The Not-So-Traditional Canvas: See How Top Artists Are Making Money Selling Canvas Editions.

Canvas artworks are anything but traditional. See how artists are using canvas artworks to meet this years hot home décor trend.

Enlarge and print a single image or split up one image into panels for a more graphic effect. Embellish with paint or foil to create a truly unique artwork—the creative possibilities are endless when printing to canvas!

I’m not surprised to see the popularity of  canvas growing. Since 1999 we have printed thousands of canvas editions and reproductions for artists. Obviously canvas is the preferred choice for artists reproducing from painted works for creating likeness to the original. However, over the last decade, canvas has gained the attention of photo-based artists (in particular landscape and abstract) and portrait photographers, who are attracted to the texture the natural material brings to their imagery.

Designing canvas prints for residential or commercial installations isn’t as straightforward as it seems, some care is needed to ensure your artwork will fit in with and compliment current décor trends. Although, the vast majority of landscape and abstract artworks look good anywhere the importance of aligning your art with prospective home owners and interior designers cannot be stressed enough. I recommend that you research colour and design trends in relation to the colour of your artwork and create pieces specific to the purpose.  I know this idea may rub some artists the wrong way, however, if your goal is to sell volume artworks, some creative compromises may be need to meet the “look” home décor enthusiasts are after. Keep in mind this will also provide a good separation from the content of your original works.

Many artists assume that the canvas reproductions are expensive, this is not necessarily true. Due to advanced technological techniques (in both inkjet printing and canvas stretching) printmakers can offer competitive pricing that allows for reasonable mark-ups. Of course, if you are printing large canvas artworks they will be a more expensive than the smaller sizes, but large canvas editions will command higher selling prices.

If you are printing more than one image or multiples of the same image, ask your printmaker about volume breaks. You’d be surprised how the pricing varies after the 4-5 print, especially when you are printing oversize reproductions.

Canvas Art Production

At Fidelis we offer canvas made from the highest quality cotton duck fabric which is considered the best all around canvas on the market. Its properties include a soft white base, pH neutral, acid free and 100% cotton canvas back; it’s manufacturer rated for over 100 years longevity and available up to 60” wide (59.75” printable) by any length. All our canvas prints receive an extra top-coating of UV laminate for additional protection from handling and the damage that can occur due to light.

Important: Be sure to ask your printmaker about the canvas they are using. In order to avoid the labour and expense of top-coating, many service bureaus will use an all-in-one canvas media, which may not offer the longevity you require for your archival artworks.

Art Canvas Stretching—Options

Depending on how you’re going to display your canvas reproduction—with framing or hung stretched as is—your options for stretching need to be considered before final printing. Work with your printmaker to learn about the options for allowing extra media for canvas wrapping. Choose from a plain white, coloured border (black is most popular) or wrap your image around the sides (provided there is no cropping of critical subject matter).

Stretcher bars are available in 3/4″ or 1-1/2″ depth. The 3/4″ bars are more popular for canvas editions that will be framed. Although, for economy we see the use of this narrow profile for décor canvas prints that need to be priced at very competitive price point.

We see the use of the 1-1/2″ depth bar for small canvases to create an “art-block” look. More commonly, the deep bars are used for oversize artworks to avoid twists in the bars and the heavy cost of custom framing. The deep bar offers a more contemporary look and I like to be able to tell my end-customers that although they might be paying a bit more for the deep bars, the artwork is ready to hang on the wall and there are no other costs for framing—excited collectors really like the idea of going home and hanging the artwork that day.

See How These Top Artists Are Making Money Selling Canvas Editions

Don’t be intimidated by the challenge of marketing your canvas artwork. Create your own collection and sell it through your own online gallery or blog. Here’s a few artist website for inspiration.

Fidelis client, Michelle Yamamoto at www.yinspirationart.com, build her online website and blog with a gallery of her canvas artworks. Michelle make great use of her blog to announce the various events she will be attending and exhibiting. She has also established a niche for her artwork which has developed a real following for her work.

Melbourne artist, Malgorzata Bieda at www.graphiquegallery.com has created a simple, easy to use website for her clients to purchase direct from her collections.

The Vineyard Collection at www.wineartbc.com is another example of selling canvas artwork online. The Vineyard Collection is a Fidelis branded collection, developed for vineyard art enthusiasts, an audience built on the popularity of like- France and Italian imagery. Our web designer at Beyond the Box, built a back end e-commerce so that this site can take advantage of international buyers.

I first learned about Leanne Laine Fine Art when I was researching artwork and artists for the Fidelis Vineyard Collection. Leanne and her husband operate a very successful art business. A large part of their sales are generated through Leanne’s hand-embellished limited editions on canvas. This site is art marketing at its finest: Facebook, Blog, e-store, paid ads by Google, free draw, Twitter—success in action. Here’s also a humorous link to a post from Leanne about Facebook, that we can all relate to!

If you are thinking of printing your images to canvas or if  you have any questions whatsoever about producing a line of limited edition or open edition artworks please don’t hesitate to contact me for some “obligation free” advice.

And thank you to Tiko Kerr (image in this post) for allowing Fidelis to publish his limited edition collection. To see more of Tiko’s limited edition canvas artworks, please visit the Fidelis Collections page.

Speaking of Tiko, please see my related post about Fundraising with Artwork. With summer events in full swing, many of you will be looking for opportunities for media exposure for your work—think “fundraising”. Tiko Kerr is well know for his generosity in providing use of his artworks for raising funds for local non-profit organizations.