Selling Art: 3 Ways to Get it Off the Wall And Into the World

Painting by Thaneeya McArdle

The traditional portrait of the "starving artist" is being digitally altered. Being an artist used to mean trying to sell labor-intensive pieces of work at a high price to a select audience – before the rent money ran out.

But these days, artists' and photographers' work isn't confined to canvas or print – many are diversifying their portfolios and selling their work in "off-the-wall" ways. Why sit around waiting to sell a $500 original painting when you could use a website  like Zazzle or CafePress to transfer the image onto a mug, T-shirt or calendar and get it out there?

Aside from these do-it-yourself resources, there are a growing number of sites and communities that can help artists get their work off the wall. Keep reading to find out about Threadless, where you can submit T-shirt designs to get chosen for print, and Poketo, which handpicks artists' work for use on everyday products.

1. Make Art Affordable on Zazzle

An abstract landscape by Thaneeya McArdle

When you visit globetrotting artist Thaneeya McArdle's website, you are drawn to the "gift shop", where her vivid designs are available via Zazzle, not only as prints, but on T-shirts, hoodies, hats, pendants, notebooks, mousepads and mugs. Talk about diversified! Having sold her products this way for several years, she says it's been very beneficial to her business, because it offers buyers an affordable, practical alternative to original art.

Screenshot from Thaneeya.com

"I was aware that selling my art on various products would open up a whole new market for my artwork, giving my art a whole new life beyond the paper or the canvas," Thaneeya says. "It would allow so many more people to enjoy and appreciate my artwork in so many ways."

She has two tips for other artists interested in selling via Zazzle or Cafepress. One is that getting high-quality scans or photographs is key to reproducing their work on other products. The second pointer is to stand back and make sure that their work looks good on the item they have in mind. "Not all artworks look good on T-shirts or mugs, so use your discretion and only offer products that you feel present well on the products, because this will be more enticing to potential buyers."

Another way Thaneeya is getting her work off the wall is by offering some of her designs as free Twitter profile backgrounds, via her own website and a site called Social Identities. "I get emails (via my website) and Tweets from people all the time thanking me for making my art available as Twitter backgrounds and letting me know how much they like my art."

Thaneeya's own Twitter profile, with her art as background

2. Try Your T-shirt on Threadless

Artists who want to sell their work in T-shirt form and boost their visibility in the creative communty can submit a design to Threadless. Here, artists upload their designs, which then go to a public vote. Designs are chosen for print on a weekly basis and get sold in the Threadless shop, with selected artists receiving $2,000 for their design, plus a gift certificate, and bonuses if the design is chosen for re-print. Perhaps you want to test the waters? You can submit your design for a critique and see what feedback you get.

Screenshot from Threadless showing Slow Shirts design

Slow Shirts T-shirt designer Jessica Lynch had one of her designs (pictured above) chosen by Threadless back in 2001, when the site was about a year old. Although she became too busy with her own Slow Shirts business, based on Guemes Island, WA, to continue being active on Threadless, she says there were many benefits to getting involved. For example, she became acquainted with one of the Threadless founders, Jake Nickell, who later spotlighted her work in an Etsy article.

A lot of people found out about my shirts that day," Jessica says. "I'd say any networking on the Internet is helpful, be it submitting a design to Threadless or commenting on someone else's design, it can always lead to more things. I met my website designer, who designed my second and third websites, from commenting on his shirt design and we started up a friendship."

3. Get Picked by Poketo

Poketo sells functional items bearing artists' work, and was founded based on the idea that art should come "off of gallery walls and become part of everyday life." Poketo handpicks artists and puts their designs on wallets, stationery, home decor items and T-shirts.

A Poketo wallet bearing one of Betsy Walton's designs.

Portland-based artist Betsy Walton had her work chosen by Poketo for sale on wallets, T-shirts (below) and tote bags. "It definitely helped get my work out to a new audience," Betsy says. "Poketo has been a dream to work with, and I am honored to have them as a client."

She says that although making art for products may not be a route all artists want to take, it does "take a lot of the risk and financial burden out of the equation. All that's left is getting the word out to your potential customers."

Poketo T-shirts bearing Betsy Walton's designs

"We are really in an exceptional moment right now, with lots of ways to create products and reach buyers. Websites like Zazzle and society6 are leveling the playing field in terms of production costs and distribution, so that the aesthetic and quality of an item can determine its success," Betsy says. "I think the biggest thing is to develop original imagery you are really excited about, and then get it out where people can see it, both locally and online."

Although Poketo selects its artists, those who want to try pitching their work can get in touch, via Poketo's contact form, with a link to their portfolio. Here are some tips for artists from Poketo co-founder Angie Myung:

"We do get a lot of artist inquiries from artists from all over the world and we do take time to look at everyone's work. I guess what sets one apart from the other is the originality.  What I see a lot from young artists is that their work can be very referential to older and more established artists.

Also, having an easy-to-view site is very important. Any heavy Flash-based site, where the images load slowly, or having a complicated site makes it hard to view the work easily and isn't recommended.

Artists, are you trying any off-the-wall methods to sell and display your work?