I recently found out that there are online galleries specializing in the sale of works of art by new authors from around the world. One of these galleries is named for the famous philanthropist Saatchi. Initially, I had a lot of doubts about participating in such online exhibitions, but gradually I came to the conclusion that if you approach the matter wisely, carefully read the conditions and prepare, then selling your paintings through online art aggregators may not be such a terrible undertaking. I will share with you my stories of exactly what I am doing and whether this will lead to the sale of paintings. But first, I’ll tell you how to register and verify your account, what to do next and what to look for at the very beginning.

Firstly, it is worth knowing that there are many different galleries and everywhere different conditions, so in this article everything will be about Saatchiart, but some general principles are still preserved. You can enter the site through Facebook or just create an account, come up with a nickname and everything, it would seem that you can already sell paintings. But no, for starters you will have to provide the site with a state-issued document with your photo (passport or driver’s license). I learned that on your document you can cover up the number and your signature, the main thing is that you see the name, photo and type of document. After a while (in my case, it took less than a day) your account will be approved and a sales opportunity will open. Before putting your first picture up for sale, it is important to know some nuances:

• Saatchi makes sales for paintings (up to 20%), it doesn’t matter whether you agree to it or not, so I think it’s better to immediately put everything into the price;
• You make packing of the picture at your own expense and prepare it for sending by courier (you do not pay for the delivery itself), and since the requirements for packing pictures are hellish, you need to include in the cost of your work all the costs of packaging materials and certificates that you need to receive the ministry of culture (these expenses can reach $ 250 for large works and even more);
• It is better to take 5 photographs of each work at once – the picture itself in full frame / rear view picture / picture in the interior or on the easel / macro photography of strokes / side of the picture;
• It is important to fill out your profile well and make a detailed description of each work that you put up for sale, often people are interested not only to see the image, but also to find out an interesting story related to your picture;
• The gallery website is essentially a social network, you can write comments, discuss other people’s work; the more active you are, the more views and reviews you have; it’s better to like the pictures you liked, sometimes leave reviews, in general, behave naturally and in a friendly manner;
• Well, traditional social networks also help you, if you have VK pages, facebook, twitter, instagram … you can tell your friends that you put up a job for sale, they will come in and already create activity around your page.

Yes, if your painting is suddenly bought, you will be contacted by email and within a short time (about a week) you will need to pack the painting according to the rules and send it to the courier who will come to your studio or home (you specify the address yourself) . I decided to put the picture “Objectification of women”, in English the name – Woman Objectification.

You specify the sizes, tags, style of the picture, upload pictures.

For the picture, I came up with a description: Painting: Oil on Canvas. I used Master Class Oils & crumpled descor canvas for this painting (2018). You can watch the video of me painting it (I used Master Class paints and Descor compressed canvas for this 2018 painting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKa6dew54RA

This painting is about women and men relationships based only on sexual interest. I feel that women around the world push women rights forward. In some cases we might see #metoo movement and in some other cases we can see #mgtow movement. This painting was also inspired by scientific experiment of John B. Calhoun, who made “Heaven for mise” and found out that the population met the breakdown; individuals do not have much interest in “love based” sexual behavior.

All the aesthetics of the painting show the decomposition and yet stability. Soft malachite like palette supports the idea of splitting as crystals tend to break and still stay amazingly attractive.

I decided to depict global fragmentation of midset and raise a question: “Would you like banana?”

How to set the price of a picture? I discovered a simple way for myself: first, add up the cost of all materials to create a picture, add the cost of time spent (how do you estimate the hour of your work?), Add the cost of packaging and information on the rules of the gallery, add a clearance for the sale. Next, we find a figure that is pleasant to the eye, so if you get 968 or 971, then put 970. Wait to lay out the picture at this price right away, it is better to analyze the market, see at what prices artists put pictures of a similar size and type. Of course, all works of art are unique, but still it is better to focus on the prices of already sold paintings.

How to take pictures of your paintings? Choose a slightly cloudy day so that the street is bright, but not too much. There should be a lot of light, but the sun should not hit the window. Put the picture at an angle of 45 degrees from the light source, you can set the picture on an easel or lean it against the wall, lean it on a chair. You can take a picture on your phone or on a professional camera. It is important that the picture looks in the photograph exactly as in life. You can’t apply filters and use Photoshop to make the picture brighter or change colors. After all, the point of selling a picture through an online gallery is that the buyer focuses on your photos, and if he is not satisfied with the package, he may refuse to take it. Take photos of the picture from different angles.

What you can do in Photoshop is crop and crop the frame.

You can find my Saatchiart profile by name – Vera Shtukensia. After a while I will make a more complete review of the Saatchi art gallery. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

Part 2: How to put prices for your works on Saatchiart

Prices for my paintings in the Saatchiart.com gallery

Costs of the sale of paintings