Why is art from this farmer’s market so friggin expensive?
Justifying the cost of art from working artists and how to get better stuff for more reasonable rates.
We’ve all been walking through the farmer’s market and stopped at the booth of a watercolorist who paints vibrant silhouettes of toucans perched on palm leaves and thought how nice they looked until you looked at the price. $400?!!!? For this??? WTF?
I can’t say for sure if the asking price in the above scenario is justified but I can tell you after a spending half a summer at art markets across the Midwest: the average person is offended by the cost of original art. As a working illustrator I am here to justify why (some) art from artists-you’ve-never-heard-of is so expensive and how you can acquire custom art you’ll love that won’t cost a fortune.
Here’s an off-the-top-of-my-head list of things that add to the cost of art at a pop-up market. Bear in mind I’m not even going to consider the costs of time, education or art supplies to make the actual stuff you’re going to buy.
First — it’s expensive as hell to bring your art to a market and have it look professional. It has to look professional too, all the good markets are juried and they don’t care what you’re selling so long as your merchandise…
