1. Mainstream art works best in art licensing.

If you think about art as a long line – with ultra-abstract styles of art on one end and ultra-traditional and portrait art on the other – art that will do well for licensing will fall in the middle of the spectrum.
I’ve said this many times but art that will do well in licensing has to appeal to the masses.
While you need one buyer for an original piece of art, a manufacturer has to believe that hundreds or thousands of people will want to buy a product with the art they choose on it. For that reason, you see less “risky” art on stuff. (That’s how I tell people what I do: “I create art for stuff you buy in the store.”)
If your art falls a bit outside the mainstream, does that mean you won’t make a dime in art licensing?
Not necessarily. You might license your work for a few products but it will be harder to make licensing your art a full-time profession.
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It might need to be a piece of your income pie and not the whole thing. The more your art is in the middle of the art style spectrum, the more success I believe you will have in licensing your art.
At the end of the day, there really is no way to know if your art is a fit until you try. I look back at the art I was creating in the beginning and don’t think it is up to par, but if I’d been told it wasn’t good enough and didn’t keep trying, I wouldn’t be here today. Far be it for me to judge!

2. Art for licensing needs to be in collections.

Creating collections means thinking about the bits and pieces a manufacturer would need to create a product. When manufacturers see that you understand and can provide what they need, you are more likely to get an art licensing deal.
A collection could be 4 coordinating fine art images. A collection could be 4 main images with coordinating icons, borders and patterns that can be applied to products.
Each artist creates a little differently but the important thing to remember is that if a manufacturer wants to do a wide range of coordinated products, they need more than one image to work with.
Imagine a set of coastal dishes – complete with serving pieces, trivets, salt & pepper shakers. I mean the works. How exciting would it be on a table if there was one sailboat image on absolutely everything? Not exciting at all – which is why they would need different scenes, icons, maybe some rope borders to wrap around the edge of a gravy boat and a crab & lobster to put on the salt & pepper shaker.

You have to begin to think like a manufacturer – “What art do I need to create in order to give them what they need to make an interesting product line that will sell?” This brings us to reality.

3. The purpose of your art is to sell products.

This is a very commercial way to make money with your art and you need to be okay with that.
If it feels like selling out or you won’t want to be asked to make changes to your art, run away now and find something else to do. You won’t be happy in the art licensing industry.
Products don’t exist to showcase your art. Your art exists to help a product sell.
That’s how it works in art licensing. While we all probably have more than enough coffee mugs, you have probably bought a new one because you connected with the design – it made you feel good, you liked the colors, you liked the message. Something about the ART on the mug made you buy it, even though you could have gone on for years without a new one.
Our job is to create the art that makes consumers open their wallets.

4. You have to be an art creation machine!

Gone are the days where you get an art licensing deal and the product sells for 5-10 years and you sit back and watch the checks roll in.
Consumers want new designs so retailers want new designs so guess what? The manufacturers need new designs from artists like us. It is a “what’s new?” world we live in and the most successful artists in art licensing can create quickly and in quantity.
Speaking of quickly, there will often be times when you will need to create or adjust art on a tight deadline in order to have the chance at having your art licensed. If you don’t like deadlines or making changes in a matter of days (or hours!), then this might not be for you. If you love the challenge of getting your art aligned with what the market needs, you might love it!

5. It takes time to make money in art licensing.

If you have bills that are due next month, deciding to license your art today is not going to help you. It takes time to build your portfolio, connect with manufacturers, get a deal, etc. before you ever see any money coming in.
On average, it takes 9-18 months from the time you sign a contract to the time your royalties start coming in. There are some deals where you will be able to negotiate an advance on the royalties when you sign the contract but other companies who won’t pay advances.
It is up to the artist to decide if they want to work with or without advances or decide if the opportunity is worth the risk of waiting for the sales to go through.
There are many ways to make a living with your art and creativity – art licensing is just one.
Have you dipped your toes into licensing? How much of your income pie does it take up?

About Our Guest Blogger

If the idea of licensing your art still sounds interesting to you, Tara Reed can help. You can learn more on her blog.
Tara recommends artists start on the FAQ tab on the blog or at ArtLicensingInfo.com. There is a wide variety of information from eBooks to audios, teleseminars and more.
I am very proud that Art Licensing Info is a sponsor of the Art Biz Makeover workshop next week – and very grateful to Tara for sharing her expertise.

The post Five Realities of Art Licensing appeared first on Art Biz Success.

Reality Check

1. It takes time to start making money . . . and by time I mean it can take 1-3 years so you need an alternate source of income while you see if your art is a fit.
2.  Speaking of art being a fit, not all art is suited to licensing. Art for licensing is art that will work on and help sell products. That is the whole point. Manufacturers looks for designs to use on their products so consumers will buy them. There isn’t a lot of abstract art being licensed, for example. But you will never see snowmen or roosters leave the stores because people always seem to want to buy things with snowmen and roosters. (Not necessarily together, of course.)

3.  There is a lot of competition. In recent years more artists have become aware of the idea of licensing and there are more people talking about how to do it.  A lot of artists who used to work for manufacturers have been downsized and have entered the pool of artists licensing their work. This means your art has to be that much better. Manufacturers have a lot of choices so you need to put your best art forward to land that deal.
4.  You might be asked to create quickly. There are many times when deadlines will be tight so if you don’t like creating on the turn of a dime, you might not love the process of licensing your art.  Or, if you choose not to do things quickly (which is your choice since you are in business for yourself) you simply won’t get the deal.
5.  You need to be determined and you must be able to handle rejection . . . or crickets. (Meaning no response at all.)  Art licensing is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of work to create your art and market your art. It takes a firm sense of self and the ability to listen to and learn from feedback when your art isn’t selected. You also need to be able to keep creating and marketing when you submit art and never hear anything back.
6.  Changes to the art is more of a rule than an exception. In point #2 I mentioned that the whole purpose of the art in licensing is to help sell products. That could mean that a manufacturer who is interested in your work might ask for changes based on trends they are seeing in the marketplace or requests they are receiving from retailers. 
I would guess that about 80% of the work that I do is changed in some way between when I show it to a manufacturer and when it lands on a store shelf. It might be a color change, size change, or layout change. You have to know that you and the manufacturer are partners, trying to create the best product possible in hopes of lots and lots of sales. That is, after all, how you earn your living.  (Most art licensing deals are done as a royalty based on sales so the more products that sell, the higher your royalty check!)
I’m feeling like the first 6 points could be construed as a bit negative but they are simply some realities of this business. It is better to know about them before you devote a lot of time and energy to creating art for licensing, right? If you know you hate to work on a deadline you can save some time and look at other money making options for your art.

The Good Stuff

Let’s finish up with some things that I absolutely love about licensing! (You will find that some of these points were mentioned before as well.)
7.  When licensing your art is really working, you will be paid for the same art by multiple manufacturers. This is a concept I love. I love that I can create a holiday collection and license the rights to use the same art to different manufacturers for different projects. It makes sense to me. Why sell the art outright to a company who will only use it for paper plates and napkins? Instead I can license it to a company who makes paper plates and napkins, then to another who makes ceramic plates, and another who makes rubber stamps, etc. It is like a game to come up with art that will work across a variety of products and then connect with the people who choose the art.
8.  You get to collaborate with manufacturers. This is one of my favorite things. Like many artists, I work alone in my studio, which is in my home. Not a lot of water cooler talk or heading to lunch with the gang. My co-workers become the licensing managers and art directors across the country who I talk to and brainstorm about art and product design. Very often I have art that they like and then we come up with some changes or additions to make it really fit for them. It’s so exciting to later see it in the stores and remember the conversations when the ideas were born.
9.  You don’t have to focus on one product and manage all aspects – from production to marketing to sales to shipping and returns. Starting a greeting card business is a full time job. You have to study the market, create the art, invest in production and then figure out how to get the word out about your great creations. You don’t have time to also manufacture ceramic dishes, handbags and picture frames too! With licensing, you focus on the art and find the people who are making and selling and shipping – leaving you time to get back to creating the art.
10.  It is so incredibly cool to go into a store and see products for sale with your art on them! After 8 years licensing my art I am still delighted each and every time it happens and hope I never become immune to the feeling. I’ve heard artists say it’s selling out to have your art mass produced but I wholeheartedly disagree.  I think it is a very fun, interesting and satisfying way to make a living.

About the Guest Blogger
Tara Reed is a successful licensor of her art and teaches artists how to follow her path at ArtLicensingInfo.com (my affiliate link). You can visit that link, sign up for her bi-weekly newsletter, and receive her Beginner Basics audio program for just $10. Her creative juices flow in her Portland, Oregon studio.

The post 10 Things to Know Before You Throw Your Hat in the Art Licensing Arena appeared first on Art Biz Success.