Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Art Prints & Wafflemama Store Update



Having blogged for a couple of years now, I feel like I've found my feet and feel really confident with working from home. I've mentioned previously that one of my working goals for this year was to launch a store or shop page at Wafflemama, selling my artwork and possibly craft works eventually too. I'm getting to a point where things seem to be coming together nicely, so I thought I'd just post a little update before the store actually comes to life.




One thing I've been working on lately is some children's books with Alf, which we hope to get printed next year. These are based on dreams and thoughts he had as a toddler which are so lovely to illustrate for, even if only for us. In the mean time, I've also been drawing and illustrating at home, finding out which techniques I enjoy most and working out the best ways to go about selling my art work. With Soph starting nursery soon, I'll have two whole days in which to work, which makes planning something new like the store addition really exciting and a complete possibility now.




I'm not fully decided on the output methods yet as I know digital downloads seem to be most common right now which would save a lot of admin and posting etc. There is something nice though about having a printer produce real hard copies of your images in the flesh, packing them up prettily and sending them on their merry way. I'm a little torn right now but initially I think digital downloads (i.e people buy a copy digitally and print themselves) will be the best starting point to see if there is actually a market for the type of artwork I'll be making, I can then print myself or have my images printed professionally for selling if things work out.


I've never had much confidence in my own work and I think it's really common to be over critical of your own abilities. I've decided though to listen to friends and family, even random strangers on Instagram that have told me that I am talented and should be selling my work, it has to be worth a try and I really enjoy it.




I'm so excited for this next venture and I'll be sharing every step right here on my blog alongside my usual posts, so watch this space. If you happen to have any tips for selling art prints etc, please do let me know in the comments below.


*Collaborative post