There are endless possibilities.Ĭompanies work with manufacturing companies that deal with artists and designers to create products. Everything from collectables to home decor to car decals. Not only can you offer prints, but you have the potential to create a BRAND. So how does licensing work? What do companies look for? How can you pitch to clients? How do clients find you?įirst, licensing is a big business. Painting by Natasha Wescoat licensed to Olivia Olive Oil Company Licensing 101 Licensing is a continual, residual income builder. This helps immensely when you need to get the bills paid! If you want to do this full-time, then you have to expand your multiple streams of income. What’s great about licensing is that you are able to fill in the gaps when art sales are at a low or in a seasonal slump. I built a larger following and soon had regular paychecks coming in the mail! Residual income builder and gap filler It was wild when just one day, opening up my email to find requests on a regular basis. Because of sites like Art.com and, I have signed on with product companies that now feature my work in stores like Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and art shops across the US. They found my art through sites like Art.com and emailed me to ask how they could put my work on their products. This was ironically a great way to also acquire new licensee clients. I even acquired several custom commissions from clients who wanted something ‘larger’ than what the print sites were offering. This was invaluable to my business and helped me grow as an artist and a business person. For a time, because of Art.com’s program, I was exposed to a broader audience than I could’ve encountered through my site alone. It would turn out to be a great option for extra income as well as exposure to future collectors. I then discovered other Print on Demand sites like and. It was a great option, because I didn’t have the equipment or funds to offering prints directly from my studio. They offered a decent typical market royalty to artists for every print sold and even later, a small percentage on their framing, which they do in-house. Back in 2005, I used their Print-on-Demand program for artists, which means they print orders as they are taken. When I began licensing, it was through the well known site, Art.com. Interestingly enough, it was simpler than it appeared to be, thought not without some work. I had no idea how licensing worked or what was expected. “They have thousands of fans and their art has to be in galleries everywhere.” “Those artists must be veterans by now,” I figured. Did the company find them? Or did the approach come from the artist? It appeared a daunting and impossible achievement. I saw artists launching clothing lines, doing book signings and licensing their art on collectables with well known brands. I wanted to find other avenues of making money from my work, but I wasn’t sure how. There was no middle man involved and I preferred it that way. I had more control over my work, when it was available and where I could place it for sale. It was so much more exciting than hanging it on a wall in a gallery. When I began as an artist, I was really enjoying the experience of selling my work directly to people. Painting by Natasha Wescoat licensed to Murals Your Way
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