The Piedmont Highlander

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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

Student artists sell art, commissions for profit

Combining their passion for art and their eye for business, student entrepreneurs sell their artwork not just for the money, but also for the enjoyment of their customers.

Senior Dominic Frost, who is currently taking AP art and another art class outside of school, primarily sells his artwork to students in the form of commissions.

“If I’m selling something that someone commissioned, it generally brings in more money because I’m doing something specifically for them that I wouldn’t have done otherwise,” Frost said. “Those kind of things can actually get you a solid amount of money.”

Frost currently has a painting sale pending for $350, which would be his highest sale to date. However, because most students normally do not want to spend that amount of money, they often buy pen drawings he can complete in a few hours.

“They’ll describe what they have in mind and ask me to do it,” Frost said. “People have asked me things like, ‘Can you do a caricature of me?’”

Unlike Frost, junior Ilana Franklin sells her art to complete strangers.

Franklin initially sold hand-crocheted pieces on Etsy, an online marketplace where people worldwide can buy and sell goods.

“Making money on the internet was really exciting for me,” Franklin said. “I used to crochet these little squids that were really adorable, but then I decided to switch to Society6 where I could sell some of my art on T-shirts and phone cases.”students sell art

Franklin now focuses on creating digital art using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Society6 is a website that allows her and other artists to upload and promote their work on a variety of mediums. Potential buyers can choose to purchase a design on items ranging from a laptop skin to a pillow. When a customer buys a product, Society6 handles the printing and shipping, while the artist gets a fraction of the earnings.

Franklin said her primary objective in selling art is not to make a profit.

“To know that my art is out there somewhere, to know that it’s not just sitting in a sketchbook somewhere or on my computer,” Franklin said. “That’s really fun for me.”

Similarly, Frost said aside from making money, he likes how selling art allows him to put himself out to the world as an artist.

“One of the things I really love about art is that it has the ability to affect people’s lives and make them feel stuff,” Frost said. “If someone likes my art enough to ask to buy it, that makes me really happy.”

Art teacher Gillian Bailey said she encourages all student artists to sell their work or trade with other artists.

“Don’t sell yourself short just because you are a high school student,” Bailey said. “Even though something may have only taken you two hours to make, all of the trial and error you put before that went into that. Make sure it’s worthwhile to you.”

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