Time Management Skills
Make a list, able to schedule

Communication Skills
Good spelling, grammar, e-mail, clear communication

Comfortable with Technology
Sometimes need to manipulate photos, crop, resize, adjust brightness/contrast,scan artwork or digital photos of artwork and email to client.

Customer Service Skills
Attitude of service, empathetic to customers

Sales Ability
Ability to follow-up, ask for sale, close the sale. You may be shy, but can you force yourself to speak to people about what you do?

Ability to Take Criticism
Are you able to take criticism of your artwork well and view it as a way to improve, or does criticism leave you in a crumpled heap?

I really don't want to be discouraging in any way to someone who wants to start a pencil portrait business, but I want to be extremely frank with you about the reality of having a pencil portrait art business. If you have a good paying day job that you need in order to pay the bills, then do not quit your day job! Do the portraiture on the side, at night and on weekends.

It can be helpful as a stay home, part time job, but in my experience, it's difficult to get it to be the main income source. Being a pencil portrait artist is a great part time job that doesn't require moms to leave the home. It's a lifestyle choice.
I like being able to call the shots and be home with my kids. It's non-toxic and portable too!

Most pencil portrait artists are doing well if they bring in $5,000 a year. In portraiture, the biggest gross income is in oil painting, where top quality artists can get $50,000 per portrait, but they only do 3 portraits a year. Keep in mind, though, that although the oil portrait artists have a large asking price per portrait, their expenses of oil paint and canvas are greater than the expenses a pencil artist incurs. Oil painters also have health risks associated with exposure to pigments and solvents.

Some pencil artists find more income in offering prints of their artwork. You can also generate more income by adding affiliate links to your blog and website.

Make some samples

Draw your children or a friend's children from photos. You will need some originals to show in person to people and/or you can draw portraits
of the children of friends and family as gifts and use the digital photo or scan of the artwork on your website or as portrait examples you can email to people.

Get business cards

Full Color Business Cards from PsPrint

Get some that show an example of your artwork on them. My first business cards were homemade, but I suggest having them printed professionally. It's a good investment and not as expensive as yo might think. Most office supply stores do this or you can have them done at an online sites. See my page on Promotional Materials for Artists for links to online printing websites and more information on this.

Do you want to specialize?

You can decide to specialize in one thing - ie: colored pencil portraits of dogs or pencil portraits of houses. These would not be advertised in the same way or the same place, necessarily.

Specialization has the advantage of allowing you to focus on one area of art and one target market, but the downside is that you are only offering one type of portrait product, so it can be limiting. I do portraits of everything. I joke that I will draw anything that's legal!

If you especially love animals and drawing pets but you don't like drawing people, then it would be advisable to specialize in pet portraits.
Trying to draw things that you are not comfortable with will usually bring you only misery. One time I thought I could do a portrait of a steer. Because I don't know cattle very well, I had a lot of trouble doing it. The client was wonderful and patient, but it hung heavy on my heart that I just couldn't seem to get it done right. I contacted another artist who has a lot of experience with livestock and it was fine with the client for the other artist to do the portrait, so the job was forwarded to the other artist, and she did a great job! The client was happy, and in the end, that's all that matters!

Free 624-page Art Supply Catalog!

Taking the time to follow up on quotes you have given to potential customers is probably one of the most important things you can do to increase your portrait business.

Many times, I am asked for a price quote on a portrait, and then I don't hear anything back from the person. It doesn't always mean they're not interested or that the quoted price was too high. People are just so busy now. It's best to take the attitude that they are just busy. Only the potential client knows for sure! Allow some time to pass, then email them again. (I will use the name Jones again for demonstration purposes):

Subject line of email: "Jones Portrait Following Up"

Sample text of the follow up email:

Dear Ms. Jones:

A few weeks ago, we discussed a custom pencil portrait of your pet ferret, Penelope. (Letting her know you care about, and remember details, and the customer loves to hear their pet's name...or their child's name, if it was a child's portrait).

I sent you a quote by email, but I have not heard back from you.
I wanted to follow up, to make sure you did receive my email,
and to find out if you have any additional questions about ordering a portrait
that I may not have covered in my email.

I would love to help you with this special portrait for your family, and thank you
for considering me as your portrait artist! (reminds her that the portrait is special and important...ie, good investment!)

Please let me know if I can help in any way,

Sincerely,

A. Portrait Artist

Be sure your portfolio isn't mainly made up of well known people and celebrities. The message it sends is that you haven't had any commissions from clients yet.

You need to have your location on your website, and have a contact page with your name and address. If you don't want to have your actual address listed on your website, then consider renting a Post Office Box, or rent a postal box from a store like the UPS Store, if you would like it to have a real street address instead of looking like a post office box address.

Every artist should have an 'about me' type of page. People want to know where you're located, why you got started drawing, your life situation, , if you have pets, etc. Portraits are a personal thing, and people like to know something about the artist they're considering hiring.

Avoid political affiliations or religious rants or complaints about global warming, war, etc. These things are important in the world, but the 'about the artist' page is not the place for them. You may dislike the President's policies but your customer may love him. Nothing will turn your customer off quicker than this sort of grandstanding.

What do you do when family and friends ask for free portraits?

As you are starting out, you want to build your art portfolio, so why not create free portraits of your friends and family?

But to build your portfolio, keep your free portraits limited to the types of portraits that will bring you paid work later on - baby and cute children's portraits, and a few dog portraits, especially AKC (American Kennel Club) officially recognized breeds of dogs. Portraits of men - especially older men, do not seem to spur more portrait orders. They might if you have a very corporate portrait style though - I just haven't personally found that men's portraits have brought me more work, but a cute baby portrait? You bet!

Back to the discounts. When you do a free portrait for a friend of relative, let them know that any future portraits you do for them, you'll be "happy to offer your friends and family discount of 'x' amount."

You can take a dollar amount off, or a percentage, whatever you like - but it sets teh stage early on that you consider this your business, and not just a hobby.

Keep a record of art specifics before shipping the final artwork out. Whether you are just using 3x5 cards or a computer program, write down the paper size you used, and also measure the actual image size. If it's a portrait of a child for example, measure the child's head from the top to the bottom of the chin, and also the width and overall dimensions of the art image. This will prove very useful when a client returns to you after having a new baby and wants a second portrait to "match" the first portrait.

See my related page, Contact Management for Artists for more advice on keeping contact records on your clients and how to organize your art in your computer and email account.

Every customer has different needs. Some want to follow the portrait through every step of the drawing process. This type of client wants previews and updates all the way through the job and often.

The problem with the in-progress, unfinished preview from the artist's point of view is that the artwork does not yet look great.

Because of this, an unfinished picture often causes too many problems in that it causes the client to doubt their decision to hire you and they may nitpick the artwork. Of course, the artwork's not perfect at this point (and it may never be perfect, because we artists are only human!)

Another negative aspect is that if you are sensitive, the criticism may effect your ability to create. Your self esteem may suffer.

So because of this, I think it's best to avoid any in-progress previews, but rough sketches of your layout are okay.

How can you avoid sending a client an unfinished preview? You can diplomatically avoid sending an unfinished picture by letting the client know what to expect ahead of time, when you accept the commission.

You can tell the client you will send a preview by email when the art is finished, or you can tell them that you will send one in-progress picture. Assure them that you will stay in touch with them.

Research the different ways that people can pay you.

Google Checkout has been around for over a year now. I used Google Checkout as my main online payment processor in 2007, because when they were working it all out, they did not charge any fees.

However, as of February 2008, they are charging fees, but the fees are less than what PayPal charges. I have received great feedback from my clients, who have told me that they found using it a breeze.

PayPal
PayPal is probably the most well-known payment processor on the Internet. Even so, some clients may dislike PayPal. Another good reason to have other ways clients may pay you. Like Google Checkout, PayPal takes a percentage of the sale.

No matter what online processor you decide to use, do not ask your customers to pay you the percentage back, this is just a cost of doing business. I put the PayPal fee under "bank fees" when I do my taxes.

Both GoogleCheckout and PayPal allow you to invoice clients.

Credit Card Processors
I have used some online Credit Card Processing Companies - they often charge as much as $35 per month, with percentage of sale fees on top of that. I don't think it's worth paying those premium prices, especially when you are just starting out. You would have to pay that high base fee even if you had absolutely no art commissions that month! That's just way too high, in my opinion.

Cash
Mmmm. Cash. I love America!
Can't beat it for local sales. No fees and ready to use right away. Nuff said.

Checks & Money Orders
I accept them, but if they make you nervous, don't take them.

Consult your tax professional for what you can write off.

Get a separate checking account for your business. If you don't keep your financial records separated, then the IRS will see your art as a hobby.

Get a credit card to use for only business expenses. Business cards like those from www.Advanta.com put your business name on the front of the car! This can be a great conversation starter when you use your card to make your usual business purchases.

In most areas, you will need a home occupancy tax permit for working out of your home.

Each area is different, so check with your city and county for your local ordinances. Usually, the fine for operating without a license is more than the cost of the license itself. You can also post the license when you participate in an art festival, so it gives you an extra measure of credibility, besides staying legal!

Copyright 2007-2008 Darla Dixon
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Every effort has been made to make this as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warrant of fitness is implied. The information is provided on an 'as-is' basis. The author and publisher will have neither liability or responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage arising from information contained on this page.