In last Sunday’s newsletter I hinted at a new method for finding commission work online. Some of you may already have an idea about what that new method may be, but if not, today I’m going to share what it is, where to find it, and how to use it.
First, some good news: while it’s very different, it’s also pretty simple. . .
For the past few months EmptyEasel has offered an online “wants” marketplace, which is where people go to say what they WANT to buy, as opposed to saying what they have to sell.
We didn’t build this marketplace (it was created by a company called Ubokia) but we’ve been testing it out for a while on EE, and I’d really love to see what happens if it got some wider publicity.
For our purposes, this “wants” marketplace simply makes it easy for art buyers to write down what kind of art they want, and then post it to the internet.
Once that post shows up on Ubokia’s global marketplace, artists anywhere can read it, reply to that post, and (if a deal is struck) make some money creating that specific artwork for the buyer.
The beauty of this system is that instead of promoting yourself in the hopes that collectors will find you, love your work, and want to pay you for it, you can just go to a place where all the “wanted” artwork is listed out one one page. If you’re able to create it, then it’s practically a sure sale.
Let me just give you an example of what kind of artwork is listed on our “wants” marketplace right now.
(NOTE: these are sure to change in the coming weeks and months, so depending on when you read this article, you might see totally different artwork requests.)
Wildlife Art
“I am interested in any and all wildlife art. Waterfowl and elk are my favorite. Any mountain scenes. Deer. Turkeys, Dove, Quail. You name it.”Painting
“My son is into sports. I want a small painting of some thing baseball. Blue.”Dogs!!
“Arts of dogs! Make cute and spunky with attitude.”Family Sign
“Painted sign with our family name, scripture, and year established.”I want to buy a unique piece of art.
“Any, not really certain on how specific I want it to be.”Waterfowl Art
“I am looking for either painting, prints, or sculptures of ducks and geese.”Contemporary Art
“Bold colors, dining room”
Some of these requests come with a price tag: 0-$15, $10-$100, etc. Others just say “Make me an offer.” Obviously everything’s negotiable if the buyer decides they like your work. You can also see that there’s quite a variety of things that people are looking for.
For those of you limited by location (although I don’t see why any artist needs to be limited by location, since you can almost always ship a finished artwork anywhere in the world) then you can limit your search using your city, and a certain amount of miles you’re willing to go.
Anyone not so picky about location will see a broader selection of art “wants” listed.
I’d like to see even more art “wants” listed, overall, but obviously that’s dependent on how many people find out about Ubokia’s marketplace in the first place. I know they’re working pretty hard to grow it right now, so I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll be seeing even more “wants” listed on EE’s marketplace soon.
If you’re open to doing commissions, then by all means check it out and see if anything looks fun, challenging, or just worth the money. Commission work still doesn’t grow on trees, but with Ubokia, at least they’re a little higher off the ground!