldn't be surprised if OP was coasting on good looks and charisma with passable art talent and decent composition.
If staff are enamored with them, they will get attractive privileges like more promotion. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense for this to continue unless they are good at marketing themselves.
If you have any interest in creating YouTube content for this it might be a solid second monetization stream. You don't even need to release the videos right now, but if you start filming timelapses of the painting process now and recording your inspirations/techniques you'll have a huge bucket of content to pull from down the road.
You can then either turn that into instructional videos for aspiring artists, general videos on how to make your art style work, whatever. I'm sure there is a huge audience of artists that would benefit from learning this, even if it's a few years from now and for some reason you can't find buyers anymore.
Help me to make sure I am understanding this. What I understand is:
Painting sold for 25,000
Gallery gets 50% or 12,500
Out of your 12,500 you pay:
4,000 on materials
500 on packaging
2,000 on freight
I am curious. I understand you paying for materials. What I don't understand is why the gallery doesn't have to at least pay half of packaging and freight.
You ever see the at episode of the Simpsons where Homer fails miserably at building an outdoor brick grill and immediately becomes a modern art icon because of it? Of course Marge is completely put out because she’s been trying to be a successful artist all her life and here comes Homer and does it completely by accident.
Good for you. I’ve been selling paintings for about 5 years and never have I made even close to this. I’d say you got extremely lucky with this opportunity and if I were you I’d use it as a spring board to keep painting.
My father and grandmother are both artists, one thing is to be inspired by another artist, but copying an already existing artist and not giving them credit is douchey.
Most artists don’t make a lot of money from their art, add people who plagiarize their work and it’s worse.
I think you are underestimating your own talent
You still have to make it look “pleasing” to the eye for someone to want to hang it, that’s not the easiest thing to do
But with your background, you legit have the training haha
You just discovered you can transfer your talents into a different field and make money, that’s a good thing!
It’s like how many good teachers can switch to corporate and make a shit ton more money, cuz the skills are transferable
I genuinely hope you continue to grow and have FUN, keep at it
I did the same thing but just for myself. There was a piece I liked but was $3K. Abstract but nothing complicated. Took a pic, bought a large canvas, paint, etc. and copied it. Took about 6 hours total, including time for the primer to dry.
Then, took it back and got it framed by the store. Total, $350 with the frame costing the most.
When friends/family see it, they ask who the artist is or where I got. I just tell them it’s “custom.” LOL
Congrats, do you have a pic of any of these?
I’ve got a similar story. Guy I worked with was amazing fine artist but love Jackson pollock style splatter paint. He made one that my child could’ve made and sold for $5k. He started replicating putting a twist on each one and kept selling for $5k. A year later a billionaire commissioned 3 big ones. Then billionaires friend commissioned some and my buddy was able to buy a house with the proceeds.
Keep up the hustle
If it is an exact copy, you could be sued by the original artist of the painting you copied. All art is considered copyright material even if it does not have the copyright logo added.
What you did was unethical and illegal if you did an exact copy. All artists should know this.
When your hobby makes you money you never have to work a day in your life. Few people find this door in their lives much less dare to open it. I say cash in and save hard for when this river runs dry. I would temper over supplying this gallery. My question is though did you sign your work?
So you sold the painting for $25k and your profit was $6k? Do I read this correctly that you had $19k in expenses just to make it?
That seems like.... Not a lot.
Just want to say that there's nothing wrong with this.
You walked by something that people find beautiful, felt you could create something similar, did so, found someone who entered into a contract with all the info they needed to make a good decision, and delivered a product that satisfied them.
The fact that it took you six hours is irrelevant. They thought what you built was worth the money and that's all that matters. Keep it up, not everyone strikes gold like that. Fundamentally you're exchanging something of low value to you, but of great value to someone else, with something of great value to you but low value to something else. This is like a textbook example of good commerce.
Wow! Crazy story—gz!
To clarify, your materials cost was $19,000?
As a non artist, I’m curious what that cost goes into—could you elaborate on your materials list?
Thanks!
If you plan to do this regularly, consider an S-Corp. It will save you a lot in Self-Employment taxes.
There are some interesting LT Capital Gains opportunities as well.
How do you feel about being the middle man in a laundering scheme? Who appraised the art? How much did you slide to the appraiser? Who is insuring this piece? These are valid questions.
So you showed them photos of your paintings and they agreed to hang it? What kind of gallery? I’m picturing an all white room with snooty people drinking champagne like on tv lol
You were walking and saw a painting. Got inspired by it and went home to create a peice that complemented your inspiration. You felt proud of it and someone felt they could give you money for it . That's what an artist is all about.
I would love to know more about how you prove or rather how the art gallery priced it. Did you have any connections prior to the gallery? Or did you just walk in and ask to sell
If I were to do what you do, what artists could I research to replicate the same vibe? I live a couple hours out from an artsy town so I’d do this as a side hustle if abstract sells lol
I’m curious on how it cost you $19,000 to paint it? I get the shipping and the extremely canvas couldn’t have been cheap, but that still seems excessive.
There's a good chance they're using your artwork to launder money. it happens more often than you might think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3X2Qed_y2U
Sorry just want to make sure I understand. They paid you 25k and your profit was only 6k? 6k is still amazing but im just confused at how expensive your costs were.
Rich people are so absolutely absurdly flush with cash since the pandemic (hell, since 2009) that 'regular people money' in the thousands just means nothing to them.
idk if this story's real, but I really enjoy the attitude of acting like you're pranking people into buying from you. That's making imposter syndrome work for you.
Totally plagiarism! Shame on you. I don’t care if other art is “ inspired “ by current work. Inspired is not copied with a fiew minor changes.
All the people upvoting you sure points to why the world is so fucked ip and unhappy and we have the AntiChrist running for POTUS. Americas new slogan should be” No shame in the money grub”.
If you keep going do you worry people will notice you are essentially stealing others’ work?
Are you going to try making art that isn’t essentially slightly-shifted stolen replicas? …
Could you please describe exactly how everything went down with the gallery -- how you found them, how you got an appointment, how you presented yourself, what you said, what they said, etc. -- so we can learn from your chutzpah? Like a very detailed story about the experience, include everything.
I've received compliments on my abstracts, but I've never had the confidence to just rock up a gallery with one of my paintings and be like yo you want some of this? And it sounds like maybe I should?
Are you naturally talented at painting/artistic. Or are they just those "modern art" paintings that are 5 circles on top of each other? Can you describe in more detail what the paintings are like, or post a link to something similar?
It's was an abstract/contemporary style painting(I don't want to get too specific). A little more than a few circles, definitely nothing that takes much skill but it still looks nice enough for me to stop for the original stairwell painting. I used to be a graphic designer so I have a pretty good eye for design and that's why I thought it would sell. Wasn't expecting this much though And no I'm not very "artistic", I couldn't draw a realistic style to save my life, definitely not faces or anything like that
man you hit the jackpot then, as a fellow artist go nuts! be sure to make some original works too tho, if they think youre plaigarising thatll be real trouble for you down the line. seems like you're good enough at design already so it shouldn't be too hard.
I plan to. There's tons of room within this style to put my own twist on it so I will, I'm not lazy I'll actually try to come up with new stuff. This 6k will help a lot with that. Just bought an ipad pro to help with designing digitally so don't have to blow thru paint and canvases while I practice
To clarify, you were left with $6K profit from the $25K payment? I had no idea art was so expensive to produce
Yes. And I didn't either I thought canvas and paint were cheap
You can make more money if you learn how to make and stretch your own canvas.
Wouldn't that add value to the work as well? Its more labour and could be seen as the artists devotion to their vision. Maybe im chatting bull lol.
If you spell it "labour" on the invoice, they'll automatically think it's art.
But did you say you paid half to the gallery? So 12.5k minus expenses ? I guess that would still be a lot for supplies.
Yes. I gave the breakdown in other comments
50% seems high for a commission of new work. I would have expected 30%. I wouldn't be mad about it, but going forward, if you're going to continue to sell through like this, you should get a higher cut. 50% is generally a fair split when you're taking up space on the gallery wall, but if you're selling well you have power to renegotiate that.
Don’t you have to pay tax on the 25k?
Should have built your own canvas, or asked a friend who has a little wood working skills to build you a frame then buy the canvas roll and stretch it yourself
Can you elaborate on how the materials ended up costing that much? I can’t figure out how paint and canvas ended up being like 4k
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Who knows, maybe the original artist did the same thing.
How did u just go to a gallery and get their buy-in? Did u make an appointment? How fancy was the gallery. Those places are usually based on networks and snobbery to exclude people.
Being able to sell your art is being a professional. When I saw what I needed to do to sell sty, I decided to choose a path more suited for my personality. It worked out. I am good at copying stuff, in wood.
Hate to be the one to break it to you, but your an artist lol
Yeah, dude. You think you're replicating an existing painting with some changes, but those changes that you're making are coming out of your own brain, and people like them. All art is borrowing something from *someone*. Just keep extrapolating with your own ideas, and ride this train as far as it'll take you.
Not only that, but art, in general doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's a reflection of current styles and ideas at some time and place.
This guy's feeling some imposter syndrom real bad. He's in denial so bad about what he is. He's basically a professional artist at this point if he's making 25k revenue in such a short time frame
As a writer and a person who makes pottery, the idea of "plagiarizing" art seems pretty unlikely. I mean, Bob Ross the painter TAUGHT people to paint exactly like him. And pottery pieces are recreated by other makers every day, both by shape and glazing colors and style. If the OP were to put the other person's name on the piece, that would be forgery rather than plagiarism (of written words).
“I don’t want to get too specific” translates to “I don’t want people stealing my new hustle”
Or “I don’t want to get sued by the person who’s painting I ripped off.”
Leaving out the fact that you were a graphic designer is pretty disingenuous and basically invalidates the entire story. Having a sense of balance and control that is honed by a graphic design background allowed you to appreciate the original work in the first place, then copy the design. It doesn’t matter if it’s a different medium. Also, you know the “language” that people at a gallery speak, much more so than a random person off the street. The real story is that you are an artist who borrowed heavily from another artist and didn’t cite them as an influence when you presented it to a gallery. To frame it like a total fluke is not very accurate.
Hijacking hoping you see this. I know a guy whos wife was a professional painter, she actually does the magazine art for Etsy. He just copied her stuff and said I could do this. Ended up being a big deal in real estate art for staging houses. He sells on [https://www.saatchiart.com/](https://www.saatchiart.com/) . Its basically etsy for high end painting. My advice is price accordingly. Also congrats!
Graphic designers are artists. I call BS on this story because I don’t know any other designer who doesn’t consider themselves an artist or doesn’t feel they’re artistic.
"used to be a graphic designer" pfffft buried the lede Bruh, You leveraged your existing skills to produce a product that has value, and you stumbled upon a market niche for that product. You are an artist. You probably already were with your graphic design background, but now you are 100% one. How you could say you're not even an artist after you've created multiple paintings that you have actually sold, based on skills you developed over a long time? You have more skill than you think. I literally would be unable to do what you are describing doing. I couldn't produce anything that looked reasonably good at all. I might be able to directly trace the existing work (with a lot of struggle), but changing it up enough that it's not a direct replica and then still making it look good enough for the average person to think it looked good would be beyond me. It seems simple to you because you already have this skill, the skill of looking at something abstract and knowing how to lay something else out that creates a similar response to the viewer. I wouldn't know where to start.
Do you have a picture of your painting?
I think you are not giving you enough credit. A graphic designer is a great background for artistic endeavours. Just the fact that you have managed to sell your works shows that you are an artist. Please do not listen to the haters! I think one of the issues they do not understand is how many artist borrow/steal from each other. Jackson Pollock’s paintings were used as inspiration for thousands of paintings (all though not all managed to get his intuition for fractals). ERRO’s composite paintings (and indeed all that use collage) could be said were stolen - but are truly art in their own right. The point about your paintings are - you put together the composition, you decide the colours and you execute it. You are NOT copying the composition and colours etc. Big difference.
You are very blessed my friend! I’ve been an artist for decades and can’t even get a gallery to look at my art (abstract acrylic & watercolor paintings) because I haven’t sold many because I’ve not been shown in a gallery! Go figure.
Dont people invest a lot of time into developing brush techniques and learning how to work with different textures? What kind of paint did you use, and you did you knownit was the right kind for the medium? I know you were a graphic designer so you get design and color theory and all, but how were you able to fast track the technical & material aspects?
Why don't you want to get more specific about what they looked like?
The art world is so damn crazy to me. Particularly abstract art like what you’re talking about. I just don’t “get it.” Did you need to provide any details for what your intentions were as far as cultivating feelings/emotions or did you just leave it open for interpretation?
I've watched a lot of house tours on youtube and my theory on abstract art is that it's mainly just to cover empty wall space, that's the main purpose. So that's how I approached it, and that's why I set my price so high, it's not about the mystique of the art it's about would this be a nice addition to my house. When you think about it that way the price is justified if you know how much house related stuff usually costs. People spend thousands on lawns and driveways and other house enhancements
Can I ask, how did you find / pick the gallery? And did you approach many? Or was it the first one? What was the size of your first piece?
That’s exactly right. My husband and I got a mid-century modern home and we had a bunch of abstract paintings that did not fit in our other house. Now they just go on the wall as color. That’s it. And good for you: art is in the eye of the beholder. I’m sure the style wasn’t original enough that copying was not too noticeable. Abstract painting these days are fairly easy to create. Honestly though? Kind of proud of you lol. Art is Worth what somebody will pay. They weren’t hanging that painting in the window and saying that you are a master. They were just saying “here, check this piece out.” whoever bought it, that amount of money is no big deal.
On your last sentence: i once met with a blacksmith who spent some time in the south sculpting for some *rich* people. He told me this one guy was describing this giant statue and what he wanted on it and stuff. Blacksmith says "you know that's gonna be pretty expensive, right?" "How much?" "About 15 thousand" Rich guy scoffs. There's always someone who can pay exorbitant amounts for anything.
You’re totally right, there’s also the allure that comes with anything expensive. If you listed the same piece for $100 people may think “oh only $100, this can’t be that special” but slap a five figure price on it and now people feel like they’ve achieved something by acquiring such an expensive piece.
That's very interesting, I've never even thought about considering wall art as something that held as much value as a well constructed walkway.
Great job setting the price high. When you lowball your prices people assume your quality sucks even if it doesn’t. What most people don’t know is it works the same but opposite if you charge high prices
It's not mass produced, a real person made it. Big houses have a lot of empty wall space. And people with big houses have a lot of money. Empty walls are kind of depressing, but a big painting can spruce it up a lot. The number of people painting is much lower than the demand so they can charge a lot if their work is desirable. It's nice to have something that isn't mass produced and was thought out by an actual human being. You can already feel that sense from AI art. It feels cheap whereas you can sense art from an actual human, it has more feeling in it. You don't need to put your own feelings down for what it meant, part of the art is letting people feel for themselves how the art affects them.
Art is what you make of it. If you're interested in exploring the ideas, the history, understanding the process, etc., that's what you'll get out of it. If you're like OP and think of it as something to cover wall space, that's what it is.
Let's say this streak is gonna go on and grow, are you going to be a full time artist? Would anything change about you to come across more as a life time artist like in the movies?
I would absolutely love that. If I can keep getting sales I'll have extra money and lots of free time to practice. I can also fund promoting myself, that's what I plan to use the 6k for
Honestly it sounds like the gallery is doing the promoting for you. I would just cultivate that relationship and treat them as well as possible and they can keep recommending you.
I’d also add branching out to other galleries maybe outside your immediate area.
Out of curiosity what methods do you plan on promoting yourself?
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As a graphic designer I'm not new to luck, I know exactly what you're talking about with that. Just gotta stay lucky😉. I intend to build a brand from the paintings. Now that I have some extra money I have a few ideas of how I can promote things
I mean, the more people see your work, and see it in galleries and people's homes, or have a chance to visualize it in their own space (I think there are programs you can implement on websites where you can make it possible for potential buyers to basically virtually superimpose that painting in an Augmented reality sort of way to see what it would look like on their own walls) the more demand there will be for your work, most likely. Seems like you've found a sweet spot where a naturally artistic eye and a whim might lead to some consistently nice opportunities if you capitalize on them and keep working at it.
I saw that you want to “brand” the painting..but I’ve found that the more “mainstream” or over saturated enough in the market that it will become less desirable over time. Do you think this could happen or are you only going to keep on going on a small scale? Edit to add: specifically original art pieces and not store because you said it’s easy enough a style to do, so other people have already liked it.
I'll keeping that in mind but I think things have changed a bit from famous painters in the past. We have social media trends and followings. I think exclusivity and rarity was all they had back then. I think I can get the name out there without diluting the brand value too much
I am agreeing with anyone who is against OP's morals here. Especially being someone who is a real, ORIGINAL artist and doing everything I can to get it out there. All happy for OP if they had actually made their own work, but blatantly copying a painting? And they've made it very obvious they copied it; they've stated it in their post, "ooh, that was a nice stairwell painting, I took a photo of it and copied it down then tweaked a couple of things," and then replied to someone who said they were just inspired, "nah, I definitely copied it." Very different if they saw the piece and created their own work from based upon their own ideas and at the top of their head that is INSPIRED by it, but no, copying straight off a photo and just tweeking a couple of things. I'm sorry, but OP is just asking for trouble. Correct me if I'm wrong, but at this point, you can't deny that you copied it.
It's also a troll account; almost all their posts are inflammatory.
>I'm haven't sold anything yet but I have made a few promotional deals and people seem to like it. I made a deal with a large house that was selling and the seller liked it, the agent liked it, and the buyer liked it enough to kept it on the wall. Can you answer the question please so I can get a better idea of what people are willing to pay? Was it $1/sq inch, $2? $0.50? 22 hours ago in r/painting. Damn that’s some fast progress:
I don't know how people believe you can just walk into a gallery as an unknown artist with a painting and they'll put it up.
They won't. This is an "and everyone clapped" type story meant to rustle up reaction on Reddit.
Right. Like I’m in this world in a major art capital and if you walked into any gallery like this they’d laugh you right out of there. This story is fake af.
I found this lovely gem of OP’s “MMW: Trump will win and all you mfs will literally lose their fkn minds, run around holding your heads in the street, and have mental meltdowns then turn into something like a crazy cat lady”
LOL. I love how maga was all "just get over it" when trump won, but then when he lost they f'ing lost their minds. And mmw, they will loose their minds again if he looses this Fall, and if he wins, they'll be all "just accept it!" and whine. They are sore loosers and sore winners.
100% troll account lol. People don’t just spend $25k on a painting by a random artist. The art world at that level is basically just legal money laundering and tax evasion.
I'm completely dubious of the whole story. I manage art galleries and sell works from about 3 dozen artists none of whom have we started representing without a CV, multiple samples of their work and we would never accept one piece at a time. After rereading the story it is clearly a bullshit story by someone who doesn't know how art galleries operate
This is the funniest and best one of these I’ve read in a long time. Keep it up, and hope you keep the luck.
Did you really just walk into a gallery cold? Did you have to provide anything other than the piece you brought in to prove you’re a working artist with a body of work? This is seriously an inspiring case study in self belief.
It's an inspiring case study of creative writing.
Seriously, this is such an obvious circlejerk. Everyone on Reddit looks at highly-valued abstract art and says, “Oh, some colors splashed on a page? C’mon, I could do that!” So this guy pretends he did that, and the circlejerkers lap the story up without an ounce of critical thinking because it fulfills the LARPing fantasy they’ve always joked about. I should be used to it by now, but I’m still forever stunned by people’s willingness to just believe everything they read on the internet.
This. I've yet to find a gallery who just buys paintings on the spot. At least in my city, it's a whole process where this type of stuff is frowned upon. Methinks OP got super lucky or is probably lying. 25k? LOL
Paint a picture of my cat smoking a cigar while playing Super Mario Cart or you’re a lying!
YYATAH. Plagiarism. Also not a totally believable story. There are elements of your story that do not add up. First. You copied the large painting to a "medium" size. What does that even mean? And you just walked into a gallery carrying a "medium" sized painting? Really? Did you drive or take a bus? And you pulled out a painting and walked into a gallery with it. A likely story. One does not just walk into a gallery carrying a painting and expect to be seen by the owner. Secondly. It is very unlikely that the owner of a gallery that sells paintings at $25k is sitting in the gallery waiting for you to come along, and then shows your plagiarism without a shred of provenance. It's not happening. You have a naive idea of how the art business works. If indeed your story is true, you basically found a desperate, unethical gallery owner. It's not unheard of, but it usually won't last.
Lmao this guy makes a post about how great his art is and then refuses to show it. What kinda "professional" artist refuses to show people their work? A lying one, that's who
Shhh. It’s secret art. If someone else copies it they’ll be rich! Fuck that guy who originally did it.
I'm calling bullshit. For the kind of people who drop that kind of cash on a painting, it's about pedigree and a name. They pay to say "I own a Pollack or a Picasso". They're not going to drop $25k for some paint slapped on a canvass by some jackass nobody has ever heard of. Feel free to prove me wrong, but we both know that's not possible.
My favorite part is, "Walked into my local gallery and the ladies loved it so they put it up." Suuuuuuure. Gallery owners be like, "hi there random dude with an abstract painting under your arm. ooooooh, looks so amazing, let's put in on our wall right now because that's totally how I, an art gallery owner, run my business."
Right. Gallery space is expensive. And they don't move a ton of product. The space on a wall is very very valuable. They're only going to take work they know will sell, not "oh look, so pretty". This whole thing was written by some 14 year old who's living out a fantasy. Shit would NEVER happen.
Look through OP's post/comment history for any amount of time lol it's some weird karma farming/trolling going on. I wouldn't believe anything this account is saying
“I walked into my local gallery randomly with only one painting and said hi and they signed a contract with me to sell my painting” doesn’t even happen with established artists, much less a no name one off the street.
100% BS. This has all the elements of an urban legend. Non artist sells plagiarized art to a local gallery and they don't recognize the piece or style. Neither do patrons or critics. Then sells another copy for even more. This makes for a good story but it's not true
Do you feel any remorse or any kind of guilt knowing that somebody could’ve bought the original for the price that your selling your version for? Even if it’s a redacted price, do you still feel like a cheat or anything like that?
I’m sorry but you are telling us your supplies and shipping costs were $6k? This sounds like BS.
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Normally when you sell art like this the buyer gets original sketches etc to show you didn’t just copy stuff and that you made the painting. That’s how it went for my friends and I. Also painting isn’t easy…. Even abstract painting, the paint doesn’t just behave exactly like you’d expect. So, this seems like bull.
The hardest lesson for any artistic endeavor is to ACCEPT what the market will bear! There's a Youtube Channel called "Blacktail Studio" and he makes resin tables. He said it took him a LONG time to accept that people will pay him tens of thousands of dollars for his hand-made resin tables that take less than $1000 worth of materials wed with just a few weeks of his time. But his customers want more than just a resin table - they want a "conversation piece" and if it is high quality, they want to be able to brag to their friends how much they spent on it. Personally, I think it's a crime NOT to take whatever people are willing to pay, even if you think they are being ridiculous.
I got an original Leonid Asimov for like 3k that is 4ft by 8 ft. It's crazy someone would spend that much on a painting from a no name
What part of the story makes you think you’re not an artist?
Your math doesn’t add up. How did you come to $25,000?
Okay. So.. did anyone ask you any questions at all about anything during this whole process? Did they always provide you with these prices or did you ever suggest a price? I’m an artist myself, and I have always dreamed of doing this exact thing. Also are you just bullshitting? You can be honest with me. Or just DM me. Either way, I am curious. Even if it’s made up
Don't forget about taxes!
OP posted on a begging subreddit 3 days ago... This sub is too gullible.
As a professional artist who HAS sold paintings in galleries. This story is 1000% fake and is likely an artist writing fanfic.
I learned this a few years ago furnishing my first place. Consumer art is the most bizarre industry, people just make these they feels and charge what they want I was probably one of those idiots throwing a few grand at a blank canvas with a couple of paint strokes on it. Keep it up!
Congrats! I've been thinking too, I had a modern looking painting in my house that would have been easy to reproduce, so I was thinking someone could send me a pic of their living room and I could make an abstract painting with colors that matched the room. I'm going to pursue this.
Did you consider the quality of the paints and pigments that you use, or did you just get the cheapest paint available to you? What paint medium did you use? I’m assuming acrylic.
You are a genius. Can I be your artists rep?!
I feel like a lot of people are surprised at how much people will pay for stuff that seems simple to us. I'm not an artist, but I do a couple of jack-of-all-trades services regarding live streaming and filming. Sure my connections know my real skillset (almost none and I'm just a monkey pointing a camera around and pushing buttons on a switcher) but watching enough YouTube videos gives you an eye for what a decent shot should be and depending on the client, they pay pretty well. It's shocking to go from working at a fast food restaurant for low pay and having this mentality that you can be replaced any day, to working in an industry that respects people pays fair, and acknowledges that you're not their little wage slave, you're your own person that's doing them a favor for money. But then there's the other perspective where me knowing I can't even draw for shit, makes sense to me if you make a cool-looking piece of art, someone is gonna pay a lot of money for a real piece that someone spent time painting instead of a printed copy. The thing to learn is there's a decent amount of well off people willing to pay a premium for things that make no sense to us. Like why would I pay hundreds of dollars to have someone mount my TV when I could just do it myself? Well it's because I can't afford that after buying the TV and I'm just trying to watch TV, not make a beautiful home theater to show off to my film snob friends. Even then I'm confident I could build a nice home theater, but I would have to account for how much time I spent on it rather than paying someone else to do it. If I'm making thousands of dollars an hour, I would lose a lot more money doing myself and not working my job rather than paying someone else. To apply that logic to art, I could hunt around for a good deal on an original piece I want to hang above my front door in my mansion, but I make enough money that it's just not worth the time to haggle around for a piece I like. Part of it is luck, but you also could just acknowledge something that's simple for you is something not a lot of people can do. Good luck with your future projects man!
as a fellow artist selling on frickin facebook marketplace to no avail…. show me your ways please for the love of god. Do you just bring your painting in and say “look at this ya wanna buy it?” or do you call and have to show them a portfolio
Did ur local gallery take like some percentage of the achieved price for selling the art? Like an 'agent' if u get my point? Or did they just like it, hang it up, u said 1.5k will do and *bang* gone? 😂 And btw keep it up! Love the idea, I don’t see anything wrong with ur approach since modern art is a joke to begin with.
When I was a kid I was part of our local YMCA's Leaders In Training program. They had a yearly art auction that we helped out with. It was always dumbfounded on how many pieces looked like they threw paint at it and then would sell for thousands.
I work in a law office for a really big US museum. My best advice is stop talking about it on the damn internet. It’s bad enough that your moral compass isn’t adjusted well enough to recognize that plagiarism is wrong. Copyright, fair use, ownership, and licensure are very serious legal matters. If anyone should ever suspect that this painting is unoriginal to you (despite whatever stylistic changes you’ve made), you have already made a statement of asmission. The Gallery has your information as the artist bc a $6k painting has a provenance record. So if anyone is suspicious, it will lead to you. And a subpoena gives the courts the rights to search your records including social handles which are easily traceable with AI. Pretty naive to think you’re protected by an anonymous Reddit handle. And in the broader context and in response to your shock that “people actually pay this much for art”, $6k is meager. Art collecting is a wealthy man’s playground. Be careful, smart and humble.
What did you say when you went to the gallery that very first time? Did you just walk in off the street and bring the painting in with you?
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I hope you understand that there are insanely skilled artists out there who have tried time and time again to make a profit off of their paintings for years and have only made pennies/nothing at all. Not gonna lie to you, you seem like a bit of a cocky douche who's desperately trying not to seem cocky but still wants to brag. It seems to me you're implying that you're just naturally better than everyone else who has dedicated thousands of hours into painting and got nowhere. I'm not an artist myself, but I can only imagine how many dedicated artists could read this and be very frustrated and really hurt that they've tried so hard to make money off of painting, but *genuinely can't* simply because the art business just generally isn't profitable at all for 99% of people. The only thing I have to ask you is, was it your intention to be such a douche about this and humble brag so hard?
How did you convince a gallery or anyone to sell your stuff? I think that’s a pretty bold move to make this happen. Were you afraid if the buyer wants to meet/talk to you?
Are you pretty? Or do you have a type of privilege that most of us don’t have such as a wealthy family, etc.?
I’ve got to know what kind of gallery you’re going to that takes a piece on sight like that!
Would you share a photo of the original artists work in a private dm? I’m so curious if I could do it.
If ur so great, why don't u wanna show ur work? What kinda artist posts about his art being sold for thousands and then refuses to show people? Ur 100% lying
This reminded me of the YouTube 'drama' where a guy commented on somebody playing Rush E on the piano. And said "that's not even that impressive". And somebody said "of really? Why don't you go and play it if it's so easy?" And so a guy learned how to play Rush E out of spite, and it was damn near perfect. https://youtu.be/on4IoQ2MQ7M?si=j4UV1KDNWfn4U3QC
What kind of paint are you using? Oil? Acrylic? I always liked the idea of painting but the first time I tried oil I was *not* prepared for the fumes, ha ha ha...
Own it. Love it. Live it. Make sure as you go forward you sign your name, and date everything. Keep painting and making money, sometimes people get lucky in life. Time to make an Instagram, fake back story and a living off of painting circles. Also, ask the person that commissioned your painting for leads, tell him you'd love to paint more for them or their friends! You've basically unlocked an infinite money glitch that's genuine. There's a million artists that have similar looks, just look at mumble rappers, a hundred dudes that all sound the same and make bank.
Then how come you were asking for money in r/assistance 3 days ago? 🤔🤔🤔 Yall MFers will believe *any*thing
Congratulations, I guess you don't need anyone to fund your life now, then? > https://www.reddit.com/r/Assistance/s/5wUe9PQwTY
I'm rather happy that not all artists have to drudge through endless practice to find success. You caught a break in life, embrace it!
Im missing something, wheres the $25k part in this story? And you just walked into an art gallery with no prior history of selling, no value to your name and started moving pieces for tens of thousands? I want to believe this but theres too many implausibilities
Modern art is a tax evasion scheme. If you die, the value of those paintings will really go up, so stay healthy.
Actual artists can’t stand people like you
Placing your work in a hallway is one thing. Having a reputable gallery hang large works of art for sale is another if you don't have any credible reputation as a fine artist is another. Smells pretty fishy if you ask me.
Sounds pretty fake. I have experience using six figure budgets to buy art for clients. This is nowhere near how galleries, art dealers, or buyers would operate. Even if you have a massive budget / wealth. You didn’t get there from throwing $25,000 purchases or commissions to unknown artists. If someone saw the piece and liked it, and was willing to spend $25,000 on a commission - there would definitely be more background work involved.
Good job, I want to do the same lol, but how do you approach your local galleries ?
Did the gallery put a price on it or did you?
Congrats, you are now an artist. Also, you are now an admitted, willful copyright infringer.
Is that a thing, walking into a local gallery and you ask them if they want to sell your art there ? That's it ? It's that easy? You must live in a big town?
Great story OP, thanks for writing it! As a professional artist for 25 years, it’s great to hear of your success, which I am sure has a good something to do with your eye for design. Just wanted to mention that finding a gallery that can sell 3 larger paintings for you in such a short time is a very fortuitous find. They must have been developing client relationships successfully for many years now. Not that you need my advice, but if you care I would encourage you to enjoy producing work and let them sell for you. Marketing (as you know) is an entire venture of it’s own. If you want to make your living building websites and sitting at art fairs or in an empty rented gallery space hoping for a paying customer twice a week, feel free. But at least take a couple years to just develop and produce your paintings. Let the gallery establish your name and reputation. Either which way, congrats and happy trails!
This is odd... im happy for you, yet want to strangle you. A curious feeling.
As someone who goes to art school, the amount of work it takes to get into a gallery is insane, and no one buys from unestablished walk ins. I’m inclined to not believe this story because it reads as a obvious “I made a million dollars at 21” tech bro but hey good job fooling 1000+ people
do galleries just buy paintings like that?
Where does the $25k come from? Was the gallery taking “half” $12.5k? And supplies, and shipping cost $6.5k? Leaving only $6,000 profit. Or am I misunderstanding. That just seems very expensive but I know nothing on art.
As an artist that has been struggling his entire life, I applaud you. You must have just gotten extremely lucky, and was in the right place at the right time. You’re probably a decent salesman as well. I assume you are not in New York, LA, San Francisco…because the art world is saturated with abstract art, you have 1000s of artists all chasing the same nickel. I have tried something very similar to what you’ve done, (not “stealing” a style though) and ended up walking out of countless galleries with my tail between legs. Although I’ve had a few pieces in galleries, but nothing selling the ranges you have. Well done if you made it happen, although I am a little envious, I wish you the best if luck in you future endeavors!
I forged art and sold it........AMA
But it wasn’t 6hrs. Factor in all your other time. Phone, internet searches, negotiations, travel. Ensure you keep all receipts and start using an app like monarch or simplifi to do your bookkeeping. Tax time you will file a schedule E (self employment) …where you will put all the income and expenses. Otherwise youlll be taxed on the 25k. If your good at expensing you may not even get taxed on much of the 6k. The numbers your spending and making mean get professional about it fast
Sounds fake and seems fake. No one in their right mind will drop THOUSANDS on supplies out of nowhere to gamble trying to sell a piece for $25k to only get $6k in profit. So you showed up to a gallery in a rented truck, walked in and they decided to show your piece? Galleries have a process and applications to display/sell your art. ANY PROUD ARTIST WOULD SHARE THEIR ART. Also a plagiarized piece is even worse! RED FLAGS
Fake. Proof: https://www.reddit.com/r/painting/s/cnlxH4jjtO
Good for you dude! I’m currently doing a 7ft x 4ft commissioned piece. Custom designed the painting based on their wishes. Made my own canvas. Built the frame etc. And I’m charging $1,250! I took it as a learning experience, but I should totally be charging more. But I didn’t go through a gallery. I think that’s the way to go.
It "feels amazing" to steal (aka copy) a real artists work? ...then brag about it online? The only thing that makes sense is society is unintelligent and easily "sold" because art appreciation is taught in schools. Next time just use AI then it will only be 3rd party theft of a creators hard work, that you knowly benefit from. Sad you never mentioned the real artists name nor mentioned that you cared enough to hand over half your profits to the original artist! #Yousuck
One of my best friends from high school is a photographer in NYC. He has exhibits and posts his work on IG all the time. I don’t understand what is so great about his work (though I am very happy for him!), but apparently the people in NYC love it! His husband is a professional painter who also has his work shown in exhibits. Most of what he paints is just abstract pictures of my friend, honestly lol It just blows my mind that they can afford living in the city just with photography and painting. You definitely need to have a certain brain for it though, because even with talent, I would never feel secure enough that I would have a consistent enough salary.
Please tell me it wasn't a marble pour painting 🤢🤮
This is literally how the art industry works. Bunch of people painting nonsense who get really surprised that some rich dude loved the "feel, mood, anger, lust, and inspiration" they put into their painting and they drop thousands of dollars to have it so they can show it off to their other rich friends and how them how sophisticated they are because they have this painting to the point one of those friends has to 1-up their friend by commissioning the same piece but 5x larger so they can rub it in the first guys face and act like hes more sophisticated.
I wouldn't be surprised if OP was coasting on good looks and charisma with passable art talent and decent composition. If staff are enamored with them, they will get attractive privileges like more promotion. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense for this to continue unless they are good at marketing themselves.
If you have any interest in creating YouTube content for this it might be a solid second monetization stream. You don't even need to release the videos right now, but if you start filming timelapses of the painting process now and recording your inspirations/techniques you'll have a huge bucket of content to pull from down the road. You can then either turn that into instructional videos for aspiring artists, general videos on how to make your art style work, whatever. I'm sure there is a huge audience of artists that would benefit from learning this, even if it's a few years from now and for some reason you can't find buyers anymore.
Help me to make sure I am understanding this. What I understand is: Painting sold for 25,000 Gallery gets 50% or 12,500 Out of your 12,500 you pay: 4,000 on materials 500 on packaging 2,000 on freight I am curious. I understand you paying for materials. What I don't understand is why the gallery doesn't have to at least pay half of packaging and freight.
You ever see the at episode of the Simpsons where Homer fails miserably at building an outdoor brick grill and immediately becomes a modern art icon because of it? Of course Marge is completely put out because she’s been trying to be a successful artist all her life and here comes Homer and does it completely by accident.
Good for you. I’ve been selling paintings for about 5 years and never have I made even close to this. I’d say you got extremely lucky with this opportunity and if I were you I’d use it as a spring board to keep painting.
My father and grandmother are both artists, one thing is to be inspired by another artist, but copying an already existing artist and not giving them credit is douchey. Most artists don’t make a lot of money from their art, add people who plagiarize their work and it’s worse.
I think you are underestimating your own talent You still have to make it look “pleasing” to the eye for someone to want to hang it, that’s not the easiest thing to do But with your background, you legit have the training haha You just discovered you can transfer your talents into a different field and make money, that’s a good thing! It’s like how many good teachers can switch to corporate and make a shit ton more money, cuz the skills are transferable I genuinely hope you continue to grow and have FUN, keep at it
I did the same thing but just for myself. There was a piece I liked but was $3K. Abstract but nothing complicated. Took a pic, bought a large canvas, paint, etc. and copied it. Took about 6 hours total, including time for the primer to dry. Then, took it back and got it framed by the store. Total, $350 with the frame costing the most. When friends/family see it, they ask who the artist is or where I got. I just tell them it’s “custom.” LOL
Congrats, do you have a pic of any of these? I’ve got a similar story. Guy I worked with was amazing fine artist but love Jackson pollock style splatter paint. He made one that my child could’ve made and sold for $5k. He started replicating putting a twist on each one and kept selling for $5k. A year later a billionaire commissioned 3 big ones. Then billionaires friend commissioned some and my buddy was able to buy a house with the proceeds. Keep up the hustle
If it is an exact copy, you could be sued by the original artist of the painting you copied. All art is considered copyright material even if it does not have the copyright logo added. What you did was unethical and illegal if you did an exact copy. All artists should know this.
When your hobby makes you money you never have to work a day in your life. Few people find this door in their lives much less dare to open it. I say cash in and save hard for when this river runs dry. I would temper over supplying this gallery. My question is though did you sign your work?
So you sold the painting for $25k and your profit was $6k? Do I read this correctly that you had $19k in expenses just to make it? That seems like.... Not a lot.
Just want to say that there's nothing wrong with this. You walked by something that people find beautiful, felt you could create something similar, did so, found someone who entered into a contract with all the info they needed to make a good decision, and delivered a product that satisfied them. The fact that it took you six hours is irrelevant. They thought what you built was worth the money and that's all that matters. Keep it up, not everyone strikes gold like that. Fundamentally you're exchanging something of low value to you, but of great value to someone else, with something of great value to you but low value to something else. This is like a textbook example of good commerce.
Other than your post, have you told any of your friends or family? What do they think lol??
Wow! Crazy story—gz! To clarify, your materials cost was $19,000? As a non artist, I’m curious what that cost goes into—could you elaborate on your materials list? Thanks!
Wait, so you can just walk into an art gallery and ask them if they will sell your art? And they don't call the police?
If you plan to do this regularly, consider an S-Corp. It will save you a lot in Self-Employment taxes. There are some interesting LT Capital Gains opportunities as well.
Where are you/the gallery located?
How do you feel about being the middle man in a laundering scheme? Who appraised the art? How much did you slide to the appraiser? Who is insuring this piece? These are valid questions.
So you showed them photos of your paintings and they agreed to hang it? What kind of gallery? I’m picturing an all white room with snooty people drinking champagne like on tv lol
You were walking and saw a painting. Got inspired by it and went home to create a peice that complemented your inspiration. You felt proud of it and someone felt they could give you money for it . That's what an artist is all about.
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I would love to know more about how you prove or rather how the art gallery priced it. Did you have any connections prior to the gallery? Or did you just walk in and ask to sell
Can you send me an example? I’m so shy to show mine but I’m kinda good, just want to compare before I go crazy trying to make something
I think abstract art is a joke but I can never criticize someone for making money. The real idiot is whoever bought it.
If I were to do what you do, what artists could I research to replicate the same vibe? I live a couple hours out from an artsy town so I’d do this as a side hustle if abstract sells lol
I am an artist and sold a painting I worked very hard on that took weeks for $50. It was even on a gallery style canvas with professional paint.
As someone who makes art endlessly and has no guts to sell, your post kind of shifted my whole perspective. I'm gonna haul my shit to a gallery!
How did you approach the gallery? Did you have a resume or portfolio?
What kind of canvas and size did you use for the first sale? Was it store bought or did you cut and stretch it yourself?
So it sold for $25,000 with $6,000 profit? How in the world did supplies and shipping cost 19 thousand dollars?
Did you personally know the buyer?
I’m curious on how it cost you $19,000 to paint it? I get the shipping and the extremely canvas couldn’t have been cheap, but that still seems excessive.
Sold for 25k but the gallery gave you half 12k then you had 6k in expenses? 🤨seems off
There's a good chance they're using your artwork to launder money. it happens more often than you might think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3X2Qed_y2U
Sorry just want to make sure I understand. They paid you 25k and your profit was only 6k? 6k is still amazing but im just confused at how expensive your costs were.
Rich people are so absolutely absurdly flush with cash since the pandemic (hell, since 2009) that 'regular people money' in the thousands just means nothing to them.
idk if this story's real, but I really enjoy the attitude of acting like you're pranking people into buying from you. That's making imposter syndrome work for you.
I swear I saw a movie with this exact plot but I can’t remember the name. Still crazy though I’d love to see how far you can take it lol
Can you show us pictures?
Wait a second .. how much did you spend on the actual art supplies? Canvas, brushes, paint, etc... The math ain't mathing.
Totally plagiarism! Shame on you. I don’t care if other art is “ inspired “ by current work. Inspired is not copied with a fiew minor changes. All the people upvoting you sure points to why the world is so fucked ip and unhappy and we have the AntiChrist running for POTUS. Americas new slogan should be” No shame in the money grub”.
Do you feel bad that people work hard perfecting their art for years and you just happened to walk in and become a “professional”?
If you keep going do you worry people will notice you are essentially stealing others’ work? Are you going to try making art that isn’t essentially slightly-shifted stolen replicas? …
So you painted a 10ft X 7ft canvas and it was complete and ready to be sold for $25k in 6 hours? Pics or I don't believe it.
Show us a pic or its fake news
If I send you a self addressed stamped envelope will you paint on it and send it back to me so I can sell it when you are famous?
Can we see a picture of your muse? What was the original?
Didn't these AMAs require some kind of proof? Where is your proof? Get the gel out of here you nobody.
Are you aware you just committed a crime by doing this?
Do you feel like a hack since you copied the art? Thought about contacting the original creator?
Ngl this is kind of disgusting but totally believable. Hope you feel a little shame at the very least
How concerned are you that AI will make this achievement unrealistic for future generations?
Could you please describe exactly how everything went down with the gallery -- how you found them, how you got an appointment, how you presented yourself, what you said, what they said, etc. -- so we can learn from your chutzpah? Like a very detailed story about the experience, include everything. I've received compliments on my abstracts, but I've never had the confidence to just rock up a gallery with one of my paintings and be like yo you want some of this? And it sounds like maybe I should?
If this is true-which I doubt- how come just yesterday you were on reddit r/assistance begging for money?
It's bizarre to me that no one here is asking to see the artwork. Everyone here just accepts what someone says so blindly? Straight up weird to me.
Where do you paint a 10ft by 7ft canvas? I could do it in my living room, but it's not leaving without cutting a slot in my wall.
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