Free Telesessions On Licensing: July 22 and 24th

TARA REED LEGAL QUESTIONS
Tara Reed will be asking attorney Cheryl Hodgson legal questions on art licensing. You can submit questions to be asked.
WHEN:On Wednesday July 22 at 5:30 PM PST/8:30 PM EST
HOW TO SIGN UP: Ask Tara Reed

JEANETTE SMITH FREE FRIDAYS
WHAT: Jeanette Smith will be doing her monthly Ask J'net Free Fridays session. She will answer questions on art licensing submitted by artists. July 24th at 9:00 am PST
WHEN: Friday June 24 at 9:00 AM PST/12:00 EST
HOW TO SIGN UP:Ask J'net Free Fridays

Selling Art for Flat Fee Versus Licensing

Here's part of an article by Tara Reed on the difference between selling your art for a flat fee versus licensing. Here's a sampling of the article:

Traditionally, licensing contracts are based on royalties so artists are paid based on sales. That means you wait, sometimes 12-18 months to be paid, but you share in the risk and reward of the product. If the product does well, you should make a lot more in royalties than you would be paid if you simply sold a design. If it doesn't do well, you may make less.

"Licensing your art" means you can use your art more than once, you retain the copyrights and you have to wait a little longer to see the money. But once you get projects in the pipeline, you can earn a nice income.

So what is this "flat fee licensing" and how is it different from selling art? For the rest of the article go to webpage.

Interview with Licensing Artist Sara Henry


Artist Profile

The first time I ran across Sara Henry's designs, I fell in love with them. She has a simple elegance with a wonderful mix of vibrant colors. I asked Sara about her designs, and to offer tips for artists who are trying to market their work.

FAVORITES (at the moment)
-Artist: Salvadore Dali
-Design book: Art Quilts A Celebration
-Blog: Kris’s Stripes
-Company you like working with: Wine Things Unlimited, Sonoma Ca.
-Your favorite "Art Vacation": I love taking classes and would like to find a printmaking workshop in an exotic location.

-Contact information: www.sarahenrydesign.com

INTERVIEW

-What critical events happened in your life, that helped you reach your success today?
After working with a few agents, a friend's husband, who licenses big brands worldwide ( Via Speggia, xoxo, Golds Gym) , saw my artwork at the Surtex Show in New York. That evening he said to me, you can do this yourself...you don’t need an agent. He offered his help ...I took it....he gave me the confidence and the push I needed. The rest is history!

-In your art life, what inspires you?
Just about anything can give me an idea. Take for example the Dandelion series, I was walking the dog and came across dill weed. That was it. Traveling provides huge inspiration. Turkey and Africa, are the most recent. I painted a collection using red wine and tea as the medium after visiting a winery in Cape Town South Africa.

-What is the message you want to communicate through your designs?
I want people to feel energized and be happy. I want then to enjoy my varied techniques and fun colors.

-What's the most successful experience you've ever had, when trying to market your designs?
My Asian Chic Collage was licensed in 5 different categories. The fabric license ended up with 2 sub licenses for fabric and the men’s aloha shirt was featured in the Smithsonian Catalog. Basically marketing is finding various avenues of advertising and getting your name out there...MOST importantly don’t get discouraged!

-What's the worst experience you've ever had, when trying to market your designs?
Actually, it was my fault because I didn’t ask for anything upfront. I was worked to death before I finally had my trademark attorney write a letter to end the deal. Knit picky people who don’t really know what they want drive me crazy. It is a waste of time for both of us.

-What's a tip you can offer other artists on how to avoid wasting time or money when marketing designs?
Sometimes I still spin my wheels. It comes with the territory. Knowing the right show to do, when to call it quits etc, and always ask for an upfront fee...

-If money were no object, what is the next step you'd take to live your art fantasy?
Keep traveling the world!!!!

MORE ART BY SARA HENRY







Perfect Example of How Artists Help Each Other

Rani Jeanette, rubber stamp artist who also happens to be an avid proofreader, took the time to send me a message, listing the spelling errors I had on my website. No one had ever noticed them before or pointed them out to me. Some were very serious.

While I am probably making spelling errors here, right now, as I write this blog, having a spelling error on a business website is a big no-no for professionals.

So I want to give Rani a big shout-out!

If you need a top rate proofreader, here's her info: Rani Jeannette rlbjeannette@yahoo.com 503.428.8419

30 Pattern Designs

SMASHING APPS has a nice article on pattern designs. Here's a sampling.

As we all know that textures, backgrounds and patterns are the most wanted freebies on the internet. Specially designers who love all of those textures that can help their designs to become more beautiful and attractive. This collection would be really useful for inspiration and ideas. SmashingApps is all about to feature all those smashing stuffs that are inspiring and useful for designers. Today, we are going to list down 30 Inspiring And Creative Examples of Colorful Pattern Designs. We hope you all will like this collection.
For the rest of the article and images to to their website.

Article about Art Licensing Support Group

I wrote an article for Crafty Chica about our art licensing support group we started in Berkeley, and how artists can start groups to support each other.

Excerpt:
"... fundamentally, art licensing is a business. Supporting each other is about learning to prepare tear sheets, getting feedback on new designs, becoming aware of trends, protecting copyrights and learning how to do an elevator pitch, even if you're shy. It's also about being in a community of artists who are very serious about making a living from their art. And while we all have different styles and viewpoints, one thing we do all agree on, is that the group has helped us move forward very fast"....more of article

Humorous video about Fonts at a conference arguing

If you're a designer who battles with font choices sometimes, this video is funny by "colleghumor"!

FONT CONFERENCE
College Humor Website